4th of July

It is once again that time of the year!  Having a home with an awesome view of the city fireworks is just asking for us to host for the festivities.  This year, we kept it more simple having a new 8-week old at home.  I did not want to prep, cook and clean all day this year.  Instead we opted to invite people for savory nibbles and dessert (ice cream sundaes=no prep time needed!).  This cut down on the prep and the guest list since less people are willing to trudge to our house for 3 hours or so and then fight traffic to go home.  I also asked for people to bring something which I hardly ever do….I think this was only the second potluck I’ve hosted.

Here’s a run-down of the menu

• BBQ Chicken Pizza:  Store-bought whole wheat dough topped with BBQ sauce, mozzarella, store-bought BBQ pulled chicken, thinly sliced red onion, sliced black olives, frozen roasted corn and cilantro to garnish
• Loaded Nachos with:  Store-bought BBQ pulled pork, BBQ sauce, Mexican blend cheese, black beans, caramelized onions, guacamole, pico de gallo
• Sundae Bar: Vanilla, Cookie Dough & Mint Chip Ice Creams.  Salted caramel sauce, hot fudge, sliced almonds, strawberries, bananas, brownies, sprinkles and whipped cream

Vietnamese Grilled Pork Chops with Green Onion Oil

For Father’s Day Dinner, we took out one of our Vietnamese cookbooks that B gave me as a gift last year to make pork chops seasoned with lemongrass, one of our favorite ingredients.  I love the smell-citrusy, earthy and slightly sweet.  We ate the chops with white rice garnished with green onion oil and served with a side of green leaf lettuce, raw cucumber and seasoned fish sauce.

VIETNAMESE PORK CHOPS

INGREDIENTS

3 pork loin chops about 1 inch thick

2 TBSP oyster sauce

2 TBSP fish sauce

2 tsp honey

2 tsp sugar

2 small stalks of lemongrass, finely minced

2 cloves garlic

4 green onions cut into 1/4 inch pieces

5 TBSP oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and let sit over night before grilling

GREEN ONION OIL

In an 8 inch fry pan, heat 1/3 cup oil with about 4 green onions, cut into thin rounds on medium heat.  Heat gently to allow the onions to infuse into the oil for a few minutes.  Leftovers can be kept for a later time.

First Father’s Day

This weekend was B’s first Father’s Day!  He has been such a wonderful partner and is so wonderful with little S  She is the world to him and I know that the feeling is mutual.  While I went out to run some errands, B stayed home with little S.  When I came home, I found them napping together.  So sweet I had to snap a picture!

On Sunday, little S revealed her first art project:  a poster with picture of her with her daddy and her footprints at 10 weeks old.  I think daddy liked it.  It’s hanging on the best wall real estate in our house-above the kitchen fireplace mantle:)

What did daddy want to do on Father’s Day?  Shop?!  So we went shopping!  S did very well being out all afternoon.  She even let us dress her up for a family photo when we got home.

my first mother’s day with strawberry pancakes!

I couldn’t have asked for better first mother’s day.  My hubby was so sweet and surprised me with the BEST pancakes!  Buttery and slightly sweet with finely chopped strawberries.  Plus every single one he cooked were delectably golden brown, uniform sized and perfectly round!  His recipe is definitely and keeper!  The best part was spending time with my new family of three.  Little S was such a good girl who followed an exact schedule, was bright and cheery and slept like a baby 🙂  She even let us pose her and take he picture.  AND she gave me a smile 🙂

My Hubby’s Strawberry Pancakes

Yields 8 Pancakes

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg

couple finely chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons butter, melted
cooking spray

INSTRUCTIONS

Set griddle temperature to 275

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to “sour”.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into “soured” milk. Then add strawberries.  Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

 

Holiday Baking – Grandma Corrado’s Butterscotch Icebox Cookies with Cranberry & Pecan Squares

Nothing new to the holiday baking repertoire, just a little tweak to Grandma Corrado icebox cookies and pecan squares:

