Busy bee

I have a new baby. iPhone baby.

It's been occupying my time. Taking ma pix. Sendin ma texts. Playin ma Words with Friends. Etc, etc.

More extensive post to come.

Let it Dough!

Let it Dough! by Christoph Niemann

Enjoy!

I'm headed to LA from NYC this evening... I'll actually miss the city, I've had so much fun so far. Updates to come in a bit, prep your stomach!

Let it Dough!

Let it Dough! by Christoph Niemann

Enjoy!

I'm headed to LA from NYC this evening... I'll actually miss the city, I've had so much fun so far. Updates to come in a bit, prep your stomach!

Off on a jet plane

Leaving the Bay Area for NYC tomorrow... then LA!

35 degrees, brr. Fingers crossed that I will find a pile of kittens to keep me warm. Note: I just Google image searched 'pile of kittens' and thought I would be the benevolent soul that I am and make it easier for you to find and see for yourself.

Hello, again!

Ooh, it's been a while. As pointed out by my devoted followers, I have been holding out. True. The end of the quarter brings with it a lot of work... but fun, too, apparently. Well, luckily for you all (devoted or not), I've got quite a few stories to share!

Let's go, first, all the way back to Thanksgiving.

I never did a Thanksgiving food post. Rest assured, it was delicious. Not to toot my own horn, or anything, but my pumpkin pie was the best. Perhaps more importantly, I went to the top rated ramen spot (according to Yelp) in LA: Santouka.

Spicy miso ramen with pork bowl combination.

I have to say that I disagree with Yelp. Although Santouka has quite a few options to choose from, Daikokuya is better. The soup base was good, the noodles were good... everything was good. The pork bowl was also good, but Daikokuya's pork bowl obliterated this one. Himawari in San Mateo is also better... the egg alone in the ramen is perfection, and blew this one out of the soup. Still, ramen the day after Thanksgiving is the way to go. I approve of the wait time at this place, however: some 10 minutes to stand in line and order as opposed to the 45+ minutes for a table.

Moving on quickly to brunch in San Francisco: The Sycamore, Mission District.

Pork belly donuts.

Lots and lots of pig consumed in this post; I apologize if this offends, but it's delicious. A new brunch joint started up a few months ago, The Sycamore will quickly develop a following thanks to their incredible brunch offering, which includes pork belly donuts. A donut batter outside of fatty pork belly, fried and drizzled with their signature maple Makers' Mark syrup. That picture features what the inside looks like. About the size of a donut hole, this bite of happy hits so many spots: fat. meat. sweet. savory. salty. alcohol.

Next, my first meal at a restaurant with a Michelin star: Saison, Mission District, San Francisco.

Petaluma chicken; whole rosted, wild herbs, artichokes, olive

An 8 course meal transformed into 10, with wine pairings? Yes please. I was demolished, food- and drink-wise. The meal and ambience was unpretentious, something I really appreciated. The dishes made sense, with nothing too crazy that I wondered why I was even eating such a thing. I knew the meal was off to a great start when I was given a cloud from heaven. Literally. A roll, fresh from the oven. This is what a cloud from heaven would taste like.

I would post pictures from each of the courses, but it would bore, I have no doubt. So, if you're interested, let's have a protracted conversation about the virtues of the meal. And the wine.

Yet another brunch in San Francisco: Zazie, Cole Valley.

Challah French toast stuffed with caramelized bananas and walnuts; bowl of hot chocolate; a single poached egg with lemon hollandaise, bacon (see? more pig), and tomatoes provençales. And home fries.

Mmmm. This was happy times in the morning. What I enjoyed the most about the restaurant: eating on the back patio, where it seemed as if we were dining in someone's backyard; the drink served in a bowl; the whole cloves of garlic roasted alongside the home fries; the option to order one of exactly what I want (one piece of French toast. one egg). I love brunch.

So, aside from the food, what am I up to? Good question: not much of anything. I've been biding my time until I fly home for break, by way of New York. I have started to read Ian McEwan's The Child in Time, which is a nice way to do it, aside from watching shows online one after another.

I finally wrapped up the quarter with grading, and the fall is officially behind me. A good way to end the quarter: my paper is finally being published! My dear fish, you've been great.

I'll do my best to keep this updated with my goings-about-town: food, drink, or otherwise.

Ciao bellas~

Dear Ms. Wood,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript [...] has been accepted for publication in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory.

Game on

And so the festivities begin... HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

What better way to start everything off than by make cookies?

Off-to-bed butter cookies, from Epicurious

BEFORE

AFTER

Wonderfully light and not too sweet, considering that the dough consists of flour, sugar, butter, and a pinch of salt. The cane sugar on top provides a kick of molasses-y sugar and crunch... The dough I made was enough to fit onto 2 trays, both of which were done in 15 minutes. Total. My least favorite thing about baking cookies is putting anywhere from 6-8 on a tray, and waiting for around 9 minutes, for a total of 5 of 6 trays. This, on the other hand, requires that you put both trays in at the same time and rotate midway through, hence it taking 15 total minutes.

And now, moving on to the actual Thanksgiving noms... I don't think you're ready for this jelly:

Cranberry sauce!

I always include a whole satsuma tangerine rind, to add citrusy sweetness. It's setting at room temperature, and I'm hoping it'll gel a bit more by tomorrow.

OK, Thanksgiving menu to come tomorrow, with pictures, no doubt.

Get your eyes and tums ready for this feast!

Disagree.

"Let cool completely" is one of the silliest, most frustrating baking instructions ever.

Not really silly. It makes total sense. I just want to eat pumpkin pie. Now.

