Never Too Far...

My lease is up July 1st, which means it's the time that all New Yorkers dread. The time to move and (even scarier) the time to apartment hunt. The rule of thumb is the rule of 2/3. You can only get 2 out of 3 things - location, budget, or size. You need to give up on one of those things.

• If you don't mind having a small apartment, then you will find an apartment in a great location that fits your budget.
• If you don't mind the location, you can get a great sized apartment within your budget.
• If you don't mind the budget, then congrats. You are a rich mofo and you can afford that giant apartment on 5th ave. I hate you, btw. So you need to live with that...Good luck.

Just thinking about packing all my stuff (junk mostly) makes me want to call in sick from life and procrastinate.  Although this will give me a great opportunity to de-clutter, which always is a hassle but the end results are always very rewarding.

The great part about apartment hunting, though, is all the decorating ideas I am researching for a future apartment. This is where my google reader and pinterest really come in handy. One thing, I really wish I could achieve is a wall of photos and art.

 

via pinterest

 

This made me sort through my photo library and imagine what photos I'd hang. A shrine of Mwaji pictures? Family? Food photos? Lord knows I have a lot of photos for me to choose from. Looking through my photos, though,  I found a series of photos of my brother, older sister, and me going down a water slide at Walt Disney World last year. It made me chuckle and I went on Picasion.com to make a GIF of it. If only I can frame an animated picture like I was a non-Muggle in Harry Potter world...Oh well....

One of the big criteria for my apartment hunt is that I need space. I want to be able to give my family and friends the option to visit and live comfortably in my place. And my budget can't be moved so I've come to terms with saying good bye to the ideal locations. I know wherever I go though, my family will come and have a great time. Wish me luck!!!

Bandwagon Breadcrumbs

Confession: I am a bandwagon chaser. I don't necessarily jump on them but I am interested in trends and new obsessions. Living in New York, it makes things easier to get my finger on the pulse of change. Also, having thousands of articles to read on my GoogleReader on a daily basis doesn't hurt either.

Most of the time I will "star" (on my reader) or send links to friends of blog articles or pictures that really strike me. (I'm constantly spamming my friends' emails and IM's with messages of "OHHHH LOOK AT THIS!!!" or "OMG I DIE!"..yah I'm that kind of friend. I'm not really proud of it but i've come to terms with it.) Anyways, with all my sending out and marking, I don't have a habit of going through all my chat logs and all the articles in my starred folder to remember what exactly I liked the article for...

That's why I love having a pinterest. It's not just a moodboard to me where I tack on things that inspire me for a specific project (dream wedding, future dinner parties, etc) but also it keeps track of things I like. I always thought of myself as being scattered brain with not a clear direction when it comes to style and taste. But now because of Pinterest, I actually see the pattern of things I mark down (case in point: I realize that when it comes to clothes, I pin a lot of white blouses and loafers).

These little "pins" are like breadcrumbs to me that I can follow from trend to trend and lead me to "home" which is my own personal style.

As you can see, I am making good use of my pinterest. I have a "board" for everything - decor, fashion, tablescapes, traveling, etc. Do you pinterest? Follow me if you'd like  - www.pinterest.com/duaba

Shakin' it Up

2 weeks ago, I stumbled upon an article on Serious Eats which featured an event from the Manhattan Cocktail Classic, which is happening currently (from May 11th to May 15th). Think "Restaurant Week" but all about cocktails and alcohol. Different venues host different classes/tastings/informational events that you can buy tickets to and basically broaden your boozy horizon. I decided that it would be fun to go to one of these events and did a little research. But just to make this event a little bit more special and not just a "oh lets get my drink on" thing, I decided to make it a surprise date for OG.

I mean, having a "surprise" date on an otherwise non-special day just makes it automatically special. It gave both him and me something to look forward to. It also mixes things up a bit and creates a sense of fun and mischief.

I told him to cancel any plans he had on Sunday (aka, don't plan on playing Mario Sports that night) and that he and I will be doing something from 5pm to 9pm. No other information was given. Once that was all set up, I looked through the events and went through a process of elimination to find the perfect event for us two.

