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I am moving!
Setting up the new blog...

Coming Back Soon

For the past six or seven weeks, I have not posted anything on the blog! Does this mean that I was tormented by the dorm food only? No, in fact I have had too many good meals, some in Potesky and some in Washington DC, as well as at my regular, Linnea's(my host family!).

However lots of homework and slow internet did not help very much, and therefore I had to wait- longer than I have expected. But finally this weekend I will have less work(hopefully) than usual and faster internet, so there will be a massive amount of postings...

Host Family : Late January

Well, I have to admit that I have been lazy for the past week or two. I am finally uploading the birthday dinner for Rick, couple breakfasts, and the superbowl comfort food:

Rick requested veal chops with wine and tarragon, a Julia Child recipe.

Rick says that this is one of his favorite meals; twenty some years ago Linnea cooked it for him and though this night's meal was very good, they say they weren't quite able to totally replicate the recipe the way they did that time-

Also Rick's request: Mocha cake with icecream/mousse layer

So one morning Rick was fixing breakfast:

Good bacon

Now everytime I smell sauteed mushroom and enjoy the taste and texture, I wonder why in the world I never touched mushroom four years ago.

So here it is, with Chihuahua Cheese I love

Another day, waffle by Linnea

And here is our superbowl dinner:

Linnea says this was not a recipe based; pork with tomatillo sauce and some "mexican rice." As we were watching the super bowl, this was the comfort food of the day.

Dessert: Three Layer Chocolate Mousse

BAC: Bloomfield Hills, MI 01/30/08

My host family invited me to a dinner at BAC(Birmingham Athletic Club); they basically know almost everybody here, I feel! I remember that I did not like the September 2007 Buffet that much, but the regular dinner today was good.

Burma Scallop Stir Fry

Sesame seared sea scallops with stir fried vegetables, little bit of spicy peanut sauce(not too strong peanut flavor) and jasmine rice. The scallops were plump and nice, and the sauce had enough and good flavor to go with them. A satisfactory dish!

Salmon "Great Outdoors"

Salmon mignon with sweet potato, onion and sage "hash." Linnea was happy with this salmon; I liked it too, though I've had better(this reminds me of "Liar Liar.")

Steak Sandwich with Brioche

Lizz substitued mozzarella for Blue Cheese. The steak here is pretty good! The fries were good too- well, you shouldn't be going wrong by choosing steak and fries at a club.

Turkey in Two Ways

Turkey tenderloin with cranberry glaze and turkey confit with barley pilaf. I never tried turkey confit before, and I personally would stick to the more common duck confit, though it was interesting. The turkey tenderloin was ordinary as well, but overall good, just not too special.

I would say my scallop dish was the best. Others were good too, more typical than impressive but still tasting good! And after all, not many people go to clubs expecting something exotic; they want a classic favorite.

New Bangkok: Birmingham, MI 01/2008 -2-

So this month I am visiting New Bangkok quite often, for it is my "Thai Food Season," and the food here became my ultimate comfort food; two people went for a very early (around 5pm) weekday dinner.

Pad See Ew with Chicken

Wider noodles with slightly sweet, thickened soy sauce. Quite simple with just broccoli and eggs, and beansprouts on top. This is nice when you don't like Pad Thai's sweet and sourness-tamarind-a little lighter flavor compared to rather similar drunken noodles. One of the dish that you don't have to "dare" to try.

New Bangkok Duck

The most expensive thing on the menu here($14.99): barbequed duck(half) with roasted vegetables and brown sauce. The "brown sauce" is different in each and this one is rather thick and rich compared to some other mild ones, but not too gingery or garlicky either. The sauce is nice and the duck goes well with it; the only problem is that you need to be careful with bones. It would be nice if the duck were cut in a nicer format.

The duck is good though, with a pretty nice texture on the peels and good sauce. Pad See Ew is also a decent choice; and guess what, you still have left overs due to the generous amount. This was a nice meal, and my only dismay would be the bones I occasionally bit while eating the duck.

This was another day, perhaps a week ago, three people:

Chicken Satay $6.50

The satay was a little saltier than what I remembered but the chicken is tender and sauce is not too sweet-unlike some other places I tried. It was a little bit of disappointment in that it was not as good as I remembered, but perhaps the only thing they should do is to hold the salt a little.

Pla Jien $13

Golden-fried fish fillet with ginger brown sauce, shrimp, thin pieces of pork, black mushrooms, and carrots. This is worth a try if you are a fish lover, but otherwise not too impressive. It was okay, but some ginger bites got in the way instead of being infused in the sauce.

Pad Cashew with Beef

One of the few dishes I prefer mild, so we ordered that way. This dish was better with chicken, unlike other Bangkok specialties with "brown sauce," though this one was okay.

So I tried everything on the curry section, noodle section, fried rice section, duck section, almost of the bangkok specialties(though not all are represented on this blog). Some others I have yet to try. Some I simply carry out for dinner:

Thai Drunken Noodles

Getting its name from the Thai Brandy ingredient, this wide noodle with broccoli, eggs and bell peppers has spicy and rather rich flavor compared to many other noodles. It was a yummy carry out-

PREVIOUS NEW BANGKOK:

Thai Almond Chicken, Shrimp and Scallops with Garlic Brown Sauce 01/2008

Nam Mun Hoy, Pad Kana, Sie Sa Hai(Seafood Curry) 09/2007

Fried Rice, Green Curry, Pad Thai, Pad Cashew, Potato Curry 05/11/07

California Pizza Kitchen: Troy, MI 01/23/08

Avocado Club Egg Rolls

This was one of the things I wanted to try at California Pizza Kitchen; since I am not a big fan of "pizza," I paid more attention to the appetizers and such. This had little pieces of chicken, tomato, Monterey Jack Cheese, bacon bits and of course avocado fried in a wonton roll, and served with ranchito and herb ranch sauce. I prefered the ranchito sauce with a little more spice to it, though both are basically slightly different ranch dressing. For some reason the avocado did not blend in too well-as in the case of the pizza to be mentioned later on-though I liked it overall.

Adobe Chicken Chowder

A thick soup with texture and a bit of spicyness. There are chunks of chicken and the tortilla chips on top are crispy: also are the corn, rice, green chilies and onions. Though not my favorite kind of soup, pretty good.

California Club Pizza

Lizz's favorite, she says. Though I got a little worried about avocado, aka "king of calories" among some Asian women, this was good; in fact even without avocado, though it looks rather nice on top. The main ingredients are chicken, tomato, bacon pieces and mayo lettuce. Interesting: for me the lettuce did the job. It's not very "pizza-like," but isn't it why people like this place?

So the bill for two was about $30 excluding tip. Located in Somerset Mall, a nice casual dining place with interesting stuff to try: usually packed and requires waiting during lunch times, especially during weekends, of course.