keeping that chicken tender

I apologize for the lack of posting! Here's a couple of past food experiments to keep you happy and hungry:

This tandoori-marinated chicken from Martha Stewart hooked me with one ingredient: Greek yogurt. I don't even eat this stuff but I thought it was novel to use yogurt to keep chicken moist. Now we can roast the bird breast side up!

Start by toasting some fennel, coriander, and cumin... Martha demands whole seeds but nothing wrong with the ground-up variety... you're going to grind it anyways!

Toast for a few minutes in a dry pan...

looks paltry, smells intoxicating

And set aside. Meanwhile, heat up a little canola or vegetable oil (not olive) in a pan over medium-high heat and add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger. Cook and stir until the onions soften and are translucent, about 10 minutes. (Feel free to follow Martha's exact directions, I just felt like not looking at the recipe every two minutes for once and cooking from memory.)

also smells great, thanks to the ginger

Combine the onion mixture and the spices in a blender and, well, blend! If you have turmeric, add it now. If you don't, add a little mustard like I did... you won't get the gorgeous color for Martha's flawless presentation but it will add a little more spice to the chicken.

ready for spin-off

Add the onion-spice mixture to a little Greek yogurt and stir. Oh yes, and salt as needed. A little salt makes your home cooking taste better.

Unfortunately, the mustard does not give the marinade a lovely deep color.
Despite the sickly color of the onion mixture, it tastes really good!

Hopefully you've had a bird sitting pretty in a pan while you were slaving away over the marinade. With the help of a spoon and well-washed fingers, separate the skin of the chicken from the breast... don't bother with the legs or wings, that's much too difficult.

not for the faint of grease!

Spoon some yogurt marinade under the skin and rub to distribute evenly. Feel free to repeat on the flip side, and definitely add a little marinade on top of the skin.

drowning in yogurt

Once the chicken is covered in marinade, cover the chicken with saran wrap - not too tight! Store in the refrigerator overnight.

While the oven is preheating to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, bring the chicken out of the refrigerator and remove the saran wrap. Stick the chicken in the oven and immediately lower the heat to 400 degrees. Cook for half an hour, then make a loose tent of foil and return the roast to the oven. Cook for another thirty minutes and voila! Super-moist, lightly marinated roast chicken awaits!

And though it doesn't look pretty, always stab your chicken to makes sure
it's been cooked through.
The chicken should have a little clear juice seeping out... if there's too much
or if it's not clear, put it back in the oven for 15 minutes!

Martha recommends serving the chicken with cucumbers, limes, and chiles. That sounds like a weirdly weak salad to me, so I made my own combination of cucumbers and pre-washed Parisian salad with a squeeze of lime. Keep extra lime wedges on hand to perk up the chicken!

Dinner is served... and surprisingly healthy at that!

a dark day for Giants fans

It's everywhere: Andres Torres has been traded to the Mets. Along with reliever Ramon Ramirez, Torres is leaving the Giants in exchange for Angel Pagan. 'Tis a dark day indeed.

Andres may not have been on everyone's lips but he was a noteworthy player. He caught everything that headed for the outfield and jumped, ran, and dived without abandon. He batted well enough to land the leadoff spot for 2010 and stole bases like nobody's business. And he did it all with a big smile - he even took the trade in stride and graciously remarked upon his successful tenure with the San Francisco Giants.

He will be missed, especially by female fans such as myself.

Andres can toss bricks anytime!
Image courtesy of google image search

So glad I've met him twice!

now a little something

to get you in the mood... holiday mood, that is!

The view from the St. Francis Suite in the Westin St. Francis Hotel at Union Square...

Ice skating rink? Check.
A wall of wreaths covering Macy's? Check.
One comically shaped and sized Christmas tree? You better believe it!

Of course, I loved Christmas as a child because of all the neat presents I received from relatives far away. Now that I'm older, I value the holidays not for the gift-getting but for the cherry atmosphere, the festive food, and the gift-giving... there's something really satisfying about finding uncommon gifts or the perfect present that makes a friend beam for days. Don't get me wrong, I like shopping for myself but I LOVE shopping for others. For instance - and I can disclose this because she already knows - Mumsy's delayed Christmas present (to be enjoyed next summer) is tickets to see Il Divo in concert. I strongly believe that there are just a handful of men she would drop everything for... we've already been to a Josh Groban concert and Il Divo (a group of four dangerously beautiful men) is coming up. Now if only I could find a way to get my paws on some Andrea Bocelli passes...

Oh and another plus about the holidays? The vacation time doesn't hurt!

crack that whip

The Rib Whip!

