Year of the Dragon

Gong Hey Fat Choy! (Happy New Year!)

Sunday I celebrated the Chinese New Year at a late-morning Dim Sum in Chinatown with my bf’s sister-in-law’s family. After a couple of hours of sampling various dumplings, rolls and rice, we made our way through the already crowded streets to get a good spot at the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade. I didn’t capture any pics of my dumplings (or the chicken’s feet), but I did catch a few of the parade!

By the way, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, which is said to promise Good Luck! Wishing everyone a prosperous year!

Weekend Wanderings

One of my favorite things to do, when I have a couple of free hours on a Saturday afternoon, is wander around the Brooklyn Bridge Park.  In general, I like to take long walks on the weekend…its when I have some “me” time.  Most of us spend the majority of our weekdays inside an office, staring at a computer screen. At the end of the workday we rush from work to our other commitments, a lot of the time missing out on our surroundings on the way. Its THE WEEKEND…get out there, ‘wander’, and take it all in!

Basil & Garlic Fried Brown Rice

I made this quick & healthy “fried” rice to go with my Roasted Eggplant & Tomato dish. I just tossed it together quickly since I needed a ‘carb’ to go with my vegetables. Will definitely be making it again (in different variations as well!)

Ingredients:

• Brown Rice ( I used quick-cook rice)
• Fresh Basil (finely chopped)
• Garlic (minced)
• Olive Oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Amounts of basil and garlic will depend on how much rice you are making. I cooked 1 and 3/4 cups of brown rice (dry), used half a head of garlic, and about 8 leaves of basil. (makes 4 small servings) As always, I don’t measure salt, pepper, or olive oil! Increase or decrease amounts as you see fit!

I use a wok, but you can use a flat sauté pan as well.

Directions:

• Cook your rice as directed. Set aside.
• Chop and mince basil and garlic.
• Heat the wok, add olive oil (a little to start) and garlic. Sauté garlic on med-heat for about a minute 
• Add rice , salt and pepper, stir and coat in more olive oil if necessary
• Add basil and toss
• And you’re done!

I left my rice in the wok for about 5 minutes (including garlic time!), you can cook it longer if you like it more well done.

Chopping the garlic and basil

Olive oil and garlic in wok/ Prepared rice on stovetop

Adding the rice and basil

The Final Product! Hidden under the Roasted Eggplant & Tomatoes w/ Parmesan

*Note - Next time I may add ginger to this rice dish!  It wouldn’t have gone well with the eggplant, but it would certainly be good with a number of other meals (maybe a spicy chicken dish!)

ENJOY!

Roasted Eggplant & Tomato w/ Parmesan

I made a variation of this Roasted Eggplant & Tomato recipe over the weekend. (my final product on a baking sheet above) It was absolutely delicious, and even good re-heated for lunch the next day…the flavors soaked right in! Even better, its quick and easy to make!  Its recommended as a “side dish” on the original recipe, but I had it as an entree with some Basil & Garlic Fried Brown Rice. (Check back tomorrow for the rice recipe!) I’m not one to follow a recipe exactly… my cooking-style is to always increase the amount of herbs, garlic, cheese, spices, or anything else yummy-sounding in the list of ingredients! I don’t get hung up on measurements, and I have a heavy-hand with my olive oil pouring!

To make it easier, I’ve copied the original recipe here and highlighted my changes in BOLD.


Ingredients:

• 2 small eggplants, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

I used 1 medium size eggplant (made enough for 3 small meals for myself)    *Important to not make them thinner than 1/4” slices or else they may burn a little

• 6 medium plum tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices

I used 10 smallish (smaller than plum, but not by that much!) Campari tomatoes

• 1 teaspoon salt

I don’t measure salt, I just SHAKE IT on! (although I’m actually a heavy-on the pepper, low on salt kind of girl)

• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

I grind A LOT! S&P never see a measuring spoon in my kitchen.

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

I just have my bottle ready to pour

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

I used half a head of garlic, but was tempted to use the whole thing!

• 6 to 8 basil leaves, finely chopped, or about 1 teaspoon dried leaf basil

Okay I didn’t count the leaves, but I would say 1/4 of a bushel? or about 12 to 16 leaves

• Fresh shredded Parmesan cheese

I got lazy and and bought some pre-shaved deli Parmesan at my local grocery store.

Preparation:

Spray a large shallow baking pan with olive oil spray or grease with olive oil. Heat oven to 425°.

(I used a baking sheet, just because I prefer it)                      

In a large food storage bag or bowl, toss the sliced eggplant and tomatoes with the salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and basil.

(I used a bowl, either method is fine)

Spread the sliced tomatoes and eggplant out in the prepared baking pan in a single layer (overlapping a little is okay, but if you’re stacking, use 2 pans.                                            

Bake the slices for 35 to 45 minutes, or until vegetables are nicely browned. Sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese.                                                                                          
(As you can tell in the top picture, there is no parmesan cheese on my baking sheet!) Since I would be taking leftovers to work, I decided to sprinkle the Parmesan Cheese directly in my dish (photo below) so it wouldn’t melt pre-maturally. (Plus it looked so good without it, I didn’t know yet if I wanted the cheese!) If you DO want this dish to be cheesy, I suggest sprinkling the shredded cheese directly on the eggplant while still on baking sheet and maybe keeping in the oven another minute or two to melt it.

