Follow Up

I know many of you are wondering how I got Chewie to pose with a pacifier in his mouth. I'm here to tell you it's because he is a wonderfully obedient, thoughtful, and smart dog. Joe and I have begun to show our aptitude in parenting early by teaching our charge the importance of obedience and sacrifice for the good of the whole. Chewie understood this, and even politely declined treats when we offered them as a thank you.

Just kidding. I rubber banded his mouth shut.

Because Pictures Can Say it Better

This is not a baby.

This is a baby.

Coming April 2013.

I'm a sailor! I sailed on my very first try! Ahoy!*

I'm really good at making risotto. I don't mind bragging about it because it appears to be a completely natural talent...and a good recipe...and a mom who used to scold me as a little girl for not reading the chocolate chip cookie recipe all the way through before starting and not following it with complete exactness.

Back to risotto. I made it successfully--I might even say perfectly--on my first attempt. This seriously impressed Joe which has led to many batches of risotto, because, well, there are few things I can nail on my first try so it seems like something I should whip out as often as possible.

Yesterday in celebration of fall I decided to pair risotto with my favorite bird and try my hand at duck breasts. Turns out I'm not a one trick pony folks. I'm also really good at frying up some duck.

I just thought you should know.

(While the breasts were frying I called Joe over to the stove multiple times to to come see and smell the progress. I didn't know the site of fat bubbling could ever make a girl so happy.)

*If you correctly guess the movie you get 10 points. Which are equivalent to one Shrute Buck or seven Stanley Nickels.


Because I don't want this to turn into a recipe blog, but I feel like sharing, read on if you're interested:

Risotto:

3 Tbs butter, divided
1/3 Cup diced onion or shallot
3ish 15-oz cans of chicken broth or stock (I know there's a difference between the two, but I don't think it matters)
1 1/2 Cups arborio rice (Israeli couscous also works)
3 Tbs dry white wine**
Salt and Pepper
Parmesan cheese

In a sauce pan bring chicken broth to a boil, then reduce to low skimmer.

Melt 2 Tbs butter in saute pan over medium high heat, add shallot and saute 3-5 minutes (or until clear).
Add grain to shallots and brown for another 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add wine and stir until liquid is almost gone.
Pour in 1/2 cup of broth and cook, stirring constantly, until liquid is almost gone (1-2 minutes).
Continue adding broth in 1/2 cup increments, stirring often. Do not let the grain dry out!
Do this until grain is soft, but still has a bite. It usually takes me 25 minutes overall. Remove from heat. (When put on a plate, risotto should spread out a little, but should not be soupy.)
Add salt, pepper, remaining butter, and Parmesan cheese.

I like to add mild fresh herbs at the very end, this time it was sorrel, which we couldn't even taste. I recommend parsley.

Another favorite add-in to risotto is caramelized pear. While risotto is cooking throw one pear, chopped, in a frying pan with a little oil and sugar. Cook until soft, sweet, and a little sticky. Add to risotto with the butter and cheese.

Joe likes when I add a tablespoon of squid ink to the risotto or Israeli couscous at the end as well.

Duck:

Ingredients:
2 duck breasts
Cayenne pepper
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Oregano
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil

3 Plums, pits removed and roughly chopped
1 Tb white wine
1 Cup hot chicken broth (there should be enough left over from your risotto)
Mushrooms
Butter
Lime Zest

Preheat your oven to 400.

Score the skin of the duck breasts into a checkerboard pattern, each square 1" or less.

Rub both sides of breasts with seasonings and spices. (Anne Burrell suggests that the average home cook should double the amount of salt in their cooking, I've taken her advice to heart (because she's Anne Burrell) and it has greatly improved my cooking.)

Place duck, skin side down, in a hot-hot pan with a small amount of olive oil. Sear on skin side for 7-8 minutes, or until skin is very brown, like the color of something really dark brown. If you're only at caramel color, keep going even though you think it looks delicious just how it is--it will just be flabby and you want crispy.

As the breasts are frying spoon the melted fat onto the side facing up, because that's how the French do it.

Flip the breasts and stick them in the preheated oven for 6 minutes for a medium-rare. Cooking duck over medium rare is just disappointing. I was almost fooled when I pulled the breasts out as they looked a little bloody, but once they rest on a cutting board for 5 or 6 minutes, all the blood and juices seep back into the meat. Cut on the diagonal.

