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My favorite blue pitcher,that sometimes doubles as a vase, is broken. :( A casualty of cousin A's bridal shower. Her new husband accidentally tripped over a hose and broke my other two pitchers as well. Those I was fine with, everything else that was borrowed could've shattered and I wouldn't have cared, but this was one of my very favorite kitchen items.

It was from Target's Global Bazaar Scandinavian collection, which I've only ever seen that one time when I was in Oregon visiting my parents. I think only another bargain hunter, or nester, can appreciate what it's like when you spot that perfect item that you instantly love that will go perfectly in your home.

I remember a long time ago when I was a kid and opened a cabinet up high. A bunch of dishes fell out, crashing onto the kitchen floor. I was petrified my mom would be so mad at me. But she just checked to make sure I wasn't hurt, and then swept up the shards. No recriminations. *Sigh.* I know they're just things, and things don't matter as much as people as my mom taught me long ago, but I still mourn my lovely blue pitcher just the same.

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Busy, busy month! My Octobers are always like that though. A while back, lil' sis told me to save October 6 for my birthday surprise. But that's not my birthday, doesn't she know me at all? :(

She wouldn't tell me what it was, but told me to dress nice, ie. no flip-flops. That Wednesday, she drove up right after work and surprised me with tickets to "Phantom of the Opera" at the Pantages Theatre. Aww, how nice!

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The spread at my oldest uncle's house last night for my ong noi's dam gio (Vietnamese paternal grandfather's death anniversary). (Although, technically my ong noi is Chinese. :P)

I'm rather exhausted so I don't really have much to say for this month. Just my usual spiel about trying to catch up on the blog and life in general.

I have two giveaways that I'd like to point out though.

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The first day of August started off so great. I was inordinately happy that morning, for reasons I won't get into on the blog. Won a bet against Gourmet Pigs so she treated me to a very nice brunch at Taste. Crab cakes eggs Benedict! Stopped off at Scoops - Los Angeles for a couple of pints of gelato to-go (jasmine pistachio, brown bread, Guinness coffee, corn) for sister-in-law's birthday and to visit with Tiberia, who giggled uproariously when I played "Peek-a-Boo" with her.

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What does the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Sumi represent?




That I recently met the lovely JS and TS of Eating Club Vancouver!

Thanks ladies for the cute souvenir, but the best gift was meeting you two! It's funny to meet blog friends in person. I know most of their likes and dislikes when it comes to food, but I didn't know simple details like what they do for a living. I love it when people turn out just as awesome in real life as they are on their blogs.

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Congratulations to the two '88s and lil' sis who graduated from college this month! The youngest cousin graduated from high school too. I feel so old. I remember when they were all babies!

After the older '88's graduation, we went out for Korean barbecue at Seol Ak San - Stanton. It was my parents' and her parents' first time eating Korean barbecue and they quite liked it, especially the variety of panchan (Korean side dishes) and the kimchee fried rice at the end.

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What's up? says my adorable little niece. :)

I smile every time I look at this picture. She's soooo cuuute!

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The month started off with my ba noi (Vietnamese paternal grandmother)'s death anniversary.




My ong co (Vietnamese great-grandfather), ba noi's father's, death anniversary back in February.

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Not much going on the blog this month. Was busy with my parents in town. Then got the sniffles so visits to snuggle with my new niece have been curtailed for the time being. :(

Isn't she darling?

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Earlier this week, it was announced that my cousin, Phong Hong was a finalist in the Oscars Designer Challenge 2010. If he wins, the "trophy girl" will be wearing his design to present one of the Oscar statues to one of the winners at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.

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Gosh! Has it been five months since I started my open question period? Crazy! How come time goes by so quickly?!

This photo hasn't been doctored in any way. The gloaming yesterday really was that gorgeous. A few minutes after I snapped some shots, the sky turned deep blue and then night.


Hmm. Let's see. In terms of announcements, I've been updating my lists so if you've wondered which recipes have been the most popular each year, they're now compiled on my "Recipes: Best of" page. Memorable dining out posts can be found on "Restaurants: Best of." 2009 entries will be added when I'm caught up.

I've slowly been adding thumbnail pictures to my Vietnamese Recipes page since that seems to be what people want. *Sigh.* Such a pain! I hope ya'll appreciate it!

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After Christmas eve happy hour at Kenny & Zuke's Delicatessen for pastrami cheeseburgers, pastrami on rye, and Reuben sandwiches, lil' sis, my four nephews, three of their friends, and I trekked over to Pioneer Courthouse Square in Portland, Oregon for some photos.


A Christmas tree had been installed in the center of the square and was all lit up for the holidays. As I snapped photos of the kids doing one goofy pose after another, I couldn't help but think of when they were little and how quickly time has gone by.

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Thanksgiving leftovers for breakfast or lunch are fine, even welcomed, but by dinner time, my taste buds want something new. So when my youngest aunt told me to come over for dinner, I happily went.

Oooh! Lau (Vietnamese hot pot)! Or more specifically, cu lao. According to my youngest aunt's husband, who hails from Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta, cu lao is named after the ringed brazier in which coal is placed in the middle of the hot pot. Although lau and cu lao might appear similar, cu lao is a dish that originated with the ethnic Chinese in the Mekong Delta and requires certain ingredients and presentation.


There is a layer of cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, and carrots underneath all that meat. There should be a mix of seafood and pork. There are king crab legs, my aunt's homemade shrimp balls, and squid. Dried squid was soaked for several days to soften and reconstitute before being sliced into diamond patterns and added to the pot. The pork includes sliced pork meat, hearts, and rinds. There should also be part of the pork stomach or intestine too, said my uncle.

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Pablo says, "Happy Halloween!" He'll be seven weeks old on Monday.


Photo courtesy of cousin Q's older brother's wife. 

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Angkor Thom: Victory Gate, Bayon Temple, Terrace of the Leper King, Terrace of the Elephants, Prasats Suor Prat, and Phimeanakas

If you're awaiting a response to a comment or email, I must apologize for taking so long to get back to you. I've been remiss in visiting my friends' blogs too. :(

As the blog grows and grows, it has become more time-consuming to update each post. More photos to sort through and organize before I even get to uploading and then blogging. I have to manually insert links to each restaurant or recipe into their respective categories afterward. Old recipes to edit and re-photograph. Content thieves and other stuff have just really bogged down my usual blogging habits. Aiyah! I'm such a whiner!

Then when I get emails or comments from people who clearly spent no time looking for that information themselves, I get annoyed and snarky. Oh, I so don't want to be mean on the blog. It's supposed to be my reprieve from the cold, cruel world! But dude!!! If you email me to ask how much I charge for shipping sausages and whether I have locations in the Bay Area, you clearly did not read! Why are you wasting my time, and yours even, to email me to ask, when if you spent one second to even look around, it's fairly clear that I do not sell sausages!!!