LIFE MIXER

[lifemixer]

Brief recap

Wow, it’s been a longgg time since I blogged.

So much has happened since my last post, besides my semester traveling around the world. That, in a nutshell, was an AMAZING experience that I don’t know if any number of words can describe. I’m still processing everything from the voyage...six months later. I miss everything about the voyage greatly.

Adjusting back to life on land hasn’t been super challenging. I changed. My relationship with my friends and family changed.

The biggest change that I notice so far is my distance with friends and family. While I was on the voyage, I wasn’t very connected with everyone at home due to the lack of reliable internet, time difference, and being enamored with ship life and traveling. To my surprise, the disconnect continued when I returned home. When I first got back, I caught up with everyone and it was so great. But after a few months, I started to drift away again and re-established the distant relationship I had with most of my friends and family while I was away. It’s not them; it’s me. I got used to not talking to everyone frequently and was oddly comfortable with it.

I spent more time alone to reflect on my experience (maybe dwell on the 4.5 adventurous months). I shifted my focus from social life to prepping for grad school applications and the ever-daunting GMAT (the death of me). 

Then, my grandmother passed away in September... I’m glad I spent a bit of time with her again when I was in Vietnam in February. But I wish I sat with her longer. I wish I held her hands more. I wish I hugged her goodbye. I still can’t believe she’s not with us anymore and I won’t see her the next time I’m in Vietnam. I always viewed her as a super strong woman who would outlive all of my grandparents. The mourning period will end next Tuesday, seven weeks after her passing.

In October, my former roommate and her beau got married! I’ve been waiting for their nuptials for a long time. They have one of the best relationships I’ve seen and they’re incredibly good to each other. Their wedding day was stunning despite the forecast for a hurricane. I think everyone was too happy to notice and care. 

In summary, the past couple of months have been an emotional roller coaster and I don’t think the ride is ending any time soon. But this is life and we’re all capable of pushing through everything and ending up happy.

[f525252-blog]

One of each please.

Berry and Frangipane Tartlets via Food52

[lifemixer]

LAND!!!! #sasspring2015 (at Hilo Town, Big Island Of Hawaii)

[lifemixer]

And we're off to Ensenada! #sasspring2015

[lifemixer]

Ship's here!!! #sas #sp15

[lifemixer]

Our home has arrived!! #sas #sp15 (at Wyndham San Diego Bayside)

[lifemixer]

First stop, sunny San Diego #sas #sp15 (at Balboa Park)

[lifemixer]

Last must-eat item before I leave the country. Other items included fried chicken and wings. (at Citizen Burger Bar)

[lifemixer]

Updates!!!

Wow, it's been a while since I posted a real post.

So, what's been happening?

The major update is my new Semester at Sea opportunity! I'm sailing with S@S during the spring semester as the Registrar/Assistant to the Academic Dean. It kind of happened suddenly. I'm really excited for all of the adventures it promises. I have a separate blog for all S@S stories.

With all of the preparation for S@S, temporary leaving my position, training the temp, and work in general, I haven't had time to do much else lately. For example, no food post since a month ago because I haven't really cooked. I cooked ONCE this entire week! 

I went home for Thanksgiving and had a great time. My family actually got along most of the time, which is a rare occasion. We went to NYC quite often. First, we went there for a fancy dinner at The View, a rotating restaurant in Times Square. My mom always wanted to go to a nice dinner in the city. This year, we finally did it. The following day, we went back to the city to visit the Met and to drop me off for my bus back to C'Ville.

It's hard to believe that my parents never went to the Met even though we go to NYC all the time. In fact, they haven't done a lot of touristy things in the city. They loved the Met and will definitely go back. We didn't have enough time to see all of the exhibits. We actually only saw three exhibits.

Besides these updates, nothing else exciting has been happening. I'm really looking forward to Christmas. Two more days of work then I'm done! It's a bit bittersweet because it also means that I'm leaving in two weeks. So much left to do! 

[f525252-blog]

Dreaming of springtime in Paris

Parisian Macrons via Food52

[lifemixer]

Can't wait to eat so many macarons!

[lifemixer]

My new baby! Can't wait to take it around the world 🙌🇯🇵🇨🇳🇫🇷🇬🇧🇪🇸🇮🇹✈️🚢

[lifemixer]

Lighting of the Lawn - tear jerking moments and joy at the same time #lotl #wahoowa #uvalove

[lifemixer]

An Com

"An com" = "Eat rice"/eat, in general

There's a saying in Vietnamese that no matter where you go and what you eat, there's nothing like a bowl of rice at home. Rice is a staple and comfort food in Vietnamese culture. Whenever my parents go on vacation and they have their first bowl of rice on the trip or when they return, it's like heaven for them.

