Apron Adventure

Really, how hard is it to make an apron? Just cut it out, slap some material together, sew a bit here and there. Heehee, as Christina and I learned...it's a lot harder than it looks, and we only did the prep work!

We got the pattern for a reversible apron.


Christina's cow pockets! The cutest!


One side of my apron. Make sure you have really really really sharp scissors that will cut the material neatly.


Christina's non-cow side.

My cousin sewed it all together for us. I felt really bad asking her after finding out it took her over 2 hours to sew each one! She did a great job though, our aprons turned out so much more prettier than those ugly store-bought ones.

Tueday Night Cooking Resumes!

Tuesday Night's Menu:
New Potato, Green Bean, Basil and Pine Nut Salad
Bowtie Pasta with Italian Sausage tossed in Tapenade


Tri Colored Potatoes- the purple is so purty!

The recipe Christina used:
At Trader Joe's you can find bags of tri-colored small potatoes: purple, red and yellow. Or if you are strolling through a farmer's market you'll also spot lovely potatoes for this salad. It is a hit to bring to barbecues and so forth…I think you'll find yourself making this salad a lot!

At least 24 potatoes, or 1 bag multicolored potatoes from TJS
3 packages (1 1/2 a pound) of green beans
10 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
One package (or a large bunch) basil, leaves picked from the stems and chopped
2 large handfuls of pine nuts, toasted
Olive oil (extra virgin first-cold pressed), for swirling
Sea Salt (Maldon's Flake Salt), for sprinkling

Cut each potato in half, and then into fourths. Smaller cut potatoes means that your have more surface area exposed to absorb the delicious dressing!
Trim the green beans by removing the stem-end. The long thin end is pretty to leave on, I think.
Put the potatoes in a generous pot of salted water and bring up to a boil. Monitor carefully! The potatoes go fast! When they are almost there, add the beans for a minute or two until bright green and still crunchy. Carefully pour into a colander and then immediately shock in cold water to halt the cooking process. (We don't want to have mushy potatoes, now, do we?). Drain, and put in a salad bowl.
Prepare the salad by adding the garlic, basil and pine nuts to the potatoes and beans. Sprinkle sea salt along with a few turns around the bowl with extra virgin olive oil. Mix (with your hands, of course!) and taste. Need anything else? More of something? This is the fun part of cooking – you bring this dish alive and make it taste wonderful. Serve on its own, over arugula, or a mixed greens salad, ever so lightly dressed with lemon and olive oil.
The result:

There was RAW garlic and I kind of ate it! Well only when the chopped bits weren't big enough to scrape to side of the dish. :P

My pasta dish for two:
Boil 1/3 lb of bowtie pasta, drain
Roll around 4 Italian sweet sausage links in a buttered pan on stove over low heat until fully cooked, then cut into bite sized pieces (I got the sausage from my local Italian market- Claros)
Chop up black olives and onion stuffed green ones along with thyme, adding extra virgin olive oil gradually between chops

There was sposed to be rosemary but stupid me forgot the last grocery bag at Albertsons (AFTER I paid for it). I also forgot to buy capers but oh well you can live without it! My coworker Fred has made tapenade for us many times but I never did it myself until now! (We're spoiled!) Anyhoo, then I mixed everything together, garnished with basil, and lightly squeezed some lemon juice over the dish.
The result:

I added sun-dried tomatoes to my dish, Christina added parmesan cheese to hers. I didn't really follow a recipe for this dish, I just visualized in my head what it would look like and I experimented from there. Thank goodness my imagination worked! :P


The hungry cooks! We did good. Mmm mmm!

Escondido Falls, Malibu

This time we went hiking at Escondido Falls, Malibu. It was so much fun! :)
The hikers: Reggie, Dawn, Christina, Ann, Cam

The 4.2 mile hike starts off at the base of PCH. You park in this small lot that's right off Winding Way East and then you make your way up on a paved road- passing a bunch of super nice houses for roughly a mile. You'll see an obvious dirt path where the real hiking starts. At the beginning it's quite flat; then you'll encounter a handful of creek crossings. Then it gets a little steeper but it's quite manageable for a weak-sauce newbie like me. Finally you'll reach the base of the lower falls. That's where I saw this froggy:

This is at the base of the lower falls, which were about 50ft high.


We brought yummy foods: vietnamese sandwiches, spring rolls, pineapples and grapes, and Dawn made this yummy azuki bean jello. It really hit the spot!


