Fried Onion Strings

After eating Fried Onion Strings at Gus's BBQ - South Pasadena, I was reminded that I never blogged my recipe. Just one of those basic recipes that slipped through the cracks because it wasn't anything particularly special. Then again, the last time I made this, my cousin's cousin's kids were over and they gobbled up all of the fried onion strings.

They make a great snack, dipped in either ketchup or ranch dressing, or as a garnish atop steak. Eat them fast though because they don't keep well and get soggy quickly.

Ready for some vintage photos from March 2008? Of course I had to make these again for a newer and better photo, but the rest of this set, let's just say I'm glad my photography has improved. They still tasted just as good before though!

If you've made my Southern Fried Chicken, then you can make this.

Gus's Barbecue - South Pasadena

I've eaten at Gus's Barbecue in South Pasadena four times over the past few years so I figured it was about time to finally blog it. The first visit was back in July 2010. Actually, it was on Independence Day. No one around me was throwing a barbecue that year, and you can't have a Fourth of July without barbecue! So my brother asked if I wanted to check out Gus's with him and his wife.

The atmosphere is pretty classic American. Red stools at the counter. Scenes of old South Pasadena on the walls. We sat at a booth in the far back.

Subway's Creamy Sriracha Sauce

I haven't done a "fun food" post in a while. Tipped off by Cousin Q's post about Subway testing a creamy Sriracha sauce in some markets, I hit up my local Subway to check it out. I got a six-inch Cold Cut Combo on honey oat wheat with everything and two drizzles of the creamy Sriracha sauce.

Here, I'll open the sandwich so you can see. It's a bright orange color, which led me to wonder if the "creamy" part was achieved by watering down Sriracha sauce with mayonnaise?

Sea Bass with Mushroom, Cabbage, and Zucchini Stir-Fry

After cooking the filet mignon, I received as a sample via one of my advertisers, Foodie Blogroll, courtesy of Certified Steak and Seafood Company, in a French Red Wine Shallot Sauce, I was eager to come up with a recipe for the sea bass. Since the beef was so fresh, I figured the fish would be too so I didn't want to cook anything that would disguise its flavor. I simply pan-fried the sea bass and served it with a stir-fry. The fish was so juicy and flavorful that I made it again the next night. Nothing fancy, but a tasty, healthy, and quick dinner.

How to Sew Cake Bunting

I sewed bunting for my nephew's knight-themed birthday party to give the cake a more tournament-like festive flair. Since the knight figurines were blue and red, those were the two obvious colors. I chose a white fabric with red and pink strawberries and turquoise with white daisies. Then I settled on a gray calico fabric to complement the gray armor.

Not much to it. I cut out a test size on a piece of paper, then cut out a dozen flags, sewed them onto cheery red thread, and tied the bunting to skewers.

The bunting was a hit! Such a simple thing to add a little special touch.

How to Dye Coconut Flakes

This is a quick and easy post in case you didn't know how to dye coconut flakes for topping cakes and other desserts.

I started out by adding a few drops of food coloring to a bag of shredded coconut flakes.

A Knight-Themed Party and Vietnamese First Birthday Traditions

The morning I got back from my trip to Portland, lil' sis picked me up from the airport and we went immediately to the grocery store to buy ingredients to make my nephew's birthday cake. When my brother initially sent out the birthday evite, he jokingly referred to the baby as "Sir," so lil' sis and I decided to go with it as the theme. After a bit of brainstorming, I decided to make a lime cake dusted with coconut flakes. I made a little castle tower with leftover black sesame buttercream frosting that I had frozen from the niece's Totoro birthday cake. Bought some knights and dragon figurines and positioned them like they were fighting. And lastly, added cake bunting so it would look like a tournament.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop (SW 6th Ave.) - Portland - Oregon

My dad's been down in SoCal for the past few weeks working on the house so I thought I'd go home and and surprise my mom. A few days before, one of my childhood friends checked into Potbelly Sandwich Shop on Facebook. What?! There's a Potbelly now in Oregon?! I was all over that.

A few years ago when I was in Washington, D.C. and stumbled upon a Potbelly, I literally jumped for joy. Mmm. A Wreck with extra peppers. One of the things I missed about living in Chicago and in which I indulged in regularly the summer I lived in Madison, Wisconsin. It's pretty funny to see the Yelp page littered with Midwest transplants all waxing nostalgic too.

But first, there was pie. Mmm. Pie.