[Food] G Burger

G Burger is a relatively new burger joint in La Habra, California. They've been getting a lot of attention lately, probably due to their ridiculous burgers. It's located seemingly in the middle of nowhere and there's not too much space for dining in. I counted about six small tables, two booths, and a counter as well as a couple tables outside. My first impressions were that it was a sit down place, but you actually order up front and can choose to dine in or to go. I would highly recommend against the latter. These burgers are meant to be eaten right away.

On seeing the menu, I was a bit overwhelmed by the G Burger, which was what I had my eyes on. I knew that you could get whatever you want on it, but I didn't think it would come with everything and the kitchen sink by default. It normally comes with two patties, cheese, teriyaki glazed onions, portabello mushrooms, slaw, grilled pineapple, a fried egg, pastrami, avocado, chili, bacon, mixed greens, tomato, and pickles. Talk about a mouthful. I already knew that there would be too many clashing flavors, so I opted to take out the pineapple and substitute plain grilled onions for the teriyaki onions. For the cheese, I went with cheddar.

For sides, I got the gravy cheese fries because I am always on the search for some good poutine. My cousin got the G Style Fries, which are a copy of In-n-Out's infamous Animal Style Fries, but with bacon. My friend that joined us got the Tropical Fries, which come with avocado, pineapple, bacon, and 1000 Island dressing.

The food took a while to come out, but I don't blame them, there's ton of stuff to prepare for each burger.

Let's start off with our sides. I'm going to be straightforward and honest, my gravy fries sucked. The gravy had a really odd flavor profile that just didn't go well with the fries or the swiss cheese. I guess I expected something more like poutine: plain brown gravy and cheese curds. The other sides, however, were great.

The tropical fries played with sweet, savory, salty flavors which I thought worked well. The only thing that I would have changed is using riper avocados. The avocados in these fries were firmer than I like.

The G Style Fries were absolutely top notch, but I did not get a photo...they disappeared too quickly. The crispy fries with grilled onions, cheese, 1000 Island dressing, and bacon. Just wow. They took something great and made it better with bacon. Seriously, (almost) everything is better with bacon. These fries get my stamp of approval over and over again.

Now let's move on to the main event - the burgers. All of us were floored when our burgers came out. I don't remember the last time I had a burger this big (although I've seen bigger, i.e. Hawkins House of Burgers). As I mentioned before, I skipped the sweet elements of the G Burger, the pineapple and teriyaki onions. Still, the burger had way too many things going on. Because of the many bold flavors, I didn't thoroughly enjoy the burger. Let's break the monstrosity down and look at the different elements of the burger.

The buns are great, perfect for a burger this big. They are substantial and can handle the different components of the burger. They don't get soggy and fall apart from the sheer amont of toppings, which is important. The buns do their job just fine.

The patties are delicious and cooked perfectly. They have a big meaty flavor and have a good amount of juice, although not as much as I would have liked.

The bacon was amazing to say the least. It was thick cut, peppered, had a full-bodied bacon flavor, and was not too fatty. In my opinion, this is the perfect bacon for a burger.

The cheddar cheese falls in line with the previously mentioned key ingredients of a hamburger. It is just sharp enough to cut through the flavors, but not overwhelming.

Because these four key elements of the burger meet my standards, I believe that the G Burger has potential. Here are the downfalls.

The pickles are far too sweet for my tastes. I should have read the menu a bit more thoroughly to find out. I like my pickles vinegary and salty. Not sweet. The pickles cut through the melting pot of flavors and ruined the overall taste for me.

The egg was overcooked. I like my eggs with a runny yolk and whites that are just barely set.

Everything else, I either couldn't find or taste. If the slaw, pastrami, and chili weren't listed on the menu, I wouldn't have known they were in the burger. It was rather disappointing because I love all three of these things.

I would definitely go back to G Burger, but I would not get the G Burger "all the way." I'm still thinking about what the perfect combination of toppings would be, but in my opinion, the key to a great burger is simplicity. At the end of the day, the bun, patty, cheese, and (sometimes) bacon are what make or break a burger.

Go try out G Burger for yourself! Get it any way you want it, but my recommendation, keep it simple.

