Special occasion meals + baking fun during Covid-19 April - June 2020

I know I already posted this...

but here it is again...since it fits in with the "special occasion" theme...

Mother's Day 2018 - Return to Que Huong & MNGO

We took our photos in our nice clothes for Mother's Day.

But now it was back to jeans and a nice shirt so we could be comfortable...

Mother's Day 2017

I love how the windows at Beef'n Bun always following the holidays...

(photo courtesy of Cathy of mmm-yoso)

Without fail...Dano and his crew always make sure to adorn this burger joints windows with the major holidays...

Mother's Day 2016 - Pho Hiep Grill Chateau + Halo Halo & return to Char House and Paris Baguette

This morning...

my walnut waffle breakfast from Bert and TC...

Mother's Day lunch at the newly relocated Sab e Lee

Having enjoyed Bert's heart shaped waffles for Mother's Day breakfast, we had plans for lunch after mass...

over in this community, along the eponoymously named main road where you will find the relocated Thai favorite, Sab e Lee...

in the same strip mall that houses Thuan Phat...

Happy Mother's Day 2015

And now this gem from Mr. T...

"Mother, there is no other...

Like mother, so treat her right"

Gotta love his outfit and his sentiments!

TC made me this card...

which was written entirely in Filipino...

Golden House Chinese Restaurant

The second half of Mother's Day was spent down south. First we visited my parents and then we took out Bert's mom to a local Chinese restaurant...

With us was Bert's older bro. Everyone with the exception of myself had been to this place before...

Pork 'n Skrimps + Mother's Day Dinner

Pork and what?

Skrimps, or shall I say, Bagoong alamang, aka "salted shrimp fry"...

A most "fragrant" addition to any Filipino meal...

Mango Pies, I mean Tarts

A few days ago, I finally got my copy of "The Adobo Road", a newly published cookbook by Filipino American foodblogger Marvin Gapultos (of Burnt Lumpia fame). I was so excited leafing through the pages and thought I would try out a few of his recipes for Mother's Day. My brother and sister thought we should do a potluck for our mom so she wouldn't have to cook. I had my eyes set on a main dish and a dessert involving mangoes...

This case of sweet Manila Mangoes (ironically grown in Mexico, although they did come over FROM the Philippines many years ago due to the Manila Acapulco Galleon Trade. This box was about $10 at Seafood City and well worth it...

I wanted to try a new dessert recipe, but...

Mother's Day Lunch: K-Pasta 3x

When we like something, we go back...

I'm pretty sure that K-Pasta is on our short list for our "rotation"...

Breaking tradition this year, after having gone to Que Huong two years in a row for Mother's Day, I wanted something different and closer to home...

Mother's Day 2013

This will be a quick post for now...

That's right! Word!

This morning, TC and Bert surprised me with a few gifts (even after I told them NOT to get me anything)...

Mother's Day Dinner at Pho Hiep Grill Chateau

I'm glad that I paced myself earlier today since we were going to have dinner later on with Bert's mom and bro-in law (#2 son).

Yes, Vietnamese again!

MD Desserts at Lisko

[Update - Lisko closed Spring 2013]

After our amazing lunch (with tons of leftovers) from Que Huong, I suggested Liskos for dessert.

Bert hadn't been there before and was game to try a new dessert place...

MD - Dinner at Pho Hiep Grill Chateau

[Scroll down for the latest 3 posts]

Although we had Vietnamese food earlier today, we had it again dammit! This time, for dinner. Well, we didn't really originally plan on dinner here but it worked out. Bert's oldest bro and his family were down visiting from Aliso Viejo and they all decided to watch "Thor".  While they were watching the movie, we were at my parents' house. They were on their way to the movies too. My dad was interested in "Fast Five" (haha) and my mom was curious about "Something Borrowed" (a chick flick), so I'm not sure what they really ended up watching.

So, since almost all of Bert's side (except his sister, her husband and their kid) were available and in our area, Bert suggested dinner at the Pho Hiep in Eastlake. It's bigger, nicer and has something for at least everyone to enjoy.

Bert and I got a couple of appetizers to share...

