Well. Operation Flush-the-Pantry is..flushing down the toilet, so as to speak. I have to eat another bazillion calories worth of food stored in my fridge and pantry in the oddest combinations within 4 days. Whoopee-doo-dah.
It’s all my fault, though. Blame my twisted logic and crappy math skills. I manage to dwindle down some of my baking ingredients by baking 24 green tea mochi-cupcakes. I invite my friends over, and they love them so much they stuffed themselves full, and then gaily skipped off with a doggy bag of cupcakes each.
Because I was left with no more cupcakes for myself, and because my friends enjoyed them so much, I decide that it’s a good idea to bake another 2 dozen more to share (this time hiding a good portion for myself). Except…I have only 2 eggs and 1/2 cup sugar left. The recipe calls for 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cups sugar. What do I do?
Why, I loiter my way into the grocery store and buy a dozen more eggs and a 4lb bag of sugar. Oy.
I know, I’m an idiot. But at least that means I’ll be doing a lot of baking over the weekend, which really calms me down during this exam period. And my friends are sure gonna be thrilled. Oh, and at least I’ll finish up the rest of my flour and oil. That’s better than nothing, right?
My failing Operation Flush-the-Pantry is also due to the fact that I’ve been eating out a lot. For example, my dear friend Valerie took off for Brazil on Friday. As our final time together, we went out to lunch at the Panini Cafe, with another friend, Jessica: 
Check my two friends out…They still carry backpacks, and they’re not even students. Fashionistas, they are not. 
But it’s okay, Valerie and Jessica! I still love you~ 
They’re so adorable. Even though they are older than I am, and much, much more spiritual (They work full-time for my church fellowship). 
The day was nice so we tried to get a seat outside, but none was available. We had to settle for the indoors, which was also bustling with downtown workers on their lunch break. 
It was brightly lit…a bit too glaringly lit for good pictures, but oh well, I’ll take that over pitch-dark restaurants. And I got to sit across from a mirror! I took a mirror shot once again, of course. 
Say paniniiii~
I knew I had to order a panini in a cafe named after that pressed sandwich, of course. There were quite a few choices that struck out to me, but I eventually went with the Salmon Panini, on 7-grain bread. It had a “MUST TRY!!” written next to it, so obviously I had to see what this fuss was about which I simply “MUST TRY". 
Roasted salmon, melted brie, fresh dill, tomatoes, capers, and red onions on 7-Grain bread. Side of fresh fruit. 
I was happy to see that it was a pretty adequate portion, but was nonplussed to see that the amount of brie they put in there was pathetic. Seriously? There was so little brie, that it practically evaporated away while melting. 
But the salmon was pretty fresh and flavorful and oozing with good fats, so that made me happy. The bread was hefty, substantial, and crusty, too. I wonder if they make their own bread…
Valerie ordered the second most popular item in the menu, the Chicken Panini, which came with a “Highly Recommended!” sign next to it: 
Grilled Chicken breast, sundried tomatoes, fontina cheese, artichokes, and pesto on grilled Filone. Side of fresh fruit. 
Valerie split half the sandwich with me. Honestly? I detested it. The chicken was dry and tough like leather. I felt like I was chewing on a mangled piece of belt that had been slathered with BBQ sauce. Ergh! 
The rest of the ingredients were good, though. After eating half of this sandwich, I had to leave out the chicken and eat it sans meat. 
Jessica ordered the third most popular item on the menu, the Koobideh Kabob: 
Two skewers of seasoned charboiled ground sirloin, with skewer-grilled vegetables, bulghur pilaf, and romaine avocado salad. 
Strangely enough, this was actually the best dish of all. Panini Cafe should change their name to Kabob Cafe, because the meat on that thing was so tender, juicy, and flavorful. 
I loved the bulghur as well, which was cooked in some tomato and had a fresh, bright flavor and fluffy texture. I had to explain to my two friends what it was. By the end of the day, they still called it wheat-rice. Sigh. We’ll try again next time. 
I didn’t touch the salad because it’s got plain avocados on it (ew), but Jessica devoured that part first. 
Oh, and Aletheia, I know you’re hopping with joy right now, and we both talked about you that day! You are well missed, my dear!
Okay, I’ve got just 4 more days to endure, before I finally fly off to my hometown(s): Singapore and Korea. Oh, and did I mention that I’ll be visiting Hong Kong and Malaysia, too? Seriously, can 96 hours crawl by any s..l..o..w..e..r? I’m so excited, I can barely even think about it without itching to just run physically all the way across the ocean because it seems like that will actually be less painful than merely waiting.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. 3 seconds gone, and a bazillion more to go.
