Back to work already...Damn

So I took the final week off of my vacation and made it a staycation. I had a lot of things that I wanted to do and get done but not enough time to do it so I thought by taking a week off, I should be able to catch up.

Well, let me tell you something. A week is not enough because there just seem to be more and more things to do! I am writing this at 11pm on Sunday night, my vacation is over and I'm going back to work tomorrow. Really. This is ridiculous. I had accomplished a lot of things over this past week and yet I still have lots to do. What the heck?

Let's do a recap of the past week, shall we?

Friday - After work, went to Richmond to get paint supplies from my dad; went to a designer sunglasses sale, didn't find one I like; went and bought paint from Home Depot

Saturday - Jason and I started painting my bedroom, after moving everything out into the living room; I didn't like the colour of the trim so we went back to Home Depot to get a different colour and bought the paint for the bathroom; painted the bathroom, after moving everything out into the kitchen; was going to a Couchsurfing BBQ, but skipped that in favour of making the final two recipes for the Whip-It-Up challenge

Sunday - Christiane, Jason and I went to the Spend-on-Trend show; Christiane and I then headed to Spanish Banks for some beach volleyball and BBQ; went to play the last league games at Urban Beach; wrote the final two blogs for the Whip-it-Up challenge

Monday - organized and cleaned the bedroom; set up interviews for work; decided on colours for the kitchen and living room; went into work to get ready for the interviews; met with Roeina for dessert at Moxie's to catch up on the past few months

Tuesday - went to Concord Pacific presentation centre to find out about Smart in Gastown for Roeina; went to work to sort out some stuff; went indoor rock climbing with Christiane; picked up kitchen paint; came home and painted the trims; taped for painting for tomorrow; cleaned and organized the bathroom

Wednesday - went into work for a couple of interviews; met up with Sally for lunch to catch up on the past few months; went for a Thai yoga massage with Barb at the new Flow Yoga Studio on Burrard and used the infrared sauna; went home and painted the kitchen with Jason

Thursday - went into work for more interviews; had my haircut and highlights; went to a networking event at the Edge restaurant with Roeina and Jenn; went to Favourites at Lonsdale Quay with Christiane for the fall preview; went for dinner at Goldfish with Theresa, Christiane, Megan and Tracy; went to the Opus Pool Party with Christiane and Megan; went and met up with Theresa and Tracy at the Cellar; met a couple of interesting guys whom we hung out and chatted until 4am

Friday - woke up late due to the late night; puttered around the house; won tickets to Steve Porter at Celebrities; caught up with all the PVRed shows; debated between going shopping and cleaning; went to Steve Porter at Celebrities; great Dj, not so great crowd - not what I expected Celebrities to like at all

Saturday -went to a clothing sale; went to a yard sale; went for dim sum in Richmond with my family to celebrate my dad's birthday; went to meet a girl from Craigslist to try on sunglasses - don't like it; went shopping with my brothers; ended up at Winner's where I scored a Samsonite Black Label Vintage collection laptop case/carry on for $130 - it retails at over $250; went to my dentist appointment to get my checkup and clean; went for a facial; went to my parents' for dinner and Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake; went home and vegged

Sunday - went consignment shopping over town, scored 11 items for $154; went home and worked on blog; went to see Julie & Julia with Laura; ate a lot of popcorn; went home and realized my week of staycation is over

Damn...where the heck did the time go? My living room is still a mess as I only put back the items I want to keep for the bedroom and bathroom so now everything is in my living room. I can't change the carpet yet as it turns out they are stapled and glued so this will be a bigger project than anticipated. I already have a long list of things to do for work tomorrow and an longer list for home!

*Sigh* I'm going to bed now to get a good night's sleep so that I can tackle the week. Thank goodness I'm going to Hawaii next week!

Consignment shopping rocks!

Today was a very good day for shopping. After dragging myself out of the house, I debated between going to buy my living room colour paint and painting or going shopping. Some of you may be surprised to hear that it was actually a debate and I was actually tempted to paint!

In the end, I decided to check out some of the consignment stores around town and boy was I glad I did! I found some great bargains, all in all, 11 items for about $154!

So here's the run-down:
* Pink Kate Spade bag - $24.00
* Pink Kate Spade clutch - $21.00
* Blue Kenneth Cole blouse - $28.00
* Blue Sakura dress - $6.00
* Black hairband - $10.00
* Hairband with feathers - $10.00
* Hairclip with flower - $8.00
* La Senza bra & panty set - $25.00
* White capri pants - $5.00
* Blue flowered blouse - $5.00

All that from today's haul! If you were paying attention, you noticed that I didn't mention the red Samsonite luggage in the top right corner. That's because that's not from today's consignment spree; that was from Winner's yesterday. I found this red laptop carry-on case from Samsonite's Black Label Vintage Collection for $130! This retails for over $250! I LOVE this! I now have a multi-purpose carry-on bag for all my traveling needs. I can't wait to use it when I got to Honolulu next week. :)

