Life is more than the Cubicle: 2014

Hiking. Camping. Stars.

Last weekend I went camping with some friends from church: Sam, Sandley, Chrissy, and Jon. We met up on Saturday morning and drove 4.5 hours to Sequoia National Forest where we pitched our tents in the Quaking Aspen Campground. I don't have pictures of the campground but it was about your usual type of deal.

Then, we sat for a few minutes talking about what to do and decided to go on a hike to Needles Lookout. Here are some pictures from the hike.

The hike took us along the valley that we had driven up with AMAZING views. We started hiking at around 4:30pm so we had really great late afternoon light.

I also found a rock that looked like a face

The rest of the hikers crossed down a smaller valley and up this ridge on the other side. I stayed behind, to take pictures, of course.

They hiked all the way up to the top of that half-dome looking rock on the left hand side of the picture. From my position, they just looked like little specks moving along the top of the mountain.

Then, that night, Jon taught me how to take pictures of the stars with my camera. This is one of the pictures, pointing straight up. I didn't edit it much so it probably just looks like a bunch of dots. I have no idea what constellations are there.

This is another one of the milky way that Jon helped me to process because I have no idea how to edit a photo on my computer :)

The next day we drove back home and stopped by in Gilroy to get some fruit. I don't have pictures of the meal that I cooked but when the rest of the group posts them then I'll link to here.

Love summer in California!

8:45 PM
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Chicken. Kabocha. Salmon

I finally had a low-key, sleep-in kind of saturday morning so I decided to wake up at 8:30am and get ready for the day. I called my mom to see what she was up to and we ended up going to the Saratoga farmers market and then to Whole Foods. I quickly pulled up a few recipes from my cookbook stash and made a list.

OH, before that. I also wanted to go to my parents to pick up this beauty:

I'm SO EXCITED

and a little afraid that I'm getting old because kitchen appliances really make me happy...

Anyway. This is what I cooked tonight:

The first recipe is chicken with pea shoots from Nigel Slater's Kitchen Diaries (UK Amazon) or Notes from the Larder (US Amazon). It's just diced chicken with garlic, ginger, peppers, 5 spice powder and pea shoots. Very easy and tasty stir-fry

Then I remembered that I had a kabocha squash in the fridge that I picked up because it was super cheap at Mitsuwa ($2 for a half squash). However, I had no idea how to cook it so I just did was is generally the easiest: roasted it.

It has a very mild flavor, almost like a very very mild buttersquash. I might have over-cooked it. Will have to try again.

Finally, I made the shallow-poached salmon recipe from Alice Water's The Art of Simple Food and made the butter sauce to go on top. Yum. Delicious and decadent. I bought the salmon this morning from a stand at the farmer's market. Can't beat the taste of super fresh food.

10:46 PM
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SF. Brunch. Green Onion Pancakes

I haven't been posting as much as I said I would. Oops! To distract you, here are some pictures of pretty things from a clothing swap that I hosted a few weeks back.

I bought some flowers from whole foods to accent one of the clothing tables. I thought there would be just a few pieces of clothing to display. Little did I know, my house would be buried under clothing.

A display of pretty jewelry from Stella and Dot courtesy of Wendy. These pieces went FAST.

I made some appetizers including baked brie, fruit, trail mix, cheese and crackers and these little beauties above. I found a recipe for parmesan toast with prosciutto and fig jam and just had to try it. I even got the fig jam for free from Whole Foods. The checker told me to try it out as a sample and let him know if I liked it. I was stunned. I might have stammered a bit but I appreciated his generosity. The toasts were delicious.

A week ago, I traveled up to SF to spend the day with my wonderful friends Travis and Ashley. We were celebrating Travis's birthday weekend (as you do, naturally) and kicked off the day with brunch at Foreign Cinema.

Okay, just a disclaimer. This food. This food. There are no words. Hold on to your shorts, kids. It's going to get delicious up in here.

Shigoku oysters. Sweet. Slightly briney. Beautifully tasty.

