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