Deconstructed Dim Sum Dish

I had a craving for one of my favorite Dim Sum dishes this past week: Lo Mai Gai. The only problem was that my craving hit at dinner time. For those of you unfamiliar with Dim Sum, it is only served at Chinese restaurants during the breakfast/brunch/lunchtime hours.
I had almost all the ingredients that I needed to make this dish at home. The only other thing I needed was the lotus leaves. Why don't I just go out and buy some? Lotus leaves are usually sold dried and would require soaking at least overnight. Being impatient, I made a deconstructed version of Lo Mai Gai. I cooked the sticky rice in my rice cooker and the rest of the ingredients on the stove. Once everything was done, I mixed everything together and tada!

What's Better Than Ramen?

Like many students, I survived my college days by stocking up on ramen noodles ($$ I saved meant more $$ for drinking!) I would gussie up a bowl of ramen by adding eggs, veggies and whatever meat I could find for a well-balanced meal. Rachel Ray has that travel show called $40 a Day, well I could've hosted $5 a Day! However, I wouldn't be going on such exotic adventures. It would just be me digging through the cupboards and leftovers for ingredients to add to my ramen. Not as exciting.
Last time I went grocery shopping, I got a value pack of chicken thighs, napa cabbage, spinach, fish balls, shrimp balls, and package of dried scallop egg noodles (the thin kind). With the exception of the vegetables, everything could be stored either in the freezer or cupboards for a quick and easy noodle bowl.

Ghetto Fab Noodle Bowl (enough for 2 bowls of noodles)
1 chicken thigh ($0.50 from the family value pack that was on sale)
4 fish or shrimp balls (about $0.30)
napa cabbage or spinach (about $0.10)
2 bunches dried scallop egg noodles (about $0.40)
fish sauce or salt to taste (have on hand)

Boil chicken thigh and fish/shrimp balls until chicken is cooked all the way through. It helps to make cuts on the fish/shrimp balls to speed up the process. The chicken water will be the base for your broth. Add napa cabbage/spinach and noodles when the chicken is done cooking. Stir a little to loosen up the noodles. Shred the chicken and divide between two bowls. Season the broth with either fish sauce or salt. I personally prefer fish sauce, it adds more depth to the broth. I have Squid brand fish sauce, which is MSG free and all natural. Divide everything up between the two bowls. Not bad for $0.65 a meal, eh? A smidgen more than a pack of ramen, but ya gotta class it up and treat yourself once in a while.

The Westgate Hotel

Sorry about the text only post. I was at a training seminar which took place at the Westgate hotel in the Gaslamp District this past week. The interior decor of this place was very Victorian and elegant. Doormen were posted by the front door, wood baby grand piano in the lobby, chandeliers, mellow lighting. A very romantic setting, which made it very hard for me to stay awake during the training.
There was a spread of coffee, Tazo tea, juice, muffins, croissants, bagels (next to a toaster!), yogurt and fresh fruit set up outside of the conference room where the training took place. Though nothing fancy, the quality and presentation was top notch. That in itself made it feel like a luxurious spread.
As soon as I got to the conference room, one of my coworkers leaned over to me and told me that the coffee and muffins are to-die-for. I had quit drinking coffee, so I just got some orange juice and a muffin. Now, she has always been very much a tea guru and I was surprised to see her drinking coffee. It must have been very good because she had several cups of it. She was right, the muffin was deeelish. It was rather petite. The muffin top had a very nice crumbly texture in my mouth with out falling apart in my hands. It was very moist and light. I still dream of those muffins. One of my other coworkers was eating a flaky pastry that looked like a croissant with fruit filling. She was pleasantly surprised to find cream cheese in the filling.
The next day, I was blurry eyed and not quite awake and decided to have a croissant and fresh fruit with cranberry juice. After I poured the juice, I thought the color was a little off. A closer look at my glass, I discovered that it was tomato juice! I hate tomato juice. Don't like V8 or bloody Marys. But since I had already poured it out, I might as well suck it up and finish it. I took a little sip and to my surprise, it was really good! It wasn't too thick and tasted like fresh ripe tomatoes. I got up and refilled several times. The croissant had been lightly toasted and was nice and flaky. The fruit was extremely fresh and ripe. I couldn't get over how sweet the watermelon was.
During one of our lunch breaks, we wondered past a tea party! There was even a lady playing the harp.