doughmesticity: life with a hubby and a standmixer

ugly banana bread

2011-01-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

i don't think banana bread ever really looks that appetizing. it's usually a light brown color with little brown specks (from the middle of part of ripened bananas) and sometimes studded with toasted walnuts, also brown. but holy heck, when it's baking, does your kitchen smell good!

i actually took the time to make banana bread today. already, and it's only 11:30am. it was mostly a procrastination strategy against working on the accounting case problem on activity-based costing. and since i don't want to "waste" time by just sitting on the couch, i made the world's ugliest banana bread (so no pics, also b/c i don't really know where the camera is and even if i could find it, it probably doesn't have space for new pics and then i'd have to download the current content and blah blah blah).

my own personal ugly banana bread:

1 1/2 cups mashed banana (i only had 1 cup from two small bananas, and so had to use 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, only adding to the ugly color thing)

3 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp milk

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/3 cup white four

1/4 cup bran flakes or oatmeal or whatever you had on had to give this recipe a fiber boost

optional: 3 tbsp cocoa powder + extra tbsp milk (again, adds to the ugly color thing, but gives it a nice, not too powerful chocolaty taste)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

cinnamon and/or nutmeg

preheat oven to 375

dump everything into your lovely standmixer

turn on standmixer and let it do it's job (on low) for about 30 sec or until JUST combined.

banana bread is essentially a muffin - so don't overmix!!!

at this point, you can stir in toasted walnuts or chocolate chips. i chose chocolate chips. you should put in about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of whatever you choose. me, on the other hand, as a busy graduate student, have not bought chocolate chips in a while and had only about 1/3 cup left to mix in. totally not enough.

pour mixture into pre-greased loaf pan.

takes about 40-45 min in the oven, but do a toothpick check at 40 min.

after it comes out of the oven, wait a good 10 minutes before diving in.

10 minutes . . . make some coffee (not only does it go wonderfully with banana bread, but it will ensure i can power through the accounting case AND the operations case)

cut a piece of banana bread and shove in mouth.

cut another piece, slather with nutella, and shove in mouth.

contemplate going to gym and putting off homework . . .

day in the life of an MBA at Ross

2010-12-22T11:45:00.000-08:00

I've been at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan for a full semester now. I've completed 1/4 of an MBA degree.

and what a trip/adventure/wacky ride it has been!

it's like they set it up so that there is no way you can do everything you want. class, studying, recruiting, networking, hanging out with friends, spending time with hubby . . . no way to do it all. spending time with hubby however, comes a little easier than hanging out with friends. we're BOTH at Ross together.

and yes, we pay a boatload every semester for tuition. but we just keep saying to ourselves, it's an investment, it's an investment, it's an investment.

so what's a typical day like for me? what's my schedule like that prevents me from blogging (b/c i barely have time to cook!)?

6:15 am Wake up, get ready for the day

7:15 Leave house to catch shuttle

7:30 Shuttle to Ross, read NYTimes on my phone

8:00 MO 503 - Leading People & Organizations

10:20 FIN503 - Financial Management

12:40pm Grab a really quick lunch

1:00 Cover letter review, Resume review or Mock Interview

2:00 Finance group meeting

4:00 Marketing reading

5:00 Head home

6:00 Dinner, then head back to Ross

7:00 MO group meeting

9:00 Head home again, do some chores to clean up apartment

10:00 Continue Marketing HW

11:00 Sleep and start over again the next day

this would be a not-so-bad day. probably even some minutes to chat with friends or call my parents here and there.

when hubby and i were visiting campuses during application season, we received a brochure from another school that had a student's "typical day" outline. we thought they must have been exaggerating. i mean, nobody can be this busy ALL the time. we were very wrong. we really are this busy ALL the time. i'm tired just thinking about it

but it's currently winter break. no academic assignments. just the other responsibilities that we signed up for. i will be spending the next two weeks on vacation and working on:

- grant process for Orchards Children's Services, i'm their Board Fellow

- market information for next round of Michigan Business Challenge for WestView Education Institute, a new company I am working on with a kick-ass team

- cover letters so that i can land a summer internship that i will love and that will love me

- holiday cookies b/c we didn't get gifts for anyone other than immediate family this year (that double-tuition payment!)

so, with a little luck and slightly more sleep than i've been getting this past semester, i'll hopefully get everything done and even check back to blog about it. hmm . . .

crunchy granola

2010-10-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

Really good granola costs anywhere from 4-7 dollars for a few servings at the store. But most of us actually have the ingredients for granola just sitting in the pantry. No extra cost. And, it’s actually a really simple process to make granola.

Preheat oven to 350

2 cups oatmeal (any kind of oatmeal will do, just not the instant kind)

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Mix it all together. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 min.

Then sprinkle on about 1/3 cup almonds. Bake for another 5-7 min.

Take out of oven, let it cool down for about 30 min and then break it up.

I like to mix in 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Or mix in whatever you want. Enjoy!

i realize it's getting cold

2010-10-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

but the back-to-school thing has me craving classic things like pb&j, except i have it in the form of ice cream.

right, peanut butter and jelly ice cream.

you can eat it for lunch.

it contains healthy fats. and NO cream. just milk. and peanut butter. and strawberry (or any flavor you'd like) jelly.

1 cup peanut butter

2 cups whole milk

1/3 cup sugar (i like less sweet, so use 1/2 if you like things sweet)

1/2 cup grape jelly or strawberry jam or raspberry preserves, whatever you'd like

that's the whole ingredient list.

blend the pb with the milk in a blender. add the sugar. blend again. stick in fridge to cool.

freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions. it takes mine about 20 minutes.

layer peanut butter ice cream with the jelly. freeze for a few hours to get the "swirl" effect when you scoop.

no need to cut crusts, so much better than a sandwich.

once upon a time, i used to bake

2010-10-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

and waayyyy back then (all the way back to august, oh my!), i made a coconut cake with my sister. it was for my dad's birthday. we tried to make it really pretty. tried to see if we could trick my dad into thinking we bought it. i think it might have worked.

new title for "case of the mondays"

2010-10-04T06:00:00.000-07:00

so here's the thing, i'm no longer working and am no longer susceptible to a "case of the mondays." i LIKE mondays. it's the beginning of a whole new week with endless possibilities (and endless recruiting events, endless group meetings, endless coursework . . .)!

but i'm loving it.

it's great to be a michigan wolverine (again)

being a ross mba is an adventure and i'm glad hubby and i are traveling down this road together.

we actually drove across country this summer. the cadotte's very own m-trek.

so in case you're having a case of the monday's, take a cross-country trip and visit our beautiful national parks, even if it's just visually.

driving "across" the country from west to east: Yosemite National Park

Arches National Park

Canyonlands National Park

Pike's Peak (Colorad0)

Badlands National Park

Hope you enjoyed the short tour of our beautiful nation!

another late case of the mondays

2010-05-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

beautiful utah

a couple weeks ago, hubby and i went to st. george, utah for his sixth ironman.

that's right, his sixth!

in case you are unfamiliar, an ironman consists of:

2.4 mile swim

112 mile bike

26.2 run

swim, bike, run for a long, long time.

hubby can be a little intense.

