Yanbo come home from work today and complained (jokingly) because... there was no hot dinner waiting for him. I think I've spoiled him way too much.. pretty sure that, in college at least, having a meal at the end of your day is a rare treat, not an everyday occurrence. I told him to make a sandwich, but I caved in and made this potato salad. This was super easy to make. Potatoes, mayo, mustard, celery, pickles, onions, hardboiled egg (save time by boiling the potatoes with the egg. Also, if you're lazy like me, you can just boil the potato until the skin is cracking a little. Makes it super easy to cube and prepare, plus you just throw the potatoes in!) The recipe called for basil and red bell pepper, but I was like.. pft.

I LOVE potato salad, to be honest. I think next time I'll throw in a bit of balsamic vinegar&olive oil and see how that turns out.

RECIPE
2 potatos
mayo
mustard
1 stalk of celery
1 pickle
1 table pickle juice
1/2 onion
1 to 2 eggs

1. boil egg and potatoes together until potatoes aredone (but not too soft)
2. chop up potato, egg, celery, onion, and pickle
3. mix together
4. add in pickle juice
5. add in mustard
6. add in mayo
7. let chill or eat warm

I'm really proud of this creme brulee I made. The dark sprinkles is ground cinnamon, and I made this completely from scratch! (I used the egg whites in a spinach omelet later). I didn't have the little torch for the sugar, so I stuck it in the broiler for 2-3 minutes.

[Actually, I made 4 of them, but I only took a picture of this one.]

RECIPE
5 egg yolks (discard whites, or save for omelette)
1 pint of heavy cream
1/4th cup of sugar (more or less, depending how sweet you like it)
vanilla extract (as much as you want)
nutmeg
cinnamon

PREHEAT OVEN TO 370
1. mix yolk & sugar together until fluffy
2. in saucepan, heat heavy cream and vanilla extract, a little cinnamon until VERY hot but NOT boiling (it will curdle)
3. mix a little of the yolk and hot cream
4. pour the rest of the yolk into saucepan, mix well
5. pour into ramekins, top with nutmeg & cinnamon
6. bake in waterbath for 30 minutes or longer, until it jiggles like jello slightly in the middle
7. when it's done, fridge it overnight or 2 hours
8. CRUNCHY TOP: sprinkle sugar over the top, then broil it or use a torch

Does this look good? It tasted pretty bad. We all have failures sometimes. Lesson learned... bean sprouts can not be substituted for bell peppers.

My very first attempt at a homemade sauce. It's a tomato tarragon sauce that is completely homemade... save for the olive oil, which I bought. Otherwise, it's all fresh herbs and spices and vegetables! I loved how it turned out, and I can't wait to try it again.

I read somewhere in an article something about the psychology of a certain picture of food. The family was there, and there was an elaborate repast laid out.. yet, as my professor noted, the labor was not there. She said it was a crime against the mother, a way of minimizing her by not showing all the work that was put into the picture. So here is a picture of what my cutting board usually looks like after a meal. There's actually no ginger or lemon shown here, two things I really enjoy adding into my food.

This is a recipe I've wanted to recreate for a very, very, very long time. It's the rice you find from Chipotle! I made a lime-cilantro flavored rice... a little different from Chipotles, but it was still pretty good in burritos (I think, anyway). Yanbo ate the whole box that was meant for lunch and dinner in one sitting, so we had to eat pb&j for dinner. hahaha.

There's no doubt I love peanut butter & jelly sandwiches. Simple delicious snack that is perfect for a late night snack (while playing LoL)!

My dishes tend to look the same. I swear, they're healthy as well. Here is chicken, red pepper, and red onion. On top of jasmine rice (I prefer white over brown rice), this is a simple, easy, quick meal that is good for you. Well, pretty good, anyway. If I had more stuff I would have tossed in some cubed pineapple. Pineapple is SOOOO tasty with chicken (at least in my opinion)!

I'm not going to lie, I honestly dream of mooncakes. I LOVE mooncakes, but ONLY the red bean kind. I prefer mine red bean with duck egg. I'll eat black sesame... but the other kinds? No thank you :[. I can imagine all sorts of yummy ones though, someday.. some sort of mango-sago like mooncake, or pineapple bun bread type.. but none that I see. (OR I JUST CAME UP WITH THIS: Green tea mooncake. OMG.. now THAT is something I'd love to try.)

Yanbo likes lotus seed (white), so I got him that one (yes he ate it), and I'm going to cry that there's no Asian stores in Riverside that sell my beloved red bean mooncake. WHY AM I NOT IN CHINA?!

After my little scare in the hospital, Yanbo took me grocery shopping.

This is what I wanted to eat: bagels w/butter, red velvet cupcakes, Cheetos, ice cream, cookies, apples, fried chicken, bacon, and YUMMY FOOD.
This is what I got from the list I wanted:
This is what it was replaced by: 9 grain bread, lean sausage, sourdough bagette, spinach, bell peppers, peaches. and other NOT AS YUMMY FOOD.

He decided that I need to be healthy.. so he made a quick lunch. Pictured above: orange juice, milk, olive oil/vinegar dipping sauce for bread and grilled sausage, and red pepper hummus. Which, admittedly, was really yummy. I also snuck in my own treat at the end... a cup of milk&cinnamon toast crunch (and a few spoons of double chocolate gelato).

I've convinced that to be TRULY Asian-American, your household must have both the rice cooker (you know, the kind you buy from 99 Ranch Market or your local Asian supergrocerymart)... and this. The water heater. It's like an always-running kettle, without the noise.

I use this to make instant milk tea in the morning.

I'm really bad at swallowing things that are gross. Food, pills... if, for whatever reason, something tastes off.. my brain screams NO!! and I gag.

Luckily, for my health, someone came up with the idea of VITA GUMMIES FOR ADULTS. I love this stuff. It was buy one get one free, and I bought 4! That's enough for 4 months! Hooray ^^

Cute earrings that I reallly love. Only 10 dollars at Icings! I love that store.

Also, I'm sure most of you know about Marie Calendar's pie of the month! If not, it's one of their special pies for only 6.99! This month was Banana Creme Pie. YUMMY <3

When I moved to my new place, I forgot most of my kitchen stuff. So... I'm eating my breakfast out of a super cheap cup! Mmmm cinnamon toast crunch... the best <3

This cooking is really yummy... I miss my mom & grandma's cooking so much. =[

LA today. I went to SM Entertainment to pick up something for a friend, and my cousin found a Chuck filming sign. haha.

LA always makes me feel a little... nostalgic. Driving past all those old freeways, places.. memories come flooding back.

This, drink, too. It makes me think of LA.


The skyline is beautiful. I sometimes wonder what life would have been like if I had done things differently. Would I have?

As I grow older, I realize that I look a lot like my grandma.

Now if only I could cook like her. This is my favorite dish, a cucumber and squid dish. It is SOOO good. The squid reminds me of tripe... mmm. nom nom nom.

Among the many things we did today... we got xiao long bao today at Din Tai! SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. I love this place... can't wait to go back (when I get a good car).

I met Phyllis' friend, Jessie, who is specializing at Loma Linda in pediatric dentistry. Her boyfriend is an oral surgeon. Power family O_O.

Mmmm... red velvet cheesecake. I love the red velvet/cream cheese combo... it is so delicious! This is from the Cheesecake Factory at the Brea Mall.

My cousin came today from Minnesota. She just finished taking her bar, waiting for the results.