Happy New Year's Eve & My First Year Part 1

It's been 1 year since I started this blog!!! I can't believe 2012 starts tomorrow!  It was a crazy year.  Lots of good things happened in the midst of bad things.  Overall, I think it was a pretty good year.  I went from being unemployed and financially stressed to being rehired by my old employer and not making a whole lot of money but enough to live comfortably in the South.  I went from crappy apartment living dealing with stupid drunk college students puking and fighting by the old apartment every weekend to renting a small house with a yard! The best thing of all was discovering gardening and that I didn't have a crusty, black thumb.  Gardening was my one solace in my time of stress and anxiety. Thanks Mother Nature! Anyway, in the beginning of the year, I started a Wish List. I definitely did not accomplish everything but I think I had a good start.  Here's a little recap at least Part 1 and what's going on this weekend as a new year begins....

Dream Wardrobe: Cape

I finally had some time off for the holidays and decided to finally sew for myself. At the beginning of the year, I listed a "Wish List" and one was to make my dream wardrobe.  One of things I wanted to make was a pair of sailor pants out of seersucker! I still want to do that but the trousers have evolved.  Hopefully I'll get to the trousers before spring. One of the other dream items is a cape!  I bought this wonderful plaid wool and it had been sitting around for almost a year now. It was time! So I made a pattern using one of my pattern-making reference books and spent the next day to sew it up.  Well, it turned out looking like a bag- at least that's what the boyfriend said.  And besides that, my sewing machine started to act up! Arrgh! The one time I decide to make something for myself and now I have to get a new sewing machine! Anyway, since I have a limited amount of the wool fabric, I started to take apart the cape and alter it.  Here's what it looks like at the moment:

front

back

Cinnamon Roll Sunday!

I've been thinking about what to do with the Japanese milk bread dough besides just making  a loaf.  Granted, I love the bread as a loaf itself but it's always good to make something new.  Well, the boyfriend suggested making something sweet with the dough.  I like to bake for the holidays as opposed to gifting something that can't be used up and besides having a brownie obsession, Japanese milk bread obsession, BBQ obsession- I can go on and on- I also have a cinnamon roll obsession.  I've been looking for a good homemade cinnamon roll recipe.  Every time I've tried homemade cinnamon rolls, I've been a little disappointed.  They're usually good, but the dough tends to be too bready and heavy than I would like it to be.  Anyway, so last night, I made cinnamon rolls with the Japanese milk bread dough and baked them this morning.

Mini Vase for Mini Flowers

My Thai basil that I'm growing indoors keeps flowering.  I know you're supposed to pinch off the flowering heads so that the leaves keep the licorice flavor, but the flowers are so pretty that I hate doing it.  The other day while unpacking more boxes, I found my mini apothecary jars given to me by my friend, Ashley.  One of the lids broke during one of my many moves so it was a perfect tiny vase for the flowers!

Spring in December!!

Look what came in the mail today!

I ordered seeds from Seed Savers Exchange and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  I was so excited to receive the packages today.  I think I was way too excited because I squealed with joy when the boyfriend pulled out the packages in the mailbox.  I was even happier because Baker Creek sent me a gift:

Thanks Baker Creek!! I can't wait for spring!!

Happy Post-Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a decent Thanksgiving.  Besides burning myself (it's healing fairly quickly) and wanting just one more day off, the holiday was pretty good. The turkey turned out to be pretty fabulous. I think next time, I will try brining first and then cook it using the 500 degree oven method.  Right now, my after T-day tradition is to make turkey soup. The house smells like rosemary and thyme right now!

I also had to use my one blue egg this weekend to make more Japanese milk bread. I was really holding out. It was such a pretty blue egg.  I even kept the shell. How sad is that?

