wall decals

i didn't want invest in fixtures, paint jobs, and large furniture pieces for our apartment bc there's a good chance we will have to move next july for hdr's job, but how can you resist decorating a nursery?  i've given into the wall decal craze and found a few that i like.  i love the pixel axonometric of tokyo but i don't think it's meant for a nursery bc the description mentioned something about naked women on rockets.  part of me thinks, eh, the baby will never know, but then my in-laws will probably think i'm crazy.

if you're looking for quick ways to give your living space a makeover, consider decals, which are non-permanent and sometimes re-usable.

http://www.whatisblik.com/shop/explore

http://www.wallstickershop.com/

http://www.dezignwithaz.com/wall-stickers-kids-rooms-c-80.html

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6259911&page=1

http://www.pokkadots.com/items.cfm/pcid/5/cid/246/

http://store.sprouthome.com/hoac-decals.html

http://www.lumens.com/lumens/search2.asp?search_freetext=blik&s_id=0&submitted=1&x=0&y=0

http://boodalee.com/wall-graphics.html

http://www.ragingvinyl.com/product_listing.php?cPath=30&osCsid=63755d72959761195bb8b9c68516b5c2

 

obsessing

i have kind of been obsessing over this bag for a while



but i have a similar one i got in florence last year bc it was really cheap and it was the closest thing i could find to what i was looking for, so i can't really justify getting this one. -sigh- this is what happens when you settle!

eating is a chore

i have always wanted to be the type of lotus flower who ate slowly and delicately, and became full off of a couple of bites of food. but instead, i'm the type of person who, if it were socially acceptable, would eat everything on my plate, then pick off of someone else's plate, and then eat the cardboard packaging too. i eat really fast and i'm never picky about what i eat. in fact, i usually think that just food in general is so good that i can't stop eating it even though i'm so full i can hardly breathe. i never really spent a lot of money on clothes, but i loved eating - what i couldn't eat in the highbrow foodie kind of way, i made up in volume/calories.

you always hear about bad things: war, recession, cancer, swine flu, morning sickness... but you never think it's going to happen to you. i didn't even know i had it until i started eating one of my favorite things, tabouli, and started gagging. 'omg, what the hell is that? onion? since when did onion taste like elephant turd?!' i desperately tried to find something else to eat that would make this gagging feeling go away, but nothing worked - not even soda. i felt like i had elephant turd lodged in the back of my throat for the rest of the day. i woke up the next day feeling totally fine, but as soon as i started to eat, the same thing happened.

garlic tastes like elephant turd!
pad thai tastes like elephant turd too!?
saltines and gingerale, not you too!
omg, korean food is the devil incarnate!

everything i ate turned into elephant turd and pretty soon there were only a few things i could eat. kelloggs special k cereal, apples, sour patch kids and cream cheese. and even those things started to taste like elephant turd's distant cousin after a while. seeing pictures of food, touching food, or just thinking about food made me want to vomit. your pregnancy hormones peak at around 8-9 weeks and during that time, it felt like i had a horrible hangover and someone was chasing me around trying to force feed me shots of johnny walker... all day long. i cried myself to sleep, on the nights i could fall asleep that is.

you're i-have-mono exhausted all the time and you turn into a bloodhound. i could smell what people had for lunch on their clothes, i could smell my boss's breath from five feet way, i thought hdr smelled like mushrooms, and sometimes i would just sit around sniffing shampoo bottles bc organic smells made me want to jump out the window. i mean, it kind of feels like you're allergic to everything in the world, including the one thing that could make you feel better, benedryl. it's that tragic. i have no idea how those women who vomit every day and get hospitalized for dehydration do it.

"morning" sickness sucks all the joy out of finding out you're pregnant. honestly, i think it was worse than getting the swine flu. but there are other changes accelerating in your body and it's the sensation that you're really pregnant and that the little zygote is safe that gets you through it.

i'm doing a lot better now, but i still get nauseous when i eat foods that are too flavorful or if i go too long without eating. as always, it gets worse as the day/night progresses. i'm slowly adding foods to my repertoire but the most frustrating part of this is that i can't seem to muster an appetite and eating is such a chore. i'm having such a hard time meeting my calorie requirements that i have hardly gained any weight, and most of the food i eat is junk. i tried so hard to eat healthy during my first trimester that i have strong negative associations with most healthy foods and can't eat them anymore.

