All Things Chill

Easter Style: Purple pin-stripped John Varvatos shirt + Eggshell plaid Ben Sherman tie. If you’re not familiar with Varvatos’ work (yes Jorge, I know you’ve rocked his cologne for FOREVER), check his wiki here and homepage here. The man has already rolled out a line for Converse – I’m already trying to [...]

You Tube link here. Music credits: Cutting Crew – Died in Your Arms. CLASSIC! I guess I was just happy to be back in the Chi. I guess. Hee hee.
Yeah. I dunno either.
~Spec

Easter Sunday in the ‘burbs of Chicago = Churchin’ + Restaurant. My parents decided on Benihana – a Japanese steakhouse where they cook (mostly) everything for you on a modern hibachi grill. What’s a hibatchi? IT’S NOT EVEN WHAT IT SAYS IT IS (via wiki). LOL.
Alternatively, “hibachi-style” is a North American [...]

Larger view here. It’s late, but I walked into a Vietnamese grocery store yesterday and noticed that they were putting out freshly delivered oxtails in the meat department. I picked up a package, along with some ingredients (man, I’ve been eating so many tomatoes lately), called up my homeboy Ryan (CONCORD BUPBUP!) to [...]

Youtube link here. It’s circled all over the Internets and back. Hell, I made the dinner in the previous post and ate it in the time it took to watch it. But just in case you haven’t seen it yet, take the time out to sit down and watch. According to [...]

Penne Pasta with Asparagus in a Homemade Tomato Cream Sauce
Larger view here. One of my co-workers has stated multiple times that he hasn’t been feeling that well, attributing his malcontentedness to his lack of proper nutrition (read: he eats that fast-food junk EVERYDAY). So, I decided to make him lunch the next [...]

Broiled Kalbi (Korean Short Ribs), Tofu / Oyster Mushroom Stir-Fry and White Rice
Liana’s gone, so I can eat BEEF! LOL. I also made a quick vegetarian stir fry for testing that I can make for her when she *does* get back. Fabrication directions follow!
For the Kalbi, throw…
1 onion
1 pear -cored
1 apple [...]

Right before I napped on the couch next to the window full of sun, I read a few chapters of Botany of Desire, a book by Michael Pollen.
Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use [...]

Liana,
Hey there. How was your flight? I had a dream about you during my nap on the couch on this lazy afternoon. I found myself in a world of darkness and the only thing I gather that moment was that you here, right next to me. I reached for your [...]

Larger view here. It’s Monday. 10 days prior, I was entertaining my friend Mark here in Seattle. We had a lot of fun just playing Rock Band (totally wasted the opportunity of a video blog lol), eating out at restaurants, exploring the city and bummin’ around. One of the things I [...]

Ben Sherman tie, BCBG shirt. WHAT.
It’s my stylo
~Spec

Larger view here. Liana’s BFFL Jade is coming in to town to hang out for the weekend. HOORAY. Must make the place look pretty! When people visit, IT GIVES ME AN EXCUSE TO EAT GOOD FOODZ. LOL.
YAY FRIENDS!
~Spec

A while back, I made longanisa, a Filipino breakfast sausage. It was tasty… but not as good as tocino, Filipino “bacon!” It has a very sweet and salty mix with a verrrrrry meaty texture. So while Mark was here, I made that for him with some white rice and a crumbled hard-boiled [...]