(that jacket, btw, is from a 50 mile ultramarathon that hubby completed)

in the past for races, we've gone to florida, idaho, arizona, etc.

but utah is by far, the most gorgeous place out of all his race sites.

here's some proof . . .

view of the the lake where the swim portion of the race was held

the area behind our hotel, with a trail in a lava field

view of a canyon nearby

wildflowers growing in the lava field

beautiful utah

(late) case of the mondays

2010-04-19T20:21:00.000-07:00

destination: london

recently got adobe lightroom

played around with presets

here is my favorite so far

coming up next: flatbread and hummus

case of the mondays - santa fe

2010-01-10T22:25:00.000-08:00

going crazy here folks.

my top choice for an MBA is sending out decisions on this Friday. however, if you're accepted, they start making phone calls a few days prior. so i wasn't going to start to worry until wednesday afternoon. then, some jackass on the online forums actually pretended that he/she got a phone call today and threw everyone into an anxious panic, including myself. until i read a few posts down that they were just kidding and that we should all relax. my response to him? go to hell. i was relaxed until you posted, shithead.

so for today's case of the mondays, i'm imagining going to a calm, peaceful place while i push away the demons in my mind.

i've posted on Santa Fe before - http://doughmesticity.blogspot.com/2009/02/our-santa-fe-trip.html, but i'm really just taking you to one place on our trip

let's all go to Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

here's a view from hiking among the rocks

in particular, i'd like to escape to this narrow passageway. the rock walls were tight and high. i remember feeling like this was my own space. my own world of hard earth.

if felt like there was nowhere to go, but up towards the sky.

the laziness continues

2009-12-23T13:17:00.000-08:00

actually, i've been baking up a storm, but since the actual baking is taking quite a lot of time, this blog post will be about a very simple, but delicious pasta dish that can be thrown together in less than 30 minutes.this is what hubby likes to call a one-pot meal. just everything thrown together. there are many variations that i go through, but this is one of hubby's faves. and mine. it's tasty, easy, and like most of our other food, somewhat healthy.

3 links of turkey sausage (we like jenny-o, sweet italian style)

penne pasta (you could use whole wheat to up the healthy factor)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp olive oil

~ 3/4 cup frozen spinach

jar pasta sauce, about 1 cup

break out the Forman grill, heat it up and put on the 3 turkey sausage links.

while that's going, start pasta water

chop the garlic

heat pan and oil

saute your garlic, then add the frozen spinach and saute, then add pasta sauce

pasta water should be ready now, add penne

turkey sausage should be done by now. take off the grill and let it rest for a minute on a cutting board.

slice turkey sausage, add to garlic/spinach/sauce and cook on low until pasta is ready.

drain pasta, but keep a little water and add it all to sauce mixture.

mix and let cook together for just a minute.

check to see if you need any more salt/pepper.

that's it!

the whole thing should take about 20 minutes.

you could add other things if you want. it's just a very casual weeknight sort of dinner.

lazy cake

2009-12-18T20:55:00.000-08:00

sometimes, i want cake. but i don't want to bake. so i microwave.

yes, microwave chocolate cake.

it's not fantastic, no, but it's quick, easy and you only need to clean one cup, and two spoons.

take a microwave safe mug and add:

1 tbsp + 1 tsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp flour (i use whole wheat)

1/8 tsp baking powder

tiny pinch of salt

2 tbsp sugar (i actually like 1 heaping tbsp instead of 2)

1 large egg

1 tbsp milk (non fat)

1 tbsp plain yogurt (non fat)

1 tbsp chocolate chips (or more, however much you feel like)

mix it all together and microwave it for 1:30 min on high. my microwave's pretty strong, so if your microwave isn't, maybe 2 min. i like to spri

nkle a few more chocolate chips on the top when it comes right out. b/c i use non fat milk and non fat yogurt, i admit, it's a little dry. also, if you don't eat it within 30 min, it gets hard b/c it was microwaved. but, the whole thing is done in just a few minutes and there's so little cleanup.

and it's still pretty tasty.

case of the mondays - lanai

2009-12-14T11:16:00.000-08:00

today sucks. not because it's monday. but because it's dec. 14th and one of the MBA programs I applied to released it's decisions.

and i did not get positive feedback.

so, instead of wallowing about this, since it's pointless and i'll just eat a lot of food and get fat even before the holidays are here, we're going to lanai!

lanai is one of the islands of hawaii

there are only 3 hotels on the entire island, and two of them are four seasons resorts.

hubby and i honeymooned on lanai (among other islands).

we stayed at the gorgeous Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele.

and because i was so enamored with the place, i totally forgot interior pictures.

but this is part of the property in the back.

when we got there, they gave us fresh-squeeze pineapple juice. it was delicious. of course. they had fruit in the lobby and i grabbed an apple on our way out to explore.

i mean, i guess it could be said that i have a small head (but i'm kind of short, so it's totally proportional). but this apple was gigantic. i didn't stand a chance.

we drove on this red-dusted road to get to the Garden of the Gods (Keahiakawelo).

so named because to rocks bring to mind god-like images. fields of this. some had much bigger boulders.

what i loved was that from one of the small hills, you could see Molokai.

we did also visit the other Four Seasons resort and went snorkeling there. while i was resting, hubby was out trying to get close to the dolphins. yes, that speck in the middle is a dolphin.

the view of Manele Bay, where we were snorkeling. ahh, lanai was a beautiful island.

there's a lot to do on the island, tiny as it is. we didn't do it all and what we did actually partake in, we don't have lots of photos. but still, i can think back to it and see it very clearly in my mind. one particular restaurant was great (and amazingly, not connected to four seasons, though those were all wonderful too). the Lanai City Grille, part of the one other hotel on the island, Hotel Lanai. not only were the portions generous, but it really was delicious. i can still remember that i had pork chops. with a pureed vegetable. and greens. there was garlic.

for the rest of the day, i will think about lanai. the chocolate-covered pineapple spears from our four seasons resort. the dinner and music at lanai city grille. beautiful, enchanting hawaii.

case of the mondays - venice

2009-12-07T13:32:00.000-08:00

do you have a case of the mondays?

i do.

i have a case of the mondays every monday.

i just have that kind of job. do you?

if so, would you like to travel with me?

every monday, let's take a trip.

i've been to a number of places in my short life and each monday, we'll visit a different place.

to start, let's go to venice.

ahhh, beautiful, amazing venice.

with it's gondolas

many, many gondolas

and markets, just brimming with produce. none of which are actually from venice. most not even from italy, like the pineapples in the corner and the bananas hanging up top. but a vibrant scene, nonetheless.

the swordfish head looked particularly appetizing . . .

mui mui, trying to blend with the local scene. too bad we didn't buy it. the packaging and transporting thing would have been an issue. but the guy who owned this store was great! we went back to his place several times to buy little masks as souvenirs for friends.

mui mui eating a cream puff in a square. lots and lots of squares in venice. the streets, canals, bridges, etc. are all a bit confusing. but if you are ever lost, just keep walking until you get to a square. locate the square on your map, and you are all good.

Venice's most famous square - Piazza San Marco, or St. Mark's Square. mui mui, mom, and dad, among the throngs of tourists there.

one of the things i loved about venice was that you could look up at anytime and see beautiful carved details like this

the food at this one restaurant, something with pumpkin in the title, was also very much loved. completely forgot to take a picture of the food before we started to eat. this was towards the end of the delicious meal.

Venice was a beautiful, lovely place. bye. sigh.

our thanksgiving

2009-12-05T20:47:00.000-08:00

this year, we celebrated thanksgiving in london. so before we went, we had thanksgiving with friends. the whole spread - turkey, mashed potatoes (which sort of looks bigger than the turkey), asparagus, sweet potato biscuits, stuffing, brussel sprouts with bacon, pecan and caramelized apple pie, cranberry sauce, cornbread stuffing, gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake with caramel sauce. mmmm, lots of food.

our friends digging in

my favorite dish of the night (almost, i liked them all actually) - cornbread stuffing with sausage, butternut squash, craisins and parsley

caramelized apple and pecan pie - it's hard to see the apple, but it's in there

gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake

another shot of the gingerbread and pumpkin cheesecake, this time, with caramel sauce. and let me tell you, it wasn't easy to take that picture. one hand with the caramel sauce and the other one trying to steadily take the picture, all while the sun is setting outside.

green goodness

2009-11-11T19:15:00.001-08:00

pesto couscous with veggies. very fast, very simple.