Grandma Corrado’s Butterscotch Cookies with Cranberries

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 TBSP vanilla
handful walnut halves                                                                                             2/3 cup dried cranberries                                                                                                                 1 tsp cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a mixer
Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl
Add dry ingredients to sugar mixture                                                                           Add cranberries and mix until ingredients are just combined (the dough will not come together while mixing)
Roll out into a rectangle
Add a row of walnuts in the middle long-ways
Roll the dough into a log
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for a couple hours
Cut into 1/8th inch rounds
Bake at 325 degrees for 9 min until crisp

Pecan Squares (dad’s and Uncle’s Phil’s favorite:)

INGREDIENTS-CRUST

• 1 c flour
• 1/3 c light brown sugar
• 1/4 c pecans
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 6 TBSP cold butter

Pulse the following ingredients in a food processor till crumbly.  Press into a parchment-lined and greased 8X8 glass baking dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes till golden brown.

INGREDIENTS-FILLING

• 1/3 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c brown sugar
• 1/3 c maple syrup
• 3 TBSP butter
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• pinch of salt to taste
• 1 1/2 TBSP bourbon
• 1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil in a small non-stick saucepan.  Turn of the heat, then add the vanilla, bourbon, salt.  Stir in the pecans then top the warm crust evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees until the center is barely bubbling (20-25 minutes)

Let cool for a few hours and cut into small (or big!) squares.  These actually taste better the day or two after.

thoughtful surprise

I was working late today and got a call from B who was wondering when I was coming home.  I didn’t know that he had taken the day off after working many hours last week.  A very unusual event, but I was glad that he took some time off for himself.

I walk into the house, and B is freshly showered afer a workout, dressed in comfy clothes.  Fresh red roses with a little box and a red card sat against the vase.  Red wine was poured in glasses.

“I wanted to do Valentine’s Day early!”  I was so surprised and couldn’t help but smile:)  He made a simple dinner of caprese salad and spaghetti with meat sauce.  The kitchen was spotless, although, not surprising for him!

I opened the card that had a sweet little message inside and was very pleased with his choice in gift, a Murano glass necklace with crystals.

Having a home-cooked meal that night reminded me of our first Valentine’s Day.  We were dating only less than 3 months and B wasn’t sure what I would like for dinner, so he bought steaks and shrimp for a surf and turf to enjoy at his apartment.  Subsequent Valentine’s Days were always low-key since we’re not into the whole hype, but B also always remembers to think about doing something small but thoughtful.  I love him everyday for the little things that he does for me:)