Many a time has a friend offered me a rib after making a pilgrimage to the truck called The Rib Whip. On Monday I figured it was about time I saw it myself.

Unfortunately the speakers were not in use on Monday at Truckstop.

The menu was too good to just pick one...

now with real crack... I dub thee cracka mac!

So I picked up a hearty meal of one-third slab of ribs, smoked chicken legs, and some cracka mac and shared the bounty with Bunny.

With all this sauce and smoke and preparation
it's like Black Friday for food!
The ribs were super tender, meat falling off the bone and straight into my tummy.

I knew the ribs would be good... meat falling off the bone and all... I mean if you name yourself "Rib," you need to turn it out. But I LOVE the chicken legs... the sauce is a little tastier and the chicken was juicier than the oranges I got from the nearby farmer's market. And they give you three for $6!? It's too good to not order.

lego redux

So the video of the assembly of Lego Santa Yoda is up and, well, you won't see me in the video. Not only did I visit on the least exciting day (apparently feet are way overrated) but the video that was posted starts after I left. You can tell by comparing the height of the legs when I left to the height at the start of the film.

Anyways, here is the official video:

Even though you won't find me here, you should still visit the official site of Lego Santa Yoda and send an e-greeting. They claim that for each e-greeting sent, Lego will donate a Lego toy to charity. Let's hope that one toy does not equal one block.

the big eat

It's time to be thankful for all the things you have instead of focusing on the stuff you don't. For example, after years of wondering "why!?" I am thankful for my very unique human family. And I'll always be thankful for good friends, little animals you can hold in your arms, and hot food. You can have everything you want but without gratitude, your life is empty.

Now on to that hot food!

I brought a "low-quality" green bean casserole and well-liked whoopie pies, Tater brought a smooth pumpkin cheesecake and bomb cream puffs, and Mumsy cooked EVERYTHING else...

the green bean casserole... I'll only make this for myself from now on!

whoopie pies! I made the whoopies and both cocolate and vanilla buttercreams
but each whoopie pie here was assembled by my boy, Gato

the whoopie pies and Tater's smooth delicious cheesecake

nut-crusted rib-eye... because we don't eat a lot of turkey at Thanksgiving.

Alaskan salmon and horsereadish cracker apps (as in appetizer)

mashed potatoes with chives and wasabi-crab endive scoops

baby new potatoes topped with sour cream and chives,
topped again with caviar.
When Mumsy is hosting, there is no such thing as too much food.

the turkey... pretty juicy for a 16-pounder

We also got to watch Johnny Cat socialize with a new cat in town - Moon, Sisterfriend's new kitty.

Johnny Cat doesn't like photos

guarding the pass 

but Moon is already on someone's lap!

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was as calorie-laden as ours!

pre-Thanksgiving food madness

Yes, we are doing some backtracking... sorry for the gap between posting, my friends.

On Tuesday we threw a huge Thanksgiving potluck at work... people brought pork loin and homemade secret peanut pie and all sorts of goodies. My beef wellingtons were well-received and some people preferred to eat them without a reheat. I have no pictures for the food disappeared pretty quickly. I do have this love photo of Ewok's first batch of cookies, which were not intended for the potluck but I'll show them anyways:

Ewok's first batch
baked on her new cookie sheet in her own oven in her new home!

To warm up my stomach and to have something to eat before and after Thanksgiving, I made my favorite soup... more than half was consumed before I remembered to snap a photo...

the perfect winter soup

Late fall and wintertime are times for fattening up... it gets cold, even in steady San Francisco.

where can I find boots like that?

I think Q-Tip would really appreciate them.

Instead of partaking in the un-holiday-like behavior that now characterizes Black Friday, Mumsy and I continued our tradition of going to the movies. Really, watching cute cats voiced by Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek dance flamenco sure beats getting pepper-sprayed by a thrifty shopper...

You have to have a bit of a kid inside your heart to really enjoy Puss in Boots but that's not a problem for Mumsy and I. We love animated films, the Shrek franchise, and cats with big saucer eyes...

courtesy of google image search...
honestly, just type in "puss in boots"
and this is the most prolific shot of the ginger assassin

The best part about Puss in Boots? You get to see Puss use those adorable eyes when he's just a little kitten.

puff up

It's all about puff pastry!

Here we go, cooking miniature beef wellingtons for a party... the recipe is from Food Network... Claire Robinson, the brain behind this particular recipe, is not a favorite of mine... I remember wondering why she had a show after she made a grilled cheese sandwich and french fries on TV. But the easiness of these wellingtons sold me.

At the suggestion of Mumsy, I used ground beef instead of steak.

