Moving Over to Wordpress

I've switched to a new site....so check my blog out on wordpress instead

We Are The World....WOW!

Last night when I was checking my FB, a friend of mine had this video posted on her page. It's the newest version of "We Are the World" - a song written by the late King of Pop and Lionel Richie. 25 years ago the great Quincy Jones brought a group of singers together to raise money for Africa. With the earthquake that hit Haiti a few weeks ago, Jones and Richie brought more singers/celebs/rappers to collaborate on another great rendition of the song. The video was directed by Paul Haggis and shows some images of Haiti and the singers. I was floored when I watched this last night and it brought me to tears. I hope this touches all of you and we can all help donate a bit.

Looking for Chocolates for Valentine's Day....Try Moonstruck

So, in 11 days it'll be good ol' Valentine's Day. For the past 7 years, I've been fortunate enough to celebrate V-day with my wonderful hubby J. We usually exchange Valentines and go out to dinner - but, we never do dinner on the 14th, always the week before or after - most restaurants have pre-fixe menus and my hubby dubs these dates as "amateur" dates. We haven't decided where we're going to dinner this year yet, but I did however order chocolates for him. J has the greatest sweet tooth in the world and when I was in Portland for work a couple of years ago, my good friend L told me about Moonstruck Chocolate Cafe. I visited there and tried their chai (I guess they're known for that), but I also bought some of their truffles to bring back home for J to try. For J' birthday/Christmas, I ordered him a 16-piece collection box (priced at $32). Yes, it's pricey, but they're delicious. I love Godiva as much as the next person, but I'm glad I found another place to order chocolates. Godiva boutiques are all over the place and Moonstruck Cafe's are limited to 5 locations in Portland. It's rare and special.

After perusing their website, I just realized there's a specialty gift store in the city I live in that actually sells Moonstruck chocolates. Oops...now I feel like a fool ordering from their website. But you know what, it's all good - there's a reason why we can now order things online - we don't actually have to make an effort to drive somewhere and get it ourselves, it'll be delivered to us. So, if you want to do something different for V-day for that special someone, take a look at Moonstruck. You won't be disappointed.

Check out some of their Valentine's specials:

Left: "Be Mayan" Teddy Bears - Mayan Ganache (cinnamon and roasted almonds) - $15
Rigjt: LoveBug truffles collection - Raspberry and Strawberry Truffles (both made with dark chocolate flavored with real raspberry and strawberry) - $25

RECIPE: Stir-Fried Shrimp with Spicy Orange Sauce

This is one of my favorite dishes to make. I've made it for several dinner parties and I've always received rave reviews. It's quite simple and very filling. I usually serve this dish with a side of jasmine or brown rice and a veggie dish - like sauteed baby bok choy or garlicky green beans. Enjoy!

Servings: 4 (about 3/4 cup)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp (I always use medium-sized shrimp)

1 tablespoon corn starch

1/4 cup fresh orange juice (or if you're lazy like me, I use regular OJ from a carton - no pulp though)

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic (such as sambal oelek) - I've always used chile garlic sauce, when I used the paste once, it was so spicy and hot; so, use paste or sauce, either way it'll be good

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Place shrimp in a medium bowl. Sprinkle with corn starch; toss well to coat. Set aside.

2. Combine orange juice, honey, vinegar, and chile paste (sauce), stirring with whisk; set aside.

3. Heat canola oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add minced ginger and garlic to pan; stir-fry for 15 seconds or until fragrant. Add shrimp mixture; stir-fry for 3 minutes. Add juice mixture and onions; cook 2 minutes or until sauce thickens and shrimp are done, stirring frequently. Serve immediately.

Rain, Rain Go Away....

So for the past 3 days, it's been raining in the Bay Area. It started on Sunday and it wasn't too bad, a little drizzle here, a little drizzle there, but it was manageable. Yesterday it was raining a little harder but still manageable. It was a good rain and it was enough to make people drive cautiously but not get in accidents. This morning, not only was it raining, but it came down hard. I grew up in Minnesota and even I have to admit that this rain storm is comparable to the likes of the Midwest. I left around 6:40 to give myself some time to get to work this morning because I knew everyone would be driving a little safer than normal (for the most part, we were all going 50-60 mph). Not only was it raining hard but it was still dark out so I'll admit, I was a little scared and nervous. But here I am, safe and sound.