Easy Way to Cook a Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!! I'm gearing up for food coma and some more food coma today.  Breakfast this morning is a cup of coffee and a lot of food prep!  I'm a bit psycho when it comes to cooking my Thanksgiving meal. The sides may change but the turkey, well, the turkey is serious business. Usually, it's just me and the boy so I don't cook a full turkey, just a turkey breast, but I'm traditionally a briner.  I make a brine with apple cider, salt, peppercorns and herbs and soak that puppy for 2 to 3 hours or overnight.  The turkey always comes out super moist and delicious! BUT this time I decided to try cooking the turkey differently thanks to my boyfriend's mother.  After moving, I've been a little beat lately and I didn't want to spend all day cooking a turkey so last night, I seasoned my turkey breast the way I normally would but cranked the oven up to 500 degrees and allowed it to really get hot- 30 minutes to an hour.  In the roasting pan, you pour in 4 cups of water or chicken stock (I did the chicken stock) in the bottom of your roasting pan. Cover the entire roasting pan with aluminum foil and pop it in the oven. Cook for 1 hour and turn the heat off and go to bed!  I was totally skeptical but this morning, I pulled the foil off to this....

Worm Castings: It's That Time Again!

I'm coming up on 3 years now since I started my worm bins. And I still am totally amazed at the high level of efficiency of these little guys.  I'm still very passionate about the process and my worms and so I treat them with their favorite foods when harvest time comes around. 

New Toy + Bulbs + Pansies= Happy Saturday!

Today was finally a sunny, chilly, but sunny day.  It was time for some work in the yard!  I know, it's weird.  Most people don't want to mow lawns and rake dead leaves or pull weeds during their weekend, but it's all kind of new to me.  I haven't had a yard or real outdoor space for the past 10 years.  So, yes, I'm freak'n excited! I'm also excited about my new toy!!!

O.K., I'm not one of those girls who want jewelry or perfume, but I am one of those girls who likes a good power tool!! I really, really want a Makita cordless drill. Santa??  Anyway, this edge trimmer is fantastic!! It's super light weight and it's adjustable for us vertically challenged people. It was easy to put together and the head rotates so you can trim along sidewalks!

Panettone French Toast

Sunday Breakfast:

My Weekend Project: Sewing Room... Again

Sigh.  The one thing I hate about moving is setting everything back up again. The one thing I am very glad about is that the space is much bigger and I'll actually be able to set up my books.  I really hope I can get it done today!! This is my weekend goal. I was also hoping to mow the lawn this weekend but with the rain, well, I'm not sure it's going to happen.  We're the house with the ugly lawn right now. :-(

Home Sweet Home ... For Now

This weekend has been exhausting!  The boyfriend and I moved from our current apartment to a rental home. Yay!  But once again, we decided to move all of our junk ourselves.  Now it wouldn't be so bad if I was 6 ft. tall, 200 lbs and as strong as an ox but I am not.  I'm barely 5' 3 1/4'' and on a good day, may weigh in at a whopping 105 lbs. (that is if I had a Big Mac for breakfast).  BUT I am surprisingly strong for my size and this ain't the first time I've had to move all of our junk.  Our previous abode had a killer flight of stairs that we climbed to get our junk into the apartment.  So for a couple of people nearing our 40s and actually the boy is the big 4-0. We still got some spunk. We're definitely hurting right now, I'm not going to lie, but we got it DONE SON!

So, this is the new place:

Breakfast: Eggsellent Eggs!

Look at these eggs!! I was making scrambled eggs for breakfast the other day and of course used the eggs that I had bought from the farmer's market; I was so surprised that each egg produced a different colored yolk!  This is why I want my own chickens!  I was sad that I broke the yolk on the right, it was such a beautiful tangerine orange!  My big gripe with RVA is that they have anti-chicken laws. BOOOOO!!!

Weekend Highlights

It's been a good weekend!  No rain, lots of sunshine and cooler temperatures.  The trees here are just starting to turn and you can smell autumn in the air!  Here are some highlights:
Visit to the Farmer's Market:
I love farmer's markets.  It's one of the things besides friends that I miss about Los Angeles.  We went to the local farmer's market yesterday (second time for me and first for the boyfriend) and got our Mrs. Yoder's donuts (see previous post), which I have to say was pretty damn amazing. The boyfriend and I definitely fell off the diet train and got caught under the wheels and dragged along the tracks yesterday. That's how good those donuts were! I think our only real meal yesterday was at dinner when the donuts ran out. :-P

I also bought eggs at the farmer's market and got a nice surprise..... a blue egg with my dozen! God, I want chickens so badly! 