Home is...

kitty cats.

slipper socks.

hot tea and croissants in the morning.

miso soup with rice.

a comfy bed.

a luxurious shower.

the sound of my mom gardening.

a full refrigerator.

a list of foods to cook, bake, and eat.

Good morning, world

Spending 12 hours of my day in an airport/airplane is not exactly my idea of fun... Neither is watching the sky brighten as the sun rises.

Hi from SJC, where my flight to Phoenix (and getting a connecting flight to Pittsburgh) doesn't leave for another hour and a half.

Yay for free wifi.

Boo for the Starbucks scone that leaves a slick coating in my mouth of whatever kind of fat they use in it. Gross.

I wasn't as diligent about posting yum Thanksgiving recipes as I thought I would be... Not to fear, much to come about actual baking and cooking in the upcoming week.

Yesterday, I drove up to SF to spend time with my bros. Actually. Yoga (vinyasa flow) with my adopted bro in the morning and brunch at Bar Tartine with the biological bro (and adopted bro).

Walnut french toast... marscapone, pears, and candied walnuts. Mmm. Drizzled with maple syrup.

Timbo's hog jowl tartine. The rustic bread soaked up the fats from the jowl, turning it into fatty, soggy perfection. Fatty? Soggy? Don't sound like good descriptors... oh. But they are. I'm not much a fan of radicchio, but it added nice color and texture. Roasted baby potatoes with rosemary on the side.

And for dessert, a seasonal rice pudding. It tasted like Williams-Sonoma smells during the holiday season: like mulling spices and yum. Persimmon and pomegranates on top, with a "fall" compote beneath it (essentially cinnamon + nutmeg + stewed apple and pear--not sure about the fruits, but they were mmmmgood.)

By the time I got home that afternoon, it was about 3:30, and I was ready to start my day. I took a nap.

OK, caffeination time. I need to wake up and cheer up.

I had typed the above, but going back and talking about my day yesterday made me infinitely happier. It's also a lot brighter than when I initially began to type this post out.

Cook more! Bake more!

Why cooking is a good idea

Chicago

Hi from Chicago!

It's cold here. It's supposed to snow on Thursday, so good timing on my part.

Things I've learned about this area:

-Highest per capita concentration of cafés. That's awesome. Chai? Hot chocolate? Yes please.

-Buses stop every block.

-The closest Anthropologie is 6.5 miles away.

-The closest Trader Joe's is 7.1 miles away.

Insightful? Yes.

P.S. The tap water? It's ok.

Update @10:16pm CST-- I am baking cookies with my student hosts. WIN.

Update @10:58pm CST-- My toothbrush does me no good when it's 2000 miles away. Sigh.

Sunday Styles

NY Times Sunday Styles experienced a little differently this morning: view of the San Jose Airport runway.

Art supplies

There's something about walking into an art supply store that sort of overwhelms me. I get the itch to be artsy. I want the whole spectrum of those those wonderful markers with the brush tips to draw and write in every color imaginable. I imagine drawing and writing to my heart's content on a big pad of blank sketch paper.

But, as with almost all sets of pristine art supplies I acquire, it stays that way. Such a silly thing, that I don't want something so perfect to run out. Guess I just have to bite the bullet, be super artsy, and get over my silliness.

Food to make

I promised that I'd post recipes of yummy Thanksgiving dishes. Here are some I've spotted that are good for any time, honestly.

What better place to start than with dessert?

Fudgy brownies

Whipping half of the egg mixture is intriguing... I don't like particularly dense brownies, so this may be nice.

Noah's Silky Pumpkin Pie
I'm going to be selfish and not share the recipe. I got it from my friend Noah, and it's the BEST pie I have ever had. (If you ask really nicely perhaps I'll share...) Note: the picture comes from Thanksgiving last year.

Brussels sprouts with bacon and figs
The sign-in question for my sections this past week: what is your favorite vegetable? Potatoes. Avocado. Green beans. One out of only about 60 students put Brussels sprouts. It is one of my favorites, when done right. And, how could they be better, with bacon AND figs? My oh my. A must try.

Wild mushroom and spinach stuffing
If you're not a fan of mushrooms, perhaps ignore this. But, the recipe sounds simple and delicious, if you are.

Finally, a slideshow from the NY Times. I know, I know. I'm a NY Times nut (surprise), but it puts together a bunch of delicious photos with recipes... How could I resist. Enjoy!
The one that made my heart stop: Caramelized Apple-Pecan Cake

Good morning

Start the day out right with a civilized breakfast: butter croissant, raspberry apricot jam, earl grey tea.

I like that heating the butter croissant took a shorter amount of time than making oatmeal. Note to self.

One of these days, I will conquer the croissant recipe in my Tartine cookbook. Mmmm. So much butter :)

And finally, sorry, dear computer, for these silly buttery fingerprints I've left on your keys. I have to say, however, that this was well worth it.

Artsy fun

Every once in a while, when I'm in the mood, I'll change the header/look of the blog. Sometimes it'll be a slow change; other times, it'll be rapid.

Let me know what you think, starting with this one!

Enjoyments for the day

Paris vs New York, a tally of two cities

A blog to admire (aside from mine :)). Thanks Andy for sharing. It's succinct, pretty to look at... Enjoy!

Also, a great song and a fun video:

BEN L'ONCLE SOUL -SOULMAN- (Official Music Video) from // Videodrome on Vimeo.

Soggy

A lazy Sunday.. What better way to spend it than at a cafe? At Peet's, where the wifi is free. Now, if only I could have the Peet's internet and Coupa's hot chocolate... I'm thoroughly addicted to that stuff. (Also, Peet's serves in house orders in paper cups. Sad.)