Question of the Day: Do you usually find yourself explaining each ingredient in the menu to your food-ignoramus friends? Any incredulous stories?
I do get a bit hissy when someone doesn’t know what kimchi is (And why is Live Writer underlining this word as a spelling error?!!!).
And I’m a bit ticked off when I see supermarkets mislabeling sweet potatoes as yams. Oh, and though I know it’s not that available everywhere, I also get caught off guard when people don’t know what kabocha is, since it’s like, my favorite food in the world.
Related posts:
{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
Next Comments →
mmmm panini’s! i’ve heard about this place but have never gone.
i’ll never stop wearing backpacks! they’re so darn functional!
Let my first say how jealous I am that you are going to Korea. Two of my great friends live there and just had a baby I would love to meet.
I get annoyed trying to explain ingredients in things that I can eat because my diet has to be so strange with my dietary issues. I just usually explain it really quickly and ignore them if they still don’t get it. It’s just the way I eat and they can deal.
hahha love your reviews. LOVE them.
ahhhh you’re going to asia?!?!! NO FAIR! =(
anyways, hahaha i wear a backpack! my friend make fun of me ALL THE TIME. some dude was like soo….do you own a purse at alL?!?!!
those paninis look wonderful! i love really thick and full sandwiches. so hearty and filling
4 more days! Wow! Good luck eating up all the leftover food
I’ve been to Panini Cafe and I was very unimpressed. I can’t remember what I got, but I was disappointed. I usually LOVE paninis!
In a word: always. I find most college age kids have no clue when it comes to balance in food. Even with the humble french fry. I mean you’ve got your fat, your salty, and your sweet (ketchup). They know they love ‘em (as who doesn’t?), but they have no idea why. Explaining simple contrasts and accents in taste and texture gets annoying. I guess it’s the lonely price we pay for being foodies.
mmm… cupcakes!
Those cupcakes sounds wonderful-I want one!
LOL to your friends and their backpacks. So cute!! The food looks delicious even if it didn’t taste the best. What a disappointment!! But I’m sure it was all good company
haha you’re hilarious. I have brought ginger to the check out counter and been asked what it was. hahaha
SOPHIA!!!!!!!!!!!
OK NOW if you keep including pictures of Valerie in every post that you write, I’m going to have to start re-prioritizing my blog-reading list. WILL READ BURP-AND-SLURP ALL THE TIME, 24/7, BWAHAHAHHAA. Which, of course, is not a bad thing.
Valerie will do awesome in Brazil – may the Lord bless her and all the other brothers and sisters who will be going to spread His word and be His living testimony in that part of the Earth! 
Your panini looks the best (even if Jessica’s dish tasted the best!). The profile shot of the sandwich actually made my mouth water…
I will never grow out of my backpack. It’s kind of like my turtle shell. My friends make fun of me and say I’m worse than a girl scout. I probably am.
(Now seriously contemplating downloading every picture of Val and saving it in a folder called “I miss Valerie” on my desktop. I’m either extremely sweet or just very creepy. Or perhaps I’m both. BWAHAHHAHAHAA.)
Love,
aletheia xD
Before you even said it, I knew that sandwich was skimpy on the brie! Other than that, it sounds like a delish panini.
Hahahahaha, how can people not know the goodness of the kabocha?!?!?!?!
It is one of my most favorite foods as well! 
How exciting for you that your trip is almost here!!!!! Have so much fun!! Can’t wait to hear all about it!!
I hate when restaurants skimp on the best ingredients. Good brie is expensive though, so I guess there was a reason for it!! I always find myself explaining stuff at vegan restaurants- good thing I don’t mind talking about tempeh and seitan! Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!
Hey chica! It seems like forever since I have been over here…I am sorry for being such a sucky friend =/ I didn’t even know you were leaving again…are you going to come to ny this summer? (please say yes)
Your friends are too cute!
I used to love the Panini Cafe in Beverly Hills but their service has steadily declined, along with their food. So I haven’t been in a long time! Looks like the downtown branch needs some help too.
I am jealous of your trip Sophia. I want to be in Singapore right now having some coffee or something. I need to plan another trip ASAP.
I wouldn’t say I get irritated when people don’t know what things are…but if I have to explain it more than once, then i definitely start to get annoyed.
