This is how we roll...

We're so tech savy (not!)

Chocolate Puffs

Chocolate and Walnut twists. Good for dessert (and breakfast)

FaCe II

Left Over Gourmet

This is what happens after my friends throw a party and there are left over snacks. I end up making a bite-sized everything meal that makes us feel like giants when we are eating! Here are some bite-sized open-faced sandwiches on cut up baguette with hummus, one chip (for crunch), cheese, avocado, and chicken, all topped with a slice of tomato. It went great with the leftover fruit, veggies, cookies, and wine (yum!)

Time to be Green (and sticky)

For St. Patrick's day, we decided it was time to make something delicious for lab. The key was that we had to make something green as well.
Everything was devoured within a couple of hours! YUM!
Top: Peanut Butter Chocolate marshmellow squares
Botton: Green Rice Krispes

Faces

Research Mice

This is what happens when your boyfriend says he needs a few fake mice for mouse behavior research. I got to sewing and might have gotten a little carried away. Since they were so small, the ears and tails were a pain, but they turned out pretty cute. I don't know if I should be worried that I felt attached to these mice or that I didn't even question the oddity of the request.

I had the strongest connection with the short and fat one. :-)

Blue Hand

Cafe Art

Mugs of Love

3 mugs for the 3 men.

(Front)

Or should I say the 3 sexy, studly, stallions?

(Back)

I mean who would not want/need mugs that both compliments them as well as reminds them of their first and last names?
You know, just in case they forget.

Red mirror Purple

To Wool or Not To Wool

With low Boston temperatures, multiple pending trips to the mountains, and long freezing waits at the bus stops, we were in search of something warm. This search and a random freezing stroll down Newbury St. brought us into the winter sale at Patagonia. As we searched, an enthusiastic salesman enlightened us on how superior wool is compared other thermals. It basically does everything from keeping you warm to keeping you cool depending on the scenario and the questions you posed him. Hmmm, suspicious. According to him and his personal experiences, apparently you can also wear a single wool shirt for 30 days straight without smelling, even for being "a sweaty guy." This fact was both a little too much information and also not something I'm interested in testing out. At any rate, with his stories and the 30% discount, we now both have wool thermals.

In keeping with this, I knitted a green wool scarf so that a loved one can brave the Boston winters better. Unfortunately, wool, regardless of how advanced we are nowadays with its processing, is still more itchy than cotton.
It wasn't until 2/3 of the way through, on a train in Spain, that my mom and I noticed that the scarf was not coming out as smooth as the previous cotton ones we had made. I was torn between taking it apart and starting anew, but since we had already put so much time into it, I ended up finishing it anyway. At the end, even after ironing, I was sad to see that it is still itchy. Bah!

However, the happy ending is that apparently when you're really really cold, your itch sensations are the first to go! Hallelujah!

He was super sweet and the scarf went on to fulfill its destiny around a cold neck.

Whisps of Color

A painting for a Special Cloud

Breakfast In Bed

Breakfast has slowly become my favorite meal of the day. On weekends, it's extra special because it can actually be a big event rather than rushed over with a bowl of cereal.

We started Saturday with a breakfast that featured an European flair:

-Swiss Rosti

-Real European Nutella which tastes SO much better and is consequently the same as the Nutella in China that I had as a kid. (interesting tidbit I thought you might like)

-and a Swiss cup.

All this topped with a sunny day and temperature in the 50's! We cracked open a window for the first time in months and I brought out the flip-flops. My feet were singing all day! (The Californian girl inside was dying to be set free)

Garbonzo Bean Curry with Zucchini and Eggplant

topped over rice and served with Chinese pancakes

The great thing about curry is the messier it looks, the better it tastes.

The second great thing is that there's always a lot of leftovers perfect for a delicious lunch.

Hello Kitty

This year, my friend chose her birthday theme to be Hello Kitty. Yes, you can still like Hello Kitty past the age of 13, and yes, she was turning 24.

I made her a cake to match.

For the occassion, the cat ditched her ordinary boring red bow, and donned a pretty pink one instead (because the theme was also pink).

and ofcourse, the inside was also pink (eventhough I know it's a little heart wrenching to show a cute kitty all cut up)

along with the matching wall decor.

There were a lot more things Hello Kitty related, but capturing it all would have caused this post to be Hello-Kitty-Overload. Wait, is that even possible?

Valentine's Cupcakes

Even as a certified "grown-up", I still can't get over how much fun sprinkles can be. Going overboard seems to be mandatory when it comes to the art of sprinkle decor.

My co-RA and I showered our residents with a little Valentine's day love. We made sure each cupcake had more than their fair share of toppings, often going back a second, and third, and fourth, and so on...you get the idea.

Simple but fun to eat, although I would argue more fun to make.

It's the little things that make me laugh

The napkin eyebrows were a last minute addition

I love eating any kind of melon by just scooping with a spoon. Melons shouldn't be formalized into bite size pieces or melon balls, and that's a fact.

Poached Perfection

I know what you're thinking. You think this photo should have been with the blog about Chez Henri restaurant because it looks so good, right? I mean just look at that poached egg!

Well, no! Believe it or not, this was home made. GASP!

I guess you can say I fell in love with the poached egg a year ago in NYC, when we ordered Eggs Benedict to cap off an amazing weekend in the city. Since then, probably the best poached eggs in our opinion can be found at Balthazar in NYC.

If you have ever seen the movie "Julie & Julia," the scene where Julie fails miserably at poaching an egg was an exact reenactment of my first attempts at egg poaching. After in-depth research and multiple tutorials (google & youtube videos), I finally gained the know-how and the secret tricks of making a good poached egg. Unfortunately, since then, the running joke is that I can't poach an egg. In fact, there is surprise and gasps of awe every time I successfully incorporate them into a dish (apparently, this joke does not get old). Even though I have it down now, it's always somewhat time consuming because the way to really poach is one egg at a time--not optimal for starving breakfast eaters.

Then the skies opened up one Sunday when I entered the ICA museum shop. I love museum shops; I look forward to them at the end of every museum, but usually I can never afford anything in them. So in this particular museum shop, on the shelf I had named "everything I really want but don't really need nor could really afford," I saw these beautiful babies--Poach Pods!

We joked about them, I said bye to them, and we went along our merry way.

A month later, I was happily reunited with these beauties as a surprise on Valentine's Day! Together, and ever since, we have been adding unnaturally dome-shaped eggs onto every breakfast I can think of that does *or could* incorporate poached eggs.

And we lived happily, Poachily, ever after. THE END.

Disclaimer: Excitement from these pods may cause early rising and thus, for those that are tired and not as excited about egg poaching at 6am, it may lead to a not so happy (although still poachy) ending.