G Burger 421 E La Habra Blvd La Habra, CA 90631 (562) 245-7208 www.gburger.com

[Food] The Hungry Bear

The Hungry Bear is one of those hidden gems that you probably never heard of unless you're a local. I recently found out about the Hungry Bear through a friend who used to eat here as a kid. After we (my sister, my cousin, and I) wandered through an old plaza, we found the Hungry Bear tucked away in a corner.

The moment we walked in, we felt a bit out of place. We were the only Asians the restaurant, which is odd in Fullerton as it has a large Asian population. The decor is very homey and welcoming with earthy greens and teddy bears strewn all about the place. After a short wait, we were seated by our very happy waitress. She made sure to point out the specials.

On Mondays, four of the specials and their Specialty Steak are half off. Their prices are already low to begin with, but we'll talk about price later. I decided to go with one of my all time favorites, country fried steak, my cousin opted to try their Specialty Steak, and my sister got the bacon wrapped filets.

I got started off with a salad. It was nothing special, just a typical salad with dressing. My cousin got the same.

My sister had the cheese and potato soup, which was pretty much cheese and potato. How can that be bad, right? Well, it wasn't. It was delicious. The best way to describe it is as a super thick cheese sauce with chunks of potato.

My cousin's Specialty Steak (sirloin) wasn't quite medium rare, which he ordered. He decided it would be fine to just eat it (it was still great, I tried some), but the waitress insisted that it be the way he asked for it and took it back. They brought another one out within a few minutes. Talk about great service! The second time it was cooked perfectly and tasted even better than it did the first time. The meat was tender, juicy, and flavorful, just like a good steak should be.

My sister's bacon wrapped filets were to die for. The two tender filets were wrapped in bacon and cooked medium. Even without getting a piece of bacon in your bite, you can taste the smokey bacon flavor. With a piece of bacon, its simply amazing.

My country fried steak was a bit different than I'm used to. A typical country fried steak is made with tenderized cube steak, which almost has the texture of ground beef. However, the Hungry Bear makes their country fried steak with a piece of sirloin that's been pounded out. This way, it still has the texture of a steak, but is tender like a more typical country fried steak. The breading is very light and crispy, just the way I like it. Finally, the gravy is light and peppery. It's not like glue, which I've experienced too many times. The gravy complements the steak and doesn't just fill you up. This is a top notch country fried steak.

Each entree comes with a big piece of garlic bread and your choice of potato. We also got a side order of macaroni and cheese. None of the sides were out of this world, but the garlic bread and my mashed potatoes (with the same great gravy on my steak) were still delicious. The macaroni and cheese on the other hand was rather disappointing. It was just boxed mac and cheese.

After all that food, we decided that we needed to get some dessert. We got peach cobbler and apple pie. Each comes topped with a heaping scoop of French vanilla ice cream and a generous amount of whipped cream. The peach cobbler has a bread-like crust on top, which isn't crispy like I'm used to. I liked the apple pie better, but then again, I have a soft spot for pies. The ice cream leant a good amount of sweetness and provides a nice contrast to the hot dessert. The desserts themselves weren't too sweet, which I like.

The best part of the meal was when we got the check. We got all that food (and drinks) for less than $50 and we could barely move. Now that's a steal. Still, I wouldn't mind eating here any other day, even without the half off prices. Everything about the Hungry Bear makes it stand out; the quality of the food, price, and service are excellent. So please, check out the Hungry Bear for yourself!

The Hungry Bear Restaurant 2219 N Harbor Blvd Fullerton, CA 92835 (714) 526-2711 www.thehungrybear.com

[Food] Daikokuya

Ahhh, ramen...one of life's great pleasures. But there's so many different kinds! There's shōyu (soy sauce based), shio (salt based), miso, and what I consider king, tonkotsu. Tonkotsu is the rich, milky soup that is made by boiling pork bones for hours. This is exactly why my favorite ramen place is Daikokuya. Daikokuya specializes in this heavenly ramen and the long wait testifies to its greatness. In fact, while I was eating at the bar, I overheard a woman next to me that came from hours away in Northern California. That's right, just for Daikokuya.

