Life Goes On

As this posts, I'll be driving south to the Oregon Coast to have a lovely little anniversary weekend w/ my gaw-geous hubby. That's right. The period ended that sentence right there. It’s our first sans kid anniversary weekend since having a baby. WOOT! Meanwhile our beautiful little girl is going to be at home (not missing us) playing with one of her favorite people on the planet, my crazy ass mom. It's a little ridiculous how much fun they have together and honestly if it weren't so stinkin' cute I'd probably be a leettle bit jealous. 

Milestones like this always make me nostalgic. Five years of marriage, eight years in Washington, ten years since graduating college (eek!), and a baby? Amazing to think this is where life has taken me. I'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family surrounding me and I'm trying to be better about slowing things down and enjoying life because it's beautiful, fragile and sometimes way too short.

Kuen was born a few weeks earlier than expected in late January of 2012. She was a perfectly healthy 5 lbs. 7 oz. munchkin stretching out at a petite 17". Have you people seen Gabe and I? We are not small people. Gabe's 6' and I'm a respectable (certainly for an Asian) 5'7" which is so interesting because both Gabe and my parents are on the shorter end of things (parents are 5’3” to 5’6” max between the 4 of them). Even with that, the doctor is expecting she'll be about my height. I actually didn't get a chance to see her until a few minutes after she was born but I got some pretty interesting looks from the doctors and nurses when they announced she was a redhead with dark blue eyes. Weirdest look by far was from Gabe. 

When we both saw her we knew her name would fit.

Kuen Alexandra Bell

Has a nice riiing to it, no? 

I like to pun.


More weird looks ensue. 

"Que-en?"

"Coon?" 

"Is that a boy or girl??" 

You're probably more used to seeing it "Quinn" but the spelling is unique for a very special reason, she's named after my late father. Sigh - over six years ago already..he wasn't even 60. 

Eff you cancer, a big ol' EFF YOU. 

Not a perfect man by any stretch of the imagination but a great dad to my brothers and me. That’s how he spelled it and no, I don't regret saddling her with a unique moniker. (Booya, hon! We have contests to see who can sound more pretentious.) She will have to take over for her parents when she's old enough to correct people on how to pronounce her beautiful name and I already know she won’t have a problem setting people straight. Aside from it being a family name, my dad’s name in Cantonese, it means power and if nothing else, she is definitely that.

Gabe and I agree that as she's growing out of the baby phase she is - hands down - the funniest person we know. Parents can attest to this as children have an amazing knack for being ridiculously adorable and hilarious at the same time.

She babbles, dances, plays and exudes this infectious joy that only a child can do. She love baths and swimming – total water baby like her dad. She’s changed our lives. She’s made us stronger, better. She has opened up my eyes and helped me to experience life through a child’s eyes because I experience things from her perspective now. Full circle. Life is amazing.

Her facial expressions = pure comedic genius.

Happy anniversary to my crazy hubby as 8/8 marked our 5 years of marriage.  We did good.  Love you more than ever.

The Last Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe You'll Ever Need For the Rest of Your Life

I know. I have a flair for the dramatic when it comes to food.  Before I get in to the recipe, let me qualify this by saying I've eating and made a LOT of chocolate chip cookies in my day.  This is by far THE best chocolate chip cookie I've ever made and I use it for everything.  It's got the chewy texture, loads of chocolate chips and that addictive salty edge that makes everything taste just a tiny bit better. 

Seems like the salt-in-desserts kick has definitely taken the food world these last few years by storm (salted caramel ice cream, cake pops, Seattle's own oh-so-famous salted caramel chocolates even the President can't get enough of, etc.). I get the finely ground stuff from my faaaaavorite wholesale store which works really well. I made these cookies for a few years and while amazing, I was always finding I'd eat the cookies top-side down so I could get that salty kick first - but nobody eats cookies like that. So I decided to sprinkle a little salt underneath the cookie dough and on top.

Mind.  Blown.

And now I don't have to get those weird semi-polite looks from people when I tell them they should eat the cookie upside down which invariably had people thinking I was asking them to head stand or find some damn monkey bars so they could hang upside down to eat this cookie. 

Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies

heavily adapted from this recipe

Makes about 5 dozen small cookies

2 sticks butter, unsalted & room temperature

¼ cup granulated sugar

¼ cup turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw)

1½ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

3½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ c. chocolate chips

Sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Cream butter and sugars together until the butter is light and fluffy - pale yellow, scrape down the bowl and mix a few more times.  One ingredient at a time, add eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt, scrape down bowl and keep mixing.  If you're using a stand mixer, turn the mixer to the lowest speed and add the flour in a cup at a time until just combined.  Don't over mix the dough or you'll get a tough cookie.  After all the flour is incorporated, fold in the chocolate chips.  Sometimes it's helpful to switch to the dough hook so you don't break up all the chips while they're mixing - or just fold in with a spatula by hand and count it as your workout for the day.  Remember though, don't over mix!