I bought a new 2011 planner! Sad that Moleskine no longer makes hardcover weekly notebook planners... so I had to settle for either a softcover weekly notebook (18 month... what? Who needs July 2010 to December 2011 when you always buy it at the beginning of each year?) or a hardcover weekly diary (12 month, at least no paper waste here). I got the latter, and while there won't be as much room for me to jot down random to do lists, I'll make do, somehow, sigh.

I had my first session of Restorative Yoga and Meditation yesterday. It was nice, another reminder of acceptance and non-attachment. Had to do a lot of accepting that my mind was in a wandering state last night :)

Enjoy the rain! Maybe yoga later? Maybe nap later?

P.S. Begin the countdown to Thanksgiving! I'll post intriguing recipes that I find between now and then, and I think I'll pick and choose which ones to use. Yum...

P.P.S. A picture of my new love:

Chocolate school?!

The privately held Valrhona, which does not release revenue figures, has been dominant in the campaign for chefs’ loyalty. Since 1988 Valrhona has had a French training center — L’Ecole du Grand Chocolat — next to its factory in Tain L’Hermitage, 70 miles south of Lyon.

The school offers intensive three-day courses taught by 15 chefs in nine languages including English, Japanese, Russian, Italian, Spanish and German. The instruction costs 1,000 euros, or $1,387 (some students receive housing stipends and other assistance), and attracts 1,200 professionals each year. The company even employs two pastry chefs to provide technical support to the trade in the United States.

Hoping Chefs Will Melt for Tcho Chocolate

Chocolate school? Valrhona? Yum. Yes please.

Schumann

It's the 200th birth year of one of my favorite composers: Schumann.

A great piece that dissects Träumerei (and allows you to listen).

While you're at it, check out the whole Kinderszenen work. (Once upon a time, I played the first piece.)

Also, attention attention: I'm going to break my gchat addiction.

Last time I said that I was not successful. This time, I will prevail.

Another item of note-- it's November! Oof.

Quote of the day

Conan: my feeling is that in life, there are so many things that we want but can never have, so why not get things you want that you can have

Costume ideas for Halloween.. help?

Harder idea...

1) Old spice man. Hmm.

Easier ideas...

2) Summer from 500 Days of Summer. Straighten bangs, wear a headband and a cute dress, done. (Anyone want to be my Joseph Gordon-Levitt?)

3) Ariadne from Inception. Wear cute Anthropologie style clothes and carry a bishop chess piece (her totem) around with me. (Anyone want to be my Joseph Gordon-Levitt?)

4) Agnes from Despicable Me. Just need a yellow striped tshirt and overalls?

Unpopular Science

Love Abstract City:

Unpopular Science by Christoph Niemann

Nerd... wait. no. M&Ms.

For your enjoyment.... I bring you mitosis.

Peanut M&Ms in telophase!!!

Rediscovered midterm study notes from my time in the core, Fall 2007.

And finally... the best way to experience mitosis:

P.S. We read this cool/informative article on climate change: everything you may have wanted to know about it. Yes, it's long, but it really is good stuff.

Noms time

I accomplished the two things I wanted to make (see here)!

#1: Mango shrimp stir fry.

It was ridiculously easy: it was all frozen. I had to cut open the bags and pour them into a heated pan.

To make this, I bought the following, all from Trader Joes:

Ingredients

Fresh ginger (size of my thumb)

1/2 bag of frozen mango

1/2 bag of frozen large pre-cooked shrimp

1/2 bag of frozen tri-color bell peppers

+crushed red pepper flakes

I assume that you could make this all with fresh ingredients, as well, if you are so inclined.

The frozen mix before hand...

In the pan! Things are warming up...

On rice! Yum.

Tasting notes: Could definitely use more ginger and more spice. I used about the size of my thumb, but I love ginger. Could have benefitted from lower heat, instead of boiling away all the juices that came from the mango. It became a little more sticky than I wanted it to be (I wanted it to be a bit saucier). Luckily, I have half bags left of all the frozen goodies, so I will be making this again soon.

#2: Turkey soup.

This was definitely more time intensive than the stir fry. I had to first cook the raw turkey breast, and then let it simmer for a while... then let it simmer some more with the vegetables.

Ingredients

Raw half turkey breast with rib

(I can't remember the size, but it was ~$6.50, the smallest TJs had)

Fresh ginger (size of 2 thumbs), peeled and chopped into large chunks

Fresh garlic (3 large cloves), peeled and whole

1/2 yellow onion, chopped into large chunks

Pre-washed/cut celery and carrots

(Note: I did not want to get a whole celery heart and bag of carrots, as I couldn't eat it all! The celery and carrots in water in a plastic container was a great alternative.)

1/2 bag baby fingerling potatoes

+salt and pepper

+crushed red pepper flakes

+grated Gruyere cheese

+whole grain fusilli pasta

I roasted the turkey breast in the oven with olive oil. Once it was done and had rested, I carved it to get almost all of the meat off. Placed the remaining (non-meat) part in boiling water with peeled ginger, garlic and onion, and I let it simmer for about 1.5 hours. I went to yoga and it sat on the stove. When I got back, I turned the heat up to about medium, and put in the veggies for the next 45 minutes to an hour, until the veggies got soft. Prepped my grated cheese and pasta, and here's the final product!

Tasting notes: I love my chicken/turkey soup with cheese. I usually have it with Parmesan, but Gruyere was what I had (leftover from the quinoa gratin). It still worked deliciously. Not to toot my own horn, but the soup was delicious. The soup wasn't very clear (which I like), and it was nice and hearty with all of the veggies and pasta and cheese. It was rainy today, so it was exactly what I needed. Looks like I'll be having this for breakfast and dinner for the next few days... and that I'm happy about.

