Favorite Things Four

• My dog is a bit smelly and has quite a musty smell. At the same time this smell feels like home to me. Oh dear. 
• Tyler Knott Gregson's bits of poems, words, and photography. Google him. 
• This list. That song from The Sound of Music really knew what they were talking about. 
• Bon Iver Pandora around midnight with the cold night air filling up the space around me. 

Favorite Things Three

• Being busy (with important or unimportant things). 
• Moving on. 

Favorite Things Two

• Cool night air
• Cooking...I'm a foodie. 
• Camping
• Clouds
• All things that start with "c" (just kidding...maybe)
• Hiking....I've decided I'm a hiking junkie
• Solitude
• Photography
• The city. I love the hustle and bustle, crowds of people, plethora of cuisines, so much to see - culture, music, art, ideas. I'm a city girl. I could never give up the "dirtiness", social tremors, 
• Nature. I love the view, the unpredictability, the adventure, and the freedom. Nature is completely and utterly quiet. the sound of the wind. Campfires [, s'mores, and roasted Starburst], oh the burn of campfires. And a sky that will take your breath away at any time, any time.
• City and nature? Yea, I'm all over the place.
• Wacky weather. Thunderstorms are enveloping, like Mother Nature's heartbeat. Lightning is mesmerizing, purely mesmerizing. I could be a storm chaser.
• Music. It moves me and fills up any emptiness. 

Favorite Things One

• Rain in the middle night and my windows are open so I can hear it. Especially pouring rain.
• "I'll Follow You Into the Dark" by Death Cab for Cutie. Particularly between the dark hours of 11pm-4am

I'm that awkward friend who just randomly shows up after some time.

Hi. I did miss you quite a lot. But I didn't know what to say or what to write. I get self-conscious of the internet world. Sharing details of my life and thoughts....at times I think Oh, who will see what I write? and other times I think Everyone will see what I write, I better keep to myself. I also think It's been so long, I should just scrap this. But then I feel uneasy because I need a place to spill my guts and although I spill my guts verbally, I do need to write. I'm not a literary, I hardly read or write, but when I talk I imagine the words scrolling across the little screen in my head like a teleprompter. Writing the words I think helps me slow down, and I've been moving too fast lately.

So baby steps. I'll inch my way back, slowly.

My friend said I should start a food blog. Ehh. Too much work to do as much as I like. However, I would like to post the results of a successful dinner. It was my first "dinner party" tonight. The first time I really ever cooked a well-balanced dinner for more than one person**. Usually my parents cook so I've never made an entree. More often just desserts and baked goods or snacks, never a full meal with proteins, veggies, and dessert. It took a while but I'm really proud of myself and it was quite delicious. More deets below....

The Menu

This is my birthday present to one of my dearest friends. She really likes tacos so she requested it. I threw in a chocolate flourless cake as a birthday cake ending. My knife skills are really lacking so the prep work and putting it together took a really long time but if you're an experienced cook it would take much less time. In hindsight, I should have used a food processor, lots of chopping!

• Carne asada marinated chicken - cilantro, garlic, onion, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salt, lime + lime juice, cumin, paprika, chile powder in the marinade plus chicken thigh meat (I believe dark meats are more flavorful, juicier, and harder to screw up than chicken breast. It's up to you. If you're worried about fat, just trim it! That's what I did and I didn't lose any flavor). Next time I do this, I'm going to marinate the chicken overnight but a few hours did just fine. After I cooked the chicken, I added julienned sweet mini bell peppers and chopped onions to pick up the chicken flavors in the pan and to bulk up the dish
• Guacamole - avocados, cilantro, lime juice, red onions, salt
• Tomato salsa - tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, red onions, salt, chile powder
• Mango salsa - mangoes*, cucumbers, red onions, chile powder, salt, lime juice...I adapted this from a recipe on foodnetwork.com
• Sour cream
• Sliced avocados - you can never have too many avocadoes!
• Shredded cheese
• Tortillas

I took the pictures with my phone so images are quite shoddy. I was a bit too lazy to grab my camera near me and I couldn't grab the camera before we started digging in. We were starved!

Lime juice, cilantro and onions (white or red...I used white with cooking and marinades and red with the salsas) are a common ingredient. Although recipes usually have amounts and such I've learned that the best rule in general is to follow your taste buds and what you like. For all of this I used my general knowledge and compared recipes online. I'm Asian and this was the first time I've ever cooked "Mexican" food. The only thing I would like to add is jalapeños to the chicken, tomato salsa, and mango salsa because I love spices and a hot kick but my friend doesn't tolerate heat well so I excluded it. Whether or not you make it spicy is up to you. I don't think you'd miss out on the flavor either way.

*I used a Mexican mango which was the first time I ever tried it. I'm not a big fan, it's too fibrous and mushy for my tastes. I'm used to Thai mangoes, I think either chauk anan or nam taan jin, maybe even simsean but I don't remember them being so orange-y. Anyways I'm used to Thai mangoes from Asian supermarkets. I would recommend using them when they're just ripe a day or two so they are firm enough in the salsa)

We cut this up before I could take a picture again. It's topped with a chocolate ganache which adds a really beautiful and shiny finishing touch to the cake's appearance.

• Flourless Chocolate Cake - search wholefoodsmarket.com ... it's gluten-free! I had homemade flourless chocolate cake once before and the crumbs of the cake I made was more crumbly than the one I had before. I think because most other recipes use heavy cream, which I imagine adds a silky smooth texture to the cake and makes it a lot more satisfying. But this one was like a really good brownie. Definitely one of the simplest cake recipes I've ever seen.
• Quartered strawberries - plus a bit of brown sugar to draw out a little liquid, enhance the strawberries' natural sweetness, and make a light syrup...the strawberries add a beautiful refreshing touch to chocolate-intense cake

Bon appétit!

