Cheer Up With Food

After a night of drinking, my friends and I all decided to go to Viva Las Arepas (formerly known as I Love Arepas) along Las Vegas Blvd.   Arepas are basically a flat, round, and soft patties made out of cornmeal, which are grilled, making them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.  They can be stuffed with beef, chicken, ham, cheese, beans, shrimp, and many more.  My first time trying Venezuelan food ! They also serve empanadas yum ¡Arepas! Black Beans and Cheese Arepas and  Cheese Empanada to the left All of our arepas =) The best way I can describe arepas is that they're wholesome... I felt very satisfied after eating them. Eating here reminded me there's a lot more Latin American food out there other than Mexican food.  Its a bit hard though to try other cuisines when majority of Latin American restaurants in Las Vegas are Mexican.  I guess I have to venture more!

Finally here are my pics from Thanksgiving!  This year I had lunch with my parents then dinner with my friends.  Despite eating little of each dish and going to the gym in between meals, I stayed super full until the next day!   Preparing apple slaw About to bake my macaroni and cheese with broccoli Bronsen making stuffing for stuffed portobello mushrooms Part of the stuffing close up Mixing Stuffing complete Stuffed portobello mushrooms The "healthiest" Thanksgiving meal I've had with my family!  We had no traditional Thanksgiving foods instead we had the foods my fiance and I made, chicken, pancit noodles, and buko pie . What nice silverware and plates! Dinnertime  We of course had a lot of foods and wine for dinner. I remember we had turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, Hawaiian bread rolls, Russian foods, vegetables smothered with Velveeta Cheese, and etc. Homemade pumpkin pie Russian pastry w/ poppy see

I had went to  Social House  located inside Crystals  for my friend's birthday dinner.  Instead of everyone ordering their own entrées, they had prepared a multi-course dinner ( Omakase ) for our party.  From what I remember, they gave us a lot of cilantro garnished foods.   Here's some of the foods we got, the ones not pictured were Thai beef salad, pork ribs, sushi, and miso cod - my personal favorite!  If you've had a previous bad experience with eating fish, I dare you to give it one more chance by trying their miso cod.  This fish was cooked perfectly because it was seasoned nicely and soo soft, but not to the point of being mushy. If I'm not mistaken this is Seared Fluke Social House has an interesting beer selection Tuna Special- with shallots and garlic   Jen and her awesome cake  The cake close up of her dog Muffin! A variety of desserts - I felt spoiled... There was too many to choose from!       FYI, I recommend eat

Kyara Japanese Tapas  was my number one pick to have a little dinner with my friends during my birthday weekend.  I wouldn't have remembered this place if it weren't for them.  A friend had suggested to eat Japanese food and another suggested to eat Spanish tapas.  Since I like both foods, Kyara came to mind!  I knew Kyara would be a great pick because their foods are served in small servings and since the prices are reasonable, my friends and I could order a lot and try each other's dishes: We were all given a complimentary salad while we were ordering. Chef's specials Edamame Potato salad I think this was ahi... The sauce that came with was nice! Motsu ni- pork intestine stew.  The meat came in thin cube like strips (my first time seeing them in that form). Gingko nuts-   They may look wet in appearance, but the gingko nuts tasted dry on the inside and had a bold flavor. YuDofu- A tofu soup with ponze.  I didn't e