Major Feasting Weekend

(Sorry kids...no pictures but tons of descriptive writing!)

It started with Arsen and Ripsemay's wedding on Friday. The day was perfect! It was at the LA Arboretum in Arcadia...absolutely beautiful grounds. There were peacocks walking about freely. The male peacocks were gorgeous! I wanted The Joe to snag one but he was being too prissy in his pristine black pinstripe suit. I think the major snag was the fact that they chose to have the ceremony facing the sun. The guests on the groom's side were left to figure out how to keep cool during the entire ceremony. Sadly, I neglected to bring the parisol I received from a prior wedding. Instead, I tried to keep cool with a fan I recieved from a wedding that was about 2 years ago.

Unfortunately, I didn't know gowns were allowed. Otherwise, I would have gone with the dress from my cousin, Vange's wedding. Let's talk about opulance to an extreme. My favorite was a purple fit from top to bottom, skin tight bodice and purple eye shadow to boot! Yeah!

When we got to the reception hall, we got a hold of kabob appetizers wrapped in flatbread. In one corner of the foyer was a complete fruit sculpture that went from one wall to the other and was about 10 ft. tall - no exaggeration. The Joe is 6 ft. tall and there was no way he could reach the top. Well...ok, maybe the height of the whole thing was more like 8 or 9 ft.

We walked into the banquet room and it felt as if we were walking into a room at Ceasar's Palace - not the real one but the version in flashy Vegas. This was room was indeed just as flashy. Panels of various greco-roman themes were placed strategically on the walls around the entire room. The ceilings were super high which allowed for further embellishments. Balconies adorned with torches filled with lights, air and redish-orange tissue lined the upper part of the ceilings. Since the ceiling was so large, three panels depicted a breezy blue sky when the house lights were on. The sky became a twinkling stary night once the house lights were down. Magnificent, I must say.

The tables of 10 each had various appetizers pre-set. There was no need to wait for the prayer. Everyone dug in as soon as the bottle of Belvedere vodka was popped open. It'd be bad to eat on an empty stomach, right? Considering that Arsen warned us of all the food that was going to be presented that evening, I stayed away from all the starchy foods. The only names of dishes I remember eating was tabouleh salad, hummus, the Armenian version of dolmahs and stuffed cabbage leaves, caviar (a bit too fishy for my taste) and cheese. There were plenty of other dishes but I can't remember their names. This was only the appetizer portion of the meal, folks. Other courses consisted of shrimp cocktail, some spam-like meat with rice pilaf (excellent!...just the pilaf), chicken and beef kabobs, salmon and I'm sure a few other dishes we didn't catch since we left around 11pm. Throughout the entire meal, our Belvedere kept getting restocked. However, we never managed to finish our bottle of Hennessy and red wine.

So that was round 1. Round 2 consisted of a tour of the Little India neighborhood of Artesia the next day.

We started the day with a meal at Rajdahni restaurant. The meal was completely vegetarian, thank goodness! After all the meat from the night before, I didn't think my stomach could take anymore. I can't even begin to recount the meal since we did not got a printed menu and I don't know how to spell any of the dishes' names. However, the mango lassi was the best we had ever had! After lunch, we proceeded to visit the Bindhi jewelry store (I'd definitely go back! Love their designs!), a music shop, a handicraft store, a sari shop and, for the finale, an ice cream shop. It was a bit disappointing. Due to the hour time allotments that were made for each store, it made the tour lag and participants would proceed to the next location without really getting information on each business. No facts were shared such as the oldest business in the area as well as the reason why Artesia has gained such a large Indian population. Probably suggestions for next time. All of the spices were amazing! I'd definitely go back to the stores we visited minus the boring tour.

The Bernardo Dentist office is down the street from Little India so we hung out there for a bit and proceeded to dinner with Brian since he doesn't make himself available as much as he used to. My stomach kind of hurts to recount Round 3 but here goes...We went to a Korean BBQ buffet.

Considering how expensive Korean food tends to be, the price was right for all the different types of food that was offered. I also loved the fact that we didn't leave the restaurant smelling like our food.

The key to all this eating - stay away from as much starch as possible and do incorporate as much greens as possible! I do think this calls for a fast for the next few months. Meat will be exiting my diet for a bit and salads will be a bit more prevalant.

The night ended with a wish on a falling star as we made our way back to the Valley.

The Meaning of Food

This was some of the best tv I've seen in quite some time. This program takes you on a journey through various individuals and families' lives who have been greatly affected by food in some sort of way.

One of the strongest stories was of a group of women who were imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII. To keep themselves somewhat satisfied and sane, they recited recipes to each other each night when the guards left them in their cabins. It was kind of like virtual eating since they could not eat. These recipes were eventually collected in a book and one woman has dedicated a large portion of her life to make those recipes a reality. Because the women were unable to write them down and were recounted by others who had heard them for so long, many of them were recounted backwards, ingredients left out, etc. Such a touching story. It was a great message of hope, embodied in directions on how to prepare various foods from an ethnic group that was almost erased.

One of the best things about this show is that it's more than one episode! Another great thing about the show is the hot ass Executive Chef of Aquavit, Marcus Samuelsson. Hellooo! Yes, I've marked my calendars for future episodes!