Sleep my prince...

My sweet puppy Charlie passed away last night from kidney failure due to Leptospirosis. It's not fair that his young life was taken. He meant so much to me, and I will never find another dog quite as silly, handsome, a bigger asshole, or prissy as he was. Charlie was a huge wuss, but he put a mean front for my sake. Sir Charles my prince...may doggie heaven be full of things for you to smell and plenty of used tissues for you to find and tear apart. The 7 short months we spend together as a family were some of the most frustrating and wonderful moments that I will cherish forever.

5-5-08 ~ 5-27-09

Single Living Cooking Tip #3: If at first you don't succeed...TRY AGAIN!

BAKING SUCCESS!!! I'm by no means a great cook. And my few attempts at baking have been far from successful. First baking attempt: Biscotti...they turned into scones (taste ok texture WRONG). Second baking attempt: Earl Grey Tea Cookies...they were so weird tasting, I had to throw them away. Not only that, they did not feel like cookies in my mouth. More like...mushy...BLECH...

After evaluating my failures... I decided to turn it down a notch. Clearly, I was trying to bake outside my experience caliber. This current attempt, attempt #3: Cheese Cake Pound Cake. SUCCESS!!!!!! It was good. VERY GOOD. It tasted like cake and the texture was like pound cake! YAY! Even Daniel thought it was good.

So just take it easy. Don't try something too complicated and don't give up!

Slngle Living Cooking Tip #2: Always Make Extra

I've been a single living chef for a little over a year. I'm not terrible, but everyone makes mistakes!! Especially when it comes to item that I don't cook often (in this case fish). I can use some tips please J! My mom gave me a few of um a... "center cuts" of sea bass a few Houston trips ago. They've been sitting in my fridge for a few weeks (possibly a month or two) because i didn't know what to make. I love steamed sea bass or pan fried. But for whatever reason, I didn't want to do that with the batch of fish I had on hand. The other day, I had a fish taco craving. *light bulb* Hey, I've got some sea bass in the fridge!! So I took out the bag of fish from the freezer and threw them into the sink to defrost whilst I was working hard with the boss lady filling the world with gorgeous art!!! Ok...the lesson is coming I swear! Fish tacos ain't fish tacos unless you have some type of cabbage slaw condiment. And who doesn't love cabbage slaw condiment. Not this chick. This is where ALWAYS MAKE EXTRA comes into play. Even if it's just a side dish or something, you can always take it and eat it the next day...recreate it...SOMETHING! Or, like me...Oh young, innocent, niave, inexperience little me. You can't defrost fish like a piece of meat DUMMY. So after I make a big batch of slaw FULL of goodies let me tell you: avocado, red cabbage, red onion, tomatoes, walnuts, green onion, garlic, sarachi... all folded together with some mayo. I go over to the sink to retrieve the fish. The original plan was to cook them with some butter and garlic. BUT OH HOLY MOTHER OF A COW!!!! This isn't what fish is supposed to feel like....spongey?! Now, it could have been a number of things: freezer burn could have ruined the fish beyong saving, or I wasn't supposed to just throw it in the sink in the bag and left it defrost... I'm pretty sure it's the latter. Jason said.... you have to slowly defrost fish in the fridge. I didn't listen. Bad ame.

BUT!!!! Since I had SO MUCH slaw. I still had a plenty filling and yummy meal. Veggie tacos are still good in my book. Just look at the size of those things.

Hope everyone learned a lesson today. I sure did!

Single Living Cooking Tip #1: Savory Pancakes for Dinner

It's been my new favorite thing to make when I don't know what to do for dinner. I stole this concept from the Korean seafood pancake/kimchee pancake. I just throw some random savory items into the batter and *angels sing* dinner. It's pretty handy and tasty way to finish off your left overs. Pictured above is savory pancake #2: Kimchee and fishcake pancake. Don't give me that look... If you're asian you'd eat it and ask for seconds. Yea...that's how asian you are. FAIL! The little black things on top are sesame seeds... I had a double take for a second and was like WTF is on my pancake?? ANTS?!?! hahahaha!

Not pictured is savory pancake #1: Sliced lunch turkey, mushrooms, frozen corn, frozen spinach, and muenster cheese. It's a more universally palatable combo to be sure.

More variations to come, and more single living cooking tips!!!! TUNE IN~

Deluge Begins!

To my subscribers....Jason mainly. I apologize for yet another hiatus. I will begin a massive posting. I hope you are happy now.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta. Frozen shrimp. Still good. Ya droolin' yet? It's pretty special what garlic, shrimp, and butter can create.

If I had any white wine that would have gone in there too. But alas... I'm trying to be less of a lush. Please disregard the bottle of rum in my freezer. It's Daniel's. I SWEAR! What Pina Colada mix in there too? That's his!!!! Gay drink!? Has to be MINE?! CRAZY TALK I TELLS YA!!!!!!

Picture Perfect Sandwich

Or lack there of. I bought some $.25 rolls at the store the other day to make sandwiches for myself the other ladies at work since they're always bringing me sandwiches. I woke up this morning, fired up my cast iron grill and grilled up the chicken tenders I had marinating in olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Also made some zesty tomato flavored cucumber salad. Cucmbers sliced thin with a little mayo, basalmic vinegar, garlic herb spice, and tomato paste. Secret ingredient: a package of taco bell hot sauce. SO GOOD HATERS!! We all devoured the sanwiches before i could take a pictures. Daniel's a much better blogger than I will ever be. Poo... You'll just have to imagine how yummy they looked. I even wrapped the sandwiches in partchement paper too!! Way better than foil wrap if I do say so myself. Now go forth and IMAGINE~~~