Tag Archives: Cooking

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idle


I figure it’ll be healthier at this point to stop focusing entirely on the whole not smoking thing. Still getting the occasional pang – but the hardest thing now seems to be “what do do” with idle time.

In defense of smoking – it really gives you “something to do” when you’re merely sitting around and doing nothing.

It really boils down to we have no idea how to behave when inactive. We’ve all been addicts since 19 years old and earlier… We simply don’t “know” who our non-smoking adult selves are.

So.. Kevin’s been cooking like crazy.
Chad’s been ripping CDs into iTunes.. (he’s made it to the Erasure already).
I’ve been compulsively cleaning… EVERYTHING.

Wait – this was going to be about the stuffed peppers Kevin made in the crock-pot last night.

Oddly – I adored green peppers up until puberty…. Then I couldn’t stand them… until last year… I’ve started liking them again.

Not blogging…. Not smoking…

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gingerbread


The guys have started experimenting with baking this season….. “Experiment” is appropriate I guess since they say “Baking is a Science” and “Cooking is an art”…

I can hold my own when cooking, but baking? – That’s an entirely different story. Considering that Chemistry is the only subject I ever failed in school – my baking abilities are limited to opening a can of biscuits or making pizza-rolls.

So.. after a few successful batches of cookies in the past couple of weeks – the guys decided they were going to try a whack at the supreme holiday cliche: The Gingerbread House.

Chad was thrilled… It involved making something.
Kevin was thrilled… It involved diagrams and plans.

They showed me the initial sketches which resembled something like a whacked out Swiss A-Frame… I pouted my lips and asked why they weren’t doing “OUR” house – or at the very least – something modern.

I don’t know why they put up with this bitchy art-direction… We all know I’ll wind up not lifting a finger on the project… Nonetheless, Kevin returned later with a cardboard mock up of a house roughly resembling our own.

They got to making the gingerbread, (from scratch), and the icing which will serve as a bonding material.

I learned what “Cream of Tartar” was.

By 10PM they were assembling the walls… Apparently it’s a long process and they have to let it all set up overnight before they put the roof on. They’ll do the next step tonight.

It’ll give me something to not blog about later.

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ancient chinese secret

wonton folding

Yesterday marked the start of my birthday week. (it’s officially not till Thursday) – It wasn’t really my idea to take the entire week to observe my coming into existence and I’m really not as big of a princess as the guys sell it… They just like spoiling me… that’s all there is to it. *(note: I’m more than receptive to spoiling though)

We headed to my mom’s in the afternoon for my requested birthday meal: her homemade Chinese food.

We showed up early so I could learn some of the recipes and how to wrap wontons myself.

The guys hung out with Mark in the living room and watched sports stuff while I shadowed mom in the kitchen.

I got weird flashbacks of doing this when I was a child – except the perspective had changed. Instead of watching her with my nose at counter-height, I was now towering over her catching a bird’s eye view of the magic unfold… or is that “fold”.

It didn’t take me long to get the hang of folding wontons – although I wasn’t terribly fast at it. She’d make four to my one.

The meal was great – and just how I remembered:
Pork Wontons, Crab Rangoon, Beef Eggrolls , Sweet & Sour Chicken and Fried Rice – all made from scratch.

No wonder she’s not done this in a decade… I learned first-hand… the prep is a bitch.

Pigged out… opened my presents, (yippie! decent baking pans), and had a slice of homemade pumpkin cheesecake.

She loaded us up with ziplocks full of leftovers…. I won’t have to cook for at least two days.

I forgot my camera so hopefully I won’t forget what I learned.

It’s not like I have a blog or anything to keep these notes about the sacred bastardized Ameri-Cantonese cooking secrets.