I wish it were a few hours earlier so I could get my hot chocolate fix at Coupa... Their abuela hot chocolate is a new favorite, especially when it's cold and I have reading to do on a Sunday night.

Hope everyone had a great weekend... here's to the start of a new week!

All that jazz

The likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday... will we ever have voices and styles like that again?

Enlighten me, please, if I am unaware of singers of today's time that are at all like them.

Something about a gloomy and rainy day that makes me want to listen to this kind of music. It's wonderful.

Also, I've been inspired to make my Hype Machine account active. Check me (and my musical tastes) out.

Gmail...

...is not working.

What is going on in the world......?


Update @2:15-- Phew. Crisis averted. Gmail now works again.

Best student email.

From today:

Yo Lauren you rock. Thanks so much,

Yums to come

Sometimes I get inspired by potential meals to make.

Upcoming ones:

Turkey soup with lots of veggies, just like my mom makes it. I'll even put in noodles and cheese. Mmm.

Mango shrimp stir fry with tons of ginger. The prospect of ginger makes my mouth water.

Lunch tomorrow: quinoa with cucumber, avocado, kidney beans, and tomato. Borrrring.

Beautiful San Francisco

The fog of San Francisco: The Unseen Sea

The Unseen Sea from Simon Christen on Vimeo.

First rain of the season

It's gloomy and drizzly. I've got my scarf on and some layers. My shoes, however, are a little too slippery for the quad, which is pretty rain-slicked.

I'm on campus on a Sunday afternoon, getting some work done (and blogging, apparently), but it doesn't quite seem like work without the hustle and bustle of my seven co-workers. [New tag: humbio] It's also much warmer in here than in my room and my house, which is much appreciated.

No yoga yesterday afternoon (everyone got locked out of the studio), so hopefully I'll get to sweat it out today.

Enjoy the rain!

Yoga

I have to admit that I thought yoga was somewhat overrated. So many people talk about it as a lifestyle, and as a way of doing things. I had figured that it would be some cool exercise to get into and, perhaps as a side-effect, be something that could have an effect on the way I lead my life, simply because I was healthier.

Yesterday evening, I went to my first yoga class. It was a bikram class, in which we practiced 26 poses in a heated room. Now, one could think that poses are not much of anything. They're methods of stretching and balancing and gaining strength. Yes, I would agree with that, considering I got a workout from it, but my favorite part was the practice of centering between each and every pose. The shaking muscles and strain that I would feel a moment before would be gone. The focus that takes place is quite remarkable-- you have to think about anything else aside from that which causes you discomfort in the present moment, whether it's the heat, the pain, the strain... it's what the breathing is for. I like being reminded to breathe; I feel as though I forget sometime and take it for granted. But, using that as a focus point and as a centering mechanism is a crucial piece of everyday life that just anyone can use, whether or not one is in a yoga class.

Non-attachment. Being present in the self. Things I need to practice and introduce to my way of living.

I got back from the class physically relaxed, exhausted and energized, all at the same time. I felt ready to accomplish whatever came my way, but also ready to stretch out and go to sleep. I haven't felt that physically worked out in a very long time, and it was wonderful. So wonderful, in fact, that I'm going back to do it again this afternoon.

Welcome to my life, yoga!

Friday afternoon

I love the smell of new books. Particularly when they're free. I was delighted to find a Borders gift certificate in my wallet, and I was curious to see how much was on it. I used that as an excuse to wander into town, grab my favorite Peet's drink (mango tea freddo- this one, unfortunately, was not as good as I had remembered it being), browse my favorite aisle at the pharmacy (hair care products), and look around Lululemon (a dangerous, dangerous place). I finally got to Borders, when I realized I could remember neither the name of the book I wanted to purchase nor its author. I knew it had something to do with North and South Korea and a spy, but other than that, I was stumped. So was the kind Borders clerk who tried to help me in my search. I went upstairs to the Literature section and did what I knew best, to look for common Korean names. I started with Kim. First time's a charm. I found it: Your Republic is Calling You by Young-Ha Kim. With everything going on in North Korea's government, I am particularly interested in reading this book. I used my gift card, and it was enough to leave me 58 cents. I think I'll invest that in a planner for next year.

I meandered back home, and made some pasta sauce while I did my laundry: ground turkey, shallots, garlic, bell pepper, squash, and mushroom. I love that it simmers down.. it looks scarily watery, but let it sit for a while over low heat, and it turns out to be a nice ragout of sorts.

On the schedule for tonight: my first yoga class. There is a studio a few blocks from my home, and I'm going to try it out. Bikram is on the menu. Wish me luck!

A Reminder

Cat People are People, Too

I want a kitten...

In conjunction with that:

How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you.

Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese

The cooking portion of my blog is back!

I was inspired by a very simple recipe I found on the New York Times (surprise, surprise) for Baked Quinoa with Spinach and Cheese. I love quinoa, and I wanted new ways to eat it. I have eaten it with turkey and chicken...sauteed mushrooms and squash in balsamic vinegar...cucumbers, tomatoes, and kidney beans with a balsamic vinaigrette. Such a simple grain, but super healthy and super versatile. I make it in a rice cooker with 2 parts water, 1 part quinoa. Here is my journey through this recipe!

Here's wilted spinach with onions and garlic.

I cooked red and (regular?) quinoa together to give the dish some color. This is the cooked quinoa with the spinach mixture, beaten egg, and gruyère cheese.

