Me and Internet

Andrew and I decided early on to not get cable. Mostly because we don't really watch TV and we have netflix, hulu, etc.

So, I spend a lot of my day on wikipedia and google. I didn't actually notice this habit until recently but then I realized, it's kind of random. And then I wondered, "Has wikipedia become my animal planet?" Here's just a few things from the last few days:

1. Bonobos
2. Zamboni
3. Steam heater
4. Chamomile
5. Beavers (they're actually kind of helpful to many fish populations)
6. Grizzly bear attacks
7. Salt deposits on terra cotta pots
8. French revolution
9. Mochi
10. Peanuts
11. Electric eels
12. Sawfish
13. Invasive species
14. Introduced species
15. Papua New Guinea
16. Lymph nodes
17. Anneliese Michel (creepy!)
18. The Congo

These are just a few of the things I've read about. I'll leave you with a few things I learned.
Zamboni is someone's last name! He actually was in the refrigerator business and opened up an ice rink. He tried to figure out a way to keep the ice smooth without it being so time consuming and eventually came up with the Zamboni.
Electric eels aren't eels. They're actually in a class of fish called knife fish. One eel can produce up to 600 volts of electricity! The electricity is used to stun their prey, but also used to locate because they have poor eyesight.
Bears are killed after attacks on humans because they're afraid they'll get a taste for human and then actively try to kill them for food. Scary.
You can get salt deposits on terra cotta pots if you have too much excess in your fertilizer. It's actually harmful to plants but can be removed by scrubbing with something like a brillo pad and using vinegar. Okay, that's all I want to share for today.

Madeleine

My dog is a log. She's a log of fur and cuddliness. The vet says she needs to not be a log. That she must have a waist. But for now, she is a log and I love her and shower her with... an appropriate amount of food.

New Year

I've never really been the type of person to make resolutions when the new year rolled around. (Why does "rolled" look incorrect? Is there another way to spell that?) Probably because I'm not very good at committing to things and I am a creature of habit. I decided to make one this year and see how it pans out. I find that it's easiest to stick to something that makes you happy. So the resolution I came up with is to read more books that will feed my soul.

True, I've read many classics during undergrad, but not by choice and they don't count because I was half asleep for most of my four years in college. So here I go... and hopefully this is one resolution that I can keep!

Flower Girl and Ring Bearer

Photos by Youkeun Oh Photography

FYI, we never asked him to pose like that. He's just a natural!

One of the most fun things for me when planning the wedding was planning ensemble for the ring bearer and flower girl. 

I knew from the beginning that I wanted my niece to wear a super poofy tulle tutu type dress. I found several I liked on Etsy, and my sister and I settled on this number.  It has a gray hand crocheted (is there any other type of crochet?) bodice and a tulle skirt complete with a yellow crocheted flower at the waistline. 

I asked our florist to make her a posy of feverfew and craspedia tied with a fun ribbon. Because she is such a tiny thing, I knew something like a pomander bouquet would be much to heavy for her. I was so pleased with how her posy came out. I wanted to die at how cute it was!!!

Her shoes were silver sparkly Toms and she completed her look with a yellow hairband.

Do you see that the florist tied the posy with a ribbon of daisies? So cute. I die.

As for the ring bearer, being that the wedding was going to be in the middle of summer, I wanted my nephew to be comfortable. I found these grey seersucker shorts from JCrew, and they were perfection. Complete with a white button up shirt, and a yellow tie from Etsy, he looked a little preppy but had some personality! I'm sure the bleached faux hawk also had a little to do with that. I gave him a choice of shoes--white or gray low top Converse sneakers or Sperry Topsiders sans socks. (or ankle socks) I'm not sure what brand his shoes ended up being, but I loved the look.

As for his pillow, I kind of pulled it all together with scraps, buttons, and trimmings, I had here and there leftover from previous projects.  I loved how rustic it turned out :)

This photo, obviously, is not by our photographer, but by my cell phone. On my bed. hahaha

Everything about the flower girl and ring bearer came together so beautifully! It probably doesn't hurt that they are also the two cutest kids in the world! :D

Watermelon Caprese Salad and Sisters

Doesn't this picture look like some scary bloody horror show?

