parppadelle with creamy almond basil pesto and a new pasta maker!

that's right, muthhas! i got a shiny red pasta maker, all for $10!!! from where you say? well, yesterday just happened to be a good day for thrift shopping. and yes, i was slightly skeptical myself. buuutt after carefully checking to see if there was anything wrong with it, it turns out it just needed a little cleaning. it was basically brand new, and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time because i was about to ask my parents for one for my birthday :)
it looks a lot like this one. snaaazzyy ;D

i used the school's pasta recipe and it wasn't really the same cuz i had to use AP flour instead of bread flour but it was still pretty good. ALTHOUGHH one thing that i should have considered first is that they might stick together after i rolled & cut them out so i had to deal with that mess too -__-

for the pesto i used raw almonds instead of pine nuts after i saw it on a recipe from foodwishes.com, plus i never buy pine nuts anyway cuz they're soo freakin' expensive for some reason. also, i used the basil from my mini herb/vegetable garden in the backyard. yay for home-grown and a sustainable supply! :D

all in all, it was a delicious & filling meal. aaannd, i had some leftover pesto for future use on mah lazier days.

coming up later this week, a job interview this thursday! last week i went around to a bunch of different bakeries around where i live, and since NONE of them were hiring, i finally stumbled upon this place. it's for a line cook position at a place in brea, so wish me luck on that :)

AnQi garlic noodles with beef

in my Dining Room Service class, we pooled all the tips we earned during the semester and on our last day we used that money to eat at AnQi, a Vietnamese/fusion bistro in South Coast Plaza. with the tips and money from the restaurant, we had a budget of $50 per person, and it should have been enough for an appetizer, entree, dessert, and service.

AnQi is supposed to be famous for their garlic noodles, and when we had them as our entrees, it was without a doubt, very tasty. but in my mind, it also seemed deceptively simple... soo, of course, i went browsing around the interwebz looking for a recipe, which i found almost immediately! yay internet! and yes, it was INCREDIBLY easy... the recipe only had 5 ingredients! FIIVE!!! (six if you count salt, but why would you?)

chewy, garlicky, and buttery noodles, topped with sauteed beef i marinated the night before and scallions. while i doubt this dish is Vietnamese AT ALL, at this point i really don't care because it tastes good, and that's all that matters :)

so let's look and compare the differences: the slices of beef i used were thinner, and i sliced the scallions in rounds instead of strips. i also probably marinated the beef differently because i was kinda winging it with that last night haha. it's crazy how much people will pay for something so simple! i guess i have to give AnQi props though; the interior is swanky and the tofu banana cheesecake tasted WAY better than it sounded. but now that i know i can make the dish they're famous for, i probably won't ever go there again (unless someone else is paying hahaha).

things i need to save up for:

-a good camera

-a large bag that will actually fit all the things i need plus a change of clothes

-new flats because my last pair were ruined in the rain :(

-tart pans with removable bottoms

-gel food coloring

-circle cookie cutter set

-new spatula that WON'T melt

-Wii fit

-bikini for summahtime

-school

-the future

p.s. guess who got a 25% tip at the restaurant today? YO.
aaand for dinner tonight i made chicken in a brandy and mushroom cream sauce, saffron rice pilaf, and an orange, radish, and mint salad :p

"it's hard to have a good tomorrow if you're always thinking about yesterday."

although i do feel as if i've taken some positive steps toward my future, sometimes it's hard not to look into the past. a lot of times i try to figure out what happened, pinpoint exactly where things went wrong. this tends to always bite me in the ass in some form or another, because eventually i realize that what's done is done, and there's no going back. before i do anything, i need to start asking myself, "is this something i will regret later?"

actually, wasn't that one of my new year's resolutions? not to act on impulse? good lord, i always thought that i was just about as bland as it gets, but apparently i DO do things on impulse, stupid things at that. i hate it when i realize that i've done something stupid waaay beyond the point of no return. i actually tend to plan and think through a lot of things in my life like what i'm going to wear tomorrow or the practicality of buying one thing over another. unfortunately, the things that i tend not to think through are those that are much more important and would really make a big difference in my life had i done something else.

