Chow Cows I

I've been so busy with the house stuff that I completely forgot to post about the first Chow Cows gathering last Thursday! Thanks to Jon who just posted some pics and reminded me about it.

So back in NYC, I came up with the Fat Cats cooking club, which was really just an opportunity for my friends and I to get together and overeat and overdrink. I really missed cooking with foodies on a regular basis so I decided to start a new club here in SD called Chow Cows (Pudgy Porkers lost out as a potential name). The format of the club will be organic. To start with, we'll just have a few regular members who will rotate hosting once a month. The host will decide if the gathering will be an intimate dinner or a large scale potluck (many other guests involved). Pretty much whatever the host wants to do goes. For the first meeting, Sophie gracious offered to host a Morrocan dinner at her house. We kept the first meeting small just to see how it worked out with multiple cooks in the kitchen. Here's what we made:

For cocktails, Jon made some strong but tasty basil infused martinis. Usually, martinis and I are like oil and water but I liked these and after two, I really liked these.


Then for appetizers, he made some Morrocan beef cigars rolled in phyllo - flaky and savory mmm.



For sides, I made a carrot salad, an olive and cucumber salad, and a chickpea salad. Sophie bought some flatbread from TJ's for accompaniment. Very refreshing.




For main course, Sophie made a chicken with couscous soup. The meat was very tender and fell off the bones the way a good Morrocan stew should.


And for dessert, Kim made gazelle horns that were super buttery and melted in your mouth.


And throughout the meal, we had many martinis, glasses of red wine, and Bryan even brought out strange concoctions that you could only buy in foreign lands.


By the end of the night, we were all stuffed and drunk - perfect ending to any cooking event. Interestingly enough, Sophie had a balloon kit and Kim was able to show off her newly acquired balloon twisting skills. More pictures from the night can be found here.

Goodbye big friend

We inherited a monolithic tv from Ryan's parents a couple years ago which finally blew a fuse and died. Here is Ryan's eulogy:

Ode to a big tv
Big tv
You were so big
You were so solid
You broke many backs
Then you broke yourself
Your own poor heart
Gave out from the weight
And so we recycled you
Big tv
We shared many superbowls
Many nba finals together
Big tv
Thanks for the memories

Good and Bad

I'm scared to post anything about the house for fear of jinxing us since we haven't closed yet. We were suppose to close on Friday but hit a major snag (no fault of ours) and now we're going through the loan process again. Luckily, we worked out a deal with the seller to essentially rent his place for a month while we secure funding with a different lender. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly and we will close soon.

Aside from loan woes, we've been moving like mad. My parents came down from LA with their mini-van and dollies. They've been instrumental in our move and in the subsequent cleaning of our old place, which is now spotless. Our landlady better give us our entire security deposit back.

Alright, I'm too tired to write more so I will retire to my glass of red wine.

Follow Me!

I just added a Followers gadget on the right. Support the cause (I have a cause?) and follow the blog! To reward your loyalty, I promise many pics from our yummy dinner tonight.

So Much Yoga...

Ah, so much has happened but now I can't remember much beyond this morning...hmm let's see...

On Saturday, I went to Atsuro's Primary Series class even though I knew it would kick my butt, and surprise surprise it completely kicked my butt! Nothing like continuous vinyasas to make me realize how weak my upper body has gotten. Afterwards, I was quite twitchy and spaced out, but I managed to stop at Von's to pick up ingredients for a vegan chocolate cake for Kristen. It was actually Simon's 30th birthday, but with the hubbub of baby Sophie's birthday last Nov, we never got to celebrate Kristen's 30th in Dec. After a quick shower and a bowl of cereal, I busily made a double layer eggless cake frosted with homemade vanilla icing. In between the layers, I added some raspberry jam for a bit of tartness and then decorated with a can of red icing I got from Von's (alas I do not own a pastry bag or tips). Around 4:30, Mr. Bunny's flight landed and I whisked him home just in time for a bit of relaxation before we headed to our parent's new place for the Simon's birthday party. Once there, we ate pizza, drank wine and beer, and oo'd and ahh'd at the beautiful tv. Towards the end of the night we even watched Madagascar 2, which was very cute and entertaining. Sadly I forgot my camera but we got some great shots on Mom's.