I love the concept of your panini but more brie is definitely better!
And if you want to send any cupcakes here. I would be willing to help you use up some flour, sugar, and eggs!
Oh yeah – I always have to explain what different ingredients are to friends!!
Oi I still carry a backpack and I’m no longer a student
Hehe…and as for your question, I would probably take the role of ‘food-ignoramus’ friend, so I doubt there’d be much chance of me even using, let alone explaining exotic ingredients…ah there’s time for me to learn though 
Sarah x
glad you had luch with your friends, great review, I like that your honest..the chicken did look dry..going home, how exciting..have fun and have fun…I hate explaining simple food notions to my friends, but hubby tells me “they don’t know because they don’t care..true..”
sweetlife
so excited for you that you’re going to all those places. man you’ve gotta snap some street food pics. i’ve heard the street food in all those places is so yummy. i have such a weakness for Asian snacks. great, now i’m going to be dreaming of yummy snacks tonight. Hmmm…actually that’s not a bad thing at all.
Hehe Sophia, did you stick your tongue out for the self portarait pic or do you stick your tongue out when you take photos? OMG those sandwiches look massive! So much filling!
Explaining the menu? ALWAYS!:)
Love your style of writing so much, your posts always make me smile! And that little brie: it’s terrible! No really, are they crazy?;)
xxx Julia (Taste of Living)
haha well at least your friends are happy and you get to bake!!!!!!!!!
Not gonna lie but I’m the food/ingrediant ingnerant friend, all too often *blushes*
Looks like you have been enjoying life and different foods, so if in the end you have to waste somefood, its OK at least you had fun in the proccess of trying not to waste! =D myabe your friends will want some of what you cant take?
Happy Sunday girl! <3
Pantry-cleaning for me is always fun, but towards the end it’s a matter of commitment over enjoyability.
Your trips is going to be freaking amazing and I can’t wait to read your write-ups! As for menu-decoding for my friends–yes, all the time! I am always surprised that what seems like another food in the ol’ lexicon is an exotic treat to someone else…that or they just don’t know it by name. I certainly hope that was the case when someone asked me what nori was.
I can’t wait to hear about your trip. My sister-in-law spent 10 months in Malaysia on a Fullbright scholarship.
First, safe and happy, healthy travels to you. So exciting and I know you’ll make the most of every minute (and meal.) Second, I want that bread your sandwich was on, as it looked delicious. Third, I thought you were slightly converted to avocados? Where’s the love???
People always come to me when they have no idea what a food thing is. What’s prosciutto? What’s arugula? It’s amazing to me that people don’t know these things, but I’m happy to educate them when asked
You need someone to help you devour baked goods, call me!
Lol, I’m in the same sitch. Bye bye jars of peanut butter! Shit, I’m not going to be able to TOUCH peanut butter for a few weeks. Talk about ODing!
How long are you away for? I can’t believe you went out and bought eggs and sugar…dude. Recipes can be halved
Your friends are lucky though! Haha. And don’t be hating on the backpacks…I carry my gym clothes in one. Though I am certainly no fashionista so what would I know?
Foodie peeve…people getting kabocha and kombucha mixed up. Could the two be any more different? I see this on the same blogs all the time and it drives me nutty. Another peeve is giving pretentious names to things, which I am probably guilty of at times but I am making an effort to stop. Like putting carrot in a bowl of oatmeal and calling it carrot cake? Um, no. That’s not carrot cake. That’s closer to rabbit food than carrot cake.
I also hate hate HATE some of the ignorance surrounding nutrition- like, “oh no, I could never eat all that…far too many carbs”. Hello, it is a sandwich. It’s not a ridiculous amount of foods. It’s two slices of bread- get over yourself. I had this with my mom yesterday who insisted a sandwich was far too much food and she needed to go somewhere else that served soup. Rawr.
Oh, and I should have taken my camera to th store yesterday. They had a new section called, “healthy living”- i was SO excited and ran over. They sold rice cakes. In various flavours. But nothing other than rice cakes. I am not sure if they were joking…
why do I leave such long comments on your blog? We need to hang out in real life
OMG we certainly must. I’m working on the study abroad thing. I need to have good enough grades though. I’ll try!
And that rice cake deal? WTF. It MUST be an April Fool’s Day joke. Except it’s May.
I love your pink camera!