at times it can be difficult for me to differentiate between impulse and spontaneity. i suppose these are the times that i really need to think through, but then, would it still be spontaneous? fuuuck. i need to go to sleep. i'll think about it in the morning.

in the mean time, i'll be here, laying in bed, trying to get over the past and how things should have happened. i guess all i can do for now is just REMEMBER these former mistakes and try not to let it happen again.

p.s. for dinner tonight i made a chicken breast roulade with sage and ham, a white wine sauce with sauteed mushrooms, risotto, and a spinach salad. i really think i need to start saving money and invest in a GOOD camera so i can take pics and show you guys what i make :p

i'm workin' on it!

so for the past 3 weeks or so i've been "working out" 2-3 times a week, mostly just running/walking on the treadmill and doing squats and stuff. this is my awkward attempt to take better care of myself haha. i didn't really work to lose the weight that i previously lost, and after all the stress of winter taking it's toll, i hit a "plateau" of sorts and actually started gaining a little weight again (oh nooes!!!).

so here's my goal: to lose at least 1 pound a week. i know this doesn't really seem like a lot, but with all the food i make both at home and at school (1 whole cake every week?! are you kidding me?!!) it's still going to be a challenge for me. besides, i'm not too sure about how much results i should expect after only working out 2 or 3 times a week. plus, my mom keeps buying ice cream! what the hell, mom?! i'm not going to be "dieting" exactly, mostly just reducing my portion sizes and trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. everything in moderation.

i'm really hoping that all that running will help me lose weight instead of just helping me gain muscle, which is what it looks like it's doing right now (my calf muscles are HUGE).

1 lb a week means that by the end of june i should lose at least 16 lbs. not too bad, right?

today for dinner i made breaded baked tilapia fillets and a spinach and romaine salad with radishes, bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions, and a spicy avocado dressing. mmm :p

le sigh

you know that feeling when there's just soo much going on at once, that you don't really know where to begin? yeah. that kind of explains why i haven't posted anything in a while. so maybe i'll just go on a short hiatus, until i figure out alla this shit. things right now are way too confusing.

on a lighter note, dinner tonight was bombtastic. i made apple-roasted pork with garlic and parmesan risotto and a cucumber salad. hell yes.

baking rut + feeling a little sick

so after failing to make yeast rolls THREE TIMES* on sunday and having a stranger basically yell at me over the phone for calling about a craigslist ad that asked for cake decorators (even though they didn't say they wanted professional experience), i've felt the need recently to validate myself as a baker. soooo after a trip to costco to buy their 3 lb bag of almonds, and with my brand new food processor, i decided to take things into my own hands.

wednesday: i attempt to make french almond macarons for the first time with the help of my cousin. the taste and texture is there, but the looks are totally wrong. too big, cracks going along the top, and no feet to them. here's what they're supposed to look like if you don't know what they are: http://www.mytartelette.com/2009/08/recipe-coffee-chicory-macarons.html
fancy, right?

thursday: take the leftover ganache filling from the macarons and make espresso truffles coated in crushed almonds. okay, not really baking, but delicious nonetheless (this also was a lot less troublesome because i've made it before hahaha). mmm... truffles.... i also made a huge batch of spaghetti for my sis' bday (again, not baking, but whatever! get off my case, man!).

friday: attempt #2 at macarons; this time, with mint chocolate ganache filling. *drool* also, take the leftover egg yolks from the macarons and make creme brulee with the new ramekins i bought thursday. creme brulee!! coconut creme brulee!!! at the end of the day, the macarons are a flop, again. and actually worse than the first time! *somehow i managed to make them completely hollow :/

saturday: actually get to eat the creme brulee, as we were celebrating my sis' bday with the cousins by eating at BJ's. it would've tasted MUCH better if i didn't feel so sick. a little bit of nausea + headache + stomachaches + large amount of food = probably not a good idea. i've been laying in bed for a while now because getting up just makes me feel gross. but i DID go to Williams Sonoma today and got my new Global Chef's Knife! woot! thank god for that catering job, even if it was only for 3 days, because for those 3 days i was makin' bank!

tomorrow i'm going back to the shelter and on tuesday school starts again, and i'm definitely not looking forward to things like having to come an hour early just to scavenge for parking. sigh. these next 2 weeks are gonna be rough.