After waiting for a good 45 minutes, we entered the small restaurant and were seated at the bar (the small size of the restaurant definitely contributes to the wait times). Without thinking we all placed our orders. I got the ramen combination with the shredded pork bowl while my sister and cousin (check his brand new blog!) got the combos with tuna sashimi bowls.

Soon after placing orders, we got our salad. It may just look like some cabbage with dressing and masago, but it's a lot more than that. The dressing has a very full-bodied, almost meaty flavor. It's hard to describe, but we all loved it. It was the perfect way to start the meal.

Just look at how sexy that tuna looks. I don't know if words are necessary here. I didn't try it, so I really can't use words, but wow.

My pork bowl was just as good as that tuna looks. The pork is tender and full of flavor, the sauce heightens the flavor experience, and the ginger cuts through the rich flavors.

Before we get to the ramen, let's take a moment and observe the proper way to eat it.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WrkdTrrwew]

Here's an excerpt from the 1985 movie, Tampopo featuring the Ramen Master. Now that we are properly educated...

The noodles are perfectly cooked, just enough bite without being firm. The pork is fatty and melts in your mouth. The soy boiled egg has a yolk that straddles the border between runny and solid. The bean spouts offer excellent textural contrast to everything else. The soup, oh the soup. Someone save me, I'm salivating at my screen. It's everything that you want your ramen soup to be. Flavorful but not overly salty, rich without making you sick, and creamy. Creamy? Yes. That's probably my favorite aspect of the tonkotsu broth. I'm going to have to stop here, I'm having withdrawls.

Does your favorite ramen cause such strong feelings? Probably not. If you've never had a taste of glory, be sure to stop at Daikokuya. There are several locations, but my favorite is the one in Little Tokyo. My other recommendations here are the gyoza, the pork fried rice, and the kotteri, or extra back fat, in the ramen. One comment on the kotteri option, it's delicious, but too much of it can be a bit overwhelming. I've only had it once, but definitely try it out for yourself. Really, anything you get here will be good.

Daikokuya 327 E 1st St Los Angeles, CA 90012 (213) 626-1680 www.daikoku-ten.com

[Photo] Art in the Streets at the Geffen Contemporary

The Museum of Contemporary Art has free Mondays (11-5 pm) and Thursdays (5-8 pm) thanks to street artist Banksy. The exhibit, Art in the Streets, is located at the Geffen Contemporary and features all kinds of street art. If you are in the Los Angeles area, you should definitely check it out while it's around. Hurry up though, the exhibit's last day is August 8. Anyway, here are some photos from my visit. There is a slide show with a total of 44 photos at the end, so be sure to check that out too! The slideshow feature seems to be a bit buggy. I'm going to replace it with a gallery.

[gallery]

[Music] House of Blues Anaheim Show

Two weeks ago today (July 5), I played a show at the House of Blues Anaheim with some friends of mine. Just to think that I would be playing on the same stage that so many big names played on made it an honor for me. I was asked to play second guitar with my friend, Peter Chun, but I didn't feel very adequate because guitar is not my main instrument (the drums are). Not to mention, this was the biggest gig I've played, so it was nerve wracking. Nevertheless, I accepted the offer and was excited.

After all the long (and not so long) rehearsals, the day came. We loaded up one car with our gear, sans drum set and amps, and drove off. We got to park in the rear VIP lot and we all got cool passes with Mickey's silhouette on it (this House of Blues is in Downtown Disney). After taking the elevator up, we were in the backstage area. Boy, it was much smaller than I thought. There were somewhere between six and seven bands playing that night and the narrow hallways were even narrower with all the gear in them. The greenroom had a bathroom, a television set showing live feed from the stage, and was well stocked with water. All of these things were of the highest importance (slight bit a sarcasm).

During all the waiting time (there was a lot of it) before our set, we mingled with some of the other bands and watched the bands that played before us. Pretty much everyone there sounded great. We met some really awesome, down-to-earth guys from the headlining band, Iron Sharpens Iron. They are a super talented local metal band, but have a nice melodic side to them. I actually enjoyed their soundcheck even though I'm not a fan of metal.