In the oven! (I forgot to take a pre-cooked picture-- it has extra grated gruyère and olive oil on top)

The finished product--yum!

A few notes:

Don't cook it for too long. The crispy edges are nice, but I'm wondering how it'll all turn out tomorrow when I want to reheat it. I hope that it doesn't turn out too dry.

If you want it more moist, try the above or perhaps add a bit more egg (2 extra-large or jumbo eggs, as opposed to 2 large eggs).

Overall, I'm excited to eat it for lunch tomorrow :)

Sleep snoozing?

How do I solve the problem of turning my alarm off in my sleep?

I definitely set my alarm this morning for 8:33, but woke up at 9:03 and the alarm setting was off.

Craving

Sadly, in South Korea, there is a shortage of napa cabbage, the main ingredient in kimchi. This article, however, makes me want to eat some: Kimchi Crisis Leaves South Koreans in a Pickle

According to a man in the article, I am not Korean. I don't eat kimchi three times a day.

Mmmm, look at that kimchi jigae...

Broken

A sad morning: my new thermos broke. It tumbled out of my backpack and met with the cement. =Cracked thermos.

Glasses

When I feel uncomfortable, I adjust my glasses. Not out of necessity, but just to give my hands something to do. My left hand moves up to the left corner of the frame (I think that part is called the temple) and pushes them up the bridge of my nose.

I think that is the sole circumstance in which I do this (again outside of necessity).

Even when I'm not wearing glasses, I have to stop myself from bringing my hand up. If it has already made its way there but I am not wearing glasses, I pretend like I need to scratch my head.

Content.

Content.

It is a strange word, in the sense that it can mean something so positive and yet it has an ironically unsatisfactory sense of being just enough (but not more) to make you feel fulfilled. "Peaceful happiness" versus merely being "satisfied." I'm not sure really where to take this other than this word is confusing to me.

Take the phrase:

I am content with my life.

Is this person at peace with her life? Or have all the to-dos and the tasks and the goals of life been marked off, and it merely ...satisfies?

A random musing, and a welcome back of sorts to everyone. Real life, as I've said before, has begun, hence why I've been so absent from my blog. Too many little things to post about (I had the goal of putting up the meals I made for myself, but then even I tired of that), too many big things to post about (teaching, working, sleeping, and everything else in between)... so, I'm left to wax poetic (or do whatever I was doing) on the meaning of the word 'content.' And even that wasn't quite satisfactory. I'll try not to rant and rave too much about my job, about food... hopefully Oh, but why not will take a look into what it's like starting out in real life.

In any case, fall has arrived! To get a sense of what I mean, take a look at when I last saw the entry of fall, in this blog post entitled Fall is here. The cool breeze is pretty vicious tonight, and I am lounging here contentedly (see what I mean? and I feel much more than satisfied..) in comfy pants and a long sleeve shirt.

In my comfiness, I've been reading the NY Times Sunday Styles. I'm not usually a huge fan of the Weddings/Celebrations section, but wow. Take a look at this slideshow. Just...beautiful. Simple. Elegant. Tasteful. I think I need to watch a rom-com and sigh.

I've reached a major milestone: I am done with my secondaries! Now on to the next step: interviews! I've been a bit mystic about the whole process, but I think I'm going to be done with that. So, be warned, reader, if you wish not to hear about the medical school process, there may be a few facts about my process scattered here and there (I've made it easy: see the new medschool tag, and avoid those posts if you wish not to read).

On a last note, I ran into someone who was in my fiction writing class, who (not sure if it was just flattery) had asked if I was continuing to write, since I was his favorite writer in the class. My answer was no, I hadn't, and that other things had come up. But, thanks, guy-in-my-fiction-writing-class. I think I might try to put pen to paper when I'm feeling it and see where it goes.

Screen shot of Apple's Dictionary application.

Quote of the night:

Erica: i know, sometimes i look at my toes and think of you

True story, folks.

A real post to come soon. I'm overwhelmed with possible topics to post, so I'll think of something good and entertaining.

MRI-ing fruits and veg

Check out Inside insides, if you were ever curious how fruits and veg looked using MRI. Too cool, too cool. More background on the blog is here. Thanks, NPR!

Welcome to real life!

Hello, hello, from Real Life! I've settled in and am trying to make sense of what this all means. So many exciting firsts (which I'll get to), and food! Let's get started!

First, Number One. Real "House" Living. And it's not with a chef.

I'm paying a monthly rent. I'm paying utilities. I don't have a chef that prepares meals for me at 12 and 6. As spoiled as I was to have the experiences that I did for the past two years, I'm so excited and happy to be doing this. On my own. Worrying about what house things I need to take care of. I'm in a house of 4 people, total, and it has been great so far, for the week that I've been living here. My room is spacious and has a wonderful window that gets sun for about as long as the sun is out. A tree right in front of the window attracts little birdies that chirp and flit about ever so gently. I have an orange and white theme, which makes me happy (both consciously and subconsciously, I think). I bike about 15 minutes to work, which is a fabulously short amount of time. I have yet to experiment with walking and bussing; at some point, I'll report on that soon.

First, Number Two. Real Job. And it's not one where I yell "HOUSE MEETING."

Unfortunately. (Although, we have had a house meeting.) I'm working on campus, and it's a great feeling. The first time I biked onto campus, I felt so detached. I felt like a real person on this incredible campus that I was lucky to call mine for 4 years. Training happened this week, and classes officially start Monday. We've had some long days (9-5), but this won't be nearly as long as what I anticipate for when the school year starts. I come home, fairly exhausted and unwilling to do much of anything else than veg and read the NYTimes, but I get out of my room, cook dinner, catch up on work... that's real life.

