Moody Pepper

Week 3 of art class was focused on creating depth by way of bell pepper. The teacher had us start by laying down some level 5 grey charcoal across newsprint paper. Then with an eraser, we were to draw the contour of the pepper and from there, use charcoal and eraser to continue darkening or lightening the form.

I was pretty pleased with my pepper up until I realized I had grossly overworked the darks. So I went back over and lightened up some areas but once my pepper got moody, it stayed moody. The word my teacher used to describe it was "dramatic". The first pic is without flash and the second is with flash plus kitties. The drawing is about 2 feet tall.

Diseased Stick

My art homework was to continue working on the stick and roses we drew in class. The teacher expressly forbade the use of shading but somehow I managed to cheat a little - unintended of course. Toward the end, I switched to brown ink to add some complexity to the shape and ended up dripping a big glob in the middle. Using the paper towel to lift it off left some residual color that looked quite nice. So I continued smearing and dabbing. Unfortunately, in my enthusiasm and haste, I deposited a bit too much color at parts. The end result is a splotchy, slightly diseased stick, but at least it has more depth!

Finish Line In Sight

Just when I thought I'd reached the final stretch of my Simply Marilyn sweater, I ran out of yarn. That's just not fair. Perhaps the extra length I added outbalanced the width reductions I made. Whatever the reason, I have another 3 inches to add to the collar. Here's how it looks so far.

Aside from the collar, I'm pretty satisfied with the fit. The arms (despite my best efforts) are still shorter than I would like but the torso fits well and the neck seems to be right. I think the sweater would have been cute baggy as well. If I were to make it again, I'd follow the pattern and cast on 68 stitches, rather than the 60, and I wouldn't shape the waist. More to come once the sweater is finally completed. Time to go yarn hunting...

Pen and Ink

Yesterday was the second session of my art class at UCSD. The first session was spent doodling and doing exercises focused on varying the weight of your line. In other words, it was a bit of a snoozer but I can understand the necessity. This week, we focused on using lines to form shape, i.e. contours. The teacher gave us sticks with thorns and asked that we make the scale very large so you could really see the lines wrapping around the form. He also requested that we use a quill pen and ink - a tool I've never drawn with before. Despite the messiness and occasionally spillage (see middle thorn), I really enjoyed drawing in ink. It was pretty easy to control the weight of the line and of course the drawing was very sharp and distinct. The effect really popped, unlike my usual style which involves a lot of shading and softening of the image.

Aside from the exercise, we watched a brief film on an artist, Jim somebody, and listened to my teacher babble in his stream of consciousness teaching style. He's quite a nice man but one can't help but wonder if he's inhaled a bit too much charcoal dust in his day. My homework is to continue working on the stick and rose.

Beginnings of a Sweater

My yarn finally arrived in the mail last week and oh is it soft! The texture is plush and almost silky against the skin and the color is a gorgeous dark green. After a quick dash to the Joann in Poway to get 10.5 needles, I had all the materials needed to begin my first sweater.

It turns out that many knitting bloggers have posted about this particular pattern. Most have mentioned that the pattern is rather large so I followed some suggested modifications and casted 8 stitches less. I also added some ribbing at the bottom to prevent the sweater from rolling up. After about 3 nights of knitting, I've finished the back panel and one sleeve. Everything has been pretty easy so far including the cables which I've never done before. Sometimes I'd get distracted by football and lose my place in the pattern but nothing that was too painful to fix.


I'm a bit nervous about how all of this will fit when I sew it together, but I guess I'll see soon enough. Hopefully, I can have the sweater finished in time to show my mom when we go to LA next weekend.

Chocolate Bread Pudding

For dessert, I made Chocolate Bread Pudding. My friend Phil originally made this for me in high school when I had my wisdom teeth removed. It's rich and chocolate-y without being too sweet. It's best served warm but I've been known to eat it straight from the fridge.

4 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 cups 1-inch cubes of white bread
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Whisk together eggs to salt in large bowl. Stir in bread and let sit 5 minutes. 3. Stir in chocolate chips and raisins and transfer to a buttered 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake pudding in a water bath in the middle of the oven until custard is just set, about 40 minutes.
Yields 8 servings.

I usually make this with challah bread which I think lends a more buttery texture. I also use 2% milk and leave out the raisins (bleh). It's important to let the bread soak for a while (I recommend 10-15 minutes) so you don't get dry spots. Lastly, I don't bother with the water bath. The custard has more structure than normal custards due to the addition of bread.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Tonight I made Chicken Enchilada Casserole for dinner. I found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine about a year ago and have made it several times since. It's very easy to make and oh so tasty. You basically make a filling out of sauteed onions, spices, green onions, shredded rotisserie chicken (I fed Henry some tidbits), beans, and olives. Then you layer the filling with corn tortillas and cheese, whip up an enchilada sauce to poor over the top, and bake it.

