Color Affection Shawl and Date Night

Ok, I officially love this knit. 

Might be one of my all time favorite things I have made, not only because the yarn (Plucky Knitter Primo Fingering) is so soft and squishy with glowing colors, but also because:
- the pattern is very well written.
- I love the colors I picked (gray, yellow, and a difficult to describe and photograph hot pink/red.  I swear it does not read McDonald's, even if the pictures sort of do).
- the thing is knit in all garter stitch which is so easy and relaxing, with results that make it look more complicated than it really is.
- it is soooo freaking cozy and warm.

The weather in San Francisco for the past week and a half has been miserable.  It was dreary, rainy and cold.  Actually, it still is.  Wearing this shawl as a really big scarf around my neck has kept me warm and makes me look like I am wearing those big cowls that are so in fashion these days.
People are knocking this shawl out in a few days on Ravelry, but since I have limited time to knit, it took me a little while to finish it.

In other news, husband and I went out on a date without the kids for the first time in months.  We ate fondue at Fondue Cowboy.  Yes, a weird choice for food, but think about it, can you ever really eat fondue with kids around?   Not, really.

 French comte, white wine and mushroom fondue.

Dark chocolate and cayenne fondue.  This was unbelievably delicious - let's not think about the calories, ok?  Hey, there was a lot of fruit to make this a balanced dessert.

And we saw a movie - the first one since May 2011!  We went to see The Hunger Games.  I have read The Hunger Games trilogy, husband has not.  I loved the books, and was really excited to see the movie.  This was opening week, and I swear the line for the ticket holders went around the lobby and out the door, and we even arrived 30 minutes prior to the screening time.  I was reminded why we rarely go see movies on opening weekend even before we had kids.

In my opinion, movies based on books are never as nuanced as the actual books, given the constraints of time and format.  However, I thought this movie adaptation was really good.  I admit when I saw the actor cast for Peeta Mellark, I was initially disappointed.  From the books, I imagined a much taller and overall bigger person in the role.  But, by the end of the movie, I was convinced that the actor fit the role and did a great job.  I would recommend the movie to friends, and I wasn't sorry that we chose this movie as our date night movie (unlike the last one which was Pirates of the Caribbean).  Oh, yeah, husband enjoyed it, too and he says he will read the books.  Which means these books might be among the few things he reads that isn't 1) about baseball, 2) about samurais, 3) about work related computer stuff or 4) about Jeremy Lin. 

Happy Valentine's Day aka Friendship Day

Happy Valentine's Day, or as Emma's preschool calls it, Friendship Day.   I received some lovely long stem roses from husband, and Emma received a little brown "Friendship Bear" (well, the bear arrived with the roses, and so it became Emma's bear).

We all (except for poor Ethan) had a Friendship cookie after dinner, along with glasses of Friendship milk.  Emma got a big kick out of the pink milk.

And just because, here's Ethan in the bath.  So chubby and cute!

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011 has come and gone.  It was a whirlwind!  This year we stayed at home in San Francisco, got a tree and had a small intimate family Christmas.   Emma, husband and I made sugar cookies to give away.  For our Christmas lunch, I made ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, braised balsamic brussel sprouts (these are so good!) and the grown ups had a nice bottle of wine.  We visited friends for dinner, then, I went back to work (yes, another Christmas with work, year end sucks, people, at least in terms of work anyway).

Life is crazy with two, like I mentioned above, work is going full on, no holds barred.   Ethan is growing into quite the little chunk, and Emma is finally starting to get along with her little brother. 

This year, we said a little prayer over our meal, thanking God for what we have and how blessed we are, and wishing that everyone can have peace and love for the holiday season.

Apple Puff Pastry Tart

We have an apple overload due to this.  The apples are lovely and crunchy and delicious eaten raw, but I decided that since we have an abundance, I would make a baked good.   I had high falutin' ideas about making a pie from scratch, crust and all.  Then, I realized I have two kids and one is only 3 months old and I am tired.  I opted for this easy tart instead.

I used one puff pastry sheet, purchased from the grocery store, three large apples, one Rome, two Fujis, half a lemon, about 1/2 a cup of brown sugar (I am guesstimating here, since I didn't really measure the amount) and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I don't have a fancy apple corer thingie, so I cut out the core by cutting into the apple wedges diagonally and then thinly sliced the wedges.  The resulting slices still look pretty good.

I mixed the apple slices, lemon juice, brown sugar and cinnamon all together, letting the mixture sit a little bit until it got juicy.

Then I cut the slightly defrosted puff pastry sheet in half to make two tarts and layered the apples into each half. 

