I wanted a more lemony dessert this weekend, so I baked lemon bars! I wasn’t sure they were going to have a strong enough lemon taste, but they turned out really good. Maybe they were too good, because I ate three today. Previously I made the recipe called “Best Brownies” from Allrecipes.com, so I went with “The Best Lemon Bars” from Allrecipes.com this time. I’d have to make a lot more to know for sure that they’re the best, but they were definitely delicious.
Last night I went to the Party on the Plaza to kick off the Off Center Festival at the Segerstrom Center. Honestly, I’m not really sure what the Off Center Festival is, but the Party on the Plaza was free. There was a live band, La Santa Cecilia, that was entertaining along with three food trucks.
I shouldn’t have, but I ate at two of the food trucks. I had a pulled pork waffle sandwich from Waff-N-Roll and found it mediocre. Luckily, I went to Dogzilla for a Loco Moco hot dog that was simply amazing. It was a hot dog with spam, nori, gravy, a fried egg, and probably a few other minor ingredients I can’t recall – very delicious!
I don’t really know what the rest of the event is, but I had a good time chatting and eating food truck foods!
I meant to post about this but never got around to it. My friend kept talking about brownies a couple weeks ago, so it made me want brownies. I decided to use a recipe called “Best Brownies” from Allrecipes.com.
Most surprising to me was how few ingredients I needed. I guess it helped that I had baked the John Dies at the End Vegan Chocolate Soy Sauce Cupcakes back in October and already had a bunch of the ingredients.
I particularly liked the hint of honey flavor in them. It’s too bad I don’t have any desserts right now. Now I feel like something lemony.
I made stir fry tonight that was pretty tasty! It had one drumstick’s worth of chicken, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, onion, mushrooms, carrots, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, pineapple, and Hoisin sauce. There should be enough leftover food to make more tomorrow, too!
I had MLK, Jr. Day off, so I went to Zimzala for lunch after biking, working out, and doing some chores. (Funny, before posting this I noticed that my very last post was also about Zimzala.) I chatted with Andrew and had a delicious barbecue chicken flatbread.
Afterward I headed to the beach to walk in the water and lie in the sand. I brought some books with me and got a lot further in The Complete Maus. I also reread the Tao Te Ching, which is pretty short. There was also a decent chunk of time during which I did nothing but thought and listened to the water.
By the time I was ready to leave, I was getting a little hungry again. I grabbed a taco from Sancho’s Tacos, which is an amazing taco place just one block from Zimzala.
Oh, and when I heard some weird noise above me, I saw a squirrel munching on a nut. Cute!
I had lunch at Zimzala today. My friend’s the Sous-Chef there, and I had something to bring him. Lunch was delicious, and I had a good time chatting over the food. I had a burger that I ate too quickly to photograph, but I did manage to get a picture of the amazing ice cream. The desserts are always great.
Because I was right there in Huntington Beach anyways, I went for a walk down the pier. It was a very nice day, and sometimes it’s good to do some nothing and clear your mind.
The water was looking beautiful too.
Some people were walking through a design in the sand. I assume they had just finished making it, but maybe they just found it. Anyways, it was a lovely day!
Yesterday was the Reel Big Fish concert, which I enjoyed very much. The show opened with Ryland Steen, the Reel Big Fish’s drummer, performing his solo music with an acoustic guitar. He was good, and it was a great way to start a show.
The Maxies were next, and I didn’t really care for them. Their music was unpolished, but their attitude was the worst. They discussed at length how they were better than the other bands in the show. More annoying, their songs and banter were pretty vulgar. I just wasn’t feeling it.
Mighty Mongo was a nice change. They were a fun four-piece band, and the lead singer played the keytar. THE KEYTAR! Yeah, it was pretty cool. They had great energy and were a ton of fun.
The Pietasters were fantastic. Their horn section was especially awesome. I’m definitely going to look into their music more. They had a number of solos as well, which really helped to highlight the various instruments. I love it when a band has good horns.
Of course, the Reel Big Fish were a lot of fun. Up until about halfway through their set, I was using earplugs. Actually, I’m kind of ashamed of that, but I decided to try it. When they played Sell Out, I had to take out one. Anyways, they were a lot of fun!
Here are some stats for WebPageless in 2013!
Check out the full report: Your 2013 year in blogging.
New Year’s Eve was fun! It started out with a workout, a bike ride, and some ironing, but it ended with a great party! I went to Devin’s house for the evening. Alex, Darnell, Henley, Gracie, Jon, and gem were there too. Right before midnight, Mike even showed up!
We all had “Happy New Year” hats, but Aya wore hers like a visor. She wanted to be Geordi La Forge for New Year’s Eve!
gem was in heaven with the dogs! The dogs were very cute.
In fact, Tegan went a little crazy. That’s okay, because she was adorable.
Here’s Dad and Son with Gracie in the background. What a good-looking little man.
Mom and Son both got all tuckered out. So beautiful together.
Thanks for the fun year, 2013. Here’s to a great 2014.