Financial Advice from a Fortune Cookie
I'm already freaked out about the economic crisis, now my food is channeling advice from Suzy Orman, too._
Labels: daily photo(s), food
I'm already freaked out about the economic crisis, now my food is channeling advice from Suzy Orman, too.Labels: daily photo(s), food
Couldn't have asked for more beautiful weather. It rained Friday night into Saturday then the sun peeked out in the afternoon. Sunday the air was clear and crisp thanks to the previous day's rain and the cool breeze.
I got the instructions here. I didn't know how to do a blind stitch but I easily learned after watching a tutorial on youtube. I love the internet.
If you like chicken & rice soup and curry doesn't turn your stomach, I recommend it. At the very least, try it the next time you see it on the menu at a restaurant. It's fun to try something different. Here's how I make it:
This is my mom's famous zucchini bread. It's been years since I made it because Jimmy doesn't eat it and it makes 2 loaves, which means I eat 2 loaves of zucchini bread. And as much as I can pretend that it's healthy - zucchini and all, there's a whole cup of oil and 2 cups of sugar in those 2 loaves.
Yup, I had the vanilla out and everything, but I still forgot it.
Makes me happy that I have this in her writing.Labels: food, reminiscing
When Danielle came to visit a few weeks ago with her daughter, she would tell everyone that she was "this many" and hold up 3 fingers. So, on the way to my birthday lunch, the 4 of us: me, Danielle, Jimmy and TG, were in the car together and I told everyone to hold up all of their fingers and that was "how many" I was. TG thought that was so funny, that was A LOT of fingers to be!
Solvang is a cute little town that was settled by a group of Danish educators in 1911. It was the first time Jimmy and I had gone to Solvang together. All the shops and bakeries were closed, but we found a little restaurant, and dined on Danish meatballs, sausage and red cabbage outside on their patio. I have to admit the atmosphere was far superior over the food, but it was great being in a part of California that we hadn't seen together.Labels: celebrations, Central California, family, food, friends, health
Saturday was the final installment of my birthday celebrations. It was a combined birthday party with Jimmy, since he turns 40 in less than 2 weeks. All in all, I think I had 6 different events celebrating my notorious 40th.
The day before my birthday, I went to fondue with Danielle and her sweet little girl. bad photographer (that'd be me) should have moved those water glasses.
The day of my birthday, we went to Benihana.
A week-long combined celebration at the hideaway with family and friends.
A mini GTG (get-together) at the Old Spaghetti Factory with the Yuens and Brewers because they couldn't make it to...
A dinner party for both of us at our favorite Mexican restaurant with the Bowens, Chanceys, Phin, Madmax, the Parentals and my youngest SIL.Labels: celebrations, family, food, friends

Labels: food, icky stuff
You may recall my proclamation in February about attempting to eat less fast food. However, something happens with good intentions when you're traveling. I hate to admit it, but I ate fast food 4 times during my 6 days of traveling.
Granted, 2 of the times I was with kids so in my reasoning, those are justifiable, but the other 2 times were purely because I was driving for 6 hours and didn't want to stop for a 'real meal'.

You have to believe we are magic...