1 cup couscous

1/2 cup veggie broth

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup soybeans (edamame)

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1 tsp canola oil

salt and pepper to taste

~2 tbsp pesto

bring veggie broth and water to a boil. then turn off heat, stir in couscous, cover and leave alone while you make the veggies.

saute onion and zucchini. add edamame at end to heat through.

fluff couscous with fork. add veggies. add pesto. stir and you're ready to eat!

you can add more pesto if you want it more heavily seasoned.

we also added some slivered almonds on top too.

the crunch of the almonds is a nice contrast.

this is really a very versatile dish. if you want some meat in it, add some diced chicken. i like it as a vegetarian dish though. mmm, yum.

perhaps a little ambitious . . .

2009-11-10T20:43:00.001-08:00

but here is what i plan to serve for our "thanksgiving" dinner

it's in quotes b/c we're really having it this saturday since hubby and i will be visiting mui mui in london over thanksgiving. but i couldn't bear the thought of missing out on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc. so we're having our own gathering with a few people this saturday.

here is the plan:

turkey (duh!)

gravy

stuffing (the kind my dad makes)

cornbread stuffing (with sausage, onion and cranberries)

mashed potatoes

sweet potato biscuits

cranberry sauce

green beans

roasted brussel sprouts (with balsamic vinegar and bacon)

caramel apple pecan pie

pumpkin cheesecake and ginger molasses cake mini trifles

and i'm doing it all from scratch. as in making the cornbread for the cornbread stuffing. making cranberry sauce tomorrow and freezing it until saturday. making pie dough friday night. nice thing about having furlough this friday - gives me time to prep.

new recipe and photos to come tomorrow. finally have time to blog and play around with editing photos again. the MBA application process is almost, almost over. so not complaining about it - having it be almost over b/c i got invited to interview is a wonderful (and relieving) feeling.

dear world, it's been too long

2009-11-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

picture courtesy of my friend Aneesh (photo-editing from me)

hello again!

here's what's been happening: MBA applications. that's about it.

i've been writing lots and lots of essays.

spending lots and lots of money on MBA applications.

and now i'm spending lots of lots of time waiting for a decision.

just before i dropped off the face of the earth, we did manage to make it to the San Francisco Ghirardelli Chocolate Festival. we went with Lisa and Chris (btw, i'm tired of using just first initials, it gets too confusing for me) and met up with Aneesh and Jimmy. fun and yum in the sun. okay, fine, no sun. we were in SF after all.

Lisa and Chris

here's a picture of me and hubby

the Chocolate Festival was delicious. the deal with the Festival is that visitors pay a fee (can't remember the amount, this was almost two months ago, i'm a little behind on blogging) for 10 tickets. then, we visit each booth to trade a ticket for a goodie. like the ones below. (photo below courtesy of Aneesh. our camera was not working. the pictures of Lisa and Chris and me and hubby are from my iphone.)

oh, and now i'm hungry.

on hiatus

2009-10-05T13:53:00.000-07:00

limited blogging until MBA apps are in. priorities.

totally crushing on Tate Forcier

2009-09-12T17:22:00.000-07:00

it's good to be a wolverine.

silver lining for charlie weis: he'll have more time to work out since he may not keep his job much longer.

coach rod rocks!

to prepare for this weekend of fun

2009-09-10T09:06:00.000-07:00

before the activities of this weekend, i'm going to first take a long, grueling test.

i'm signed up to take the GMAT tomorrow because i'm applying to MBA programs. one master's degree is not enough - i need another. or rather, i need one that can actually help me make a difference in the world while raking in the dough. my current masters degree is pretty useless for helping me in my career right now, thank-you-budget-cuts-in-education. and to perfectly honest, even if there were no budget cuts and i was working in my field, i would still not be making enough money to really be comfortable. and that's not okay.

i like comfortable. the first thing i do when i get home is change into something with a stretchy waistband. nobody said yoga pants can only be worn for yoga. comfortable rocks. thank you 97% cotton 3% lycra.

so tomorrow AM, i will face the GMAT. i think i'll be okay. it's only a few hours in front of a computer that will spit questions at me that get HARDER as i progress. but i've studied and i've practiced and i feel ready. i AM ready.

sentence corrections? data-sufficiency? bring it on!

the new saturday morning cartoons

2009-09-05T09:28:00.000-07:00

another blogger i read and admire commented - the badass geek. great way to start a saturday.

another great way to start a saturday? the adult version saturday morning cartoons. remember waking up on the weekend and stumbling into the living room, turning on the tv and watching your fave cartoons? the cartoons were entertaining and suspenseful and the perfect match for sugary cereals.

it's september and it's started again.

college football - the adult equivalent of saturday morning cartoons.

entertaining and suspenseful and the perfect match for a beer and wings.

hubby and i are looking forward to when our team plays in a couple hours, and hopefully wins. oh dear god, please win. we went to michigan (GO BLUE!). hubby is a huge fan. our alumni friends, especially A, bleed maize and blue. and last year, they bled a lot. coach rod did not have a stellar season. today, we play western michigan. we need to win.

no really, we NEED to win. b/c if we lose, hubby and A and all the rest of them will sulk until the next game. so if we have another season like last year, they will all sulk until december.

i can't handle another season of sulking. people who sulk are like people who walk slow. i want to punch them in the back of the head.

i also hate sweater vests.

LONDON! and other random thoughts

2009-09-03T10:16:00.000-07:00

mui mui's in london. for study abroad. i wonder when we ichat this weekend if she'll take on a british accent.

oh, and the pictures of the ribs and southwestern style mac and cheese were terrible. still debating on whether those will go up or not. maybe they're terrible because i haven't bothered to clean them up.

instead, i've been sitting on the couch at night, alternating between doing gmat questions and staring at the tv. okay, mostly staring at the tv. this is what happens when hubby leaves me for extended amounts of time. i go dumb.

but i did wash the dishes by hand. this is huge for me. i HATE doing dishes. hubby usually does the dishes. but since he's not around, and clean dishes don't magically appear and the double sink can really only hold so much . . . i succombed and did the dishes. TWICE. yeah, over a period of 3 days, i did dishes twice. i should get a gold star.

one of my favorite bloggers left a comment for me

2009-08-31T16:29:00.001-07:00

i'm still giddy about it. this is where you go for his hilarity - http://www.busydadblog.com/

i'm also giddy because someone other than my sister reads this thing. not that having just mui mui has a reader isn't enough. thanks for the support mui mui.

hubby sometimes comes here. actually, i bet hubby will be checking my blog regularly over the next few days.

hubby's in korea for the new few days. he will come back about 5 lbs lighter than when he left. why? because hubby does not like korean food. in fact, hubby hates korean food (gasp!). in his eyes, kim chee sucks. but before you start talking about the merits of kim chee, just know that white boy from michigan has come a LONG way, culinarily speaking. so before hubby left, i made a very american meal for him.

ribs and mac and cheese.

slow-cooked ribs that take 5 hrs and southwestern style mac and cheese.

not a shred of kimchee in sight.

blurry pics with awful lighting and recipes to come soon.

how good is your memory?

2009-08-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

mine sucks. and so does hubby's.

there were just three. 1 - 2 - 3 items to pick up from the store yesterday and neither of us could remember the third item.

1 - toilet paper, this one was too important to forget. we were down to the very last roll. no reserves.