The Best Fresh Donuts Ever!

Mrs. Yoder's Donuts.  Three were eaten before we even got in the car.  Need I say more?

%$@! SQUIRRELZ!

Besides the weather starting to feel cooler and the leaves starting to change, I know it's autumn because the squirrels are burying their nuts in my potted plants!!!

I wouldn't mind so much if they wouldn't come right back and dig them up again and in the process destroy my plants!! 

My poor stonecrop was totally dug up!  Thankfully, they will just send out more roots and re-plant themselves but the little buggers dug up my petunias, too. :-(

AARRGGH! I'm glad we'll be moving soon!! 

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011

Today is a particularly beautiful morning.  After a week of rain and more rain, to have Sept.11 be so sunny and pleasant is a welcome change especially considering the day. Ten years ago the boyfriend had moved to NYC two days before.  Thankfully, he had the day off and was fast asleep.  My cousin was working in a building near the Towers.  Thankfully, she was evacuated early.  This morning we watched an A&E special on 9/11.  Very surreal. I do remember and will never forget, but maybe this is why the sunlight seemed so incredible today, and the plants I've been nurturing since Spring seem so lovely basking in the sun's rays. I feel even more drawn to simple things like growing plants, raising worms, working with my hands and cooking. 

My Thai basil, garlic (I'm trying to grow a bulb indoors), basil

Irene's Aftermath

We lost our power Saturday afternoon.  For 5 days, we lost our electricity.  Five Days!!  It totally sucked.  The candle lit evening wasn't so bad for the first day, but after the 3rd day.... not cool.

I took some other photos while in the dark and this is what developed...

Earth, Wind and Fire

Mother Nature seems a little pissed at us over here!  First we have fires down south in the Dismal Swamps.  Then we had an earthquake and now a hurricane! What's next an alien invasion?  Well, we're ready!  Bought food yesterday during a torrential downpour and packed our freezer tight! Made sure to buy canned goods that won't need cooking or refrigeration. This afternoon, I brought in my plants.

Our spare room looks like a jungle now!  We also went and bought essential supplies like flashlights that don't require batteries and a self-powered, all-in-one radio/light/cell phone charger.

We have plenty of water, wine and beer and a giant pizza from Whole Foods!  I think we're good. :-)

I Luv Pie!

I seem to do a lot of late night baking.  Baking pies are one of my favorite baked goods to make!!  LUV PIE!  Especially fruit pies.  It's so perfect.  You get all of your 4 food groups- fruit, carbs, protein, and dairy (I put an egg and cream wash on the surface before baking plus the dollops of butter all over the apple filling.....mmmmm). I particularly like apple pies.  It's so all-American goodness, but another reason I tend to lean toward apple is that I can't seem to eat most apples raw (gives me stomach aches, except for Fuji apples and I have no idea why) but I can eat all apples cooked!! Now if I weren't lactose intolerant, a big scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream on my slice of warm apple pie...that would be heaven! 

Japanese Milk Bread: Version 2

I made milk bread again.  Although, the recipe I used for the first loaf was very good.  I wanted an even fluffier, soft bread with a slight chewy texture.  I decided to look into other recipes and decided to mix and match ingredients to come up with version 2:

The texture was much fluffier and still slightly chewy.  And god, did it smell GOOD when it was baking. The bread tastes almost creamy compared to the first loaf. So, here's the recipe (this recipe makes one loaf, but the tangzhong mix is enough for 2 loaves):

Japanese Milk Bread!!!

