worship songs

I just found a CD that someone compiled as a Christmas gift in 1998.  Its all Vineyard stuff and its great stuff...

"i will not be shaken, i will not be moved...i will not be shaken."

"when we lift our eyes to heaven, we see you glory oh God...when we fix our gaze on Jesus...we see the light of your eyes..."

"here in the holiest of all, you draw me near love, to abandon all, for the sake of knowing you my God and King."

"Lord it was your hands...that put the stars in their place...Lord it is your voice...that commands the mornings...even oceans and their waves bow at your feet."

I love those old praise songs...good stuff.

I Lied

...there aren't pictures to come.  I had my camera both days...and forgot to take pictures of the food.

Review of Dong Il Jang to come.

Kula - Santa Monica Blvd and Beverly Glen

A Sushi BISTRO...I'm appalled at the concept.

Last night I went to meet up with an acquaintence at Kula - A Sushi Bistro.  What is that anyways?  Well what it is is average quality sushi at an insane price on a fancy plate.

We were there for the "happy hour" that should already tell you the clientele this place is looking to attract and were the first ones there.  They carry Asahi and Sapporo but not Kirin (another indication to lower your standards).  I settled for a Pinot Grigio.  The happy hour is pretty good though.  For 40 bucks we had 6 of the happy hour sized (4 pieces each) rolls.  All the rolls, even the so called deluxe rolls were almost maki roll sized.  They get an effort for creativity.  We ordered the Spicy Tuna Crunch roll, the Spicy Scallop roll, The Spicy Tuna Roll, and the Spicy Yellowtail roll.  The Crunch roll had no crunch, the scallops were slimy and mushy, and the spicy tuna roll and spicy yellowtail rolls were not even worth commenting on.

Ok, lets make one thing clear once an for all.  I would NEVER order a Spicy Yellowtail roll on my own.  That was ordered by my happy hour date.  You should just eat rice and seaweed if you're going to cover up hamachi with Spicy sauce.

After scarfing down the first 4 half-rolls (i get more enjoyment out of Trader Joes sushi) we ordered two more.  The Shrimp Avocado roll and the King Crab roll.  Chewy shrimp and watery King Crab.

But still we had 3 beers and 2 glasses of wine and 6 half-sushi rolls for 40 bucks and killed 3 hours of time. (Oh yeah and we got a greeeeezy smoked salmon quesadilla for free. blech)

I now know what a Sushi Bistro is.  Its non-traditional yuppified wannabe Japanese cuisine, where the bar and the decor is the star and the food is just there so they can call themselves a restaurant.  (BTW its the first time in my life I had a Triangular shapped sushi roll.  I've had round ones, and squarish ones, but never a triangle.  I hate to know who's back behind the curtain rolling these little culinary bastardizations of sushi rolls.)

Every once in a while...

My fridge looks like a bachelors fridge: beer, condiments, and expired milk.

Usually its full of the makings of good food.  I am a firm believer that if you cook with inferior ingrediants your food will be inferior.  It's why I NEVER grocery shop for ingrediants for more than 3 meals in advance, why I love Farmers Markets and the veggie and fruit drawers in my fridge, and why you will never EVER EVER find Miracle Whip in my fridge.

Ever heard of the blog "use real butter" if I ever start a blog it will be called "use real mayonnaise." I'm not even that big of a fan of mayonnaise.  I don't use it that often as a spread on my sand-miches.  It's usually there in case I ever crave a good egg salad or if I need it to make homemade ranch or blue cheese dressing.  But Miracle Whip is not mayonaise.  Its really really thick salad dressing.

It's also why I spend a good portion of my time each week grocery shopping.  I've been lectured on the virtues of keeping a well stocked pantry and a well stock freezer and how that helps with the "bacheloritis" condition of my fridge.  Those things are for another time.

Anyways, so I had made plans to eat take out on Monday (which I did, Ruen Pair - my favorite Thai food place is on the way home from work so I ordered some Pad Thai, Pad Ka Prow, Green Curry with Chicken, and Chinese Broccoli with Salty Fish for dinner.  sorry no pictures) and go grocery shopping on Tuesday when the crowds at Trader Joe's are smaller.

Well, as it turns out this week is the week of the dinner dates.  So no trip to Trader Joes and the condiments and beer in my fridge will get another few days of extra "elbow" room.

Tonight I'm going to Kula, a trendy Japanese bistro (don't you just want to cringe...Japanese food should not be trendy or served bistro style EVER) for happy hour.  A review you can be sure will follow shortly.

Tomorrow I'm meeting my former roommate for dinner in Koreatown for a meal.  Either Chosun Galbi, Dong Il Jang, or A-won.

Thursday I'm going with the climbing crew to have Chinese-Islamic food. MMMMM Lamb and BREAD!!!

Friday we're going out to eat with Kenneth's cousin and family.

So I can leave all my grocery shopping for Saturday!!!  My first stop is going to be an Asian Market for: Tilapia, ground pork, flank steak, oxtail, shrimp, chinese veggies, tofu, udon, seaweed, and other must haves for good asian meals.

(Pictures to come)

I"m currently eating a trader joes sliced smoked turkey, midnight moon hard goat cheese, hero strawberry jam, wild organic arugula, on miltons multigrain bread sand-mich.  don't knock it until you try it...its really good.  would be better if i had cranberry jam and spinach but like i said...bachelor fridge.

Shutting down detroit (FFW to 2:15)