take home chef

so maybe i dont have a job. and maybe i don't really have any BIG summer plans. i can say that i have been watching way too much reality tv (guilty pleasure, dont judge). well one show that i really like in particular is take home chef with curtis stone! ah. imagine that experience. some good looking australian (hello, accent!) approaches you in the grocery store and offers to help you cook dinner for your loved one/family/friends/etc. plus he pays for all the groceries, and THEN teaches you how to make your most favorite dish in a simplistic way. who wouldn't agree?!

the other day curtis helped some girl make won ton soup (among other things) for her friends birthday dinner. well it's a saturday afternoon and jon and i were discussing things to make for dinner. i had to mention what i just recently learned on take home chef....and well, jon agreed! we looked up the recipes on TLC and found out what we needed.

after a quick trip to sonic (for slushes and limeades on this sweet summer day of course...oh yea and some mozzarella sticks to share)) then to sun harvest and heb, we were fully equipped to begin our culinary adventure.

we (successfully) made won ton soup and lettuce wraps for dinner! i was quite proud of us. the won ton filling was made of pureed scallops, shrimp and cabbage. and the lettuce wrap recipe was derived from the one used at pf changs/pei wei (delish. duh). jon was an excellent won ton maker, and sous chef all together. gah we make a great team in the kitchen.

it was so good! and so unique from all that we generally cook. we're grilling tomorrow - it's sunday! and that should be good too. but i was proud of what we made today. SO. i wanted to brag about it.

happy weekend
ciao
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p.s. oh yea i dont have pics. my camera battery is dead...and i left the battery charger at the beach. boo.

craving pinkberry

this past spring i had several new experiences living in manhattan. one of my favorite things, that honestly has been life-changing, is pinkberry. oh my gosh it is simply amazing. it's one of those things that can take frown and turn it upside down for sure. for those of you who are states away from california or new york, and have not had the privilege to sample this delicious dish, let me try to explain it for you.

"pinkberry is swirly goodness. it's frozen yogurt reinvented to create an experience that indulges the senses"

you have a choice of three different flavors: original, green tea, or coffee. it is basically a frozen yogurt, but it has SUCH a different taste, like no other frozen yogurts. i usually get the same thing everytime, a small original with blackberries, raspberries and chocolate chips. AH. heaven. i mean, there are a ton of toppings to choose from (kiwi, strawberry, raspberries, pineapple, coconut, MOCHI, carob chips, fruity pebbles, cocoa pebbles, cap'n crunch!) - its so great. i have a few friends who claim that red mango is way better than pinkberry, and that pinkberry is imitating r.m. okay. i dont know which came first, but i do know which one i prefer. ((the pink!)) surprisingly there IS a big difference.

the point of my blog today, is that GOODNESS i am craving pinkberry so badly today! which happens to be extremely unfortunate for me, since i previously mentioned, they are located ONLY in cali and ny. our new apt in chelsea has one RIGHT around the corner from it. and then 7 blocks away, there is one RIGHT around the corner from Pratt. ah.

so this blog is dedicated to my friends tuten and donya (my fabulous pratt graphic design girls who i miss SO very much). they are always up for a pinkberry trip, and don't feel bad when we are the first ones in the store when they open....sigh. its always a pick me up (especially when you've been going crazy sitting through a several hour long critic in typography...ha) our conversations during the tasty treat are always equally entertaining... :)

water. yeaaa get you some.

"you can mess with him. but don't mess with his water!"

DID YOU KNOW THAT....

• Your body is two-thirds water, your bones are one-third water and your brain is three-quarters water
• On a cool day the body uses up to two liters of water in perspiration, urine and in the breath
• More than 75% of hunger pangs are signals of thirst

OUR BODIES NEED WATER TO....

• Regulate temperature
• Prevent build up of salt
• Carry food to all the organs
• Remove waste

DRINK MORE WATER...

• Make drinking water part of your daily routine
• Drink 7 or 8 glasses throughout the day
• Sip water throughout the day
• Water contains essential minerals: calcium, magnesium, lithium, zinc, copper, manganese

i learned that on a website i found today when i was searching for facts on water.

i also found this site that talks about how much sugar is in juice. there is the same, if not more, sugar in fruit juice as there is in soda! can you believe that? it's pretty crazy to think about that. it makes sense, but it's not something you really think about. you think you're making a wise choice by choosing something made from FRUIT as opposed to a soda... but think again!

