Day 114 (7.3.12): Magic Shrooms--Sesame "Chicken," You Say?

Sesame "Chicken" Mushrooms from Happy Family Vegetarian Restaurant

Magic shrooms have never tasted this good. Just ask Alice! How do those shrooms taste, Alice?



Yes, delicious, isn't it? And very magical...

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your personal preferences), these were not magic shrooms of any sort, but they did, in fact, taste very magical. Holy cripes, they were amazing. So much better than your run-of-the-mill (and guilt-full) sesame chicken. A must-try if you are ever in Monterey Park and happen to run by Happy Family!

Day 98 (6.16.12): Three-Tier White Cake (Appropriate for Birthdays and Unbirthdays Alike)

Three-Tier White Cake

Status: Restaurant (Empress Pavilion)

Satisfaction: 6. Not a huge cake fan...

Associated with: Alice in Wonderland

Tier cakes make me so happy. I'm not a huge fan of cakes myself, but every time I see those tiers, it makes me want to recreate the unbirthday party cake from the scene pictured above. It's been done--so one of these days when I have the time, resources, and sufficient amount of boredom, I will do it. Maybe.

Anyway, we had this cake in celebration of my great-uncle's 90th birthday. Happy (belated) birthday!!

Day 59: Greens Salad with Fat Baby Carrots (Humpty Dumpty Sat On A Wall...)

Status: Dining Hall (Covel)

Satisfaction: Actually, a 10. But then again, I was a hungry post-practice swimmer and it's really hard to ruin a salad that you make yourself. And that's free.

Associated with: Humpty Dumpty

'Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall:
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty Dumpty in his place again.'

There's something slightly eerie about whole hard-boiled eggs. Maybe it's that I've read too much Carroll, but there really is an almost human aspect to them when you look at them for a really long time. 

An entire section of my senior honors thesis was devoted to the famous line by Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland (so it's appropriate that he gets his own day of food for thought):

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

I love that line! If you ever want to have a stimulating, scintillating (I also love that word) conversation about the significance of language mastery and adult authority in Alice--well, you know where to find me.

Day 14 (3/17/12): Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes (in a Golden Afternoon Dreamland)

 

Alice in Wonderland Cupcakes

Status: Wishful Thinking (i.e. not mine)

(3.17.12)

Since I was still sick on Saturday and basically ended up swallowing a combination of leftovers and insufficient meals, I made up for it by doing some research for the Edible Book Festival our school is hosting in April. As you can see, spirits are low but ambitions are high--and you might see a repeat of some of these cute themed cupcake (hopefully) next month!

Day 10: Tea at the Huntington (Consumed in a State of Semi-Madness)

 

English-Style Tea at the Huntington Library

Satisfaction: 10.

Date: 3/12/12

Associated with: Alice in Wonderland (of course)

 

As you can probably already tell from the nifty tag in the lower left-hand corner of the tea picture, I didn't take it. Didn't have the temerity to whip out my camera in the middle of a decent English tea room in front of our prospective students and department vice chair (but the food that I ate was essentially exactly the same, so there you are).

So. Mad tea parties. The only reason the madness of the tea party factors in here is my current psychological state. The event itself was quite, fortunately, un-mad. I was a much happier camper--not least of all because the tea was delicious and (for me) free. And did I mention delicious?