First, Number Three. Cooking. And it's not necessarily just for fun.

But, I've managed quite well. A new fun daydreaming activity: what will I make for dinner tonight?

My first dinner!! Soba noodles with fresh cucumber and an egg. I need to get more practice on boiling eggs... the whites had barely set. But, it still tasted delicious. And, so simple!

Dinner, day two. Well, actually today's lunch. Fried brown rice with red bell peppers, spinach, and egg. It was really really yummy. I can make fried rice, woohoo! I put in some of the soba dipping sauce as flavoring, since I don't have plain soy sauce, and it was really good.

I'm also MASSIVELY appreciating free food: today is case in point. I visited my lab, and there were tons of leftover scones/muffins/bananas. So, I helped myself. YAY for no more toast in the morning. Especially when I have an early morning tomorrow: 8 am :(

Hopefully I'll keep up with food pictures, as to keep us all entertained.

Tonight: salad with tuna on top (hello, lunch from day one!), possibly an Indian Fare microwavable meal (YES TRADER JOES), and rice. Noah is exchanging dinner for 2.5 cranberry almond biscotti.

Hasty summary

To give you an idea of what I've been up to:

I've now settled into my new abode. My plant and tea collection make it home.

Made a brief stop into a liquor store. Owner turned up volume to "Everytime we touch" because it was danceparty time.

I helped a random guy pick between two sheet designs at IKEA. Dear sir, I hope you enjoy your sheets.

I have finished the middle panel of a blanket. 41.5" by 36.5" It is a beast. Seed stitch. Thousands of stitches.

I have wined and dined my way through various parts of the Bay Area: Himawari ramen, Kaygetsu, IKEA Swedish meatballs, Whole Foods sandwiches, Bi-Rite ice cream, Beretta pizza, B Star brunch.

I am smitten with IKEA.

REAL LIFE STARTS TOMORROW.

That's right, kitties. Training for my job begins tomorrow. I will be earning my own keep, and figuring out how to manage myself (e.g. curb my trips to Anthropologie starting now). In any case, it's a good time, and I'm looking forward to various changes in my life, like an exercise routine, yoga, trying to feed myself (you mean, there's no chef to make me lunches and dinners at 12 and 6??), etcetc.

Stay tuned for undoubtedly amusing updates as I cave into the cutest sweaters I've ever seen at Anthropologie, being the least flexible person ever in yoga, and discovering little pockets of the neighborhood on runs.

Which I'm now getting tingly for, so I'm going to go run off the energy.

TED MED

TED MED conferences... this has potential, indeed! I'm excited: Frank Gehry! A HumBio professor (Nathan Wolfe)! "What does pet food have to do with human health?"!

Note to self: keep an eye out for it in October!

And... why didn't this happen while I was at IKEA?? I'd like a little kitten to come with my DRÖNA boxes!!!

Busy little bee

Welcome to my new home! Here's a slideshow.

NOT. (/I wish)

Although, that one bedroom with the Ikea bedspread is much closer to the real thing.

My room is close to being completed; everything remains in bags and needs to be unpacked and aired out, but thanks to help from the family, all Ikea items have been built.

That said, I am back in the Bay Area (hooray!), and more or less ready to begin work. A petite update, and a more thorough one will come later.

Meals from around the world... military style

Military meals, as displayed by the NY Times.

Oh, the French.

William Shatner on regret

This was an addendum to the previous post, but I decided it required its own.

A thought for the day, maybe even for life. Pulled from The Many Iterations of William Shatner in NY Times:

I asked if he regrets anything about his career. “Regret is the worst human emotion,” he said. “If you took another road, you might have fallen off a cliff. I’m content.”

The Bay Area and.. food.

Because articles like this one come out, 36 Hours in Silicon Valley. When is one ever published about LA?

Shame on Stanford University’s students for allowing such tame bars along their home turf, University Avenue.

True, but also sad that University Ave is a 40+ minute walk from the closest dorms. BUIs also to be avoided, so that's not an option. Dorm/house life certainly can't be beat. The writer should have stopped by good ol' Mayfield Ave.

And now, time for a veritable eye feast. Lots of delicious food pictures and explanations to post.

Kimpop time!

Kimpop is like Korean-style sushi. No raw fish, but sort of like California rolls, as all the items are cooked, and there are vegetables. But, Kimpop, in my opinion is a hundred times better than California rolls. The first picture on the left is the 'list' of ingredients that went into it: rice studded with beef and some sesame oil; seasoned and blanched spinach; pickled daikon, blanched carrots, egg. The middle picture is my halmoni (or Korean for grandmother) rolling a kimpop, which results in the final picture... How delicious! I could eat tons of those entire rolls... and on that day, oh how I did.

Now, here's my attempt at rolling! The leftmost picture is the start of my kimpop, how it looks when it's ready to be rolled. The middle picture is when I sliced, and then the third is what my slices looked like... Halmoni said it looks like Downtown L.A., with all the buildings. Which is to say that my slicing isn't so perfect.

Now moving on to my favorite Japanese sushi... Dashi ikura!!

Eggs that pop in your mouth. So fun and delicious... This is 'sashimi' style, as it's normally served on rice, surrounded by a strip of seaweed. I put sashimi in quotations, since I'm not sure if people actually order dashi ikura like this? I've got the hookup.

And finally.... Kal guk su!

I wrote about kal guk su in a previous post, about how awesome it is...