On Sunday, I woke up for a 10am yoga class. It was a struggle to get out of bed considering my legs were so sore, but somehow I made it through another hour and a half of yoga. At lunch time, I packed and cleaned a bit while Ryan went to his soccer game. Once he got back, we picked up Mom and took her to Elijah's for her birthday. I thoroughly enjoyed my pastrami sandwich and those fries were so satisfying! Yum-o. That night, we watched the all star basketball game on tv and relaxed.

Today was business as usual. It was a very rainy day here in San Diego which did not help my sleepiness one bit. After work, I went to yet another yoga class where we did backbends out the wazoo (I know for sure I'll be sore tomorrow). For dinner, I made some tofu, rice, and broccoli and then whipped up a simple rice pudding for dessert. And of course, because it makes so much sense with Asian food, we drank red wine. Now, I'm pleasantly full and might consider packing another box eventually, but first I must pet a cat...


Rice Pudding
Courtesy of AllRecipes.com

3/4 cup uncooked white rice
2 cups milk, divided
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
2/3 cup golden raisins
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water to a boil. Add rice and stir. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups cooked rice, 1 1/2 cups milk, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat until thick and creamy, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup milk, beaten egg and raisins. Cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm.

I substituted 1/2 cup heavy cream for milk, used less butter, and omitted the raisins. Even though there are no pears in the pudding, I put some in the picture because they are pretty :).

Nibblets

Ok, I'll admit it. I read trashy celebrity gossip blogs. You know, the kind with posts like "Jessica Simpson defends her weight" or "Angelina Jolie wants nine children". Should I be ashamed for reading such rubbish? Probably. Am I ashamed? Not remotely! It's a fun mindless way to entertain myself, and every now and then you get pretty shocking nibblets of gossip that make your jaw drop. This week, I did my usual sweep of TheSuperficial.com and lo and behold, there was that nibblet: Chris Brown was arrested for beating Rihanna! What the hell?? Where did that one come from?? With the aid of google, I uncovered some more details and am now waiting around for more news to come out. The whole thing is unbelievable. Apparently, the two left a party and got in a fight because of some ex-girlfriend's text message. Things escalated and Brown supposedly tried to strangle Rihanna while threatening to kill her. She passed out and Brown fled the scene. When officers arrived, they found her with a black swollen eye and bite marks. Huh?? The whole situation is sad and unfortunate, and I hope justice is served once all the details are revealed.

Aside from my furious gossip hunting, I've been taking it pretty easy. Yesterday, I went to yoga and then to Vons where I was subsequently ogled by an Asian man who followed me around. Creepy. Once home, I closed out the rest of the night with some tv and minesweeper. Today, I went to the gym at lunch and did a light workout (so sore from yoga). I ran 2 miles at 9:50 min/mile and then did 3 intervals of jogging at 10:50 min/mile for 1 minute, running at 7:15 min/mile for 1 minute, and walking for 1 minute. I did a total of 3 miles and then stretched a bit. Tonight, I came home famished and stir fried some noodles and bell peppers for dinner. I ate A LOT of noodle and now I'm stuffed and immobile on the couch. Thank god, it's Wed and I have shows to watch!! So, I've just finished Top Chef where Carla revealed that she used to model. What?? The woman looks like a googly eyed witch. What in the world did she model for? Halloween costume catalogs? Ok, that's mean of me but once you see her on the show you will have no choice but to agree. Now I'm waiting for Lost to come on and writing about nothing in particular since Sophie requested something to read.

On the house front, our home loan with Well Fargo has been approved! I can't recall if I mentioned this already but last week we essentially "broke up" with our old mortgage broker who couldn't get us terms that we were happy with. Now that all that drama is behind us, it should be smooth sailing from here. Our closing date is next Friday ahhhhhhh. So exciting. We'll definitely have to host a potluck house warming party once we get settled. Here are projects I plan to tackle as soon as we move in.

