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Day 62: Three Fresh Things

Fresh Off The Boat

Fresh Off The Boat

1. I missed last week’s Fresh Off The Boat due to a previous commitment, but tonight my wife and I weren’t going to miss our favorite television family. It was another hilarious episode, with so many highlights: Eddie suffering the indignity of having his neighbor babysit him as he goes overboard on the sriracha, Jessica’s quotes from Caddyshack, Louis’ Coming-to-America-like McDowell’s move, Eddie’s dream sequence, the billboard, and “Buffalo Things.”

2. The only complaint I have so far about the show? The entire season isn’t on Netflix so I can binge-watch to my heart’s content.

3. There’s a Spotify playlist of the show and there’s plenty from the Golden Age of hip hop. Listen here for your dose of 90s music (Warning: some NSFW language).

4. I know I said three things, so consider this a bonus: A must-watch after each episode is Fresh Off The Show, hosted by Phil Yu and Jenny Wang. It’s a live recap of the show and it’s funny and informative. Check their twitter accounts on Tuesdays for the link to the live feed on youtube.

Day 61: Reading Through My Earbuds

World War Z audiobook

World War Z audiobook

After writing about a few of the podcasts I enjoy while commuting or working out, I added a few audiobooks to my phone for future listening. The first, World War Z, was excellent and you can read my review of it here.  As I noted in my review, it was vastly superior to the Brad Pitt movie that barely registered a “meh” with me. Having a large all-star voice cast definitely made the audiobook experience a pleasant one.

So pleasant, in fact, that after I finished it, I immediately borrowed David Sedaris’ Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls from my local digital library. Having read most of Sedaris’ books, this is my first audio version of his work and it’s been terrific so far. The subject matter is familiar (a collection of essays on various subjects, told through the author’s unique point of view), but the fact that Sedaris reads it himself makes this a must-listen; he’s an outstanding storyteller. I was fortunate to attend his performance in Santa Barbara last year and I’d see him again in a heartbeat.

For now, I’ll settle for reading his latest book through my earbuds.

Day 60: Bradbury Building

The Bradbury Building

The Bradbury Building

Pictured above is one of the coolest buildings in Southern California: the Bradbury Building. It’s easy to miss as you’re admiring the architecture in this part of Los Angeles (read my Yelp review here). I love stopping here whenever I’m downtown; it’s free to gawk and take photos, but you can’t go past the second floor or ride the elevators. Movie fans will recognize the interior from Blade Runner and 500 Days of Summer.

Many moons ago I worked nearby and it’s nice seeing how they’ve revitalized the area; downtown is much cleaner and hipper these days. My favorite thing about the Bradbury Building? It’s right across the street from the Grand Central Market, where you’ll find a bevy of culinary treats, including the amazing carnitas at Las Morelianas.

Trust me on this one: checking out a historical landmark and and chowing down on pork tacos is an excellent way to spend a day date with your significant other.

Day 59: Pancit Molo

Pancit Molo

Pancit Molo

My first attempt at pancit molo (Filipino wonton soup) was a success, thanks my wife’s copy of The Adobo Road Cookbook by Marvin Gapultos. Hardcore food truck fans might recognize the author’s name: he was the founder of Southern California’s first Filipino food truck, The Manila Machine. For those lucky enough to have eaten there, The Manila Machine served wonderful versions of Filipino favorites like adobo, sisig, lumpia, and more. I’ll never forget their delicious sliders (on pan de sal, of course) and ube cupcakes.  Sadly, the truck is long gone, but this cookbook does have a few of its recipes; I can’t wait to make the sisig using pork belly, among dozens of others.

The recent rains put me in the mood for soup. I had planned on making sinigang na baboy, but we had it earlier in the week at one of our favorite Filipino eateries. I love my mother-in-law’s pancit molo and after a quick search in Gapultos’ cookbook, I found the recipe.

It wasn’t a difficult recipe to follow; it was labor-intensive yet strangely relaxing. In fact, I learned that making dozens and dozens of dumplings was a nice way to spend a rainy late afternoon. The soup and the dumplings were delicious and, more importantly, they passed the does-my-wife-like-it taste test. And since I used more shrimp, ginger, and patis than the recipe called for, I decided there was only one name for my version of pancit molo: Pancit YOLO.

