Lena S

[lenasilawanta]

My Top 5 Apps

Spotify - I love Music and in my opinion, Spotify got it right. The interface is really easy to use and has a very clean design. You’re able to discover new music everyday for any occasion or mood and connect with others though their playlists.

Postmates - After finding Postmates, this changed my way of ordering food when I’m having one of those days where you just don’t feel like moving or if the weather is not the best to be outside in. What I like about Postmates is that, not only do they deliver and allow you to order on their app, but they also offer places that doesn’t even offer delivery service. You’re also able to view your total before purchasing and it also gives you an option to either tip in person or via the app once the delivery has been made. The app’s interface is really easy for anyone to use, simple but yet clean design that gets to the point.

Flipboard - With all of the different apps that deliver news it could take up a lot of space on your phone. Which is why I like Flipboard. Flipboard allows you to taylor the articles you’re reading to you, based on the interests you’ve selected. It automatically updates with the latest news so you don’t have to refresh it. It allows you to discover more articles that you might like and add other news platforms to your board by using their following feature. The design of the app is very engaging with the user, as you are flipping though the articles. The design is fairly simple but very effective on getting the user’s attention.

Rent the Runway - Trying to find an outfit to wear is already stressful enough as it is. With Rent the Runway, they are able to solve your problems with what to wear by your style preference. Whether it’s a night out of the town or a company party they have it all. What I like about the company is that not only are you able to see actual people wearing the dress and reviewing them but I like that simple and easy it is for the user to move along in the app. The interface is very smooth with the transitions. The design is very simple and clean without being too cluttered with all of the images on there.

Apple Maps - This is actually my newest discovery on the iPhone. When you go into your maps on your iPhone and click in the search bar. Some icons will pop up for food, drinks, shopping, travel, services, fun, health and transport. Now I’ve only used the food button since I have a really big passion for food, but it pulls up all of the food places around you. You can also look on yelp, but this is already done for you using the geo location and preloads the yelp stars, reviews, and photos so you don’t have to do any other filter. The interface is very smooth with the transitions, and very responsive with the geo location. The design is very simple and informative.

[lenasilawanta]

Sugar-Coated: Sheng Kee Bakery

Needless to say, when it comes to birthday cakes for people such as my grandparent's or my elders, it's always a miss. 

However, on my grandmother's birthday I decided to go for it and get a cake for her. So, I asked a few of my friends on great places to go and the one that stood out the most was Sheng Kee Bakery. 

Sheng Kee Bakery is a great Asian bakery with a variety of cakes, pastries, and bolba drinks. This place did take me a while to find but then again driving on Irving St during rush hour in San Francisco is a pain. Anyways, after I finally found this place and found parking, I was really surprised on how fast the staff is. I was literally in and out of this place within 20 minutes with a Taro cake. 

When I got home, I was crossing my fingers hoping it would be a hit. Which it was. Her exact words were, "It's good and not too sweet." Which really is a great complement, coming from an Asian grandparent, because they typically don't like desserts that are too sweet. 

Needless to say, I would definitely come back to Sheng Kee Bakery again for the next grandparent's birthday. 

[lenasilawanta]

Where to eat: Sam's ChowderMobile

When you think about seafood, the last place you would think of would be a food truck. I mean let's face it. That does sound pretty crazy if you think about it. Sam's ChowderMobile claims that they bring great tasting lobster roll and chowder to the Bay Area streets. 

My friends and I walked over to Off the Grid for lunch and I thought I would try Sam's ChowderMobile. Honestly, I had a little bit of doubt about it because I never heard of it. I ended up ordering a shrimp po boy with a side of their fries. 

When I received my food, I really was not expecting a pretty good sized portion. This shrimp po boy really huge, I was surprised that I finished eating it. 

Each bite was like a taking a bite of heaven. I've had po boy's before but nothing like this, the flavor was surprisingly light and complimented well with one another. The same goes for the fries, typically they are very oily and plain but Sam's ChowderMobile added a special seasoning to their fries that made it even better and it was not that oily. 

All in all I wouldn't mind going back here again.. but next time I will try something else and give you an update next time around. 

[lenasilawanta]

My Hidden Gem: Sushi

Now I know you must be thinking to yourself that you can get sushi any where. This is true. You can get it any where, but for me I found the one place that I would go to over and over again despite the long lines and wait time. Not to mention the distance.  