I have been craving shokupan or Japanese milk bread for a while now, but there isn't really a bakery here in Richmond that I know of that sells the bread so I've been looking for a recipe.  What makes the bread so good is the texture!  It isn't crusty like European breads, but soft, fluffy and slightly chewy.  The first time I had Japanese milk bread was in Los Angeles and I've been craving the stuff ever since. Well, thanks to the internet and others who find the bread pretty tasty, I have found a recipe!  I was so excited.

Peppers + Creative Chaos

SUCCESS!!  I have peppers!  It was really touch and go for a couple of months but my pepper plants are still alive and producing fruit!!  I have no idea what variety of peppers I have but I think I'll be able to have a 1st harvest in a couple of days. 

June 2011

July 2011

Kimchi: Blender Version

I'm always searching for the right kimchi recipe. The first version I made was good but way too salty due to the kosher salt fiasco.  Since then, I've been searching for a better way to make it.  So, the other day, I had dinner with my mother, my aunt and my cousin and a conversation developed about kimchi, of course.  Kimchi is serious business in Korean culture; it's like BBQ in the south! Recipes were discussed and cooking books were pulled out and I soaked it all in!

A BBQ Kind of Weekend

For dinner, we went to Alamo BBQ in the Churchill area.  I've always considered Buz and Ned's one of my favorite bbq spots, but I have to say, Alamo is rating pretty high right now!! I got the beef brisket sandwich and the boyfriend got the pulled pork sandwich.

beef brisket sandwich combo

pulled pork sandwich combo

Gardening Update: Harvest+Composting+Thai Basil

I decided to harvest my carrots this morning....

I don't know why I'm so excited about the carrots considering I can't even eat them raw.  I actually made the boyfriend try the first carrot I picked a couple of weeks ago to tell me how they tasted!! Apparently, they're pretty sweet!  Anyway, my bunch of carrots are pretty puny- they're like baby carrots.  I think with my next planting in August, I'll try to use a looser medium and maybe not plant as many in the container.

BBQ!

As some of you know, I LOVE barbecue. I'm a little bit obsessed.  I almost bought a dutch oven style smoker that you could use indoors in your oven when I was living in Los Angeles because I couldn't find good barbecue. I didn't buy the smoker because later on, we discovered a place called Kansas City BBQ Company in the North Hollywood area that had fabulous beef brisket and sweet potato fries! Anyway, one of the main reasons for moving back to Richmond was for some good southern BBQ.  Today, we decided to try Ronnie's Ribs Wings & Other Things for lunch.  He has a little trailer parked in a lot off of Main St.  The boyfriend got the pulled pork sandwich platter and I got the rib platter.  I have to say, the ribs were pretty good and I actually liked the ribs better than the pulled pork.  The ribs had a nice smokey flavor and the BBQ sauce had a nice spicy kick.  If you're in the area, stop by and get some ribs!

I Sank Your Battleship and You Better Believe I Will Do It Again!

Around noonish, I get HUNGRY.  Not just, I-think-I-need-something-to-eat kind of hungry but I-could-eat-a-horse kind of hungry.  And I am not a salad for lunch with a diet coke kind of a girl. So, today, the boyfriend and I decided to try The Black Sheep.  I first heard of the restaurant before moving back to the old hood from my friends, Anne and Tommy.  When we moved, friends here in Richmond raved about it as well. We were also warned that the place is tiny and usually packed.  Well, everyone was right, it was tiny, packed and the wait for a table was around 45 minutes, so we decided to get our order to go.  I chose the half portion of the CSS Virginia (fried chicken livers with a cabbage slaw and a remoulade sauce on a baguette) and the boyfriend got the half portion of the USS Brooklyn (jerk chicken with cabbage slaw topped with banana ketchup and peach chutney on a baguette). 

My Sewing Room

I've always wanted a sewing space, even if it's small or in this case, tiny!  My current apartment had this little extra room at the front of the building overlooking the balcony.  When we first moved in, we just dumped stuff in there but it was always designated as my sewing room.  I'm finally trying to get this room set up now. 

Before

 

Container Garden Summer Update

Here's how my not-so-little container garden is doing....