2- low-fat plain yogurt. a staple, everyday item for us

3 - something else. i couldn't remember it. i realized around noon yesterday that i couldn't remember it. i called hubby (mainly to let him know that i'd have to stay late at work) and asked if he remembered it. he did not.

i spent the rest of the day racking my brain for what this item could possibly be.

i mentally walked through our grocery store multiple times to try to remember what this one item is. was it important? did we need it that night? did we need it this weekend? was it a food item? was it from the pharmacy section? dear lord, what the hell is it?!?!?!

during my "trip" to the store, i remembered a bunch of other things - wheat germ for homemade wheat bread, chicken stock (yes, i buy the stuff from the carton, i don't make my own, judge away), parmesan cheese, etc. i even remembered that i need to buy lemons, which weren't on the original list.

i needed lemons for making baba ganoush. one would think that if i could remember the lemons for making baba ganoush, i would remember the thing you use to eat baba ganoush.

pitas.

it took me a full day to remember that it was pitas that we needed.

great memory, huh?

what it means to love . . .chocolate

2009-08-25T13:05:00.000-07:00

it means always having something that can make your day a little better.

it means having a store of different kinds of chocolate in your pantry at all times (cocoa powder, cocoa nibs, dark chocolate bars, bittersweet chocolate chips, semisweet chocolate chips, etc.)

it means a heightened ability to enjoy life.

it means happy me.

and it means getting really excited during this time of year because the Ghiradelli Square Chocolate Festival is just around the corner.

hubby and i are going for the third time. third time's a charm, right?

the first time, i was completely overwhelmed by the chocolate. and hubby was overwhelmed by everything else. it was chaotic, loud, and confusing. hubby doesn't like crowds. hubby doesn't like kids. hubby especially doesn't like crowds of kids. so we left fairly soon and i did not taste as many things as i would have liked.

second time, we went with people we were trying to become friends with. the trip was fine, but those people are no longer our friends, we didn't mesh. the chocolate was good, but again, i did not taste as many things as i would have liked.

this is the third and possibly last time we will go to the Chocolate Festival. i am going to taste everything i want. this year, hubby is prepared for the crowds of kids. we are inviting people we are actually friends with. so come hell or high water, i will taste everything i want.

good things can take a long time

2009-08-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

this is such a refreshing summer salad! the ingredient list is rather short and the method is simple. it's just one step that takes quite a long time. but what's 4-5 hours?

we start with fresh tomatoes, preferably the same size, but i couldn't do it. i got my tomatoes from my CSA and from a coworker's garden.

fresh tomatoes are slow-roasted in the oven at 250 for 4-5 hours (depending on the size of your tomatoes). the flavor is amazing. i could eat these plain. i actually ate many of the plain and had to stop so that i had enough for the salad. okay, so not the prettiest, but some of the tastiest food around.

the salad is just the slow roasted tomatoes with yellow wax beans, white beans, basil, olive oil, salt and pepper. that's it!

and yes, this picture is just a little blurry. still working on those camera skills.

one wonderful thing about this is that the juices from the slow-roasted tomatoes (just some juices) is sweet and slightly acidic and mixes beautifully with a little bit of olive oil to give every bite some flavor.

Summer Salad with slow-roasted tomatoes and beans

6 or 7 roma tomatoes or equivalent

1 cup yellow wax beans (i stir-fried mine, steamed would be good too)

1 cup white beans (home cooked, if you've got the time, not canned)

handful or more of basil

1 tbsp good olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

just toss it together!

Taste of Ann Arbor

2009-08-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

last week, we had an event with our Alumni Association. hubby and i both went to the University of Michigan, the best school ever. GO BLUE!

it's where we met. at a house party. my house party. fun times.

so every year, our Alumni Association holds an event called Taste of Ann Arbor where we fly out different foods from AA. we had Cottage Inn pizza (not my favorite, but they ship to CA), Stucchi's ice cream (ended up being a mess) and Zingerman's (baked goods to die for!).

the whole event went off without too many problems. except with the Stucchi's. this is what it looked like when it arrived.

lovely, huh? i got to clean that up. lucky me.

when it was all cleaned up, it actually looked appetizing.

here we are at the park. love the flag in the background.

hubby and our friend Y.

N and J enjoying some Stucchi's ice cream. also, you can't see in the picture, but N (in the pink below) is wearing stylish leggings and very cute shoes. i am perpetually jealous of the outfits that she's in! she's even fashionable in the park! i was wearing a t-shirt and jeans and my hair was in a messy ponytail.

delicious Zingerman's bread.

saving the best for last . . . Zingerman's brownies. and not just any brownies. black magic brownies. first brownie i've had in a long time that wasn't a recipe of my own (which all attempt to cut the fat in half). full-fat brownies. so so good!

zucchini bread mini muffins. visual fail.

2009-08-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

they TASTED great. but as getting them out of the pan was too much of a challenge, we ended up with not very traditional looking zucchini bread mini muffin.

more specifically, we ended up with mini muffin tops and bottoms.

we had the problem because we ran out of non-stick spray. i used oil and greased each individual mini muffin hole, but it didn't work.

but we bought more non-stick spray today and i'll try it again soon.

hubby likes these very much, as i add in cranberries and toasted walnuts.

makes one traditional loaf of zucchini bread (in 9x5 pan). or one tray of mini muffin tops and bottoms.

here's the recipe:

adapted from hubby's mom

1 egg and 1 egg white

1/2 cup oil (minus two tbsp)

2 tbsp plain lowfat yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

1 cup shredded zucchini

1 cup flour

1/2 cup wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup cranberries (we used frozen, i'm sure dried sweetened would be fine)

1/2 cup toasted walnuts

preheat oven to 375

spray either a 9x5 loaf pan, mini muffin pan or a regular muffin pan.

combine eggs, oil, yogurt, vanilla, sugars and honey. mix until well combined. stir in zucchini.

in a separate bowl, combine flours, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. mix until all specks of cinnamon are distributed.

pour dry ingredients into wet, stir until just combined. stir in cranberries and walnuts.

pour batter into desired pan.

bake until just you just start to see browning on top.

for the mini muffin pan, it took about 20 minutes.

the loaf pan could be 30-40 min.

the sauces - proof of my sad inability to absorb chinese

2009-08-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

apparently, the many years i spent in Chinese school on friday nights didn't amount to much. neither did the years of Chinese i took in high school and college. somehow, none of it stuck. i can barely read a lick of it.

it's not usually a huge problem at the grocery store since i shop by sight and brand recognition. but it's sort of an issue when a certain brand sauce isn't carried at the store.

this is what can ensue:

on phone with mom

me: what do you put into zha jian mien?

mom: you need tian mien jiang (awful pinyin alert)

me: is that the one in the small, blue tin can?

mom: yes, that's the one, just look for the can.

me: looking and looking. mom, there's no blue can.

mom: well, look for something that says tian mien jiang

me: looking and looking. mom, nothing says that.

mom: okay, well it's a kind of bean sauce.

me: reading labels. is it black bean sauce?

mom: no

me: hot bean sauce?

mom: no

me: bean chili sauce?

mom: no

me: getting desperate. ground bean sauce?

mom: maybe, i don't know. starting to think of all the money and hours wasted at chinese school. why didn't she retain anything?

me: well, it has sugar and no chilis. i'll just get this one.

mom: okay, let me know how it tastes.

hi mom,

thank you for talking me through the "sauce" aisle on the phone while i was at the asian supermarket.

here are the sauces i bought. since the one the blue can wasn't available.

and thanks for telling me which noodles to buy. i hope i got the right ones.

love,

your eldest daughter

is. he. crazy?!?!

2009-08-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

some people have questioned the sanity of hubby. i admit, i am one of those people.

this morning, for instance, the thought crossed my mind in a haze resembling something like, “mmm, crazy hubby, emph, early, cough, snore." it was early morning, maybe 5:30am, and he was already up and about.

see, there's something special about hubby.

hubby voluntarily wrenches himself up at dawn so that he can go do something he doesn't like - swim.

he's at the pool about 4 times a week to work on his freestyle technique.

why?

hubby's a triathlete.

and not just any triathlete.

hubby's a long-distance triathlete.

hubby's a kick-ass long-distance triathlete.

this means he's dedicated (obsessive), determined (stubborn), and organized (about training).

i love that he is all those things and more. and that's probably why i allow myself to be dragged out of bed in the early morning on race days. i'm also his photographer. i'm not that good, but my photography services are free. what else am i going to do at the race? these things take hours!

last weekend was the Sandman Triathlon in Aptos, CA at Seacliff State Beach. Sandman's not a long-distance tri. it's a sprint. and so hubby actually worked about again that afternoon.

swim, bike, run.

hubby coming out of the swim. working on getting that wetsuit off.

hubby coming down a large hill at the end of the bike. love the alien helmut. oops, sorry, i mean aerodynamic.

hubby starting the run on the sand. cool remnants of a ship in the background.

the apres-race photo. he's happy with his time.

crazy hubby.