In other news, I love kal gooksu. (Kal guksu? Kal gooksoo?) It literally means 'knife noodle' and handmade noodles go in a delicious simple broth, whether chicken, clam, anchovy... I had the chicken one not too long ago, and it's almost creamy: so delicious and satisfying and comforting.

I visited Olympic Noodle in LA, an establishment recommended by Yelp and backed up by Andy. And, I'm happy to say that both of their reputations are intact. Olympic Noodle's performance was stellar. The noodles were incredibly chewy, the chicken was so tender, and the broth was thick and savory. It was such home-style cooking, I wish I knew how to make it. It's the kind of thing that I'm excited to come back to LA for, over winter break, when it's cold (or I have a cold)... Pure yum.

Moving on from food:

I'm currently preparing for my move back up to the Bay Area, more mentally than anything else. The Labor Day weekend will be spent... laboring, no doubt, packing up clothes bags and other essentials I may need (extra toothbrushes? 6 pillows for my non-existent bed?).

And, going back to food, it's breakfast time: waffles and sausage. Hooray!

A member of September

Not a whole lot of words rhyme with September, hence the silly title.

Nevertheless, welcome to September! Fall will arrive before we all know it, as will the cool weather... hooray for corduroys and scarves and fun jackets!!

I've been lacking on the post front, so I'll try to post some interesting stuff.

FIRSTLY-- I had my first Pink's dog. It was monstrously noms, to say the least. I love hot dogs (and prefer not to think about what goes in them), and given Pink's reputation, I hoped that our 40-or-so minute wait was going to be worth it. I got the "Rosie Long Island" dog, which was a 10" stretch dog, with chili, mustard, onions (got mine grilled), and sauerkraut. Sorry for no picture, but as you can imagine, it was a delicious adventure... messy, salty, greasy, and full of pop (what the skin of the dog does when you bite into it). And, I suppose the wait was worth it... although Carney's dogs are still incredible without the wait. Interestingly, Pink's has a pretty mediocre rating on Yelp.

SECONDLY-- I move back up to the Bay Area in less than a week. Packing up yet again is nothing new... except that I need more useful things, not just my electronics, clothes and myself. Any advice for things that I'd need/find useful to live in a shared space and might not have?

THIRDLY-- HOW IS SUMMER ALREADY ALMOST OVER!? What happened to it? For the most part, the weather was so nice... now I have to think about work? Aii. I'm always surprised at how quickly summer passes by. While I'm in it, it seems to pass at such a leisurely pace. I think I get stuck on that idea, as if I'm lounging by a pool, going in and out of sleep, letting my mind wander, and realize that, before I know it, the day is through. Except, it's the whole summer, not the whole day.

I think three tidbits is a good start, for now. Wouldn't want to overindulge on my return to the blogosphere, as it were.

Bizzz à mes amizzz.

Well, it's a good thing I have a tag for just this kind of post...

BRAINS! Inside Neurosurgery's Rise

PSYCHE

Instead of the Raspberry gratins I said I was going to make last night, I decided to make a Citrus-Almond Poundcake, which is really similar to the almond-lemon tea cake in the Tartine cookbook.

This recipe (hello, Bittman, again) makes good use of a food processor, of which I am not a huge fan (it's harder to put eggs in the small hole in the top, while it's turned on), but it turned out really great. It's a very simple recipe (no almond paste leftover, unlike the Tartine book!), and it came out perfectly in a smaller Bundt pan and a loaf pan (but if you do it in 2 smaller pans, be sure to adjust the bake time!!). The glaze (orange juice, lemon juice, sugar) is really pungent... I couldn't tell whether I was a fan of it or not. The cake itself tasted perfectly fine and delicious on its own, something I also found with the Tartine recipe.

We froze one of the two loaves and ate half of the Bundt pan one last night... mmmm. Perfect with milk, would go great with tea and coffee.

Update 8/23 @11:42--

Since there was a request for a picture... This is all that remains of the loaf from the Bundt pan :)

The glaze has calmed down a significant amount, and is actually really yummy with the cake. The almond character of the cake also comes out more as the cake 'ages,' if you will.

A day of creation

This post is long overdue.

I did an evening of cooking... to practice my skills.

I found a recipe online (Mark Bittman, surprise surprise) on how to keep chicken breasts moist while grilling them. Because I would be doing little grilling and more baking, I wanted to try my hand at putting them in the oven.

Here we have the scallions (green onions), ready to go in a soy sauce/mirin/garlic sauce pan. By heating them in the sauce, it wilted them a bit to make them roll-able and infused them with a little sauce. And the sauce got a little greeny flavored.

Raw chicken breasts, pounded, rolled around the wilted scallions. In a baking dish, ready to go into the oven at 350 degrees...

Until this. Yummm.

My mom made these curried potatoes... always the best.

So, I admit that the star of the night was the potato dish. I have a bit more to learn and practice... comme d'habitude. But...

...not as much in this arena: chocolate cupcakes.

Oh, HELLO delicious chocolate cupcake with a chocolate ganache! I intended to let the ganache harden in the refrigerator, but I couldn't wait. These little cupcake babies just couldn't wait to get gobbled up. So, I spooned on some slightly warm ganache... yum.

For the first time in my cupcake/muffin making history, I decided to use the self-standing silicone molds. One I coated with butter, the other three I didn't (the rest of the cupcakes were done traditionally, in a metal pan with cupcake liners). As a result, one popped out cleanly and the other three didn't.

Here's a picture of the cupcake demolished. Yum.

I have to experiment with making more "traditional" cupcake shapes, if you will. Muffins are a bit easier, since they're denser I think, but I may have to try putting a bit more dough into each of the cups for cupcakes so that there is enough to rise. The resulting cupcake may not be so flat on top then. Honestly, though, they taste delicious, so I personally don't mind that they aren't the prettiest little cupcakes in town.