I suppose you could add more sugar and some butter to make this even tastier.  I have seen plenty of recipes with more sugar and melted butter added to the apple mixture, or with butter dotted over the top of the layered apples in the pastry prior to baking.  However, I opted to cut the sugar and fat so that I wouldn't feel too guilty about giving a big piece to this little character:

I had leftover apple mixture, but didn't want it to go to waste.  So, I threw in some walnuts and dried cherries, put the mixture along with the leftover juices into a saucepan, along with some water so that the liquid covered the apples just slightly, then cooked on the stovetop until the liquid was syrupy.

 The resulting apple concoction is good and will taste great on ice cream or on our morning oatmeal.

Look at the twin beauties.  I drizzled a little bit of the apple concoction syrup on top of the tarts.

 

I think if you want a more professional look, you could glaze the tarts with a little melted jam.  Also, if you put in more sugar and/or butter, you would definitely get way more juice at the end.  But, to us, these were very good, and not overly sweet.  Husband ate half of one in about two minutes.

Apple Picking

Today we went picnicing and apple picking in Sebastopol with friends. Fun and delicious!

Our Harvest

Our first harvest from our organic planter boxes in our remodeled backyard was...

Radishes. 

These were hard-won veggies. Our neighbors' cats (yes, that is right, multiple neighbors, multiple cats) would come in and dig up the seeds and the seedlings. After each raid, we re-spread the dirt, re-spread coffee grounds, a method that is supposed to deter cats, and then replanted the uprooted seedlings.  We still lost a crop of basil and chives, with only the radishes surviving.  Annoying. 

Look at our littlest farmer.

We planted the radishes as a sort of gardening experiment, since radishes have a very quick germination time. Unfortunately, no one in our family really cares for red radishes all that much. I mean, we aren't Fraggles, so what do you do with them other than slice them into salads?  Well, our Korean side of the family decided to make kimchee, because we Koreans love to pickle things.  Usually, this type of kimchee, called yulmoo kimchee, is made with young daikon radishes, using the root and the greens.  Our version turned out very nicely and we got about three large jars out of the radishes from our yard.  Delicious!

B-Day and Anniversary

My birthday and our wedding anniversary came and went in late May.   My husband and I went out to see a movie (our first in the theater, I think, in over a year), and then went out to dinner at Jardiniere, sans bebe Emma.  The movie was "meh", but the dinner was fabulous.  

Our waiter was pleasant and knowledgeable and the food was delicious.  We had duck confit salad (crispy!), spring asparagus soup, gnocchi with goat butter and spring ramps (little pillows of goodness that melted in your mouth), wild boar prepared three ways and prime rib.  Don't worry, the portions, while sufficient, were not so large that we couldn't handle all those dishes.  Portion control is how the French can eat things like goat butter and still stay thin!  Our waiter even poured me a half glass of wine with dinner (this is the time to get out your pitchforks, people, if you are going to have issues with a pregnant lady having a little wine, which incidentally, my doctor has specifically okayed). The wine was a German pinot noir (never had a German one before) and it was excellent - delicate, fruity, but still with some body and kick.  We then had this ridiculous dessert of a chocolate peanut butter "candy bar", served with Kix ice cream.  Kix cereal!  And it tasted just like the cereal, except in ice cream form. 
 
I meant to take snapshots of the food, but we dug in too quickly.  All my husband managed to get was this shot of dessert.

Notice how the "Happy Birthday" is all smeared.  That would be because of yours truly, running her finger through the chocolate writing even before the picture could be taken.  Ha!
 
My husband and I don't often get opportunities to go out for a fancy dinner anymore, just the two of us, what with Emma, baby 2 on the way, work schedules, errands, you name it.   And for the most part, that is fine.  We love taking baby Emma out to eat, but eating with a toddler severely narrows down your eating establishment choices.  Our birthday/anniversary dinner was all the more special because of this, I guess, and we both loved it.  A special bonus - Tracy de Jardin, the owner of Jardiniere, is featured on Top Chef this season.  We don't watch the show, but good to know that we got to try her cuisine.  This is truly when living in San Francisco just rocks.

A Sad State of Affairs

So, I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, and we (or rather, I) was expostulating on the fact that our generation has totally undervalued the life skill of cooking.   Even if you don't believe in self-sufficiency, there are the added benefits of knowing exactly what goes into your meal (so many pre-packaged or restaurant meals have added unnecessary salt and/or fat), waste reduction (from less packaging being thrown away), and simple cost savings!


Now, I am not talking about becoming the next Julia Child or mastering the art of French cooking, etc. but I am talking about how  many people I know cannot put together a simple meal for themselves or for their families.  They rely on pre-packaged, pre-delivered or take-out food.   I know that with today's busy schedules (Lord knows that I understand the busy schedule!), there will always be a place for take out, or meal delivery services, and frozen foods, but honestly, I think that there is something to be said about learning to be self-sufficient and knowing how to hardboil an egg.   I told my friend that I will never forget how one time, when I was living abroad in an apartment complex for students, an American woman came down the hallway, tentatively knocked on my door and asked me how to hardboil an egg, as in, did she have to crack the egg first, or do you put the whole egg, shell and all into the water?  I said to my friend, that I couldn't believe how someone could think an egg could come out solid and peeled, prior to hardboiling it. 

