Gerry's Grill (Food Review)

The City Plaza, 11710 South Street, Artesia, CA 90701  Tel. 562-403-1000  http://www.gerrysgrill.com/us/index.php

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…..happy birthday Veggie Girl.  That’s right, yesterday was Veggie Girl’s birthday.  Weeks before yesterday, I’ve been thinking of what I can give her on her birthday.

Classic Brownies

Today, I would like to pay tribute to our readers. First of all, thank you for stopping by and checking us out. It gets me really excited that the world is getting smaller through technology. To know I have readers is like having somebody stop by my kitchen window and ask me “What’s cooking?” To which I will always say, “Come in and check it out.”

Renaissance Faire Fare

Don't you love it when family or friends visit? For me, it means I get a mini vacation from my kitchen. Don't get me wrong. I really enjoy cooking but there are some days -- especially in the summer months -- when I'm relieved to be away from a sweltering kitchen and not have to tend to a stove or a full sink of dirty dishes. I'm enjoying a few kitchen-free days at the moment as my brother's visiting for a week and that has meant lots of meal gatherings with relatives and eating out everyday so far. And it's only been his third day here.

Our highlight of the weekend was the Renaissance Fair which we visited on Sunday. Being a first timer at the fair, I knew only that it would be an event based on the Medieval times and that people who worked at the fair would be dressed in corsets, full skirts, cloaks, feather hats and the like.

Sweet & Savory Homemade Pop Tarts

I had a guest in my kitchen today. It was my cousin, Jetts, who had forwarded me a pop tart recipe from the LA Times about a month ago and said, "Wanna make these?" (or something to that effect). Who can resist homemade pop tarts? Not I! However, one cannot make pop tarts on an empty stomach so we headed out for a quick lunch at a local Mexican restaurant called Tacos Ensenada. Jetts had pulled it up on Yelp and said that the reviews were all positive. The biggest draw for us was that they feature 99 cent fish tacos on Tuesdays which happens to be today! What luck! And to think it's only been a stone's throw away from me all these years.

Fresh & Easy Chile Sourdough Bread (An homage + a sandwich tutorial)

Today is my Fresh & Easy's Chile Sourdough Bread Appreciation Day. Actually, every day is a day like that because this particular bread is a mainstay of our diet but today I pay it some homage with this humble blog post.

Garden Cafe (Arcadia) Chow Down

The kids and I met up with my cousin, Jetts for lunch and a movie today. She wanted to chow down at Garden Cafe in Arcadia so that's where we went.

THE REVIEW:

Garden Cafe is a Hong Kong style cafe with a wide array of both Eastern and Western dishes. The decor is simple and modern with booth and table seating as well as a bar area. We arrived at about 12:15 p.m. and were seated immediately since they weren't too busy. I was relieved for a couple of reasons. 1) I've been there before around dinnertime on a weekend and have had to wait (something I have no patience for these days!) 2) Their noise level is awful when it's a "full house". Something about that place makes the sounds of many boisterous patrons + bustling wait staff almost deafening for me. Today, it was actually quite peaceful -- not too dead and not too crowded.

Swedish Breakfast

I woke up to the sound of water dripping outside. As forecasted, we will be experiencing rainy weather this week. It's April showers I guess. With this gloomy cold weather, how can I wake up to an exciting breakfast? But first, what do I already have in the fridge? Ah-ha! Ikea pancakes!...and coffee!...I'm up!!!

Dumplings fit for Olympians

Let me start my very first post by saying that I'm by no means a vegetarian. I call myself Veggie Girl because lately I've made a conscious decision to eat mostly vegetables. By mostly, I mean 90% of my diet is vegetarian. I still cook meals with meat in it about twice a week because of my carnivorous family so my 10% meat diet comes into play when I feel too lazy to cook a separate meal for myself on meat nights. I must say that given my new goal of eating mostly veggies, my family have been very obliging and for that I'm grateful.