For the Sauce:

While the duck is resting pour all but 1 Tbs of the leftover grease into a jar to save for another day (to fry potatoes in). In the same pan as the remaining oil add the wine, chopped up plums, chicken broth and some salt. I also threw in some kind of forest mushrooms we had leftover in the fridge (which is why I send Joe grocery shopping, he buys things like duck and forest mushrooms). Let this all cook down for a few minutes on high heat. Add a Tbs of butter and some lime zest at the end. Lick your fingers.

**Because I don't drink alcohol and only occasionally cook with it, when I buy a bottle of wine I freeze it in ice cube trays and once they are frozen put into a ziplock baggie and keep in the freezer. The cubes don't actually hold their shape that well so they're more wine slush, but it still serves the purpose of having cooking wine on hand without having to keep a bottle in the fridge (I just assume opened wine goes bad, or at least starts tasting like fridge).

Enjoy.

To-Do

If my to-do list had things like:

• Sleep in
• Don't bother showering yet
• Read blogs
• Find new blogs
• Check Pinterest
• Look for some new dresses online
• Do a crossword
• Eat Salt and Vinegar potato chips for breakfast

Then I'd be done for the day!

Unfortunately it actually looks like this...

Wah, wah.

Don't You Just Hate it When...

You lock yourself out of your house?

Me too.

A Day--Alone--in Tokyo

I tagged along Joe's last business trip to Tokyo. I tried to remember this was only a vacation for one of us and made plans to explore the city on my own. And then I realized how massive it is. And how much cab fare is. And how navigating metros while trying to decipher characters is really hard. So I stuck to exploring the area immediately surrounding our hotel.

I armed myself with a map, and even drew my course as my iphone wasn't going to be of much use. I decided to use the western stores as my landmarks as they were the only thing on my map not written in characters. Unfortunately I discovered that was a flawed plan as there is a Prada, H&M, and Apple on every other corner. 

So I relied on my skills learned from Sesame Street as a kid to match the shape of the characters from the map to the street signs. A lot of those characters were mighty similar to my Elmo-trained eye.

But Sesame Street trained me well, as I was successfully able to navigate the above in order to get the below (among other things).

(Unfortunately Washi tape is just as expensive when you buy it at the source.)

All in all I decided it's extremely empowering to navigate a completely foreign city (largely without Roman lettering or Arabic numbers I might add) all by myself. And I really liked Tokyo. 

Of course, it helped that a few of Joe's business dinners fell through so I got to go to some of the best restaurants Tokyo has to offer. It was incredible. 

(When in Asia...)

(mmmmmm Toro)

Along with discovering the empowerment of navigating, I also discovered the deliciousness of sushi! Up to this point I have been a roll-only kind of girl. What? You want to add cream cheese to sushi and then deep fry it and add mayo? Great! Upon Joe's insistence however, and the spirit of travel, I gave real sushi an honest try. Oh man. I think Joe created a monster. It's just sooooo good. Unfortunately I think I've got high taste and this level of sushi will not be afforded available on any kind of consistant basis.

But some things still remain the same. I do not like large chunks of Japanese clam. And when you are in a restaurant that uses cloth napkins and only seats six, and you are the only non-Asian who is clearly struggling to get a few things down, and it would be very clear who spit out their specialty clam, you wait until the chef goes in the back room to put your clam in your cardigan pocket.

And that's it. Unless you want to see one of the best souvenirs we brought back here.

Speaking of Finishing

This is a picture taken during my first month of collage. I was a contestant in a ward Halloween party rendition of The Fear Factor. (I was a Jackson Pollock painting. Obviously.)

My hair has a teased "bump," and I'm pretty sure there is a zig-zag part separating my braids. I tell you this so you can mark the time passed.

Fast forward four years and 136 college credits later....

And here I am celebrating with my family (on my birthday) my psuedo-graduation at Disneyland. Which was really the completion of student teaching since I still had half of an online class to finish.

Let me tell you. That was one brutal class. I'll spare you all of the agonizing details, just know that it was so brutal it took me three months after Disneyland to even get seriously motivated to finish my class and another two months after that until this...

A sushi dinner, courtesy of Joe, to celebrate finishing my last college essay.

And 25 days later...

 

I take my last final. See how far I've come?* 

Which is to say...I finished collage. 

*Actually, notice how my face is almost the exact same in the first and last picture?