I was receiving PR emails about when I "consider my editorial content for Valentine's Day". I chuckle to myself, since I'm mildly flattered that anyone assumes that I have my shit together enough to actually plan content for anything. Nah, it's not that organized. I go about my life and write about whatever pops up.
D. and I usually don't celebrate Valentine's Day, largely because we don't like the overwhelming commercial aspect of it. We decided to forgo the pressure and expense years ago.
However, this year, we brought it back a little bit. Some of the effort, none of the pressure. Part of it is that it's our 9th Valentine's Day together and we're one month away from our 10 year anniversary. Time for a little mushiness, a little reflection. We've been together for nearly 10 years, married for a little over 6 months, and it's fair to say that we grew up together.
Back in college, D. was frustrated with the high cost of flowers at Valentine's Day. Being practical to the bone, he decided that Costco was the only way to go and rounded up a group of friends to pool their resources for several of the large Costco bunches that they could divvy up and give to their respective dates. A decade later, Costco still rocks when it comes to flowers.
I wanted to take him out for his favorite potstickers and to one of the main stops on our rotation of restaurants: Dumpling Inn. Serving Northern Chinese cuisine that isn't perfect, but very comforting. They make great potstickers with a fabulous crust.
We also really like their spicy eggplant with ground pork. Fantastic wok hei on this dish, making it perfect in taste and texture.
Apologies for the starkness of the photos... the bright white energy-saving bulbs didn't work too well with the iPhone's camera.
D. loves eclairs, so I made a quick run to St. Tropez Bakery in Hillcrest. Picked up some eclairs, meringue cookies, and a napoleon. As Darlene mentions in her latest post, those layers go soggy fast. The pastry cream was tasty and so were the eclairs. The meringues had great texture, but were a little bland.
As I slog through pile after pile of practice problems, D. does things like making sure that I eat, have clean clothes to wear, and do not generally self-destruct. I'm pursuing a very old dream, one that I gave up once upon a time. I just couldn't let the dream go and I'm grateful that D. sees that living with the dissatisfaction of having never tried is worse than the crazy schedule a medical career will likely entail. And with his quiet and unwavering support, I can only take a moment this Valentine's weekend to marvel at how very, very lucky I am.
On that note, hope everyone had a great weekend and a fun V-day if you celebrate it. Lastly, gung hai fat choi and a prosperous year of the Tiger to all!
Dumpling Inn
4619 Convoy Street, Suite F
San Diego, CA 92111
San Diego, CA 92111
St. Tropez Bakery & Bistro (Hillcrest Location)
3805 5th Avenue
San Diego CA, 92103
4 bites:
Happy Valentines, glad you had a nice time, good luck with the new career. Sometimes romance is where we least expect it, snacks for when you are studying, or in my case, coming home to a clean kitchen that was a mess when I left for work!
Sounds like you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. That eggplant sounds amazing. I chuckled about the bit about your editorial content. Heh.
happy late heart day! :) your husband sounds like a sweetheart.
we decided to forgo lunch/dinner for valentine's this year, opting to go out to lunch the day after. no frills. none of that valentine's hype with jacked up prices.
re: your post - the crust on those potstickers looks nice and crunchy. i've heard about dumpling inn from others...gotta try it one day!
Hello! I know what you mean by Dumpling Inn.. Was a perfect description. I must go try the spicy eggplant with ground now. Sounds very good.. :)