Time flies

Really, where the heck did the time go??? It's now Friday night, technically the last day of my vacation and my little home renovation project is nowhere near completion! *Sigh*

Oh well, at least I made good use of this week off, even though I went into work 4 days out of the 5 (will elaborate in another post). Right now, I am feeling out of sorts, cramp-y and not at all that great. To top that off, I'm heading out to Celebrities Night Club to hear Steve Porter spin. I would have probably stayed at home and be in bed by now if I did not win tickets on Twitter (Thanks clubZoneVan!). So I'll put my brave face on, check out this DJ, whom I've heard great reviews, and then crash into bed in a few hours. It will be a much earlier night than last night (again, this will be elaborated in another post).

So my intentions to keep this blog updated has be left by the wayside but I still have two more days and as you can see from above, there are already at least two posts on the way.

So wish me luck and hope that I will survive this night without a breakdown. Damn, I'm getting old!

Whip-It-Up: Week 8

Here we are, at the end of the Whip-It-Up challenge. I can’t believe it’s been 8 weeks and I am so psyched that I completed it! Woohoo!

The final week’s theme is Take-Out and the first things that came to mind are Chinese food, pizza, sushi and other ethnic cuisine. I debated between the various foods and after eliminating pizza and sushi, I decided on Indian, Chinese or Thai.

I did a search for the various cuisines and found a pretty delicious one for Sweet & Sour Pork. This is one of the most common Chinese foods, one that everyone knows. So here it is!

Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless pork loin
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 medium green pepper, cut into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, cut into thin wedges
1 (15 1/4-oz). can pineapple chunks in juice
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tbsps. cornstarch
2 tbsps. soy sauce

Directions:
* Partially freeze pork. Cut across the grain into 2 1/2 × 2 1/4-inch strips; set aside.
* Preheat a wok or large skillet over high heat; add oil.
* Stir-fry green pepper and onion in hot oil for 2-3 minutes or till crisp-tender.
* Remove from wok. Add more oil, if necessary. Add half the pork to wok; stir-fry until browned. Remove pork; stir-fry the remaining pork. * Return all pork to wok; keep warm.
* Drain pineapple, reserving juice. In a small saucepan combine the juice, brown sugar, vinegar, cornstarch and soy sauce. Bring to a boil; cook about 1 minute or till thickened, stirring constantly.
* Return green pepper and onion to wok. Stir in pineapple and the thickened pineapple juice mixture.
* Cook and stir until heated through. Serve with rice, if desired.

I have a feeling I bought the wrong kind of pork loin but it still works! The sauce was surprisingly easy to make and it turned out really well.

This recipe was easier than I thought it will be so I was stoked. It was delicious and definitely tasted like sweet & sour pork! I would definitely make the sauce again and the next time, I think I will try it with beef.

So this brings us to the end of the Whip-It-Up challenge. I can’t believe that 8 weeks have gone by and I’m done! I am very glad that I decided to do this. This experience has made me more curious about cooking in general and I realized that I actually like it! I’m looking forward to trying more complicated and intricate recipes in the future.

Who knows? There may be more food blogging coming up, so stay tuned!

Whip-It-Up: Week 7

Boy, have I been procrastinating on updating my blog! It’s been a very busy and packed couple of weeks. I promised I will bring everyone up to day, especially since I have a week’s vacation next week so yay!

First things first. I had to skip last’s week’s Whip-It-Up challenge because I had a beach volleyball tournament all day on Saturday. ThereforeI had to make it up this week.

Week 7’s theme is a recipe from your favourite chef. Well, since I just started cooking this year, I don’t exactly have a favourite chef! So my plan was to pick a recipe from a famous chef. There are many chefs to pick from but I managed to pick one: Thomas Keller!

I’ve always been a fan of Thomas Keller, especially when I found out he was the consultant for the Disney, Ratatouille. So onto to find a Thomas Keller recipe that I can make without too much apprehension: what do I find? This totally cool video which made me so psyched! I am so making this without any doubts!

Here it is: Late night BLT Sandwich with fried egg and cheese AKA the greatest sandwich in the world!

3 to 4 thick slices bacon
2 slices Monterey jack cheese
2 slices pain de campagne (rustic country loaf) toasted
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
4 slices tomato
2 leaves butter lettuce
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg

* Cook the bacon until crisp, drain on paper towels and set aside
* Place the slices of cheese on one slice of toasted bread and place in a toaster over or under a broiler to melt the cheese
* Spread the other slice of toast with the mayonnaise, top with the cooked bacon, the sliced tomato and the lettuce
* In a nonstick skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Fry the egg, turning over briefly when the bottom is set. (keep the yolk runny!)
* Slide the finished egg on top of the lettuce.
* Top with the other slice of toast, melted cheese side down.
* Place the sandwich on a plate and slice in half, letting the yolk run down the sandwich.