GO WATER! YEA AGUA! WHOO H20!

oh hey its monday again.

on saturday i went to mrs yarrington's 60th birthday celebration. sun sun catered, lots of wine was consumed, and a good time was had by all. after the party i went to sherlock's with steven, thomas, and ryan - three of my best guy friends. we played darts, and thomas was nice enough to let me be on the same team as him ... sorry thomas. i was terrible. all in all it was a good time hanging with the boys and catch up on life and stuff.

yesterday jon and i went grocery shopping for dinner stuff. i didn't really explain last week, but jon has the weber recipe book that he got as a gift with the grill - and each week we pick something new to cook. so this week, we grilled steelhead trout (it was the same cost as the salmon, but looked a whole lot better) and served it with a thai cucumber relish. the cucumber relish required fish sauce as an ingredient... and well the bottle leaked in my car some. BLEH. absolutely awful smell. especially when it gets on your skin! we also made an eggplant dip with toasted pita bread. and my favorite was the grilled asparagus. i took a photo but i'll have to post it later. we also had bought some lemon italian soda at sun harvest (it was on sale for 99 cents) -- it was really good and i liked it a lot. oh and our wine selection was la bastarda!


i want to go float in the pool right now. but the sun just isn't too prime for it at the moment. bummer. so instead im hanging out inside, playing scrabulous online with allison and chinae - who are obviously busy working hard at their respective work places in nyc. :) there is a free coldplay concert tonight at the garden. i wish i could go. why arent there ever big free concerts in the 210? meh. i miss you nyc kids. but im loving my sa town summer.

ciao
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friday = funday

oh hooray for friday! i went for lunch with my mom, auntie linda and jon this afternoon at thai chili. gah i love it so very much. their tom yum soup (at a level 6 spiciness...) is my absolute favorite. i think i could eat it every single day. and the tom yum stirfry is just as awesome. what a perfect way to begin the weekend. of course i took avpic of the two --

so, i was talking about needing to make some money this week - and i succeeded!! haha. wednesday was my ultra productive day. i went and helped clean/organize at a friend of my mom's in the morning/afternoon and then in the evening i had volleyball private lesson. the cleaning was a lot of work, but its ok bc i felt like i was actually earning the money. and the volleyball lesson went great!! i am really looking forward to working with ashley more this summer.

wednesday night i went to cowboys with pam and megan (two of my best friends little sisters, who are like little sisters to me). oh wow. i havent been to cowboys in i don't know how long. i dont think i could have prepared myself more for it. i tried to get jon to go but he didnt want to. so i felt like a mother chaperone half the time and watched pam and megan frolick around with some boys. oh funny girls. BUT three of us did dance together, and helped save each other from creepers when it was necessary. i had a blast with them.

last night i went over to my brother and sister-in-law's and we walked to their neighborhood pool. i had a lot of fun just relaxing and hanging out with them and brenna and korbin. i taught brenna the motorboat song that my aunt brenda used to sing to us when were little in the pool. brenna was laughing so loud and would sing with me as i twirled her around. AGAIN! AGAIN! that girl wore me out.

today my friend michelle was featured on dailycandy.com for her new organic textile company, rubie green!! YAY michelle! i am so excited for her. i also can't wait to get back to new york so she can work her magic on me and mo's cute little chelsea apartment. in the future i will definitely be adding pics of the apartment, and then some before and after pics!