I ended up going on a little journey down to Cupertino for dinner with Brian, John, and my new friends Reggie, Rita, Renee and Lily at a sushi restaurant called Gokaku. 

When I first go there, I wasn't expecting to still see my friends waiting outside of the restaurant, especially since I live an hour and a half away from Cupertino. Since it was dinner time, we were literally at the point of getting very irritated, frustrated, and annoyed that we where waiting a very long time for a table. However, when we did finally get our table, it was all worth the wait. 

We ordered taro chips, 2 volcanos, a zig-zag roll, buta kimchi don, chef sampler, cream cheese harumaki, 2 mackerel maki roll, a rice ball, two pitchers of beer, and warm sake. It was really funny because when we were ordering all of this food the waiter looked at us like we where insane. Mind you we didn't really know how big the portions were and he was explaining to us that what we were ordering was a lot... so we ended up modifying it per his suggestion. 

Here's a break down of dinner: 

Taro chips - sliced fried taro with a special spicy chef sauce. This wasn't what I was expecting. The sauce had great flavor and when combined with the taro chips, it was like unbelievable. I really can't explain how delicious this was. 

Buta Kimchi Don - I didn't really eat this one but I did get a small taste of this. It had tremendous flavor, not over powered by the kimchi, very light and very simple. 

Rice Ball - I didn't try this one but my friend Renee said that it was really delicious. 

Volcano - this thing was literally like a monster of it's own. It was really delicious, despite the fact that it had a lot of fried tempora flakes on top. It's like digging though just to find a roll. So much flavor but it all meshed really well. 

Chef Sampler - this has a different types of rolls on there of the chef's choice. Each one very tasty. 

Cream Cheese Harumaki - now I'm a huge fan of cheese, so when its deep fried. It's like putting me in heaven. This roll was amazing cheesy and flavorful. 

Mackerel roll - my friend Reggie ordered this because mackerel is his favorite fish. He ended up getting a 2 different kinds. He said it was very tasty. 

Zig-Zag roll - made with soy wraps with soft shell crab, tobiko and scallions. Literally the best roll ever made. It was like a burst of flavor in your mouth and was very light. 

Overall, this was the best sushi restaurant by far. Service was really fast, nice, and was really accommodating. Highly recommend trying this place out. Even though it's located in Cupertino. 

[lenasilawanta]

Where to Eat: Americana Grill & Fountain

On cold nights there's nothing like a big hot bowl of pho to warm you up. 

John and I went on a little journey for pho to warm us up from the cold night in San Francisco. We originally had a place in mind to go to but we actually ended up switching up our plans suddenly when our original place we choose was closed. Which lead us to Americana Grill & Fountain. 

I'm not gonna lie, I had a lot of doubt about this place. I mean vietnamese and italian food served at the same restaurant. Something's got to give right? 

When we first walked into Americana Grilled & Fountain, needless to say that it was pretty small and really empty. Typically when it's really empty I wouldn't stick around but John convinced me to stay and give it a try. 

I have to say for a restaurant that didn't have anyone really there, the service was a little slow. Took a little longer than usual to get water, tea, place our order and recieve our food.

John ordered a crab meat with tomato and vermicelli noodle soup. I ordered a seafood ho fun noodle soup. 

When our food did finally arrive, I was pleasantly surprised. John's crab meat with tomato and vermicelli noodle soup was really good and had a lot of flavor. It kinda reminded me of a thai based soup called Tom Yum. As for my seafood ho fun noodle soup, it also had great flavor was delicious as well. Although the sock for my soup was pretty simple but it did pack in a lot of flavor. Although, I did wish that I could have a little bit of spice added to it, after all I love spicy foods. 

All in all, I'm glad John suggested this place, even with all of my skepticism I wouldn't mind going back here to get nice big hot bowl of noodle soup. 

[lenasilawanta]

Where to eat: Enjoy Vegetarian

I'm not one to push my lifestyle onto people but my friend's John, Jimmy and my new friend Sara decided to try Enjoy Vegetarian out for my birthday dinner. Now John and I have been to another Enjoy Vegetarian before and absolutely loved the experience and food. 

Enjoy Vegetarian is an all vegetarian restaurant and I mean everything vegetarian. From imitation chicken to imitation seafood, Enjoy Vegetarian has it all. 

We decided to ordered a family style dinner because it was a little bit more fun sharing everything. We started off with a simple tom yum soup for as an appetizer. Then a lettuce wrap, spicy mongolian beef stir-fry, creamy taro and chicken, and a cuttlefish stir-fry  with a side order of white rice for our entree. 