We could only go to the events happening on the weekends because, let's be honest here, I will probably get drunk at these events (since I am a lightweight) and will probably not be in any shape to wake up for work in the morning. That also eliminates any events that feature heavy booze (Sorry, "Whiskey Liqueurs", you have been chopped.)I also had to nix out any events hosted in Long Island City and the events whose ticket prices went above $70. I also had to pick a unisex friendly event that I know he'd enjoy (Please pack your knives and go,"How to Mix a Cocktail in Stiletto's!"). Last but not least, I had to pick an event that I could actually learn from and use the knowledge that I would be exposed to (Auf wiedersehen, "Barrel Aging Cocktails").

With this elimination process I was left with the gem of an event - "Handcrafted Cocktails: Create Homemade Ingredients, Syrups, Cordials, Infusions and Accompaniments" hosted by Dushan Zaric (co-owner of Employees Only and Macao Trading Co in Manhattan, also wrote the book "You Didn't Hear It from Us: Two Bartenders Serve Women the Truth About Men, Making an Impression, and Getting What You Want", which I think would be a hilarious read).

I figured learning how to make our own infusions and syrups was a cooking skill that I could use for entertaining purposes AND baking purposes in the future. Also, it would be a great gift for people if you bring them a bottle of your homemade flavor infused vermouth or syrup that they can mix their own booze with. It'll punch up any at home drinking situations.

The drinks were amazing and it was hosted at Macao Trading Co, which also served us little hors oeuvres. I was so busy taking notes on how to make the infusions and the different cocktail ratios that I completely blanked on photos. I only took photos of the hors d'ouevres and only managed to get a picture of table after OG and I basically killed 80% of the drinks. Thus a picture of a lot of empty glasses, which makes us look alcoholic. For the record, some of these glasses were only filled with like a tablespoon of infusions for us to sample (like a pandan leaf infused simple syrup).

 Clockwise starting from top left: Mushroom & Truffle Croquettes, Chicken & Pork Belly Dumplings (steamed), Beef Meatballs, the aftermath of our drinking

When I first walked into the venue and saw that they set up a little power point presentation for us, my eyes lit up. When I got to the table and saw that they provided a notebook and pen (supplied by POM wonderful, which helped sponsor this event), I was elated! I immediately flipped through the first page and was ready to take notes. 5 minutes into the presentation (and 2 pages of notes later), I realized that I was being such a nerd and felt a little embarrassed. That was until OG leaned over, saw my notebook, and said "Oh good, you're taking notes!" 

That was all I needed. I went crazy jotting every little thing down. OG did point that I didn't really need to write down everything because those power points were available to download online but  I didn't care. What about the footnotes? What about the fun facts?! (Did you know that cognac is usually 80 proof?) It all went into my notebook.

I can't wait to try out these concoctions at home and post them on this blog! I would have to wait until I move out of my current apartment though because my roommate doesn't drink. I would hate to have friends over getting all liquored up and rowdy and make her feel uncomfortable. Also, moving out and getting a new apartment is the purpose excuse to bulk buy the booze! HOUSE WARMING PARTY!!!!

Suffice to say, I thoroughly enjoyed the event. The best part, though, was that OG totally loved it too! I knew he would enjoy it and think it was interesting but I didn't expect him to like it that much. He was totally amped about it. He also drank most of the booze on the table. I didn't want to get too liquored up as I also made dinner reservations at Fatty 'Cue and I didn't want to ruin my appetite.

The bonus dinner after the event was also a surprise to OG. I thought after being all fancy with the cocktails and the mixology it would be nice to have a change in pace and dig into some beer and ribs. (Beer for him, ribs for me!)

Left to Right - Ham, Jam, Butter & Bread (edward’s ham, pretzel bread, cincalok, aged butter), Heritage Pork Ribs (indonesian long pepper, fish sauce, palm sugar), and Smoked Brandt Beef Brisket (aged gouda, roasted mushrooms, charred onions & chilies, served with soft rolls)

So frickin' yummy! I loved that we could make our own little sandwiches with the ham, jam, butter & bread as well as the brisket. The ribs were so sweet and succulent. We tried to play it cool and eat with fork and knife at first but 5 minutes into the rib, we were like "ah screw it" and ate with our hands. As OG would say, "We'd make our ancestors proud". 