Once again, I decided to adjust the recipe a little by adding a mushroom and using a Scandinavian Hearty Bread as opposed to a rustic country loaf. This is one of those recipes that can be altered to your heart’s content and anyone can make it!

This recipe was super easy to make and it was sooooooooo delicious! It was definitely one of the best sandwiches I have ever made and I will definitely be making this again…especially since I have a whole loaf of bread left!

Only one more recipe left in this challenge! Wow!

Whip-It-Up: Week 6

Here we are at week 6 of the Whip-It-Up. Wow, only two more weeks to go! I'm really happy with what I've done so far and the biggest and best thing about this challenge is that it made me want to cook and make recipes that I've never done before. :)

Ok, onto week 6. This week's theme is appetizers. I've decided to do smoked salmon canapés. With the help of Google (how did we ever live without Google?!), I found this recipe that I quite like.

It is a very easy recipe with only a few steps and ingredients. I didn't mince the onions as I'm not a fan of onions and I got rye crackers instead of bread because I didn't want it too heavy.

I did two versions; one with the crackers as the base, the other with cucumber as the base. Both versions were very pretty and tasted delicious!

I would definitely make this recipe again, especially if I'm having a dinner or cocktail party. :)

Next week it's a recipe from a famous chef. That should be interesting!

Increased interest in physical activities

Laura and I went to the Marble Slab for some ice cream. And let me tell you, this is not just ice cream, it's make-your-own creation with your own flavour of ice cream AND your choice of mixin. There were so many kinds of flavours and toppings that it's hard to choose!

Laura made a fast decision with a white chocolate raspberry Swirl in a waffle cone with dark chocolate. I ended up with a Swiss chocolate ice cream with Butterfinger, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and chocolate fudge in a waffle cone with Oreo cookie crumbs. Oh wow, it was delicious and huge! I think next time, I should share one with someone. :/

We walked down to English Bay to catch up on boy stories and while we were there, a Capoeira group was performing! We went to check them out and they were great! They made me want to take classes, which is something I wanted to do last year but never did. I made a note of their website and checked it out when I got home.

While searching for Capoeira classes, I remembered that Coal Harbour Community Centre had them last summer. They do! But since I missed the summer classes, I'm hoping that they have them in the Fall. From there, I checked out the Roundhouse Community Centre and found out they have fencing and kickboxing classes and I got excited. I've always wanted to try both, so two more things to check out in the Fall.



Hopefully, this increased interest in physical activities continues as I would love to get back into shape and be more fit.

Whip-It-Up: Week 5

Here we are at week 5 of Whip-It-Up. Can you believe it? I’m over half-way done the 8-week challenge! Woo-hoo! :D

So for week 5, the theme is “Spicy”. The first thing that came to my mind was curry, but then I had a spicy meatball at Deuce Bungalow during the Granville Showcase last Saturday and it was like a light bulb went off in my head. I’m going to make spicy meatballs!

Next step was to look for a recipe, so off to Google and I found one here. The recipe has a lot of ingredients, but I think it’s manageable.

As usual I did some substitutions to the ingredients so here there are:
* No sugar
* Oats instead of breadcrumbs
* No flour
* Added chorizo sausages

The changes were not that drastic so I don’t think it will affect the recipe. I want to add chorizo sausages because Nick, a chef from work, suggested it and said it would add more flavour. We’ll see!

The preparation for the sauce and meatballs were straight forward. From all the mincing in this recipe, I should have bought that Good Grip Mini-Chopper I saw in the Bay! That’s the next item on my shopping list. :)

This is also the first time I used the new wet and dry measuring cups that Theresa bought for me! It’s so exciting that I actually can make proper and exact measurements! I can’t wait to make that tuxedo cake again!

Ok back to the meatballs. Everything was going along swimmingly well until the part where I had to puree the sauce in the blender. Well, apparently either there was too much sauce or I was not strong enough. The top popped off and I burned myself! Doh!

After I cleaned up and ran my hands in cold water, I moved onto the meatballs. Once again, the lack of cookware is popping up again. I ended up using the pot to cook the meatball as I don’t have a large pan. It actually wasn’t too bad and worked pretty well.

The end results? Delicious spicy meatballs! Honestly, these were tasty and with just the right kick of spiciness, especially since with the extra meat, which probably took the original level of spiciness down. If you like it more spicy, just add more chilies and cayenne etc. This recipe was quite easy to follow and I would definitely make it again in the future.

I am really enjoying this challenge, more than I had expected. I’m learning more about myself in that I can cook and that I enjoy cooking more that I thought I would! I think I would continue to cook after the challenge is over and that is a good thing. :)

Next week’s theme is appetizers, which means a lot of possibilities. So until then, enjoy the sunshine and keep cool.