Here's a break down of our dinner: 

Tom Yum soup - not really as tasty as the original thai tom yum but it does come pretty close. I liked the little baby corn, mushrooms, and mung bean sprouts. It was a really great starter, nice and tangy, very light and good flavor. 

Lettuce Wrap - this has the imitation chicken, corn and peas. I wasn't really sure what to expect but this one was my favorite out of everything we ordered. It had tremendous flavor and I could eat this everyday. 

Stir-Fry Cuttlefish - the texture in this is pretty off if your a first timer like my new friend Sara, she didn't like this at all. I wouldn't say that it was horrible but I wouldn't order it again. There wasn't really any flavor there and was borderline bland. 

Spicy Mongolian Beef Stir-fry - this one was a disappointment. There was no spice and the flavor and texture of the beef was not pleasant at all. I really wanted to like this dish but I just really couldn't. 

Taro and Chicken - now this one was one of my favorites next the to the lettuce wraps. It may seem pretty odd but it was rather tasty. The imitation chicken was the best part. Very nice flavor and the texture was great. I was concerned about the taro but it wasn't too starchy and not dried out. I would definitely order this again. 

Over all a few hits and misses but I would definitely recommend people to give this place a try and also be open minded that everything here is all imitation. So don't be too alarmed by the texture of things. 

[lenasilawanta]

Status Update

Hello my luvly foodies :)

Sorry for long disappearing act. I've recently have been over whelmed with school and work.. which automatically didn't leave much time for me to post up anything new.

But I have been keeping tabs on some great places to go and what I like cook up in the kitchen. 

I am hoping to write them all out and will be posting them up soon... just bare with me a little longer ^_^

[lenasilawanta]

From My Kitchen: Fiesta Night

There’s nothing like a low key night with friends. Especially when we through things together last minute.

My friend John and I made plans to hang out but we weren’t sure on the details until the day of when we decided to have a little fiesta of our own at his place.

We had the idea of making everything ourselves so not only would it be fresh but it was a chance for us to experiment. Which meant it could have gone two ways: really great or horribly wrong.

We decided to make homemade guacamole with homemade chips, and quesadillas.

Guacamole:

- 4 avocados

- 2 serrano peppers

- half of a red onion (diced)

- 2 diced tomatoes (we used Roma tomatoes)

- a tsp of cilantro

- a whole lime

- salt and pepper to taste

Take your knife and slice all the avocados in half and scoop it out into a large mixing bowl. Next take the serrano peppers and dice them into little cubes (we left the seeds in for more heat but you can devein them for less heat). After you dice them add them to your large mixing bowl, along with the diced onions and tomatoes. This is optional but we decided to add in a little cilantro to add some extra flavor. Next, cut the lime it in half and squeeze both halves into the bowl. Add a little but of salt and pepper to taste and mix it all together.

Homemade Chips:

- corn tortilla

- peanut oil (any kind of oil you like we just used peanut oil cause that was John's preference) 

Now this is as easy as you can get it.. cut the corn tortilla's in half and then half again until you get a triangle. In a sauce pan, pour in a about 2 or 3 cups of oil to deep fry the tortilla's. Once the oil is hot enough drop in the tortilla's for a few minutes or until crispy. 

Quesadillas: 

- corn tortilla

- refried beans

- shrimp

- shredded cheese

- sour cream

- salt and pepper

- garlic ( but we used garlic salt for me because I didn't want to chew on pieces of garlic) 

[lenasilawanta]

Shaking It Up: Hot Chocolate with a Twist

There's nothing like a nice cup of hot chocolate during the winter time. Then again it's even better when it's a Nutella Hot Chocolate. I have an obsession with Nutella. It just so yummy!

Here's my spin on your average hot chocolate. 

Nutella Hot Chocolate

ingredients: 

1 cup almond milk (any kind of milk will do but I just happen to love almond milk)

2 tbsp Nutella

cinnamon 

whip cream (optional)

directions: 

In a sauce pan over medium-low heat, add in 1/4 of almond milk (or whatever milk you like) to over the sauce pan. Then add in about a 2 tbsp of Nutella. Take a whisk and stir the Nutella until it melts completely into the milk. Once it's completely disolved, add in the rest of the milk, and stir. Then add in a pinch of cinnamon, and stir. 

Take a coffee mug of your choice, pour in the Nutella hot chocolate. Then top it off with whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Enjoy!!!

