Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!


I wish you all a Happy (and safe!) Halloween! Yesterday at work, a few of us dressed up and snapped a shot. I, am the banana. Not the most flattering of looks on me, but all too appropriate seeing as I'm a dietitian :)





Before I settled in for college football and trick-or-treaters, I got in a good run and dashed out to do my errands. And of course, that included not only a trip to the grocery store...but also to the health foods store! Needless to say, I got lots of goodies. With husband gone most of the week, I wanted some easy meals for one and enough balanced "snack foods" that I could just snack for dinner since I'm flying solo. Check it out!


 Here we see: USDA organic Acai juice (can't wait to try it!), all-natural Pineapple Coconut juice (it's low in calories, surprisingly and I also cannot wait to try it!), Apricot Pumpkin Butter (my new favorite food -- AWESOME in oatmeal!), fat-free cottage cheese (I was CRAVING cottage cheese and pineapple!), 100% resveratol juice (only 130 calories for 10 ounces!), POM (per the recommendation of Candid RD!!), and skim milk way back there (next to the beer, haha!)

Moving over a bit in the fridge you can see...

USDA organic Oregon Chai (yummmm! I haven't spoiled myself with any in QUITE some time!), fresh salsa, and my favorite hummus: Sabra Classic Hummus (I'm making falafel at some point this week!)


I also got: low-calorie/high-fiber noodles, Terra chips (YUMMMMMMM!), USDA organic wheat pizza crust, organic old-fashioned oats, lots of ZEVIA!, a HUGE mango, kiwi, pears, bananas, limes, salmon, pumpkin puree, and HALLOWEEN CANDY!!!!!



My (cheap) husband bought Nerds, Bubba gum, Smarties, Jaw Breakers, and Lemonheads. I was afraid our HOUSE would get EGGED if we didn't include any CHOCOLATE!!!!! So, he left town and I bought chocolate : )


Anyways...Lily and I are ready for trick-or-treaters, as you can see!


And my fruit basket is looking ready for the week, as well...



And just as I was getting ready to press "Publish Post"....my doorbell rang. Package for Nicole. It was my Nutridel cookies! After reading about Nutridel cookies on Jenny's blog, I just had to try them. 






And they are DELICIOUS! I ordered the assorted pack of 28 packages (2 cookies per package). The flavors are: pecan, flaxseed, almond, and oatmeal. I tried the flaxseed and it was SOOOO good!! 57 calories a cookie! They are all-natural, cholesterol free, contain no trans fat, are dairy-free, and contain no refined sugar. The cookies are high in fiber (3 grams!) and contain antioxidants and omega-3's. And, they are GOOD!



Welp, it's time to commit my full attention to football. Yesterday's diet was about the same as the day before, so I will spare you! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!



a minute b4 the end of the day

bukan ceramah agama / motivasi
cuma asam garam hidup


dulu... wkt kecik.
sy pernah tanye ustazah. i was 9 back then.

uztazah...
kenapa kita ada 10 jari?
kenapa dlm bnyk2 nama yg ada, sy ditakdirkan bernama 'aqilah'?
kenapa bila sy rasa nak gerakkan jari, jari sy bergerak?
kenapa muka sy ditakdirkan jgk, mcm ni?
macam mana Allah tentukan... dan ciptakan semua?

ustazah ckp...
dari sudut sains, nanti mcm2 awk belajar...
dari sudut agama, awk jgn pk terlalu melebihi batas.
nnt boleh buat awk gile. lagipun, tu semua kekuasaan Allah.

i was a student of St.Mary kuching, sarawak...
and, uztazah. ustazah asmah. if i'm not mistaken =]]



i heard another ulama' said ;
lelaki yg baik utk wanita yg baik



i asked abah.

"habis tu. kalau wanita tu baik, baik sgt, tp dpt lelaki jahat jg, kenapa? lelaki pun sama. lelaki baik, kenapa dpt wanita yg jahat? kenapa... lelaki/wanita baik tu x dpt wanita/lelaki baik jgk?"

abah told me.


tuhan tu adil. maka. insya Allah lelaki baik utk wanita baik. tp, utk golongan yg baik tp masih dpt suami / isteri jahat tu, mereka terpilih. mereka terpilih utk diuji oleh Allah. bukannya tanda mereka jahat. bukannya tanda hidup ni tak adil. cuma, mereka terpilih dan Allah tahu mereka mampu.

