Celebration Day!!

Uh…this morning I feel oogie! Don’t ask why I just do…I feel like my body needs a serious detox…hmm might do that this week! Anyways..so I got up, made me a Chinese Oolong Tea and chilled in the kitchen on my computer just doing random work. Oh another addiction..I love tea! I just “stole” a bunch of different teas from my mom’s house to try, and so far I am finding I am not too fond of the fruity teas such as Lipton’s Lemon Herbal Tea..eww. But weirdly I am growing a liking for Chinese herbal teas such as Oolong…I never thought the day would come when I would say I liked Chinese Green Herbal Teas. However, my current favorites are Twining’s Black Teas that go good with milk and sugar such as Earl Grey and English and Irish Breakfast. I drink a tea everyday..sometimes with limoncello or rum to give it flavor or spice..but I do, I do, I do love tea! My parents have always been tea drinkers, but I never ever found even a slight desire to smell it, let alone taste it. They always drank their tea with sugar, or lemon and honey, and my mom has always been into the herbal green teas which smelled so horribly to me; it was like the smell of horse or barn hay and grass seeping into a hot, steamy cup of pukey green river water. I hated it; until one day when my favorite Teen Sunday School teacher brought in a large pot of Earl Grey mixed perfectly with milk and sugar. We all tried it, loved it and continuously drank it not quite knowing what it was until one day she mentioned that it was tea! We we’re like..NO WAY! Tea can taste this good! Ever since, I have been hooked to Earl Grey tea and only recently have I began to open up, discover and try new teas just like all drinks..beer, juices, foods..I just love trying new things!

I figured since I had a tea this morning, I would make cream of wheat the same time I would make for Amerie and Tim’s since it was Saturday morning and I also promised Kaya some as well. Well, by 8:30 Am my tummy was calling for nutrition and Tim and Amerie weren’t awake so I made me a simple bowl of Cream and Wheat (after three attempts: 1st wouldn’t thicken fast enough, 2nd the milk and water boiled over, 3rd a charm!!) with pure maple syrup and flax and a side of sliced banana, peanut butter and raisins…my favorite snack, meal whatever ever! Very delicious…well Kaya came in soon after starving so I decided I would go ahead and make her a bowl as well while eating my breakfast….10 minutes later, my two babies wake up..which means another pot of cream of wheat and a piece of Cinnamon Sugar Toast with cream cheese..then my mother-in-law wanted some eggs without the yolk (an opportunity to show off my skills) wow..so I ate my breakfast while making breakfast for like an hour straight..everyone had me busy!

As for the rest of the day..we made plans for Mom to watch Amerie as Tim and I went out for dinner to celebrate my new JOB! So we had lunch and then left to go out! For lunch..Tim and Amerie had Breaded Chicken Patties and Mozzarella Bites..as for me a Mediterranean inspired hummus pizza on a whole wheat tortilla with some celery and hummus/cream cheese and carrot slices. My pizza..I loved the thin, crispy crust with my creamy, warm hummus and the fresh veggies on top along with the aromatic herbs made it overall very savory and satisfying and all the ingredients surprisingly went well together. On top my pizza was a spread of Pine Nut hummus, red onion, black olives, green bell peppers, sauteed spinach, and tomatoes with basil and oregano.

That evening, we dropped little miss Amerie off at my Moms where she was fed Pork Adobo (Tim’s favorite Filipino dish that I haven’t even tried to master because no one can make it like mom!), cucumbers and melon..and when we got back..more Reese Pieces! Tim and I headed to Ozeki..a new Japanese Steakhouse in our area. Our all time favorite Japanese Steakhouse is Otani’s, but we decided to step out and try the new place to compare and contrast..well, let’s just say it was a great experience, but Otani still holds number one as the best Japanese Steakhouse in our food books!

Throughout our life together as a couple, Tim and I quickly found our love for the Japanese Steakhouse. We went there a few times for our school proms, anniversaries,..the food is amazing and who doesn’t enjoy being entertained by a well trained Asian Chef while your food is freshly cooked in front of you, then served literally, hot off the grill??! It’s pretty pricey, at least for us, and so we only went on special occasions. Well today was a special occasion!! And what I love even more is the fact that even after becoming vegan, I can still enjoy a very nice meal. So I ordered the vegetable sushi roll combo (OMG another addiction/obsession..sushi!!!!) which include a roll of cucumber, a roll of avocado and a roll of pickled radish sushi making 18 pieces in all. Along with that came a bowl of miso soup with tofu and seaweed in it and I also ordered sauteed mushrooms hot off the grill. For my (expensive!) drink, coming in a cute tiki mug, that I got to keep, a Geisha consisting of Curacao, vodka or rum, lemon juice and pineapple! It was sooo delicious..not too sweet and the alcohol was not overpowering. It was a perfect blend of subtle fruit juices and spirits..I loved it! And I wanted more..=-)!!! As for Tim, he ordered the Filet Mignon, Chicken and Shrimp with a 2 pieces of flambé shrimp as an appetizer, a side of steamed rice, two soups (instead of the soup and house salad..he’s addicted to the onion soup!) and sauteed vegetables with a Yuengling as his quencher! The food was absolutely delicious..perfectly enough to fully satisfy but not overstuff..one more thing would have overstuffed me! I can’t say that it was all worth the price due to how much you really got. It sounds like a lot, but the portion size is what matters! But what can you expect in the economy we’re in! But it was definitely worth the experience at a new restaurant, the celebration, the night out together as a couple and overall, the food was still awesome! However, Otani..we love you still!

It was another wonderful, happy day! We had an awesome drive home playing and dancing with our crazy daughter, laughing at her crazy, carseat dance moves and just loving to see her laugh and smile at how crazy her parents are! I am so blessed!

Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.

Jane Howard, "Families"