Put a fork in me...

Juicy Couture Sweater, Kain Tee, Genetic Jeans, Uggs. Charm Rings

December is always hectic for me so I didn't have any time to do my shopping early. I broke down today and went to the mall today to finish it all up. As a teen, I used to be able to spend hours and hours in a mall scouring Contempo Casuals and Bebe. Now, after stepping into one, I immediately get a headache. The only saving grace for me is Panda Express in the food court. I don't eat fast food that often, but the chow mein always tempts me. The noodles are thin and are perfectly chewy. To reward my long day, I bought a large order and scarfed it down as soon as I got home. (That's a lie, I actually ate half the box in the car on the way home. Not recommeded. It's dangerous and I dropped noodles in between my car seat.)

Cuddle time with my dog Stella.

Meals on Wheels

 

I made one of my favorite Korean dishes last night, Kimbap, which is basically a cooked sushi roll. I have fond memories of sitting at the kitchen table with my Mom, making roll after roll when our church was having a potluck lunch. There are a few different ingredient variations you can play around with depending on what kind of meat you want to use. (Ground beef, steak, crab, fish cakes...)

I decided to use steak which I cut into strips and marinated for a couple of hours in sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic before grilling. Egg omelette cut into strips, julienned sauteed carrots, blanched spinach and sweet pickled daikon radish. (You can get the pickled daikon radish at various asian markets. If you can't find it, pickled Japanese ginger might be a good substitute.

 

Spread the rice on 3/4 of the roasted seaweed and layer the ingredients in a row. Use a bamboo mat to roll up into a sushi roll.

Created a little "Korean" bento box lunch for some lucky friends. Strawberry pocky snacks for dessert.

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts

Now that things are calming down and I'm done with all my sample sales, I decided that it was time for a Christmas party for my staff. We went to the new Trader Vic's downtown at LA Live for a celebration of great food and drinking out of coconuts.

The drinks are soooo good and I requested my caipirinha to be served in a coconut. I loved them so much, I bought two coconuts for everyone to take home!

Wrapping up gifts...this year, my staff are getting a swarovski necklace, three charm rings, and a bottle of wine. The rings look amazing stacked together.