Plus the Caramelized catfish (menu item in the middle), which surprisingly enough, I FORGOT to snap a photo of but we've had it in the past so I have the photo somewhere in my archives.

Bert was so happy because they had his favorite beer on DRAFT now instead of just bottles. When the restaurant carried the bottles, they always sold out quickly so it was hit or miss. Their supplier had limited amounts of the bottles. According to the owner, Kevin's wife (gosh, we didn't catch her name but her parents own the original Pho Hiep in Linda Vista), you can get the beer at lots of places in the Bay Area but not down here.

Behold, the once elusive Con Rong Chau Tien Pale Ale...

TC shared the shrimp and pork spring roll with her older cousin (the only other girl from Bert's side):

We shared the Pork Roll...

TC and her cousin split a large size Pho with Flank and Brisket...

While my nephew got the meatball soup...(I'm not too fond of these kind of meatballs because the meat is spongy in texture)

My SIL got the Com Tam with Beef. Her husband, my BIL (Bert's oldest bro) got the Banh Xeo. Bert's 2nd oldest bro got some kind of soup but he was sitting too far away and I didn't want to get up, and my MIL had Com Tam with Grilled Chicken (not pictured).

Our Banh Xeo which we shared. I love how they make it here - the crepe is so crisp and the herbs are so fresh.

There were nine of us at the table that night enjoying each other's company. We only get to see my BIL and his family a few times a year. Next month, once I am on vacation (again and not soon enough!), we will be staying with them before making our summer road trip. It'll be fun exploring the  OC with them.

Hope my readers had a Happy Mother's Day, either as mother's themselves, or spending the day with  their wives or mothers!

My Parents' Garden revisited...

After lunch at Que Huong we went back home to relax a bit before going out again to visit my parents. Earlier, they'd gone out to the park with the grandkids (my nephews) but left after it got too cold and windy. We wanted to stop by before going out to dinner with Bert's side of the family.

These are some of my mom's Epis (Epidendrum orchids - the same kind seen in the Seabass dish that Bert and I had at Alchemy). She has red and white (not pictured), as well as orange...

and magenta...

This used to have an apple tree in here but my dad got rid of it. He has it ready for camote (sweet potato)  and saluyot (jute).

Here's one of my dad's Ampalaya vines (bittermelon). He has whole makeshift trellis against their back wall. I love it when my mom puts the leaves in Chicken Tinola (ginger soup with chayote and leafy vegetables).

Kamatis (tomato):

Japanese Shisito Pepper - grown from seeds sent to me last year by fellow Filipina blogger Oggi ofthe blog  I Can Do That (Thanks Oggi!). I don't have much of a green thumb, so I gave the seeds to my parents since I knew they could make it grow and then I can pick the peppers too!

Squash vine. I want to say it's Opo (loofah gourd) but I'm not sure...

A squash blossom snaking its way through the base of their guava tree...

Tanglad (lemongrass):

Potted eggplants. Last year my mom used the pots to grow Alugbati (Malabar Nightshade).

Kinchay (Chinese celery), grown near the base of the lone apple tree.

Aloe vera with Swordplant, Bataw vines and Kamote (Sweet Potato):

Bataw blossoms (Hyacinth Bean):

Bataw vines...

The Papaya tree is bearing fruit...

TC int he garden...

Here are photos from my mom's garden taken exactly last year when my bro, sis and I made her Mother's Day Lunch. It's really nice that my parents have an extensive garden. They like to swap vegetables with the neighbor (my godmother) and their friends in thei neighborhood.

More on different types of Filipino vegetables here:
Market Manila's blog (This guy was seen on Bourdain's Philippines episode) and here.

Up next, dinner at Pho Hiep in Eastlake...

Mother's Day Lunch - Que Huong

Despite the grey skies that would make Morrissey or the Jesus and Mary Chain proud, we were determined to enjoy the day. We headed up to City Heights for lunch...This is the University Ave exit from the 15.

Love this art deco building for this gas station, right off the freeway exit.

Beneath that were three painted greenboxes. I only got a shot of this one - a Vietnamese fisherman.

