This year, I didn't have much money (or time) and desperately had to scrounge. Last minute planning is always a major no-no but I didn't have any other choice. My plans were to decorate my room with x-mas lights while having a table-clothed table set up in the middle. We were to eat by candlelight while listening to romantic music followed by dessert and a good movie. Oh, and then of course, I was to have flowers and a gift all prepared for Jenna. Alas, here's how things went down:
-couldn't find x-mas lights to hang up in my room
-couldn't find that 'perfect' gift to give her
-bought the flowers but she saw them when she got to my apartment (b/c i forgot to hide them)
-we ate the desert BEFORE dinner! :)
-and there was no movie because we were too tired from eating ... and the champagne.
Haha, but all was not bad. In fact, Valentines day was splendid; for the sole reason that we got to spend it with each other. We woke up Sunday and I proceeded to make Jenna breakfast in bed. After breakfast, we casually browsed the shops in Old Pasadena. Later, we stopped by a bakery and gobbled down some mochi that was meant for desert. For dinner, we teamed together to whip up 2 FULL platters of sushi and for the icing on the cake, Jenna made me heart-shaped coconutty cupcakes (ironically, with no icing).
Here's breakfast. A turkey, spinach, onion, cheddar omelet with sliced oranges and apples. It was all I had.
This probably would have been better.
So we decided that our Valentines Day tradition would be to make as many sushi rolls as we could. Buying the fish and other Asian necessities is easy living in Alhambra and once again we managed to make way too much food. We went to this small mom and pop store that I found on Yelp and bought $25 worth of Hamachi, Salmon, Krab, Eel, sesame seeds, cucumber, wasabi and sprouts. We had to go to Ralphs to buy avocados and seaweed sheets.
Although we thought we bought less than last year, we still managed to end up with 7 gigantic rolls; each with their own personality and flavor. We TRIED imitating the masterful flower roll from Edomasa but it lacked a certain... creaminess and pazazz. No worries, we had fish and plenty of it.
Jenna mixing up the diced Krab.
The green portions of our sushi. We grilled asparagus for our flower roll but I think it needed to be cooked more.
The fish was delish.
Here was our final spread. Tons and tons of rolls (just like my belly).
It was much easier to make them seaweed side out but it looks cooler when the rice is on the outside.
Jenna's rolls were beautiful and delicious.
Way toooo much sushi.
Lastly, even though I didn't need it because I'm fat, we decided to make coconut cupcakes. I only had these stupid heart shaped cupcake molds so we decided to use them... Horrible mistake. You'll see...
Maybe we didn't butter the molds enough but the cupcakes just disintegrated when we tried taking them out. Still tasted wonderful though.
Here's the stupid heart mold that didn't work. Its made of flimsy silicone which is supposed to make it easier for removal.
Anyways, we went with the big dish and it worked well as a cake. There is a funny story here but I won't retell unless asked.
Overall, V-day was far from D-day. I loved spending my time with Jenna and especially making food. We are our best when food and eating is involved. This may be the 7th Valentines day that has passed in our relationship, but we've only just been together on 2 of those actual days. The years to come will only get better, as we upgrade our sushi skills and somehow move closer and closer to each other (both figuratively and literally).
Happy Valentines Day Jenna. I love you and had an awesome weekend!
No comments:
Post a Comment