Growing up, I loved to copy my sister. Everything she did always seemed so perfect. I wanted to be just like her. I copied the way she colored, her handwriting, everything! I would even take her art projects, that she spent DAYS on, to school to show all my friends. And broke them. Haha... Funny now, but not so much back then.

Anyway, somehow everything I did never looked as perfect as the way she did it.

I suppose this salad is no exception. She made us these yummy appetizers when we were visiting her in Napa. They were cubed watermelon, mozzarella, and basil stuck on a toothpick and drizzled with balsamic reduction. Perfectly bite-sized.

I was craving it a few weeks ago and decided to make it. As you can see by my picture my watermelon is all chopped in different sizes. And we had no toothpicks. Oh, and on my first attempt I reduced my balsamic vinegar until it was the consistency of...  well... cement. On my second attempt, I was scared to make the same mistake twice so I didn't even bother to let it reduce.

Aside from the look, it tasted so good!

Ingredients

Watermelon, cubed

Fresh Mozzarella

Basil, julienned

Balsamic Reduction (Or in my case, cement)

Pepper

To make the reduction, just heat up some good balsamic vinegar in a sauce pan. Wait until it starts to boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer until you get the consistency you want. Place the watermelon on a plate and top with all the other ingredients. Hope yours doesn't look like mine!

p.s. I've long since accepted the fact that my style just isn't impeccable. It's crazy and messy and that's just me! 

두부 조림

Moving on to another side dish...

I don't even know what 두부 조림 means. Google Translate says "Boiled Tofu." But it's not really boiled. So I tried just 조림 and they said it means, "afforrestation." I'm PRETTY sure that's not what I did to the tofu. To me it means cooking it in some sauce until the liquid starts to disappear. So whatever the word is for that is what it is. Anyone want to define it for me?

This side dish is a nice go-to dish because it's so quick to make. Basically, buy some firm tofu, cut it into thin squares and fry it in some oil. When it's almost all cooked, top it with the Korean staple of soy sauce, sesame oil, minced garlic, red pepper flakes, and sliced green onions. Go easy on the soy sauce because it can be really salty. Cook for a few more minutes and then eat it. That's it!

(I use about 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part sesame oil. Everything else you add to your preference.)

Optional: My sister dips her tofu in egg before she fries it and it's super good that way too. :)

Oh and I almost forgot! Don't forget to wash your tofu before you cook it. I dunno why, my mom says to. That's why.

계란 말이... egg roll?

Since we got married, I've been attempting to make more Korean food. Why? I don't know. 

Anyway, 계란 말이 (gaeran mari) isn't really an egg roll. It IS egg, and it is rolled... but it's not an egg roll. Capisce?

I guess it's more like an omelette. I made it in a kind of non-traditional way because... well because I felt like it. It tasted like 계란찜 (gaeran jjim) which I love, so I was happy. :D Anywho, Korean food is a little tricky because if you ask any Korean ajumma how to make a dish, they don't give you measurements. And like a true Korean ajumma, which I am now because I'm married, I won't either!

If you want to make it the "traditional" way, eliminate the milk/water and the sesame oil

Ingredients:

Eggs

Milk/Water

Onions/Green Onions, diced really small

Carrots, diced really small

Salt

Sesame Oil

Pepper

Heat up a pan with some oil on low heat. Beat everything together. Pour into the frying pan. As it cooks, start to roll the egg at one end. Let it cook, then roll it again. Keep repeating until the whole thing is rolled up. One thing my mom taught me, is to put a sheet of 김 (laver) at the beginning before you roll it. It's good that way, but also good without. When it's all cooked through, slice it and serve!

As you can see, I served it with some sriracha. Btw, I went to a Thai restaurant once and the server got mad that I called it sriracha. Apparently Si Racha is a region in Thailand and the rooster sauce that we all love is just chili sauce. I don't care what it's called. I love me some SRIRACHA.

Pan-Roasted Chicken with Leeks

For my birthday last year, A got me a subscription to Food Network Magazine. It's awesome because now that we don't have cable, it's like watching Food Network at my own leisure!

