use real butter

Krispy Kreme
Jeremy and I took Grandma to the airport this morning. After seeing her off at Burbank, we decided to take a detour to Krispy Kreme and I picked up a dozen glazed for work and a few goodies for us. I walked up to the counter and the woman handed each of us a hot glazed doughnut and my mind went blank. It pretty much melted along with that golden nugget of fatty goodness…

Dim Sum
My parents wanted to go to dim sum yesterday, so we took them to NBC Seafood in Monterey Park. I explained that we needed to get there by 11 am, or else we’d have to wait about an hour to eat. I tell this to EVERYONE who wants to eat dim sum. Why? Because when you get there at 11, you wait 5 minutes to be seated. When you get there at 11:15 (or 11:20 like we did this time), you wait 50 minutes to be seated. That’s 50 minutes of my life I’d rather spend doing something other than standing among hordes of Chinese people whose personal boundaries are 5 times smaller than mine. I hate wasting money, but even more than that, I hate wasting time. It’s not like we were spending QT together either. Mom and Dad were inside, reading the paper. Grandma was outside reading the paper. I was standing with Grandma to make sure some rude Chinese person didn’t try to take her seat. Jeremy was standing next to me, probably wondering why he married into this family…

My parents and grandma arrived last night. We took them down to NBC Seafood in Monterey Park for dinner. I wish I had brought the elph with me because there was a good 15 minute discussion between the three of them over what to order. They pored over three sets of menus and interrogated the waiter three times as to how various dishes were prepared. Finally, the waiter came back with two buckets. One had a live red snapper, and the other had a live lobster. My parents gave the snapper a nod and then told him the lobster was too big and to get a smaller one.

Lobsters must be between 1 and 1.5 pounds because anything larger is too old and the meat is no longer tender or sweet.

In my Dad’s speak – Kid, are you listening to me? This is how you order a lobster. You want it to be between one and one and a half pounds. Are you listening to me? If it’s two pounds, it is NG (no good). It will taste like eeeeyech.

This morning I ushered them into the backyard to take some pictures. I wish I had rekindled my interest in photography before Kris died. We did take some studio pictures about 4 years ago for Mom’s birthday, and I’m really glad we took one together. But it’s something I wish I had more of now that I don’t have her. Not that I ever expected to be without her. I can’t be sure if I’m operating out of fear or love or both now.

I must admit that my favorite potato is the yukon gold. Not for baking (baked potatoes, they’re not so special to me), no, but for just about everything else! The lovely, sweet and nutty, golden, firm-fleshed, yukon gold goes well in frittata, potatoes au gratin (with a good strong gruyere), hashed browns, roasted potatoes, mashed potatoes, soups, stews, and the list goes on. I love the yukon gold. It is a little nugget of earthy goodness.

…and I love my skillet. Thanks C, for the recommendation. The flavor just gets better with use.

The doctor’s solution for my shoulder is to medicate more. Advil – take 4, 3 times a day. Weeeee! I took four advil an hour ago and honestly, I can’t feel my shoulder at all. Wow. drugs. Wow!

Time equals 22 hours and counting. Mom and Dad arrive tomorrow night with Grandma. We even keep 3 pairs of fleece slippers for them when they visit our house. This is what good Chinese daughters/granddaughters do.