Hot Pot

So it's hecking cold AF and I don't know of anything better than a ton of hot spicy broth and an unlimited amount of food to put in that spicy broth.

First off, I can't find my favorite hot pot packet locally, which is Lao Gan Ma - if anyone sees it at either of the Asian grocery stores, lemme know because I can't find anything with that same kind of kick. 

She knows what's up with the broth.

Okay, any way, back to hot pot. I had friends new and old (Phairhead and her SexyBeast, what's UPPPP) to eat some of this hot goodness, and let me tell you why doing hot pot at home is awesome:

1. If you have a kid, you can put on TV, give them some not-spicy food (either some stuff you cooked in the broth before you put the spicy packet in, or some good ol' fashioned kid favorites like pizza or chicken nuggets. Pizza was what I got when I was a kid and my dad, aunties, and uncles would go to town on some hot pot).
2. Your friends can bring over their kid(s) and they can play and watch TV while the adults socialize and now you get to enjoy your meal instead of being on high alert making sure little Cammy and Ryu don't burn themselves with boiling water and hot chili oil in a restaurant where all of the non-kid friendly patrons are giving you stink eye for bringing your kids in the first place. 
3. IT IS SO MUCH CHEAPER. Hot pot in Albany is basically gonna run you at least $50 for two people. $20 pp for AYCE, $10 for the pot of broth. YES, you don't have to do any of the work and you might have more variety, but I'm pretty sure it cost me around $50-60 for a hot pot for 6 people with a ton of meat leftover, so whatever.
4. Hot pot leftovers become stirfry for the week!
5. It is delicious so hush up and start eating. 
6. You get to cook your own food at the dinner table, and it's really fast.

One of the new folks that came over had never had hot pot before, so that was cool that he got to try it. Annoyingly, both of the Asian grocery stores were kinda lacking when it came to sliced meats, which is INSANE because it is the middle of winter, which is primo hot pot season. Up your game, Albany!

And yep, you can make out the Boop's little finger pointing to a bowl up top. Gotta start 'em young!