 

Of course we had to have our dessert with a cup of coffee. Here's an interesting fact about OG - HE'S A BIGGER CAFFEINE ADDICT THAN ME! For all those who have never met me, I have had a cup of coffee attached to my hand for a good 60% of my mornings since I was 16. I drank coffee at a young age (which in hind sight is not a good thing) and loveeeee my taste of java in the morning. Anyways, OG didn't start really drinking coffee until 21 but once he started, he made up for some lost time. He has his own theories about slow-drip coffees and because of his friendly nature, he talks to every barista at every coffee shop we go to and unintentionally gets their secrets and tricks to brewing some of that glorious morning nectar. But I'm digressing. Let me get to the good part - THE DESSERT.

For dessert we got the Chocolate Thunder (chocolate peanut butter crisp, ganache, devil’s food cake, milk chocolate parfait, malted whipped cream). If you had any doubts that this would be anything short of amazing, well I've come to eliminate that doubt. It was EPICCCCCCC. I usually hesitate to say that word just because it's overused but this dessert really was epic. There was so much chocolate but so many components to match it so it wasn't just an overwhelming wave of chocolate.

Needless to say, the surprise date was a success. OG was blown away and I set the bar very high for dates in the future. I can just hear OG wracking his brain right now. Trying to master mind something that can surpass if not match this night. MWAHAHA. Game on! Can't wait to see what he can pull out of his Irish ass.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last week, one of my coworkers could not go to a Yankees game, specifically the wed night game against the Baltimore Orioles. He had season tickets so he offered them up to the office. Given the fact that I love any chance I can to eat hot dogs I jumped at the chance. Yes, I love eating those little bunned devils so much I'm risking any penile jokes that can be thrown my way from making this declaration.

The guy I'm dating (who also happens to work in the office), we'll refer to him as OG (as in Office Guy), happened to be a red blooded American that hailed from Boston so a chance for him to see the Yankees lose PLUS beer was not a problem. (Yes, he was so sure that they were going to lose and I was equally positive the Yankees were going to win.)

For the record, I have no sport affiliation to any team. I follow celebrity chefs like Thomas Keller and not athletes like Jeremy Lin and Shaq (unless they are guests on Conan). I watch Food Network and Cooking Channel, not ESPN. No surprise to anyone about this fact but just thought I'd make my position very clear - I positioned myself at Yankee Stadium so I can eat overpriced junk food. I wish I was saying that with some hint of sarcasm but no. It's appealing to me to pretend to be a red blooded American who guzzles $10+ beer (or in my case on Wed night, hot chocolate) and chomps down garlic fries. Yee-haw.

Also, for the record, OG is, yes, from Boston but he's into football not baseball. (sidenote: Giants vs Patriots superbowl 2012 - a great conversation topic that I bring up when I want to annoy him.) So we were both there more for the atmosphere than for the actual game. (Although, I do love me some players in pinstripes.) He does hate the Yankees, though, but I'll let that slide since he's not a Red Sox fax. Thus, just to annoy him, I pretended to seriously consider buying a Yankees cap (while wearing his jacket, since it was so cold out).

As you can see, my "red blooded American" meal that day was the classic ol' hot dog with mustard followed by a gyro wrap with garlic fries (that OG shared with me. It was his first time having garlic fries! Who knew you could be exposed to new food at a baseball game?). You have no idea how tempted I was to have dessert (aka cracker jacks) but I decided, well more like my waist line and the squeeze of my jeans decided for me, that I had eaten enough. Thankfully, that's also when the game ended. (Yankees lost...was disappointed because I wanted to rub it in OG's face but oh well. Another time, another game...)

Needless to say, the last couple of weeks, I had not been eating portion controlled meals. Yesterday, OG and I decided enough was enough with our gluttony and took our lives (and cooking utensils) back into our own hands. He baked a salmon and I roasted some veggies (also introduced OG to jicama!)

I don't know the exact recipe for the salmon but I do know that OG baked a 1.5 inch thick piece of salmon for around 20 - 30 minutes with a glaze made from a mix of dijon mustard, olive oil, honey, and soy sauce (with salt + pepper to taste).