dan percayalah di sebalik kekuatan / kesakitan mereka tu. ada hikmah di sebalik kejadian. ada hikmah dalam hidup mereka. antara mereka lihat dengan mata kasar, atau mata hati.


sy diam. berfikir lagi. org kata, hidup ni ditakdirkan oleh tuhan.
tapi sy yakin dan percaya sgt, hidup ini ditulis oleh kita sendiri.
apa yg kita buat, fikir, dan pilih adalah jalan hidup kita skrng.
tp, bila berlaku bnda malang. kita tak habis - habis salahkan takdir kan?
tp, sy ada terdgr dlm sebuah english drama baru - baru ni.
"mistake u've done, is the best thing that u did by that time"
maksudnya. kesalahan yg kita pernah buat tu = mengajar kita skrng.

kesalahan kita tu, bukan satu kesilapan. bkn satu, bnda yg, terlarang.
tp kesalahan yg kita pernah buat tu, yg jadikan kita manusia, berguna.
manusia yg belajar ttg erti hidup. belajar utk jd, manusia yg berpk selalu.
bagi sy. antara kegagalan dgn kesalahan, nmpk sama tp tak serupa.
sy rasa kesalahan tu, lagi bnyk mengajar sy. kegagalan... mengajar jgk.
tp kdng2, sy ni lambat serik. tp,kesalahan? sering menghantui sy...



"bukan bidadari"



some ppl, who rarely knows me, might think...
sy ni budget baik, tp x baik. budget bagus, tp x bagus.
might think i'm totally naive. might think i'm a pretender.
and pendiam, alim, skema, sombong, and etc.
tapi kan... semua org ade rahsia hidup masing -masing kan?

org yg benar - benar kenal sy. sepupu sepapat. D12.
kwn2 kelas dulu. sekolah rendah n menengah, taw sy mcm mana.
i will be the craziest girl ever, the loudest girl, the most unpredictable too.
i can be the most-easily-excited, the funniest, and ....
u guys just dont-know-me-YET. try me =P



i'm that open minded girl. that, u can talk anything with. full of dream.
i can keep a secret, even when u didn't keep mine. i can keep on praying 4 u,
dreaming bout u, even when u begin to forget me. i can always be there.
the listener. the advicer. even when i'm not replying any of ur SMS or call.
i'm the one who thinks bout u, b4 i sleep and still, hoping that u're happy,
even when i'm not with u. but don't u ever 4get... don't u ever judge me.
cuz, remember, 1 thing for sure...



i'm only human. i made lottt of mistake. only god knows all the stupid things i've done.
i was full of sin. WAS and still AM. but, only me, myself, knows... how much.
i tried to be better, in every way of life. i'm trying, even when some time,
i'm truly madly deeply --> not in the mood / lazy. owhh yesss...



org kata
"benda yg negative ni, memang best. sbb tu org suka.
benda yg positive, memang susah. sbb tu org x suka."

tp.

org kata jgk
"benda yg positive tu, lama - lama, manis sangat.
sbb benda yg postive tu, manis dia kekal sampai bila - bila"



maka. mmg susah taw, nak buat benda baik ni. memang susah.
buat bnda jahat mmg best. contoh plg senang. kita mula dgn makanan.

makan maggie / fast food ;
sedap la weyhhh!!! tgkla kfc. mc d. ice cream. chocolates. cakes. whoaaaa.
tp. cuba pk jgk, kandungan die tuh, bnykkk sgt membunuh manusia.
bila manusia da over-addicted + tak seimbangkan pemakanan.
best, tp bahaya kan? sbb best die sementara.

makan sayur / buah ;
tak dinafikan, skrng mmg bnyk sayur + buah tu best. tp, kita bygkan...
yg pahit + susah nak ditelan tuh. contoh. buah peria. lala~
susahnya nak biasakan diri, dr lidah + mulut tp. khasiat die?
pahit, tp lama - lama best kan? best die kekal plak tu.



mcm tu juga perbuatan. buat bnda baik tu mmg susah kan?
buat bnda jahat tu mmg senang + best tayah ckp la an...
tp. bnda baik tu, bkn susah mane. and, tuhan tahu.
niat kita. hati kita. biarlah. apa org nak ckp. kan?
apa pun. ingt. hanya tuhan yg taw. =]