once, i went to a house party with my friend. i parked myself in front of the guacamole and couldn't stop eating it. i think i ate half of it by myself. i turned to my friend and said, "omg, this is so good, i can't stop eating it! help me!" she was so confused, "i don't get it, just stop eating it." but i couldn't and she looked at me like i was crazy. whatever that gene is, i don't have it (i would have failed the marshmallow test). this reminded me of a conversation i had in college with the same friend. she's really skinny, but by no means is she anorexic. she's one of those dainty lotus flowers who always has a flat stomach and can eat just the right portions. in fact, she's probably like most of the asian girls i know. she was telling me that she doesn't really like eating. she eats bc she knows she has to, but she never really seeks out food. it's true. whenever we'd meet for dinner, i'd always pick what to eat bc she was so apathetic. i've never heard her say, "omg, we have to eat this!". i never understood her very un-american appetite, but today, as hdr was force feeding me, i had a pang of empathy. today, i was a lotus flower and all i could think about was how i wish i could just stop eating. hdr was telling me every five minutes that i had to finish everything like i was three years old. i practically had tears streaming down my face as i finished my soba noodle by noodle over a painfully long 30 minutes.

now, i can understand why some people never over eat. i can understand why people eat slowly. i can understand why some people are picky eaters. and i can finally understand the obsession with sour things.

some healthy things i do like to eat now are: cheese, apples, pineapples, dried mangoes, bagels-n-cream cheese, things with vinegar in it, salmon sushi, and trader joe's apple watermelon fruityflakes (little flecks of happiness).

Mood...

i really want to eat a croque madame. i miss cooking.

i want to go to paris and i also want to live in a b&w postcard.

i want it to be summer so badly, but summer actually makes me sad for the imminent end of it.

Mondrian Cake

The Hair Delusion

i always think of getting something done to my hair as a treat, but without fail, every trip to the salon ends with me feeling sorry for myself. why i repeatedly forget the trauma and continue to look forward to getting my hair cut or permed is not an example of optimism, but just being a moron.

i had been looking forward to this haircut for months. i had a bad perm in korea (again, another irrational exuberance turned toxic moment) and after patiently tying my hair back and looking unremarkable for months, i wanted a fashionably layered cut. i had also been growing my hair out bc i've never had long hair before and for just once, i wanted to be feminine for what seemed eerily like the last chance i'll ever have to be youthful, feminine, and beautiful (in the self-esteem sense).

i got to the salon and described my vision in painstaking detail - bc i attributed prior disasters to the fact that perhaps i just wasn't explicit enough. it included something about layers, keeping the length, keeping it light, and bangs. but this visit ended up being just like every other salon visit. they looked at the mop on my head, told me they're going to trim away the damage, and bc my hair quality is so bad, they'll have to do this and that adjustment blah blah blah. i'm not one to argue with expertise, so i just went along with it.

after spacing out over korean magazines for an hour, i looked up. it wasn't what i was hoping for, but i didn't look horrible, which is way more than i can ask for from a trip to the salon. so, i tipped big and danced all the way home. all was dandy until i took a shower and washed out the professional styling and products, and realized i looked like an orphan.

this will undoubtedly happen again. i'll pin my bangs down, tie my naps back, and wait patiently as my hopes of beautiful hair renews. it's the delusion that a new haircut could suddenly change my life for the better (make me look better in my crappy clothes, change my vibe from homely to edgy, or just simply give me beautiful hair for once) that keeps me going back. but one day, i will have to accept the truth, which is that i don't have beautiful hair. a digital perm on a friend with naturally silky hair is not going to look the same on my kinky, porous rat's nest. everyone has a natural baseline and mine is looking like an orphan.

i knew a blog would be too ambitious of a project for me. i should have just stuck to things i'm good at, like throwing ninja stars. but! i have been trying out some flatbread recipes, including everything from the flat to the bread, and a health(ier) cookie recipe made with cognac and sea salt. recipes and pictures to come within the year.

p.s. why are potatoes so gross?

Tobiko + Shiso Pasta

I've tried styling foods before taking pictures, but to be honest, the pics that look the best are the messy ones with food that looks tortured, writhing in fear of its destructive and sadistic creator. Sentient food. Yum. Maybe kids aren't really a good idea for me.

Ingredients:

1 thingy (container?) of tobiko

6 leaves of shiso, chiffonaded

3 cloves of garlic

1 tbsp of evoo

1/4 cup of white wine

1/2 cup of clam juice

angel hair pasta for 2

Directions:

Boil pasta in salted water for 4-5 minutes and drain. Do not rinse the pasta and reserve some of the starchy liquids if your pasta gets too sticky later. Saute garlic in evoo over med heat for 2 minutes and add wine until it's almost all evaporated. Add clam juice and let simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes. Toss pasta, tobiko, and most of the shiso leaves. Plate and top with remaining shiso leaves and serve immediately.

