sandwiches

sandwiches aren't my favorite food, esp. when homemade, but i've had it for lunch two days in a row now. i try to load up the sandwiches w/more ingredients to make them more enjoyable.

turkey, swiss, mustard & mayo
after getting groceries: turkey, swiss, spinach, avocado, cucumber, tomato, pepper, dried basil, mustard + mayo

trekking thru rain, snow & slush

there is still residual ice & dirty slush from the heavy snow last week, & st. louis isn't the only place that was hit. bill cunningham's "on the street" piece in the nytimes this week is entitled "the water dance," a series of photos of new yorkers leaping their way around huge puddles of melted snow & black slush. take a look!

i have a knack for slipping on ice & snow - hate hate hate it! so i've been thinking that i should invest in a pair of snow boots. this past week, i've been wearing my rainboots - but i think this is a good excuse to get a pair specifically for snow... ? anyways, i'm not really entertaining this idea seriously but below are a few styles i came across that i like:

i love the bright color & simple, modern cut of this pair!
really simple, practical, easy (and on sale!):
short & olive classic in navy:
the first few are more like my rain boots, but i like them so!

below, more serious snow boots:
abominable snowman-esque
black & practical
snow bunny
will keep thinking on it.

pierre bonnard

breakfast of champions: turkey & swiss omelet, plus toast w/almond butter & strawberry jam
i just find this picture of the toast so calming:
my favorite food on campus is shells w/pesto + sliced chicken tenders + red chili flakes, but sadly, now i live very far from the dining location that serves it. so, this is my take on an old fave: bowties w/store-bought pesto, topped w/lightly breaded chicken breast.

a little boasting from me...

update on my food writing class: yesterday, our instructor returned our first writing assignment, to write (anything) about our cheese-tasting experience in the first class session. i got rave reviews from him (Holy cow (so to speak)! Absolutely fabulous (in British terms). All clever comments from me aside, this is a really great piece of writing. I can't wait to see your next assignment!), and he read my piece aloud to the class. a bit nerve-racking, but also made my day. i was too chicken to post what i wrote before i got his feedback, but now, childishly tickled by the praise, i share it below:

Sitting in class, I am repeatedly reminded that my hands smell like onion. The lingering smell of onion annoys me, whether on my hands or in my mouth. Even so, I can never resist those ruby rings perched atop a burger or tossed into a salad. It was the latter that did me in this time – I'd fixed a Greek salad for myself before class. I remember learning somewhere that the trick to ridding a knife of the persistent smell of onion is to clean with lemon juice. I picture the inside of my refrigerator and remember with shame that all I have is one of those lemon-shaped bottles of concentrate. I don't see myself squirting that onto my hands.

Fortunately, by the time we get to the cheeses, the smell of onion has left my mind, distracted by the prospect of more food, mystery food. I arrange in a line the three cheese cubes we are given, designated numbers one through three, from lightest to darkest in color.

The first smells of French bread, and a shred of red wax hints at its previous packaging. I bite in – it is soft, smooth and mild. There is a slight tang and nuttiness – is it possibly almond that I taste at the end? Whatever it is, the flavor is familiar. Immediately my mind starts to guess what the cheese is, and it jumps to Borough Market.

During that wondrous semester abroad in London, I was reunited with one of my best friends from high school: a cynical, opinionated foodie deeply suspicious of vegetarians. With her as my guide, I was able to forgo the disappointments, frustrations and wasted funds typically associated with exploring the food scene in a new city and skipped directly to the good stuff. On one particular occasion, I followed her and her roommate to Borough Market. Her roommate was there for only one reason, to purchase some comté cheese. After winding about the stalls and taking our share of samples, we finally came upon the golden tower of stacked cheese wheels. With her measly student budget, the roommate bought only a sliver and cradled the precious piece in her hands as we left.

I decide that the cheese I am sampling now is not the comté I tasted then, but rather the cheese from the counter that was adjacent to the comté display at the market. I had not asked what it was but just grabbed a sample from the cutting board, grateful to have maneuvered my arm through the crowd.

I give up and decide that my best guess for Cheese #1 is Edam. I remember the occasion I first tasted Edam – in Amsterdam, at the home of an aunt of sorts. She, her two other sisters and my dad had grown up together in China. She lived now with her blond, lanky Dutch partner. They had no intentions to marry or have kids – their arrangement was so modern and European in my eleven-year-old mind. It was my introduction to cheese that did not come in perfectly square, individually wrapped slices.

The second piece of cheese on the paper plate is a canary color, darker than the first but only marginally. Like the first, it too is soft and smooth in texture, but this one tastes smoky to me, almost like barbeque sauce. Somehow, I also taste a tartness like yogurt.

Finally, I come to the last piece. In my mouth, the texture is grainy at first and the flavor is very salty. It looks like wax and is much darker in color, like horse chestnut honey. I immediately recall that perfect Minneapolis summer day at the Mill City Farmers Market, where I was looking for a parting gift for my manager. I had tasted a number of honeys before deciding that the horse chestnut one would be just right for my Air-Force -turned-corporate-finance manager who had grown up on a farm in South Dakota, introduced me to the term "catty-corner" and who I knew struggled to make mac & cheese out of the blue box. Along with the honey, I had selected a jar of strawberry-basil jam and a box of lemon shortbread, all locally produced, for him, his wife and their three young kids.

