Oh... walnuts!

Guess what I am reluctantly eating right now? If you guessed walnuts, you are correct. Why am I eating walnuts? Well, because they contain omega-3 fatty acids and since I don't eat any fish, I either have to take an omega-3 supplement each day (yech, doesn't sound appetizing plus they give you fishy burps apparently, which makes it a million times less appealing!) or I can eat a couple handfuls of walnuts so that Baby G's brain can develop well and so that Baby G will be more attentive. So Geoffrey bought me a nice bag of walnuts and likes to harass make sure I am eating them. Along with my 20 glasses of water. Oh joy. Did I mention that walnuts are one of my least favorite nuts?

If you want more info on walnuts, check out the Walnuts website--it even has recipes!

13 Weeks

So, I know that I have been lagging with the cooking project. But it's only because I've been busy with a different sort of project the past few months.

For the past thirteen weeks I have been busy feeling excited, nauseous, anxious, nauseous, nervous, nauseous, cautious, nauseous, hungry, nauseous, forgetful, nauseous, fatigued and (wait for it...) nauseous. I've been sans caffeine, cocktails, wine, sandwich meat, and soft, stinky cheeses. I've lost my sweet tooth (the horror!) and my love of spicy, flavorful food. I can't drink orange juice or eat fried foods. I'm living off of cantaloupe, pears, apples, cottage cheese, toast, peanut butter, chicken soft tacos (from Taco Bell only), crackers and other similar plain tasting foods. I'm sick of drinking water, including soda water. I've lost weight, yet my clothes feel tighter everyday. I've felt alone, yet there is always someone with me!

These are all tiny inconveniences of our new little project. As it turns out, we (well, technically me) are expecting a baby! Baby G (also referred to as Little Thing) is expected to arrive in early June 2011. We are so excited and can't wait for out little peanut (literally, in the first ultrasound LT looks just like Snoopy!) to arrive and meet you all!

The Facebook

I watched The Social Network the other day and I really enjoyed the movie. Like, really, really enjoyed the movie. It's probably one of my favorite movies of the year. The acting was fantastic, especially Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg. I didn't like him in Adventureland, but he was so good at being this sarcastic, super nerdy, socially awkward guy with borderline Asperger syndrome. In the end, I kinda felt sorry for him and wished I could give him a hug. Poor, lonely, genius billionaire! I also really liked the rest of the cast including the Winklevoss twins, played by ONE guy. This guy.

He doesn't even have a complete IMDB profile! Andrew Garfield, the guy who played Eduardo (the CFO) was also very convincing and has a mane to rival Rob Pattinson's! Justin Timberlake was surprisingly good, playing Sean Parker as this hard partying, sleazy but wise key player in the Facebook story. I also got a nice glimpse at Rooney Mara, who will play Lisbeth Salander in the American version of "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". I am impressed.

Back to the movie! The storyline was compelling, the idea of "the Facebook" and how it took off was unbelievable! I am still so amazed by these people, geniuses really, that can change our daily lives with one single, simple idea. It's just incredible. Incredible.

Watching this movie made me realize that I am not one of these people and I am OK with that. However, I've decided that my future children will be headed to Harvard:)

The movie also got me thinking about when exactly I joined Facebook and how and who sent me the link, etc. But I don't remember. Do you?

If you haven't guessed yet, I give this movie a A++. Go watch it!

Bad blogger

Hello,

The recipe project is still alive, just wanted to let you know. I've been lazy (well, more like preoccupied with Fantasy Football). New food post coming soon.

Let's go Jets Defense!

Mayra
Potrero Hill Interceptors Manager

Quiche Me

Week 25 (June 23)
One of Geoffrey's Top 5 foods is eggs. Today he decided to make a quiche, but didn't want to make one with a pie crust because he didn't want it to taste buttery. He searched and searched and finally decided on a "Basic Quiche" recipe, omitting the pie crust. So, technically, this is more of a frittata.

First he sauteed the veggies (and threw in any extra veggies we had on hand).

Then he put together the dairy products (notice that this quiche has half and half AND grated Gruyere cheese!).

He decided to used my springform pan (first time used in our kitchen since I purchased it YEARS ago, might I add) and the "crustless" quiche came out beautifully!