I saw the funniest thing in Italy. It's called Diet Piggy. Judging from the grammar and abusive language, it must be Japanese - making it even more appropriate for this post. The box reads, "When fridge is opened, interesting "OINK" sound will remind you not to eat anymore! Your best friend who reminds you of keeping diet, keeping fit and keeping healthy! Have enough? Then stop eating! OINK OINK". This is the kind of relationship I need with my fridge.

Sherried Cream of Portobello Mushroom Soup

One of the reasons I enjoy cooking is because I'm such a homebody. Leaving the house means looking presentable and often I'm too lazy to brush my hair/teeth and change into anything more restricting than an oversized t-shirt. This soup is so easy to make and it's great for the summer. I imagine that if I had a breezy balcony, a charming bouquet of flowers, and a good book, this soup would go well with it. *sigh* one day!

Ingredients:

3 large portobello mushroom caps

1 small onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 sprig of fresh rosemary

1.5 cups of chicken, beef, or vegetable stock

1/2 cup of heavy cream

1 tbsp sherry

2 tbsp fresh chives

Directions:

Quarter and thinly slice mushrooms, chop onions and chives, mince garlic. Cook mushrooms, onions, and garlic over med heat (in some evoo or butter), stirring occasionally until softened and liquid has evaporated. Add stock, cream, and sprig of rosemary and simmer for 15-20 uncovered. Remove rosemary and either blend with an immersion blender or your magic bullet. Stir in sherry, a little bit of salt/pepper, and top with chives.

Baking for Beginners (Like Me) - Sponge Cake

Again, I love anything with eggs in it - omlettes, custards, meringues, popovers, and especially foam cakes. Angel cakes, sponge cakes, and chiffon cakes are all foam cakes. They contain a high proportion of eggs or egg whites in relation to other ingredients, and they rely on a foam created by beating eggs or whites for their leavning and delicate strucure. Leavening comes from air trapped in the egg foam that gets hot and expands in the oven, aided by the steam produced as the moist batter bakes.

Equipment: Two 8 or 9 inch round layers (for layered cakes), one 9 inch round cake. I like to bake my sponge cake in ungreased pans becuase it tends to cling to the sides and get more volume. Feel free to line the bottom of the pans with wax or parchment paper (here is how) to get a nice, smooth surface.

This recipe (and most of the informative facts above) are for the most part from the Joy of Cooking book. It yields a very light cake when made with 3 eggs, and a moister, larger one when made with 6 eggs. I just made mine with 8 egg yolks (leftover from my meringue fiasco where I had to battle crusty, dried meringue all over my kitchen with a scouring pad) with meringue powder to substitute for 8 egg whites. Yum, it smells so EGGY! I can't decide if I want to serve it grilled with a passionfruit compote or if I should make a layered cake out of it.

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature (about 70 degrees) and remember to beat the egg whites using clean, dry stainless steel bowls and mixer attachments. The slightest bit of grease will make you want to kick and scream.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together:

1 cup sifted cake flour (click here for substitution)

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Beat in large bowl at med-high speed until thickened (about 1 min):

3 or 6 large egg yolks

Gradually beat in:

1 cup sugar and beat for 3 min longer

Beat in:

1/4 cup boiling water

Beat in:

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

At low speed, gradually beat in the sifted ingredients.

Using clean beaters in large bowl, beat at med-high speed until stiff but not dry:

3 or 6 large egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tartar (can leave out or substitute)

I used meringue powder for simplicity and bc I didn't have egg whites

Fold one-quarter of whites into batter (see video on how to fold egg whites), then fold in the remaining whites. Scrape batter into the pan(s) and spread evenly. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean; about 25-30 minutes for two round pans. Cool on rack in pan upsidedown.

Cod with Tomatoes and Capers

I like this recipe because it is so fool proof (capers do all the work). And I'm sure it tastes a lot better if you use salt cod or fresh cod, but I usually only have frozen cod on hand.

2 lbs frozen cod fillet (preferably center cut)

3 tablespoons capers

6 tablespoons evoo

1 medium onion finely diced (about 1.5 cups)

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 (28 oz) can whole San Marzano tomatoes in juice

1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley coarsley chopped

In large bowl, combine cod with salt water to cover by 2 inches for about 30-40 minutes, or until thawed. Drain well and pat dry.