A few days ago, we bought a cast iron skillet at Macy's (which A had to lug all around the mall but that's another story haha!) I decided to make this recipe as the first ever thing to cook with my cast iron skillet. After cooking it, I realized I need to lift weights or something... or maybe I could just lift my skillet over my head 20 times a day.

Back to the recipe, I didn't brown the chicken enough which is why my chicken doesn't look the nice deep brown that it does in their magazine:

It probably also helps that they have professional chefs, food stylists, and photographers. Sigh, when will my food look this awesome? Answer: Likely never.  *cries* Thanks for the moral support, inner voice.

So here's the recipe. It's really easy! I cooked the roux for a little too long and so it came out a bit too thick. Also, I think less flour and more chicken stock would make it taste better. 

A and I enjoyed it in the 100+ degree weather with some rice. What should I cook next in our cast iron?

Cold Soba Salad

I realized recently that I blog the things that I cook not to share recipes, but so I could remember what I cooked and what general ingredients I used. Why? Because there are those days when I can't think of anything to cook for dinner and I can just flip through my blog to see what I enjoyed/didn't enjoy. It's also nice to look at how I started out barely being able to make spaghetti to making up my own recipes.

This dish was something I just decided to cook because it was hot outside and I had a bunch of corn in my fridge. On a side note, I've recently discovered that fresh corn in the summer is delicious! I've roasted it in the oven, fried it on a pan, eaten it raw, and tried it in a handful of different recipes.  An easy one is just to cut the corn off the cob raw, add some diced red onions, avocado (slightly hard), lime, cilantro, s&p and enjoy with chips. So good! Another way I've had it is cooked in a pan with some diced onions, mixed with raw diced bell pepper, basil, some olive oil, vinegar, and s&p.  (Serve chilled)

Anyway, this past week I bought 5 ears of corn and I thought I'd roast it. But the weather was so hot, it was just sitting in my fridge. So I decided to make a cold noodle salad with it. Because it was kind of on the fly, I didn't really pay attention to how much of what I used. But you can just adjust according to your preferences.

Ingredients:

Soba noodles (cooked, then rinsed in cold water to chill)

2 Ears of Corn, raw (Just remove the husk and slice off the kernels. Use the back of your knife to scrape the creamy yummy goodness left on the cob)

1 Bunch of Cilantro, chopped

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, diced

1 Jalapeno, diced

1 Medium Carrot, julienned

1/4 Onion, diced into very small pieces

2-3 Stalks(?) of Green Onion

Toasted Sesame Seeds

For the Dressing:

Soy Sauce

Sugar

Sesame Oil

Olive Oil

Ginger Powder

2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

Vinegar

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Sriracha

I honestly don't remember how much of what I used.  about 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1-2 tbsp sugar, 1-2 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1 tsp vinegar, 1/2-1 tbsp sriracha

Mix it all together. Eat it. 

Yummy yummy, That's a Pizza Pie!

My nephew has this crazy Elmo toy that sings a song about making pizza... "Yummy yummy that's a pizza pie!" The pizza has eyes and a mouth and sings too. It's all very... loud and confusing.

Anyway, this pizza recipe is SO easy and so good! Why so easy? Because I don't make my own pizza dough. Although, I suppose I could, but who has the time? Plus, I'm afraid my pizza might grow eyes and a mouth and start singing with me. So if you're on a time crunch, this is a good go-to recipe that doesn't require much cooking.

Ingredients:
Heirloom Tomato, sliced (I'm sure any other tomato would be just as good)
Basil, julienned or torn into small pieces
Fresh Mozarella (I used ciliegine in water)
Garlic
Your choice of marinara/pizza sauce/pasta sauce. I used Mezzetta: Napa Valley Bistro's Creamy Vodka (which is not made in Napa Valley btw...)
Pizza dough (I used the one in the can that pops and gives you a heart attack)
Dried Italian Herbs
Salt
Pepper

Slice/grate the mozarella. Since I had ciliegine on hand, they're just too small to grate. So I sliced instead. Unroll the pizza dough and bake as indicated on the can. (Some require prebaking) Spread some pasta sauce onto the prebaked dough. Don't use too much or your pizza dough will be soggy. Next, do a layer of cheese, then a layer of tomatoes and garlic, then a little more cheese, and then top with basil and some Italian herbs, salt, and pepper. The cheese melts then spreads so you might want to go easy on it! Pop it in the oven and bake until the cheese melts.

