What Dinner Looks Like

What dinner looks like if you don't make it yourself, pictures taken at my aunt's friend's house in Taipei. They live in one of the high-rises on the side of the mountain overlooking Taipei City, where the celebrities live. I wish my computer wasn't Linux, so I can mount my old external hard drive and get the nightscape pictures of Taipei 101 that I took from the giant window of their apartment. It's about the most amazing image in the world. Sorry kids.

Considering this picture was taken indoors, I am quite proud of the photo quality of these two wine glasses and the grain of the table surface.For starters, Dong Gua Tang (winter melon soup) with oysters. For hot summers, this is a light but tasty soup that won't weigh down the rest of your meal.
Foreground: calamari pasta with shrimp. Background: anchovy and bamboo shoots with spicy red peppers
Beef with bell peppers, something we make at our house as well. The picture isn't so good because I forgot to take a picture of it until it was plated on my plate.
Tofu in red sauce. I can't remember what the red sauce was made from, but it wasn't spicy at all.
For dessert, the trend of the moment, mille-crepe with mango stuffing.
Almond nai lao (milk pudding gelatin thingy) with blueberry.

Blueberry English Muffin

Brunch is my favorite! I started being a regular at Mary's of Course during the spring semester of my junior year in college. I spent every Sunday after church engaging in intellectually stimulating conversation, admiring the cheek beards of Cheekbeards (Brian Doub, bassist of The Finks), and sampling the down-home yet inventive brunch selections that Mary had to offer. Most of Marys' waitstaff are local musicians or artists, and the dining room is at the same time an art gallery and a display case for all of Mary's kitsch collectibles: Hello Kitty beef jerky, Dolly Parton dolls, and Tammy Faye vinyl records being the highlights.

Last summer I really craved blueberries, and returned to Mary's to see if luck was with me. In fact, they did have a blueberry breakfast item that morning - pancakes or waffles or something of the like. Unfortunately for me, by the time we got there they were down to a tiny ramekin of blueberry sauce left. Cheekbeards, being the adorable man that he is, brought me the last bit of it, with some special cream, and as a compromise I spread it on my english muffin, instead of getting the pancakes.
It was horrendously messy to eat, staining my fingers with blueberry juice with each bite I took.


I can't wait until summer and blueberry season!