For the last couple of years especially this past year, there has been a whole influx of food trucks. I am not talking about just the taco truck which has been around for a while but these new fancy food trucks that sell gourmet food. Usually these food trucks can be found in different places every day and the best way to keep track of their locations is through twitter. Having grown up with street food, I love all these food trucks and I am on a mission to try out all of them and what better way to do that than at a Mobile Chowdown.

Mobile Chowdown is a gathering of all the food trucks in one place on one special day. The first one was held last October with less than 10 food trucks. It was so popular that the organizers started to organize one every couple of months and each time the number of food trucks increases. This time, there were almost 20 food trucks including some that drove all the way from Portland. We missed the first three but decided to finally check out the Mobile Chowdown No. 4. From word of mouth, we knew that there were going to long lines and lots of people, we went there just when it opened.

We found one of our favorite food truck, the pig – Maximus Minimus!!! Check out the cool shades on the pig! :P The fancy background is the Experience Music Project Building.

Maximus Minimus

Side view of the pig

Maximus Minimus

Guess what the pig sells? Pulled pork sandwiches, of course!  There are 2 versions of the pulled pork sandwich. One is .hot and spicy while the other sandwich is sweet and tangy. You can also add a side of coleslaw or chips or cheese

Maximus Minimus

The pig is usually parked at 2nd and Pike St but sometimes the pig wanders around town. We first found him at a park last year. So check out their twitter or website for their current location.

Will continue with another food truck next.

Maximus Minimus on Urbanspoon

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Happy 4th Birthday!!

July 14, 2010

I didn’t even realize it till today that this blog just turned 4!!! Happy Birthday, my dear blog! :P It has been 4 fun years. However lately I seem to be running out of steam. Could it be a blog burnout? Or maybe I am just running out of stuff to post. I will probably be slow in posting for the next 2 months while I take a little break from blogging. Hopefully I will be back with gusto in the fall when Lil’ C goes back to school. : )

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Campfire Popcorn

July 6, 2010

Three weeks since the summer holidays began and we’ve already been on our second camping trip. I wished that the weather was a little warmer during those camping trips but alas, it has been a cold and wet summer so far. This week is supposed to be warming up, so hopefully we’ll be getting the real summer weather soon.
Anyway, back to camping. For us, camping is all about enjoying the nature and of course, food! We’re always on a lookout for more interesting camping food besides canned food. This previous camping trip, we discovered popcorn! We’ve done lots of microwave popcorn but campfire popcorn? it’s a first for us.

We brought along the Jiffy Pop Stovetop Popcorn and popped it over the campfire. Wished the handle was a little longer because it got quite hot holding it!

Campfire Popcorn 1

As it got heated up, it got bigger . . . . . . . .

Campfire Popcorn 2

and bigger . . . . . . . Looks kinda like an alien!! :)

Campfire Popcorn 3

Then let it cool a little before opening up the package.  Yummy buttery delicious popcorn! The kiddos loved it. I think it will be a staple on our camping shopping list. :)

Campfire Popcorn 4

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Dumpling festival was 2 weeks ago and I am finally posting my photos. sigh….when will I ever get back on track. Oh well, I guess I will accept the fact that as much as I like blogging, it will always take a backseat after the family. What about you? How do you balance family and blogging?

Anyway, back to my rice dumpling. This year I got together with a few friends to make them. Thanks S for opening up your house yet again and doing all the prep work. That makes it so much easier since making the rice dumpling is pretty tedious.

There are several ways to wrap a dumpling. Some wrap it the “pillow-style”, some make it really big like a log which apparently according to my friend, they wrap it really big so that the family can share one huge one together. For me, I like mine in a small triangular shape like this one.

BakZhang1

I like wrap mine in a bunch of 5 – 10 rice dumplings like this and tied together so that it is easier to keep to manage.

BakZhang2

Whatever way the rice dumpling is wrapped, it is not important because the most important thing is what’s inside. Here’s our meat version.

Meat Dumpling

It’s filled with braised pork belly, chinese sausage, mushroom, chestnut and dried shrimp. I am missing the salted egg yolk because I forgot to make them this year. The ones sold at the stores here are usually the cooked ones and I am not a big fan of them. So I try to make them myself but this year I forgot, hence the omission.

Spicy Dried Shrimp Dumpling

Here’s another version: the spicy dried shrimp (hae bee hiam) version. It’s filled with my homemade spicy dried shrimp.

Spicy Dried Shrimp Dumpling

Lots of filling! This is actually my first time making this version. It was the DH’s request because he used to eat it at home. He was pretty happy with the final result.

Since both of the above are savory, I decided to make a sweet version. I filled it with red bean paste and it was really good. Unfortunately was eaten before I took a photo of it. Maybe I will make more soon.

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Spicy Dried Shrimp Sambal (Hae Bee Hiam)

June 22, 2010

It was dumpling festival last week. I haven’t made dumplings in a couple of years. Every year, usually around the dumpling festival time, B always talked about the yummy spicy rice dumpling that his mom made every year. So this year, I finally decided to try making it for him. Since the spicy dried shrimp [...]

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Kroger Family of Stores Giftcard Winner

June 17, 2010

 
Thanks to all who entered the Kroger Giveaway! As usual, I ran the numbers through the random number generator and the winner of the Kroger Family of Stores $30 Giveaway is

Congratulations #22 Deana G!!! I will email you shortly for your mailing address. The winner will have until this Friday to contact me or [...]

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Homestyle HongKong Cafe

June 15, 2010

School is finally out and I feel a sense of relief. Someone tell me why the schools try to squeeze so many programs in the last 2 weeks of school. Field trips, field days, concerts, summer birthday parties etc.. It seems like there was a program everyday. I was so glad when it was the [...]

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Kroger Family Pound for Pound Challenge + $30 GC Giveaway – CLOSED

June 8, 2010

      
Did you know that The Kroger Co. Family of Stores, General Mills, NBC’s hit TV Show “The Biggest Loser” and other key sponsors are partnering to donate up to $1,080,000 to Feeding America this year. Here’s how it works.
First, visit the Kroger Pound for Pound challenge and make your pledge to lose weight and to get [...]

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French Dip

June 7, 2010

It’s the last week of school and my baby graduates kindergarten this Friday!! It’s a bittersweet moment because on one hand, I am glad that school is over but on the other hand, I can’t believe that she will be going to first grade in September!! She’s all grown up.
Anyway, back to the topic of [...]

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Super Mario Cake

June 1, 2010

Hello… yes, I am still around. Hope everyone had a great weekend. We had a long 4 day holiday and decided to hold a garage sale with a couple of friends. Even though it turned out to be a very rainy weekend, I was really glad to be able to get rid of a lot [...]

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