We served it with a nice little green salad and some M Riesling.

Our rating for this recipe: 7.5 (Mayra: 7, Geoffrey:  8)

Basta, Pasta!

Week 24 (June 16)
We were in the mood to try a new pasta recipe today but wanted something easy and light to make. We already have our go-to recipe for homemade pasta sauce and have always wanted to try to make a fettuccine alfredo, but since Geoffrey doesn't like cream cheese or butter, it is usually a little difficult to find a recipe he would approve of. But, when we got our Real Simple magazine, we found the Creamy Fettuccine with leeks, corn and arugula recipe and it was pretty close to what we were looking for.

So we cut up the leeks and soaked them in water to remove any dirt.

We sauteed the vegetables and added the heavy cream.

Then added the pasta and arugula.

We served it with some bread, cheese and salami.

Our rating for this recipe was 7.75 (Mayra 7, Geoffrey 8.5).

What's wrong with Steve?

I watched All About Steve this weekend and kinda liked it.  Sandie was at her silliest best and Bradley Cooper even looked good with that weird haircut. The supporting cast were funny and even endearing at times.  I chuckled out loud a few times and am considering buying some red boots! I don't know what all the fuss was about...sure, it was not the best movie, but I have seen far worse (ahem, Wild Things, Hostel). Plus, the message at the end is that it is ok to be different. How can you not like that? I give it a solid "C".

The Girl with the Swedish Obsession

 

My latest obsession: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I know what you're thinking, the books right? Well, not exactly. I haven't read the books (yet), but I've seen two of the three Swedish made movies and I am officially obsessed.

It all started with an article I read in EW magazine about the Millennium Trilogy and its author Stieg Larson. I was compelled by 1) the fact that Stieg died before his books were published and became a worldwide phenomenom,  2) the original title of the book translates to "Men Who Hate Women", 3) the violence committed against women is very disturbing, yet the "hero" of the trilogy is a waif like woman, 4)  he didn't marry his long time girlfriend to protect her , 5) said girlfriend is in a legal battle with his family because Stieg didn't leave a will and the Swedish don't recognize domestic partnerships. (Side Note: My Harry Potter obsession also began due to an article I read on J.K. Rowling in Time Magazine)

I had seen the books being carried around town, had read rave reviews about the books and heard that a Swedish version of the first book was out in theaters, but crime novels are not my cup of tea, so I was not really interested in reading the books. Yet, I continued to read articles about the books and their author. Then one day as I was updating our Netflix queue, I noticed that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo was available to stream instantly. I added it to our queue and we sat down to watch it over Thai food.  This is the day the obsession really began. You see, all three books have already been made into Swedish films and all three, yes all THREE, were released in other parts of the world in 2009. Only the first film had been released in the US. Imagine my elation, as we walked down State Street in Santa Barbara by a movie theater with a poster for The Girl Who Played With Fire and a heading of "Coming Soon"! So, on Sunday we took a field trip to the Embarcadero Cinemas and saw the second film. There is no US release date for the last film of the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, but here is the trailer to feed the obsession in the meantime.

What I like about the movies are the characters of Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist, their relationship, the intriguing, interwoven storylines, the Swedish landscape, the muted yet mesmerizing colors the films are shot in. There is very little dialogue (or maybe I just tune it out since it's Swedish), but the movies drew me in. I don't know if it is the character or the actress, but there is something about Lisbeth that I can't stop thinking about.  She is one kick ass woman!

To top it all off, the Americans have decided to do their own adaptation of the Millennium Trilogy, so my obsession will be well fed! If the movie can get me this obsessed, I can't imagine what reading the books will do to me. We'll see in a couple of days--I've just put in my order on Amazon for Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy ! How soon can Friday come??

One kabob, two kabob, three kabob, four!

Week 22 & Week 23 (June 2 & June 9)

I've been neglecting this blog, I know. I don't know what it was about June that has kept me so busy, but it has. So now that we are half way through July (I KNOW, can you believe it!), I thought I'd better catch up! So here we go again:

Since we eat so much chicken, we decided to try out two new marinades and make kabobs.