I didn't really embrace this saying or sentiment growing up. When you're a big food lover like me, many dishes become your comfort food - fried chicken, pasta, steak, chicken McNuggets, curry, naan, etc. With that said, rice and Vietnamese home cooking will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Since I moved away from home, I don't eat Vietnamese food everyday. So, when I do, it gives me a fuzzy feeling inside. It's like the fish sauce (nuoc mam) hits my bloodstream and I get recharged. I also get reminded of all of the delicious food my parents made when I was growing up and whenever I visit them.

I'm writing this post while waiting for one of my favorite Vietnamese dish, thit suon ram voi nuoc dua, spare ribs braised with coconut juice. It takes about 40 minutes to cook, so I have plenty of time to write. 

The sweetness from the coconut juice and the savoriness from the fish sauce make this a winning dish. I always pair it with a simple vegetable sauteed side to not overwhelm the braised ribs. 

I really want to share this recipe so I actually kept track of the proportions.

{Sorry, these photos don't look very appetizing. I assure you that they taste really good!}

Braised Spare Ribs with Coconut Juice

{Ingredients}

1.5 lbs of spare ribs, in 1" pieces

2 tbsp minced shallot

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/4 tsp of salt

1 tsp of fish sauce

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 cup coconut juice*

For coloring (I don't know the exact name of it)

1 tbsp brown sugar

2 tbsp water

Clean the spare ribs well. Sometime, my mom would even soak them for about an hour to get them really clean. 

Combine all of the ingredients, besides the coconut juice and the ones for the food coloring, with the ribs. Let them marinade for at least an hour.

Add about 1 tbsp of oil in a saucepan on medium high heat. Brown the ribs slightly. 

Add the coconut juice. Bring it to a boil, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes. Remove the cover for the last 15 minutes. 

While the ribs are simmering, make the coloring by heating the brown sugar and water on medium heat in a small pan. Stay by the stove! I tried to multi-task by writing this post while I was cooking and burnt the sugar. Lots and lots of smoke! Whoops... 

You want to get an amber color with the coloring. It should take a few minutes. This will give a nice dark color to your ribs while adding a nice sweetness to it. Once the color is ready, put it in the saucepan with the ribs. You can put it in whenever it's ready. 

Depending on the type of coconut juice you use, the sweetness level can vary. So, be sure to do a taste test and add more salt or fish sauce, if needed. 

*Coconut juice - the purest you can get, the better; like straight out of a real coconut. Coconut water like Vita Coco doesn't go well with this dish. Coconut water and juice are the same, but I find their taste different. You can find canned coconut juice or young coconut juice easily at the grocery store. If you can get the Chaudoc brand, get it. Their coconut juice is great for cooking because there are no additives and it's pulp-free. If you can only find coconut juice for drinking, you can use that, too. Just be sure to drain out the pulp. 

[lifemixer]

Roasted Beer Can Chicken!

Oh boy! Another food post! I'm on a roll, baby. 

I had trouble sleeping last night, so naturally I thought about what wonderful dishes I want to make this weekend. Roasted chicken come to mind. I love making roasted chicken thighs with olive oil, salt, pepper, and maybe fresh basil. Nice and simple. Then, I remember all of the beer can chicken recipes I've been seeing online. 

And now, here I am, stuffed with roasted beer can chicken and excited to share the recipe with you. 

I adjusted Guy Fieri's Big Bud Beer Can Chicken. To also get in the fall season, I used Anderson Valley Pumpkin Ale.

{Ingredients}

1 (2 to 3-pound) whole chicken (Whole Foods is great and cheap)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon cumin (or 1 1/2 tsp if you're a cumin lover like me)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

1/8-1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 (12-ounce) can beer

Pretty easy measurements, right? 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Wash chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Mix dry ingredients in small bowl. Rub 1/2 of the ingredients on inside cavity of chicken. Gently peel skin away from chicken and rub mixture into meat of chicken.

Open beer can and start drinking about 1/2 of it. Guy said to pour out 1/2 cup, but let's be real, you want to drink that beer. Place chicken, open end down, over the beer can to insert the beer into the cavity. Put the garlic down the chicken through, for a lack of better words, where the neck used to be. This will allow the garlic to sit above the can and in the cavity. 