Our set came up. We set up and had a quick monitor check (not everyone got to soundcheck), and we were on. But before I talk about our set, I want to spend a little while talking about the backline gear. I'm a gearhead, forgive me and/or read on if you aren't interested. I'll start with the drums because that's my home. They had an awesome DW kit in a silver glass glitter finish in pretty much any size you can imagine. From what I saw, they had 20" and 22" kicks, toms from 8" to 18", and a sick little Pork Pie throne. As per standard gig etiquette, all drummers brought their own snare drum, cymbals, and pedals. I played through a Marshall JCM 2000 and a 4x12 cab, Peter played through a Fender Twin Reverb, and Eric, our bassist, played through an Ampeg SVT head and a 8x10 cab. I'm not too sure about the bass head because I didn't get to look at it closely. My signal chain went something like this: G&L Tribute ASAT Semi-Hollowbody Bluesboy -> TC Electronic Polytune -> Boss ME-10 -> Marshall JCM 2000. Ok, now that the gear section is over, let's continue on.

Here's our set list: "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon, "Ms. ICA," an original by Peter, "Fix My Heart," another original by Peter, "Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars, "Neon" by John Mayer, and "Bold as Love" by Jimi Hendrix. There's so much I want to talk about, but it would take forever, so I'll briefly mention the main points I want to hit. The sound and lighting were super professional. I know it's expected because it's a big venue, but it's nothing like I've experienced before. For me, it was pretty revolutionary and I'll definitely miss it when I play smaller shows. We each had our own custom monitor mixes and everything sounded...good. That's pretty unusual for someone like me' whose only played small shows.

Our set went really well. We opened with the lights out and crazy spaceship-like modulation sounds from Peter's guitar going straight into a huge intro with lights in "Use Somebody." The other songs were fun, but "Bold as Love" was just ridiculous. As the closer, we did it big. Peter did all sorts of crazy stuff like playing behind his head, putting the guitar down on the floor and playing it like a lap steel, and whatnot. Overall, the show was definitely a fun, memorable one.

Well, that was the show in a nutshell. My writing may be a bit sloppy, but please excuse that, there were just too many things to talk about.

Note: I didn't have my camera with me, so all photos are courtesy of our friends, Jason Watanabe and Samuel Choo.

[Video] Crack the Surface

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/26200018 w=650&h=475]

Crack The Surface - Episode I from SilentUK on Vimeo.

Here's the first episode in a series called Crack the Surface by SlientUK. It's a very interesting look into Urban Exploring. This is the first time I've heard of this hobby/activity and it seems rather interesting. I'm sure that the photos they get are pretty amazing; they get a view of things that we don't see in everyday life. I don't know if I'd do something like this in the near future, but it seems like this is a hobby that will gain popularity rather quickly.

[Video] Photography Themed Rube Goldberg Machine

I just saw this video thanks to Fake Chuck Westfall (@fcwestfall) on Twitter. It's pretty amazing. Having worked on a Rube Goldberg machine myself, I can testify to how much time, effort, frustration, and more is involved...and the one I worked on is only a tiny fraction of what this one is. Ours was probably a minute tops, but this one goes on for four. Anyway, here's the video by 2D Photography. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKpxd8hzOcQ&feature=channel_video_title]

[Photo] Happy Late 4th of July

Hello all, I've been on a little hiatus and I'm pretty sure you guys noticed. I'm sorry for my lack of posts as of late, but I've been rather busy and uninspired to write. But forget my excuses. Anywho, hopefully I'll start posting more regularly again. This Fourth of July, I practiced for my House of Blues gig (post on that coming soon!), did some studying for my online classes (sad, I know), and played with fireworks with some friends rather than watching the grand fireworks displays put on by the city. Here are some photos from that night.

We pretty much just had a bunch of fountains, so all the photos look pretty much the same, but nevertheless, enjoy.

[Food] Rainbow Donuts vs. M&M Donuts

Recently, Rainbow Donuts' Cerritos and Norwalk locations started serving blueberry donuts. I heard that they were selling a dozen for only $5 on Friday, so I jumped on that chance to try them out. If Rainbow Donuts' blueberry donuts were comparable to M&M's variety, they would present themselves as a good option because I hate waiting in lines at M&M Donuts. It also doesn't hurt that they are much closer to me. I reviewed M&M's blueberry donuts back in April here.

