Staying Cool

It's been HOT the past couple of weeks, but we Southeast Asians know all the tricks to beating the heat.

Thai Desserts
We've been on quite the Thai food kick lately, and were really excited to explore this Thai dessert shop.

We picked up a few treats to cool us down:

Thai shaved ice, a Thai che and some taro and coconut cakes

This may all look delicious, but to be honest, it wasn't. First of all, the shaved ice wasn't really shaved -- it was more like small chunks of ice that the guy scooped out of a bin. The toppings he added were super sweet and soaked through with a heavy syrup. And all that bright pink stuff? We have no idea what it was, but it was floral-y and really, really sweet. The che was just ok - nothing to write home about -- and the taro cakes were fresh, sort of chewy and sweet -- good overall, but maybe a bit heavy for that warm evening.

Dining Al Fresco
We decided to do breakfast on our "patio" (if that's what you can call the tiny nook of open walkway outside our apartment) to get out of the stuffy apartment and enjoy the mild morning weather before things got ugly. We were lazy so we made one huge portion and split it.  Less time cooking and cleaning!

You can probably see the bright blue sky, tall green trees and tall rolling hills much better than the food, which is the point. But the Soyrizo omelette and crusty La Brea Bakery roll sure was delish!

Coconut-Mango Gelatin
A huge tray of gelatin seems to be a staple at every family gathering. It's cold, refreshing and relatively healthy. Since e+j is our own family now, we made a huge tray for...ourselves. YUM!

The warm weather is probably going to linger for a while -- summer's not over yet! Stay tuned for more of our warm-weather shenanigans.  

Reinventing a Classic

We love bun rieu, but had zero time or motivation to slave over a huge, steaming pot of broth.


So...we decided to experiment with making a DRY version of one of our fave Vietnamese dishes!

We lightly browned shallots, onions and garlic...threw in tomatoes to deglaze and create a sauce...added seasonings, shrimp and crab for some seafoody bun rieu goodness...dumped in some leftover rice noodles to soak it all up...and then topped it off with some scallions and Vietnamese herbs. A squeeze of lime and some chili-garlic sauce brought it all together.

And there you have our dry bun rieu! Simple, delicious and totally easy to eat while catching up on Entourage in front of the TV.

Some Things Are Just Not Necessary

Last night, we tried a cheeseburger dumpling from the Dim Sum Truck Deluxe Dumplings food truck. Sounds intriguing, no?

Well curiosity almost killed the LoveFat. Though it wasn't terrible, it definitely wasn't pleasant. Spare your stomach lining and palate.

Thai Town / the Sound / the Strip

Last week was a busy week for E, punctuated by some amazing food.

Thai Town
We kicked off a busy travel week with some delicious homestyle food on Sunday. We were craving some good Vietnamese food and this was the next best thing. It was like Mom food on steroids -- bolder, more intense, richer, heartier.

"Boat noodles" in a dark, subversive broth with all kinds of accessories

"Sparerib noodles" (it may look similar to the other one, but had its own distinctive flavor)

Greens with crispy fried pork and rice. Thank God we ordered it because it tempered the intense spiciness of the soups. Definitely getting "mild" next time!

The Sound
Wednesday, E was in Seattle and met up with two of our fave people, L+B. They took time off work to make the trek from Olympia...on a school night...during rush hour...of Seafair week...and brought gifts! If that's not love we dunno what is.

It's true, there's nothing like Seattle in the summer

L+B during a previous food adventure -- B's birthday last December

J was greatly missed during the outing, but Rockwell happily "filled in," if you catch our drift (if you don't, enlarge this photo).

Back to the food! We walked around until we found something without a long wait, and it just HAPPENED to be the most amazing Dahlia Lounge.

Slurp slurp...there's seriously nothing like Pacific Northwest oysters. And Tom Douglas' coconut cream pie!

It was the perfect way to end a quick trip.

The Strip

Thursday kicked off a long-anticipated girls' weekend in Vegas with A. It was definitely a weekend of "excess," and we're not just talking about this kind:

It was also a food extravaganza.

A massive tower of fried chicken and waffled seemed like a good idea at the time...

...And so did fried oreos and chili cheese fries. But E's waistline is paying for it now.

This was one of our more civilized meals...

...Paired with the requisite vino blanco

So much good food and friends on the road. But when all's said and done -- without J there, it's all Fat and no Love!