nonstick weblog

We were at the Porcupine Grille again. This time for Dinner.

The Food

Chicken Nachos – Best thing on the menu (next to beer). A half order is enough for a full meal. The cheese and jalapenos are in two layers. Keeps the chips from getting too soggy, but ensures that every bite includes cheesy goodness.

Cottonwood Burger – Can’t get them (or any restaurant in Salt Lake City aside from Citrus Grill) to make the burger medium rare, so a little over cooked. Cheese was not even melted, like it was an after thought. Bonus @ThinGuy points for including bacon, but probably won’t have this again.

The Atmosphere

We really like this place. Especially as we eat at old-folk o’clock and there are always kids my daughter’s age for her to socialize with. She and a little girl turned the adjacent open space as a disco and allowed my husband and I and the little girl’s parents to have a peaceful meal.

Bottom Line

Love this place. Especially as they have all the local brews on tap.

This little Korean place at 3500S and Redwood Rd has got to be our favorite restaurant in all of Salt Lake Valley.

The Food

I don’t know what you call these. My kid loves the seaweed. She didn’t leave even one piece for us. The potatoes and bean sprouts are my favorite.

Kalbi – It’s really good here, but not the star.

Dokboki – My best friend in High School is Korean and she would always have her mom make extra for me because I loved it so much. This version is different from any I have tried. Typically, you only get the thick rice noodles. Myung Ka’s version has cabbage, carrots, onions and ramen. My two favorite Korean foods in one pot: Kimchee Ramen and Dokboki. This is the dish that will draw us back time and time again.

Tofu and Dumplings – You can get this dish with clear, mild, medium or hot broth. We got clear as my kid doesn’t always eat spicy. The bowl of tofu and dumplings arrives boiling. You stir in the raw egg provided to create an egg drop soup effect. The tofu is really soft and the dumplings are excellent. My kid loves this dish.

Rice – Never seen this before, but the rice comes in these individual pots. It reminds me of the clay pot rice that Chinese folks make. Really good. Don’t get the peas, but not a detractor.

The Atmosphere

Myung-Ka is a tiny place and, I think, family-owned and run. There is not a lot of staff and it is popular, so be patient. Bring toys for your 3 year old.

The clientele is mainly Korean (that’s how you know it’s good) and there were a lot of families with happa kids. My kid loved seeing all the little kids who looked like her.

Bottom Line

Great food, not as pricey as other Korean places in Salt Lake. Long wait for food and no alcohol, not even beer.

As you all know my husband teaches at the University of Utah and he tipped me off to this article in the Salt Lake Tribune. The bill that just passed the legislative committee and is moving to the House says that those with concealed weapon permits may “openly carry” their weapons on any publicly owned property. Yes, folks, it includes the U where my husband is employed and where he regularly pisses off students.

Being able to carry a concealed weapon is bad enough. Now you can openly intimidate without ever uttering a word. I can’t believe I pay the salaries of the idiots who think it is okay to allow people to openly carry there weapons anywhere, much less in the classroom. Do we not learn from the gun related tragedies on college campuses across the nation? Is my husband now supposed to ask to see their permit when a student thrusts his holster forward as he disputes the grade he received? How would these politicians feel if I openly carried a weapon into the capital? WTF, Utah?

Last week I was in MPK and BRM and got the chance to meet some of my Twitter buddies. I met @kevinchu and @davetong for lunch on Wednesday and @lskrocki for lunch on Friday.

The experience was weird. I am used to working with people for years and never meeting them in person. If I do, I already have the email and phone relationship as a foundation. With my Twitter buddies, the relationship is built on blog entries, one way communications; and tweets, brief quips that can be two way communications.

They say that words only communicate 7% of the message. As I had never even spoken to these folks, I was getting the additional 93% all at once. And it was quite an experience.

@kevinchu was a lot quieter than I imagined, but when he did say something, it was a gem, kind of like Silent Bob. @davetong was as I imagined, a garrulous and funny guy. @lskrocki was just as I imagined, too. I expect that if anyone witnessed @lskrocki and my lunch, they would describe it as jibber-jabber, jibber-jabber, cackle, cackle, cackle.

I have to wend my may to Las Vegas soon to meet @thinguy and @mrsthinguy.

I have lately noticed that my vocabulary is crap. I blame it on fatigue or brain farts, but really it’s because I have not taken the time to build or maintain my vocabulary. I need to read more and write more. In writing, when I need a word, I can take the time to ponder. When speaking, I just sound “duh” as I search for the appropriate term.

I got a new MacBook Pro about a month ago. It took a little getting used to as I was always a PC girl. Things are different just enough that you begin to suspect your sanity when something isn’t working like it’s supposed to.

It’s been a month and I have to say that the bits I found annoying before, I no longer notice. I am finding other nits that I will eventually adjust to as well.

1) Every time I press “delete” the screen dims. Apparently, there is a light sensor or something in the speaker bay (I think that is the technical term). So when my hand waves over it as I press the delete button, the screen dims. (Don’t understand the logic of dimming the screen when light is low, but probably just need to ponder on it more.)

2) Photobooth spooks me. To keep myself awake and away from email or Twitter while on a concall, I play with the Photobooth application. It has this cool feature where you can distort your face. But sometimes, I forget it’s on and when I minimize or close a window, I am confronted by a distorted, yet oddly better looking version of myself.

My current, new, absolute favorite kids’ book is Pinkalicious by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann.

It’s about this little girl who loves pink. She eats too many pink cupcakes one day and turns pink. She then eats one too many and turns red. You’ll have to read it to find out how it ends.

My kid actually sat through me reading it 3 times. And she can’t hold still for anything. She’s in bed right now. When I put her to bed, she wanted me to leave the light on so she could “read” Pinkalicious again. So, I guess it’s her favorite, too.

I always thought it was tough growing up Chinese American: Chinese at home and American everywhere else. It wasn’t until recently that I realized it was and is infinitely harder for my parents.

My parents immigrated to the US from China and Hong Kong over 30 years ago so that their children could have a better life. They left behind everything they knew, family and friends, and moved to a land of foreign languages and cultures. Their only solace was that they could base their new life on their traditions.

The dissonance was not apparent to myself and my siblings until my niece’s 12 day celebration. My sisters and I always wondered why my mother was so put out when she cooked healing foods for us after we had our babies. We chalked it up to my mom being a Cantonese mom. She ruled with an iron fist of general dissatisfaction.

Apparently, according to Chinese tradition, our mother-in-laws were supposed to take care of us. Cook us the healing foods. Prepare for and invite guests to the newborn’s 12 day celebration. But, my mother had to take on this responsibility because our mother-in-laws were not doing it. They either didn’t know how or didn’t want to be bothered. She took on a role that was not hers and for which she would get no thanks.

In Chinese tradition, when a woman marries, her parents relinquish all rights. The woman’s well-being is the responsibility of her husband and his family. If he and his family do not care for her, tough. Her parents have no say. People would frown upon my mother for stepping in to take care of my sisters and me.

This is what my parents had to struggle with. Do they choose tradition, passed down through generations and over thousands of years, all they know? Or do they choose their children’s welfare? Fortunately, my parents chose us, just like they did over 30 years ago.