I literally cannot survive without by backpack. (I’m slightly embarressed to admit that but ya know…)
Your trip sounds just amazing! I would love to visit all of those places! I hope you have a really great time. xxxxx
Good luck on the Operation Flush the Pantry – I’ve gone through many of these tactical operations , and its always amazing how desperation is the mother of inventiveness.
lol, i’ve been known to do the same thing, i don’t think i’ll ever be able to clean out my pantry without filling it with other random ingredients i don’t need.
i wish we had a panini restaurant, yummy!
i once spent ten minutes in a grocery store explaining to a lady what an avocado was and all the ways she could use it. it was eye opening!
Capers on a sandwich?? I love that idea!! All of this food looks amazing, I want to move to California, you always show the best foods at your restaurants/bars/delis. I’m always drooling.
I know what you mean about cleaning out the pantry. I was continuing to buy groceries even the last day before we moved. Now I realize we weren’t moving far, but it surely didn’t make the move any easier!! Dumb. I wish I would have had the creativity to through all my ingredients together and come up with something amazing and spectacular!! You’re so clever.
OMG, that salmon panini would be a dream come true for me. I love paninis, salmon, and cheeeese. Aaah, heaven.
I need to clean out my pantry, too. It’s hard, especially when you keep buying more because you get cravings and inspirations.
lol
I’m so excited for your trip, it sounds wonderful!!
Jenn
Glad to see your winding down and getting ready to travel. The paninis look great.
I once went out to eat with my married cousin and her husband, and she asked me what beets were. Seriously? You’re 27 years old, and don’t know what beets are?!
That sandwich with brie and salmon looks super!
I’m currently on the phase of flushing the pantry. I’ve got a week and a half to do it before my trip to the Philippines.
I’ve had a few instances when I was asked what kind of produce I was buying. and they were pretty obvious ones, too. Found that kind go funny. Sorry the panini did fair as well as you’d thought. They probably should rename the place.
I forgot to tell you – the worldmun location (this is the conference I went to Taiwan with) was announced for next march – to SINGAPORE. Going to totally be hitting you up for information once it gets closer
My boyfriend has definitely given up on asking me “what the hell” I’m eating!
all of your eats look delicious
especially the sandwiches!
That is going to be one fun trip, hope these hours pass by quickly!
I do agree that the panini look kinda overstuffed!
Wooo…tell me more about sweet potatoes, yam and taro …ha!
I have a good friend who comes to my house almost every week and always asks me what is in the hummus; (I decided not to tell her anymore!)
These panins look so good; surprised to see bulgur in there! One of the chefs or owners must be Lebanese!
Sophia! You’re coming to Malaysia? We should meet up
When will you be here? Email me at alexandra.prabaharan@gmail.com so we can try to meet up.
oh those sandwiches look amazing! ha, I’m sure they loved all those cupcakes -I would be worn out after the first batch!
I feel like I annoy people with how much I talk about foodie stuff. Oh well, they can deal!
And I need to go to that cafe. I always look at the menus for the restaurants you go to and pick out what I want. I want the Brie Melt sans ham with a side of fresh fruit. And banana bread pudding for dessert.
I swear you have a future as a restaurant critic ~ they’d be quaking in their chef’s whites when you showed up and I love your brutally honest yet fair evaluations of the dishes (or paninis, in this case). I’m always skeptical of anything which states you ‘MUST’ try this because inevitably whatever it is won’t live up to the hype they’ve put around it…to me, if something really is that delicious then it speaks for itself with no embellishment, either through lines out of the door when other places are empty or through a waiter emerging with multiple plates of it from the kitchen.
I get irritated when people don’t understand about some vegan ingredients, but only if they wrinkle their noses and make out that they’re weird…otherwise, I’m happy to explain. I’m always slightly nonplussed when I randomly talk about Sun Warrior and no-one has a clue what it is though…I tend to forget that the entire world isn’t as obsessed with protein powder as me
(sorry, I know how much you hate the stuff!)
hehe i love baking too! it truly is a stress-reliever to be able to mix all of the lovely ingredients together, pop it in the oven, and devour the warm delicious goodness of fresh baked goods! i also just got a bread machine, so it’s been churning out yummy raisin bread for me too hehe.
the salmon panini looks amaaazing, but sucky that the chicken was horrible! eek!
and i am SO excited for you to go on your trip!! i want to say that i hope you continue to blog about the awesome food over there, but i want you to 100% enjoy spending time with your friends and soaking up every second there, so no pressure.
happy monday!
Isn’t that a shame when food doesn’t live up to its name?
Next Comments →