happy weekend.
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grillin. chillin. & interesting artistic endeavors

oh how sweet summer is. of course im incredibly annoyed with gas prices and how ridiculous it is to fill up my beast of a car. and of course i don't have a job and therefore i don't have much spending money other than what my mom graciously gives me, or what i can count out in quarters out of my franzia wine carafe (yea i know what you're thinking - franzia packages their wine in something OTHER than a box and bag?! insane. i know.) well - i am working on the whole making money thing, trust me... but until then, i've just been L-I-V-I-N. yesterday was absolutely lovely. jon and i spent most of the day lounging in our spring floats in the pool. those things are so awesome. what innovative minds people have for something as simple as a pool float. i am impressed. we grilled for dinner. here's our final plated product (yea im a nerd like that and like to take photos of our creations)

we made grilled turkey burgers (the combination of ingredients in the mix was key!) with a relish made of grilled peppers, onions, some jalapenos, honey, spices, etc. on a toasted bun with stone ground mustard and rosemary potato wedges. i know. we make a pretty good team and can cook up quite the delicious dish. jon works the grill, and im the prep cook in the kitchen! after dinner we lounged in the pool again, just relaxing and enjoying the end of another summer day. ah. pure bliss. then we watched Semi-Pro which ended up being a lot funnier than i expected!

today was just relaxing with the cousin DEEJ here at the house. mom is in houston, so i was the woman of the house and made dinner for dad and i. homemade chicken nuggets, rosemary potato wedges (that were so awesome last night, i just had to make them for my dad) and some peas - gotta get at least SOME greens in there. all in all, the faja was impressed. oh dont worry i even made the bread crumbs on my own... probably wouldn't have to of done that if i didnt accidentally spill the ones in the container all over the kitchen floor... (shout out to the magic bullet and the wonders it performs in these moments of need! it also makes a lovely, fine-blended margarita...)

well tomorrow i have two obligations that will yield some dinero for myself.... so that is GOOOD. i gotta earn my keep around here. before i go, i am leaving links to an 'art museum' (in san antonio) and a new 'art exhibit' (in new york city) that i find both interesting in their own ways. the toilet seat art museum located here in san antonio kinda weirds me out, but really makes me want to visit it. it just sounds like something you have to see at least once in your life. and then there's this new deal about these waterfalls in nyc ... i really dont know quite how to feel about them yet. i'll give you my opinion when i get to see them in person.

ciao ciao.
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DIA DE LOS FAJAS

i just want to say that i am so lucky to have such a wonderful dad. we definitely bump heads and here and there (generally because of me and my opinions...) but he truly is so great. my dad works so hard and does anything and everything for my mom, my sister and myself - the greatest feat to his name is being able to live under one roof with the three of us :) he is so proud of both his sons, his grandsons and all of their accomplishments, and of course his daughters and our achievements as well. he himself has accomplished so much in his lifetime. i think he is most proud of his family and all that everyone has come to be and continues to grow to be. his jokes are silly and usually repeated two or three (or four or five) times... but every now and then he really hits one out of the park. he can make friends within ten minutes of walking into a group of people he doesnt know. and boy, can that man talk your ear off. all in all he is something special and i'm just really blessed to have him in my life.

i went to church with my mom and dad this morning and spent the rest of the day relaxing. my brother and sister-in-law brought the kids over, and i definitely enjoyed spending time with them in our one-foot-deep, pink, plastic pool. we also had a tea party (naturally. brenna is the queen of tea parties) and i provided buckets of fun by 'making it rain' with the water hose while the kids jumped around me on the trampoline. ah. to be 3 years old again.

mom brenna and i spent the afternoon lounging at grantie lindas in the pool. i fell asleep on my raft. paco kissed my face. we had another tea party. if you're wondering how this counts as 'celebrating father's day' - well, you see, we gave him peace and quiet and the house allll to himself. anyhow. aunt linda taught me how to make an awesome chicken piccata (which i made for dinner for the parentals).








it's been a pretty nice sunday. i'm excited for this week to come - maybe i'll have some opportunities to make some money....hmmm. well i can only hope.

ciao.
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hey, look what i did...

i told myself that i would never blog. but, more and more i am beginning to like the concept of compiling your thoughts, ranting and raving, and the shot at another sure-thing in procrastination (i may come to regret this later) to incorporate into my daily life. so here i am, blogging. what a terrible intro post i have here. meh. in other thoughts - i'm hoping to at least make my page look cooler... but for now, we're going with what we got. so this is as far as i'm stretching my creativity right now - refrain from any design comments - i'm gonna work on it! i would rather type without capital letters... and i can't say that my writings won't be just short of stream of consciousness. i guess i'll mainly use this as a way for my family and friends to know what's going on in my life - mainly my family for when i'm in ny during the school year. okay. that's all. holler.