L.A. Eats: Farmers' Market on Wilshire/Vermont (Koreatown)

 How do I begin to tell you how much I love farmers' markets?

I love the hustle and bustle of a busy market. It reminds me of home. I love the diversity. I love how fresh everything is, from the flowers/plants, fruits, vegetables, food and even the people. They are small farm owners, small scale business people and your everyday common folk who want fresh and cheap produce. :D (like us!)

Here are some photos I took from last week and earlier today. The kid had so much fun people watching and eating her pupusa. :) My Mom enjoyed the cheap fruits and vegetables. We bought a bunch of yellow peaches, mango nectarines, dinosaur egg nectarines, kalabasa flowers (squash flowers), ampalaya (bitter melon), sitaw (string beans), patola (gourd), lemon grass (for making tea!), tomatoes and a bag of peanuts all for $17!

THE PUPUSA STAND: I ordered (1) Chorizo and Cheese (1) Chicken and Cheese and (1) Spinach and Cheese all for $8; it came with a pickled side salad, salsa and sour cream. They cook it right in front of you in a grill. Amazing deal, amazing flavor. The kid loved it and she ate the salad too. (well, she likes vegetables anyway)

They do have a lot of other options for a quick lunch and snack. There was a Thai food stand, tacos, Blazin' J's kettle corn (I want to try this next after reading all the great reviews), Hawaiian barbecue, crepe stand and a lot more.

My Mom taking ampalaya buying too seriously.

Chilis! This one is for my brother Ray. :)

Love, love this fruit stand! This is where we bought most of our fruits that day.

FREE TASTE!

Weather was great and how else do we end a beautiful, busy morning? By grabbing a quick lunch!

My plate! :) 

This market is right smack in the middle of a busy intersection, bus and train station. Part of its charm is that it's also in the middle of a small business center (the Wilshire Center). There's a Chase bank, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf and small boutiques all around it. It just looks like it doesn't belong there! LOL.

But I'm lucky to "discover" it last week when the husband and I were practicing my bus route to work. On our way back, there it was! It just appeared out of nowhere! :P The guy who was selling pupusas said they are only there on Fridays from 11am-3pm.

Too bad they are closed on the weekends, because I think it's one of the city's best kept secrets. :)

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Ikea toys for the imaginative child

I'm always surprised how my child (16 months) can be so imaginative. Of course, I want to encourage this passion of hers but I haven't really bought any toy lately that can further develop her creativity. This Christmas, I plan on getting her a toy kitchen. Since we have very limited space I decided to get her this one from Amazon. But then I discovered it's being sold almost half the price at Toys r Us!

SOURCE

The reviews are great, and I'm a review junkie! I can just imagine her pretending to bake and eat those cupcakes! So cute! She loves to pretend drinking, eating and cooking all the time so this is perfect!

But then I was browsing children's Ikea for toddler beds and found their toys. So adorable and affordable! Sofia will surely have fun with these. Here are my picks for her:

9 piece Finger Puppet Circus - $4.99

18 piece Dessert Set - $7.99

JUST ADORABLE!

14 piece Vegetable Set - $7.99

Soft Carrot - $9.99 - one of her favorite vegetables!

So cute right? I'm sure my kid will have fun with these during her pretend play sessions! <3 They also have a fruit basket set, breakfast set and a tea set. (tea set is still not age appropriate for Sofia because it's stoneware, maybe in a few years) And this salmon set! Brilliant!

The Fruit Basket Set - love it!

I also adore their very affordable craft / art supplies. I've always loved Ikea for their innovative styles and competitive prices, but now I'm really loving their kids/baby line!

Incidentally, the kid's crib and mattress were also from Ikea and I highly recommend it. :) Simple, clean design with high safety ratings and reviews. What did I tell you about my obsession with reviews? LOL.

Ikea Gulliver, $99. Vyssa Vinka Mattress, $59.99. Crib fitted sheet 2 piece set, $9.99.

The Gulliver is space saving, has two adjustable heights and can be converted into a toddler bed. Unfortunately, we couldn't pack it up when we moved. :(

What are your favorite Ikea items?

Mommy Cooks: What's For Dinner?

I love to cook! I wish I could do it more often. My Mom usually cooks during the weekdays. But now (like starting today - ha!) I vowed to cook as much as I can especially on weekends. 

The kid is not a very picky eater, for her it's all about timing. She will try anything and eat anything, as long as she's not full. I will write about the kid's favorite snacks and meals in the next few days.

Tonight I made my all-time favorite dish using my all-time favorite fish! Bangus (milk fish) is the Philippines' national fish, very boney, but really delicious! Here in the US you can buy the whole fish, or you can also buy the deboned butterflied version. But my ultimate favorite is the bangus belly! YUM! Perfect for daing na bangus! Here's my version of this favorite Filipino fried dish.

Daing na Bangus
(Fried Milkfish marinated in vinegar and garlic)

1 pack of bangus belly (2 in a pack)
white vinegar
1 head of garlic (crushed)
black pepper
oil for frying

1. Marinate the bangus in white vinegar (enough that it's covered, skin side up), black pepper and crushed garlic. Cover container and refrigerate for at least an hour. Ideally I would say 2-3 hours will work best.

I kept it in the fridge for 2 hours today, some days even more.

2.  Fry in pan in medium to low heat until brown and crispy on both sides. I timed it and the best results are between 5-7 minutes on each side. This is NOT pan fried nor deep fried. Warning: oil will pop and splatter so make sure to wear your armor! :D

Oil should be super hot! And always duck for cover! :D

*** I will write about techniques on avoiding being burned by hot oil during frying in the next few posts.

3. After frying, place on a plate with paper towel. Fry the leftover garlic from the marinade. Serve piping hot, best with spicy vinegar for dipping!

5-7 minutes of frying on both sides to make it crispy and golden brown.

The next recipe is one of Sofia's favorite Filipino dishes. She eats a lot of vegetables and this dish is no exception. She loves eating it with rice and soup.

Ginisang Sayote, Carrots & Shrimp
(Sauteed Chayote with Carrots and Shrimp)

2 chayotes
2 carrots
garlic
onions
1 small tomato
4-5 whole, large shrimps (with head)
water
salt or fish sauce to taste

1. Chop the chayote and carrots in small cubes. Crush garlic, dice onions and tomato. Take off the shrimps' heads and set aside. Dice the rest of the shrimp meat.

 2. Sautee garlic, onions and tomato. Add shrimp heads for more flavor. Add the shrimp meat. Add carrots and chayote. Stir fry.

3. Add desired amount of water for sabaw (soup).  Let simmer until all veggies are cooked and tender. Add salt or fish sauce according to your taste.

Simmering goodness.

And my final plate with a side of spicy Pinakurat vinegar and fried garlic!

What's your dinner?

PS
All photos taken using my phone, HTC MyTouch 4G because I'm too lazy to look for my camera. (there's a reason behind why my stuff are shoved away in a closet somewhere...will post why soon!)