[lenasilawanta]

Shaking It Up: Ten Ren

In the past, I've been here a few times because it's close to my house. Technically there is one closer but I actually prefer Ten Ren. 

Ten Ren is located in a little food mall in Richmond. This is actually a one place that if you don't know about, you might need to yelp it in order to find it. I took my friend John here one day when we hung out in East Bay. 

I got a almond milk and John got a plum milk tea. What I like about this place is that it's fast and the tea's are delicious. 

[lenasilawanta]

From My Kitchen: Spring Rolls Thai Style

I love Asian food but cooking Asian food is some what a challenge within itself. However, I find making these spring rolls to be the easiest thing I've ever made. This homemade version of spring rolls is a little different than the typical spring rolls you have at a restaurant.

Spring Rolls

ingredients:

2 oz rice vermicelli noodles 

8 spring roll rice wrappers

8 large shrimp - peeled, deveined and cut in half

2 lettuce leaves - roughly chopped 

4 tsp fish sauce

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp white sugar

1 clove garlic - minced

1 tbsp olive oil (or what ever oil you like best)

1/2 tsp chili garlic sauce

1 tbsp hoisin sauce

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp peanuts - crushed

directions:

> Bring a medium saucepan of water and bring it to a boil. Then add in the rice vermicelli noodels for 3 - 5 minutes or until al dente, and drain.

>In a medium sauce pan add in 1 tbsp olive oil and the mined garlic clove into the pan. Then add in the shrimp, 1 tbsp hoisin sauce and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes to the pan. Saute the shrimp until it's cooked. 

>For your dipping sauce base: take a small sauce pan with the 2 tbsp of sugar, stir until brown. Then add in 1/4 cup of water, stir until the sugar had disolved. After the sugar is disolved, add in 4 tsp of fish sauce and let it cool for 10 minutes. 

>Fill a large bowl with warm water. Dip one rice wrapper into the hot water for a second and lay it flat on a large plate. Place in a row, by the edge closest to you, place a handful of vermicelli noodles, 2 halved shrimp, and lettuce then roll the edge over leaving about 2 inces uncovered on each side. Fold over the uncovered sides inward, then tightly roll the wrapper to the end. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. 

>In a small bowl, mix your dipping sauce base with a 1/2 tbsp of chili garlic sauce and tip it off with the crushed peanuts. 

I know this doesn't sound very simple but trust me it is. Hope you try it out one day. Enjoy!!

[lenasilawanta]

Sugar-Coated: Fentons Creamery

It's pretty easy to put a smile on a child's face with ice cream. It's another when you take them to Fentons Creamery. 

I took my two nieces here for dinner and a very late dessert. Needless to say Fentons Creamery is a very popular place for families to go to with their kids. We did wait for a while to be seated and with two kids with me who were getting pretty impatient, thank goodness for my iPhone. 

When we did finally get seated, it was pretty funny seeing their faces when the desserts went by our table. They kept saying and pointed out which ice creams they wanted and kept asking if they could get a really really big sunday. Of course being the responsible one, I made them a deal that they can order what ever size they want as long as they ate a little bit of dinner before. 

I ordered a shrimp po boy sandwich with chips on the side, then two hotdogs with an order of regular and curly fries for them. The food there was pretty good. My sandwich was very well seasoned and very light on the mayo. I did have a few of the kids fries which were very good as well. 

Since I'm not really a big fan of ice cream, I ate a little bit from my nieces sunday. Over all, the ice cream wasn't too bad. It was very creamy, light, and very sweet. I wouldn't mind taking them here again. 

[lenasilawanta]

From The Kitchen: Everyday Comfort Food

When I think of my perfect comfort food, I think of my semi-homemade vegetarian manicotti. I love making this dish because it's easy, it warms you up and has great flavor. I've made it a few times for friends and they've always asked me to make it again. 

Here's how you can make this at home:

Vegetarian Manicotti 

ingredients:

1 box of lasagna pasta

1 can of regular marinara sauce

16 oz of sliced mushrooms

15 oz of ricotta cheese

10 oz of freshly chopped spinach, washed

1 egg

1 1/2 cups of grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cups of mozzarella  

1 tsp red pepper flakes

pinch of dill and parsley

salt and pepper to taste

directions:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large pot of boiled salted water, drop in the box of lasagna and cook until tender. Then drain and rinse in cold water. In a large bowl mix ricotta cheese, spinach, mushrooms, mozzarella, and egg with salt and pepper. In a sauce pan bring the 2 cans of marinara sauce to a simmer then add in the red pepper flakes, dill, and parsley. Once the sauce is warm, take it of the heat. 