In heavy 6 to 8 quart pot over moderate heat, heat 3 tbsp oil until hot, but not smoking. Add onion and saute until softened and golden (2 to 4 minutes). Add red pepper flakes, capers, and the tomatoes and juice. Using wooden spoon, gently crush tomatoes. Bring to simmer for about 15 minutes, then carefully add cod. Gently spoon some sauce over cod. Simmer uncovered until cod is tender and heated through, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spatula, transfer cod to serving platter. Remove pot from heat and stir in 3 tbsp of evoo. Spoon sauce over fish, then sprinkle with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. Serve warm or at room temperature. I like to eat mine over a bed of jasmine rice.

Oxtail Ragu

the present:

I saw a braised oxtail recipe on foodisluv and decided I wanted to try something with oxtail, but Italian style because I have yet to post an Italian recipe! I had all of the ingredients but just didn't have a large pot that could go from stove to oven. With the vitality of $30 of oxtail ticking away in my fridge, I was afraid this would be another FAIL, when by the powers of my wishing, someone bought a dutch oven off of my registry. I am now the proud owner of a fire engine red dutch oven, and I am in love with it (even though I just met it). I have no idea how I cooked all of these years without one. Oh right, I didn't cook. Anyway, it heats up quickly and food almost never sticks to the magical enamel. My only regret is that I didn't get it in the carribean blue color to match my tiles and make my kitchen super fun happy. Oh, I think I see a risotto pot in my future...

the future:

Oxtail Ragu

This is an adapted recipe from Osteria in Philadelphia that I found on epicurious.com. If I make this recipe again, I would probably leave it in the oven for 3 hours instead of the 2 they directed. Then after I pull the meat off of the bones, I'd refrigerate it to skim the fat off, then reheat it on the stove until it reduces to the thickness of a ragu. While the flavors of oxtail are rich, I might try it with a brisket meat as an everyday dish.

5 pounds of 2-3 inch pieces oxtails

All purpose flour

1/2 cup of evoo

5 large celery stalks, coarsely chopped

2 large carrots, peeled, chopped

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 cups dry red wine

28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes with added puree

4 garlic cloves, chopped

6 fresh Italian parsley sprigs

2 large fresh rosemary sprigs

3 Turkish bay leaves

2 cups beef broth

1 cup low-salt chicken broth

Preheat oven to 325°F. Sprinkle oxtails with salt and pepper, then flour. Heat oil in heavy wide ovenproof pot over high heat. Add oxtails; cook until brown on all sides, about 15 minutes. Transfer to bowl. Add celery, carrots, and onion to pot. Reduce heat to medium-high and sauté until vegetables brown, about 15 minutes. Add wine and tomatoes. Boil until thickened to chunky sauce, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle in garlic. Tie parsley, rosemary, and bay leaves with kitchen string and add to pot. Return oxtails to pot in single layer. Add all broth; bring to boil. Cover pot; place in oven.

Braise oxtails until very tender, about 3 hours. Transfer oxtails to rimmed baking sheet. Discard the herbs. Using potato masher, crush juices and vegetables in pot to coarse sauce. Pull meat off oxtails and add to sauce. Season ragù with salt and pepper. Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool, cover, and chill. Rewarm before continuing.

Gazpacho

Okay, gazpacho is not really Italian either, but to be fair, I had a great one at Quattro Leoni in Florence. It's a spanish tomato-based raw vegetable soup and while it's really just a glorified salsa recipe, I eat it all the time in the summer. It's healthy, refreshing, easy to make, and I can make it batches and store it for days.

After shopping around a lot, I settled on Alton Brown's recipe with modifications - the main one being that instead of cooking my own tomatoes, I just use a 28 oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes (crushed or whole).

28oz. can of San Marzano tomatoes

1 cup of cucumber peeled, seeded, and chopped

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped red onion

1/2 of a small jalepeno pepper seeded and minced

1 medium garlic clove, minced

1/4 cup evoo

1/2 lime, juiced

2 tbsp balsamic vingar

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Drain the can of tomatoes in a strainer over a bowl to catch the tomato juice. You can use it later to thin the soup, but I like mine chunkier so I never end up using it. The gazpacho will get saltier the longer you keep it, so depending on when you plan to consume it, adjust your salt use accordingly.

Place chopped cucumber, red bell pepper, and onions in a bowl and toss to mix. Place evoo, lime juice, vingar, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, salt, and pepper in a cup and mix.

You could use a food processor, but I use my Magic Bullet to process everything. It's a little small so I do it in 3 batches. Place a third of the tomatoes in the cup first, then pour a third of the seasoning mixture, then a third of the chopped vegetables. Pulse until everything is processed, and then blend for several seconds to puree until it looks smooth and soupy. It doesn't result in a true puree, but the small chunks of vegetables give it a nice, crunchy texture. Keep it refrigerated and it will taste even better the next day.