I've made this dish with olives and without (this time without) and have noticed no difference in flavor between the two. However, the olives do make the dish more colorful so if I were trying to impress anyone, I'd add them. In the enchilada sauce, I always use Mrs. Renfro's jalapeno green salsa which I find in the gourmet salsa section of Ralph's. It's VERY spicy and delicious. I highly recommend using it if you can find it.

This dish is best eaten out of the oven when it's oozy and hot. It tends to dry up a bit the next day, but still makes great leftovers.

Fred Has Stubby Legs

Restaurant Review: Ashoka the Great

Ryan and I opted to eat indian food at Ashoka the Great last night in lieu of meeting my coworker friends for happy hour. And boy was I glad we did. That place is absolutely delicious! It's a bit pricier than what I'm used to paying, e.g. rice isn't free, but it's well worth the extra $$.

We started with an assorted bread basket consisting of nan, onion nan, and this puffy airy fried bread that I can't remember the name of. The puffy fried bread was surprisingly tasty and not too oily. Unfortuantely, the onion nan was bursting with onions which was a bit startling. Ryan strongly disliked it but I found it ok when eaten with the entrees. For drinks, I had a mango lassi and Ryan had chai tea. The lassi was perfect but the tea, while pleasantly spiced, was nothing exciting.

Our main course consisted of saag paneer (spinach curry with cubes of fresh cheese), chicken vindaloo (spicy vinegar based curry), alu punjabi (spiced potatoes with onions and mustard seeds), and raita (savory yogurt accompaniment). First, I have to say I've very particular about my saag paneer. Many restaurants tend to put too much of one partiular spice (I forget which one right now but I will ask my Indian friends), making it very musky and woodsy tasting. It's hard to explain but I've very offended when I taste this variation. Ashoka's saag paneer is beyond perfect. I cannot go there and not order this dish. The vindaloo was great as well. The chicken could have been more tender but the curry itself was very good, especially when mixed with the raita to cut the spiciness of the dish. The potato dish was tasty but nothing spectacular. It made a great sidekick but could easily be dropped to try something new. On other dining occasions, we've ordered the cauliflower with peas curry and the chickpeas curry. Both were just a notch above the potato dish.

In addition to the deliciousness of the food, the quantity is very large. We took the leftovers home and had the meal again for lunch this afternoon!

Many thanks to Kim G from work who first took me to this gem.

House Hunting Stinks

Properties that seem great online almost always turn out to be dumps. How do they consistently fool you like that? Good lighting? Fancy descriptive words? Whatever it is, it's depressing. Ryan and I drove down to North Park this afternoon to see a couple of places and to check out the area. We drove away with heavy hearts. While I'm sure there are wonderful houses in that area, apparently none of them are for rent. The houses we saw were run down and dingy. We much prefered the property we saw last night in University Heights. It was a 2 bed 1 bath craftsman house that had an updated pristine interior and a beautiful backyard. It was a bit small but we still loved it and have filled out an application. Unfortunately, it sounds like there are other applicants to compete with so we've decided to just cross our fingers and continue our search. Hopefully, the owners will let us know next week that we can end this torture and move into their lovely home. On the plus side, the Pats are beating the Jags 28 - 17 at the end of the 3rd so far. Whoo hoo!

Restaurant Review: Buon Appetito

Buon Appetito is an Italian restaurant in San Diego's Little Italy. Ryan's parents first introduced us to the restaurant shortly after we moved here and it's been a major addiction ever since. Now I don't typically crave Italian food when I eat out. It tends to be heavy and unoriginal. I'm usually more of a sushi/Thai/Indian fan. However, I love the Capellini alla Checca at Buon Appetito. It's angel hair pasta tossed with a simple sauce of tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella. Something about the freshness, lightness, and balance of the dish demands that I eat it with the fervor of a rabid animal. It's really that good. In addition, you can easily ruin your appetite with the tasty tomato salsa and fluffy table bread they give you as a starter. All in all, it makes for a delicious meal.

Note: San Diego's Little Italy really consists of two lonely blocks on India St.

Obsessed With Blogging

I am a first time blogger and I must say, after a few posts, I'm officially obsessed with blogging. Ironic, isn't it?

Well tonight I came home from work and googled a sweater pattern that I'd like to try. It's called Simply Marilyn by Interweave. Even though I don't understand half these instructions, I have blind faith that I will figure it out as I go. It's very likely that the end product will be a sweater fit for Quasimodo but only time will tell. I considered getting some cheap practice yarn but the thought of making two sweaters, practice and real, made me quite sleepy so I went ahead and just ordered the Debbie Bliss Super Chunky Cashmerino yarn. I managed to find it on sale online for $7.50 a skein (yay) but unfortunately blew most of the savings from the sale on two day shipping (boo) because I am impatient and MUST have it in time to knit this weekend.