On a clean surface, one at a time, take the lasagna pasta noodle and wrap it around the mixture of the ricotta cheese, spinach, mushrooms, mozzarella and egg by rolling it. The mixture portion should be around the size of your fist. After it's all rolled, arrange it in the baking pan as a single layer and cover it with the marinara sauce. Then top it off with the grated parmesan cheese. 

Bake in the oven for 45 - 55 minutes or until it's bubbly. 

I hope you try this dish out one day. Enjoy!! 

[lenasilawanta]

Sugar-Coated: Chocolate Covered Strawberries

This is the easiest and simplest dessert you can make at home. All you need are some strawberries and the chocolate of your choice.

I made this for my friends John, Jimmi and Brian after we had dinner. We went back to Jimmi and John's place for a little dessert. This time I made it with white chocolate because were not to much of a fan of milk chocolate and the store ran out of dark chocolate. 

I had John help me out by washing the strawberries and drying them off with a paper towel. While he was doing that, I was tempering the chocolate over a double boiler. Well, we didn't have a double boiler so I made do with a sauce pan filled with boiling water and placed a glass bowl on top. Then poured the white chocolate chips in the glass bowl and stirred it around with a rubber spatula. Once the chocolate melted I hand dipped the strawberries in the chocolate and placed it in a baking sheet that was covered with wax paper. 

When all the strawberries were covered, John placed them in the freezer to harden. After 10 minutes they were ready to eat. 

[lenasilawanta]

Where to eat: Parkside Cafe

My friend, John and I went to Stinson Beach one day to relax. Once in a while heading to the beach on a very nice day is always relaxing.

While we were there, we ended up having lunch at this little cafe called Parkside Cafe. This cafe is right off the beach and has a great patio area for lunch. Well at first we weren't to sure if they were open or not because it was a little hard to tell if they were open or not. So we had to ask the wait staff, who were very helpful and then pointed up to the patio area for seating. The staff there are very friendly and attentive. 

John and I ordered some margarita's to help us unwind and relax even more. For lunch, John had the fish and chips as I had the fish taco with fries. I have to tell you the food there is really delicious. I mean it had tremendous flavor. 

The fish and chips John had was pretty good. It was very light, flakey and the batter wasn't too thick as well. Plus, I really enjoyed their homemade tarter sauce with his fish and chips.

As for the fish taco I had, it was so mouth-watering. The fish was surprisingly light for it being lightly pan fried. It also paired well with the pico de gallo, avocado, and their homemade coleslaw. With every bit, it was like a party in your mouth good. I have to say this made my toes curl a little bit too. 

This is definitely a place that you must go to check out and I would return back here as well.  

[lenasilawanta]

Shaking it up: Purple Kow

I love boba tea. So when I moved to SF and saw that there was one on, practically every corner. My most reason one like the most is Purple Kow in Outer Richmond. 

I had a smokey oolong tea a while back in 09 and ever since I've been on the hunt for one and I never found one that could come close to the one I had. Until I found Purple Kow.

The downfall of this place is that it does get packed really quickly but it's well worth it. 

[lenasilawanta]

Where to eat: High Tide

I always love a great mom and pop shop. Especially this one restaurant in Pacifica called High Tide. It is owned and run by a local family in Pacifica. I first came to this place with my friends John and Brian a while back. Though John and I keep coming going back to High Tide from time to time with our other friends and by ourselves. 

This locally owned restaurant serves the best crapes ever. They also have many other options such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert. However, I'd say crapes are the way to go. Especially since my friend, John introduced me to the Pacific savory crepe. 

It has your choice of fresh salmon or smoked salmon, spinach, capers, cream cheese, and red onions. I typically get the Pacific crape with smoked salmon without the red onions. Reason being is, I just love the taste of smoked salmon and I really don't like red onions. 

I know what your thinking with the saltiness from the capers and smoked salmon you think it would over power everything, but it really balances out when eaten with the cream cheese and spinach. It's really light and flavorful, which is probably the reason why it's so delicious. 

This also comes with a side of house potatoes (hash browns) or fries and a small salad. I always get the house potatoes because they are always really delicious, well seasoned, and crispy. As for the side salad, it's your basic mixed greens with light dressing, which I love because I really dislike heavy dressing that over powers everything.