eating my way through the weekend

after dropping off the pri-YES at the dealer for the first oil change and check-up, we made our way here to meet up with my cousin r, in town for a wedding.

i was super stoked that my cousin 420, our usual dim sum partner in crime, was also able to squeeze in this last-minute gathering.

despite the fact that it was the weekend, which usually means stupidly long lines at any decent dim sum eatery, we were able to walk right in. and even better, we had this on our table before the bean and i could even get our asses in our seats:

mere moments later, we were hooked up.

while the rest of us chowed down, the bean took bites here and there at her leisure and amused herself with an episode of "blue's clues" on my iPhone.

it was great to see both cousins. r lives in denver and 420, while still local, has plans to move to guam in the next month-ish. yes, i said guam. stop making that face. he's got a job lined up out there and we all know how hard those are to come by these days.

the hub had come home late last week, brandishing a big ass trash bag triumphantly.

"one of the guys went fishing and caught a shitload of tuna, so he gave me some and we should make some ceviche!" and yes, he pronounced it correctly, unlike one of the contestants in this season's "top chef."

well, sure, okay. i like fish. and you know i'm always up for a new cooking challenge. i googled for recipes and found one that looked easy enough. after a quick stop at the grocery store with MIL, we took the goods back to the grandparents' house, where we were invited for a bbq (shocker, i know).

as i knew, ceviche typically consists of cubed raw fish and shrimp, tossed in citrus juices and refrigerated for an hour or so, with the acid in the juice "cooking" the fish. i juiced up a bunch of limes and lemons, diced up the fish (which turned out to be super flaky, so i didn't end up with nice, neat cubes) and tossed it all together with the peeled and diced shrimp.

next, i chopped up the tomato, onion, parsley, and jalapeño pepper. a sprinkle of salt and pepper, a drizzle of olive oil, and i was done. man, that was a lot of freaking prep work. and i ain't no sous chef.

FIL cut up the rest of the fish and seasoned it. and, just for good measure, we prepared some chicken and steak, too. we wans love our meat.

as i finally sank into a chair, spent from all that work, the bean gave me this look:

booger. maybe she'd missed me while i was hard at work in the kitchen. i asked her to pose for me, and this is what i got:

i'm sad to say that the ceviche didn't quite turn out as we'd hoped. as i checked and stirred, checked and stirred, the fish continued to flake off and the shrimp didn't cook completely. oh, well. i don't even know how it tasted, because i didn't really want to try it. it just didn't...look right. bleh. but the pieces grilled on the barbecue turned out really good - great texture and very flavorful. i was bummed that all my hard work was for naught, but that's the chance you take with a new recipe, right?

the bean capped off her night with a bowl of "créme":

and then the sugar rush kicked in and she decided to do a hat dance for us.

haha! she crashed hard when we got home. but boy, does this kid love her ice cream. she could eat her weight in the stuff if you'd let her. plus, she comes from a long line of ice cream lovers.

and, well, i can't blame her. what's not to love?