Cooking for Two.

I've come down to a conclusion that cooking, no matter how tired I am, can be rather peaceful and soothing to the mind. (Only wished the kitchen is a little bit bigger so I don't get real estate constrain and freak out when the vegetables and meat are getting contaminated due to close proximity.) I've just started on a detox program that will continue for the next 5 weeks where I'm slowly eliminating wheat and dairy products and introducing foods that are foreign to my palate. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner plus 2 mini snacks per day. It isn't a lot of work, just have to be more mindful of what I have in the pantry, and make sure everything is accounted for before I start.

So far, the new things I've made/tried are tofu nut butter (tofu, miso, almond butter blended together to become a paste-like hummus concoction), a walnut-infused pesto, and broccoli rabe. Each meal is like a journey of discovery and I'm most of the time proud of what I am capable of, because before I thought I cannot follow recipe/rules and screw up the taste. I'm quite laissez faire when it comes to cooking.....hmmm..on second thoughts, I'm free and easy to everything. :)

Though it took up 1/2 of my weekend last week to get all the ingredients for this week, it is worth it. My ability to cook has improved since 5 years ago in that unfortunate event with instant noodles at U of Iowa dormitory - Mayflower, where I had no idea how much water to put in the pot. If I can cook this much better today, why should I pay someone else for something that I can humbly prepare? If I have to pay for my meals, it must be something I admire and made of the freshest ingredients and come from the most talented minds.

I look forward to out of town friends visiting or the occasional dining out where indulging in 4 star Mexican cuisine, French Bistro, or mouth-watering Greek food makes me feel extremely bless for being born. As long as it is made well, I'll pay for it, even if it means going broke. Because when it comes to things that I put into my body, it must be nothing else but the best.

Oh, and being on this island where Grandpa's son, Alex, told me last weekend....."It will take one 4 years eating out every night at a new restaurant to try everything in NYC." I think I might be at the right place. I just need to have more dough.

Aloe Vera treatment.

I've always been a big aloe vera fan. Love drinking it and know it is an essential ingredient in few of my beauty products like lotion and bath gel. It wasn't till I started hanging out at Jeff's apartment and saw his roommate's aloe vera plant that I realized this elixir to great skin can be grown so close to one's comfort zone. I saw Vikki apply a piece of aloe vera on her face while I was cooking bitter gourd with shrimp in the kitchen and I thought that was an awesome homemade facial. Could save me tons of $$ on chemically induced skin care and facial treatment (which I get probably once a year when I go back home.)

So on Monday, after getting my DVD rentals from the library, I passed by a grocery store that we selling leaves of Aloe at $2.49/pd. I paid about $2.20 for this piece and tried it on last night. I thought it might taste good, like the drinks I usually indulge in, but NO!! Raw aloe vera is tasteless, and the sap is so...."blocking all your senses sensation" that I had to spit it out after 5 seconds. yuck!

But the texture rubbed on my face was absolutely FABULOUS!! It left my skin supple and soft. I got to go to a nursery this weekend and start cultivating my own pot.

Dinner tonight.

Tonight's dinner was a simple affair. I made my favorite boy choy with shrimp and garlic plus a little bit of the more expensive oyster sauce that we got at the Hong Kong Supermarket in Chinatown. I'm not usually a big fan of oyster sauce, but my sister insisted on purchasing the more expensive one, and realized that the grade does make a difference to the whole outcome. This time, I made sure that I sauteed the garlic till it was brownish before adding the shrimp. I thought by letting it turn golden, it will bring out the flavor of the garlic and immerse more with my other ingredients. I wonder if this is a correct formula.

So I cook and she does the dishes. Great partnership, great company. Teamwork rules.

Ice cream craving satisfied, or not?

Passed by this ice cream parlor couple of times and my brother's friend Xiao Tong told me they have really good ice cream.
So we planned for dessert there after our curry chicken meal to treat ourselves.

I read reviews on yelp and the general public suggested honey melon or lychee. I didn't get the hype as I usually do when I enter a ice cream store where I'll start asking for different samples. I didn't feel that way last night, so I ordered honey melon on a sugar cone. My sister got lychee.

It was creamy and extremely flavorful. But I thought it was a little bit too sweet. NOT too sweet, but not to my liking sweetness.
Nothing beats Bi-rite in SF or Bombay Ice Creamery on Valencia and 17th Street.

Curry Chicken

After experiencing culinary constrains in Burning Man, I figured that if sumptuous meals can be prepared in that conditions - with dust and strong wind, I'm pretty sure decent dishes can be whip in the comfort zone of my tiny apartment in Manhattan.

So my sister and I decided to make curry chicken for dinner tonight. I begin cooking at 5:41pm while she sat by the window with her laptop trying to crack Maya.

In a Singapore style curry chicken dish, it is very important to have potatoes. I choose 4 red potatoes and thought that I could get away without peeling the skin, but YT said "We peel it back home, ask Meng if you don't believe!" so.... De-skin, chop to 1/2 than 1/4, then fry them to golden brown.


Next, I chopped up the chicken and some garlic. Following the instructions to the packet of spices that Mom packed for us was very easy. So after everything and including a can of coconut milk, WALA~ Curry chicken! :)

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Wanted to paint the dried flowers after class on Friday. But was too exhausted. Did it this morning. I slept for 12 hours last night. And this is only the 1st week of school.

Never painted dried orchids before. I think it has its own beauty too. Final touch up in Noon light.

Chinese Idiom: A journey of a thousand miles began with a single step.

Capoeira