My Kitchen

For the past ten months, I've been working with a very, very small kitchen. There aren't enough kitchen pantry furniture to even store a decent amount of ingredients for a properly stocked kitchen. Not only that but I have limited cookware and utensils. Of course, it's partly because I don't have space to store more than a couple of pots and pans and silverware.

Michael and I were making noodle soup the other day, and we found ourselves (again) without adequate bowls to enjoy our said noodle soup in. We have one medium size bowl between us ( the other one was for the cat's water). I kicked myself for forgetting to get bowls from my dad's place. Since our place is so small right now, I really don't want to store too much stuff. I like my space, but I guess it's what I have to do for now. This place after all is just a studio. To think, the other studio that was offered to us was even smaller than this one (mental shudders).

This just makes me dream of the pantry cabinet for the kitchen I could buy or wish to have someday. But, that is a long time away. Now, all I have to look forward to is a to cook in a tight space and do my laundry in cheap vessel sinks to save money. Yes, I do laundry by hands because the cost of the laundry room is too high.

Until next time, Happy Cooking!

Love it!

Thanks for the article from Robin Woodard

My wife and I got some cabletvadvisor.com packages a while back and to be honest, we didn’t really watch much TV with it at first. Mostly because our tastes in shows are really different but I finally figured out what’s going to bring us together – college football! It’s starting super soon and since she and I both went to college together we really like to watch the Golden Bears beat up on all the other teams in the conference every Saturday. She was kind enough to let me get the huge plasma when we bought the house so I think I’m going to throw one or two football parties to have some buds over and drink beer and watch games all day and I know she’s going to be totally there, too! That’s part of the reason I love my wife – I mean, how many pretty girls do you know that drink beer and watch football with the best of them? That’s why she’s a real keeper in my eyes and in everyone else’s!

A Revelation in a Cooking Mind

Back when we first met, Michael told me that he could cook, and from the couple meals that he cooked up, it was okay. However, after we started living together, I asked him to cook more often. Now, I'm not sure if it was because the ingredients that I stocked (Asian, Vietnamese more specifically) or the fact that he was just overwhelmed, but the food Michael churned out when I asked wasn't very appetizing. I managed to swallow most of them: dry spaghetti with cheese, fried rice with weird spices, potatoes with all the spices we have in the house, and some other strange concoctions I can't remember.

The strange thing was that when he wanted something he would make it, and it would be delicious, so I told him that he just didn't want to cook for me. He told me that he really tried it just didn't turn out. That went back and forth until I just gave up.

Recently, life made Michael do most of the cooking (yes, I was cringing). I was just too busy to cook. His cooking actually improved as the day go by. In the beginning, I had to step in a lot and help him out when he was burning things and overcooking things or just didn't have heat on high enough. But, I'm spending less and less time in the kitchen (to my disappointment actually). Michael is actually producing not only edible food but quite delicious food too.

Anyway, recently, he made an especially nostalgic dish for me. A vietnamese braised fish. I'm not really sure how he managed to get the flavor so close, but he did. And I'm quite amazed in fact.

I'm glad that his cooking abilities had improved, but now I fear I have a competitor. My skills weren't that great to begin with.

Life's little surprise.

Life's been pretty hectic ever since I got my new job nine months ago. I hadn't really cooked within that time either. Michael does more of the cooking now. Although, every once in awhile, I would crave something and make it myself since Michael's repertoire is very limited.

Also, right now, I live in a very small place. It's a 460sq. ft. studio apartment with a teeny tiny kitchen which includes a teeny tiny fridge. There are no place for anything. It bare stocks a small portion of mine and michael's stuff. Laundry is also expensive too. Well, since we can't hook up washer and dryer, it would get really expensive. So, we've been lugging laundry to my dad's place to do laundry every other weekend.

...That is until his dryer broke. Now, driving 40 mins to Mission Viejo only to wash your clothes and then lug it back to dry is not a very efficient and cost effective way to do things. So, any good place to buy home appliances? This place seems good. But they're in Canada. Wish they were closer.

NYC in the Summer

NYC in the Summer

Author: Joseph Sandoval

New York is just the best place to live in my opinion, especially in the summer. It’s so hot outside but there are so many things to do to stay cool and all of the crowds kind of clear out, too, which is so nice! I can’t afford a house at the Hamptons but I don’t mind if everyone else does since that gets them out of the city for a couple of months. Anyway, I try to get out of the house as much as possible (don’t worry, I went to www.HoME-alARM-SYSteMS.com like you all suggested) and take a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge or go to one of the many street fairs that just seem to pop up and I even take my dog with me since he loves jumping in the fountains all over town and just being out and about! I know winter will be here before I know it but it’s so nice getting to enjoy this weather in the greatest city in the world.

Perfect cheddar garlic biscuits

Guest post written by Katie Luke
Every time that I go to eat at Red Lobster, I also fill up on cheddar garlic biscuits because I love them so much. That's actually the main reason that I go. The seafood is a far second. But I can't stop going there just for those biscuits. Instead, I decided to try and make some on my own.
I went online to find a good biscuit recipe that would be like that. While I was online looking for recipes, I ran across this great website http://www.wildbluedeals.com/wildblue-faqs.html. I looked through it a little bit and after I showed it to my husband, we decided to sign up for one of the satellite internet packages that I found on that website.
I was so glad and excited when ! I found the perfect recipe for my cheddar garlic biscuits. Probably way more excited than I actually should have been! But they turned out pretty well. I think that I would have needed to add in some more butter and cheese to make them taste just like Red Lobster's though.

Vegetarian Delights

Guest written by our friend Katie Callahan

For vegetarians, finding great recipes to cook and bake can be a challenge. It seems like so many chefs forget that a large portion of the population are practicing vegetarians and vegans. It can be truly difficult for any vegetarian to find recipes to bake that are within the value system a person practices. However, the show "Vegetarian Delights" exceeds all these norms. This show teaches vegetarians exactly how to bake the most incredible dishes that also taste simply divine. I love watching this show on my Direc4U tv, since I consider myself a practicing vegetarian.

There was a time when I would get very frustrated at the lack of baking options I had as a vegetarian. It seemed every time I turned on the television, I could never find good shows that would teach me how to bake. Many of the shows featured recipes involving meat or other sorts of things prohibited in my diet. I would get so upset that no chefs dedicated any recipes to vegetarians. But, this show has been the answer to all of my problems. I have learned a plethora of great recipes to use from this awesome show. I highly recommend this show to any struggling vegan or vegetarian. From this show, a person will learn all sorts of great recipes that one can incorporate into a diet!