Dough is done. 

Sprinkle a tiny pinch of salt where you plan on placing your cookies on the baking sheet.  I do this step all at once, just make a little grid on the baking sheet in a 4 x 5 pattern leaving about 3" between each sprinkling of salt.  Scoop mounds of cookie dough on each pinch of salt.  The recipe makes about 5 dozen cookies if you use the small version of this scoop - leave them mounded, they will spread and flatten during baking. 

Place the dough about 2" apart and you can usually get about 20 cookies per half sheet pan.  Depending on your oven, bake for approximately 11-13 minutes.  Remove from oven and transfer to a cooling rack for at least 20-30 minutes if you can wait that long. 

Tips:

They may seem slightly under done when you take them out and maybe just the slightest bit golden on a few edges but definitely not browned.  This way, when they cool they'll have that yummy chewy texture.

These cookies are also a great do-ahead recipe.  I almost always have these cookies ready to bake from a frozen state so if you're going that route, use a 1½" cookie scoop to dish out on to a parchment sheet lined baking sheet and freeze them.  They pop off the sheet and go in to a ziplock bag and store for weeks in the freezer.  You can just take however many you need and bake off.  I usually set the oven at 360ºF and bake for an extra minute or two from a frozen state.

"Sometimes you feel like a nut."  And when you do, add in a cup of chopped walnuts when you're mixing in the chocolate chips.  I'm married to a no-nut-in-desserts person.  Grrr.

Other People's Food

I follow several food blogs.  Made this for dinner last week (with a few minor tweaks) and it was AH-MA-ZING.

Yes, this post is definitely 'phone-it-in' level effort but hey, that's the life of a working mom!

Can totally be vegetarian if you took the bacon out.

The end.

PS: Working on more posts that are a tick above phone-it-in level.  Enjoy!

Lemon Thyme Garlic

Ok, where do I start.. Lets start with the basics: garlic is awesome.  I don't know how many times I've seen articles about the various health benefits of garlic but they are many.  We've been on a huge shrimp kick lately after I discovered how much we all love beer boiled shrimp and I decided to make garlic, lemon thyme butter as a dipping sauce. It didn't dawn on me I could/should make an entire dish out of it until I made the shrimp for my mom and we ended up fighting over the garlic which Gabe definitely doesn't care for.

I was home alone when I started peeling three heads of garlic but I couldn't help but hear Gabe in the back of my head warning (maybe pleading?) that I should perhaps rethink what I was doing. True to self, I forged ahead undeterred.  Yes, subjecting one's loved ones to the effects of garlic over consumption can be cruel.  I, however, shop at Costco and in order to use up the warehouse size portions, I resort to drastic measures to avoid waste at all cost.

Doesn't it just make you wanna swim in it?

I ended up making this sauce and spooning it over toasted English muffin rounds, arugula and two soft boiled eggs for lunch.  AH-MAZING!  I didn't even remember to take a photo I inhaled it so quickly.

Lemon Thyme Garlic

Makes 4-6 servings

1/2 c. Unsalted butter (1 stick)

3 heads of garlic, cloves peeled (roughly 40 cloves)

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme*

1/4 c. Lemon juice

1/2 tsp. salt (or adjust to your taste)

Pepper

In a saucepan, melt butter on low to medium low heat. Add garlic cloves and slowly cook until butter is foaming slightly, should take about 3-5 minutes.  Add salt and thyme sprigs (you can either leave whole or take the leaves off the stems and mince for a stronger thyme flavor).  Once garlic is slightly golden, test a larger clove for doneness by inserting a fork - they should be tender like potatoes).  Take the pan off the heat and add the juice of a lemon.

* if you don't have fresh, try 1/4 tsp dried and let me know how it works out - dried thyme can be pretty strong

___________________________________

I used this sauce when sautéing zucchini one night, tossed with pasta another night, melted over steaks and as already mentioned, as a dressing on soft eggs over arugula salad.  It's great with shrimp or a mild fish would be awesome too.

The garlic gets nice and sweet, super mellow compared to when they're fresh.  Just make everyone else in the house eat it and then nobody can single anyone else out for garlic breath or that infamous  garlic coming through the pores phenomenon.

Like.

For REAL I'm back (I hope)

So. After a 2+ year hiatus, I had the most amazing lunch at home that put me right. over. the. edge. As I took bite after glorious bite, I said to myself, "That's it! No more excuses! Amytacular is back!" To myself of course..while standing in my kitchen. Talking to my dogs. 

