It’s that time again – another Cuisine Week in the can! This month’s cuisine was Indian – which I haven’t had too often in the past – but what I have had was really good. In practice, this week had it’s highs and lows. A few of the dishes were absolutely awesome. One of them was pretty much a complete failure. And a few of them were waaay too spicy for my liking – even though I only used a fraction of the peppers that the recipes called for.
Dinner No. 1: Murg Kali Mirch, Lasooni Naan, & Kheera Raita (Pepper Chicken with Naan and Cucumber & Yogurt Raita)
This pepper chicken was the best. I think it might make the Top 3 of all cuisine week dinners to date. I was concerned initially while making it due to the abundance of pepper that was called for – a full tablespoon of crushed peppercorns! But it turned out excellent and the other spices – ginger, garlic, turmeric, cayenne, and garam masala – complemented and polished the pepper flavor quite well. I definitely plan on making this one again – the only change will be using boneless chicken thighs rather than drumsticks. I really can’t wait to try it again!
With the chicken, I served up some homemade naan with cucumber and yogurt raita. The naan was pretty simple to make. It came out much thicker and fluffier than I expected, possibly just because I didn’t roll it out super thin. The raita was pretty good – it had a bit of kick to it too, from a serrano pepper.
Rating: 5/5
Dinner No. 2: Kadhai Paneer and Naan (Stir-Fried Paneer Cheese with Bell Peppers)
This was the big failure of the week, actually, of all the cuisine weeks so far. Really, it was alright – but there were a few problems… First of all, the paneer didn’t come out quite as I hoped. The recipe suggested that after adding lemon juice to boiling milk, the milk would curdle and form a cottage cheese like consistency. I waited and waited and waited for a cottage cheese consistency and it never happened. So finally, I gave up and moved forward with the next steps. I ended up with a block of cheese, but the consistency was sort of gritty, and as soon as I stirred it into the bell pepper stir fry – it fell apart and became more of a sauce.
On top of the cheese failure, it was hella spicy. The recipe called for 2 slit open green chili peppers and 6 crushed dried red chili peppers. The cookbook seemed to think that serranos would make for a good green chili, so that is what I used. I could barely eat a cup of this stir fry. It was just too hot for me. I offered the leftovers to a co-worker who loves peppers and has been known to munch on ghost peppers for fun, and even he said it was super spicy. Do Indians really eat food this spicy on a daily basis?!?
Soup Rating: 2.5/5
Dinner No. 3: Macchli Ke Tikke (Fish Kebabs with Onion-Cucumber Relish)
These fish kebabs were alright – nice and simple. It was my first time cooking with mahi mahi. Pairing it with lemons and garam masala was pretty tasty. The onion and cucumber relish was a nice and refreshing side. The onion was pickled which toned down the pungency and complemented the cucumber nicely.
Rating: 3.5/5
Dinner No. 4: Chana Masala (Northern Chickpea Curry)
Another super spicy dish – and this time I only used 1 of 4 green chili peppers (serrano) along with the 8 dried red chili peppers called for. It was not quite as hot as the bell pepper paneer dish, but it did have a serious kick. Aside from the extreme hotness, it was very good – the chickpeas and spices were excellent. I’ll probably make it again and just tone down the peppers.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 5: Masala Gosth (Lamb Curry)
Last dinner of the week, second best. Again, I cut down on the chili peppers called for – only 1 diced serrano instead of 4 – and it had just about the right amount of heat. Still a good bite, but not enough to make my nose run! The lamb was wonderfully tender and flavorful.
Rating: 4.5/5
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So, lesson learned: Indians like insanely spicy food. I can’t even imagine how spicy some of those dishes would’ve been had I added ALL the peppers called for. Another takeaway, Indian food uses A LOT of spices – whole tablespoons of cumin and coriander, cayenne and turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and garam masala. A very flavorful cuisine to say the least, if you can taste past the chili peppers!