As for my roasted veggies, I just chopped up a medley of veggies that caught my eye at the grocery store - mushrooms, asparagus, an onion, 2x carrots, and a jicama. Spreaded them evenly on a baking sheet, drizzled olive oil and soy sauce on it (plus salt and pepper to taste), used salad tongs to toss it around a little just to make sure the oil gets on everything to keep it moist overall, then baked it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Keep in mind the olive oil will smoke up a bit so when you open the oven and smell a bit of smoke coming out, don't be alarmed. As long as the veggies dont' look burnt, your fine.

The sweetness of the jicama really lends itself to the saltiness of the soy sauce and the earthiness of the other veggies, espescially the mushroom. It's a great veggie dish to pair with anything. I even brought some to work the next day (today) and ate it with a side of a spicy shwarma pita sandwich from Hooomoos Ali, a middle eastern restaurant near my office! See? Isn't that versatile? My jeans and my taste buds are happy today.

Healthy Dreaming

The title of today's blog post is a small nod to my sister's blog - Grace Dishes, formerly known as Healthy Dreaming. Her blog is basically like mine, detailing her every day life embedded with recipes here and there. Except unlike mine, she has a purpose on her blog. She's sharing her journey/pursuit to a healthy life, which brings me to my topic of du jour -

My life has been far from healthy. True, I go to the gym (even going more than 4x a week for a couple of months earlier this year) but less often recently. True, I count calories but less of a "Crap. can't eat that. That's 1000 calories!" and more of a "K, if I'm going to consume 1000 calories, I better make them count. YES BRING ON THE FOIE GRAS!" type of mental calorie calculation.

If I were to truly look at my life, it's riddled with unhealthy and even irresponsible behavior. Not just on a physical level (I just can't say no to ricotta olive oil gelato! Yes, try it. it's a real thing and it's DELICIOUS!) but also on an emotional, relationship level. I've been in a revolving door of failing relationships that in hind sight were just really not good for me. They weren't disasters. I mean, I would like to give myself a bit of credit and say I have never dated someone resembling the uni-bomber (in both looks and mental state).

I'm happy to say though that I do feel that my life is tidying up. My friendships are more substantial and have meat to it. My direction in life is much more clear (btw, did I mention I got promoted and moved into the new department? woohoo!) and I am consciously making more responsible decisions (sigh, I guess I really don't need another pair of Steve Madden flats no matter how much they make my outfit pop...). I don't think I'm 100% on track and definitely should not sign up to be someones role model anytime soon but at least I know that I am pushing myself to become a smarter, responsible adult.

What brought on this reflection? Well, some would say it's because I'm steadily approaching the 50% mark of being 50 years old. (Quick math! That's 25!) Some would say it's because my lease is ending in June so I'm looking at my finances and thinking about my living options come July. Some would even say it's because of my new relationship.

It's kind of scary to admit even though I have done it in the past on rare occasions. I am standing up on my chair, once again, to announce to the blogosphere (so....to all 5 subscribers that google feed tells me I have) that I, Diana Chang, am in a relationship. It's been a couple of months so from the outside looking in it does seem like this state of mind I'm in is affected by the "honeymoon period" or what not. I do understand that telling my friends that I am in a serious relationship after only 2 months of actual dating does seem a bit fast and alarming. Also, me saying that I've known the guy for over a year..because..well...we work together (OMG OFFICE ROMANCE! SO TABOO!!!) seems like a stale argument even to me but I am 100% sure that this is a healthy, solid relationship.

To be honest, I am completely happy with every aspect of my life right now and I've never had that feeling. The stars have aligned. The clouds have parted. All I have to do is just ride the ride and not fuck it up.


The point of me writing all this isn't to flaunt my new found happiness but to take a healthy step forward. I have a tendency to lie and keep people in the dark about my life. I guess I realized recently that I'm almost 25 years old. I'm a grown woman and I shouldn't lie or hide about anything in my life especially to my near and dear friends and family. I'm writing all this as an ice breaker to myself. Put it out there into the blogosphere is step one. Steps afterwards are just being more open and honest with people who I know care about me and only have the best intentions. Ultimate goal is to be open to my parents but I'm taking baby steps towards that lion's den. I mean, I'm saying I want a healthy life but I'm not saying I'm charging head on Brave-Heart style...

K enough of this kumbaya, "we all live on the yellow submarine", Bridget Jones Diary moment.