And then, today, just to rub in her point that we don't need to learn how to do such basic chores like cooking or laundry anymore, that everything can be outsourced, my friend sent me this picture from the grocery store: 

Do you see that, people?  Pre-cooked, already peeled, pre-packaged hardboiled eggs.  Does this mean I have to stand corrected?  I do note, that the price of the 4 cooked eggs, is not that much less than buying a dozen, cage free, eggs.

Pizza Party at Home

A couple of weekends ago, I made pizza.  From scratch.  Not too hard, actually.  Pizza dough is remarkably easy to make and pretty resilient.  You really can't mess it up too badly.  One thing to keep in mind, though, is that pizza dough will take time. You need to let the dough proof, which can take a couple of hours.  I just went and played with this little character while waiting.

I used the pizza dough recipe from Smitten Kitchen.  Very basic - flour, water, yeast, olive oil and salt!  I doubled the recipe and substituted about half of the white flour with whole wheat flour, so my crust was a bit more rustic, earthy and healthy.  I rolled out the dough into two pizzas.  I spread on my homemade tomato sauce (so very simple to make), and then I loaded the pizzas with chopped veggies - onions, mushrooms, broccolini and olives.   

I topped with some shredded mozzarella cheese (R, all of this was vegan until this point, sorry!).   

Then, I put the pizzas in the oven on a baking sheet sprinkled with a little cormmeal and let it bake for about 15 minutes.  

The pizzas came out bubbly and melty and cheesy, and yummy!

Hey, You!

Hey! Yea, hey, you!  Come over here.

 Last night, grandma made delicious sukiyaki.   And last week, my doctor told me I could eat most of what mommy and daddy eat, so I got to try some, too. 

But, this morning, I felt a litle strange, and I thought, "What could this be?"

So, that's why I am calling you over here, to tell you, that "Oops, I did it again, I pooped my pants."

But, don't be mad at me, I'm just a baby!

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

I love fresh brussel sprouts.  They are like little baby cabbages. 

I like to pan saute them, or even better, I like to roast them in the oven.  This time, I had some really large broccoli crowns, so I added them to the mix.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts
Brussel sprouts, ends trimmed, yucky outer leaves peeled off.  Cut in half if they are huge.
Minced garlic
Olive Oil
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Preheat your oven - I put my oven to 400 degrees, your oven might be different, so just experiment.  Toss the brussel sprouts with the minced garlic, olive oil to coat, some lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Spread out the brussel sprouts on a foil lined pan and pop in the oven. 

Roast them about 20 minutes, but keep half an eye on them, just so they don't burn to a crisp.  I don't mind if they get a little blackened, though.

Couldn't be simpler!

More Vegetarian Cooking - Lentil Soup

We are still trying to live our veggie lifestyle, but I have to admit it has been hard to follow for the past month.  For a variety of reasons, it's been difficult to find the time to cook.  We have been eating out a lot and our choices haven't always been vegetarian, or even healthy, for that matter. 

I am not stating any little known fact here, but when you have a busy schedule, the only way to make eating in and eating healthy work, is to cook all your meals for the week during the weekends.

So, this past weekend, I cooked up a storm, making big portions so that we can eat some of the stuff during the week and freeze some for later. 

One of my favorite things to make and eat, even before we committed to being vegetarian, is lentil soup.  It is so hearty and full of healthful ingredients.  There is very oil involved, it has protein from the lentils, and vitamins from the vegetables.  I keep a lot of the ingredients in the pantry, but, I hardly make it exactly the same twice because I use what I have on hand.

Lentil Soup (I think this probably serves about 4 to 5 people, if you are eating it as a main course)
1 medium onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed and picked through (I am not particular about the variety of lentils, I have used brown, green, and red lentils)
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
About 4 cups veggie stock
1 bay leaf (2, if the leaves are small)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Sometimes, I add diced celery (this time I didn't have any), and sometimes I add diced potatoes, or quartered crimini mushrooms.

Heat some olive oil, saute the onions until translucent.  Add the carrots and garlic and saute (make sure the garlic doesn't burn. If you have celery, add it now). 

Add the lentils, the stock, tomatoes and bay leaf.  Let the whole thing simmer for a while, until the lentils are soft and the soup has thickened. 

This time around, I noticed the soup was a little salty from the broth, so I added some potato (do you know that trick?  If soup is overly salty, you can add some potato to soak up the saltiness...).  I put in some mushrooms towards the end, per husband's request.  Salt and pepper to taste.
This soup is so simple, and so very delicious.  We like to eat it with fresh baked bread.  I hope you try the recipe. Make it your own, take out the things you don't like, add what you do like!