I told Bert that I didn't want a fancy schmancy place for Mother's Day, many of which are crowded and most likely had higher prices for their menus. No, I wanted a place where we didn't even need to have a reservation and where I knew the food would be good as well as different.

Que Huong is located in City Heights on the corner of University and Marlborough. It's in a tiny strip mall with horrible parking. There's slanted parking and right angle parking and when the lot is full, good luck with trying to squeeze into the narrow spaces. Luckily it was not a weekday and it was still early so parking was good.

The restaurants was decorated quite nicely - with table cloths and chair covers. A few tables were full of diners enjoying their meal (not seen in this photo of course).

Bert and I had the ice coffees while TC had a Lychee slushy.

After studying the menu, we decided to get some dishes we'd never tried before, such as this, the Pepper Grilled Frog Legs ($12.95). There were six pieces and yes, they tasted like chicken but with smaller and wierder shaped bones! Loved the crushed peanuts on top and the small footed silver dish with a lemon wedge and salt and pepper mixture. TC was quite game and ended up enjoying these. The last time we had frog legs was at Indo Kitchen in Alhambra back in March 2010.

Next up was a small order of the Fish Sauce wings (sorry I don't remember the price) servedover lettuce with crushed chili peppers and sliced green onions. These were awesome, as always.

This was the Quail which were roasted and glazed with caramelized sauce, butter and onions ($12.95). I think this was my favorite dish that morning. The sauce went really well with the little bit of rice I had (yes, I cheated). The quail wings were so tiny! Bert and I really liked this while TC enjoyed the Fish Sauce wings more.

We also got the Spicy Squid Ginger Salad (small size - $9.95). We wanted to try something different because we've already had the Banana Blossom Salad as well as the Jackfruit Salad. The squid pieces were boiled (some pieces were scored too, very pretty) and tossed with onions, fried garlic, ginger, peanuts, hot peppers, basil and mint. I liked the textures - crunchy peanuts and shrimp chips, firm onions and squid, Mmm, there was a lot going on and it was one of our favorite dishes that morning. TC had tos crape the pepper flakes off hers though.

This sald was spicy yet cool at the same time. I liked the texture of the squid - done just right and not rubbery at all. The salad was served with four large shrimp chips and fish sauce but we ended up not using the fish sauce since the salad was already flavorful on it's own. As Bert was paying before we left, Jay the owner recommended that we try the mango salad next time.  Something to look forward to!

We got a TC-friendly dish, the Battered Shrimps ($12.95) - lightly battered shrimp served with a plum sauce. TC liked the plum sauce while we enjoyed the shrimps with the spicier chili garlic sauce (in a separate bowl).

If I haven't mentioned it before, Jay, the owner and chef here is a really nice guy. He is always making sure his customers are happy. Last time I went with my friend, he gave comped us some iced coffees! During another visit, he had comped us a Banh Xeo (crepe with pork and shrimp). This time, whe generously gave us a pennywor drink which he said was very healthy. I've seen it before on the drink menus and have seen the canned versions at the Asian stores but never tried it myself. So, this was a nice opportunity to try something new. Let me just add that this was MEGA GREEN!I have never seen such a more vibrant shade of green before!

In Vietnam, the leaves of the Centella Asiatica (Pennywort) can be eaten raw in salads or in drinks such as this. The plant also has medicinal properties which you can read about here. The drink had a medicinal taste which was entirely unpleasant. It tasted...green and herbal. Bert liked it more than me. There also seemed to be some sort of grainy and powdery feel to it, like maybe rice powder but I'm not sure what it was. In any case, I wasn't complaining. I thought it was such a nice gesture for Jay to let us try something new.

Before we left, I snapped a photo of this, a purple jade tree (or maybe it was another semiprecious stone).

Jay pointed out the folded money on the tree as well. Everytime we go, there is always either a sculpture made out of money bills or intricately folded money on their trees. One of his workers made these cool decorations.

This one was really pretty!

Same with this one!

The City Heighs bus station on the I-15 and University Ave overpass...

My last visit to Que Huong was back in December 2010 (links to the April 2010 post included as well).

So that was our awesome lunch!  We would have more Vietnamese food later for dinner...