Then we decided to do some rock scrambling to get to the upper falls. Doesn't it look like a hairy monster ghost in this shot? But in person it's actually quite beautiful and peaceful. We were the first ones there, so we had the whole place to ourselves.


So lush and peaceful! It was a good thing it rained earlier b/c it made it even nicer!


Dawn brought her dog Reggie. He was so excited on the whole hike!


So everyone was laughing at me b/c I kind of got stuck on the side of the wall and didn't wanna move 'cause I was scared I was gonna slip and fall into the super shallow creek, haha. But I finally made it over to the tree trunk and it didn't seem high at all! Then Dawn and Cam crossed over too and made it look effortless. :P


On our way back I stopped to take this picture. This flower is so pretty! I love how the purple bleeds into the white.

Here are the rest of my pictures. Next time I want to climb to the very top of the upper falls!

Noodle House for the Nth Time

Remember my goal to try as many things as possible on the Noodle House menu?

Well, here we go!

Sweet Sticky Rice Roll
Basically a "you tiao"(dough stick) that has been dipped in sugar and then packed on the outside with sticky rice. The crunchiness of the dough stick really complements the stickiness of the rice. And the sugar is just icing on the cake, so to speak. There's also a salty version.


Spicy Wonton
WHOA this was YUMMY. The wontons were very tender but were sturdy. (I don't like soggy wontons) The wrapping they used was super thin. The filling was tasty! All the wontons were submerged in a slightly oily but smooth/watery chili sauce. There was also a ton of green onions chopped on top. Even though it was a bit spicy I was still able to enjoy it. I definitely recommend this! I even used the dipping sauce for this:


Fried dumplings
So how does it stay fried on the bottom but look like it's been steamed on top? Simple: they basically dump frozen dumplings in a pan with some water. As the water evaporates, the dumplings are being defrosted. When there is very little water left, each is laid on one side and then oil is poured into the pan to settle at the bottom. Let one side brown, then serve upside down on the plate! I liked the texture of the dumpling skins, but I wasn't a fan of the meat inside. It wasn't flavorful enough. Actually, that's how I feel about the meat fried buns too.

Oh yes, order this drink: "Dong Gua Cha." It basically means winter melon tea. It's packed with sugar though! Some of you may opt for the homemade soy milk they make but it's too bland for me!
It was so much better service this time because Josie did most of the talking. She's a native speaker so of course my mandarin doesn't hold a candle to hers!

I want to try the crab next! Who wants to come with?

Baseball babes

I consider myself so lucky to live close enough to my friends & family that I am able to spend quality time with 'em!

I don't have many friends who are baseball fans (or even sports fans) and they are mostly guys (hi Matt!) but it never hurts to expose the gals to the game! I was hoping my little cousins would start getting into it, hehe. Baseball should not just be for boys, but for babes too! >_<
Our view. Every time I've gone to a game, I've always sat in a different section. I think my favorite is pavilion, except that it gets so rowdy you can't buy beer there, hrmph.


Ann loves this pic. It's a cool shot, eh?


We ate so much junk. Garlic fries, corn dog, Coke, beer, hot cheetos, yan-yan, & cotton candy. This morning Christina was like: "get beer- it makes the game more bearable!" And my response was...but I love baseball...I don't need anything to make it bearable! Well, maybe beer did the trick for Ann. Isn't she a great best friend? She sat through the whole game and didn't complain! :)


It was cold! Brrr.

For additional silly photos, go here. Sports fans, stay tuned. The rest of you can skip the following part of my entry.

Btw, SUCKY GAME. Dodger bats had no oomph. I wish the McCourts would leave town and go back east. And they should not have re-signed Nomar- we could have used some of that money for up and coming players. Anyhoo, I guess I'm done with my rant.

"You" Time

Raise your hand if you have free time and you actually spend it on yourself!

Kudos to you if you do. It seems that everyone I know leads such hectic lives due to demanding work schedules, never-ending academic responsibilities, familial obligations, time devoted to significant others, and/or desire to keep in regular contact with friends. And then there's people who manage to do it all without skipping a beat.

While it's important to maintain some aspects of the above because...
Work = money = rent & bills
Academics = career = work = rent & bills
Family = unconditional love
Sig others = who doesn't enjoy a really good cuddle? :)
Friends = who else will do crazy things with you like pose for bowling ball boobs pics?

...I think that it's important to not forget about yourself. Do those things that you've always wanted to do for yourself, but couldn't because there's always an excuse to be had.

