fyi

Now, I'm going to do something weird and futuristic- I'm going to talk to my blog from myself from the future.
In all honesty, since my last post (8/22/10), I have: moved into a new house with my two roommates, finished my final two semesters of college, graduated college shortly thereafter, moved out of my house with my two roommates, moved into an apartment in Astoria NY, got a job at a restaurant, moved yet again to another apartment in Astoria NY with my boyfriend, got another job at a restaurant, and throughout everything I have maintained my sanity.

Why no new blog entries you ask? Weren't you still taking an abundant amount of photos of your home-cooked meals? Weren't you aesthetically arranging the dishes according to perspective angles and accurate light composure? And last I've heard, you still need food on a daily basis to survive... So what's the deal?

Well, myself from the past, simply put, I just haven't fucking got around to it. Yeah, in the beginning I still took the stupid photos with my pretty (new) digital camera. They eventually got put into the "Unnamed Folder" on my computer (which, interestingly enough, eventually broke). Then, the whole moving-in-with-my-boyfriend-thing happened. Guess what?... When you're feeding more than one person, there tends to be rules and regulations. There are limits on types of foods, times for the food to be consumed, prices of foods, all types of food-obscurities that have previously evaded my conscious.

Like seriously, what is up with this shit? Not trying to be bitter or anything, but part of me feels like the joy of cooking has been sucked out of me. I think somewhere between my last blog post and now, I have transformed into an everyday cynical adult. Luckily for myself and my (imaginary) readers, I have had a lapse of judgment and I have once again been enlightened by the satisfaction and enthusiasm of cooking.

Please excuse me while I gather up my photos and content and desperately attempt to piece back together my missing blog entries.

california trip - family, fun, food

This goes without saying, but I had an excellent (even better than that) time visiting my family in California. Beautiful Orange County was the least of my concerns when I received the go-ahead by my parents saying that I could visit my grandparents and cousins over my Spring Break. Although I physically stayed at my Mama and Papa's house, I still spent time (daily, of course) with my two younger girl cousins along with my Aunt and Uncle. A great time led to even greater memories, and I couldn't have been any happier to have visited them.



During this trip, I mostly focused (besides the obvious quality time) on cooking and learning from Mama. We made (above photos in order from left to right, top to bottom) her famous Ohn No Kauk Swey (which is essentially a chicken curry with noodles), her exotic Saffron Rice, my ultimate favorite Taro in Coconut Milk, and a Beef Stew thing with Rice Noodles (with the help of my Aunt, of course).


We can't forget about the two chocolate desserts I baked with my little cousins. The flourless chocolate cake was decadently rich and sinful, whereas the box cupcakes on the other hand was more aesthetically pleasing than tasty.


But where all this cooking and baking nonsense came from was me informing them of my new found love of food. To prove this (because they would believe me no other way) I brought a batch of cookies (one chocolate chip and one oatmeal raisin) and a bunch of blondies over, which just so happened to be the sweetest assurance they needed.


Now I obviously didn't live off one batch of Chicken Curry and a bunch of cupcakes. Mama, typical to her nature, continued to cook (even when I wasn't present) my entire stay. Two especially tasty dishes was this cellophane noodle conglomerate with tasty additions (left) and also this different type of fried rice (right).

But what kind of bad grandchild would I be by forcing my grandmother to teach me how to cook every hour of every day? Not a very good one. This is why we did occasionally leave the house for random adventures (mostly led by food, of course).



I'm a Boba Tea freak. I drink it any chance I get, and I attempt to try all possible flavors. While in Little Saigon, my grandfather and I stopped for a little drink. I chose a Taro flavored one, while he chose a (gasp!) Durian flavor. Now, I realize most people do not know what Durian tastes/smells like (which is extremely lucky), but take a second and imagine the worst smelling diaper full of diarrhea that was left in the sun to rot for no less than a month. Yes I'm serious. So when asked if I cared to taste this Durian Boba Tea, I hesitated, but surprisingly decided I'll take the risk. Shockingly, it had the undertone of Durian, but none of that rotting diaper mess. Although I'll probably never chose it myself, the taste alone was bearable.



Another request while I was here was to have some of that damn sticky rice in banana leaves that I adore so much. I'm not sure where we typically get it, nor what nationality it generally belongs to (as many Asian cultures do something along the lines). We went from store to store to track down this mysterious wrapped sticky rice. Eventually we found something that satisfied my needs. Although not exactly what I was looking for, it still contained that familiar taste and texture that I've been longing for.