1 of 2 AMAZING pecan maple sticky buns. I rarely eat sweets and these left me breathless. So there's my vote for sticky buns.

We demolished those buns

Smoked salmon with mustard, toast and caviar

Duck confit with poached eggs. There was also bacon but I forgot to get a picture of the bacon. :(

Spicy calamari. The first calamari that I've had that wasn't fried! It was marinated in a habanero sauce so it had a good amount of kick to it.

Lavender goat cheese with capers. Lavender goat cheese. Guys, lavender goat cheese. From free range goats. From Petaluma. Lavender goat cheese. From happy goats.

After brunch we rolled our way around town to gather necessities for the beach. Those necessities naturally included a bottle of wine, some warm clothes, and a few logs for a bonfire. Unfortunately, Ocean Beach has a total of 5 fire pits so we were unable to have the bonfire.

We did have the wine. And a quick nap on the beach.

Then it was off to warm up and find a bite to eat. First, we called a ramen shop that told us that there was no wait. When we got there, however, the wait somehow jumped up to 1.5 hours. We said, no thanks and yelped a backup. However, on the way to that backup, I turned the corner and spied the sign above. Then I turned to my fellow beer lover, Travis, and asked if I was hallucinating the sign. It was just meant to be. We finished up the day after a beer and some snacks which included mac and cheese, chicken wings, pork lettuce cups, and probably a few other things that I can't remember.

Such a wonderful day in a beautiful city with some great friends

Now to regular life:

I haven't cooked much this past month. Mostly, I've just been making whatever was necessary for me to survive. I also came down with a bad cold and was down for the count for a week where the only thing I was eating was homemade chicken soup. Even while sick, I still have to feed myself.

I came home one day and remembered that I had some leftover puff pastry from the baked brie so I decided to make an apple tart.

The recipe is very simple: puff pastry, spread some fig jam on top, then top with apples, grate some lemon zest, and finish with a few pieces of butter. Fold the edges over. Then into the oven until golden brown and delicious.

Tonight, I had no idea what to make for dinner. I ended up buying ingredients to make chili but I wasn't inspired by the chili. I decided to try my hand at some green onion pancakes because I am thinking of making them for my church's young adult group for a dinner. I had to see how much time it would actually take to make each one.

The process itself is actually very easy. Just two cups of flour with 3/4 cup of boiling water whirled in the food processor. Then cut into fourths, rolled out and rolled up with sesame oil and green onions. The full recipe is here: Green Onion Pancakes

I fried them up

And devoured them.

Just kidding, I only had one of them. I can exercise some restraint. Maybe. Sometimes. Depends on how I'm feeling. Okay, usually not. But can you blame me?

Hope you try out some of these recipes!

11:39 PM
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Oxtail Stew. Sour Cream Cake. Drip Beef. Adventures.

Here's an update on the cooking, adventures and creative happenings from the past few weeks.

I decided to try a new recipe that I found for oxtail soup. I bought a pound and a half of oxtails from whole foods, seared them then boiled them with tomatoes, onions, garlic, carrots and all sorts of good things.

Post sear in the pan. Look at all that flavor

The stew came out deliciously rich and thick. Oh yeah, I also added in butter so that really helped to create a silky texture.

I also tried a Moroccan style roast chicken with chickpeas and onions. It was a one-skillet meal which I always love (less dishes). You sear the chicken, remove, add the onions, spices, chickpeas and then simmer away. Add the chicken back in, then pop into the oven until the chicken is cooked through. Super easy.

Then I had some leftover sour cream from a chili dinner so I made a sour cream coffee cake. Not too shabby, wish I had some frosting to put on top but it was a light cake. Maybe next time I'll try it with a lemon frosting.

Cake slice glamour shot.