Brown the beef... and drain that fat! Use paper towels to sop it up and toss the paper. Set the beef aside.

sizzle

Slice mushrooms as thinly as you can. Feel free to dice them crosswise as well but I didn't bother.

1up

Cook the mushrooms for about five minutes, until water seeps out. Then add minced onion and cook until it smells good. The mixture should be golden - don't let it brown!

mushroom madness

Use a little flour to handle sheets of puff pastry. Layer bits of the mushroom mix, ground beef, and fresh chopped thyme.

Frame this and put it in your salon!

Cut the dough into squares around the mounds. Carefully stretch each square so that you can wrap the corners up and seal the edges... don't use too much flour! Flip the pockets so that the seam side is down and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with a little beaten egg.

Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pop out and enjoy!

golden delicious

Hmm, I don't have as many pictures as I'd like to have... I guess I was too busy concentrating to remember to record the process. This is the first time I've made beef wellington and I love it! It's easy but looks oh so impressive... the perfect party food.

artistry straight from the sun

If you haven't already, it's time to get your tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's newest touring program Totem... Cirque Du Soleil - the animal-less circus company from Canada - always puts on a good show but Totem is a star among Cirque productions... this tour easily places in my top three Cirque Du Soleil experiences.

Now playing in the parking lot of AT&T park... the blue and yellow tent is surprisingly warm, even in the rain.

excitement takes over...

the turtle dome stage, before the show begins but not before the clowns come in

The animals, the artistic interpretations of American Indian legends, the feats and the clowns... Totem has some familiar acts I've seen in Alegria or Varekai but everything is taken to the next level.

Also, Totem is the first show I've seen with a woman this jacked...

image from cirquedusoleil.com

And that's just one of the amazing acts in Totem... if you see only one show a year, make sure you save it for Cirque Du Soleil's traveling shows!

you cannot make this up

Final Jeopardy from tonight's episode of Jeopardy!...

Category: Movie Characters

Answer: "900 years old when he died, he spoke in OSV syntax, object-subject-verb."


The question (which is the "answer"...)

image from Guided by Yoda

Who is Yoda?!!!!!

that left knee is mine!

Yesterday kicked off the 3-day challenge of constructing a 12-foot Santa Yoda, made entirely of legos (with a couple of metal support beams.) The public was invited to come to Union Square and help Master Builders (that's their official title) build Lego bricks for Yoda, all next to that tiny ice skating rink.

Guess where I spent two hours of my morning...

impressive he is...
this is the mini-model.

the feet of the giant Yoda,
as cared for by Master Builder Steve

my first brick!

I've lost count already... this is between my tenth and fifteenth brick

Master Builder Eric isn't afraid to give Yoda a little tough love
with the mallet

my "team" kept hitting the bottom of the lego bucket.
Yes, I was part of an unofficial "team" of strangers building bricks together.

Master Builders Eric and Steve plan their next step

the legs at the end of my two-hour adoration of Yoda

I lost count of my bricks early on but I would guess that by the end of the two hours I spent there, I'd made 90 - 100 bricks. What I seriously needed after was a little food and a lot of hand lotion... brand new Lego blocks are sharp!

Building continues today and is scheduled to finish tomorrow around 6PM. I'm not sure if I can return tomorrow but I've been told that there were two camera filming the entire process and a stop-motion video of Yoda's emergence will be show on the official site after completion. Very cool.

Even better, when I read about this epic event in the newspaper, it sounded like they would deconstruct Yoda on Monday! The horror! But it turns out that they will just be moving him to Connecticut, the US headquarters of Lego. What a relief... you can't just destroy Yoda and crush the holiday dreams of children around the developed world.

menagerie of miniature marvels

a quick rundown of some of the cuteness that invades my life...

a chocolate-plum treat from one of the nice ladies at work

the name translates into "lady of the night" or something...
I'm sure it means something entirely different in her language!

lemon bundt cake-ette from Peet's Coffee,
compliments of Bunny

blooming tea and
an advent calendar to brighten up my future desk,
little gifts from Blümchen

simple games on the back... score!

more cupcakes from Sweet Things inside the Cal-Mart
at California and Spruce

clockwise from top left: Hip Chip, Strawberry Blossom, Black & White, Mud Puddle.
Mumsy and Hulk love the Mud Puddle.

chowing down on a Strawberry Blossom... see the strawberry chunks in the cake?
Delicious!

Beefy makes another visit
and spends the entire time eating in a box

Johnny Cat watches the guest ever so warily

I couldn't resist, had another cupcake after I came home! Black & White is very sweet and moist... yum!