You can serve it with a chiffonade of basil, croutons, or some of the chopped vegetables placed on top of the soup right before serving. The French Laundry recipe serves it with dots of a balsamic glaze squeezed on top, which I have yet to try, but if you're interested here's the receipe for it.

Balsamic Glaze

Heat 2 cups of balsamic vinegar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steam rises from the liquid. Place the sauce pan on a heat diffuser and let the liquid reduice very slowly (it shouldn't simmer) for 2 to 3 hours, until it has reduced and thickened to a syrupy glaze. Keep it in a squeeze bottle at room temperature for garnishing. If the glaze is too thick, warm the bottle in hot water to loose the glaze.

Cleaning a Cutting Board

A cool trick with salt and what, season your board with evoo?

Does anyone know the best way to keep your knives clean after cutting meats? Is it enough to use antibacterial dishwashing soap?

Fresh Thyme Popovers

Okay, so popovers aren't a Tuscan thing - I don't think they're even Italian - but I love eggy things, so I thought I'd start out with a recipe I've made many times. They go well with any meat dish or stand perfectly alone as a breakfast.

I've had a hard time trying to get my popovers to pop and a couple of things have helped. First, I like to bring the egg and milk to room temperature ahead of time while I'm doing other things. Second, the pan should always be heated before you pour the batter in. Third, fill up cups only half way with batter. Don't over fill your them. This recipe is for 8 popovers and my pan only has 6 cups. Trying to squeeze in the last of the batter will be a fail.

Other modifications. You can reduce the salt to about 1/4 tsp if you wanted. You can omit the butter, but it's more custardy and lessy crispy on the outside then, so please don't.

Some say you can make the batter up to 4 days ahead if you refrigerate it, and others say 2 hours. But I think it's just easier to make it fresh when you want to eat it because you still have to let the batter reach room temperature before pouring it into a hot pan, and that alone could take an hour.

Without further ado, my favorite popover recipe from Cooking Light. They're only about 97 calories each, so gobble them up!

• 4.5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 cup)
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• Cooking spray
• 1 tablespoon finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Combine flour, thyme, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Combine milk and eggs in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk until blended; let stand 30 minutes. Gradually add flour mixture to milk mixture, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in melted butter.

3. Coat 8 popover cups with cooking spray; sprinkle cheese evenly among cups. Place cups in oven at 375° for 5 minutes. Divide batter evenly among prepared cups. Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or until golden. Serve immediately.

A Taste of Tuscany

For our honeymoon, we went to Cinque Terre, Siena, Chianti, and Florence. The food in this region is marvelously simple, but because the ingredients are fresh and the preparation timestakingly traditional, the food is amazing. We've found it almost impossible to go back to eating Italian food in the states, so I've made it my mission to learn how to cook traditional Tuscan food. YEAH. right.

The freshest bruschetta straight out of a coal oven in Riomaggiore

Seafood pasta in Vernazza

The best caprese salad ever. You're probably thinking, it's just tomatoes and mozarella, how good could it really be? That's what I thought too, but it really, truly is so delicious! Everything from the most ripe tomatoes, to mozarella so fresh I could practically taste the cow, to peppery olive oil, and grassy basil.

These two pasta dishes were some of our favorites. We ate at a reastaurant called La Bottega in the small town of Volpaia. It had beautiful views for dining outside and I highly recommend this restaurant if you're ever in Tuscany. I thought this tiny town was far more charming than San Gimingiano and I'm sure the Volpaia castello winery has a nice tour as well. The above is a truffle pasta, with generous shavings of truffle (I can't tell if these are black or white?), and below is a tagliatelle in wild boar sauce.

This dish below is a spicy pancetta pasta from Osteria dei Benci, our favorite restuarant in Florence. They have the most amazing Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine T-bone steak of white oxen). And their pastas are fantastic as well!

HAAAAAAAY! I'm Married!

It says October something, but I actually got married over Memorial Day weekend 2009. This is me on my honeymoon at the Dievole winery going, "HAAAAAY! I'm married!"

And YOU'RE reading the domestic attempts of the new Mrs. Lee!

I've tried saving printouts of recipes I've liked, but I've lost them all, and I've tried writing them into my recipe notebook, but I am too lazy to maintain something like that. The notes would get increasingly sparse and it lacked any kind of organization. I figured a blog would be the perfect place for me to keep my recipes, notes, modifications, and a visual library of my cooking non-fails.

1969

yes, i was totally blogging back then.