*goddamn you, bakery science, for being so difficult!

somehow managing...

...to be productive this winter break. so far i've sewn one sweater top, one skirt, and today (or tomorrow) i will attempt to make a dress. as for cooking/baking, a couple days ago i made mini scones with whipped cream and a blackberry brandy sauce. awesomenessss. today i am attempting to make miso braised pork for lunch, which i'm hoping turns out okay (it's simmering away at this very moment). pictures of the stuff i've sewn are to come later, and hopefully the camera won't make them look so crappy.

as for my personal life, winter break so far has been kind of bittersweet. it's awesome that grace could come over, even though we didn't end up getting tattoos (hahaha), but there's been a lot of other stuff going on that's been keeping me from being happy/normal/myself. family troubles. relationship problems. i need to find a way to work these things out, or at the very least, make them a little better.

school starts in a couple of weeks, and i hope that the rest of my winter break doesn't continue in this same manner :/

whore d'oeuvres

during my lunch break today i decided to browse around the cookbook section of my schools library, which was incredibly vaast (jk, it was only 2 shelves, but that's still wayy more than the rowland heights library!). i picked out two books and finally checked something out of that library, something i have been hesitant to do in the past, mainly because there are so many front desks and i'm never sure which one i have to check out to! anywayyy, putting aside my slight embarrassment, one of the cookbooks had this awesome recipe that i knew i HAD to make once i got home, and it was a recipe for Gougéres.

Gougéres are meant to be a kind of hors d'oeuvres. it's a little savoury snack that is both crispy on the outside and soft and eggy on the inside. the dough is similar to pate a choux dough, which is used for eclairs and cream puffs :p

in the oven. grow for me, my pretties!!! TEEHHEEEHEE!!!! the recipe called for gruyere cheese and thyme, but i replaced that with mild cheddar cheese and basil, because Stater Bros. doesn't carry gruyere and swiss is wayyy to expensivo.
a couple close-ups of one. the recipe suggested to serve them with caramelized onions, and MY GOD it was delicious. it was like fireworks exploding in my mouth, tickling every one of my tastebuds. *drool* this one i stuffed with some caramelized onions and a couple mini basil leaves.

since my first try with a recipe from this book was so successful, expect to see more of these little bites to come :p

*also, to those of you who don't like onions, lemme just say I DON'T CARE. and as a future chef, i think that is my job. caramelized onions are THE BOMB.

in other news, my schedule for this semester is still not finalized! i'm waiting on a call from the OC Rescue Mission so i know what my hours are going to be, and once this week is over i'll finally know the dealio with my schedule. orientation for the place was last night, and lemme tell ya, that place was SNAZZY. they even had a giant chessboard for the kids to play with (cayyutttee!!!). they also have a set of giant gates in the front, and it kinda reminds me of the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. i'm really looking forward to working there, as this will be my first experience working in a commercial kitchen other than the one at school. even if it's unpaid, i get to help people out, which is always a plus. here's hoping it's gonna be awesome :)

le sigh... (another day in the life of)

today was just filled with... well, crazy confusion/ disappointment/ anger/ holding back tears/ slight contentment/ delicious food and smells/ beating drums/ a bunch of other emotions that i really wasn't expecting to have this morning.

let's start with the crazy confusion (because sometimes i enjoy alliterations). my sister and my cousin and i were planning on going to downtown LA today for fashion district and little tokyo, so i could get some fabric and we can catch the end of nisei week there. i'll admit, i'm a terrible driver. i pretty much need step-by-step directions everywhere i go unless it's some place that at some point in my life i've driven to on an almost daily basis. so maybe me driving to LA wasn't the best idea, since i don't go there TOO often. but anyway, a lot of times, my sister can be VERY moody, to the point where she mocks/gets mad over pretty much everything i do. so when i politely ask for which freeway entrance is the closest to the bank, she literally yells at me. this is where that anger part comes in. i'm not gonna go into this too much, but let's just say that this was what half the drive there was like (a drive that is at least 20 minutes).

