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I’m a big fan of cooking. Big fan. And while the eating of deliciousness, I also enjoy the technique of prep work and the eating healthy that comes out of cooking.
But, the last couple of years I have not been as good about cooking myself as I would like. It’s not like I go out for lunch all the time, but I definitely depend on pre-made things like TJs potstickers more than I should. Last year, school and extracurriculars served a great excuse. But that is gone now – I have the time and materials I need to make real food at home, from scratch.
So, thanks to some motivation from Jen and Lindsay, I’m going to jump back on the horse. The first step? Stuffed pumpkins, that Linds shared. The second? Making this recipe just part of two recipes I will plan every week, and then grab the ingredients for. No excuses.
While I do not plan on kicking-the-bucket anytime soon, it is pretty likely that neither my roommate or I will be no longer be living in Tucson. As such, we decided to make a list of things we have to do, places we have to go before we take off. Here is what I have so far:
Tucson Bucket List
Places
- Drive in movie theater
- Zoo
- Tucson art museum
- Mount Lemmon
- Sabino Canyon
- Tunnels UA
- Top of A Mountain
- La Encantada √
- Fox theater
- Ride the Trolley√
- Rocky Horror Picture Show Read the rest of this entry »
As a result of my delightful time at North on Fourth, Sunday morning started with my favorite after-drinking treat – an ice cold Mexican coke. But after that, my stomach was calling for some spicey, tasty food. So, I grilled tortillas and chicken that was marinated in a Mexican chili sauce. And, I added some mixed greens and a sauce made from the last of my red pepper hummus, Red Devil & cottage cheese. Dee-lish.
Thanks to Elise’s Food Network Magazine I have been introduced to at-home-foaminess. I understand that’s the technical term for it.
I normally nuke (microwave) my milk anyway, but had not though of how this could quickly become steamed milk. All it took was microwaving my milk for about a minute, a quick spin of my whisk inside the mile and bada-bing foamy, frothy milk. Enjoy!
Because I wanted to join the crowd (Lindsay & Ashley), and because 2008 was kind of big.
1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Went to Europe, had two jobs (and will have them next year), Lost two jobs, dated three guys, worked during winter break.
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Although I am usually against them, I did last year (and will this year). I think I kept them, but the “Child on plane ruins laptop incident of ‘08″ made me lose the list. Oh, wait – does it count if I kept one half the year? Because I was really healthy, went to Germany, and well…
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My godsister.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
Thankfully, no. Although some came close.
5. What countries did you visit?
Germany, Switzerland, France, The Netherland, Spain and Mexico (I don’t know if that counts for me).
6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A job at the NIH. My B.S. A cute, heavy coat to wear in Bethesda Maryland.
7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
May 22. The day I left the US for exactly 90 days (Ha! Fooled you, Visa requirements).
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Backpacking through Spain alone and not killing two of my 422 students.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Physics II, because I didn’t get an A, but devoted enough time to it that I was stressed and did not get to see the people I cared about more. And not calling Fernando.
It started a couple weeks ago… a quick discussion between Sara, Sandra & I as we all walked to MENSA. I mentioned how my mom had taught both my brother and I to cook, and how recently it had become a real passion of mine. Mixing flavors, trying things out, etc. And both of them thought it was so cool that my mom had taught us. In their homes, their moms had cooked amazing meals, but never really taught them, and they wished they had learned when they were younger.
Then a few weeks ago, Mexican food came up… and I said, ‘oh, yeah, I definitely know how to make good Mexican food’. Sara literally jumped for joy and begged to know if I knew how to make tortillas (she also made a comment about Taco Bell at some point, but I forgave her). And I told her that I was still learning, but I would be happy to teach the members of the lab to make tortillas.
Later that week, we decided to not only make tortillas, but to have a full on Mexican dinner for our research group.
So, the week before I left, after a little shopping the weekend before, and making beans the night before, it was time for Mexican night at my flat. But first a note on shopping for ingredients in another country for ingredients that have a section dedicated to them in most groceries in the states. It’s tough. No cheddar, no mozzarella, and as I had actually expected, no queso seco. But I was also shocked to find no hot chiles of any kind. And I also discovered that the variety of avocadoes they sell here (although they claimed to be the ones we use) are actually the type you use green (mind you, I didn’t discover this until we tried actually making the Guacamole = ew). Luckily, we found pinto beans. It was a challenge, but a fun one, improvising this ingredient for that to make a given flavour was really enjoyable.