Zha Jian Mien! how's my pin yin?

2009-08-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

last week, i had a craving for zha jian mien. so i drove to milpitas and got some takeout and it sort of satisfied the craving.

except the noodles were dripping in oil. and it felt like a rock in my stomach.

then, the next day, userealbutter posted her own zha jian mien. and i thought, why can't i just make my own?

well, the immediate answers were:

1. you don't have the ingredients

2. it's so cheap to buy in milpitas

3. you've never made it before

but really, they're just lame excuses.

1. i can BUY the ingredients, duh

2. even if it's cheap, it's still not good

3. it's never stopped me before!

note: i used ground turkey because the ground pork at the store looked too fatty. turkey's not traditional, i know, but my sister suggested it and my mom agreed, so i went with it.

cook the turkey or pork in the pan with some minced garlic. some recipes call for minced ginger too. i don't like ginger and so there's none in mine. plus, my mom didn't say to put in ginger. so there.

here's the very light colored pork (aka. turkey).

add all the sauces (soy sauce, hot chili garlic sauce, bean sauce, hoisin sauce) and the tofu. not plain tofu. marinated tofu. or do fu gan (there's that weird pinyin again).

zha jian mien. mien is chinese for noodles. so take this meat sauce and spoon it over some noodles. since this is a shanghainese dish, use shanghainese noodles. just a note: in my asian grocery store, shanghainese noodles came in three noodles size/shapes. i chose the medium one. not too skinny, not too thick.

add some julienned cucumber and some bean sprouts for some cool, crunchy goodness.

mmmm, craving satisfied.

oh boy, this is going to be hard . . . i did not measure

Zha Jian Mien

1 tsp canola oil

2 tbsp minced garlic

1 lb ground pork (traditional) or turkey (healthy version)

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp hot chilic garlic sauce

2 tbsp bean sauce

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1/4 to 1/3 cup diced do fu gan (marinated tofu)

shanghainese noodles (enough for two)

handful julienned cucumber

handful bean sprouts

start pot of water for noodles.

heat oil in pan. when heated, toss in garlic and ground meat. brown the meat.

add noodles to water.

add sauces and do fu gan to meat. stir until combined.

drain noodles. top noodles with meat sauce, cucumber and sprouts. dig in!

GMAT practice question

2009-08-06T09:24:00.001-07:00

if x = writer of this blog, then does x = what the !?@#* appropriately express the emotions being felt?

1) an e-mail was sent out by x's workplace that the calendar that details which 22 days will be furloughed over the next 11 months will not be released

2) x was informed earlier this week of the 2 furlough days for this month - the first furlough day = aug 10th (only one week's official notice)

please choose from one of the following answers:

a) Statement 1 alone is SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

b) Statement 2 alone is SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

c) Statement 1 and 2 together are SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

d) Either Statement 1 or 2 are SUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

e) Statement 1 and 2 are INSUFFICIENT to determine whether x = what the !?@#*

Answer: D - Either Statement 1 or 2 is enough to determine that x is in fact thinking "what the bleep are you people thinking?!?!"

it's not bad enough that we will have furlough days, oh no, they can't even tell us until a week before when that day is going to be. lovely, bleepin' lovely.

one of the last little nutellas

2009-08-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

when i went to italy with the fam, we stayed at hotels that had breakfast buffets in the morning. these buffets had little containers of nutella.

italian nutella is different than american nutella.

it is more delicious.

more hazelnutty (that's a word, look it up! okay, don't look it up, but it's still a word).

so every morning, my sister and i took a handful of little nutella containers back to our room with us and packed it away in our luggage.

i came home with about 9 or 10 little nutellas.

they are almost all gone now.

sniffle.

boston, here i come! (in october 2010)

2009-08-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

a huge congratulations to A and S on their recent engagement!

i especially loved the way that A announced it as well:

phone rings as i'm driving home from grocery shopping. earplugs/headset thing plugged into phone, just gotta stick it in my ear. phone ringing. keep eyes on road. phone ringing. one hand on wheel. phone ringing. no time to check who it is. answer phone.

me: hello?

A: hi!

me: ohmigod! hi A! (just a note, i did not call her A, i called her by her full name). how are you?

A: i'm good. you sounded surprised.

me: oh well (blushing in my car), i'm driving.

A: oh, okay. so i was wondering if you'd like to be my bridesmaid?

me: OHMIGOD!!! OF COURSE! (trying to maintain control of car) (squealing and high-pitched inaudible congratulations ensue).

A and S - i am so happy for the both of you! your wedding will be wonderful, and i am honored to be asked to be a part of it.

warm quinoa and barley salad

2009-08-04T21:50:00.000-07:00

this can be a great side dish or main dish. i used it as a main dish recently, mostly because when it came down to it - i didn't have any more time to make something else for dinner (well, i baked some chicken for hubby). this is a wonderfully refreshing, delicious and simple dish. and it's quite easy to customize too - no dried cranberries? no problem! toss in some raisins if you want. no walnuts? toast up some almonds! but the roasted beets . . . i think they're pretty imperative to the dish.

golden beets, pre-roasting. i love how they look. round. bulbous. what a strange word. b-u-l-b-o-u-s. bulbous.

roast beets in 400 degree oven. while they're roasting, cook the quinoa and barley. measurements? umm . . . sorry, i did this dish mainly visually. but i'll try. about 1/2 cup quinoa and 1/2 cup barley. cooked it in a rice-cooker with 1 cup water. it'll take about 40 min, perfect timing since the beets take about 45 min.

beets roasted and peeled. naked beets. on an odd side note - hubby and i went to a comedy show last friday night with friends L and C. long story short, the comedian (hilarious, btw, absolutely loved her!), Jackie Kashian, described her husband as her "naked friend." hehe. naked beets. naked friend. okay, the only connection is the word naked. moving on . . .

dice the cooked roasted beets - i used just two. fluff the quinoa and barley like you would couscous, with a fork. add about the rice vinegar and honey. toss. add salt and black pepper. add the dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, chopped arugula. mix and you're ready to eat!

Warm Quinoa and Barley Salad

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup barley

1 cup water

2 medium golden beets

3 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp honey (warmed to help mixing)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup chopped arugula

roast beets in 400 degree oven for 45 minutes. while it's roasting, cook quinoa and barley in the water, about 40 minutes in rice cooker.

cool and peel beets under cold water. dice beets.

fluff quinoa and barley with a fork.

add beets.

add vinegar and honey, mix.

add salt and pepper and mix.

add walnuts, dried cranberries, chopped arugula and mix.

get a bowl and eat!

i did it!

2009-08-04T10:16:00.001-07:00

i manged to do all those things according to my timeline yesterday! woohoo!

and what did it get me?

to tired. very fast.

to not having any energy to do GMAT questions.

but the quinoa (and barley, b/c i ran out of quinoa) salad/dish thing came out very good. recipe and pictures to come later. for now, i'll just try to carve out some time during my lunch break to cram in some GMAT questions.

hello sentence corrections (sarcastic smile and half-wave)

my goal for monday

2009-08-03T15:40:00.000-07:00

is to get home by 5:30pm and in order . . .

prep golden beets

toss quinoa in the rice cooker

defrost chicken

preheat oven

change into my running clothes

find my ipod shuffle

put beets in oven

turn on rice cooker

run out the door by 6:00pm!

