Mammoth!

Top of Mammoth where the gondola drops off

I love weekday skiing, snow is great and no crowds!

Calbi BBQ Truck - Pretty Bad

I was on my way to Nijiya Market to pick up some groceries when I saw the Calbi BBQ truck parked across the street on Sawtelle.  I decided to give it a shot since it was 2pm and I hadn't had lunch yet; I was totally famished.  I ordered the beef taco and the pork taco for 1.99 each.  I thought both were pretty bad; my biggest complaint was the quality of the meat.  Pretty much taco place I've tried, from Tacos Por Favor to Kogi BBQ, has had significantly better quality of meat; this truly tasted like thinly shaved end scraps of not very high quality meat to begin with.  The meat also had no real flavor; tasted like boiled or microwaved meat doused with some sauce.  It truly made me appreciate Kogi, where you can tell that the meat has been carefully marinated, and grilled / cooked in a way to add even more flavor.  Calbi added cheese on the taco, which Kogi does not do.  Normally I love cheese, but this was again low quality, dry flavorless institutional quality shredded cheese which really added nothing to the taco.  It was really a disappointment and I certainly won't be returning.

Winter Roasts

It may be 80 degrees out there, but it's still winter to me.  Next to hearty stews, I really like simple roasted dishes for dinner in the winter.  Roasting allows the natural flavors of the seasonal fresh farmer's market vegetables and meats to really shine, plus I like using the oven to heat up our usually chilly house.  Our go-to roasted medley of farmer's market vegetables include parsnips (a new favorite), fingerling potatoes, and brussell sprouts.  I season it very simply with salt, pepper, herbes de provence, olive oil and roast at 375 degrees (in a convection oven, 400 degrees in a regular oven) for about 30-40 minutes until the vegetables are tender.  This particular medley is my favorite as the vegetables need about the same cooking time, and there's a nice combination of flavors and textures.  Try to arrange the veggies in one layer, or else they will steam and get a bit mushy if they are piled upon one another.  We get fresh chicken legs from a guy in downtown LA.  We marinate it simply for a few hours or overnight in some garlic salt and rice wine, and occasionally some lemon and orange slices.  We roast it at 375 degrees (in a convection oven) for about 45 minutes until done, with the last 5 minutes under the broiler so that the skin gets nice and crispy.  When the chicken is done, we spread on yuzu paste for some spicy citrusy goodness and then tent it for 5-10 minutes.  In this case, we roasted the chicken on the rack above the vegetables so that the chicken drippings would drip onto the roasting vegetables for some extra flavor, but it's not necessary.

It's interesting how not being a member of a gym can be so de-motivating.  Ever since the Equinox challenge ended two weeks ago, I have only gone to one yoga class and went running outside once (albeit a solid 4 mile run).  I've been really tired and even caught a cold for the first time in a long time; I blame the lack of exercise.  I need to get going before the holidays really kick into full gear.

Orecchiette with Collard Greens and Tomatoes

For some reason, we seem to eat more pasta during the winter.  I think I generally crave carbs as the weather gets cold; it's straight up comfort food served alongside some nice warm tomato soup.  I bought some collard greens at the farmer's market two weeks ago and while they've lasted longer than regular greens, I needed to use them up before they went yellow.  This week, I came across the excellent Molto Mario basic pasta episode where he made orecchiette with broccoli rabe, and decided to substitute collard greens for broccoli rabe and otherwise followed his recipe exactly.  Babbo and Lupa's orecchiette with sausage and broccoli rabe tops my list of all-time favorite dishes, and this was a similar version, just without the sausage  and the addition of a little tomato sauce.  It was really quick to prep and make (~20 mins) good and relatively healthy, although just a touch bland.  I do like the hearty texture of the collard greens and as long as you are generous with the freshly grated parmigiano reggiano, it's hard hard to go wrong.  Add some hot italian sausage and it's in a whole other league.