Some variations: Use pesto sauce, or add pepperoni

Hummus = Whale?

Don't ask me why, but I used to think hummus was made out of whale.
"Would you like some hummus?"
"No thank you, I don't eat whale."
Not that I have a problem with people eating whale. (Gasp! You mean I don't care about Whale Wars? No, I don't.) I just thought it was like... blubber. Gross.

Anyway, sometime during/after my college years I discovered that hummus was, in fact, NOT whale. It's chick peas/garbanzo beans! And, it's delicious! This was an exciting discovery.

Anywho..... off the topic of my stupidity and on to the subject of making hummus. It's super easy to make as long as you have a food processor of some sort.

Ingredients:
1 can (15 oz) of Garbanzo beans
1-1.5 tbsp of Tahini
2-3 cloves of Garlic, minced
1/3 cup of Sundried Tomatoes, in oil
1.5 tbsp of Basil, julienned
1-1.5 tbsp lemon juice
Salt
Olive Oil

Pour the liquid from the can of garbanzo beans into a separate container. Process the beans, garlic, tahini, tomatoes, salt, and basil until smooth. If it's too thick, add some of the reserve liquid. Taste your hummus. Does it need more tomato taste? Add some more tomatoes, or some of the oil. Do you like more garlic? Add more!

The thing I love about this is that you can just add more or whatever to your liking and adjust to your own taste.  Oh, and if you just want plain hummus, take out the tomatoes and basil.

Pour the hummus into a shallow dish. Using the back of a spoon or something, make a shallow dip in the center of your hummus and pour in some olive oil. Top with paprika if you'd like.

Married Life

Every other day, Andrew comes home really late from either school or work. The other day I thought I'd have a little midnight meal waiting for him.

My mom used to make us omurice when we were kids. I could never get the rice out of the bowl perfectly. It always topples over. I suppose I could've tucked the edges of the egg underneath the rice but, as with most things, I didn't feel like it. ANYWAY...

Whenever you have some fried rice that you'd like to change up a bit, just beat an egg (I mixed mine with a little bit of milk to make it fluffy) and fry it on low heat until it's cooked through. Then pack a small bowl with your fried rice and upturn it onto a plate. Upturn. Upturn. Is that a word?  Cover the rice with the egg and voila! Omurice! :)

p.s. We finally got our silverware! So exciting. :) :) :)

p.p.s. I realize this post had nothing do with married life. HAHAHA... *insert crazy maniacal laugh here.*

A Dress

During the course of wedding planning I found it so easy to decide upon some things. For instance, the wedding colors: gray and yellow. I knew I wanted peonies. I knew we'd use craspedia. We never changed the flavor of our cake. Then there were those things that I could not decide upon.  This post will be about one of those things... the dress.

I had no clue what style of wedding dress I wanted. I just knew what I didn't want: beading. This turned out to be funny because the dress I ended up with had beading! But it also had a V-shaped back, a sweetheart neckline, and a belt that tied into a ribbon--all things that I loved.  I think in the end I realized that I just wanted to be comfortable and it wasn't so much THE dress but A dress. But it took like 1038403985 mind-changes to come to that realization.

So I decided to include all the dresses that I once loved in this blog post.

Here's dress 1. After trying on a bunch of princess-y over-the-top ball gown dresses that I specifically said I didn't want, I came across this one. I fell in love with the back (don't mind my tan) and with the vintage-y color. But then a few months later, I started hating the front.

So then I decided on dress #2. It had an old Hollywood type of feel to it. But then I kept staring at pictures of the back of it thinking, "Is my butt really that big??"

So then I went on to dress #3. It was so different from anything else I tried on. It had tulle! and little cut out leaves! It was so ethereal and fun... but then people began to question if it was too casual. So then I started to question if it was too casual.