when we finally got there, i kinda had to drive around in circles because we wanted to find meter parking instead of the usual $5 garage parking we usually get because we didn't expect to stay a long time there. after spending a good 5 minutes trying to parallel park at a meter, we found out that the meter doesn't work, so we give up and try to find the $5 garage. while trying to find it, a pigeon comes out of nowhere and decides to just sit in the middle of the road. this is where the holding back tears part comes in. i slow down to try and give time for the pigeon to leave the middle of the street, but my sister and cousin insist i drive forward because there are cars behind me. so i continue driving, certain that the bird would at least see the tires and get out of the way. then, THUD THUD. i don't think it saw the tires... T-T

i try to cheer myself up by thinking about all the fabric that i'm gonna buy from my favorite fabric store, Michael Levine Loft. my plan was to stock up on a load of fabric so i can make some more clothes for fall semester. this is where the disappointment part comes in. guess what? it's closed on sundays, even though their business card says OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK. lamesauce. we end up just walking around all the random fabric stores around fashion district, looking for all the $1/yard places. guess what else? most of these places require you to buy 3 yards per fabric roll. the ones that don't require it are pretty much just selling crap. 3 yards is WAYY too much for me to buy of one single fabric that i only plan on making one thing with, so i try to be sensible with my spending and the whole time there i end up only buying 2 different fabrics, whereas in Michael Levine, i could have bought 2 AND A HALF LBS of fabric with the same amount of money i spent. le sigh...

we head out to little tokyo, which i have to say is where my day started turning up (maybe because i wasn't expecting much?). anywho, this is where the slight contentment part comes in. we go around the JACCC to see some of the japanese exhibits, including ones on painting, dolls, and some awesome bonsai trees (with tiny fruit! it was like someone had taken a piece of my dreams and placed it in a museum...). there were also japanese drum shows on a number of stages around the area, which was also pretty cool. the local stores had food and gift stands around, and we got a hold of some okonomiyaki and some mochi ice cream (:p). we also bought a takoyaki pan, which i expect to be eating a lot of in the near future :)

after the long drive home, we ended up going to the Puente Hills Mall, and i finally bought nice black leggings (because i've pretty much given up on tights... they rip too easily!!).

as for stuff i've been making, last week i knit a cable messenger bag, but i think i'll just post pics of that along with other stuff i make this week before school starts.

also, sorry this post was so long! i just had to tell SOMEONE about my day...

Easy Like Sunday Morning...

another lazy weekend gone, another lazy week ahead of me. saturday was filled with doctor's appointments, injections, blood tests, and eventually watching Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D, which i really do not recommend. now, i know i haven't seen any of the previous Journey movies, or have even read the book, but geez. not good at all. also, 3D things tend to give me headaches.

yesterday i went out with laura and reinalyn to eat lunch at Chipotle, and then later wandered around Kohl's, played dress up, and took pictures of it, just like the good 'ol times when we would have minimum days at school and just take the 30 minute walk over there (this was before any of us had cars). we also wandered around Pier 1 Imports for a change, sniffing candles and incense, relaxing in the couches before anyone kicked us off, and wondering what parrot soap is made of. all in all, a good day; i finally got out of the house on my own for something besides grocery shopping.

i also got around to making a shepherd's pie for dinner. i don't know what's up with this picture... looks kinda yellowish. anyway, it was nice to finally make one of these on my own instead of just buying the pre-made frozen ones. also, it tasted really good.

i don't really remember which website the recipe was from, but most of the recipes for shepherd's pie are basically the same; ground meat, cooked on the stove with carrots, peas, onions, garlic, corn, and whatever else vegetable you want, then put in a casserole dish with mashed potatoes on top, then baked in the oven to make the top crispy. gotta love the home cooking. :)

sorry, no dessert today. today i woke up unusually late for some reason, and just decided it would be another day watching tv, using the treadmill, watching more tv, and maybe reading a magazine. hopefully tomorrow i can come up with something to make, which might be a little hard since we don't have milk. also, i'm finding it a little more difficult to just make desserts whenever just because i'm bored, and my sister is complaining of me making the family a little hefty...