Bolognese Pasta

Sorry for the absence but it's been a busy couple of months. Last month I traveled to Bologna, Italy and was working there for three weeks.  It's called the food capital of Italy and after eating my way through the city, I have to agree. I know know that I can solely live on Italian food and especially pasta. I'm not even joking- I had pasta at least one a day for the entire time I was there. I also had lots of pizza, basically a carb fest month for me.

Bologna's namesake food is lasagna bolognese and is also famous for their tortellini and ragu, a meat sauce. Since I travel around to different businesses and will have to eat at different cafeterias, this one is one of the top. For lunch, Italians typically eat a a number of dishes: primo (pasta), secondi (some kind of meat), and a side dish (typically vegetables). In comparison to my typical lunch of salad and sandwich, the lunches had the power to knock me out for the rest of the afternoon and crave a nap Thankfully, another wonderful Italian tradition, espresso, is the perfect way to get some energy.

One of my main joys here is learning all the different types of pasta there are. Penne, taligettle, tortalini, linguine, capota... who knew there were so many? I guess this post is more about my love of pasta but I'll do a recap soon of Bologna and where I went during the weekends.

Big Sur

My last full day was a road trip to Big Sur. It literally took my breath away with how beautiful it was but I'll let the pictures do the talking...

For lunch we went to the Big Sur Roadhouse, a cajun/creole restaurant. One word that immediately came into mind was quaint. It looked and felt like we were eating in someone's cabin. Very comforting and the food reflected the surrounds, warm and inviting. I had seafood gumbo.

I also got to try the marinated vegetable salad with chicken. 

Lastly affogato! Coffee and ice cream, best combination ever. 

The whole restaurant was decorated in various succulents. Note to self: buy more succulents. 

After lunch, we visited Pfeiffer Beach where apparently the sand is purple. Unfortunately, apparently there was a tropical storm somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and that affected the water/winds somehow. Basically instead of pretty calm beach, we got typhoon winds and flying sand. My pictures make it look pretty but I felt like I had survived a typhoon afterwards. It was an experience!

Surviving a typhoon makes a person hungry. So we headed over to a town called Carmel for warm soup and seafood. Chicken pot pie, baked oysters, crab cakes, and clam chowder rounded out an essential California day. 

San Francisco Sights

My first full day in California, me and the boy went to try paddleboarding for the first time! It was surprisingly harder than I thought. My feet and calves were super sore afterwards and we had to take a nap afterwards

After nap time, we headed over to San Francisco. I took a hyperlapse of the drive back to San Francisco

Initially we wanted to go to the Academy of Sciences but it was so expensive and it was about to close so instead we just walked around the park. 

Next was Land's End!

I was starving so I was super excited for dinner. We drove to B spot to try some Burmese food for the first time. We ordered the lamb curry and tea leaf salad. The lamb was falling apart delicious and perfect for a chilly night. I don't think I've had anything like tea leaf salad before, salty, sour, sweet, crunchy - so good! 

A Sushi Start to the Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, I went to California to visit my boyfriend. I flew into San Francisco and he surprised me at the airport with flowers #hesakeeper

Whenever I visit California, I always have to go get sushi because the fish is so fresh!

We ordered to omakase aka chef's choice, yum! It was a super tiny sushi restaurant that mostly only served nigiri. The prawns and tuna were my favorites. 

We also got a side dish with wasabi, pickled ginger, daikon, and pickled daikon which was new for me. I've only gone to places that give you wasabi and pickled ginger but the extras were a nice surprise.

In hindsight, we definitely would have been fine just with the omakase plate but why not indulge a little? So we ordered an extra yellowtail roll and mackerel nigiri. Mackerel is definitely my favorite fish for sushi. It just has such a distinctive taste, it's the best.  

After eating way too much, we took a walk around Richmond. The houses remind me of Full House and they're so fun with all the pastels.

A delicious start to the weekend!

Chicago Memories

Some pictures from my Chicago last month

Walking along Millennium Park

So focused for breakfast in Meli Cafe

Went to the Craft Beer Fest with some friends

Baseball Night

After a year of of living in St. Louis, I finally went to my first Cardinals game! I went with the girls in my department, a fun spur of the moment thing. I’m still on painkillers and antibiotics from my wisdom teeth removal so no alcohol for me but it was still fun to go. I’m not a big baseball fan, the only games I’ve ever gone to were with co-workers when I'm out traveling but I still enjoy watching. It's a lot more fun watching when you're actually there than watching on TV. I don't think I've ever actually stayed for a whole baseball game before, they're just so long and I'm basically a grandma who likes to go to bed early. But all the girls I went went agreed so we left after the 7th inning. I found out the next day that after we left, it got more exciting and the Cardinals ended up winning! Next time!

Dim Sum

I haven't had Dim Sum in so long, I had to use my sister visiting as an excuse to get some! St. Louis doesn't have too many authentic Asian restaurants but I went to Mandarin House Restaurant in Overland and it was delicious, just enjoy the pictures. 

Basic Chicken Salad for Lunch

Since I look like a chipmunk with my swollen cheeks I've been basically on a liquid diet. It's only been a couple of days but I'm already getting tired of it. Since I'm going back to work, my sister made me a huge batch of chicken salad since I can still chew with my front teeth. she made me a basic chicken salad with eggs and smashed peas and then I can add extras like avocados or mustard to change it up a little

Defrosted peas

Shredded Chicken Breasts

Hard boiled eggs

Chicken Salad!