Friday, October 30, 2009

Lemon-Coriander Lamb Tagine

I cook in part because I love to travel.  They say the sense of smell is our most powerful sensory perception, and there is nothing like the smell of an international dish to take you to that place you would like to go.  One of my favorite countries is Morocco.  The people, the architecture, the decorative arts, it is a wonderful experience of sights, smells and sounds.   Morocco's hallmark preparation style is the tagine.  What makes tagines special is the cookware and its conical lid, which circulates the steam back into the broth of a cooking stew.  Most frequently, I cook a chicken tagine such as chicken with apricots and almonds.  Famously, a true Moroccan cook can list a hundred different ways to prepare chicken, but tonight I went with lamb instead, another Middle-Eastern favorite.  
At the same time, I love to buy cook books, and when I am thinking about menu planning, I pull out one of my cookbooks for inspiration.  Today was Bistro Laurent Tourondel, or BLT, as the small chain of French-American bistros is called.  Tourondel was raised in France, and his recipes include a number based on old family favorites, but also incorporating tastes from Asia, the Mediterranean, and North America.  His cookbook is as sumptuous as his food.  What more is needed when Eric Ripert of the famed New York City icon Le Bernadin begins his Foreward with "Laurent Tourondel is an inspired chef."
Tonight, I prepared his recipe for Lemon-Coriander Lamb Tagine.  It caught me by surprise.  Maybe that was mostly because of the way I went into the dish, with a Moroccan bent, by I came out on an even higher plane, quite possibly in Asia somewhere.  The magical place was inspired by the cumin and coriander I love, but also layered with delicate flavors of star anise and lemon.  It left me sitting back and searching my experience, reliving the different facets I tasted.  What more could one ask from a night's culinary experience? 
The recipe below is my version of the BLT dish, flavored to my preference, which is not overbearing in the anise and lemon, but those flavors still come through in these proportions.  If you love those flavors especially more, by all means make this recipe yours through your own changes.  Serves 2.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 pounds boneless lamb, trimmed and cubed
salt/pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp cumin   
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 celery stalk, chopped
1 oninon, chopped
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp flour
2 cups chicken stock
1 can diced tomatoes
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 cardamon pod
2 tbsp cilantro leaves, finely chopped

Directions:
Heat 1 tbsp of oil over medium heat in the bottom of tagine or Dutch oven.  Season the lamb with salt and pepper.  When the oil begins to smoke, add half of the lamb.  Brown on one side, approximately 4 minutes, stir and brown on the other side a few minutes more.  Remove the browned lamb to a plate and repeat with remaining meat, adding the remaining olive oil if necessary.
Add the spices and garlic and cook for one minute.  Add the onion, carrot and onion and soften the vegetables for 15 minutes, turning down the heat if necessary to avoid burning.  Add the vinegar and simmer until the liquid evaporates.  Add the flour, stir and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the stock and stir, scraping up the browned bits.  Add the browned lamb, tomatoes, lemon zest and cardamon pod.  Bring to a simmer, cover and simmer for 1/2 hour or more, stirring occasionally.  Prepare rice if desired, uncover and reduce liquid if further thickening is desired.  To serve, stir in cilantro, sprinkle with toasted almonds if desired, and spoon over rice.

It's 5 o'clock somewhere!


I have a little routine on Friday afternoons after a busy work week: a beer.



MSNBC published an article on Tuesday entitled, "Is it beer-flavored water or water-flavored beer?" In recent years there have been efforts made in creating a lighter beer which is lighter in calories. Most standard beers have approximately 150 calories and are 5% alcohol by volume while domestic light beers contain approximately 100 calories and 4% alcohol by volume [1].


Miller came out with MGD 64 as of somewhat recently, a 64-calorie beer for a standard 12-ounce serving. And most recently, Anheuser-Busch InBev's Select 55 hit the market -- a 55-calorie beer for a standard 12-ounce serving. Both beers contain approximately 3% alcohol by volume [1].


While I have tried MGD 64, I am yet to try Select 55. MGD was acceptable, not great. Personally, I drink because I LOVE the taste of both beer and wine. So while producers are creating these low-calorie beers, I can't help but wonder, what population are they catering to?


Most people drinking beer are doing so for one of several reasons:
1. Because they like the taste of beer and probably will drink what they prefer, in which case they will probably prefer a beer with average to above average flavor.

2. To get a buzz or to get drunk, in which case a 3% alcohol beer by volume would not assist them in their goal.
3. To be social and have a drink with friends or family, in which case a lower-calorie and less flavorful beer would be acceptable. HOWEVER, those who are extremely health conscious or watching their weight would probably opt NOT to consume calories by means of alcohol.