If you have been living under a rock (or just aren't a FB friend), the last 2 years have been filled with some pretty big life events. Ok, event. Singular, really. I had a little baby and she's now 1.5 years old. That was weird just typing that. She's a year and a half (technically not until the end of the month) but those people who would always speak about their children in months always annoyed me. It was like, I know you think b/c I'm Asian I like doing math, and honestly, I do but don't MAKE me do the math, mkay? But if you are one of those people that refers to their children's age in months, I get it now. My b for being so annoyed. And for all you people who find it annoying too that don't have kids - the true reason is b/c they change SO quick during those first few years that you HAVE to say what month b/c so much happens from month to month. One month they're rolling around, next they're crawling, then they're walking, then running, talking, talking back, driving, going to prom, running for Congress etc. Parents, can I get an Amen? (Amen) She's totally awesome by the way. More about her later.

Anyhow, I just wanted to get it out there that I'm dippin' the toe back in the bloggy pool. IDK how well I'll actually keep up but I have realistic hopes. I'm thinking it'll be pretty consistent for a little bit b/c of all the backed up material I've had swimming in my head for the last few years then I'll relapse into a monthly deal. That's life w/ a kid, man, deal w/ it! 

Oh, and I logged back on for the first time in a while and I noticed not ONE follower anymore. I leave for 2 years and you people abandon me? Not that it's THAT hard to believe but one of the TWO followers I had was my own freaking husband. Really, hon? Really? You blog reading people are a fickle bunch, I tell you. There are blogs out there that I've followed for YEARS after their authors have ceased to post. That's my commitment, people! That and I'm too lazy to really go in to my subscriptions and manage them. So does that mean you guys (hon, this is directed at you) went in and UNSUBSCRIBED? Or does it just kick you off as a Follower if you haven't posted anything in say, ohh, 2+ years? Gah. 

First (food) post back will be a good one, working on it now. It'll change your life as it has mine. LITERALLY. Stay tuned!

For Real?

Just a quick follow-up to my last post. My brother, his family and my mom came over for the Memorial Day weekend and we had a great dinner. Threw some steaks on the grill for the carnivores, some salmon burgers for my mom and me the pescavores along w/ some asparagus and potatoes.

I was testing the waters with the whole raw asparagus thing to the family and my mom then threw out eating raw asparagus would cause kidney failure. Not sure where my mom got her medical degree or whether she was moonlighting at med school when we were kids but she is getting crazier than ever.

And Gabe wonders why I'm as crazy as I am.



Love you, mom!

Raw Asparagus Herbed Quinoa Salad

My mom is a great lady. She's one of those sweet, caring (sometimes overbearing) Chinese ladies that likes to shop and go have weekend dim sum. Being an only daughter, she always had advice for me - whether I wanted it or not. My mom always means well but her well-meaning advice comes off sometimes misguided and often in the form of crazy Chinese superstitions and old wives' tales. Some of her gems of advice I endured as a confused child (which has definitely bled into adulthood):

• Don't go to bed w/ wet hair


• Don't drink anything cold when Aunt Flow is in town


• Don't wipe your face w/ a kitchen towel


• Don't sleep w/ anywhere where there's a draft blowing air directly on you


• Don't sweep your front door during Chinese New Year


• Don't laugh too hard before sleeping


• Don't look out the window after dark


• Don't eat meat on your bday


• Don't let men eat leftover eggs (Gabe had a field day w/ this one)

I always ask her for a justification behind the crazy Chinese advice and she always just pacifies me by telling me she doesn't know and she heard it from her mom or grandmother. She also told me not to eat raw veggies and actually entertained me by providing a rather ominous consequence that it could make you grow unwanted facial hair . What sort of crazy person tells all this insane advice to a child?

For the aforementioned reasons, I never really grew up eating any kind of raw veggies. I have however, seen a slew of raw asparagus recipes (including this one - delish!) and all I have to say is, I'm a FAN. Bring on the facial hair.

Raw Asparagus Herbed Quinoa Salad

1-1/3 c. quinoa (cook according to package instructions)
8-10 stalks asparagus (about 1/2 inch diameter if possible)
2 tbsp. flat leaf parsley, chopped
2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1 scallion, chopped
1/4 c. sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 c. dried cranberries
1 meyer lemon (about 1/4 to 1/3 c. juice, you'd be surprised how much the quinoa absorbs)
2 tbsp. EVOO
1/2 tsp. salt
pepper to taste

Cook quinoa according to package instructions (I always use my rice cooker and cook it w/ the same 1:1 ratio) - don't forget to add a dash of salt to the stuff before you hit the button. Wash and thinly slice the asparagus on the bias.

After the quinoa is finished cooking, add the chopped herbs to let them mellow slightly (unless you like the punch of fresh fresh herbs). After the mix comes to room temp, add the rest of the ingredients, toss and serve immediately. If making ahead, leave the almonds out until just before service so they don't get soggy.

I've been out of commission w/ the blog for several months! It's sad. I wish I had more time to do it and promised I would after getting acclimated w/ the new job. We'll see how consistent I can be. Thanks for stopping by!