While I have a good amount of free time, my excuse is that I'm always tired/lazy/poor to do anything else but watch DVDs and the TV, read, and "wikipedia" random crap. I want to take my free time in another direction and complete real things on my list other than the food ones that I keep doing over and over 'cause it's easy.

Anyways...if you guys are looking for a direction to go into in terms of spending your time, check out CNN.com's quiz. I got "discovery."

DISCOVERY
Life is a journey, and you take the time to smell every single rose along the way. Your brain is a sponge, soaking up every detail of life around you, and you constantly look inward to figure out the ties that bind you to the universe. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it's what makes you tick. You might like hobbies like participating in archaeological digs, botany, assembling models, playing the stock market, meditation or even parapsychology.

I think that fits me perfectly! I have so many random interests that I usually don't commit to one single thing. Food is a close second though...I can't wait to have my own place and start experimenting in my kitchen! I also want to be more outdoorsy but I need to get over my fear of falling on a simple kid-friendly hiking trail, hehe. I want to indulge more in traveling, but I need to find a way to get over being homesick. I am not super creative though, but I want to make efforts to think outside the box more often. :)

So, what did you guys get?

Nanceepoo & Jeannieweenie

Then

Now

Thank goodness some things never change!

Nancy and I used to see each other almost everyday for 3 years since we were floor/roommates. But now it seems like we only see each other once a month! :( At least that's better than nothing!

So yesterday we:
Shopped

Yes, we both ended up buying it.

Ate

Red Dragon


Shogun Special


Baked Scallops over California Rolls with eel sauce


Shogun Sushi
10174 Reseda Blvd
Northridge, CA 91324
(plaza on the corner of Reseda and Devonshire)

Bowled


Visited Yuri + Eddie + Baby

Yuri scared us with a lot of stories. No babies for us for a LONG TIME! It was so great to see her in action as a mamma though. :)

For more pics, go here. Can't wait to go shopping again! I love picking out clothes for my gals. :)

How Susan Made My Day

Susan: but! this brings me to an important issue

...

Susan: will you be my maid of honor?

me: awww! yes!

Susan: yaaaaaay!

I was having an icky morning and this was a total surprise!

Things I am excited about:
1. What my dress will look like. Susan is adamant about no red. Thank goodness! When I was a bridesmaid a couple summers ago, we were swathed in super-duper red dresses.
2. Throwing the bridal shower
3. Toast/speech during reception
4. Planning the bachelorette party! (which is on the list --->)
5. Just being able to be a part of one of the happiest days of her life!

Summer 2008 sounds so far away but it'll be here before we know it! :)

Ratatat

Nikolaj took me to see Ratatat tonight at the Glasshouse in Pomona. I had never heard of them or their music but Nikolaj's friend Sandy and Jenta were pretty psyched to see 'em so I guess it rubbed off on me too.

Since they didn't come on until 10:30, we had time to kill so we went in search of some happy juice. We started at a pizza parlor, where we saw some cool chairs!

Since the pizza parlor only had beer and my 2 coronas weren't enough, we went in search of a bar. I built my happy buzz some more at some sports/karaoke bar called Characters and ended up singing "All the Small Things" by Blink 182 in front of strangers! I really wanted to do "Can't Stop" by the Chili Peppers but they didn't have it. :(


Finally, we walked back to the Glasshouse and after a delay the show started! Very cool music. It was fun to dance to! I got tired though...plus it was stuffy inside. At least I wore comfy shoes.

I should be sleeping now b/c I'm pretty exhausted but for some reason my mind is running like 60 and I can't seem to fall asleep. I better try alot harder to get rest 'cause the Boss is coming to pick me up early in the morn to carpool for work!

For more photos, hop on over to my flickr acct.

Monrovia Falls Hike

We went hiking today! It was my first hike since the brutal mosquito ridden one that I did in Hawai'i. After that experience, I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to go again!


This is the trail we did. Let's see...1.75 miles each way...0.6 miles to and from the car (cause we didn't wanna pay for parking)...total was almost 5 miles. Not bad for a first time out. I am a weaksauce hiker though. I get scared that I'm going to slip and roll down the hill, haha. So kid-friendly trails for me! I'm lame, I know. :P


Cute sign!


The gals- minus Dawn who couldn't go :( Next time!


We thought this was funny! All the deer signs had 'em.

I think we're going to try to make this a monthly thing. The girls wanna do all the hikes in SGV mtns just so we could go eat afterwards, hehe. Ok ladies, where is the next hike gonna be??
For more photos, go to my flickr acct.