What do you think? As the article goes on to explain, the population of consumers desiring lower calorie, lower alcohol content beer is marginal at best. Interesting, anyways. At least it's an option for consumers who would opt for a Select 55 or MGD 64 over a regular beer just because.

Yesterday's diabetic diet went like so...


Breakfast:
2 whole wheat waffles (2 carbs)
2 Tbsp peanut butter (0 carbs)
1 banana (2 carbs)
     Total: 4 carbs


Lunch:
tuna salad wrap in a spinach tortilla with tomatoes and lettuce (2 carbs)
1 serving baby carrots (0 carbs)
cucumber slices (0 carbs)
6 ounce fat-free Greek yogurt (1 carb)
     Total: 3 carbs


Dinner:
1 cup spaghetti squash (2 carbs)
2 Tbsp pine nuts (0 carbs)
1/2 cup marinara (1 carb)
4 ounces of broiled tilapia (0 carbs)
     Total: 3 carbs


Snack:
1 cup skim milk (1 carb)
1 sheet of graham crackers (1 carb)
     Total: 2 carbs

No real plans for the weekend. Husband is headed out of town so it's just the puppy and I. I'm planning to get in a few good workouts and catch up on sleep...as much as the puppy will allow, anyways. Have a wonderful start to your weekend!



[1]. Associated Press. Is It Beer-Flavored Water or Water-Flavored Beer? MSNBC. October 27, 2009.

Marie Clare Smith: The Next Generation of Cooks

Marie Clare Smith moves with grace, confidence, and speed as she makes pumpkin chocolate chip mini-muffins (recipe below) in her Oakland kitchen. With her mom, Karyn, working on dinner in the background, Marie Clare checks out the recipe, reaches for the flour, the sugar, cracks the eggs, opens the can of pumpkin, stirs the mixture together, adds the liquid to the dry ingredients, squishes everything together with her hands when she realizes that her spoon is not up to the task, fills the muffins tins, bakes them, and tastes the results. She dances through the process, focused and relaxed, carrying on a conversation with me and her mom. She is a very experienced cook. But get this: Marie Clare is thirteen years old.

It started seven years ago when Marie Clare, then six, pulled up a chair to help her dad, Neil, make pancakes for the family’s Saturday breakfast. At nine, she was making dinner of pizza or macaroni tuna salad for herself when her parents were going out for the evening. Brennan, her brother, would join her if he liked the menu and if it went with ketchup, his favorite condiment. Noticing how much Marie Clare loved both cooking and earning money, Karyn started paying her $10 for each family dinner she prepared. The plan worked for everyone: Karyn got a night off (sort of); Marie Clare added another dinner to her repertoire and increased her shopping fund. Recently she’s started cooking meals for family friends when they come for supper.

So what’s for dinner? She might make potato latkes, Baked Macaroni and Cheese, Eggplant Parmesan, Potato Chip-Crusted Fish with Tartar Sauce or her famous Salmon Pockets (salmon wrapped in puff pastry with lots of dill) which she invented by combining the best of two recipes. Usually she’ll include a side vegetable like green beans, some bread, always a salad, and dessert if she has time.

Her passion for cooking has been nurtured and encouraged in a number of ways:

1. Her mother is a wonderful cook and is willing to let her experiment and use the kitchen. This is big. The only thing Marie Clare can’t do is cook over an open flame when she is by herself. Everything else is fine. Karyn says “Knives were never a concern to me. Fire worries me a lot more.” She adds, “If she is cooking with friends, she needs to clean up the kitchen. If she is cooking for the family, we take over the clean-up duties.”

2. She has access to a lot of good cookbooks, some written for kids, as well as her mom's recipes. Teens Cook and Teens Cook Dessert by sisters Megan and Jill Carle are favorites.

3. For three summers she has gone to Sprouts Cooking Club led by Karen Rogers, where the kids learn skills and cook food with area chefs and then have a chance to “jam” in the kitchen, creating recipes of their own. This past summer she was a Counselor in Training and may assist Karen in a café she hopes to open. At King Middle School in Berkeley she has also taken cooking and gardening classes with her friends in the Edible School Yard which her father started with Alice Waters when he was the principal.