I realize that the third cheese is my favorite. It tastes almost of soy sauce and is instantly satisfying, something that I might crave, knowing that a nibble would be sufficient. This is the cheese I would want to keep in my fridge. I proceed to alternate nibbles between the three cheeses, ending with Cheese #3. I let the flavor linger in my mouth as I leave class, pleased, and I am barely bothered by the thought that I need to scrub the onion scent from my hands once I get home.

***
it's not perfect - there are awkward bits and maybe some parts and characters are exaggerated - but i'm happy that i was able to make a good first impression.

"What Life Asks of Us" by David Brooks

a very good piece in the nytimes ~ i find it poignant, humbling & optimistic, almost to the point of being romantic. interestingly, it reminds me of confucianism & the more traditional chinese values of my upbringing. happy reading.

winter white

first major snow of the season
white food ~ oatmeal w/honey + a gently fried egg
non-white food: linguine w/shrimp, artichoke hearts, white wine, garlic & dried basil
amazing.

happy chinese new year!

an abundance of happiness + good health to you + yours !

a bit of london in stl w/london roommates:
new cheapo haircut that morning, barely noticeable but i like how it feels:
baked oatmeal raisin cookies - suitemates thankfully helped me gobble them all up!
another photo of udon - i think this looks better than last time
experimented w/sweet potato hash: includes sweet potato obvi, ground turkey, red onions, some tomato, a tiny bit of white wine. topped w/melted swiss, fried egg + scallions. decent, & friends really liked it, surprisingly!
apples + almond butter to finish off a meal
fun, unexpectedly productive weekend : )

baked vanilla cupcakes w/majo using this mix. accidentally put an extra stick of butter in the batter so we ended up using 4 sticks of butter total in cake + frosting... also had no cupcake tin so we used free-standing aluminum foil liners, resulting in extra-wide cakes. despite everything, they still tasted & looked delightful!
cold-weather remedy: udon w/shrimp, spinach, bean sprouts, scallions + a poached egg.
these were so good, i surprised myself! salmon cakes paired w/my usual greek salad - the cakes weren't dense or dry at all - surprisingly delicate.
pasta, a student's fallback option: bow-ties w/chicken, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, capers, white wine & dried basil.

i came across this today, & i think the resolutions are fab:

yellow food

i pride myself on my eggs - they are fluffy, tender & delicate. i am very anti-overcooked/dry/tasteless eggs. we see it all too often. talk about syzygy - i had a bunch of leftover white rice from making the kimchi fried rice, & i'd just happened to watch mark bittman's most recent video on making rice/noodle/bread pudding using leftovers! i used the recipe here, but substituted vanilla for the ginger & cut back on the sugar. nicely creamy, buttery & custardy - best served warm.
y. came over & made kimchi pancakes using flour (we didn't have the proper korean flour unfortunately - but still delish!), water, eggs, scallions, sesame oil & kimchi.
my contribution - scrambled eggs + tomatoes over rice, classic chinese comfort food.

update on resolutions & other things

i've been good about taking my vitamins everyday, i'm looking into some local volunteering opportunities & i've also been cooking at home more!

i have decided to start taking photos of the food i make. the other night, i made some steaming bowls of udon w/shrimp, spinach & scallions for me + y. to eat while watching gossip girl - another night, i made a greek salad w/sauteed chicken breast - unfortunately, no photos, but i'm sure i'll be making these dishes again very soon. the first photos i have are of the kimchi fried rice i made for dinner tonight. i followed lucee's co-blogger's recipe - besides kimchi, it includes tuna, scallions & spinach, & it's topped with a slightly runny fried egg. lovely.

i am back at school now, and my roommates had some sweet birthday gifts waiting for me:
y/i. brought me sparkly nail decals from japan
and h. knit me arm warmers using yarn from mexico!

in other news, i am taking this amazing class, Special Topics in Journalism: Writing About the World of Food. it must be the most fun thing i've taken in college! it's taught by a food critic, the restaurants writer over here. the class will include - food books, chef profiles, restaurant reviews, anthony bourdain, alice waters, ruth reichl, recipe-writing, food fiction, nutritional issues, genetically modified foods, wine tasting, farmers/growers, the galloping gourmet, nutrition labels, obscure food vocabulary, etc! our first class was yesterday - we tasted 3 types of cheese & our assignment is to write about the experience! i will share highlights from the class as the semester progresses :)

birthday cakes & other treats

mine - chocolate cake + vanilla buttercream
glittering lemon sandwich cookies - hot pink !
mom's (very belated) tiramisu cake
birthday dinner in dc :)

the requisite new year's post

2008 was a very good year:

lived a dreamy little life in london - found inspiring mentors & role models in minneapolis - made a few new, incredible & unexpected friends in both places - reunited with dear old friends upon my return - and spent valuable time with family by the water

goals, resolutions, wishes, hopes for myself for 2009:

• read more books outside of class
• reduce intake of french fries
• exercise more patience
• exercise more regularly
  
• be careful with the spending:
  eat out less often but at better places
  limit online shopping
  refrain from purchases of breakfast goodies & limit espresso drinks
  
• explore st. louis
• go on an exciting, fulfilling adventure abroad
• create a scrapbook for london
• successfully take the GMAT
• be kind
• volunteer
• get to know more people
• say thank you more often
• remember to be grateful
• drink more tea
• avoid soda & vitamin water
• remember to take my vitamins
  

will add to list as things come to me.

happy new year!