(yes, i'm leaving the oven on while i'm not at home, hubby should be home in mere minutes).

run for 45 minutes

shower

finish making dinner and try to have on table by 7:30!

we'll see how it goes . . .

perfect cornbread for chili

2009-07-31T14:48:00.001-07:00

chili is not exactly summer food, i know. but green chili could be. and cornbread certainly could be. the green chili post will come another day. for now, it's just the cornbread - which is quite a star in it's own right.

i started experimenting with putting different things in plain cornbread a few years ago. the first wonderful thing i hit on was a lemon blueberry cornbread (which reminds me, i should make that soon). but as far as a savory-type cornbread goes, i haven't had much luck until recently. and here it is - my roasted red pepper and poblano pepper and corn cornbread. that's sort of long. let's just call it cornbread to go with chili.

1 roasted red pepper, peeled and de-seeded

1/2 roasted poblano pepper, peeled and de-seeded

1 ear of grilled corn

1 cup AP flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp low-fat plain yogurt

just shy 1 cup milk (the yogurt and milk should add up to one cup)

1/4 cup canola oil

2 eggs

pre-heat oven to 400

i start off by tossing the roasted red pepper and poblano pepper for a little whir in my food processor. kinda liquid-y, but it'll be okay. get the corn off the cob. set aside peppers and corn. combine flours, cornmeal, sugar, baking pwoder and salt in a large bowl. stir to combine. add yogurt, milk, oil and eggs. stir, by hand, until just combined. then add the peppers and corn. stir a few times.

grease or spray a 9x9 pan.

pour in mixture

bake for about 45 min or until the middle doesn't stick to a toothpick (or a chopstick from chinese take-out b/c we have no toothpicks here).

let it rest before cutting in and eating it! otherwise, you'll be like hubby and burn your tongue!

hubby's request for vineman

2009-07-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

hubby's race at ironman coeur d'alene did not go as planned. it was cold and dreadful. it was the end of june and it was as low as 50 that day, and overcast and raining. and well, the run just wasn't as fast as he wanted it to be. but in my view, he was still plenty fast. it was exciting for me; it was the first time i got to sit in the stands because there was hardly anyone out there!

anway, for past few weeks after ironman, hubby's been focusing on vineman 70.3. that's a half ironman.

this will be our 5th time at vineman. it's hot up there. he loves it. i love spf 55 suntan lotion.

for the few days before we leave for a race, i try to cook every night and make hubby what he wants to eat. and before this race, he wanted pasta. homemade pasta. homemade pasta with roasted red pepper sauce.

i got this recipe from the pioneer woman. and i changed it a bit. partly because i didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and partly because i think both hubby and i might die from a heart attack if we used that much heavy cream. and since i was making this as a special dish for him before a very important race, it was probably good to keep away from the heavy cream. hubby loves homemade pasta. and he even bought a pasta attachment for the standmixer for me so i can make more homemade pasta.

so here it is, first recipe in a while . . . pasta with roasted red pepper sauce!

first off, there are only two of us, so a large portion we need not.

so just two roasted red peppers or two charred red peppers, whatever. i did this in the oven. you can do this on the grill. it’s really fine either way. toast some slivered almonds or pine nuts while you're at it.

i like it charred to this degree. it's just so much easier to peel.

after they're roasted, stick them into a plastic bag for a few minutes and let them steam away. it helps with the peeling process. while you're waiting, go ahead and start your pasta water.

i won't post a picture of what the peppers look like after they're peeled. they look slimy and naked and not at all appetizing. or maybe that's just because i didn't take a good picture. hmm.

after you've peeled and deseeded the peppers, toss them into the food processor with the toasted almonds. add 1/2 tbsp of butter. whir it up. add some salt and pepper. whir it again. should look something like this.

now, at this point, pioneer woman added the sauce to some sauteed onions and garlic. on this particular day, i forgot. but i think you should do it. it would taste good. then the pioneer woman added lots of heavy cream. you could do that too. i was scared of adding anything else to my thighs and laid off the heavy cream. still delicious to me.

don't forget to cook your pasta, the water should be boiling by now. i made it with large, wide, flat homemade wheat pasta noodles. per hubby's request. the sauce would probabaly hold better with another shape. but this is what hubby wanted and he was the one with the upcoming race.

so when your pasta's done and your sauce is done, just toss it together and it's time to eat!

pasta with roasted red pepper sauce:

2 red bell peppers

2 tbsp slivered almonds or pine nuts

1/2 tbsp butter

1/2 medium onion

3 or 4 cloves garlic

olive oil

salt and pepper

a little parsley for topping the dish

pasta - any kind you like!

roast the red peppers until charred on the outside. toast nuts at same time. i do both in the oven, but on separate sheet pans! you could choose grill for the peppers and stove-top for the nuts.

fine dice the onion and garlic. saute in olive oil.

after the peppers are roasted, put them into a plastic bag and seal bag. this will make it easier to peel.

start pasta water.

peel peppers, deseed peppers and put into food processor with nuts and butter.

whir.

add salt and pepper.

whir again.

cook pasta. i made homemade pasta before starting on the sauce, so my pasta only took a few minutes to cook up.

add red pepper sauce to the pan with your sauteed onion and garlic. mix.

toss with cooked pasta.

top with parsley if you have it. we didn't. otherwise the green would have been nice on the top. i feel like such a delinquent when i'm missing basic stuff like parsley. ack. oh well. it's yummy anyway.

another degree?!?!

2009-07-20T16:00:00.001-07:00

yup, that's right. one masters degree is just not enough. hubby's going for an MBA and if he goes back to school and gets one, that means he'll have two masters degrees and i'll only have one.

that's just not right.

i need an MBA, too.

okay, so that's not the real reason why i'm going for an MBA, but the competitive thing sure helps studying for GMAT!

and consequently, as all my free time is now spent on data sufficiency questions (and if you know what those are, i can hear your groaning). so not much time to blog. i've still been cooking and baking and taking pictures . . . but just not doing anything with them. but if i only study for the GMAT in my spare time, it'll drive me crazy, so i'm gonna try to start this up again.

maybe if i spend a little less time reading blogs, i can have more time blogging, lol.

so close, soooooo clooooooose!

2009-05-08T09:47:00.000-07:00

bringing in my thesis to the print shop today for binding. one small, informal paper due on monday (max time that will be spent - 1hr). work on putting references in APA style for group paper due on monday (max time that will be spent - 30 min). and that's it! nothing else! i'm soooooo clooooose to being completely done!

and then i get to spend some quality time with my standmixer.

in the past few weeks, we also moved into a new apartment. another rental, yes, but a much nicer one.

new kitchen with lots and lots of cabinet space so i can store everything away, except the standmixer. it was actually too tall. and there's lots and lots of countertop space too, so i guess it's not a tragedy if not EVERYTHING can be put away. and there's lots and lots of sun. so hopefully the picture lighting will be better and the pictures better (but maybe not . . .).

this weekend will be filled with the rest of the unpacking process, making lots of yummy food, and back to taking pictures.

oh, i can't wait!

sacto to auburn = 50 miles

2009-04-01T15:40:00.000-07:00

if you travel from sacramento, ca to auburn, ca by car, you will drive 33 miles and it will take approximately 35 minutes. when you arrive in auburn, you are unlikely to be tired and will be greeted by a tiny, yet charming, town.

if you run from sacramento to auburn, it will be 50 miles and will take much, much longer. when you arrive in auburn (if you're still alive), you are likely to be dead tired, with popped blisters and sore muscles. you will be greeted by a jacket that declares your victory over the American River 50 mile endurance marathon. instead of having "crazy" stamped across your forehead, you'll get to wear it as a jacket.

hubby wants one of those jackets.

so on friday, we are driving to sacramento so that he can participate in this madness. it will take him 7 or 8 (or more) hours to complete it. and on sunday, i will participate in my own marathon - of cooking.

we'll start sunday morning with lemon blueberry pancakes with mixed berry coulis. i was also going to make homemade breakfast sausage, but hubby nixed that idea. and for dinner, i will try to recreate that magically delicious santa fe wonder . . . smoked brisket green chili. i'll have to buy the smoked brisket though. and cornbread muffins. and dessert of some sort. something hubby likes and that is full of carbs and calories. bread pudding with cranberries?

if he can train for a 50 mile ultra marathon, i can manage to cook AND study on sunday.

