Home at last after a grueling 15 hours of travel - we left the hotel this morning at 6am and got home right around 11pm. I think TJ might have bad travel karma - our flight from Hawaii left an hour late, which gave us mere minutes to make our connection, which also turned out to be an hour late. I swear in almost 4 years of working for Deloitte, I didn't have as many delayed flights as I do when I travel with him!
Picked up BeagleMan at Aunt Susie's. He's really happy there, and fortunately didn't seem to make too much of a nuisance of himself. He seems somewhat puzzled, but overall happy to be home. We've never left him for this long, so maybe he started to give up on us ever coming back. Sad! I'll pick up Peanut at "Dog Camp" tomorrow.
Got some sun and laid by the pool with fruity umbrella drinks the last day of our vacation. Totally worth it - yay. We also had breakfast with Mike and caught up on more Techer gossip/reminiscing. Fun!
I'll post a couple of pictures tomorrow. The malasadas were yummy, but only when hot. I don't recommend the chocolate ones - one is ok, but the chocolate filling is very heavy and there's too much of it. The plain cinnamon sugar malasadas were the best. (And totally worth the 50 min drive to go get them!!)
The famous "shave ice" was a bit disappointing. Way too sugary-syrupy. Now, I didn't try it with ice cream or red bean goo, so maybe those would be better. But I think I'm just not a shave ice/snow cone sort of girl. I vaguely remember getting something called "shaved ice" in Monterey Park, CA, but it had a lot more interesting stuff mixed in with the ice - red bean, possibly coconut milk, condensed milk and who knows what else. But still, not a favorite dessert of mine.
Speaking of desserts, does anyone know what the name is for the Chinese dessert that's seems like it's hot steamed soft tofu in a sugary syrup? I had it a couple of times in San Diego and it's really good - just the right amount of sweetness and yummy texture.
I know that dessert with tofu! I don't know the English name, but if you go to an Asian market, try asking for or finding "silken tofu mix" for dessert. (It comes in a small box and is powder; don't get the silken tofu that is already in tofu form.) Unfortunately I think instructions are usually in Chinese.
ReplyDeleteAn! That's my fave dim sum dessert! I actually crave it sometimes (is that weird???) I don't know the name either, but i usually just go to the asian market, and they will usually have small tubs of the tofu (chinese-take-out-soup-container-size) along side little containers of the syrup. There's a filipino equivalent (almost the same dessert in the Philippines) but I forget the name.
ReplyDeleteKristine
Hmm. There are two Chinese tofu desserts that I can recall being pretty mainstream. One is called Xin Ren Dou Fu (in pinyin), but it's usually served cold, and it's actually not made of tofu but gelatin. In English it's called Almond Tofu. A pic and recipe is here. It's as easy as making jello.
ReplyDeleteThe other dish that you might be thinking of is usually served warm and with peanuts and a light syrup sauce. In Chinese my family always called it "Dou Hua Tang" and you can find it at some more authentic dimsum places.
Unfortunately, I can't find much via google; searching for terms in Chinese in google just ain't as easy yet as in English :( The closest I can find is this. Is that what you were thinking of? Asian markets sell pre-made versions of the peanut tofu version in the canned juice and beverage section (they come in cans), but of course they're incomparable with the fresh version. Still, the fresh version doesn't look easy to make. Gypsum powder?? :P
If you had described it as cold, I would have said "dofu hua".
ReplyDeleteAnandi, where in San Diego did you get the tofu dessert? I just moved here and don't know where to find the yummy goodness!
ReplyDelete