the hunger games, cont'd

Holy moly. I blew through the last two books of the Hunger Games trilogy, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. The sequel was a big set-up for everything that happens in book three with lots of new characters introduced via the Quarter Quells games when Katniss has to go back into the arena. My main complaint is that Katniss (the main character) is so self-centered throughout...SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE, KATNISS!! ALL THE CLUES ARE THERE, YOU DUMB BIMBO. jk. love you. really. miss you!

Then Mockinjay, holy moly. Truly, I am in the depths of despair. And it's been, like, five days since I finished it. Tim is showing actual concern to my actual real depression. I just want someone to hug me tight. Forever. But that will still leave a big empty hole in my heart.

So, can someone read these books soon so we can talk about it please? Because I think maybe if I cry with someone else, I might be able to get over it. Or maybe if I get a role in the upcoming movie version. Are there any Asians in Panem? It is the North America of the future, after all.

the hunger games

My pal Heather recommended this YA book a while ago, and I finally got around to reading it yesterday. I also finished it yesterday. Because it is the fast-paced action-packed kind of book that young adults read these days, I guess. I definitely enjoyed it (I even sobbed through chapter 17), but I felt like the story had been told before (i.e. Ender's Game, but everyone plays against each other). It's a trilogy and I'm hooked. Can't wait to read the sequels.

broccoli, but better

These broccoli are a far cry from their grocery store cousins. Where the grocery broc has thick, stringy stalks, these lanky stems are tender and sweet. The grocery broc has spongy, mushy florets, these are flavorful and firm. A light steam, a drizzle of olive oil, and the zest and juice of one half lemon is all it needs to become a delicious, simple side dish.

sat morning brunch

The best way to use leftovers from last night's salmon dinner? Next day's brunch, if you ask me. Nutty toast, topped with baked salmon, farmbox avocado, a poached egg, and cajun hollandaise sauce.

bleeding beets

The first beet I ate was a mushy burgundy thing at the PFM (professional food management a.k.a. the high school cafeteria). It had been sitting in one of those warm water baths for a couple hours, straight from the can, I'm sure. It was like a mouthful of dirt. It wasn't until now, almost 10 years later, that I decided to give them another go (and only because I couldn't bear to throw out produce from the farmbox). I cut them up and roasted them the only way I know how: with a big glug of olive oil, light on the salt and a generous grind of fresh black pepper.

And they were amazing - slightly sweet with a good corn-y taste. To think of all those potential beet-eating opportunities wasted! I have a lot of catching up to do.

farmbox

The produce continues to flow from the Growing Experience. A delicious and nutritious bouquet of kale, swiss chard and broccoli.

skeletons of hills

Our friends Tori and Jo are on a cross-country Amtrak adventure, and they stopped by in our lil ol' town of Los Angeles. We headed to the desert and camped out at Joshua Tree National Park (plus, we crossed it off our list!).

The landscape was unreal. The loose dirt and minerals have eroded and fallen away from the hills, exposing gravity-defying granite skeletons. We set up camp right between the baked red rocks and intense blue sky. And at night, we saw the milky way!

the imperfectionists

My friend Tori is doing a book a week challenge, and quite successfully at that. I'm inspired, but I can't commit to a book a week, so maybe just a book whenever I can will challenge me enough.

I started the year off with big momentum, going through these two page-turners in just a week (or it could be that week of vacation in January and two 6+ hr plane rides). But work and that ol' boob tube slowed me down in Feb. I'm STILL trying to get through Love In a Time of Cholera.

I took a little break from the Caribbean lovefest with the Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman. It was on Amazon's top ten fiction of 2010.

It reads like a collection of short stories about people connected to a newspaper that is going under. The characters are flawed and their stories are dramatically depressing, but I couldn't forget about them when I wasn't reading. The writing seemed a little in-your-face to me, but I think it was because I read it in large print. It might as well have been in all caps.

overdue

Mom Chung turned 60 on Feb 14th, and we had a surprise birthday party for her! In true Korean style, it was an evening full of delicious food, Karaoke and hot ballroom dancing. Okay, so ballroom dancing isn't so ubiquitous, but dang those couples were good!

The birthday lady herself.

Happy family pre-fart.

Horrified family post-fart.

underground

The images in Myhrvold's cook book are really amazing. At $625.00 and a whopping forty lbs though, I think I'll just peruse it at the ol' barnes and noble.


It is a party underground for root veg! Look at all those colors. I can't wait to get some seeds in the ground.


I wish we studied gourmet burger anatomy in school.


Bullet through a half dozen eggs.

From Modernist Cuisine: the art and science of cooking. More images here.