Overall, this little 5 day trip to California satisfied all my needs- family, fun, food- the most important things in my life.

super bowl - warning: do not read if you are currently hungry- it'll only make you hungrier!

So what I learned about the Super Bowl was that it was the perfect excuse to cook, bake, indulge, and be a gluttonous pig. Our shitshow feast spanned an entire dining room table, ranging from the usual burgers and dip, to the not so typical adorably shaped brownies and our upscale crab cakes. Let's go back down memory lane to satiate my current hunger pangs.

Three Cheese Pinwheels
Recipe --- Flickr


We started the day promptly and began with our appetizers of course. I premade the three different mini apps the night before and then baked them the day of the Super Bowl. These Three Cheese Pinwheels attempted to live up to their name, but just didn't succeed. While these may have be cheesy enough (or maybe even too cheesy) for others, they lacked the excessive amount of cheese that I was longing for. I'm not saying they weren't good- They actually tasted good for being Pillsbury crescent rolls and shredded cheese. The best part though was that they definitely subdued by cheese cravings for the time being.

Mini Bacon and Cheese Quiches
Recipe --- Flickr


What better to wash my mouth down with other than mini quiches? While these little babies looked adorable, the taste wasn't all that noteworthy. I attempted yet again to make something cheesy which didn't turn out so cheesy in the end. The best part about these little quiches though was that each handheld morsel contained all the necessitated food elements: Bread, Eggs, and Cheese. This way, instead of me searching for the required ingredients, I could just pop one of these little guys in my mouth and be satisfied.

Creamy Pesto Chicken Things
Recipe --- Flickr


Yeah- you heard me- they're called Creamy Pesto Chicken Things. It's my creation and I'll call it whatever I want. While these little smushed up balls of dough may look innocent, they were in fact not so. I'm not even sure if anyone else liked these, but all I know is that these were a winner in my book (maybe it was because they were cheesy and creamy?). Anyways, each rolled up biscuit packed a layer of chicken, pesto, and cheese... Need I say more?

Brown Sugar Cookies (Football Shaped)
Recipe --- Flickr

It just wouldn't be a real party if I didn't bake something. One of my many treats I brought were these Brown Sugar Cookies (courtesy of my new best friend- Cook's Illustrated). These cookies have (secretly) converted my sugar-cookie-hating boyfriend into a sugar-cookie-lover. They were chewy and sweet and moist and fit all my other requirements as being an awesome cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Football Themed Shaped)
Recipe --- Flickr

While my thought process behind these cookies were sound, the outcome was not so satisfactory. I made one enormously large cookie (with the Neiman Marcus Cookie batter) and cut out the shapes while they were still warm. They were good...while they were warm... But then they hardened... and hardened some more... And then they were just plain hard. Nothing a few seconds in the microwave can't fix, I always say!

Butter Cookies (Indianapolis Colts & New Orleans Saints Decorated)
Recipe --- Flickr


You know it's a real party when I go apeshit over decorating something as meaningless as a cookie. I could have cared less if the cookies tasted good; all that mattered was that I get to show off my decorating skills (or lack thereof, sometimes). But I guess the planets and the stars were aligned properly, and for some odd reason these little cut out cookies tasted delicious! (Yet again- I'm hesitant to say this but the reason was probably because there was cream cheese in the batter.)

Ina Garten's "Outrageous Brownies" (Football Shaped)
Recipe --- Flickr


Finally- I can now say I have reached the culmination of my baking- I no longer have to bake another baked good now that I have baked the supreme and ultimate brownie. Ohhh who am I kidding... of course I'm not going to stop baking. But after one bite of these divine brownies, I was seriously contemplating packing up my belongings and moving to a far and secluded land where I could just bake and eat these brownies alone until the day that I die. - Yes, they were that good.

Potato Skins

Okayyy... So enough of the sweets- Time for the savory! While I was busy baking (and indulging) in my goodies, my friend prepared her part of the meal- the potato skins. We baked the potatoes until they were soft, and then sliced them down the center and removed the insides. And then came the best part... you guessed it... Cheese! (oh and bacon, but who cares when there's cheese around!) I'm not gonna lie- for these photos I actually added a tad bit more melted cheese for my own liking (hehe).

Crab Cakes
Recipe --- Flickr


So do you think my boyfriend would sit on his hiney all day while the women were laboring away in the kitchen? Absolutely not. It was adorable actually- he was just as excited to plan the feast as I was. He prepared this entire dish by himself (minus the red bell pepper- I chopped that one!), without a recipe and without any help. I was pleasantly surprised at how scrumptious these were (which is saying a lot from a girl who doesn't like fishy food).

