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!

Spinach...no caterpillar soup!

 

Week 17 (April 28, 2010) 

 

This week we were in the mood to try a new soup recipe, so Geoffrey chose a Lentil-Vegetable soup recipe. I noticed that Geoffrey had purchased about a million bags of spinach (ok, more like 2, but that is a lot of spinach!), so I inquired about how much actual spinach was needed-- 6 cups! Wow! Healthy recipe!

 

Geoffrey got the soup started and simmering on the stove.

Then he took out the spinach to start chopping it up.

Since Ting had blogged about a recent bug incident she had with packaged salad, I advised Geoffrey to inspect and wash the spinach before chopping it up. It was quiet in the kitchen for a bit and then Geoffrey asks me "Would you eat the spinach if I found a bug in it?" I replied "Huh? What do you mean, did you find a bug?" He hesitated to answer and finally said "Yes, I found a tiny caterpillar." What to do? We went back and forth trying to decide whether we should use the spinach or not. Not only was it a major ingredient of the recipe, but bagged spinach isn't cheap and most importantly I HATE wasting food. In the end, we decided to not include the spinach in the recipe. It was a very difficult decision, but both of us couldn't get past the thought of the bug in the spinach.

The soup came out delicious anyway, but it would have been nice to have the spinach in the soup. We'll definitely try this recipe again, with the spinach. 

Our rating for this recipe is 8.25 (Mayra: 8, Geoffrey: 8.5).

P.S. Geoffrey contemplated not telling me about the caterpillar (bad, bad, bad), but he said he didn't want to "torture" me by making me eat something that would gross me out. Plus, he said he probably wouldn't eat the spinach part and that I would notice and start asking questions. Well played, Mauer.

Filet Mignon and Chi-Chis

Week 16 (made up on April 24, 2010) 

As you've probably noticed, lately we've been "making-up" our Wednesday night dinners on the weekends. For some strange reason, Wednesdays are turning out to be our busiest night of the week! During this week I had dinner plans, which eventually turned into a few chi-chis (the DRINK people) for my friend Jennifer's birthday.

We decided to splurge a bit in honor of Geoff's multiple job offers (and by multiple offers, I mean 2).  I found a recipe for filet mignon on charred onions and zucchini with balsamic vinegar sauce. We went over to Whole Foods to pick out our fillet. This was our first time buying filet mignon, so we didn't know how much to buy. We ended up buying 2 fillets, weighing about 1.5 lbs @ $27/pound! Isn't that an insane amount of money?? Luckily, the rest of our ingredients, onions and zucchinis, were cheap, so it still came out pretty reasonable overall (and cheaper than at a restaurant).

We started by chopping the veggies.

 

Then moved on to the reduction sauce, which called for some red wine.Since you should cook with wine that you would drink, we naturally decided to use a Cuvaison Pinot Noir.

We bbq'd the filet and served it with mashies and garlic bread. I think we may have overcooked the meat, so it wasn't the best filet mignon I ever had, but I really liked the combination of onions, zucchini and balsamic vinegar sauce. We found that we bought waaaaaaay to much filet mignon, so next time we will buy half of what we bought. Overall, this was a super easy recipe and I definitely recommend it for a special occasion, just try not to overcook the meat!

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

Happy Birthday (long pause)....to me!

Well, I am now officially in my 30's. What better way to celebrate but with a list of 31 things I am thankful for?

(In no particular order, except for #1)

1. Geoffrey: my love & best friend who puts up with all my many moods and crazy ideas and still loves me
2. Herbert, Herbs, Yves: closest things to "children" that I have
3. Family: mom, dad, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, in-laws, adopted family members (YKWYR)
4. Friends: MSTAG, UCSF friends, old friends, new friends, lost friends, epic friends
5. My mom's home cooking: the last meal I had in my 30th year was mole and rice made with love by mom
6. Dave Matthews Band: I've been to ~50 concerts so far, adding 2 more this summer
7. Chick Lit: easiest/fastest/cheapest way to escape reality
8. Mani/pedis: or any sort of pampering that includes relaxing music and scented lotions
9. Traveling: Near, far, land, sea, I will always be up for the adventure. Hoping to have one with the family this year.
10. My ongoing education: Be it from Cal, City college, my parents and other wiser people around me
11. Health: my health, Geoffrey's health, my family's health, my friends' health, Herbert's health
12. Potrero Hill, San Francisco: my residence of 6 years that includes an amazing view of SF and parking!
13. Sleeping in or staying in bed all day: no explanation needed
14. The Twilight Saga: reminded me of my teenage years when my biggest worry was doing my homework
15. Harry Potter books: What an imagination!
16. Champagne: I can never have enough yummy bubbles
17. Patisserie Philippe: my go to place for French Pastries in San Francisco
18. Madrid, Spain: if I could live anywhere in the world, it would be Madrid. Always.
19. Job (kinda): lucky to have one in this economy, has helped me meet good friends, pay off our credit cards, increase my savings and help my family
20. X-files: Seasons 1-7 as part of my bedtime routine (includes dreaming of David Duchovny)
21. Tennis: this is by far my favorite sport to play. Calms me down every time.
22. The Holidays: I find myself longing for the holiday season all year long and especially when I hear Louis Armstrong songs.
23. Football season: Snuggled up on the couch on Sundays with Geoffrey watching football--priceless.
24. Hand written letters: I recently went through my high school stuff and found letters and notes from my friends. Nothing like the feel of paper and recognizing someone's handwriting. I am going to try to write hand written letters more often.
25. French food, music, film, language: C'est magnifique!
26. Traditions: starting them, keeping them, passing them on.
27. 80's movies: amazingly taught me a lot about life and how to deal with it in a fun way. Awesome.
28. Cooking nights: being able to cook with Geoffrey and pick and choose ingredients that we like.
29. Celebrations: having lots to celebrate such as birthdays, engagements, weddings, babies, promotions, and just cause:)
30. CA produce: having an array of beautiful and delicious fruits and veggies from our wonderful, bankrupt state
31. My faith: believing in something bigger than me and this world and it keeping me in check sometimes;)

P.S. The quote is actually " Congratulations (long pause)...to me!", quoted by, you guessed it, Sandra Bullock!