Lately we've been running to Whole Foods to get our exercise in for the day and pick up dinner. I saw the Honey Mustard Chicken and Veggie Kabobs marinade in their weekly bulletin and decided to give it a try.

The honey mustard marinade was very easy and only required a few main ingredients: honey mustard, lemon, EVOO and salt/pepper. 

The second marinade was from the June Real Simple magazine.  The recipe was for Soy-glazed fish with sauteed summer squash, but I thought it would be good on chicken so we decided to try it as well. This recipe was also very simple and required a few main ingredients: brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, EVOO and salt/pepper.

While the chicken was marinading, I soaked the skewers. Did you know that if you soak the skewers for 15-20 minutes, it makes the items on the kabobs easier to slide off? Try it, it really works!

I threw the kabobs on the grill...

And served the kabobs with some rice pilaf!

Our ratings:
Honey mustard marinade: 8.5 (Mayra:8, Geoffrey: 9)
Soy Glaze: 9 (Mayra 9, Geoffrey 9)

Fish Food

Week 20 & Week 21 (May 19 & May 26 made up on June 5) 

I know, I am behind. The end of May was very busy for us, so we kept postponing our cooking nights and then suddenly we were two behind, going on three.

SO...

I decided that since I tried out two new recipes for Geoffrey's birthday party at Hog Island, those kinda count. Right? Why yes, yes they do! I know this is cheating, but whatever, my blog, my rules:)

Recipe #1: Hog Island Hog Wash
This recipe called for two types of rice vinegar, a seasoned rice vinegar and a natural rice vinegar. What's the difference you ask? Natural rice vinegar is made by fermenting rice grain. It is all natural, contains no sodium or sugar, no calories and is gluten and fat free. Seasoned rice vinegar is made by adding sake, salt and sugar. It is still gluten/fat free but does contain calories and sodium. Seasoned rice vinegar is often used to make sushi rice. The recipe was easy to make and very flavorful. As with the pickling of the veggies for the Banh Mi, the vinegar smell was overwhelming at first but the taste was refreshing and light. This was a nice accoutrement and made having my first oyster that I can remember easier to swallow (haha, get it?)! Our rating for this recipe: a solid 9 (Mayra: 9, Geoffrey: 9)

(L-R: Sarah, Geoffrey, Hog Wash in snowman mason jar, Liars Dice and Rob)

Recipe #2: Mussels and Clams Ala Mayra
While I was in line waiting to buy more oysters for the group, I noticed that Hog Island also sold clams and mussels. Since these are two of Geoffrey's favorite things, I decided to try to cook some over the grill. If you know me, and if you are reading this blog you do, I am not a fan of the shellfish (or anything fishy, for that matter), so I am not the most experienced with cooking these things. BUT, I have watched enough cooking shows to know that all you really need for shellfish is some butter, garlic, wine, salt and pepper. Luckily, I had most of the above ingredients and due to my quickfire experience on Pine street, was able to improvise with the items I didn't have. With help from my sous chef Kat, we were able to whip up a couple of batches of clams and mussels in a white wine sauce.

 Below is my recipe (approximately).

2 lbs of clams
1 lb of mussels
4-5 tbsp unsalted butter
2-3 cups dry white wine
3-4 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 large shallots)
fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, whatever floats your boat)
1-2 lemons
salt and pepper
(Note: I used leftover Hog Wash and Mignonette in place of garlic, herbs, lemon)

Combine all items and cover over medium heat, mixing occasionally until the shellfish open. Serve immediately with crusty bread for soaking up the sauce.

Geoffrey rated this recipe a 7 (meanie!), but it was a HIT with everyone else. At least I think it was:)

You Geoffrey'd me up!

Last Friday was Geoffrey's birthday! He turned the BIG 31. This blog post is dedicated to him.

Highlights of Geoffrey's birthday weekend include:

• We both took the day off and slept in (well, Geo did and I starting writing this blog but didn't get very far). 
• We had birthday breakfast at Mama's in North Beach Nini's in San Mateo with the rest of the Gonzalez family. 
• We had a delicious birthday dinner with Jeremy and Lindsay at RN74 and listened to some New Orleans music by Dr. John at Yoshi's.
• We had an amazing day at Hog Island Oyster Farm with family and friends.

