I love Chinese food. Saturday, James took me to a great restaurant called China Star. I was impressed by the extensive menu of delicacies. They must have had about 100 items on the menu. I told James how much I like dumplings and dim sum. He proceeded to order for us, in Chinese. It seemed like he was talking for along time – I had to idea what he was ordering. Soon, the first item came out. It was very lean slices of beef, served cool. It was marinated in cilantro, peppers and some type of pepper sauce. It looked interesting but smelled delicious… it also smelled hot. I asked James if it was hot. He proceeded to tell me of the four levels of spiciness they serve in the restaurant. They have mild, hot, fire and the highest level, which they call numbing. Wow! I was thinking, “Numbing? Is that safe?!” So, I braced myself and had a taste… it was delicious! It was hot, but not as hot as I thought it would be. It was not like the persistent hot that you get when you eat jalapenos or hot salsa. You know… the kind that just does not go away and you have to stop eating and then when you have food that is just heat hot is burns your mouth? And it was not hot like spicy mustard or wasabe – not the kind that clears out your nose. It truly was numbing… my tongue actually felt kind of numb! It was such an interesting sensation – I had to have more! There was a bit of hotness to it, my nose even started to sweat, but it was not a killer heat. It was very good! In fact, James suggested that I drink some hot tea with it, and the heat from the tea was not exaggerated by the beef.

Next they brought out the fried and steamed dumplings. They were very good! I have never had steamed dumplings like these. They were very soft but not too soggy. The pork flavor came through in every bite. The fried dumplings were fried to the perfect texture… slightly chewy on the outside, and very soft and tasty inside. Both were delicious with the soy dip. The egg roll that came with my meal was just okay. It was a bit under-fried and the wonton wrapping was a little mealy. You could just taste the dough – it was not cooked through. It’s funny – I can’t even remember what I ordered as my main dish. I think I ordered garlic chicken or something. It was just a regular dish – it was good, but not as impressive as the appetizers. As you can tell, the appetizers really made an impression on me – I need to go back and have some of that beef again. You know, it sure seems like I write a lot about food. But you know what; food is one of the things that I truly enjoy… in moderation, of course!

Ronald Reagan died Saturday at his home in California. I wonder if there will be a large celebration of his life.