I volunteered to help cook dinner for our young young adult/college kiddos group at church once a month and this was the first meal I made for them. Pioneer Woman's Hot Italian Dip Beef. YUM. I didn't make it spicy. All that red that you see is the fat from the gigantic chuck roasts that I got. Almost 6 pounds of meat that I browned then squeezed into my dutch oven (note to self: buy a second dutch oven). To the meat I added pepperoncinis and their juice (nice vinegar-y kick), tomatoes, and some spices then set the whole thing cooking for 4 hours.

Once done, I took the meat out of the pot and let the whole thing cool. Then I removed the layer of fat from the top, added the meat back in, heated the whole thing up, then served it with some crusty rolls and topped with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese.

Here are some other things that I've been doing:

I've been watching a lot of House of Cards. Finally finished the second season so my Netflix addiction can subside for a bit. Until I decide to finish watching Doctor Who. And some documentaries. And some foreign films. And...I have a problem.

House of Cards called for a little snack. I only had cucumbers in my fridge so I made some kappa maki. I really wish I had some fish to go in there. It was good enough for a quick snack though.

Yesterday, I went to Carmel on a last-minute impromptu wine tasting adventure. We ended up using all of these Carmel wine walk passes that were purchased earlier so we went to 4 wineries in total.

I took a picture of our group taking pictures of flowers.

We also explored some art galleries. Gorgeous flowers and textures.

This looks like a photo but it's actually a painting.

I have no idea if I'm allowed to post these pictures online. So. Whoopsies. Oh well.

Then I made some art of my own. Kidding. I bought two vouchers for paint nite which is basically drinking and having an instructor walk you through the steps of creating the painting that you sign up for. We used acrylic paint so it dried quickly and wasn't as much of a hassle as oils.

This was the first paint nite that I did. Cherry blossoms.

This was the second one that I painted tonight which is supposed to be Tuscany but kind of reminds me more of a glorified paint by numbers type of deal.

Till next time!

11:48 PM
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Australia 2013

This is super late in posting. Oops.

Last year my family decided to have a reunion in Australia which included 3 days up in Cairns to play in the sun and 3 days in Melbourne to have some family fun time.

The plane trip out there was....long. It's been a while since I've gone on such a long flight and I didn't get much sleep on the way out. We traveled for close to 24 hours and I was definitely feeling the hurt when we arrived in Cairns.

On the plane flying from Sydney to Cairns. Note to those traveling through Sydney, give yourself at least 2 hours to transit through the airport from international to domestic. No joke. 2 hours.

When we arrived, we took a taxi over to our hotel/apartment for the next 3 days. Then I took a much needed shower (I was getting super grumps at this point) and headed out to walk to town to have dinner for my Uncle George's birthday.

Google maps failed us in getting to this restaurant but we finally made it. It was located along the water near the wharf and was chosen because they had the exotic meat options.

The farther plate is a mix of kangaroo and wild boar and the closer plate is a mix of boar, kangaroo, and crocodile. I think? Pretty tough and chewy

This was my seafood mix. Not good. But the scallop on the shell was a nice touch.

The next day we boarded a bus for a Daintree rainforest tour. We drove out of Cairns and up north to Port Douglas to start the tour. My dad and I were the back seat bandits trolling on the rest of the family.

We had an awesome driver/tour guide/chef. Although, he did ask my great aunt if she wanted a husband because he wanted a rich wife. Well, actually, don't we all? No judgment here, man. You do you.

I don't remember the name of this area, maybe Cooya beach, but we stopped here for a bio break before heading into Mossman to see the gorge.

Parentals

Apparently this is how the crabs dig their holes, they push the sand out into little balls that make intricate patterns outside the entrance. Of course, my mom had to squish a few of the openings because she's...special.

And into the gorge. I know, we're a walking joke. Big group of Asian tourists. With hats. So many hats.

Anyway, plant formations. Seeds fall into cracks in the tree and grow bushes. Bushes on trees.

Parentals again. I think they brought me only so I could take stupidly cute photos of them.

I think this may have been the start of the gorge. The water was gorgeously clear and drinkable.

Next we went to an area for crocodile tours. They had a large garden of giant trees like the one above.

