Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Thanks everyone for the advice about the weasel. She has just been showing up late and not participating in our group discussions. The next time we have a chance to work as a “group,” I will tell her to do her work and participate. Otherwise, I am going to tell the professor I am not responsible for her.
Anyway, my life in the Bay Area for the summer has finally kicked in. I am working out regularly, almost daily. Although it’s not much, at least I am working out! My brother and dad came, and they have been here for almost two weeks now. I didn’t expect them to be here, and when they came, I started to eat a lot more. My little brother always has to be entertained and refuses to go hang out with our cousins unless I am there. That’s ridiculous, but he will be leaving next week.
Next week, two of my best friends from home will be visiting! I don’t know if I will be driving by then yet because I have to think about when I want to re-activate my car insurance. This should be exciting.
Now, I’m not shy to admit that one of my aunts is a very thrifty woman. She doesn’t cook much and knows when and where to get affordable food with at least decent quality. Last night, she took us to this local Italian restaurant that was celebrating its 50th anniversary by offering full portions of selected items at their prices from 50 years ago! It was so delicious — I had BBQ chicken with spaghetti, started with minestrone soup, and had a huge side of garlic bread! As usual, I failed at taking pictures, but we ended up paying $24 USD for SIX people with an entree with extra sides each. The most expensive item was my dad’s beer at $3.75, haha.
I hope you enjoy your next meal 
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Now that I’m temporarily back home, I’m back in the kitchen! I’ve been dying to make a pasta salad to eat a healthy lunch, so I chopped up some bell peppers, red onions, sundried tomatoes, and cucumber to add to some orzo pasta. I also made some accompanying balsamic vinaigrette. It was quite tasty and extremely convenient to eat with a spoon. I’m really happy with my progress in the kitchen and entree department!
Being home, I also bake. Now, I have to bake in moderation because everyone in my family complains I am making them fat! Then, when I bake for my friends instead of them, they get super jealous and complain I don’t bake for them when they clearly ask me NOT to bake for them! It creates such a dilemma, so I always have to split whatever I bake. I’m not a huge oatmeal raisin cookie fan, but a friend who is leaving soon requested it. I made them for the first time, and they turned out wonderfully! My brother also loves oatmeal raisin cookies, so I guess it was a win-win situation.
Last night and today was a completely different baking adventure. I made vanilla cupcakes completely from scratch, and I also got to use the party cups that I stole from my school’s Mexican eatery (used to carry salsa). They were pretty dense but smelled of wonderful vanilla! Last week, while in San Jose, I bought Nutella in bulk, so instead of going for a traditional buttercream frosting, I opted for a Nutella frosting. I also found some cream cheese in my refrigerator, so I combined the two together to form a frosting reminiscent of Giada’s favorite combination of Nutella and mascarpone cheese. The frosting was lumpy because I didn’t have an electric beater on hand, but luckily the chopped almonds covered it up. The almonds really add extra flavor, too!
Monday, May 11, 2009
I cannot express to you how excited I was to go home this weekend and get in the kitchen again! Our family had a little lunch party for Mother’s Day, and I was responsible for making some sides and of course, dessert. I was a little pressed for time yesterday morning, and my mom actually ended up cooking the green beans, haha. She insisted that she do it!
I made some pizzettes that were inspired from a Giada recipe. They didn’t turn out exactly how I had imagined, but that’s okay! They tasted great, and I know exactly what I want to do next time to make them better (if I ever have another party for which to make appetizers of course).
Chocolate covered strawberries. These were the most popular and people weren’t dying to try my other dessert pictured below. They’re always easy to make, but the strawberries were HUGE and priced so wonderfully at the local market.
Strawberry NUTELLA tarts! These weren’t exactly what I wanted to make, and I had to use puff pastry instead… but these worked out PERFECTLY! I can’t take too much credit because I didn’t technically make anything from scratch, but I do think I was resourceful with these. My mom LOVED these, and I definitely know I will be making these again.
My family sometimes complains that I’m trying too hard to make my food decadent, but I’m still learning how to cook. Following recipes and learning from them is really great for me, and it’s really helping me learn the basics. When I started cooking simple things like fried rice, I dreaded cooking and only wanted to bake because it was fun. That being said, I’ve definitely found that making food pretty and making food about which you are passionate is really helpful because it makes cooking fun. I have to learn how to cook anyway because in a year or two, I will be on my own, and I can’t rely on take-out Korean BBQ all the time!
So now I can’t wait for this summer to cook up a storm. Because I will for sure be staying with my mom for six weeks, I also can’t wait to surprise her with dinner when she comes home from work!