Cutting/Chopping Ingredients

Tossing it together

Laying it out on  the  (olive oil-coated) pan 

The Final Product ready to eat!

  
Served over a bed of the Basil and Garlic Brown Fried Rice, encircled in shaved Parmesan Cheese. My Mom taught me presentation is everything! Thanks Mom!          

I think without the rice this would be a great Appetizer dish too!

Happy Roasting!

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

My co-worker Monique passed along this Dagoba Organic Drinking Chocolate to me a few weeks ago. (This one is the Xocolatl blend which has cayenne pepper & cinnamon- for something more traditional try the Authentic blend). I had yet to try it, so this past cold cold Sunday I decided to make a cup. Basically you just heat a cup of milk on the stovetop (I’m not a milk person so I substituted Westsoy Unsweetened Vanilla Soymilk)…
…add 4 tablespoons of the mix, whisk, pour and enjoy!!

P.S.  I bought the “Authentic” blend at my local grocery store. Besides being delicious, this drinking chocolate is Organic and Fair Trade, which makes it taste even better!

Heating Westsoy Soymilk on stovetop

I paired my spicy hot chocolate with some microwavable popcorn!

Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

This is (almost!) the last of my Guatemala pics. I’ll be doing one more post after this one, focusing on a Textile Museum we saw in the Lake Atitlan region, which is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been to!! I just learned that the Mayan term “atitlan” translates to “really too much for a good thing”. (Or ‘too good to be true’). That seems like a pretty accurate description to me! Learn more about Lake Atitlan here. 

Besides this photo of my boyfriend Taz and I (which I believe was taken by my dad), all photos were taken by either myself or Taz. (edited by me). All photos on this blog are always taken by myself, unless otherwise noted.

1 of 3 volcanoes that surrounds the lake

We went kayaking one morning…my first time! It gave me a great arm-workout!

looking out on 2 volcanoes

Beautiful! private house on the Lake..would love to live there!

Blue Sky

We took a boat ride to 3 different towns around the lake (Santiago, San Pedro & San Juan)

Rough Waters

Santiago Atitlan

Fresh Juice in San Pedro, Atitlan

Up in the mountains in San Juan, Atitlan

a religious Procession in San Juan, Atitlan

My lovely little sister Nicole near the Atitlan Nature Reserve

Waterfall in the Atitlan Nature Reserve

Banana Tree in the Reserve

Coffee-beans in the Reserve

Happy Travels!

See the rest of our Guatemala trip! Antigua, Road Trip and Soleil Pacifico

On Display

Quick and Easy DIY Jewelry Storage! How I Store and Display my Necklaces:



This was a past project that I put together quickly, when I needed to get my necklaces out of an over-crowded perfume box!                                                                     
I used available materials to set this up on my bedroom wall in a matter of minutes!


Here’s What You’ll Need:


Floral Jacquard Braid
-The amount depends on how much space you need for your necklaces - You can buy 1 or 2 yards of trim at any Trim or Fabric store and cut it down from there (I cut both trims in the picture above to about 20” long) I have two rows of trim and over 20 necklaces hanging.

AND/OR

Heavy Twill Tape

  
(Image souce M&J Trimmings)                                 (Image souce M&J Trimmings)

You can see in the first picture that I used 1 row of Braid and 1 row of Twill tape. You can use other types of Trim, just make sure they are mid-to-heavy weight- to withstand the weight of your necklaces.


Nails                                                                      Wood Clothespins

(I used 6 medium-length nails)                              (I had bought a pack at Target…you won’t need the

                                                                               whole pack so you can save some for actual 

                                                                               clothes-drying or your next DIY project!

                     



What to Do:
-All you do is cut the trims to your desired length (as recommended above, about 20” depending on your space). I have 2 rows ..you can do just 1 row or as many as you want! 

-Measure and mark on the wall with a pencil where you would like the trim to layout. Nail one end of the trim to the wall (Place the Nail about 1/2” in from the end of the trim). Don’t hammer the Nail in all the way. (This way you can hang your heaviest necklaces from the nails instead of the clothespins.)

-Pull the trim taught and straight across. Nail the other end to the wall (1/2” from end of trim).

-Place one nail in the center of the trim. (this distributes the weight better once you hang your necklaces)

-Repeat for 2nd row. (Place 2nd trim at least 10” below top trim - More depending on the length of your necklaces.

- Use clothespins to hang necklaces from trims and VOILA…you’re done!   

OR…..Add one more quick step to “hide” the nails:



OPTION 1:
Place Pretty Rings over the nails:


Option 2:
Use a Hot Glue Gun or Industrial Strength 5600 glue to glue a decorative button to the head of the nail….



…..Or another cute trim like this Crochet Flower:



That’s It! Your necklaces are officially “on display”.