**Correction 6/3/12 - Actually I've cooked dinner for another person before but it was just a pizza, hardly well-balanced but still delicious!

Lesson Learned

I am selfish. I do good things for others because I should and that makes me feel good (the doing good for others and doing what I should). And then I learn how my actions mean so much more to whomever is on the receiving end. It makes me feel greatly, greatly humiliated. I need to stay grounded and open my eyes.  I need to see the world around me, it's so easy to miss out on so much.

Lesson learned: Pride is such an easy emotion to take in. 

Noms

I like food. No LOVE food. If I could live as long as I want to live and had the fortune (both kinds) to do so I would still become a healthcare professional but also go to culinary school and become a chef. This past semester I've learned to "torture" myself with cooking videos and food videos. Videos of foodies and chefs talking about some homemade deliciousness from some restaurant that will have to wait until this girl earns a steady income. Food and sleep occupy the highest spot on my list of priorities and reasons to spend money. Sure, I'm a girl, I like clothes, and I like fashion but I'm too thrifty for that stuff. Besides, a "fashionista" works with what she's got.


Food on the other hand, oh food. You never get the same thing twice. I'm not picky, I'll eat whatever and I'll eat it all. A friend once told me that life is too short to not try a new food, if you don't like it you have reason to never eat it again, but how will you know until you've tried?


I found this list online from another, more-seasoned (haha, no pun intended) blogger. He made a list called "Omnivore's Hundred", a list of a hundred foods that he felt was so crucial for any foodie to experience. Obviously, this list isn't inclusive and is taken only from one man's point of view, but I like lists, and I like food. Bon appetit!

*I've possibly had it? - Sometimes, I'm not quite specific on what food I've eaten. Take carp for example, I've eaten so many kinds of fish, so it's quite possible I've eaten it but don't know.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare - I had carpaccio....so close!
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp*
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart - really?
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras - I had the Chinese version
24. Rice and beans - I've had rice and I've had beans, but it's probably not what this guy is talking about
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche*
28. Oysters - yuck!
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi - I've had sweetened
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - never would I ever
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - I really really want to!!
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin - I always thought I never liked it, even after I tried it. Then I went to a fancy shmancy Japanese restaurant that had the freshest I've ever tasted and realize...it's good.
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi*
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal*
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini - I've had a classic martini and I could hardly ingest 5 little sips of it. It tastes like rubbing alcohol.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine - I want to! Someone take me to Canada!
60. Carob chips - Most interesting thing I've heard of today.
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads - I WANT TO. But if you don't know what they are, I wouldn't look them up...
63. Kaolin - And this is the craziest this I've heard all day. WHAT? I'm hoping the author is joking. 
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs - Lovely childhood story behind this. 
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - Thank you Disneyland CA and every carnival/festival in America. Oh and today I learned that fried dough is also call elephant ears, I'm going to say that next time I buy it. 
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - But plantain chips are my Achilles tendon.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho - It was made by a classmate for Spanish class. I don't think it was authentic and I didn't quite like it. ¡Quiero ir a España!
72. Caviar and blini - I would love to. Unfortunately masago, tobiko, and ikura don't count as caviar. 
73. Louche absinthe - Ew no. 
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill - Hell no.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - WTF?
78. Snail - Delish!
79. Lapsang souchong*
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky - Not bad for a Western people.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant - Um no money, no food honey.
85. Kobe beef*
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers - Fried, stuffed zuchini flowers at the best, most authetic, most fancy Italian restaurant I've ever been to.
89. Horse - I have friends who would eat me before I ate it, so this is one of the things that I could never touch.
90. Criollo chocolate - Does 90% count?
91. Spam*
92. Soft shell crab - Can't. Live. Without.
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake


Haha...this foodie hasn't eaten much. But I looked at a Chinese one and I did much better on that one.

Today I Saw

• the flyest little Filipino boys playing in the subway...they're growing up to be studly little heartbreakers
• the cutest and oldest Asian couple walking around an extremely busy shopping center asking for directions. They were dressed as if they were going on a date or to meet family for a fancy dinner
• lots and lots of puppies, many of them were rescued

I learned that a lot of shit happens but it's easy to find reasons to be hopeful for humanity and keep faith.

Greetings

It's been a while since I've written so I thought I'd check in and see what's up while I wait for my phone to charge. I've been up to aimless nothings. other than reading I don't have many purposeful things to do. It's not that wish to be back at school either but vacationing in Hong Kong is like going to another home. Perhaps I could go exploring by myself but then I always have plans to go to in a few hours, I never get the whole day to myself. Well, I think I'll go downstairs and dilly dally around a shopping center. Hopefully I'll have more interesting things to tell you another day. Ciao!

New Blog

My little photo project has been going well but choosing which shots to feature has been a toughy. I also don't want to stuff this blog with pictures then not write or randomly start writing. A friend showed me that Blogger had a new template that I feel is very suitable for photos and kindly allows the user to choose the layout they prefer.

Alright enough talk, you can figure it out for yourself.
http://elementsandpieces.blogspot.com/

Pictures 1/1/12 and 2/1/12

Oops, skipped a day in posting these pictures. Since it's a new year I thought I'd throw in a bonus picture. Nothing special, fairly standard/safe subjects. Hopefully these next few days will be more inspiring.

Toasting in a new year

A city skyline is always home to me

Is it night time?