4. I must confess that I am Marie Clare’s doting fairy godmother, supplying her over the years with way more treats than her parents might allow. On our very first outing together, we went to SFMOMA. After a quick tour of a gallery or two, Marie Clare shyly expressed a desire for some food. We purchased a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Fish Ice Cream--my effort to suggest something healthy was unsuccessful--and she proceeded to eat most of it while we sat on Union Square watching the scene. What do you think she remembers about the trip? You got it. The ice cream. From then on food dominated our activities together. We ate a lot of superb ice cream and chocolate, frequenting Lulu Rae and Fenton’s Creamery in Oakland, Ici in Berkeley, and the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory (closed I’m sorry to say).

Now at thirteen, she no longer needs the indulgence of a fairy godmother; she is fully capable of providing herself with just about any treat she might want. So what am I to do? Of course I will continue to support her culinary enthusiasm or any other enthusiasm for that matter. I can write about her on my blog. Perhaps I can also become her cookbook editor or her publicist or her biggest fan or watch her on the Food Channel. When I asked her in an off hand way if she might want a career in cooking (Who but an indulgent fairy godmother could ask such a question and get a civil reply?), she said she had absolutely no idea. Being a baker is out because of the early hours. But she might be a chef or maybe a lawyer. “I have a lot of time to decide,” she said.
Indeed.

And finally I asked her what she would tell kids who wanted to learn about cooking. She said, “Cook what you like to eat. Enjoy eating it. Have fun.”
Not bad advice for any of us.

Seasonal Sweets: Pumpkin Muffins and Apple Crisp

Karyn’s Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
Here is Karyn's and Marie Clare's recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins. Marie Clare also makes a fabulous Maida Heatter Cow Town cake for birthdays, cupcakes with various delicious fillings, chocolate tarts, pumpkin pies, brownies, many muffins, hot chocolate sauce for ice cream, and eclairs with custard filling. Much more too, but you get the idea.






1 2/3 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ground ginger and ground cloves)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin (canned)
½ cup melted butter, cooled slightly
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat over to 350°F. Butter your mini-muffin tins or insert paper liners.
2. Mix flour, sugar, pie spice, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
3. Break eggs into a second bowl. Add pumpkin and butter; whisk until well blended.
Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Pour the egg/pumpkin mixture over the dry ingredients and fold in with a rubber spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. Or mix with your hands. Don’t over-mix.
5. Spoon the dough into the muffin tins.
6. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the muffins puff up and spring back when touched in the center.

[The recipe doesn't say how many it makes. I would guess 2 dozen mini-muffins.]
As made by from Karyn's friend, Geri, and now by Marie Clare






Apple Almond Crisp
The apples for this crisp came from my backyard in Sonoma. I picked them and used them immediately. Talk about local. Talk about fresh. Can't get any better.

















7-8 cups firm, peeled, cored tart-sweet apples, cut in 1-inch chunks
Note: 1 apple yields about 1 cup of chunks I’ve found.
3-5 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup sugar or a little more to taste
¼ cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon grated lemon rind or rind from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

Topping:
½ cup sugar
¾ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon or coriander
½ teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut in ½ –inch pieces
¼ cup chopped candied ginger
1 cup sliced almonds

Vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or crème fraiche

1. Place a rack in the bottom third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Grease a 2-quart ovenproof glass or earthenware casserole that is at least 2 inches deep.
3. In a large bowl, mix the lemon juice, sugar, maple syrup, lemon rind, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. As you peel, quarter and chunk the apples, add them to the bowl and stir so the lemon juice can prevent their turning brown. If needed, add more lemon juice and/or sugar; the amount will depend on the flavor of your apples, so taste them. Place the apples in the casserole.
4. To make the topping: Stir the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt together. Cut in the butter with a food processor, a pastry cutter or your fingers until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in the ginger and the almonds.
5. Cover the apples evenly with the topping and bake for 50-60 minutes until the juices are bubbling and the top has browned. Because the back of the oven is usually hotter than the front in most ovens, it is a good idea to rotate the baking dish once or twice to brown the topping evenly.
6. Cool at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or crème fraiche.

At least 6 servings
Adapted from Marian Burros’ Cooking for Comfort

Two gay guys walk into a strip club...

October 30

Undulating. That's a good word, and one that comes to mind when I think of “gentlemen’s clubs.”

Gentlemen’s clubs are, of course, places where men, gentlemanly or otherwise, get to spend time with scantily clad, often undulating women who are paid to be there. They are usually dark places that serve expensive but ill-prepared drinks and food you might not want to eat.

There are exceptions, of course, when it comes to the food. The Diamond Cabaret, a topless bar in Denver, was for years known as having some of the best steak in town. I don’t know whether it still is, but it might be.