And for tonight? Funny you should ask.... Raspberry gratins. They're best when served warm (so Ina Garten says), so let me know if you want to come over! :)

Forever young...

Or So Young, as the case may be.

I write this with my age number +1, and I feel no different, surprise surprise.

My birthday was spent in a car, driving from Stanford to home... and here's the story behind it!

I did a housing hunt this weekend. It was pretty impromptu, spurred by my antsiness after looking at Craigslist every few hours each day. Once I started to email places and get a few responses, I needed to go and figure it out, even though I'm not to move until the beginning of September.

After living on campus for 4 years, I felt thoroughly inexperienced. Having to meet with people and see the spaces was not stressful, but it was definitely something I had no skill at doing. By my sixth and last viewing, I had a better idea of what to ask, what to look at, etc... nevertheless, I found a place, and I am super excited about it! It's really close to campus, close to eats (yum), close to fun. Come and visit! :)

My mom and I drove back home on my birthday, and we stopped by a family friend's home in Carmel for lunch. Though it was overcast and cool, the view from our table was amazing: on a bluff looking over the Pacific.

We left and drove along Highway 1, which is beautiful, windy, and sleep-inducing. I fell asleep for a part of it, but was awake for the parts of it where cars moved along at 30 miles an hour (speed limit was 55 mph) and the highway was one lane (slowed traffic significantly). We finally made it home, and I was exhausted, sleeping after a bowl of pappardelle noodles with homemade tomato sauce.

In other news, I love kal gooksu. (Kal guksu? Kal gooksoo?) It literally means 'knife noodle' and handmade noodles go in a delicious simple broth, whether chicken, clam, anchovy... I had the chicken one not too long ago, and it's almost creamy: so delicious and satisfying and comforting.

Sigh, I love getting in touch with my Korean side.

To make one day? Perhaps...

Can't escape Stanford...

Oh hey, Dutch Goose in NY Times...

On a related note, I'm in the Bay Area! Hooray for housing search...

Wish me luck!

Mine.

Ah, yes. Soon to be my bible.

Chow-dah

Today, I cooked. Souped, in fact! I found an easy and simple recipe from the NY Times, and we had a pack of corn from Costco... what better way to put 6 ears of corn to good use?

Instruction for this step: with a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the cobs and dice the onions. Here, you see the kernels quite separated from their cobs. Onions, you're next.

Simmer the cobs with an onion in a pot of water, and literally steep the cobs to get a delicious, sweet corn stock.

Sauté the onions and the kernels, and add some stock to the kernels, bringing back to a boil. I couldn't get the kernels to be soft, but they tasted delicious while crunchy. As long as they were cooked, I moved on to adding the whole cream (it could work with half-and-half, I think), and letting it warm. I had a great tool at my disposal: a magic stick! It's basically a blender on a stick, so that worked wonders to get a consistency that I wanted.

Here's the final product!

It was thick, but not too rich, which is nice for a soup in the summer. I added some thyme from our garden for garnish... not too bad when I mixed some leaves in :)

You win some, you lose some

Let's start with the not-so-good news.

I love clafoutis. It's a lovely pancakey-custardy dessert... I've written about it in the past and have made it, as well (check out the posts here). I've always used a very reliable recipe that my mom has used for years, and it always comes out perfectly. So, I decided to branch out and use a new recipe.

Here's the mixture with fresh unpitted cherries... yum! Apparently, leaving the pits in the fruit gives the clafouti a more almondy flavor. I'm always up for that.

Here's the end product, with powdered sugar on top to hide the sins.

Bad news bears #1) the baking rack was too low. I knew something didn't look that right when I put the raw product in the oven, but meh, we'll see what happens. NOPE. The bottom of the clafoutis ended up being a little too cooked.

Bad news bears #2) Caramelized sugar on top. My friends... this is a clafoutis, not a creme brulée.

Bad news bears #3) it was a little too eggy (flan-like) for my taste. Again, this is a clafoutis; it's supposed to be like a heavenly pancake... slightly floury, slightly eggy, but balanced.

Ah well, mistakes happen. Now I know. I also don't necessarily like having to work through my dessert, having to spit out pits every so often.

OK, moving on to the best news of life... RASPBERRIES!

Raspberries take the prize for being my favorite berry, and perhaps my favorite fruit. They're so much fun, since you can't really put any other fruit on each of your fingertips and eat them that way. They're beautiful (look at that color!), have a cool texture, and (when ripe) are well balanced between sour and sweet. Another good indication that raspberries are the best (in my opinion), is that any imitation of its flavor usually fails hardcore.

So, when I was at Costco and the prospect of waffles popped up, I grabbed a crate containing 6 cartons of raspberries.

Yum. Deliciousness ensued:

Buttermilk waffles (thanks, Trader Joe's for the delicious and easy mix) with pecans, raspberries, and maple syrup.

I had this for breakfast two days in a row (yesterday and today).

As I was reminded by my dad, I have yet to make the banana cupcakes. I'll get there.

Anyway, enough food talk... I've been occupying my time lately by scouring Craigslist for housing listings. I'm excited when I find pictures attached or an actual description of the people that I would share a home with (imagine a combination of the two!!! I have yet to come across that, however). Fingers crossed! I'm going on a search of the area next weekend.

Other than that, applications are keeping me busy, as are sleepy kitties, knitting, tea, and the occasional naptime.

I'm very tempted by the prospect of the last mentioned item on the list. Perhaps mix with the first, and I'll have a very enjoyable time :)