Here's something to make you laugh:

 Source

Picnic in the Puppy 2.0

Remember how last year I threw a lil shindig for my 4 legged cotton ball, Mwaji? No? Well, go read about it. (Note,  I realized that day I had awesome friends. How did I know? Only true friends arewilling to trek 5 blocks and up a small hill with 3 pounds of food in each person's arm and some of it was not even for homo sapiens!)

Anyways, this weekend was beautiful and breezy so I decided to go for a picnic again. This time, in a smaller scale. By "smaller", I mean a full picnic basket and a small cooler. The basic picnic fare: salad, sandwiches. Simple stuff...Oh wait there was also crudite + hummus dip, cheese plate and crackers, finished with some assorted fruits for dessert..followed by some seltzer water that I later mashed the berries in to create a fizzy berry drink.....Isn't that how everyone picnics????

If you notice the books, the whole point of spending a day in Central Park is for me and my date to get some reading done. We've both been so busy with work we have a huge stack of books to catch up on. (Not pictured is a Kindle that I used to read the Hunger Games). K enough with the literary crap. Let's get down to the food.

From left to right (top to bottom):
Mango slices, mixed berries, cheese plate w/ my small paring knife + cutting board, olive oil crackers, raw veggies (carrots, grape tomatos, snap peas) with hummus, my "kitchen sink" salad, lettuce + tomato slices for the sandwich, brioche burger buns for the sandwich, and horseradish mayoless chicken salad to put in the sandwich.

Assembling the sandwiches and putting together a nice plate of salad.

The recipes are quite simple for the "kitchen sink" salad and the chicken salad spread. If you hate horseradish, this definitely is not the sandwich for you. The beauty of my "Kitchen Sink" salad is any ingredient can be omitted/substituted/changed. It literally is just veggies I love to eat and just thrown together. What makes it special is the OVEN ROASTED fennel and onions. I made both things under 45 minutes!

"Kitchen Sink" Salad
serves 4 - 6
Ingredients:
- half a boston lettuce/butter leaf lettuce
- 2 roasted beets - sliced (I bought fresh pre-roasted/cleaned ones from my fancy grocery store)
- 4 stalks of hearts of palm
- 1 box of sliced mushrooms
- 1 bulb of fennel - sliced lengthwise
- 1 medium yellow onion - sliced lengthwise
- 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar
- drizzle of olive oil
- pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions:
1)  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2) Spread the sliced fennel and onions on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Drizzle some olive oil and salt and pepper. Pop into oven and roast for 20 minutes.
3) While the fennel and onions are roasting, cut the lettuce leaves (I personally hate eating a salad when the veggie pieces are bigger than my palm. There shouldn't be a need for a knife when you're eating a salad). Slice the beets (if not sliced already) and hearts of palm.
4) Toss together and wait for fennel and onions to finish roasting. Once they're done, put the fennel and onions on a baking rack to cool for 5 minutes. Then transfer to a bowl and put in the freezer for 10 minutes.
5) While that's cooling, you can assemble your vinaigrette. Mix the red wine vinegar with salt and pepper. While whisking it together, drizzle in some olive oil to your taste.
6) Once the fennel and onions are cool to the touch (not freezing), toss in with the rest of the salad.
7) Toss in the vinaigrette and serve cool!

As for my horseradish  chicken salad, I shredded two rotisserie chicken breasts (after removing their greasy skin of course) and then mixed it with some horseradish dipping sauce my fancy grocery store sells. If you want to make it yourself it's a mix of sour cream, dill, horseradish, salt, pepper, and some yogurt to ease the thickness. The best ratio for your taste buds is definitely something you need to find out for yourself because everyone handles horseradish differently.

HAVE FUN and please share with me any of your go-to picnic recipes!

My Jitterbug

I love myself a fun camera app (ie: instagram, camera+, quadcam, etc). Right now my app of the moment is Jittergram! (FYI, I use an iPhone.)

Their website is here. It basically takes 2 photos back to back and creates it into a jittery animated GIF. It doesn't animate on your photo library but trust me it works! GET IT WHILE IT'S FREE!!! Once you email it to your friends, they'll be able to see it! My only gripe is that there's no way to control the speed and no option to take multiple frames. Boo. Oh well. I still have a lot of fun with it. Of course, there's nothing as jittery in my life as my own little jitter-love-bug, Mwaji! ENJOY!!!