And here in New York Robert's, developed with the help of chef Adam Perry Lang, was opened a couple of years ago at the Penthouse Executive Club and got a positive one-star review from New York Times critic Frank Bruni. The critic also took the opportunity of the review to go ahead and more-or-less come out as a gay man.

Many people in New York tittered with glee, which, it being 2007, I thought was, well, I’m pretty sure I’ve never used the word “puerile” before, but I think this is the right place for it. News that a food writer in New York City was more-or-less openly gay in 2007 shouldn't have been worth a single titter, but there you had it.

Anyway, there’s a new Robert’s in town. The owners of the Penthouse Executive Club bought the former Scores location in west Chelsea and reopened it with a Robert's inside. In charge of the food: Will Savarese, an alumnus of Le Cirque, Aureole, La Côte Basque and Westchester County institution La Crémaillère. He was executive chef at The Tap House, too.

I ate at the new Robert’s last week and, for a laugh, I invited my friend Clark Mitchell to dine with me. We both appreciated the irony of two gay men having steak at a girly bar, especially at one just a few doors down from The Eagle, arguably the most skeevy gay leather bar in all of New York City.

General manager Ed Norwick sat down with us over Martinis (mine: gin — Hendrick's at the waiter's suggestion — with olives; Clark's: gin — Beefeater — with a twist, because they didn’t have cocktail onions) and talked about plans to open more Robert's at gentlemen's clubs across the country. He explained that strip clubs and similar venues aren’t typically the first stop in an evening, and sometimes life (traffic, a phone call from the wife, what have you) gets in the way in the middle of an evening out. If guests start the night at a place with undulating women, well, there’s a good chance that they’ll stay.

For dinner, Clark and I split a porterhouse for two and drank a big Cabernet. He had an iceberg-and-blue-cheese salad — not, to his minor dismay, in wedge form — and I tried a nightly special of field greens, balsamic vinegar etc. Dessert was a sort of chocolate brownie cake.

Clark’s an editor at Travel + Leisure, and so while the guys at the table next to us bought dinner and drinks for their undulating women, we were left alone and spoke with concern and sadness about the demise of Gourmet magazine, and shared stories of our own publications’ adjustments in these difficult times.

Here at Nation’s Restaurant News, those adjustments are big. Next year the print magazine will be bi-weekly instead of weekly, and the content will be less news and more awesome analytical stuff — not too long, but smart — as well as an easy-to-use news synopsis in the front of the book (that’s what we in the magazine business call a magazine — a book).

For breaking news, of course, you can turn to our fact-packed web site, but you might as well go ahead and subscribe to the print version. Come on, all the cool people are doing it.

jumat yang hectic dan geje

This is my bad friday. So tired.
Baru2 aja gw tadi selesai mocktest foundation of business by ms.tana. Haduh pegel2 ni tangannya gara2 nulis jawaban 9,5pages! busyet gila! tiga jam gak cukup maaaah. Ni jari2 gw udah pada mau patah! beneraaan. At least Anty udah tau format soalnya itu udah cukup sih!

Tapi tau gak anak B.BM (abb from Bachelor Business Management) pada dikit doank yang datang! gila aja! yang dateng cuma Anty, Indry, Felly, Bonang, Amor, Salum, Cherainne, Ally, Sufyan, Thato, Yathra, Gabriel! Kebayang gak sih anak2 BBM pada dikit banget dibanding anak BAF yang hampir datang semuanya. Gubrak! :p

Habis exam, aku ma felly n indry pergi lunch di orange, trus kita gak sengaja ketemu Gabriel lagi makan sendiri, ya udah kita samperin aja. Lunch bareng deh.
Pas kelas LnL, baru deh kelihatan semua batang idungnya anak2 BBM yang pada gak dateng. Ternyata semua alasannya pada ketiduran! Si Leni ma Trace karena gak belajar, Nanda ketiduran sampe jam 12. Hahaha. Kecuali si Tat Yang, ngebolos pergi Genting ama temen2nya. And the rest of other, i dont know exactly.

Pas kelas LNL, kita nonton film yang bener2 geje, aku bener2 gak tau maksudnya apa film itu, bikin ngantuk aja tau, mana si indry udah kayak ngeliat kuntilanak gara2 denger petir yang gede banget =_=
habis kelas eh hujan! Shit oalala. Stuck di college deh. Huahua. Akhirnya aku, indry, adam, nick, ma gabriel pergi ke cafeteria minum2 dulu deh nungguin hujan cut-off. Habis pulangnya, sepayung berdua ma indry. Romantis banget hujan2... Haha.
What a hectic day.........

