"The fish are the last to discover the ocean"- Chinese Proverb

Oh those Chinese proverbs. So wise, yet to backwards. Saturday has come and gone and how did I spend it? Doing homework all day. The time has come where I couldn't deny the fact that classes started and needed to catch up on readings. 


The bad news is that I've barely caught up with readings for one class. The good news? Well, it's two-fold. First and foremost is the fact that I was able to muster up to motivation, or rather obligation, to begin said assignments. And once I began I was actually motivated to plow through it. And the surprising second? Well. For the first time during my experience at TC they a) assigned a textbook not written by faculty and b) picked an interesting one! The extent of my shock and wonder only grew as I instantly realized I was actually enjoying  studying! After all, multicultural counseling has quite literally been beaten to death in the program (and I won't explicitly say why...) And this was an issue that I was originally fascinated with- the reason I had even applied to TC! But this text was different: it was real. I felt as if the authors were really speaking about the issues as opposed to being worried about credibility and "publish or perish".


Anyway. At some point in the evening I had to eat and with an empty fridge I didn't have much to work with. I managed to whip up "Chicken Fried Rice" and some "Panettone Bread Pudding". I discovered the simplicity of making Chinese-style fried rice the other week when I realized all it really required was frying an egg into the rice. Ingenious... The bread pudding was something I had come across when planning our Christmas dinner. Since it was such a delicious hit the first time, I gave it a go before the bread went bad.

Panettone Bread Pudding

It came out a bit soggier than intended since I had to sub unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze for half and half. But still very, very tasty!

Ingredients

• 1 loaf panettone, available in Italian specialty stores, cut in half (enough for about 5 cups, diced)
• 3 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 cup rum
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• Vegetable cooking spray

1) Mix ingredients 2) Place in muffin tins/ baking pan 3) Make water-bath with a cookie sheet and place tin/pan on top 4) Bake at 475 for 12-17 minutes.

"And just like that. I lost my head"

The snowball effect. I've learned about it hundreds of times. You know, you let one itsy-bitsy thing slide and before you know it you are knee-deep in a junk-food landslide.

At least my variation of it is.

Normally, I'm practically a vegetarian. A far, far departure from my childhood roots of eating steak as much as twice a day thanks to my Argentinian family. I don't even like the term vegetarian- it's too loaded. What I am is a super-conscious consumer. You know, "beyond organic-slow food movement" kind. When you personally know your farmer or at the very list make your purchases at the co-op and farmer's market.

But Jonathan is not as particular. My boy can go on junk-food frenzies that put teenagers to shame. And somehow, between his recent brown-bagged take-out orders and my slight-depression at not being able to properly walk has left me well-acquainted with said establishments. And I don't like it.

Tonight, as I was delighting in a crunchy french fry, my deep-fried sense of consciousness bubbled to a greasy awareness. I suddenly realized I was going to explode as I had to unbutton my pant. Of course I've been so sluggish the past week- when said binge began! Duh!

And so tonight it ended. And I will return to my previous sense of mindfulness. Soul meets body.

Practice makes perfect?

Families, however defined, have their own traditions. Yes, I really just imparted that pioneering dollop of wisdom on this I'm-too-tired-to-blog post. Tired from what? When I can't or rather should be avoiding walking around or doing anything because the body part I had to injure is one of the most necessary and obsessively used thanks to our most basic human evolutionary pattern. But I guess that argument could be battled with any aspect of physical anatomy. Because of course when something doesn't work right is when we (as in the human condition) all of a sudden believe it to me of utmost importance.

Anyway. I spent the day winter-cleaning. We've only been in this apartment for six months but a ridiculous amount of junk has appeared. (More like Jon's purchasing-tendencies-that-end-up-in-a-corner-ignored-and-dusty.)  Regardless, it does not feng-shui! (And yes, I used that as a verb) Plus, I'm still trying to make room for Andrea to move in (read: sleep), somewhere.

And in lieu of letting my potato's go bad, I whipped up the classic Hispanic meal: tortilla. No, not a wrap or anything involving Tex-Mex cuisine. A tortilla is essentially the marriage of a quiche and a big, thick omelet primarily consisting of eggs and potatoes while anything else can also be thrown in to your taste. And it's also the kind of plate that you know, your mom will always be the best at because of love and practice and patience and seasoning and what not. In this scrappy plate I also threw in boneless-skinless hormone-free etcetc chicken breast as well as some veggie mix I had lying around.

This was actually the first time I ever attempted to make it though I've eaten since a chittl'n. Lessons learned: use a smaller pan so a) it's short & stout, not wide & thin and b) easier to flip over. Taste-wise? Well, besides that corner chipped off in the bottom Jon gobbled it all up. So safe-to-say it was not a bad first attempt. Hip-hip hooray!

Before

After

Joy de Vivre

A good friend once advised me that life is not worth living if you cannot indulge in comida deliciosa.  My newfound  joy de vivre. This insight helped reality check me from silly body insecurities in my early college years.

While I'm not the type to fret over the appearance of a plate. Nor be particularly anal about how perfect it looks in pictures. This evening I flirted with my oven. After a rigorous day of physical therapy, cleaning, and being generally tired of not being able to do anything due to said injury, I baked. Double-time. And while baking isn't my forte due to above disregard for perfection regarding appearance, measurements, order of ingredients etc., I did it anyway!

With a little ingenuity, I turned this:

into this:

Bailey's Pumpkin Muffins

Instead of milk, I opted for Bailey's and added some cinnamon. I topped off the first couple with whipped cream and chocolate pieces. But they melted. Because I am also the type of cook that does not wait until the food has cooled down to eat slash "decorate" it.

And of course, I dabbled with one of my all time favorite foods:

3-cheese pie!

I used a basic dough recipe, Trader Joe's Tomato Basil sauce, shredded some reduced-fat smoked gouda (even the reduced version is amazingly delicious), Dubliner cheese (swiss & cheddar's brood), and Parmigiano Regiano.

Bad pictures be damned. It was all delicioso!

Kiddie corner

One of my resolutions was to get back in touch with my crafty side. I decided I needed to spend less face time with my computer and invest back into my imagination. 

                                                                                                                                                                     

Last week I took a class at Butterlane cupcakes in the East Village and  accomplished the above thanks to skilled bakers. I can own a mean grill, but I like to stay far far away from baking thanks to my lack of patience of putting ingredients in a certain order and what not. You can tell this lot is mine because of the lack of tact in icing. Who cares how perfectly it's iced on when it still tastes delicious!

And this doodle? This was an attempt at hand-sewing a "technology-case" for Soraya. Apparently, it actually fits and has yet to fall apart!

Here's to good ole' fashion arts & crafts