I got to Rainbow Donuts about 10 minutes before the $5 deal officially started. Surprisingly, there was no line at all. It seemed like I was first one there for the deal. I asked the lady behind the counter if I could get two dozen donuts for the discounted price, and she gladly obliged. The next question she asked caught me off guard. "Frosted or glazed?" she asked. Frosted? What? Oh boy. Then I looked behind the display glass and there were blueberry donuts that looked similar to M&M's, but with a light purple frosting on top. I opted to get half frosted and half glazed.

I walked out of the store with 2 dozen donuts in my hands. I felt like a fatty mcfatfat. It's okay though, I gave a dozen to the kids at church right after. They disappeared within a blink of an eye, so I didn't get a chance to try one. At least I knew that they were good. I would have to wait until I got home to sample from the second dozen.

I decided to try the regular glazed donut first for comparison's sake. My first observation was that they are much more dense than the donuts at M&M. I suppose that's to be expected, after all, they are called "blueberry cake donuts." The outside was also not as crisp. I preferred the texture of M&M's donuts. My biggest gripe here was that they donuts were cold. They had been sitting out, even when I picked them up. I love that they donuts at M&M are freshly made (because they sell so quickly). That's probably the key difference for me.

Let's not look solely at the negatives though. Rainbow Donuts still makes a solid blueberry donut. I thought the frosted donut was far superior to the glazed donut. This is because the frosted donut is (surprisingly) not as sweet as the glazed variety. I thought the glazed donut was too sweet, but the frosted donut was just about perfect. The frosting is definitely a nice touch and adds a bit of unique flair to Rainbow Donuts over M&M.

All in all, I don't think that it's fair to compare the two donuts in a head-on comparison. They are similar, but different. They are both great donuts and I would eat either one any day. If you love M&M's blueberry donuts, then I recommend that you check out Rainbow Donuts. You won't have to wait in that ridiculous line, which is one of the biggest plusses in my opinion.

Rainbow Donuts 11825 South St Cerritos, CA 90703 (562) 468-0678 www.RainbowDonuts.com

[Video] The Great Camera Shootout 2011

Steve Weiss of Zacuto, Robert Primes, and their teams put together an amazing documentary comparing film and digital cameras and their ability to perform in many practical situations. The cameras range from $66,000 Arri Alexa to the affordable Nikon D7000. Yes, the D7000 is $1,200, but that's dirt cheap in the professional world. Robert Primes and his team put together a series of scientific tests called the Single Chip Camera Evaluation (SCCE) designed to put the cameras under stress.

The first episode, "The Tipping Point," features the dynamic range test, under exposure test, and over exposure test. One of the most interesting things I noticed was variation within the Canon DSLRs in the over exposure test. The Canon DSLR range is known for its astounding video quality, but I expected more consistency within Canon's cameras. If anything, I expected the full frame 5D MkII to beat out the cropped sensor 1D MkIV and 7D.

Although I am not immersed in the field of video, it's an area I've been dabbling in thanks to DSLRs and their ability to shoot high quality HD video. This (30 minute) episode is definitely a good watch if you are interested in the world of video. Episodes 2 and 3 are scheduled to be released in July and August respectively.

Check out Episode 1: "The Tipping Point" over at Zacuto's website!

[Food] Bludso's BBQ

My cousin wanted to grab lunch last week and we came up with a list of potential places to get our grub on. Bludso's was on that list and something inside of me told me to go there. Bludso's is a Texas style BBQ joint that brings the glory of Texas to SoCal. So, three Asian kids - my cousin, his friend, and I - pull into Bludso's BBQ in Compton, CA and the moment we step out, we undergo sensory overload. There are some smokers by the parking lot and the smell is simply irresistible.

So we walk in and put in our order, a Texas Sampler. Upon asking if that's enough food to feed three, the cashier gives us a reassuring "Ohh yeahhhh." We choose to eat outside on one of their picnic tables because it was such a beautiful day. After a short wait (a very short wait), our food comes out, delivered to our table.