The first 8 months

Now that wedding and the honeymoon excitement has subsided, B and I have been focusing on building our little nest on a hill. We recently heard news that an acquaintance who married just 1 day before us just had his first baby. Doing the math in my head, that doesn’t really add up…but anyways….I thought about what we have been doing the last 8 months while R and L were preparing their own nest for their new arrival.
Even though we’d been together for over 5 years and spent lots of time together in the past, being married felt different to me (but apparently not for B, according to him!) I suddenly felt like were now co-dependent on each other. I felt like I should have dinner on the table and take care of household duties. B easily slipped into the roles of dishwasher and garbage taker-outer (as always), vacuumer and landscaper. Aside from uncertainty and instability at work, the first 8 months of marriage have been wonderful!
We’re gradually adding furniture pieces, the most recent are a second couch upstairs and 2 bedrooms chair, one of which I’m sitting in now. It took us about 7 months to hang the oil painting of Venice upstairs in the living room. It’s special since we picked it out together one afternoon spent in Coronado. Domestic items we have purchased that I’ve never considered to get before include and steam mop, and good sized collection of throw pillows and steam iron.
The past summer in particular has been one to remember. We started to get to know our neighborhood including the walking path to the local market and enjoying the Cabrillo National Monument. We took walks on warm nights to the park via the hidden staircase B discovered while jogging.
TRIPS:
Although we haven’t lived up to our agreement that we would travel somewhere far and exotic every 6 months, we managed to take a quick trip to Yosemite as part of our trek to Fresno for M and L’s wedding reception. Although we froze in a non-insulating permanent tent and used public showers and bathrooms at Camp Curry, it was a great trip, a true vacation. It was B’s first time actually seeing the summit point, and even though I had seen it before, we were both awe-inspired by the breathtaking view. We (actually more B) hiked along the path of the waterfall right when we arrived in the park. We completed the vertical hike along Nevada Falls which is about 7 miles I believe. When we finally made it to the top, we enjoyed the view from the fall’s break point and the serene waters with a very aggressive squirrel. The second day was spent going to Glacier Point, probably B’s favorite spot of the trip. We then took a short hike up and rock just a little smaller than Half Dome and took some fun pictured that made it appear that we were climbing a huge rock! On our final day we saw the Giant Sequoia’s, walking right through one of them! We met a couple who went to med school at UCSD and who were friends with an former pharmacy resident-small world!
Travelling to Santa Barbara is also a relaxing getaway and we can visit family at the same time. We stayed with B’s parents and traveled to wine country via Solvang. We got a great bottle (to be enjoyed) which has notes of smoke and coffee. A very complex flavor profile that I’m looking forward to drink!
CELEBRATIONS and PLAYING HOUSE:
My first venture in my new kitchen was making homemade scones with a recipe from the Cook’s Illustrated subscription I received as a bridal shower gift. The strawberry ones were so much better than the blueberries (when overboard on the blueberries). In any case, B’s work and Uncle P and Aunt L appreciated them.
We hosted our first dinner guests on out 1 month anniversary, cooking Thai food for 10 guests (our SSC group). I will definitely think twice about cooking Asian food for a big group next time!
C and M came over to make lamb shanks braised in red wine with risotto and strawberry shortcakes on one summer evening which really made the kitchen and the house feel more like home.
Thanksgiving was also another milestone in our 1st year that was so wonderful! I planned for quite a while, trying to find the perfect apple pie and pumpkin pie dish. Although my efforts to make homemade pie dough using bourbon was an absolute flop, the house-full of people appreciated our hospitality. The menu consisted of:
Herb roasted brined turkey and gravy, Mashed potatoes, Roasted sweet potatoes and yams, Mac and cheese, Cornbread stuffing with sausage mushroom apple and cranberry, Mixed marinated veggie salad, Mom’s Broccoli casserole and Rice stuffing, C’s grown-up’s string bean casserole. Dessert was skillet apple pie, pumpkin pie, pecan squares and Nancy’s organic carrot cake.
For my birthday, B surprised me with a day at December nights, noshing on fried potato balls and papusas, visiting the natural history museum and listening to local groups perform at the Organ Pavilion. The night was topped off with a l dinner at Kensington Grill with D, M and H and dessert with Mae and Heaven Sent-Red Velvet of course!
After hosting a Holiday Party for B pharmacy staff, Christmas was pretty low key since I was battling a bad cold or URI of some sort. B gave me a beautiful pearl necklace, and he liked the Citizen EcoDrive watch I picked out for home. One new thing that we did that may become a family tradition was check out the Christmas lights and decorations on B stumbled across on delivery run for work. Although there aren’t that many houses, it was quite a sight…like Disneyland!

Our first extended house guests 2 families with 2 rambunctious kids, particularly the little 2 year old G who has a hot head and stubborn personality. C got a glimpse into parenthood and thought that kids were as cute as she had thought! Made J*’s little 6 month old A* seem like an angel from heaven. He hung out at our house for about an hour for dinner with little more than a bit of fussiness.  He chilled with B on the couch watching the Laker’s game with him and patiently sat in his carseat without a peep. So sweet! Just re-enforced that not all kids are the devil’s child!
Last weekend was Chinese New Year and mom and dad came to visit. This is their second visit since B started calling them mom and dad. Kinda weird….we celebrated New Year’s Day and Vigilucci’s which was surprisingly good! Traditional Chinese New Year Dinner was Saturday night when we split our time and stomachs between Auntie’s house and ours. Mom made big tempura shrimp, fried wontons and yummy sweet and sticky spareribs as appetizers. We feasted on miso glazed salmon, lion head, sugar snap peas and chai. M tried so hard to make an impression. He wore red (along with wearing ‘crimson’ after approval from C on Thursday night) and ventured to the local Asian market in search of a pomelo and mochi!
So far, it has been a great ride, and I am looking forward to continuing it. As my mom alluded to as I handed her a New Year’s red envelope for the first time as a married daughter, B is a part of the family now. Mom acknowledged that she is an in-law now….timing possibly related to the New Year? But she said that she was hoping that grand kids would be on the way soon. We’re still trying to squeeze in some fun travels, but we will see what the future holds!