April 2011

June 2011

Dulce de Leche Frozen Yogurt Sandwiches

I am a tiny bit obsessed with sweetened condensed milk dulce de leche.  It's easy and so so yummy!!  I originally found out how to make dulce de leche through the Ravenous Couple Cooking blog: http://www.theravenouscouple.com/.  They also posted a recipe for dulce de leche ice cream but since I am slightly lactose intolerant, ice cream usually doesn't sit well with me. :-(  BUT, I can eat frozen yogurt!! Even though there is a little cream or milk added to most froyo recipes, compared to the heavy cream and milk in ice cream, I can handle some frozen yogurt!

Back to Basics: Socks

As most of you all know, I have a little obsession with urban homesteading.  Starting a container garden on my balcony, composting with worms are all in the pursuit of living off the grid, knowing where my food comes from and being a little more self-sufficient. Beyond the gardening and composting, I feel it's also important to have some other basic skills like knitting!  I'm not the best knitter.  I hate math and anything to do with numbers (I'm probably one of the few Asians who can't do math) and knitting has a lot of math and counting to deal with, but it's a challenge and I like a challenge.

Tea with a side of Composting

For the last 3 or 4 months, I've been trying my hand at composting in a bucket.  I started with some left over worm castings with dead leaves in a little red bucket.  I added some dead vegetation when I started pruning my container garden, dirt and paper products.

Well, things were going well, at first, but then it rained a lot for days on end, the bucket started getting a little stinky and attracting flies/gnats.  So I added more dirt, mixed it a bit and added holes for drainage.  I ended up having to let things dry out a bit but continued to add clippings from my garden as plants either died or I killed- like my perillas :-(  So this is how it's looking now....

Drats, Gnats!

It's been really rainy lately.  This past weekend, it finally let up and I was on my balcony making sure the plants were o.k.  Well, unfortunately, the moist soil and the warm temperatures have brought on a gnat infestation!! I spent all afternoon yesterday re-potting some of my infected plants, which were ones that were planted in Miracle Grow Organic potting soil. My radishes, lettuces and carrots- all O.K. and they were planted in a cheap Big Lots brand, called Black Magic.  This morning, I go out there and the gnats are all in my pepper plant and my parsley/marigold/thyme/nasturtium mixed planter!! I hate gnats!!

The afflicted

Vinegar and dish soap trap 

I don't mind re-potting the peppers, but my mixed planter?!..... damnit! I even used a diluted chlorine solution to drench the soil.  Apparently, the chlorine should kill the eggs. This sucks!

A Beautiful Surprise!

Got back from a week working in DC to this.....

They are gorgeous! And best of all, they were a gift given to the boyfriend who in turn gave them to me! I'm excited to learn how to care for them and hope they'll thrive. XOXO

Dulce de Leche Obsession!

I have been a little obsessed with making dulce de leche by boiling cans of sweetened condensed milk.  The recipe and instructions can be found on the Ravenous Couple blog: http://www.theravenouscouple.com/2011/03/dulce-de-leche-ice-cream.html

So, they used it to make ice cream, which sounds pretty amazing but as a person suffering from lactose intolerance, not so good. :-(  I was also curious to see if the sweetened condense milk would be different if boiled for 3 hours as opposed to 2.  Well, last night, I just couldn't let it go and had to experiment. I boiled 2 cans of sweetened condense milk, one for 2 hours and the other for 3. 

As you can see the one on the right, which was boiled for 3 hours, is a wee bit darker.  The sweetened condense milk also thickened a bit more and the flavor intensified.  It was like dulce de leche pudding!!!  SOOOOO GOOOOD!  Anyway, so if one can't make ice cream, what are you supposed to do?

Container Garden Update

Well, my humble beginnings to try to grow something was truly humble. My goal was really not to kill anything. I started with hand-me-down containers and 3 packets of seeds.  Some hand-me-down chives and a teeny tiny stonecrop plant.

Before

Now, my little balcony container garden has become my little gardening oasis.

Today!