Around the World in a Sunday

Chinatown
Empress Pavilion




Dim Sum is all about anticipation and there is no other dining experience like the hustle and bustle of a Dim Sum restaurant. First there is the one hour wait. Oh so hungry and now have to wait an hour which is almost unbearable because the cardinal rule for eating dim sum is to arrive hungry. Finally, after being seated and the pouring of fragrant jasmine tea, you spy a rattling cart heading your way. The cart is piled high with hot, steaming tins filled with surprises wrapped in dough. The woman pulls off the tops to reveal little dumplings of joy and a chicken foot or two. Oh yes, chicken feet. Almost all those tins reveal yummy morsels for the eating. The tricky part about eating dim sum is knowing when to stop piling tins on your table. Inevitably, I eat one too many shrimp har gow and have to be rolled out of the restaurant, but not today.

Italia
Pazzo Gelato
Sunset Blvd. and Hyperion




The great thing about ice creams in general is that no matter how full you are there is room for ice cream. Ice cream melts. It takes no room.
Me: Italian vanilla and pistachio
Hubby: Italian vanilla and espresso pistachio
Perfetto!

Espana
Dinner at home with friends Mitch & Joey

Tapas: The Little Dishes of Spain by Penelope Casas came in the mail last week and was the inspiration for our little dinner.



The Menu
Potato Tortilla
Asparagus with Brie
Toast with Ham, Arugula & Strawberry
Andouille sausage (not Spanish, but delicious)
Manchego
Olives
marcona almonds
Bread
Strawberries and Spanish truffle bar

Wines
Marques de la Concordia Crianza 2004 Rioja
Delicious and $10.99 at Whole Foods
Ponzi Tavola 2003 Pinot Noir
The Tavola 2005 Pinot was written up recently in the LA Times
Fabulous winery. Go to Oregon and drink up. It's worth every sip, I promise.

Clean up was a snap after three bottles of wine along with good music.

Rhymes with Orange

This past Tuesday I got the chance to go to American Idol. My good friend Annette is always on some email list regarding AI. We have gone to past result shows together, but this was our first singing show. I was very excited to see all the Idols perform.

In preparation for the show I made a poster. My poster was in response to a poster last week that stated, "Sanjaya is my Papaya."

My poster:



My logic: Nothing rhymes with orange and therefore Melinda is a one of a kind.

Alas, they did not show my poster on TV. And I whooped and hollered and acted a fool while holding my poster proudly over my head during the show. All to no avail. I looked carefully with the assistance of Tivo and my poster and shenanigans did not make the cut. Plus during the commercial breaks on the show the warm-up comedian dude goes around and reads all the posters and riffs about them. He came by me twice but did not mention my poster, to which I could only conclude that he didn't get it. I guess I am too, what? Literate or literary for the AI crowd? Or just Craaazy. I thought I was clever and the art work, well. The navel in the orange is a rhinestone and I mixed micro-glitter into my paint. It was sparkle poster craftiness.

Sadly, aside from my art work not being properly displayed or understood, Sanjaya the papaya was sent home on Wednesday. That Papaya is a cute boy. Totally cut out for Tiger Beat. He just needs one Da Doo Run Run Hit and he is destined for a VH1 "Where are They Now" show in twenty years. Good Luck Sanjaya. Hope to see you soon on the Disney channel.

The first image is from a nothing rhymes with orange t-shirt.
http://threadless.com/product/462/Nothing_Rhymes_With_Orange
Funny t-shirt.

Thanks Annette for taking to me Idol!