- Get new carpet (scheduled for next Sat)
- Get small dining set for breakfast nook
- Paint kitchen cabinets
- Paint walls

Alright time to veg out.

I Heart Wall-E

Monkey just watched this movie, which reminded me that I've been meaning to post about it for the longest time! Ryan and I watched Wall-E on PPV last month and it was literally one of the cutest movies I've ever seen. I'm not very good at movie reviews but let's just say this was so cute I thought my head was going to explode. Seriously, you must watch it. If politicians watched this movie, we wouldn't be in the economic crisis that we're in (don't ask me to explain or justify this outlandish claim).

In other news, Ryan is in Vegas this week for work. While he is gone, I enter my usual routine of watching terrible tv (enter America's Best Dance Crew) and sustaining myself on rice and vegetables. At least I went to yoga after work. I probably pushed myself a bit too much considering I haven't really done yoga since before the wedding, but lord knows I'm not going to let the girl next to me bust out a partial scorpion without me doing the same!! I'll probably go again tomorrow night.

Over the weekend, I started a bit of packing, only to come to the realization that I have a ton of kitchen things I never use. Hopefully, I'll make some more progress this week but honestly, we're only moving a few houses down. Ultimately, I'm sure we'll just throw things in garbage bags and hustle them over like bandits in the night.

Asparagus Risotto

Continuing my cooking spree, I made a simple asparagus risotto last night to eat with the leftover chicken. Aside from all the stirring, this basic recipe was very easy to whip up, offering lots of flavor bang for the buck. Will definitely keep in rotation although I'm fairly sure I can improvise from here.

Perhaps more exciting than the risotto was the fact that I finally coerced Ryan into attending a yoga class with me. Yes my poor husband (who can barely touch his knees let alone his feet) struggled his way through an hour and a half of intense bending and conditioning poses. At first, I couldn't help but giggle to myself when I saw Ryan's downward dog (which looked more like a downward crumpled C than an inverted V), but slowly I could see him getting into it and pushing his body to open up a bit. I was so proud at the end of class when he managed to get into an upward wheel! Hopefully, some yoga will be good for his stress and maybe Ryan will continue to do it at least once a week.

Asparagus Risotto
Courtesy of SimpleRecipes.com

1 pound asparagus
3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine (or 1 Tbsp lemon juice and 1/4 cup water)
About 3 1/2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option), can substitute some of the asparagus cooking water for stock
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller (bite-size) pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside.

In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated. While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.

Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes. Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste.

And I end this post with a picture of the husband buried under cats:

Roast Chicken with Green Beans and Cashews

Tonight, I made dinner from a simple and tasty recipe in this month's Gourmet. Instead of using a whole chicken, I used just chicken thighs and I substituted regular onions for sweet ones. You don't need to be very exact with the spice measurements. Everything was so easy to throw together and the chicken turned out super moist with deliciously crispy skin. Very satisfying for a weekday dinner.

Paprika Roast Chicken
Courtesy of Gourmet

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds), cut into serving pieces
1 sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in upper third.

Mix oil with spices, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl, then add chicken and onion, tossing to coat. Arrange chicken, skin side up, and onion in a 3-quart shallow baking dish.

Bake until chicken is just cooked through and skin is golden, about 30 minutes. Skim any fat from pan juices in dish.

Roasted Green Beans and Cashews
Courtesy of Gourmet

2 pounds green beans, trimmed and halved
3/4 cup salted roasted cashews (3 ounces), chopped
1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 4 medium)
2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 500°F with rack in lower third.

Toss green beans with cashews, shallots, oil, and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, then spread evenly in a large 4-sided sheet pan.

Roast, stirring occasionally, until green beans are tender and nuts are golden brown, about 25 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

FINALLY

I've received my new social security card with my new last name!! I've also got a new drivers license and a new atm card...new credit cards should be on their way. Tomorrow I'll update my name at work and investigate how to update my passport.

Getting a new name is fun yet surreal. It's almost like I'm a secret agent but not nearly so cool.