dim sum | Chatty Cha

There was a spell in my life when I wasn’t much into birthdays. I didn’t have birthday parties every year. Just kinda went with the flow, though I do remember a super-fun time I had when I turned 21. It included seeing “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” at the UofC Law School, then heading to a bar to legally drink. Which we did quite a bit of.

But, meeting, and then marrying, the husband has changed that quite a bit. It’s not a birth-DAY, but a birth-WEEK, with ongoing celebrations big and small. Want a pint? Why not, it’s your birthday. A Home Theater magazine? Sure it’s your birthday. It’s great for me, because when the husband’s birthday comes up, it’s sort of a like a second celebration for me … meals out, shopping, fun all around. More than once I thought to myself, I should get a cupcake, it’s my birthday. Wait a minute, it’s not my birthday. At any rate, these days I love celebrating birthdays.

Need I remind you, it’s birthday pie time! Y’all remember my birthday pie, right? Well, now, we have the husband’s. Banana cream pie, made by the mother-in-law, from, if I haven’t already told you, a recipe clipped from “Better Home & Gardens” from the 60s. Seriously.

banana cream birthday pie

Love it. We have pie for brakfast, lunch, and, if we’re not tired of it, a little for dinner. Yay, pie!

For part two of the husband’s birthday celebration, we headed down to Chinatown for some Dim Sum. Didn’t plan it, sort of serendipitously, but it seemed like the right thing to do. Rather than frequent a place we’d been to before, we tried something new, Duk Li DIm Sum.

The place was tiny, so no rolling carts to deliver treats to your table. Instead the waitress gave us a paper menu and we marked down what we wanted. Here is a taste …

Steamed turnip cake. Usually these are pan fried, and sorta greasy. This steamed version was much more appealing. Still, it's one of those weird looking things. The husband asked, "what's in it?" and I answered honestly, "I'm not entirely sure".

Spring rolls. Typical. Except, they were cold. I don't think they were supposed to be cold, but they were. A bit disappointing, and I wouldn't not have ordered them had I known (kinda funny, only because there were a few other dishes that were burning hot. We bit into these and were like, Oh. It's cold.)

Sticky rice dumplings. Wasn't sure what these were when I ordered then, but I ended up loving them. and not just because they were obviously deep-fried. "Sticky rice" is a made from a glutonous rice flour, a familiar ingredient in Chinese (and Japanese) cooking that is unique in flavor and texture. Love it.

Shrimp Rice Roll. I didn't know that this is what' they are called, but it's some typical dim sum for us. Tasty.

There are a few more pics of our Dim Sum lunch in my flickr photostream. Click on any of the pics above to hit the point in the photostream.

This final one isn’t from our Dim Sum outing, but very well could have been. I picked up a Sesame Ball from Mee Sum Pastry, now open in the University Distribut (the original shop is in Pike Place Market). I had been wanting one of these since I went out to Dim Sum in July with my sister and her family. So, here now, a month later, I finally get my just desserts.

Sesame ball with red bean paste in the center.

Happy Birthday to Me! I mean, the husband!

My six-day love affair with refined sugars and carbs is over. I felt so ill yesterday I have no doubt it’s due to the loads of carbs I’ve ingested the past few days (especially considering how I had limited my intake for so many weeks previous). So bad that I didn’t work out, which led to a vicious circle of minimal movement due to feeling ill, then eating something to feel better, then feeling bad and wanting to curl up in the fetal position.

So, vacation or not, the carb train has made its last stop and it’s not coming back. Goodbye, angel food cake. Farewell, onion bagel. So long, penne marinara with a slide of sourdough bread on the side. Sweet dreams, sweet coconut bun. Adieu, my delicious, soft, crusty loaf of walnut bread from Essential. Hello, high-fiber cereal, low-fat yogurt, eggs and salsa and salad, salad, salad. Didja miss me?

But before we leave, how about one more flashback (cue sappy music, like that episode of “Family Ties” when Alex fails a final exam because he spends the hour flashing back to all the wonderful times he had with his girlfriend … do you remember the song … What did you think, I would do at this moment, When you’re standing before me, With tears in your eyes? …”)

Anyhow, here’s a wonderful memory of my vacation … Dim Sum at House of Hong in the International District with the sis and family:

Sticky rice filled with pork, chinese sausage and other goodies, steamed in banana leaves. Mmmmm …

Barbecue pork. Served with hot mustard or ketchup, yes, ketchup.

Turnip cake. A favorite dim sum dish for me, though I’m not sure the rest of the table was as enthused about it. The ultimate indulgence. A starchy vegetable, mixed with bits of meat and fried to perfection.