Lots of labor required for the dumplings, but totally worth it.

Lots of labor required for the dumplings, but totally worth it.

Day 58: Live Long and Prosper

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy

Leonard Nimoy passed away this morning. I loved Star Trek as a kid, especially Mr. Spock, and watched the reruns on Channel 13 in Los Angeles. My dad introduced me to the series and he owned a few of the wonderful Fotonovels, which were pseudo-graphic-novels featuring stills from an episode with captions and text superimposed over them. Since this was before our home had a Betamax or VHS, it was my only way of enjoying Star Trek On Demand.

I’m sad as I read all of the tributes and remembrances of Mr. Nimoy on social media, but I’m happy that he lived long and prospered: he seemed to be well-loved by all.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Nimoy.

Day 56: Healthy Hump Day

Fettucine Cauliflower Alfredo

Fettucine Cauliflower Alfredo

As much as I loved last night’s abundance of pork-based Filipino dishes, tonight my wife and I got back to our healthier eating. She made her excellent cauliflower alfredo sauce with fettucine and baked green beens. It’s a simple meal and I’ve been surprised how much I enjoy the cauliflower dishes she’s made (my other favorite being her mashed cauliflower “potatoes”). As for the greens beans, I’m a big fan of garlic and slivered almonds, which certainly weren’t lacking in this dish.

The only problem with tonight’s dinner? No leftovers.

Day 55: Family Celebration

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Gaviola family favorite Salo-Salo Grill was the site of another celebration tonight. Whenever we get together here, we tend to order too much food. It’s consistently excellent Filipino food, served in abundant portions. I call it The Place Where Diets Go To Die.

Clarissa Wei, one of my favorite food bloggers, recently posted this guide to Filipino food in Los Angeles. There are  some great spots listed; I’ve been to a few of them and others were new to me. I would’ve loved to have seen Salo-Salo on there, but it’s still a solid list. Newbies to Filipino food should start with her article; better yet, I’d point them to one of the Filipino-American restaurant icons of L.A.: Bernie’s Teriyaki.

Bernie’s has been serving inexpensive plates of Filipino barbecue for decades in the same location. Yes, the name suggests Japanese food, but that taste is undeniably Filipino. In fact, I prefer Bernie’s over Grill City, which was one of the places in Wei’s article. Unlike Grill City, Bernie’s doesn’t overdo it with the barbecue sauce and glaze; it’s a more subtle taste and there’s less fat on their pork sticks, which sets them apart from most Filipino barbecue.

In my family, we’re on generation three of the Bernie’s fan club.  The menu isn’t as Filipino-heavy or authentic as Salo-Salo’s menu, but those barbecue plates are deeply satisfying and inexpensive to boot. The location is ideal during baseball season: you can pick up a plate to go before making the short trek to Dodger Stadium.

Day 54: Pug Life

Bruno the pug.

Bruno the pug.

It’s been raining the last two days and even though it’s good for us Southern California residents, I get antsy when I can’t go outside to exercise. I haven’t had a gym membership in years and I prefer it that way. I do miss lifting weights sometimes, but my modes of exercise these days consists of walking, running, or riding my bike. Does playing one of the Dance Central or Just Dance video games count as exercise?

My buddy Bruno (pictured above) is ready for the rain to stop, too. He’s not a video game fan, but he does miss going out to the park for his dose of exercise.

Day 53: World Record

World Record for Largest Beer Tasting.

World Record for Largest Beer Tasting.

One year ago today, my wife and I helped set the Guinness World Record for Largest Beer Tasting. Yelp hosted the event at Santa Anita Park, the historic racetrack in Arcadia, CA. To set the record, 490 people blind tasted three different beers. My wife isn’t much of a beer drinker and didn’t care for two of the beers, but she liked the Shock Top Wheat Chocolate Stout beer. I liked them all, of course.

Alas, fame is fleeting: our record was broken at the end of last year. It’d be great if we could get another crack at the title. Until that happens, we’ll have fun referring to ourselves as former world record holders … and we’ll always have the glassware to prove it (as seen above).