• We shucked oysters, bbq'd, enjoyed clams, mussels, cupcakes, sparkling wine, Hawaiian beer and many other goodies.

•  I shucked oysters like a pro and even ate one!

• Had pizza and game night (and a lovely brunch the next morning) with some of our fantastic friends from L.A. Ting was the winner of Balderdash with such convincing definitions like "zoutch: rhymes with 'ouch'".

• Also of note, the girls won the fastest game of Cranium ever, even though we couldn't correctly spell adrenaline backwards (ahem, due to someone having a little too much sparkly;)!

• We went to see Get Him to The Greek since Geoffrey loves Jonah Hill (his body double, he says). The movie was surprisingly funny! Interesting fact: We saw this movie being filmed last year when we were in Vegas for my 30th birthday and the release date was on Geoffrey's 31st birthday! Plus one of the jokes throughout the movie is about smoking a "Jeffrey" (hence my blog title) AND we actually know people who have smoked something like a "Jeffrey" and had a similar experience (haha, you know who you are!). "When the world slips you a Jeffrey, stroke the furry wall." <--That must have some sort of double meaning.

• Lastly, the 31st birthday celebration ended with a Bone Thugs-N- Harmony concert at the Independent. Apparently, a dream come true for Geoffrey. He (and his side kick Jason) were acting like giddy little school girls! It was a good concert and a great way to top off Geoffrey's 31st birthday celebration. (I had a video to upload here, but can't figure out how to do it. Stay tuned.)

Happy Birthday Geoffrey!!!!

Hope Floats

You were lucky to have me. But you know what? I think I already got the best part of you. And she's standing right out there, and she's waiting for me. I don't know... what's left just doesn't look so good anymore. So why'd you come back? You want my permission? You want my... condolences? Why did you come back?

So it has been a while since I've posted anything about my dear Sandra. Amidst her recent highs (she won the Oscar! she's a Mama!) and lows (husband's philandering, giving back a Razzie, divorce filing), I was secretly hoping that things would turn back to normal and that she could be happy. But then I read this and it just made me so upset. What is he doing?? Is he trying to win her back?? Everyone knows Sandy is a very private person and Jesse airing their dirty laundry on national TV and making comments like "I took a pretty amazing life and marriage and threw it away" makes me cringe. He's bringing the affair out in the open again, even after Sandra is trying to move on. I hope that Sandra doesn't fall for his apology (or whatever it is he is doing). She deserves better. She deserves Justin Matise.

Detoxing and Cinco de Mayo

 

 (Pictured: Herbert and Ignacio the Piñata)

Week 18 & Week 19 (May 5 & May 12) 

I was detoxing this week so had a very strict meal plan I needed to follow. So when our cooking night came along (on Cinco de Mayo), I used the turkey burger recipe that the Clean Food Detox Plan suggested. I was so hungry that I downed the burger, so didn't get a chance to take pictures of it. But it was surprisingly a very delicious burger.

The following week a friend was in need of pictures for a recipe book and we decided we'd try one of the recipes for our cooking night. We chose Tobacco Onions, which was a recipe for onion rings. We thought a burger would pair well with the onion rings, so we used the turkey burger recipe again. And it gave us a chance to take pictures this time.

 

The Tobacco onion recipe called for both red and yellow onions.

I made the flour mixture (flour, cayenne, paprika, salt and pepper) and floured the onions.

Then fried the onions. We don't have a fryer, so I used an old school teapot as a make-shift fryer.

The first couple of batches didn't come out as golden as we would have liked. I was also a little concerned that the flour mixture was not sticking to the onions and was thinking about using an egg wash, but found that this was resolved as soon as the oil got hotter.  (I recommend using a thermometer to make sure the oil is hot enough to fry in).

The last batches came out crispier and golden! They reminded me of a birds nest and Geoffrey thought of Hamburger Hamlet's onion strings.

I topped my burger with the tobacco onions.

Geoffrey had his as a side.

We found the recipes to be easy. The burger was tasty and the onions melted in our mouths and complemented the turkey burgers well.

Mmmm, that was a good burger!