Which brought me to dress #4. It was so ruffly and cake-y and girly! I was planning on changing the neckline to a sweetheart. I was all set. But then my sister mentioned it looked like a mummy... and then all I could think was mummy. Plus, the drop waist made my legs look super short.

So back to the drawing board. Then I came across this one. All tulle, sweetheart neckline, A-line to hide my short legs. I'm not sure what made me change my mind about this one. I think I was just really confused by this point. Also, I think the ladies at the store were THISCLOSE to banning me from wedding dresses for changing my mind every month. 

The dress I finally chose wasn't perfect. It didn't fit perfectly. I didn't love every detail about it... But, when the day came, I found that it really didn't matter. I was just happy to get married.

photography by Youkeun Oh Photography

 Here is our first look--my favorite moment of the day. Oh, and don't mind my abnormally obese, discolored arm and claw fingers in this picture.

Moral of the story? Not everything will be necessarily perfect when planning a wedding but, you'll find that what's most important overcomes all those other imperfections. 

untitled

I was cleaning and noticed my rag had a smiley face on it.

A and I laughed and laughed.

Just one of the many perks of having a best friend.

Oven Roasted Rosemary and Garlic Potatoes

Have I mentioned that I love carbs? This is probably the reason I looked 6 months pregnant in my wedding dress.

This dish was inspired by the fact that I live so far from the nearest California Chicken Cafe and I just really wanted to eat their potatoes.

All you need to make this is time because it takes about an hour.

Ingredients:

Potatoes

Rosemary Leaves, minced

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Onion, chopped in slices

Garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop... cut? Slice? I never understand the terminology. Just... somehow take your knife and use it so your potatoes now look like wedges. This next step you can do in a separate bowl or in the vessel you are going to use in the oven. Basically, mix the potatoes, rosemary leaves, salt, pepper, onion, and garlic together with enough olive oil to coat everything.

Place in oven. In about 20-25 minutes, turn the potatoes over. If they looka a bit dry, add some more oil. Bake for another 30-35 minutes.

Enjoy!  We had some with roasted chicken and it was soooo good.

Yakisoba! (sort of...)

Don't mind this ugly picture. I promise you, it's tasty!

HELLO reader(s?)! This is my first post-wedding post! Perhaps I should call it my post post. And if I were mailing it, it'd be a post post post! And if I were sitting on a post, it'd be a post post post post!

ANYWAY, as soon as I have some pictures from the wedding, I'll write more details. But for now, I will share a recipe with you.

For some reason, before the wedding, I had been craving yakisoba. For those who don't know, yaki= japanese for "fried" so this dish is basically fried noodles! I don't know about you, but I LOVE noodles, pasta, carbs, fat, cholesterol, clogged arteries... oh wait, where was I?

This dish is relatively simple to make as long as you are willing to chop some vegetables! I've never had yakisoba with perilla leaves, but I was craving it so I added it in. And guess what? It was so good!

Just a note: In true Korean style, I have no measurements for you... and being that I'm at work right now, my directions may kind of suck. Haha. Sue me.

Ingredients:

1/4 of 1 Cabbage

Carrot: Julienned

1/2 Onion: sliced, diced, whatever you prefer

1-2 cloves of Garlic: minced

Ginger: about 1 inch, minced

Mushrooms: I used about 6-7 mushrooms

Shabu Shabu Beef: about 1/2 lb which is about 1/2 a package, cut into bite-sized pieces

Broccoli

2 Packages of uncooked Ramen (or you can use actual yakisoba noodles)

1 Bundle of Perilla Leaves (the Korean kind): chopped

Green onions

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Olive oil

Sugar

Salt

Pepper

Start by marinating the beef, carrots, and onions in sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, sugar, garlic, ginger,and olive oil. Basically as if you were making bulgogi. Don't put too much soy sauce because you can always adjust the saltiness later. Marinate for about 30-40 min.

Cook the ramen noodles (discarding the packets of sauce). Drain and set aside.