When J and I leave for work, we pull the blinds in the window half-way up for our cat Bailey, who loves to watch cars and people go by outside (and get the occasional visit from the neighborhood cats). As the rain hit the window this morning, she was definitely intrigued by the noise. She would look at me and meow. I think the rain was freaking her out a bit. She could hear water falling into the gutters by the front door and she was sniffing around that area as well.

I wonder what our driveway will look like when I get home later. We have this huge palm tree sitting out at the end of our drive and because of the wind, I suspect pieces of bark, branches, twigs will be all over the driveway. When I opened the garage door this morning, I had to move some pieces out of the way so I could back out easily. Truth be told, I don't mind the rain (in fact, I love it) but these kind of storms in CA bring strong winds and we could do without it. Apparently today's storm isn't even as bad as what's to come....I just hope that everyone stay safe out there on the road.

Recipe: PHO - Quick & Easy

Last night I made pho for dinner. It rained yesterday and nothing makes me feel better than some warm homemade food. Pho is a traditional Vietnamese beef and noodle soup dish, but growing up my mother used pork, and since my husband and I are planning not to eat a lot of red meat or pork, I use chicken. Traditionally, you're supposed to let the broth simmer for hours, but the following recipe is a quick version that anyone can whip up for dinner after working all day.

Here's my quick recipe:

For broth:

1. In a big pot, fill it with water (3/4 full) and put it on high heat

2. add your choice of meat and let it boil for 30-45 minutes, until done
    a. if you use chicken – 1 lb of drumsticks and 1 1b of boneless chicken thighs is a preferred choice, the 
        meat is much tender and tastier

    b. if you use pork – 1-2 lbs of pork shoulder or small pork roast chopped into 3-4 inch pieces

3. after meat is done cooking, take out and let it cool in a bowl

4. add a quartered white onion to broth and 3 beef bouillon cubes and 2 chicken bouillons cubes and let it cook, stir so that the cubes dissolve – feel free to add more water so that your pot is 3/4 full

5. let onion cook for 10 min. at the most then take it out of the pot

6. continue to let broth simmer, turn down heat to low

For meat:

1. after it cools down, you can slice the pork into thin slices/pieces or tear the chicken thighs and drumsticks to pieces, discard bones

For noodles (you can buy from any Asian store - look for packaging that read BANH PHO)

1. soak your pho noodles in very hot water until limp (I do this at least 3 times, draining in between and adding more hot water)

For quartered onion:

1. tear onion into 1-2 inch pieces and set aside

For condiments:

the following is used to flavor the pho – you can add as much as you want for your tastes

• salt
• black pepper
• chopped Thai chili peppers (I have like 2 big bags full at home - from my mom's garden)
• soy sauce
• fish sauce
• oyster sauce
• sriracha sauce
• hoisin sauce

For your bowl of pho:

1. add a good amount of noodles to fill the bowl (once the broth is added, it’ll condense)

2. add a handful of meat (to your liking)

3. add a handful of onions (to your liking)

4. add all condiments (NOTE: at most Pho restaurants, they bring the broth with noodles and meat out to you and you can add all the condiments after – I prefer to add it before pouring the broth on)

5. pour broth over to fill bowl completely

6. add garnishes like bean sprouts, lime, and herbs (scallions, mint, Thai basil, cilantro, culantro – scallions can be sliced or slivered, mint, basil, and cilantro leaves can be used whole) – as you desire

Getting on the 24 Bandwagon

So, for the past 2.5 years, my hubby and I decided to rid of cable all together. The number one reason was due to the problematic service of Comcast (which at the time was the featured package for our apartment complex). We don't even get basic TV or anything. We have a DVD and a VCR (I know, old school!) and an account with Netflix. So, in the last two years we've been able to watch a lot of great TV shows because of Netflix - for instance Deadwood, Dexter, Entourage, Wire in the Blood, and MI-5.

Our new current show to watch is 24. We just started Season 1 Sunday night and have watched 4 "hours" since. I got hooked right away after Mia Kirshner's character Mandy blew herself off the airplane and then another bomb went off exploding the airplane altogether. I didn't expect that and it was reminiscent of other great spy shows like Alias and MI-5.

I'm especially excited that Season 8 is about to start in a few days, so we have at least 7 seasons to watch on Netflix. This show will keep us occupied for a while as we wait for some of our other favorite shows to come out on DVD in the spring and summer.