Thursday, October 29, 2009

edisi puaskan hati sendiri



blog & final project =
blog. sian awk. sianlah. dpt tuan merenkkk cam sy. haih~sy kan. entahlah... rase cam best minggu ni. sbb. mmg bnyk keje.
tp sy bnyk skit la mase free. haaa pasni berderet lah lg keje.
utk sebulan sampai final. aish... penink hey! 3 shooting ek.
1 - shooting news BJ - 2 berita
2 - shooting MCP - musical show 2hours live
3 - shooting directing drama sebabak 15minutes


ni bukan marah. serioulsy tgh numb je rase.
just, nak 'cakap lepas'
wahahaha... [gelak jahat]


kawan skola & kawan lepas skola =
and. betol x sy ckp, kwn zaman skola n kwn lepas skola lain? lain sgt...
kwn zaman skola mmg kwn suka duka. majoritinya, even... zaman skola.
x ckup matang, ramai backstabber, gadow sane gadow sini. poyo jerk.
tp. kwn lepas skola... mmg korang bergelak ketawa, bertepuk -tampar,
tp. cayelah. majoriti hipokrit a.k.a kwn time sukaaa je. well, dunia~
kdg pk g kolej utk habiskan blaja jerk. n utk gelak ketawa.
kalo ade trase dgn mulot sesiapa tuh, terpakse lah buat muke tabah.
even dlm hati dah bergelora / menyumpah tnda x puas hati. aiyoo...

mulot 'cabai' manusie =
mulot manusia pon 1 hal. cakap x bertapis kan? then main ckp jeee...
budget ramai org skeee la mulot lepas camtu? nak gurau agak2 la weyh.
ko tu manusie gak. ade hati. bkn binatang. binatang pon ade hati...
budget ramai org skeee sgt la ko tuh yg budget cam faymes sgt la kan.
ko tak taw, ko duk kutok2 org, dajal2 org tuh, sume org pun kutok ko.
nak buat camneee... mmg manusia skrng mmg sume pandai berlakon.

busybody tak sedar diri =
ko kan... yg sampai google ttg fmly aku tuh nape? pale otak berjambul btol la.
wahlaaaa... dahlah hari jumaat. buat sy berdose je. ishh. aqilah. bhase~
x kesah la sy anak raja ke, anak tan sri, dato, dr, puan sri, ke ape ke... ishhh.
yg penting an sy anak En. Amin ngan Pn. Sabariah. n same jgk, manusia biase.
ade fhm? and and... tayah la nak samekan taraf kte n ckp kte sepadan. tengkorak aih~
kalau dah taw tu diam2 je la. tayah la heboh2.. prangai ko camnikan. lagi la.
sy x skeeeee n meluat2. jgnla buat sy marah sampai maki2... sbb sy x skeee.


ok. fine. tamat dah drama kurang elok tu td.
baca dgn nada perlahan tp pedas taw? hahaha.
btw. minggu ni sy buat rekod baru. iaitu...
so far dpt jmpe LOLA hari2!!! syok weyhhh!!! XD

LOLA @ halloween.
x scary langsung. bahaha.



and... hari tu sy berpk. and cakap dkt adilah masham

"kenape lalat bertelur jgk dkt makanan pdhal die taw makanan tu nnt kene buang jgk?"

adilah ; sbb die taw telur die tu x hancur dlm sampah

sy diam... and terpk.
btol jgk... dr bertelur, die jd ulat, better jd ulat dkt sampah...
sbb ulat tu kotor. dan menggelikan. kalaulah lalat buat sarang elok2 dkt atas pokok ke, celah2 dinding rumah ke, tak ke kotor gileee bile telur tu jd ulat? euwwwwwwww....

maka. setiap kejadian sekecik - kecik alam, ada bnyk hikmah. *wink wink*



waktu

Gue cuma perlu dan butuh satu hal.
Hanya satu hal yang sangat mempengaruhi kehidupan gue.
Gue mau dia datang dan jangan pernah pergi.
Gue cuma perlu dan butuh "WAKTU".