Next, in a large skillet, cook the marinated beef, carrots, and onions. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir fry. Next, add the cooked ramen and cook altogether on high heat. At this point, add more soy sauce and sesame oil, and pepper, to your liking.

Turn off the heat and add chopped perilla leaves and green onions. If you'd like, you can sprinkle some sesame seeds on top. Enjoy!

36

36 days left!

So many little things left to do. But it's nice to know that they are just little things.

Everyone says their wedding day is the biggest day of their life but I'm more excited to come home after the honeymoon and continue our lives together. 

Hopefully I'll have time this summer to keep updating this blog. School has been crazy town and I'm glad to have a few months to settle in to married life before it all begins again.

I'm not big on showing/telling people all the little details of our wedding. I mean, I feel most people couldn't care less what flowers you chose, what color the linens are... etc. 

But this is one thing I want to share. I love pink peonies. Though pink is not even one of our wedding colors, I just had to choose it. It was one of the first things I decided on when we started planning our wedding. :) Hope it's not super heavy!

A rabbit, a pig, a cat, and a girl...

Among my 5,004 hobbies, I used to like to make stuffed animals out of socks. Yup, socks. Clean/new socks!

Here's the first one I ever made. A little bunny complete with a bunny tail and a heart-shaped belly button. I didn't really know what I was doing which explains why she has abnormal arms and lopsided eyes. (Shh... don't tell her!)

Here's Mr. Piggy. Isn't he so cute? I just love his little beady eyes.

He is pondering life. Actually, he just wanted me to get his good side.

This little kitty I made out of argyle socks. She used to have a name... one of my kindergarten students named her. But I forgot what. Oops!

Oops this picture is a little underexposed for my taste.

This one is still a work in progress. I realize she may be creepy to some, but she reminds me of a doll I had as a kid, and that makes me happy :)

My buttons also make me so happy!

Turkey and Pancetta Meatballs, Pasta with Mint Pesto and Fava

It's been a while since I've cooked anything. I mean really cooked. Sandwiches and ready-made salads don't count! The pictures don't do this pasta and meatballs and justice. I got this recipe from Martha Stewart's Dinner at Home. I love this cookbook. I know I've mentioned it several times but everything that I've cooked from it is just so yummy and relatively easy.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)
Pasta with Mint Pesto and Fava:
1 cup shelled fresh fava beans
1/2 cup roasted unsalted almonds
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup pecorino (I gave my cheese grater to my sister so I used pre-grated parmesan)
1/4 cup plus 3 tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 cups fresh mint
12 oz capellini
s&p

Turkey and Pancetta Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey (I used white meat)
1 oz thinly sliced pancetta, finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup bread crumbs
1 large whole egg plus 1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp finely chopped fresh sage
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
olive oil
s&p

Boil some water in a small pot. Blanch the fava beans until bright green and tender. Remove from heat and run under cold water. Next, remove the beans from the skins. (Be careful when peeling not to break the beans inside!) Set aside.

Next, in a food processor, pulse the almonds with the garlic until coarsely ground. Add the olive oil and cheese and process to a coarse paste. Leave this in the food processor because you'll work on it again.

Next, mix the turkey, pancetta, garlic, bread crumbs, and onions. Season with s&p. Add the egg, sage, and zest. Mix thoroughly and then form the mixture into meatballs.

Start boiling water for pasta.

Heat a large skillet over medium high. Add oil. Add the meatballs to the skillet and cook thoroughly (takes about 7-10 minutes)

Add your noodles to the pasta when the water boils. Capellini cooks fairly quickly so be careful not to over cook and end up with smushy noodles. Yuck. When the noodles are done, drain and transfer a large mixing bowl.

Next, add the mint to the almond/garlic/cheese mixture and pulse until coarsely chopped. If it's not really pulsing, stir around with a spoon and try again. The reason you should leave this last is because the green leaves will turn brown if made in advance. Gross. Another way to avoid this is to top the pesto with olive oil... but that just seems like a lot of oil.

Add the pesto and beans to the noodles and mix well. Serve with meatballs and top with additional cheese and lemon juice if you'd like.

the munchkins are coming!

the munchkins are coming to visit this weekend...

yay :)