On a boat

The crocodiles were pretty tiny since they were only a few years old so I took pictures of the roots and the mangroves instead.

Make sure to pay the monkey for his bananas

I forgot where this was too.

I would make an awful tour guide. Sorry! I guess this is why you don't pay me?

For lunch, we stopped at a bug museum where we got to see some giant walking sticks and display after display of bugs.

That butterfly would make a gorgeous tat if only the colors would come out that vibrant.

They also had a large selection of dead beetles and some giant bugs that I would never want to meet in a dark alley at night. Ugh.

This was our lunch spot. We met up with another tour bus and their guide and ours cooked us a steak and fish lunch.

Barramundi and potato salad

Next it was on to Cape Tribulation. The water was super warm which is very strange compared to the arctic that is the California coastline.

Twisting branches in the rainforest

Asian taking pictures of Asian taking pictures of plants

This was our second rainforest walk of the tour which wound its way through these giant trees and over an estuary that was full of mangroves

Last stop was to an animal sanctuary to buy some Daintree chocolate and tea which, sorry, tasted like Lipton tea.

Fun fact: Kangaroos are giant in real life

They had lots of gorgeous parakeets and parrots that they had saved including a giant cockatoo that mocked my laughter. What a jerk

Fun fact: one parakeet, not so loud. 20? God, no. It's not enjoyable.

And finally, the tour guide said, "I know a place where you can get excellent mangos," so of course we say, "TAKE US THERE!" Which led to this photo of Asians picking up mangos from the ground. Never underestimate the appeal of free fruit. They were super juicy, incredibly fragrant, and overly fibrous. I finally gave up trying to suck on them and ended up squeezing them to make mango juice for breakfast. The tour guide said these were the type of mangos that you eat naked in the bathtub. Thank goodness my great aunt can't understand english, or that would have been suggestively awkward. For everyone.

On the second day in Cairns, I split off from the family (gasp! No more family fun time!) and went scuba diving in the great barrier reef. Here I am, in a boarding picture (probably in case we go overboard, kidding) looking extremely excited to be on a boat

This was the awesome fish that followed us around underwater. I forgot his name but he was pretty game for being tossed around underwater.

In other news, stinger suits make you look super sexy

Here he is again, putting on his serious face

Last day in Cairns and we split the family into two groups. One group went on a tram ride up a mountain and the other group went fishing. We didn't catch too much, a few angelfish and tiny barramundi. I had the weirdest catches of the day which included a puffer fish and a sting ray. We ended up having fresh sashimi on the boat, freshly steamed crabs, and took mom's catch home to prove to my dad that we caught something.

The next day we packed up and took a plane to Melbourne where we ate. A ton. The first night was a giant multi-course roast duck meal where I probably packed on 5 pounds of food. Delicious, delicious food.

The next day we had a BBQ lunch with some very old family friends. My dad has a picture of me and the girl, Denise, when I was about 1 in Hong Kong. I'll try to upload if I can find it.

After the giant BBQ lunch, birthday cake, and ever-present pavlova, we rolled ourselves over to the botanical garden to walk off the calories. Saw some gorgeous flowers and giant trees

Then we went to my aunt's place in order to cook up some gorgeous wagyu steaks and chow down on the biggest platter of salmon sashimi that I've ever seen.

Steak glamour shot!

Such a fun trip. I ended up heading back after this in order to go to work.

Note to travelers: try to check in online if you fly out of Melbourne. The international check in area is pretty horrendous and they do not have any ticketing kiosks. Then you go through security. Then customs. THEN you sprint to your gate.

The trip back was pretty painful too and I ended up not sleeping at all. Needless to say, I needed some recovery time. The parentals stayed on to do a two week cruise around New Zealand and then flew back home.

Can't wait for the next reunion!

11:30 PM
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Life is more than the Cubicle

Hiking. Camping. Stars.

Chicken. Kabocha. Salmon

SF. Brunch. Green Onion Pancakes

Oxtail Stew. Sour Cream Cake. Drip Beef. Adventures.

Australia 2013

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