Aside from knitting, it looks like I'll be getting back into drawing very soon. For my birthday last Nov, Ryan bought me a drawing class at the UCSD Continuing Education Center. The class begins next week and consists of 13 sessions that meet Tues from 6:30-9:30. I'm a bit nervous because I really haven't drawn in a while and I'm fairly sure the picture below, which was drawn several years ago, was created during the pinacle of my artistic abilities and it's all downhill from there. Up next, stick figure portraits of my cat. Stay tuned.



As for my physical obsessions, I went to yoga class yesterday for the first time in a couple weeks. Strangly, I was very sore today, particularly in my shoulders and butt, even though I didn't feel like class was too difficult at the time. I guess that's a good thing but man if it isn't slightly depressing to imagine how much muscle was lost during the holiday break and how much effort and sweat it'll take to gain it back. I think I need to designate a pose to focus on each month. Another gimmack to keep me motivated.

Purple Mittens

Here's my first mitten. I used Monkey's mitten pattern and leftover purple yarn. It's a bit messy since this is my first increasing/decreasing project, but otherwise it's a success! And by success I mean it covers my hand. I also showed only one mitten because the second mitten turned out a bit bigger. Oops. I think my next project will be to make these in dark grey for Ryan.

Slouchy Beret Hat

While in LA, I was motivated to try knitting a hat by my sister who was furiously knitting her cabled hat at the time. I found a great pattern for a knitted beret online and decided to give it a go. I used a green tweed yarn and kept with the size 8 needles throughout rather than switching to size 9 after the ribbing as the instructions say. The hat turned out pretty well even though I ran out of yarn and wasn't able to make it quite as slouch as I would have liked. I think if I had used the size 9 needles, the hat would be a not quite as stiff but oh well, I didn't have any at the time! Final verdict: super warm and stylish.

Boulder, Colorado

For the last five days, Ryan and I have been vacationing in Boulder, home of Ryan's alma mater, the University of Colorado. To be honest, when Ryan first suggested the destination, I wasn't ecstatic. I'd never been to Colorado before and I envisioned us holed up in a log cabin with nothing to do. Luckily, Boulder proved to have many cute restuarants, coffee shops, and bars. We had tons of things to do and plenty to see just walking around. Here are some highlights from the trip:

Wed - Mick & Willy's pizza, beer and pool at Sundown Saloon, beer and sushi at Hapa
Thurs - Egg and cheese sandwich at Deli Zone, Illegal Pete's burrito, wandered around campus, Nuggets vs. Spurs game in Denver, beer and pool at the Foundry, beer and buffalo wings at The Boulder Pub.
Fri - Flapjacks and french toast at The Original Pancake House, tapas at The Med, watched Juno, burritos at Casa Alveraz where Ryan used to work in college
Sat - Yummy burgers at The Sink, beer and football at The Walrus Saloon, random hippie folk music at the Fox Theatre, chicken gyro at University Deli
Sun - Returned to rainy San Diego

It had snowed right before we arrived so everything was perfectly picturesque. We stayed at Hotel St. Julien which turned out to be a great value for the price. I mean, it's not cheap but I was surprised by how luxurious and upscale it was for what we did pay. Overall, this vacation was just what we needed to start the new year.

Note: There's not much diversity in Boulder. Everyone was white and either sporting the heavily bearded lumberjack look or the preppy rich North Face look. I think I saw two black people the whole time I was there and three Asians. I wanted to hug them and tell them there were more of us out in the world.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ryan's nephew has been visiting for the holidays. Since tonight is his last night, I made chocolate chip cookies as a parting gift. Sadly, the third batch was overbaked as I was busy packing for our trip to Colorado tomorrow. However, the rest came out very well. These cookies aren't super puffy but they are nice and chewy inside. Also, I think I've finally realized the importance of creaming the butter and sugar really well. Perhaps my cookie baking woes are now a thing of the past.

Misc Cat Picture #1

Henry was taking a cat nap on the couch and I couldn't resist taking a picture.

Buffalo Wings

Back in the good ol' Amaranth days, I lived for a short four month period in Stanford, CT. The only redeeming thing about Standford was Tigins, an Irish pub with incredibly tasty buffalo wings. Unfortunately, since we moved away in Oct 2006, my boyfriend Ryan and I have not found wings that live up to the Tigins legacy. So we decided to try to make our own.

After some searching, I settled on the Restaurant Style Buffalo Chicken Wing recipe on allrecipes.com. The wings were pretty easy to make. The meat was breaded in a spiced flour mixture and left in the fridge for 90 minutes. All the reviews stressed the importance of this step in yielding a crispy wing. After the messy frying (oh how i wish i had a deep fryer), the wings were tossed in a butter hot sauce mixture and served with ranch dressing.

These wings were delicious but next time I would put more hot sauce in the butter mixture and maybe not eat SO many in one sitting hehe.

Ready Or Not...

This blog is meant to document my random hobbies (food, music, drawing, knitting, yoga, running) but may take on a life of its own as i add random opinions/links/pics. Just an explanation, or perhaps a word of warning. Also expect random pictures of my cats at regular intervals.