Mini Slider Burgers with Bacon & Cheese Spread
Recipe --- Flickr


I think every girl should find herself a man who knows how to make a damn good burger. First of all- this would save her from having to make one for him (because he already has the talent and skill to do it himself), and also more importantly because well, it's just freakin' delicious. I hate burgers that aren't juicy enough or not cheesy enough (go figure). The "cheese spread", as my boyfriend calls it, was on point and I didn't have that yearning for more cheese like I do for most foods. He basically just bumped up a few points in my book after that day.

So before I leave to go raid my fridge to stop myself from salivating to death because of hunger, let me show you the aftermath of our little feast.


This was us just getting started- before we even started preparing the food food. More than half the appetizers were eaten at this point, the bowl of dip my boyfriend's mother made was licked clean, and there were a good number of cookies/brownies missing by now. I have no idea how our tummies could have even tolerated the thought that the actual meals were yet to come.


So I guess our eyes were bigger than our stomachs; because these measly plates were the leftovers the following day. Don't discount our eating capabilities though- Imagine these heaping piles of food times 4 its size and that's what we probably originally started with. The sad part was that I knew this glorious bundle of food would decrease exponentially within a few days- Which it did. Goodbye delicious food; Hello diet.

fondue party - a.k.a. the best double date

Although I already posted the baked ziti and the cookie-dough-filled cupcakes, I thought it was only fitting that I'd post the rest of the goodies we ate at the Fondue Party.


After arriving to my friend's place, we immediately began preparing our food. My friend, who had gotten a fondue pot from her boyfriend (hence, the whole reason why we were here) readied her pot, and began dumping the needed ingredients inside.


The dip was really good and really creamy. I didn't know beer went into dip but apparently I was the only one uninformed of this. I also loved the little pieces of bacon; it really pulled this dip together.


The pile of little chips got eaten so quickly that they had to open up the bag of large chips (which was to be saved for the nachos)- But how could we resist? The dip was so good!


Shortly after the moment I took this photo, the pot was completely empty thanks to my boyfriend. What I find especially interesting is that my boyfriend hates vegetables (especially spinach), yet absolutely loves spinach artichoke dip. Once again, I prove to myself that he doesn't even know what he likes/dislikes (hehe, I know him better than he knows himself- but I'll never tell him).


After a bit of digesting (a matter of 5 minutes), we prepared the baking sheet for the nachos. First was a layer of chips, followed by a layer of cheese and refried beans. My boyfriend (who I know hates beans), told our friends that he was "allergic" to beans, so that they would leave a corner of nachos bean-less. I, of course, later informed them that he was full of shit.


Some cooked chicken and bacon gets layered on top of that. And most importantly, a final sprinkle of some more cheese (yay) and scallions get added to the top before being placed in the oven to melt.


Meanwhile, my friend and I focused our energy on more important matters - booze. Margaritas were planned for the evening, so she already bought our needed ingredients - Tequila, Triple Sec, and lime juice. According to her, the composition was 3 parts tequila, 2 parts tripe sec, and 1 part lime juice.


Now I've never made a margarita, nor am I familiar with the division of parts, but to me it sounded a little off...perhaps a little too boozy, even for my taste. But I listened to her and dipped the cups in salt while awaiting for our concoction to form. The taste? Very boozy. Not too boozy that I couldn't drink it, but definitely not margarita-y. It wasn't slushy enough. Our later drinks we used more than 1 or 2 ice cubes (yes she was an ice cube Nazi) and those ones were slightly slushier.


Ahh, finally. Our nachos were ready. The cheese was nice and melted, the bacon was crispy, and my mouth was yearning for some 'chos.


Unfortunately the toppings weren't evenly distributed (not including the portion of missing beans), so some chips were fully loaded with the goods, and some chips were left naked.


I hoarded the motherload piece, and my excuse was "it's for the blog" (hehe, it works every time).


As if that wasn't enough food, I then put my baked ziti in the oven to finish baking.


But of course, it wouldn't be a party if I hadn't baked some goodies. Chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-stuffed-cupcakes were baked for the party, by request of my friend. As good as they were, they were not the only goodies I brought.


The cookie dough I brought was bakeable and edible on their own. So after we unbuckled our belts (or reshaped our leggings, in our case), we ate a whole wad of cookie dough to top the night off.


The love of my life, and the love of his life. Needless to say, the food was great, and spending time with my friends was even greater.