You may know about the MacWorld keynote, the address Steve Jobs gives about upcoming Apple releases and innovations. You may even know about the blame he placed on Flickr this year when his screen blacked out while demoing a new feature on Apple TV, but do you know all the gossip that ensued? Continue reading
Chicken Curry
As an honorary Indian by marriage and daughter-in-law of someone who makes a mean chicken curry, I have long felt it is a skill I should have. I quickly realized that being taught by someone who has made it thousands of times over the years is not an easy feat. The instructions tend to include phrases like, “a little bit of this” and “some of that”. Nevertheless, for a few years now I have attempted to make chicken curry again and again by trying to reproduce what I had observed and simply experimenting with small changes. It never turned out bad, per se, just not quite good. I’d rate most of my attempts somewhere in the range of “edible”.
Finally, I decided to go the route I usually do when I taste something I like and want to make it at home. I googled it. Now, there are tons of ways to make it, but luckily enough I found a spectacular recipe for chicken curry right away. I’ve modified it slightly according to my tastes and the ingredients I keep in my kitchen: Continue reading
Awesome Shots with a Point and Shoot
Largely due to the large amount of traveling Dave and I were fortunate to do last year, I’ve rediscovered my love of photography. So much so that I’ve outgrown our little Pentax Optio S4 point and shoot that we keep in an Altoids tin. I’m in the market for a digital SLR and Dave’s been extremely helpful by doing a lot of research into the options and making recommendations.
Even though I know I can take much better shots with an SLR, I do feel slightly intimidated. I do know how to operate one, although it has been years. My concern comes from the fact that I’ve been taking pretty decent shots with a crappy camera for so long that I expect myself to take super fantastic breath-taking shots with a camera that’s probably going to run me about a thousand bucks. What if I don’t? What if my shots only improve slightly? I’m not concerned enough to forego getting the camera of my dreams, but it does linger there in the back of my mind. My goal is to ensure that this insecurity doesn’t get in the way of improving my skills and taking photographic risks!
Just for fun, following are some of my favorite snaps from my Awesome Shots set: Continue reading
Makin’ Hobee’s Hashbrowns at Home
Ever since Al got Dave and I hooked on Hobee’s when he took us to the Cupertino location about a year ago, we’ve been there more than any other restaurant here and we’ve got half the Hobee’s breakfast menu on reviewsby.us to prove it. We now know that there are locations all over the bay area, including one within walking distance of our apartment. Because we moved into our place about a week before the moving truck arrived, we had nothing in our kitchen for cooking. Therefore, we’d walk down to Hobee’s every morning and I would usually try some variation of their hashbrowns, which are really more like American fries or just simply fried potatoes.
One morning I woke up with a craving for some Hobee’s browns and realized that not only would they be easy to prepare myself, but that I already had all the ingredients I would need. So here’s what I did: Continue reading
My Children, Buster and Dante
I know everyone thinks their cat is cute, but seriously…mine is the cutest. There, I said it. Here’s proof: Continue reading
Polvorones
When I was living in Spain I used to walk down the narrow callejón away from my school and go to the neighborhood market for snacks. One wonderful day I discovered polvorones. Once I had them I couldn’t get enough and had to force myself not to buy them every day. Everything about them was appealing. From the blue and white wrapper with the twisted ends to the powdery texture they held even after I had crushed them firmly in my hand. I never knew what they were made of, but I loved their nutty flavor and the way they melted in my mouth.
One afternoon during siesta, after weeks of denying myself my favorite sweet, I ventured to the corner market and asked the always-friendly woman who worked there where I could find the polvorones. Sadly, she told me they were only available during las navidades. Disappointed that I’d missed my chance to buy up as many as possible and too shy to ask if she knew how to make them, I walked back to my school. I always kept them at the back of my mind and even found them once again during a trip to Madrid when I ventured into a candy shop, just the kind of place to have something that’s normally only available during los navidades. They weren’t exactly the same, but close enough to make me smile.
I’d nearly forgotten about polverones and even since I’ve become more culinarily inclined, it never occurred to me to try to find a recipe. Who could imagine my surprise when I made cookies recently for a cookie share without even thinking about the name, polvorones de avellanas, and noticed that they tasted remarkably like the polvorones I remembered! Continue reading
Makin’ the Sweet Stuff
Thai Iced Tea and more
I’ve been ordering a lot of thai iced tea lately and finally decided it might be easier (and cheaper) just to learn how to make it on my own. I found this recipe and went to the Indian grocery store to see if I could find some thai tea, but the closest I could find was some loose leaf orange pekoe. Continue reading
Making a Pasta Salad
1) Search for a site that gives you a quick and easy recipe.
2) Buy enough pasta at Costco to last two years. Continue reading
Taking a quick break from the positive
I was in my friends’, Beth and Chad’s, wedding a couple of years ago. I had a blast. It felt great to be included and I had a wonderful time at the bachelorette party, trying on bridesmaid dresses, getting our hair done, posing for the photos, and definitely at the reception. The night of the reception I just happened to be talking to Beth’s mom and went on and on about what a great time I was having. She became very serious and told me I had to tell Beth.
I hadn’t even realized it, but apparently Beth was really stressed out ’cause she had been dealing with all of the piddly little complaints from everyone about every tiny little thing. Some of the bridesmaids were even complaining because they didn’t realize they had to pay for their own dresses. Granted, they were over $100 for something we probably wouldn’t wear again, but c’mon people, this is her wedding! First of all, it’s a fraction of what she or her family is paying overall for you to have great time and it’s an honor for you to have been selected, this means you are one of her closest friends…act like it!
Of course, I marched up to Beth right away and went on and on about what a great time I was having. She was so grateful and relieved.
I didn’t really get it at the time, but it makes so much sense now. I ignorantly thought that people would do whatever they could to help you out and make sure you were happy this one time in your life that’s supposed to be so special. It’s the one time other people around you completely cast off all selfishness and do their best to be there for you, right? I mean, I’d hope that those close to me would be there for me at other times too, but I always imagined weddings as the mass support from everyone, even those you’re really not that close to.
The punchline? Beth and Chad haven’t been returning my calls. I can only assume they’re not coming at this point as I haven’t even been able to send them an invite ’cause they won’t call back and give me their address.
On the Road
Dave and I had a wonderful flight to Denver and then a somewhat wonderful flight (we’re still alive!) from there to Albuquerque, NM, despite the fact that we were quite exhausted from waking at 4:30am-mainly to feed the cats (they’re so demanding!). Dave, being able to sleep just about anywhere, was quite happy with the 2 degree incline of his seat back and proceeded to drift into a refreshing nap. I, on the other hand, resigned to being satisfied with closing my eyes and wishing steadily for a moment of rest and frequently being enlightened with thoughts that I absolutely had to wake Dave to share with him. Mwahahahahaha!
Upon arrival in ABQ we caught our shuttle and made fast for our rental car. After arguing with who was quite possibly the most irritating customer service rep we gave up on our coupon for a free upgrade and decided to go with the economy size. Soon after, we were given, without requesting it I might add, a DOUBLE upgrade from the nice man outside and quickly chose our Olds Alero.
I, being the only individual in our party of car rental age was blessed with driving around ABQ all day, which would have been quite pleasant if not for the pouring rain that began soon before rush hour. Being that we were in a desert town we were in for quite a treat. Continue reading
A little bit of wisdom 