Place chicken, standing up, in a large baking pan. Put in the oven for 10 minutes and then lower temperature to 325 degrees F and cook for another 1 hour, or until the internal temperature in the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer. When I made this in my oven, it was at 180 degrees F after an hour and it was perfect. Do note that every oven is going to heat slightly differently. 

I added carrots, potato, and beets to the baking pan to roast them with all of the delicious chicken fat and juice. Turnips would be great, too. 

For the green beans, I simply sauteed them with thinly sliced shallots, olive oil, and butter. 

But forget about the veggies and just make the chicken. I could devour it whole. YUM!

[lifemixer]

Pawpaw Ice-Cream

Double post day!!! This is what happens when I cook a lot and not post.

First of all, have anyone heard of pawpaw??? I didn't until my boyfriend told me about it last weekend. He also didn't know about it until recently. Then, his roommate brought some home and he thought it was the best fruit he had ever eaten. To his dismay, I didn't find it as delicious. It was good, but just not out-of-this-world as he suggested. 

Pawpaw has a custard texture and tastes like a mix of papaya, banana, and pineapple. Very interesting. The flavor is a bit too strong for me. It also has really big seeds. It really reminds me of a Vietnamese fruit called milk apple, or the literal translation...breast milk fruit haha. 

After my boyfriend fell in love with pawpaw, we set out to find some on a trail in Fluvana. No one sells pawpaw because it's hard to harvest and has a short shelf life. 

After walking for a while, we could tell we were coming up on a pawpaw patch right away when we smelled it. It has a pretty strong sweet scent. It's hard to see in the picture above so I circled it. We got it by shaking the tree and the ripe pawpaw fell down. 

Anyways, the pawpaw was a bit strong to eat on its own for me so I decided to make ice-cream with it. Boy was that a good decision! It came out really well. 

I used a really easy ice-cream recipe from a cooking class at my office and the recipe doesn't use an ice-cream maker. I must warn you that it is quite unhealthy, but so so good! 

{Ingredients}

1 tub of Cool Whip - first dose of fat

1 can of sweetened condensed milk - second dose of fat

2 cups of pureed pawpaw - the only healthy ingredient

First, grab 2-3 pawpaws and get as much meat (not sure what to call it) out of them as possible. Separating the seeds from the meat is a bit annoying, but you don't want to waste all that meat. Then, puree it in a blender.

Put the Cool Whip into a large bowl and add 1/4 of the condensed milk and pureed pawpaw. Whisk everything together until they're combined. Then add 1/4 more, whisk. Repeat until you add all of the condensed milk and pureed pawpaw. 

Pour into a container and freeze overnight. The Cool Whip really makes the ice-cream creamy without an ice-cream maker. 

I love the light taste of pawpaw in ice-cream and I hope you will, too... if you can find pawpaw in your neck of the woods...literally. 

[lifemixer]

Vanilla Lavender Crepes

Sick of pancakes for breakfast? Make crepes! It's lighter than pancakes and easier to make. You can make crepes special by adding spices and herbs. And, my favorite, you can add anything to them to make them sweet or savory. 

Alton Brown has a simple crepe recipe that blends all of the ingredients together. You can seriously make the batter in like two minutes. 

This morning, I added a little special touch to my crepes by including lavender and vanilla extract. It's a nice little way to add more flavor to sweet crepes. For the filling, I used cocoa hazelnut spread (or Nutella), strawberry, and banana. 

{White Oak Lavender Field where I got the dried lavender}

My recipe is an adaptation of Alton Brown's. You can omit the dried lavender and vanilla extract if you just want regular crepes. Before you omit though, ask yourself...do you really want to? Do you?

{Ingredients}

1/4 tsp dried lavender

1/2 cup warm water

2 large eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1 cup flour

3 tbsp of butter

Soak the lavender in warm water for about 15 minutes. Then blend everything except the butter for about 10-15 seconds. Let the batter sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes until the bubbles go away.

Heat a small nonstick pan on medium heat. When the pan is warm, add 1/2 tbsp of butter and use a paper towel to spread it around. You don't want to lather the pan with butter. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to a plate Continue until the batter is gone. 

Fill the crepes with your favorite sweet fillings. Chocolate and fresh fruit are my favorite. You can make them healthier by leaving the chocolate out and drizzle honey over it. Maybe dust it with powdered sugar or cocoa powder. 

Bon appetit!

P.S. I'm writing this post while watching Julie & Julia....and feeling hungry and wanting Boeuf Bourguignon! 

[f525252-blog]

Lovin’ the oven.

10 Roasts for Fall on Food52.