Milk-Braised Pork Sholder





Bacon is my favorite food. It combines a savory and saltiness I think is programmed into our DNA. I touched an even deeper place with this braised pork recipe. Any braised recipe, whether it is an Italian ragout or a French stew, takes meat to a higher place with a multi-hour tenderizing. They say the best stews are allowed to sit and enjoy on the second day. Maybe that is true, because this recipe took three days to prepare, but it was well worth the trouble.
A few months ago, I clipped this recipe from Bon Appetit. It comes from the restaurant Olivia in Austin, TX where apparently there is only one thing on the walls: a Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings concert poster that the chef’s grandfather gave to him. I don’t know if that is true or not, but I do know that when I tried his recipe last month for my friends at a tail-gating party I received rave reviews and requests for its posting. So, here it is and enjoy.

Ingredients:
2 ½ lbs 1-inch cubes trimmed pork shoulder
1 tbsp kosher salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick butter
½ cup flour
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
1/4 lb bacon, chopped
2 cups dry white wine
4 cups whole milk
2 28-once cans of pureed tomatoes

Directions:
Place pork in a large bowl. Mix 1 tbsp salt and cinnamon in small bowl. Sprinkle mixture over pork, tossing to coat evenly. Cover and chill overnight.
Preheat oven to 350○F. Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook 2 minutes, whisking often to not allow roux to brown. Remove from heat, cover and let stand until ready to use.
Blend onions, carrot, and celery in processor until finely chopped. Cook bacon in large ovenproof pot over medium heat until beginning to brown and fat is rendered, about 6 minutes. Add vegetables to pot and saute until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add pork and saute until brown, about 7 minutes. Add wine and bring to boil, stirring up browned bits. Add milk and bring to simmer. Add tomato puree, then whisk in roux. Simmer 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Cover pot. Place in oven and braise pork until very tender, about 2 hours. Uncover, let pork cool, recover and chill overnight.
Rewarm pork over low heat, stirring often. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Easy Vegetable Stir Fry with Fried Rice

A vegetable stir fry is probably one of the easiest and quickest stir fries of all to prepare and as it has been some time since I have included a vegetarian option on this blog, I decided that this easy vegetable stir fry served with simple fried rice was one of the best ways to put that right.

Ingredients (Serves One)

1 red bell pepper (deseeded and sliced in to half inch wide strips)
1 small onion (peeled and quartered)
6 cobs of baby corn
Handful of mangetout
6 button mushrooms
1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
1 tbsp corn oil for frying
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp light soy sauce (optional)

Fried rice

Method

Prepare the fried rice first as instructed via the link above and keep warm in a serving dish while you stir fry the vegetables.

Bring the wok up to a fairly high heat and add the corn oil. When the oil is equally hot, add the onion, followed by the pepper and then the baby corn. Stir fry for about thirty seconds before adding the remainder of the vegetables one at a time. Stir fry for about another minute before adding the soy sauce (if desired) and seasoning with salt and pepper.

Ensure that the seasoning is well mixed through the ingredients before turning off the heat and serving immediately on a bed of fried rice.

Relevant Associated Links for your Further Information

Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipes

Alternatives to Soy for Vegetarians

Vegetarian Christmas Recipes

Vegetarian and Vegan Cooking Tips

Healthy Vegetarian Recipes

Food Tip of the Day - Thursday, October 29th, 2009: Cooking is Becoming a Lost Art

Cooking is becoming a lost art - how much do you agree or disagree with that statement? Do you believe that there are a similar percentage of the population skilled in the art of cooking as there were ten years ago? Twenty years ago? Fifty years ago?

The advances in technology as represented by refrigerators, deep freezes, microwave ovens: all are bound to have had an affect on the art of cooking. How long, however, before each and every one of us simply verbally states our requirements to a food synthesizer as in Star Trek...?

Cooking is Becoming a Lost Art

H1N1

October 29

I'm working on some new blog entries that I hope you’ll find fascinating, but in the meantime, I’d like to pass on to you, dear reader, a question from one of my colleagues: Has H1N1 affected the shared-plates fad (or trend, if you prefer) in restaurants?
Click on the poll to the right, and if you feel like being more detailed, please feel free to comment below.
Thank you.

Pumpkins Pumpkins Pumpkins







http://virginia.ie/


Pumpkin pie
http://macs-foodkorea.blogspot.com/2008/10/pies.html
I also like to use pumpkin for Thai curry .
I advise you use a small pumpkin , Squash . The verities in the store Like Aladdins are really not that nice .
http://www.allaboutpumpkins.com/varieties.html#babybear

OR TRY CHEESECAKE

http://blossomhollow.com/2009/10/24/pumpkin-cheesecake/