Perfect Winter Drink: Boubon Cider

Even though it's 70 degrees here while the rest of the country is being pummeled by snow and the cold, I'm still in the winter mood, and we've been drinking a lot of warm bourbon cider drinks.  I just heat up some Trader Joe's Pear Cinnamon Cider in a saucepan on a stove, fill a glass about 1/5-1/4 of the way with bourbon and fill the remainder of the glass with the heated up cider, and stir.  The spices, sweetness and heat of the cider mixes so well with the deep bourbon.

Time for New Sunglasses

I'm in the mood for new sunglasses and have been obsessed with the Lanvin x H&M sunglasses, especially at their original price of $19.99.  Of course they sold out immediately at launch and no one has returned them to the stores, while on ebay, they are selling for $150+ which is just ridiculous for a pair of $19.99 sunglasses. I decided to do some research online to see if there were any similar styles, perhaps higher quality, for reasonable prices.  I found out that the Lanvin x H&M sunglasses were most similar in style to the Lanvin Way Shiner (long since sold out) and Grey Ant Status sunglasses, which at $200+, were way over my budget for somewhat trendy glasses.

Grey Ant Status

Lanvin Way Shiner: ooh, crystals...

I ended up ordering two pairs online, the Carrie Sunglasses in tortoiseshell from Fred Flare (only $11, even cheaper than Lanvin x H&M, and free shipping with the coupon code "poppy"), and the Sabre Poolside LTD in matte black from Zappos for $74.25.  It was my first time ordering from Zappos; I called them after I placed my order and they upgraded my account to VIP, which means free overnight shipping.  Great customer service from Zappos! Unfortunately the Sabre Poolside LTD order was placed before the VIP upgrade, which means I'll just have to be patient.  Who knows, they could all look ridiculous on my face, but I'll update this post with reviews of both sunglasses when I receive them next week, can't wait! (See updates at bottom of post, nay on the Sabres)

Sabre Poolside LTD

Fred Flare Carrie Sunglasses

The other pair of sunglasses that I've been debating are the Ray-Ban Wayfarer High Street / Round in black.  I think I'll pass; I don't really want to spend over $100 on a new pair of sunglasses.

Update (12/17/10): not a fan of the Sabre glasses, blech.  Way too long on the face. I like the Fred Flare Carrie Sunglasses though! They are huge on my face, which is the intended effect, and decent quality.  It's a little dark when I wear them indoors, not as good as my more expensive sunglasses, but the materials seem sturdy.

I also found these sunglasses online below which look pretty similar to the Lanvin and Grey Ant.  At $15 with an online coupon code, they were worth a shot; hope the quality is decent.  I hate cheap sunglasses which are difficult to see out of, particular in low light.  Update: the bleudame sunglasses arrived today and they are fun! The brand is Kiss Sunglasses and the quality is ok, I've seen worse.  They are a little dark indoors and I prefer not to wear them while driving, but otherwise I'm really happy with them! Unfortunately the style that I purchased is currently sold out, but the other style, 2521 is still in stock.  2521 is a little lighter on the bottom, similar to the Lanvin Way Shiners.  I think the Fred Flare sunglass lenses are a bit better quality, but I think this style is so fun (and over the top).

Maha Yoga: Strange

After today's Santa Monica Farmer's Market (nothing new to report, just bought salad greens and a bunch of winter vegetables to roast, including more sweet parsnips, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, fingerling potatoes), J. and I finally tried Maha Yoga right next to the Brentwood Country Mart thanks to some free passes from Lululemon's gift of yoga.  I've heard that Maha is most similar to Yogahop, my regular studio, with yoga classes set to pop music.  It was very similar, in terms of the sequence of poses and music, but everything felt strange and a little off.  The instructor didn't have a microphone so would have to shout over the loud music, and even then, it was still hard to understand the instructor.  It made for a rather jarring and strained class, plus the rest of students were a bit odd and distracting, making random sounds, talking a lot during class and bouncing in their poses.  The class was packed and the room strangely shaped and not very well-ventilated.  I'm glad I was able to try it for free and I wished I liked it more since it's so convenient to my place, but unfortunately it's just not the right studio for me.