Napa Valley Marathon

2009-03-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

two (okay, three now) weekends ago, hubby ran the Napa Valley marathon in 3 hrs, 5 minutes and 58 seconds. very, very fast.

and you would think this photo was taken of him lounging around after the race, but no, this is him trying to relax the day before.

in our lovely hotel room

the lovely view from our lovely hotel room

it's been super busy lately. i'm still working full-time and going to school part-time. that MA will be mine by the end of this semester. but i have to make it through first. in my way are two classes and my thesis project (and that APA manual that i've drop-kicked numerous times).

in the past couple weeks, i've had barely enough time to make food to eat, let alone take pictures, edit pictures (couldn't tell they've been edited, huh? goes to show just how much more i have to learn), and blog. it takes more time than i have. and that thesis project isn't going to format itself. if i have the chance to post a recipe in the next two months, it will be b/c i'm slacking off on my academics. oh well, c'est la vie.

odd-looking vegetable and some southern comfort (not the drink)

2009-03-01T22:23:00.000-08:00

Romanesco - it's like an alien vegetable, isn't it? And yet, strangely beautiful.

I had no idea how to cook this vegetable. Some recipes said to steam the whole thing . . . but I have nothing that can steam something this large. It was the same size as a large head of cauliflower. So I just ended up chopping it up like cauliflower and roasting it. It didn't look nearly as pretty all chopped up and cooked, but still strange.

But the main star of our dinner that night wasn't the alien vegetable, it was biscuits. Sweet potato biscuits to be exact. Hubby loves these. They're sweet and light, not heavy like some other biscuit types. These are not flaky, very little butter. Very little fat, actually.

And they're made with wheat flour, just like most everything else I bake. I made these per a special request from hubby after his Napa Valley Marathon - where he set a personal record. More to come on that later.

Here is the recipe:

Sweet Potato Biscuits

1 cup mashed baked sweet potato (one large)

1/2 cup skim milk

2 tbsp non-fat plain yogurt

1/2 stick melted butter

1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp light brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven to 400

mix the sweet potato, milk, yogurt and butter in a large bowl. then mix the remaining ingredients: flour, baking powder, brown sugar, salt. pour dry into wet, stir until just combined.

line baking sheet with parchment paper. or grease a baking sheet.

i form the biscuits by measuring them into a 1/3 dry measure cup and dumping it onto the sheet. you could also use a tablespoon measure and just make it bigger.

Bake for about 20 min, I like longer until it's brown, not just golden brown.

Eat warm!!!

i like to split them and make little sandwiches with roasted pork loin with gravy.

pizza! with wheat flour

2009-03-01T22:16:00.000-08:00

after having tried multiple pizza dough recipes and trying to modify them to include wheat flour, i have finally found one that is pretty good. not perfect yet, but good. recipe at bottom.

i keep trying b/c hubby really likes pizza at home. and i try to feed hubby food he likes b/c he does nice things for me like get digital tv.

lack of counter space means rolling out dough into a recognizable shape is a little difficult. and i know you're supposed to stretch the dough by hand, but i couldn't. it was too uneven when i tried it that way, so i started over again with the rolling pin. if you've got the skills to do it without a rolling pin, go for it.
top pizza with yummy things. we went with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, prosciutto, caramelized onions and arugula.

bake pizza at 500 degrees. we have no pizza stone, so i actually heat up the glass pyrex in the oven, then invert it and place the pizza on top (with parchment paper). we loved this pizza and will be making it again very, very soon!

whole wheat pizza dough

makes 4 small pizzas - we only needed half the dough for dinner for 2

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/2 cup vital wheat gluten

mix the water, yeast and sugar together. once it foams, you know the yeast is good, then you can add the flour and salt and mix. i used the stand mixer and the dough hook. i let it go for a good while (about 10 min). walked away and watched tv and came back and checked on the dough. turn out dough into a greased bowl, let it rise, double in size and then it's ready to go. you can chill it if you want, up to 4 days. my dough kept on rising in the fridge, popped out of it's container, so be careful. the dough is supposed to taste better after a day or two, but we couldn't wait and had half of it for pizza the same night.

roasted cauliflower

2009-03-01T21:59:00.000-08:00

One of the simple, simple dishes that I make is roasted cauliflower. hubby LOVES these. they are so simple, quick and delicious. we would have them more often, but cauliflower isn't always available . . . well, that's not true, we can always find it in the grocery store, but sometimes, it's $3.99 a head. and i dunno, i just feel like that's a lot when i know i can get it other times for $1.99 a head. but i got this one through our CSA, which i love, they rock.

preheat oven to 400
so rinse and cut whole head of cauliflower into small-ish peices. and yes, small-ish is a technical term that adequately describes size. if you would like more clarification, please feel free to ask. i will most likely elaborate with a description like, "not big, but not small, not quite medium."
get out some garlic (4 or 5 cloves), smash them with your knife, peel off the outside and toss them in with cauliflower.

drizzle on some olive oil, and then add salt, fresh-ground pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and a pinch of what ever else you'd like. i'm not sure how much i put in . . . just sprinkle it on, toss to combine and taste a small piece and add more if you need to.

i pour it all onto a baking sheet, i suppose a roasting pan to roast the cauliflower would work too, but mine was under all this stuff in the cabinet above my head. hubby wasn't home yet and i had sweaters laid out on our chairs (the wash cold in delicate, lay flat to dry kind). so i got the baking sheet. i need a step-stool. sucks being short. hate getting jeans hemmed.

mmmm, yummy goodness. and look, there's one of the pieces of roasted garlic. brush teeth and rinse before kissing loved one after this.

watermelon radishes - a new twist

2009-02-24T20:49:00.000-08:00

so i got these beautiful watermelon radishes from our CSA (community supported agriculture) - Eating With the Seasons and needed to find a way to serve them cooked.

why cooked? raw, it's a little spicy for hubby and i since we don't have other things to pair it with.

so i decided to roast them with a little honey to cut the spiciness and they turned out beautifully.

honey roasted watermelon radishes

4 medium watermelon radishes, cubed

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp honey

preheat oven to 400

toss everything together

spread onto roasting pan

roast in oven for 15 min, take out of oven, toss cubes around

put back in oven for another 15 min, or until it reaches your desired texture. we like it soft, with the honey caramelizing the outside to a nice brown.

Our Santa Fe trip

2009-02-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

we arrived in albuquerque last Friday famished and couldn't wait to get to Santa Fe to eat. so we used our new GPS gadget (gift from hubby's dad for xmas) for the first time and found a place to eat within 2 miles from the airport.

the grove cafe and market had a refreshing atmosphere and good food. i had an open face croque monsieur sandwich that came with a nice little fruit salad - yummy!

then we checked in to the Inn of the Governor's and it was an adorable place. the room was a little small, but the furniture was this rough, dark wood that gave it wonderful ambience. the location was great, right in historic downtown and we were able to walk just about everywhere.

in fact, we walked to all the galleries that participated in the Edible Art Tour that was part of Artfeast. the tour was an event where many of the local galleries (and there are TONS in Santa Fe) paired up with a local chef/restaurant/caterer. paying just $35/person (that went towards promoting the arts), we got to sample food at each gallery. walk into gallery, pick up food, look at beautiful art, eat food, walk out, repeat. it was a wonderful way to see great art and try a lot of different food. through EAT, we discovered a few great places to, well, eat.

but Santa Fe has more than great food and we spent saturday hiking around at the Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument.

