Free Saturday in the East Coast

Living in LA, I don't have a free day except for Sunday- which is why, as a bad Catholic, I gave up church- and I occasionally visit the East Coast for a period of time. This is when I do absolutely nothing and stay indoor all day except for times I really feel like going out, in which case I'll take the short bus trip into the city of New York. Today I wasn't quite feeling the desire to go out, especially since my in-law had just come back from an overseas business trip and I wanted to spend a good part of the day with the entire family, so I stayed home all day. Staying home will turn out to be a painstakingly boring and headache-inducing, but it didn't start out so.

For one thing, my sister had this awesome idea of baking lasagna cupcakes for lunch- something I just couldn't afford from the HeirloomLA truck (for the price for the amount.)

I watched her build about twenty cupcakes, and it looked surprisingly easy. I mean you have to cook the meat prior to building the lasagna, but that's just an extra step. She also included three kinds of cheeses, so that looked like it was an extra thing that would have to be done as well... you see, I'm so lazy that I can't grab three cheese from the dairy area... lol. Anyhow, she had already made tomato sauce for another recipe, so she layered wonton wrapper-meat-cheese-sauce (repeat) topped with more cheese and baked for twenty minutes or so... Meanwhile I took the liberty of walking the babe in a stroller to a nearby Tous les Jours- a Korean café- for some lattes to go with the much expected lunch. 

this I took in the evening one night... hence the dark skies

After hours of chilling- playing with the kids, watching whatever kids' program is on Netflix (it was Phineas and Ferb today) and someone in this household napping (wasn't me)- the family left for an outing, leaving me alone in an empty house.

I popped in the Workaholics Season Three DVD I'd checked out from the library with two days of past due fee (oops, sorry!) and cackled for about three hours until I realized, I was getting pretty bored of having my butt stuck on the couch all day long... and needed fresh air. 

an eery night!

So I went out. It was pretty scary out because, as it happens, I was walking away from some fireworks at a nearby event at a park, and I thought it was a thunderstorm coming. I'm not afraid of thunder, but man, I do not wanna get wet. I finished a quick stroll around the block, and within minutes, the family returns home. So I'm not bored and I'm not scared. 

Today was a good free Saturday, it's a day that I usually get on a Sunday and having to wish there was another Sunday the day after... but this time, there is a Sunday coming up tomorrow! Planning to go to a spa with the sis tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that. Hopefully I can take care of this crazy back pain I've been having. 

Lessons of the day: 1. Get some fresh air, 2. I don't know if I could live alone, 3. Time together is as good as time apart. 

Sunday Funday (Silver Lake)

I have always admired the neighborhood of Silver Lake: it houses the first small live music venue that I went to (for my friends from Oregon, the Parson Redheads) and it's also the home of the beautiful Silver Lake Reservoir that glistens under the sun. I've spent my fair share of time in Silverlake, using it as a way to get to Koreatown mostly. One day last year, I wanted to escape the routines of jogging at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, so I drove all the way out to Silverlake in order to jog around the reservoir. The change of scenery and the occasional inclines and declines were refreshing to both mind and the body. After the jog, I walked over to Lamill Coffee, and that's where I noticed that there were more to be appreciated in this neighborhood than just the reservoir and the convenience of getting to Koreatown.

Recently, I've gotten to know more about Silver Lake- like how my favorite model from Canada/ New York, who also makes music, comes here to record, and that Norah Jones stayed in Silver Lake for her session for her newest album. But that doesn't concern me as much as the fact that there are some really delicious restaurants around here, namely a ramen place, very conveniently called Silver Lake Ramen.

Located on Sunset Blvd., just past Silver Lake Blvd., the exterior is not so fancy... so much so that I actually didn't take a pic of it. But be assured, it's not the Bar Method building, the exterior of which is, in fact, super fancy. I used to come here all the time for Silver Lake Lounge, actually, and coming here brought back some good memories.

My sister and I came here on Sunday, with the kids in the care of their grandparents, for some quality sister-bonding time. Street parking was free on Sundays, but there is also a small lot right adjacent to the restaurant itself. The walk from the car to the restaurant was horrible only because there was a strong odor of trash. AND there were people eating outside from neighboring restaurants! How could you eat outside whilst smelling all that funky trash?
Anyway, the inside was nice and cozy, and that's all that really mattered... We were seated promptly by a really friendly waitress and given this simple menu to look at.

 

 

Though it wasn't necessary, we ordered an appetizer just because I really wanted to try this marinated chicken karage. It was a mixture of just enough amount of crispiness on the outside and moist on the inside. The sauce kind of killed the flavor though. 

karage

tonkastu spicy ramen\

 



the broth is extremely flavorful, but my sister's regular tonkatsu ramen tasted better.
the pork belly topping is a killer: super moist and melts in your mouth.

I'll definitely have to come back for a Sunday lunch. I like the atmosphere, and I don't have to drive all the way to Little Tokyo for a bowl of ramen anymore. Plus, I can get a really yummy cup of joe afterwards at Lamill and do a bit of shopping next door at LAMerch and at Yolk.



Silver Lake Ramen
2927 W Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles, CA
http://silverlakeramen.com/

Four Cafe, Eagle Rock CA

I love restaurants with seasonal ingredients; that means the food is guaranteed fresh and as tasty as possible, and the menu changes each season so there will always be something new. Whenever I need a really good salad-fix, Four Cafe in Eagle Rock always comes to mind. It's not always my first option though because their portions, even the half-portions, are humongous... and to me, this place is so "gourmet" that it's best left as a treat than a regular thing.

So today my sister and I treated ourselves with the summer salads of Four Cafe while the kids played at Peekaboo Playland just up the block.

half-portion Picado Salad with half-portion of Tofu (choice of protein)

(substituted cucumber and cherry tomatoes - mixed - with black beans)

 

 

half-portion Miso Chopped Salad with half-portion Organic Free-Range Chicken



I got these two salads and two iced passionberry black tea to share, but my sister ended up with the Picado and I ended up with the Miso. They were both super delicious, the Picado with fuller flavors than the Miso, due to the rather light vinaigrette dressing. But there were bits of what seemed like deep-fried onion (?) that added sweetness to the possibly-bland salad. The chopped greens was a good choice for the vinaigrette to thoroughly mix in, with flavors in every bite. The Picado's dressing was creamy and delicious; the tofu seemed to have been tossed in soy sauce and was surprisingly good (not a big tofu fan here.) I think I'll go with the Picado next time, while my sister tries the chimichurri burger.

Four Cafe
2122 Colorado Blvd  
Los Angeles, CA 90041
(they just recently opened up a new location)

Four Cafe- Fairfax

519 South Fairfax
Los Angeles CA 90036

 

fourcafe.net