Holiday Health Fair

Burger Rob's 

Also had free cookies and hot cocoa.

Crafts kits and goodies for neighbor's little girl

Also picked up free fan, tee shirt, chapstick, etc. And listened to live orchestra Xmas concert.

Nov 22 Food

Indian buffet

Brunch w/ R&J & M&M

Vine and Olive (new Italian restaurant)

Bolognese w/ handmade pasta

Pimento cheese dip w/ wine glaze onions & fresh focaccia

Flat bread w/ figs, cheese, roasted red peppers

 

Oct 22 Food

Radish cake, Portuguese egg tarts, sticky rice dumplings, & osmanthus cakes from Mei's Supermarket

Indian buffet

Chocolate, pumpkin cake, and chicken dumplings soup from Sam's Club

Walnut cookie, taro milk tea, & produce specials from Mei's

 

Sep 22 Food

Burger Rob's 😋

Employee Appreciation Week luncheon

Indian buffet

Salsas Mexican restaurant

 

Aug 22 Food

 

New Asian Grocery!

First week of work complete! A little overwhelming, but the team is so nice and supportive.

R&J took me to Summer Palace to celebrate. I didn't have AYCE sushi, but the orange chicken lunch I ordered was really good, one of the best!

After, we went to a new Asian grocery, Mei's Supermarket. They opened in an old Publix a year ago, I think. It's very big and has a huge selection of products, produce, meat/seafood, frozen foods, a bakery, and a little café. I bought some baby bok choy, wonton skins, and other stuff, and Mom said the prices are not bad, too.

I also bought my favorite Asian snacks that I couldn't find at the MI/Melbourne oriental stores. Pineapple & lychee shortcakes and coconut butter cookies were good. Green tea Panda snacks were very good (even better than the chocolate flavor we found at Aldi). The boba tea in a can was a little disappointing; the taro milk tea was good, but the boba were more like mushy gelatin than squishy-chewy tapioca pearls.

The Chinese bakery was great! Buns and egg tarts were buy 5, get 1 free. I got 3 HK egg tarts & 3 Portuguese egg tarts; custard, coconut, & taro buns; roast pork bao, roast pork bun, & steamed pork/veg bao. All were very yummy, but the Portuguese egg tarts were particularly good, so rich & creamy!

R spent over $50 at the store, and they gave her a free boba tea or dim sum dish ($4 value). She chose steamed custard buns and gave one to me.

 

They also sold sticky rice dumplings! I didn't get the sweet red bean ones, just the pork & salted egg ones, which were delicious! I'll definitely get more next time. Dad (& Mom) missed it and enjoyed it.

 

 

On the way home, we stopped at Cosmic Creamery, and I ordered their ube ice cream. It's a bit pricey, but it's hard to find. Mom & Dad enjoyed it, too, though we agreed that it could have less sugar and more ube flavor.

R also gave us a sweet potato pie baked by her friend. It was very flavorful but also too sweet, a bit like eating pumpkin cookie dough.

 

Edit to add: Went to Mei's again two weeks later. This time, I spent over $50 and got free dim sum (very soft, fluffy, & tasty roast pork bao). R spent over $100 and got a free meal box!

New Pizza Place

Tried the new PieZano pizza. Average taste, a bit pricey. Margherita pizza (no fresh mozzarella slices) & mushroom ricotta calzone (sauce was tomato puree and weirdly minty)

Waffle Maker Quesadillas

 Pork, egg, onion, celery, cheddar. Yum.

New Indian Buffet!

Thrilled to have a local Indian restaurant with delicious buffet!! 😋 Highly recommend Indian Sizzler!

R&J and I tried it when it opened last Fall, but it was a dinner w/ Sara & Alex, so it was menu only, no all-you-can-eat. The korma and naan were really good though. Later, we went for the AYCE platter lunch, and all the dishes were good (and unlimited)! The restaurant changed to buffet (like Tamarind, which we miss), and everything is delicious (some dishes change daily). I've been there 5 times now (I think) and always leave happy!

AYCE Platter vs Buffet

 

Waffle Maker!

Mom got this rotating waffle maker from Aldi on sale, and we love it! (Got R & M their own too!)

M&M May 2022 Visit

I tried to carve a watermelon fruit salad basket.

M made these pretty origami from giant play money bills. We attached my ribbon tail to Mom's wreath, and it looks great!

 

Mom's Bday 2022

R&J visited with Love! Also brought takeout and almond jelly dessert. We made berry cream cheese pie.

 

 

Mom recently made this beautiful fan!