I've decided that even though half the month's gone pass (wha?!?!!?!?!), July is still gonna be pie month for me! Chris got me a pie pan awhiles ago, and for some reason, I feel especially compelled now to use it. It's all this sun man! It screams barbecue & picnics to me, and with that I see blue & white checkerboard picnic blankets with a warm apple pie steaming on top of it, just waiting to be eaten, mmm.
I made my first quiche not too long ago (counts as pie if it was made in a pie pan! points), and making the crust for that wasn't so bad, so I'm excited to try again. My next endeavor will be, of course, apple pie courtesy of Martha Stewart, but I'm thinking of sprinkling some cardamom & Grains of Paradise on mine. I also have an ice cream maker, so I can make that shit a la mode. I'm tempted to have a picnic to serve said pie, but I think I need to steer clear of the sun for awhile... Look what it did to me the other day:
Chris: are you sure you don't have chicken pox?
me: I've had fuckin' shingles! I'm pretty sure this isn't the pox.
one of the perks of dating a (aspiring) chef is free cooking lessons. A more obvious perk would be the delicious food he makes for me, but we've been together long enough that we're past that initial impress phase, and have moved on to educating each other on our interests. At some point, Chris plans to teach cooking classes, so as a precursor to that, he's been teaching me how to cook various dishes. So far, we've covered potato karrokes (croquettes), ravioli made from scratch (pasta too!), homemade lasagna with pink sauce (red + white, mmm), and braising. All of these dishes I made before I started this blog, but now that it's here, I'd like to showcase my culinary progress, starting with last night.
he taught me how to make gnocchi, which, for those who don't know, is definitely one of my absolute favorite dishes. Gnocchi Thursdays will now be the new Taco Tuesdays, hell yes! To make Gnocchi Thursdays happen, here's how you make gnocchi:
Basic Gnocchi (serves 2)
3-4 potatoes
flour
salt
1-2 egg yolks
the first part is easy. It's like your making mashed potatoes. Start boiling some water. Meanwhile, wash, peel, and chop your potatoes. Boil them and add salt to flavor until tender. Drain the potatoes, and mash them up. We use a ricer, but you can also use a mixer or any other type of potato mashing utensil. The key thing is that it has to be mashed to a really smooth consistency.
egg yolks are optional, but according to Chris, they help hold the dough together, so you'd only need about one. We used 2 because I generally like my stuff eggier (omelettes, leche flan, custard, you get the idea). Anyway, add your egg yolks and flour to the potatoes. There should be about one cup of flour per potato. Knead that (and any other spices or salt to flavor) in until you have a nice dough that you can shape.
divide your dough in thirds. Take one of the thirds and lightly flour a flat surface. Roll the potato dough into a long strip about an inch thick (or thinner for gnocchini). Cut into small pieces; I just eyeballed it to form little pillows. Lightly use the tines of a fork to press a little design into each piece of gnocchi, and there you have it! Simple as pie. Trust me, if I can do it, you can.
to cook the gnocchi, boil some water. When the water begins to boil, just add the gnocchi and when it floats, it's done cooking. Ours took about 3 minutes to cook. Add any sauce of your choice on top and some basil. We made a simple red sauce with crushed tomatoes, sauteed onions, garlic, zucchini, salt, and pepper. Ooh, and for an even better taste, before adding the sauce, I'd sautee the cooked gnocchi in some butter! Bon appetit, or what I like to say, Mahlzeit!
I feel like Chris & I have been on such a roll lately!
we're 2 for 2, yeah!
- last Friday, I got an email from UW's Speech & Hearing Sciences department congratulating me on my acceptance to their postbaccalareate program XD. Because everyone seems to be confused about this program, basically, I want to get my masters in speech-language pathology, but before I can get into a masters program, I have to first complete and get a second Bachelors Degree in S&HS/Communications Disorders since I graduated from a different discipline. Getting into this program is the first big step toward my 5 year plan toward becoming a speech pathologist, so you can only imagine how excited I am to not only work toward something I'm passionate about, but also, something more legit and worth it. Goodbye Starbucks, hello future!
- in the context of getting what you want to work toward something great, my baby also found out this weekend that he got the job he wanted! He left Microsoft to become a personal assistant/chef and tutor to a family of 4. This family is really wealthy too; they own the top private pharmaceutical company in the nation, so they're ballin' to say the least. While his primary duties are to organize and keep everyone on track, he's really excited to be their personal chef (they've got a great kitchen, no surprise, and full creative freedom) and apparently, they host small parties that Chris would cater for! Not only is this an opportunity for him to showcase his talent, but also a great way to network and meet some really important people. Hook up! This job, too, is like the first big step toward his 5 year plan.
on a minor scale, I also just found out that I have a volunteer orientation this Friday at Swedish Medical Center. I'm trying to volunteer in their rehab center, which includes the speech lab. This would be another step, albeit minor, toward my career. Hopefully, it'll be a hat trick of a week? 3 for 3? And after that, Chris starts his new job on the 17th, so maybe 4 for 4?
to celebrate our recent successes, we went out to the new El Gaucho for dinner last night. What better way to celebrate than with a big, juicy steak, mmm. The service, as expected, was excellent, and the food was even better. We ordered the crab cakes & a caprese salad for appetizers; Chris got the French Rib Chop and I got the Steak El Gaucho; a side of Portobello Mushroom Risotto; and for dessert, we stuck to the complimentary fruit, nut, & cheese plate, which I was really looking forward to! And on top of all this delicious food & a really great evening, our server tipped us off on another place that has an industry night. I'll keep it secret for now until we check it out for ourselves, but that's where we'll be on Sunday ^_~.
steak el gaucho
for the sake of my health & my pocketbook, I've decided to give up alcohol for Lent. I don't regret this decision in the slightest. I don't really crave a drink, even socially, and I still have fun at the clubs without being tipsy. Yet, lately, I find that I can't seem to get enough sweets! Anyone who knows me knows that I have quite the sweet tooth, but even I'm surprised at how much I've been eating as of late.
earlier today, for example, I gave in and bought a Top Pot old-fashioned glazed doughnut to eat with my extra chocolately toffee nut hot chocolate. And yesterday, I had a PB&J cupcake from Trophy. I've also been snacking on god knows how many Lindt chocolate balls, and at work, I'm constantly munching on lemon loaves, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate coated graham crackers. In spite of the cold, I'm even eating ice cream! I'm beginning to fear for my genetic background prone for diabetes ::gulp::. Is my new alcohol-free diet the cause for my sugar cravings? Does one beget the other? Clearly, something needs to change...
why do you hurt so goood? T_T
Chris: are you sure you don't have chicken pox?