After work, we met at the flat, and started cooking. Sara, Sandra, Anne, Christina, Mike & I started, and everyone was soo great about helping. Dicing tomatoes, potatoes, onion and garlic for the picadillo and the salsa; opening the avocadoes (once again, ew) for guacamole; warming up the frijoles; making a quick marinade for the meat; Mike preparing Spanish rice. And outside, Sandra and Christina took care of the grill. I just gave tips, shared how my mom had taught me to taste and adjust, the basic ingredients, etc. and then did the actual cooking of the picadillo (with part split off to have tofu added instead of meat for Sara – it was actually really good), and finished it up. Outside, they took care of the carne asada and then I cut it up and did a couple of things.
They brought the drinks and set up the tables outside, and we kept the food warm by rotating them on the grill, and off to the porch. We served, I showed them how to make burritos. We had chips, and beans, and chipotle looking burritos on purchased tortillas heated on the grill. Passing pans and bowls, getting up to serve themselves, it felt like a Mexican family in Germany, at a guest house.
But overall, I think the best part was the dessert tortilla making that we ended the night with. It started off with Sara and me mainly making the dough and then actual tortillas, with Christina, Anne and Birgit as spectators. Laughter, experimenting (wait, that’s not right, let’s add more oil because of this), and the use of spectators hands to add those things ensued. So more people came to watch from outside, where the firelog Stefan had brought was burning. And Andrea even joined in. So tortillas were made – by rolling pin, I admit – and hand flipped. Nutella, butter, sugar, honey, peanut butter, and/or bananas were piled on to make dessert tostadas. Perfect.
The tortillas ended up being an immensely enjoyable competition between the Italians (1/2 Italian for Sara). She was the only one making the tortillas with me at first, starting from the dough. But when Andrea came in, I kind of showed him, and everyone that watched gave the advice they had seen from Sara. And then it became the two man battle of the circles (shape of tortillas) and bubbles (from the puffiness of air pockets). When Andrea made the first tortilla to bubble, Sara’s response was, ‘Bubbles. Who needs bubbles? They’re just air!’ FYI – her opinion changed when she got her first.
It was really amazing, I felt so united with all these people, and they loved the food, which was great. I was able to share with them my culture the way they have with me. And they were so appreciative of my effort, of running around the kitchen (even though I couldn’t have done it without them), that is just made me want to cook more.
*My random memorable moment:
When we were talking about guns and that type of gang stuff in Tucson and Mike said in a really nonchalant manner, ‘Well, I’ve only been shot at once’. I was in the middle of drinking my beer. And to avoid spraying it all over the food, I turned away from the table. But quick enough. I pretty much sprayed a mouthful of beer over Birgit, my PI here. Classic. Embarrassing. Funny.
I love lunch here, nice and relaxed. And today it mainly revolved around a discussion of stereotypes after Andrea (Italian Ph.D., had been on vacation) aired his grievances about a commercial he saw portraying Italians as ‘Latin lovers’. Christian mentioned that he thought one of the stereotypes about Germans was that great hair travesty, the mullet – or at the very least the rat tail. Sarah mentioned the hairy (no shaving legs and armpits) stereotype about Europeans. I agreed with that, but specified that I thought that Americans at least, really focus that one on the French and Spanish. All of them were quick to clarify that “no, no, no” this was something that the older generation did/does.*
It was cool getting to know Sandra better today, since she is working on everything except pgl3, and all of that is the focus of my proposal here. So we are going to be working on a lot of the same stuff, and we coordinated what lines we were each going to plant and perform assays on.
OMG, the bread I bought today was amazing. I stopped by the bakery that is just off the path from my walk to and from the lab, and randomly chose one of the dark loafs. I also went to the butcher/cheese store in the same plaza, but I haven’t had the chance to try what I bought yet. Back to the bread, OMG. It was crisp on the outside, and soo moist on the inside. Covered in different seeds, from pumpkin to sesame. Just sooo good. As I walked home, I was hungry, and ripped a chunk off as I walked, but I just wanted more. OMG. I can’t really tell you what about it made it so special, but the dough was no simple wheat, or multigrain. It was airy and dense, and tasty. Details next time, maybe.
Things I love about Germany:
People walk everywhere. With groceries, with groceries and children. They just do – and it’s fabulous. The unfortunate thing about this is that when I get home, my feet are going to look like shit. Pedicure to the max time.
Random German Fact of the Day:
German mayonnaise comes in tubes akin to those that toothpaste comes in. And you can buy a dozen beers, or you can just buy them by the bottle.
*Note – Tomorrow I need to ask about the stereotypes they have about Americans.