I'm gettin' serious about this daily photo business. I've been known to focus on tasks. I can take a given project and focus on it so intently, my head explodes. I've got 13 (!) photos to share with you, all taken today. Because I'm an overachiever like that. Sometimes. Actually, not really.
Today was a bit of a blustery day. Rainy, gray and windy. Doesn't this weather just scream for comfort food? I thought so.
In true Pioneer Woman style, here are the cast of characters. By the way, if you haven't checked out Pioneer Woman's blog yet, please do. I highly recommend it. I read it more often than Dooce. And she has lots of mouth watering recipes on there, too. I've adopted saying "Lawsie Mercy" and "Tarnation" a lot recently thanks to her. Nothing's stranger than an Asian-American California girl saying "Lawsie Mercy that was one crazy rain storm we had last night" or "where in tarnation did I leave my readin' glasses?".
I use 1/2 an onion and about 7-10 garlic cloves. This recipe is inspired by my BIL's recipe that uses 35 cloves of garlic. And 2/3 Italian sausage, 1/3 full fat ground beef. I've made a few modifications to suit my tastes. But I must admit that his tastes WAY better. So if you're feeling sassy, try it fully loaded. I pulverize the onion and garlic. Jimmy doesn't like biting into onions or pieces of garlic. Come to think of it, neither do I.
With all the aromas starting up, it's time to pour myself a beverage. You might chose a glass of chardonnay, but I'll enjoy a can of sparkling diet Mountain Dew Code Red.
Sauté the onions and garlic in a bit of olive oil. This is the only added fat in the whole pot. So far so good.
Add all the meat. That's 2 packages of lean ground turkey breast and 1 package of hot Italian sausage. That's the 1/3 part that's bad for you. But it adds a lot of delicious flavors. Much tastier than ground beef. There's also sweet or mild Italian sausage if hot is too spicy for your tastebuds.
Brown the meat. Since I'm using turkey breast, it doesn't really get brown, even with the Italian sausage. Drain all the fat and liquid. There isn't much since I'm using lean turkey breast, but I wanna take out as much fat from that sausage as possible.
Dump in 2 cans of diced tomatoes, 1 can of tomato sauce and about 1/2 a can of water. For the first time, I'm using a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic. Deliciously flavorful.
In Carroll Shelby's chili kit, there are 4 packs of seasonings. Dump every bit of the chili seasonings, salt and cayenne pepper. Reserve the masa till the end in case the chili needs a little thickening.
We like things spicy so I add more Tabasco and cayenne pepper.
I normally don't add fresh thyme, but I have some left over from some chicken soup I made the other day. It cracks me up that you have to buy so much fresh herbs, when a recipe usually calls for a mere tablespoon or so. I need to figure out what to do with the rest of this thyme. If it weren't for the 2 sticks of butter it calls for, I'd make Pioneer Woman's Buttery Thyme Bread. But I prefer to spend my calories on girl scout cookies and chocolate covered oreos.
Stir it all in and simmer for at least 2 hours. Sure, the package of Carroll Shelby's says 15 minutes, but we all know that chili tastes better the longer it simmers. And make a lot of it because we also know it's better the next day. That's why my pot is nearly overflowing even though it's just for me and Jimmy.
Just kidding! My jaw still hurts from playing this game. I've played it 2 times since being diagnosed with TMJ over a week ago, and there is a definite correlation. I can play the drums or karaoke without any pain, so it's related to the guitar. The guitar is the funnest.Labels: daily photo(s), food, weather
I'm an 'auntie' before a weight watchers member.Tomorrow we're going to our 2nd Christmas party of the season. It's the Yuen's annual cookie party and after chatting with the wonderful hostess, decided to bring these fun and super easy not-a-cookie but salty-sweet snack.
Again, not an original idea. I first saw it on Becky Higgins blog here, then got an e-newsletter from Family Fun that linked to their website here. It looks much better using the Hugs, but I don't like white chocolate so I used original Hershey Kisses.
Supplies: Pretzels, Hershey's Kisses (or Hugs), M&M's. Put a kiss on each pretzel and put in 200 degree oven for 6-8 minutes till chocolate is soft. It'll retain its shape.
Remove from oven, smoosh 1-2 M&M's into it and its done.Last week, (or was it the week before already?), the authorities of The Tree Trimming and Cutting Down Committee decided that one of the sweetgum trees on my street was no longer suitable for living. Of course, they didn't bother to tell any of the families who live within one house of the tree that they were planning this, so early one morning, we heard the noisy sound of chain saws. Didn't phase us though because we just thought it was the gardener with his leaf blower. Till the gardener was here for 2 hours. I finally peeked outside and thought "Huh. There's an awful lot of blue sky. I think they chopped down one of my trees." Yup, I'm observant. lol. BTW, the tree isn't really mine, firstly we rent, secondly, the trees are between our driveway and the neighbor's. But I've grown attached to it, despite the spikey balls it drops everywhere. It's beautiful in the fall - yellow, red, orange leaves. In California, ya gotta get whatever fall color you can whenever you can and embrace it. Anyhoo, once I saw them giving the poor tree the ax, I donned my spy camera and started snapping away.
Labels: Bay Area, celebrations, food, Jimmy
We're home from our quick trip to San Diego for our nephew's graduation from UCSD. When we weren't in the car, we were always busy with family and friends. Which always leads to lots of opportunities to eat good food in gargantuan portions.
Labels: family, food, friends, Southern California, summer
Then have I got a deal for you!
Knock on wood (LOL), this superstitious day as gone without a hitch, so far. I did have one frustrating phone conversation with the bank, but otherwise, it was a good day. I went to my weight watchers meeting and surprisingly yet happily was successful at the scales. I admit that I was concerned about my frivolous weekend in Seattle, but I also bumped up my activities and didn't give in to every single indulgence. (Note to self: don't wait to eat till your starving then go to Jack-in-the-Box). Continued the afternoon with my weekly walk at Stanford with my girlfriend Eve, the warm sun behind our backs. Now enjoying the evening, planning on quality tv time and crafting.
Jimmy's in Dallas so I'm solo for the weekend. The odd thing about this is that it's normally me that leaves him home so I'm a little out of sorts figuring out what to do with myself. Actually, I have a massive pile of DVD's waiting for me to watch, so I know I'll be cozy on the couch most of the time. Maybe, just maybe, I'll do a little crafting, too.
I set a few eggs on the stove to come to a boil. In the meantime, I went into the office to read a few blogs.
Labels: food, friends, reflecting, San Francisco