Sober Saturday

I remember after moving to St. Louis anyone who's been lucky enough to taste my mom's cooking have always told me what a shame it was that I didn't get to learn how to cook from her (everyone raves how good her Vietnamese dishes are, all of them). Living on my own with 'home' being twelve hours away, after work or school I stayed on the phone with her teaching me step by step different Vietnamese dishes. And ever since I moved home I've taken for granted that the home cooking was readily available to me, no need to learn anymore. But with so much time on my hands lately, I've been given tons of opportunities to learn new recipes from my mother. And today, I decided to take on cream cheese puffs. I made a batch for my friends:

the mystery ingredient in the silver jar (=

everything mushed up

let the deep frying begin

it doesn't look that appealing, but everyone loved 'em! And I'd like to thank Tiff for showing me the recipe since my mother wasn't home to teach it to me herself. Everyone said it tasted different from most restaurants, but it was addicting. Feels good to know that I'm somewhat living up to my mom's reputation.

my loves working hard

tilapia for the fish tacos

Oanh's infamous dip...it's soooooo delicious. I can never stay away from it

Felix pretending to do homework

Johnny: "I didn't want to bring food so I brought something everything will enjoy!"

the tilapia frying

disgust-o!

Felix's version of a chili cheese dog (selfish ass)

some of the foodies

Max whipping up his carrot cake

my version of a chili cheese dog

who needs a man when you have orgasmic fish tacos?

the butter that goes into the cookie dough

Oanh the baker

Max's carrot cake

i requested only half to be frosted since i don't like frosting (=

I've known these people ever since I've been in diapers

and I've grown to love these ladies

Jenga for shots

It was a sober night for me, making it two nights in a row and for a Friday and Saturday that's pretty amazing. I guess not making any promises to myself works after all. Even though I was sober, it was an amazing night. Lots of food, catching up, reminiscing, food, laughs, and more food. I broke my diet where I indulged in a couple of my cream cheese puffs, a chili cheese dog, lots of Oanh's chips and dip, a couple fish tacos, cookies and milk, and a slice of unfrosted carrot cake. But it's okay, I'll just workout extra hard tomorrow to make up for it.

As much as I love Emmy and Fanyan to death, I was reminded why I rarely come over even though they have a get together at their house almost every weekend: they live super far. It also didn't help that there was a detour to get up there so it took extra long, felt like I was on a mini road trip. But the long car ride allowed me to catch up with a friend, and it also allowed me to see and listen to a side that she rarely allows others to see. We carpooled because she lives so close and it made much more sense to only take one car rather than having us drive separate, and I truly enjoyed the conversations we had.

It seems like I'm always craving for a good long meaningful conversation, and tonight I got it where I least expected it, with a friend who never opens up. I know you'll be reading this eventually, and thank you for letting me see this side that you keep from others. ^_~ You're right, even though we don't talk everyday, or even every week, but when we do get together to talk we always pick up where we left off.

I know I've said that I'm sick of people, but most of these guys I've known all of my life and if I haven't known them for that long, I've known them for at least 10 years now. I can never get sick of friends who have grown into family. <3<3<3