we also visited the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture and especially enjoyed the Here, Now and Always exhibit. as the museum was fairly empty and the exhibit used personal accounts to enhance the displays, the whole experience felt intimate and truly touching.

there were also some wonderful sculptures outside the museum.

during our trip, we had the pleasure of discovering Kakawa Chocolate House (from the tour) - a real treasure! they specialize in making Mesoamerican style drinking chocolate. it was a little too strong for me, i guess i prefer mine with a little more sweetness and not too much spice. the man that owns the shop is a chocolate historian and the knowledge behind his drinks was just amazing.

per a tip from Prof. O., we went to Cafe Pasqual's for dinner and the food was amazing. everything that the reviews and hype said it to be. but for me, it was not as memorable as Josh's BBQ (a decidedly more casual joint).

we had sampled their green chile brisket during the tour and i was obsessed. it was amazing and i had to have it again. so it was our last stop before the airport. they take their brisket that's been smoked and made a green chile from it - it's smoky and spicy and flavorful and now i'm drooling on my keyboard. i'm not sure why, but i ordered a green chile brisket burrito (i dunno why, i could've just gotten the green chile brisket plain). here is the monster burrito that was served to me (with sweet potato masher) -

i'm not sure if you can tell, but the burrito was bigger than my forearm. and yup, those ridged things that you see, waffle fries. in my opinion, they were just weird and didn't belong. so i picked them out and didn't eat them. but then, when i got to the end of the burrito, i discovered that the waffle fries had soaked up a lot of green chile goodness and that if i topped it with the sweet potato masher (yes, carb upon carb, get over it), it was no longer strange but deliciously delightful.

it was a good trip!

back from santa fe!

2009-02-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

went to santa fe, nm this weekend and it was unbelievable! hubby and i only got into little quibbles, no big fights!
okay, that wasn't really the unbelievable part.
quick review of our itinerary:
friday - grab lunch in albuquerque, drive to santa fe, check in, go to the Edible Art Tour, put on by ArtsFeast, http://www.artfeast.com/events/edible-art-tour
saturday - hiking to go see Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, lunch, Georgia O'Keefe museum, dinner at Cafe Pasqual's (yum yum yum!)
sunday - Museum of Indian Arts and Culture - http://www.indianartsandculture.org/
lunch at Josh's BBQ, drive to airport
more to come later!

easy dinner

2009-02-18T22:03:00.000-08:00

so dinner tonight was as planned, but not as good as dinner last night.

last night i made stir fry sugar snap peas with chicken with a mix of brown rice and barley. healthy dinner!

some people just wash the sugar snap peas and then cook them. but i hate the "strings" and so i like to take a little extra time to remove them. here's what i mean -

stir fry with chicken and top over a mix of brown rice and barley, mmmmmm

recipe is quite easy

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 tsp cornstarch

2 tbsp cooking wine

1 or 2 garlic cloves, diced

approximately 2 cups of sugar snap peas

1/2 tbsp oil (i use canola)

pinch salt

i like to slice the chicken into, well, slices. mix with cornstarch and cooking wine and garlic.

heat pan, add oil, stir fry the chicken. when it's just about done, pour it into a separate bowl. add the sugar snap peas to the pan, stir fry and when it's just about done, add the chicken back in. add some salt. if there's too much liquid, take a little more cornstarch (1/2 -1 tsp), mix it with a little cold water and add it to your pan. it should thicken it right up. serve over the brown rice and barley. nice and quick chinese style meal

keeping anxiety at bay

2009-02-18T11:04:00.000-08:00

hubby applied round 2 to some of the top MBA programs in the country. i'm talkin' bout the programs that you see in the top 10 lists of US News, Forbes, Business Week, etc. they're all amazing schools with wonderful programs.
and we're currently in the wait-and-see stage of admissions. i believe he's limiting himself to checking his e-mail 2-3 times a day.
and since he was able to predict that he would be anxious, hubby signed up for a ridiculous race that he is training like crazy for . . . an ultra-marathon. in early april, we'll be going to sacto so he can race in the American River 50-mile Endurance Run. b/c a regular ol' marathon isn't quite enough. oh, but he's doing one of those too, Napa Valley Marathon, next weekend. so he's successfully keeping anxiety at bay by working out a lot. and still training for this year's Ironman.
i, on the other hand, just keep writing out dinner plans. and re-writing them.
this is what's planned for tonight:
salmon with dijon mustard
roasted golden beets
plain baked potato

thursday night:
arugula and roasted red pepper salad
swedish turkey meatballs
wheat pasta

let's see if the plans will stick!

first post! brioche rolls with nutella

2009-02-17T11:27:00.000-08:00

i made this for the first time two weekends ago, but hubby didn't appreciate the rolls.
hubby doesn't really like sweets, and he doesn't like nutella (yes, i knew this all before we wed). so i e-mailed our good friend, A., who does like sweets and was coming back from a 4-wk work trip from Japan. i thought, if anyone would like these rolls, it's A., and he's probably craving something like nutella brioche rolls after 4 wks in Japan. so i made them again.

also made some cinnamon sugar ones too

i made a few modifications the second time around and the adjusted recipe is posted below. the dough is almost like batter and must be chilled to work with. no passing the window-pane test.

Recipe is from http://stickygooeycreamychewy.blogspot.com/ and I believe she got it from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I halved the recipe and made some minor adjustments.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1/4 vital wheat gluten*
1 1/2 cups wheat flour
2 cups regular ol' AP flour

3 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 13 oz. jar of Nutella

if you'd like to make cinnamon sugar rolls:
1/2 cup sugar (mix of brown and white)
1 tsp cinnamon (or more, if you'd like)

This will make enough dough/batter for two 9 inch round pans of rolls

Equipment: stand mixer with dough hook or large bowl and wooden spoon
Rolling pin
9 inch round pan (2)

*vital wheat gluten not necessary, just sub with regular flour. vital wheat gluten is nice to have though, it gives a nice chewiness to the dough

in a large bowl (preferably attached to a lovely stand mixer), add the water, melted butter and honey. swirl around a little to dissolve the honey a bit.
add the yeast. after a few minutes, it should be foamy and frothy. if not, your yeast may be no good, so throw it out, buy some more and start over.
lightly beat eggs and add into the bowl.

add flour one cup at a time until it's just incorporated. you may have to turn the mixer off the scrap down the sides, no big deal. no need to mix vigorously, lumps are fine.

leave it alone for about 2 hrs to let it rise and double in size. after it's risen, it should sort of plateau on top. then it's ready for the fridge. cover, but not airtight.

When it is completely cold, about 4 hrs in my fridge for this amount of dough, then you can take it out and start making whatever you want.

For rolls, continue on . . . .

Liberally flour a flat surface.

Dump out all the dough. Cut it in half. Put one half to the side (on a floured surface). Flour the top of the piece of dough you are going to work with. Flour your rolling pin. Roll it out into a rectangle. Mine wasn’t very symmetrical, which caused issues later when rolling. So go symmetrical if you can. The thickness of the dough should be about ¼ inch.

I had two kinds of filling I wanted to use: nutella and cinnamon sugar. Nutella first.

Use a whole jar of Nutella (13 oz). Spread evenly. Leave a border of about 1 inch.

Melt the 3 tbsp butter and mix in vanilla.

Roll it from the longer side. And I always find it easier to roll it towards myself. Pinch the ends. To seal the roll on the long side, I usually take the vanilla butter, dab a little bit along the edge and then seal.

Grease or spray your 9 inch round pan.

If you like things to be equally portioned, then cut the log it in half, and half and half, etc. I used a kitchen scissor instead of a knife. Less Nutella oozing out this way. I ended up with 8 rolls. I arranged 7 in a circle around the pan and put one in the middle. Then I left it all alone for about 45 min.

Preheat oven to 350

Brush on more vanilla butter (may need to reheat this). Stick it in the oven for about 30 min or until golden brown. mmm, vanilla butter.