Let me just stop here and take a moment to comment on the staff. Every single person working at Bludso's is extremely sweet and friendly. One of the ladies there came out several times to check on us and brought us a ton of wetnaps and napkins. They all introduce themselves with their first name. In fact, just as we were about to dig in, owner Kevin Bludso pulls into the parking lot right by our table and asks if he could have some of our food in a joking manner. He is one of the friendliest people I've met!

Okay, on to the food. When we opened up the Texas Sampler, all of our eyes widened...take a breath before you read this: Chicken Links, Beef Links, Pulled Pork, Beef Brisket, BBQ Chicken, Pork Ribs, Beef Ribs, 2 sides (we got cole slaw and mac and cheese), and bread for everyone. All that for less than $30. How is that even possible? I'll just cut to the chase now and say that this was more than enough food for 3 heavy eaters.

How was it? I'll start with the sides. The sides were probably the weak point in the meal, but still good. The slaw was not too creamy, which I like. It was a nice palate cleanser between all the meat. The mac and cheese was good, but not cheesy enough for my taste. It was of the dryer variety with little cheese sauce. [EDIT] I recently went back to Bludso's and the mac and cheese was spot on. Cheesy, creamy goodness. We must have gotten an old batch on my first visit. All of the meat was good, but the stand out stars for me were the pork ribs and beef brisket. The ribs had great flavor and fell right off the bone with no effort. The brisket was so tender that when we tried picking it up, it fell apart. It also had this ever so slight crust that developed from caramelization. Gah. Just thinking about it makes me drool.

The links had an interesting texture to them, not what I'm used to. I'm not quite sure how to describe it, but it felt like they had a coarser grind. Great. The pulled pork was full of flavor from the BBQ sauce that douses the whole platter. Very good on the bread with some slaw. The chicken is...well...just chicken. I was never crazy about BBQ chicken because it's not very interesting. The beef ribs were just as good as the pork ribs, but I just prefer pork ribs over beef ribs. I was a bit confused because on the menu it says that they serve beef ribs only on weekends, but these guys were way too big to be pork ribs. Maybe someone can clear that up for me.

Bludso's gets a giant stamp of approval for food and service from me. My cousin, also a great lover of food, claims that the BBQ at Bludso's is better than the BBQ he had at Salt Lick in Texas. Fail to believe him? See for yourself!

Bludso's BBQ 811 S Long Beach Blvd Compton, CA 90221 (310) 637-1342

[Music] Mighty Mouth - Tok Tok ft. Soya Drum Cover

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PRwfzv2-W8&feature=feedlik] I've been playing a lot of drums again now that I'm back home. A while back, I asked my friends for some song suggestions for drum covers. This is one of the songs that was suggested by my good friend Nathanael. It's a Korean song called "Tok Tok" ("톡톡") by a group called Mighty Mouth. I don't listen to much Korean music myself, so this was rather new to me. However, it was fun to play along with, so I went ahead and recorded it.

This is also the first video on my brand new Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/edwinchomusic! Please feel free to subscribe, like, favorite, comment, etc. It would be great to get some support especially with this fresh start. I felt that my old channel had no focus and was just random videos of mine. This is just another step in rebranding my identity online.

Technical Info Video was shot on a Canon 7D and Nikon D7000 both with Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 lenses. I shot somewhere between 1/30 and 1/60, f2.8, and ISO 1000. Video was edited in iMovie.

The audio signal was as follows: Shure SM58 over the snare, EV N/D 757A over the floor tom and ride pointed towards the snare, both equidistant from the snare. The mics ran into a Mackie mixer (with slight EQ and a tad bit of reverb), which ran into a Behringer UCA 222 interface, into my MacBook Pro, and into GarageBand.

[Food] The Double Double Clone

I recently read this article from Serious Eats on cloning In-n-Out's Double Double. Although I can get an In-n-Out burger almost any time I want, I was inspired to clone one at home. Initially, I only wanted to clone the magical grilled onions, but that eventually led to the whole burger. This is not a strict recipe as I didn't follow a recipe. This is just a rough run through of what I did based on what I remembered from the article. You can read the article for an in depth analysis of the burger.

The first step would be the grilled onions that you get with an animal style burger. I used the method that Kenji used, constantly deglazing the pan with water and cooking the onions for a long period of time. I chopped 6 whole onions...

