Don Chow Tacos

Today for lunch I tried Don Chow Tacos for the first time, and it definitely won't be my last encounter with their Chinese-Mexican fusion cuisine. I initially found out about them through Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show. It was a slight adventure finding them, as the truck had to move due to Pasadena parking enforcement. I found them outside Pasadena City Hall, and ordered two kung pao chicken tacos ($2 each) and two bbq pork chimales (Chinese tamales) ($4 each).

My half-eaten chimale (Click to Enlarge)

The first thing I tried was the bbq pork chimale. It was more or less what I expected, though the bbq flavor was very strong to the point it was a little overpowering. The sweet bbq wasn't a huge hit with me, since I generally don't consume sweets. However, the rest of the chimale was delicious. The salsa on top was definitely a nice touch and holds it all together.

My kung pao chicken tacos (Click to Enlarge)

I finished my lunch off with the two kung pao chicken tacos (medium spicy). The tacos were small and double-wrapped, which is typical of taco truck tacos. I would have to say this was the highlight my of meal. The chicken was wonderfully seasoned and had enough kick to satisfy. The onions and cilantro finished the taco well and definitely made the tacos something to try again with a different meat.

For information on when Don Chow Tacos will be near YOU in the LA area, check out their website.

Going to Brazil!

brb :D

Abandoned Train Car

(Click to Enlarge)

Typhoid Vaccine

Next week I'll be travelling to Brazil, and in preparation, I went through a lot of medical preparation. Among the events included a typhoid vaccine. In most cases it's just like any other vaccine-it seems like no big deal. However, I did not anticipate it still leaving the injection site sore a good 48 hours post-injection. It takes a little bit of effort to really get my full range of motion, but it has gotten a little better (and I thought tetanus was supposed to make you sore...).

Subway

Since I like to people watch, I often like to observe restaurant employees. I used to work at Subway, so I know the ins and outs of being a sandwich artist (it's actually the official title). For reasons that I'm not completely sure about, I seem to notice employee code violations (or at least things that would be constituted as mistakes as of 2006...). The most common:

• Not wearing a nametag
• Not wearing an apron
• Filling vegetables above the fill line (there's a little line about one inch from the top)
• Not putting three lines of sauce (yes it's supposed to be counted)
• Not asking if you want salt/pepper/parmesan/oregano
• Greeting customers within three seconds of them walking in the door (hard to do during the meal rush)

Subway also has a few interesting policies that you may or may not be aware of. My favorites:

• All items that are counted (meats, breads, cookies, etc) that cannot be used (such as being dropped on the floor) are credited
• Broken cookies may not be sold-sometimes cookies are "accidentally" broken
• Meat slices are counted, and the chicken slices used to be weighed in weigh boats
• Cheese, tomato, and cucumber slices are counted as well (though obviously extra tomatoes and cucumbers are not charged)
• Lettuce and spinach are supposed to go on first, followed by tomatoes and cucumbers (to help compress the loose veggies)
• All sauces are supposed to go on the meat except the sweet onion and vinaigrette (which go on top of the veggies)

Finals Week

brb

Early Evening

(Click to Enlarge)

One Hamper, or Two?

This is just a random thought that occurred to me in the last couple of days, but does anyone realize how dirty their laundry hamper is? Day after day we toss our dirty clothes into them and then we do our laundry. That's what the hamper is supposed to do, and it servers its functions pretty well. I think what we don't think about is how dirty they really are after coming into contact with our dirty clothes covered in dirt, blood, sweat, and tears. There are generally no issues with that since we don't expect our laundry hampers to do the cleaning for us.

Throughout my time at college (before I moved into my own apartment off-campus), I noticed that people would use the same hamper to take their freshly-cleaned clothes back to their room. Think about that for a second-you're putting your clean clothes into the hamper that your dirty clothes were in. I don't think people really give it much thought, but after a long time, laundry hampers aren't exactly the cleanest things around. It just seems that we don't give too much thought about it, or at least I didn't...

Capitol Steps!

This past Saturday evening I had the pleasure to listen to the Capitol Steps perform for the third straight year. For those of you who have never heard of the Capitol Steps before, they are a singing group that essentially writes political satire to the tune of popular songs. For example:

 

I would have to say this performance was the best one in my three years that I have seen them live. The first year was good, but the second performance lacked new material. With the new election cycle, this year's performance was by far the funniest and most original. My one advice would be for you to actually know your political scandals/presidential candidates/etc before you go see them, or else it won't be as funny as possible.

You can find more information about them and their performance schedule on their website.

Multi-Use Tofu

Last week when I went to 99 Ranch, I decided to try this new "multi-use" tofu. I thought to myself that I could probably find some use for it. The end result was, shall we say, less of an adventure in cooking as it was more an adventure of trying to actually eat it.

When I saw the "multi-use" tofu, I assume that it had some firmness so that I could use it to cook. As soon as I drained the container and put it on the cutting board, it immediately started to fall apart. It had no firmness, and as soon as I would try to pick it up with my hands or move it, it started to crumble. Its lack of firmness was a real issue, especially since stirring the pot would result in more tofu breaking apart. Eating the tofu proved to be a huge disaster, and with the slightest pressure even my chopsticks would instantly go through the tofu like a knife through butter. I could only seem to eat the tofu if it was already on top of the food on my chopsticks or if I scooped it out of the bowl. So much for this "multi-use" tofu. My "soft" tofu is much firmer and holds up to my cooking.