...with the help of my newest toy, a Kyocera ceramic santoku knife. This guy is super sharp, light, and easy to work with. I absolutely love it.

After the tears and chopping, I began the cooking process. I started with a little bit of oil and a ton of onions.

[slideshow]

Here's a slideshow. Check out the different stages of cooking the onions. After 3 hours of cooking, the onions ended up looking like this...

They turned into an absolutely delicious onion marmalade. After the 3 hour cooking process, I moved onto the rest of the burger. I made sure to cook the patties with mustard, just like they do at In-n-Out with animal style burgers.

After searing the first side of the patties, I generously covered the top with yellow mustard, flipped, put some American cheese and that sweet onion compote on top.

I then put the patties on some nicely toasted buns with some homemade Spread and homegrown tomato and lettuce. I didn't have any pickles on hand, but the burger was still delicious without them. The burger was different from what In-n-Out has to offer, but (dare I say) my sister and I both agreed that this version was better. Before you all smite me and send me flame mail, I repeat that they were different, I just prefer the home-brewed version. Now, with all this left over onion compote, I can take over the world use it on anything. It's a 3 hour process, but definitely worth it. A grilled cheese sandwich with this stuff would be absolutely divine...

[Photo] Inside B&H

I know haven't posted at all this week. I'm sorry. It's my R&R week now that school is done, but I'll get back to regular posting next week. For now, here are photos from a CF card that someone found in their used camera from B&H, one of the largest non-chain photography stores in the US. It provides a nice behind the scenes look in the store. Enjoy.

[Video] The President's Photographer

http://www-tc.pbs.org/video/media/swf/PBSPlayer.swf

Watch the full episode. See more The Presidents Photographer.

Click the link to view the full documentary.

This is an excellent documentary (narrated by Morgan Freeman!) about the President's photographer. It mainly follows Pete Souza, President Barack Obama's Chief Photographer, but also goes back in history to other Presidents and their photographers. You get a very unique perspective of the White House through the eyes of the photographer and realize the importance and the demanding nature of the job. As a photographer, I found it extremely inspiring. I want to pick up my camera and go shoot in the middle of finals season. I also learned that Canons can take some decent photos . Side note: I love both Nikon and Canon, but prefer Nikon just a little bit more; maybe I'll post on that issue some time. Anywho, God bless America and PBS.

[Food] House of Prime Rib

This past weekend, my sister and some of my good friends came up to the Bay Area to visit me. The highlight of our trip was our trip to the House of Prime Rib in San Francisco. I'm going to try to keep my words to a minimum so that you can all bask in the glory of the prime rib...

So pretty much all of us got the King Henry VIII Cut, which is their biggest cut of meat. Included with the main course is a salad, your choice of creamed corn or spinach, loaded baked potato or mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and three kinds of horseradish.

They start you off with some great sourdough bread. Crispy on the outside, light and pillowy on the inside. Perfect. But don't get full off of this. It's a trap! They also give you the choice between sparkling and still water. I love the fact that they have sparkling water at no extra charge.

The salad is an important part of the meal. It has beets in it, which play a key role in digestion after the meal...you know...it's kind of important.

After your salad, they wheel out the "Meat Chamber" and carve your prime rib for you. If there were no consequences, I would probably grab one of the meat chambers full of the prime rib goodness and run.

I got my prime rib medium rare with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. The meat was amazingly tender, like butter...I honestly cannot find word to describe the prime rib itself...just ughhhhhhhhh. As far as the horseradish goes, I like the middle one the best, the mild one is too mild and the spicy one is too strong (it's just raw horseradish). And make sure to use that Yorkshire pudding (which is basically olde school bread) in the end to sop up all that beautiful juice that pools up at the bottom of your empty plate.

The best part is that they give you another small piece of meat if you are still hungry after your meal.

Here are some additional photos with other glorious things like the meat chamber and loaded baked potatoes (note the amount of bacon on those suckers).

[slideshow]

As far as technical info goes on the photography, it was darker than the bat cave in there. I was shooting around f/2.2-2.8, ISO 3200, and 1/100-1/125. On top of that, I had to bring up exposure in Lightroom, so they are pretty noisy, but it's fine.