That’s it! Next month I’ll be cooking Jamaican – a cuisine I have very minimal experience with. I’m still looking for a cookbook to get my recipes from, so if anyone has any suggestions – leave them in the comments!
Of course, with March being the month of St. Patrick’s Day, I felt it only proper to dedicate this month’s Cuisine Week to the Irish. There is a rumor in my family that one of our ancestors was Irish – I haven’t found that ancestor yet – but perhaps they, whoever they are, ate a few of these very dishes in their day.
This Cuisine Week was a bit less structured than previous weeks as Adam and I have been busy looking for a new house, but it worked out in the end and I was able to get five meals in over the course of eight days. So, here they are!
Dinner No. 1: Brotchán Foltchep and Ballymaloe Brown Bread (Leek and Oatmeal Soup)
This soup, also known as “the king’s soup,” is said to have been the favorite dish of Ireland’s 16th century St. Columkille. It was very hearty with the oatmeal and a little sweet with the leeks (this was my first cooking experience with leeks) and very easy to make. I liked it quite a bit and will likely make it again as something to warm up with on a cold winter day.
The brown bread was alright. I probably could have been a bit more strict with my measurements though, since it ended up pretty dense. It was flavored with blackstrap molasses (another first in my cooking experience) which was nice and rich.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 2: Broiled Salmon with Butter and Honey
Salmon broiled in butter and honey is apparently a very ancient method of cooking salmon. It was pretty basic, all said and done, but a pretty solid and light way to enjoy a good piece of salmon. I paired it with some buttered broccoli and a slice of that Ballymaloe brown bread from the day before.
Soup Rating: 3.5/5
Dinner No. 3: Shepherd’s Pie and Peas with Mint
This recipe was called “The Best Shepard’s Pie,” and I’d say it met that label pretty well. It was pretty simple to put together and used all the standard ingredients. When I took it out of the oven, I could tell immediately that it was going to be awesome – the buttered potato topping had a beautiful golden color and the juices from the lamb, onions and carrots had started to creep up around the edges of the baking dish. Yum.
Rating: 4.5/5
Dinner No. 4: Corned Beef with Parsley Sauce, Cabbage, and Colcannon
The most epic undertaking and results of the week, to say the least. I spent probably around three hours putting this one together, but for St. Patrick’s Day you’re supposed to go all out, right?! The corned beef was pre-corned, so I had it easy there. The colcannon (mashed potatoes with greens) was a nice change from the standard plain old mash. And the parsley sauce… oh the parsley sauce… was sooooo good, possibly my favorite part. Adam agreed, this feast was a 5/5.
Rating: 5/5
Meal No. 5 (Breakfast): Convent Eggs on Ballymaloe Brown Bread with Baked Beans
While I was cooking the St. Paddy’s day feast of the day before, I was also cooking these baked beans (second use of molasses ever). Yes, I made homemade baked beans. They came out pretty well, a bit dry, but that might just be how they eat them in Ireland. Since I had to reheat them in the morning, I put them back in a pot with a bit of water and maple syrup to help rehydrate them. They were pretty tasty, but I’ll probably stick to the canned version in the future.
The Convent Eggs were something Adam and I had never had anything like. The recipe was noted as coming from the time of the famine, so only very simple and basic ingredients were used. This recipe called for butter, onions, flour, milk, salt and pepper, and hard boiled eggs. You cook the onions, then add the flour and milk and stir until you have a sauce. At that point, you toss the sliced eggs in and serve on toast (I used that Ballymaloe brown bread from Dinner No. 1). It was good, but nothing ground breaking. I might try it again someday with some bonus seasonings.
Rating: 3.5/5
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So that was Irish Week! Easier than French week, not much healthier, but good eats and lots of learning overall.
Next month, I’ll be cooking Indian cuisine! I have a feeling the next few months won’t have such a dire effect on mine and Adam’s waistline :) See you next time!
Well, February’s Cuisine Week was scheduled for last week, but due to sickness I decided to push it back a week. That was a great decision because as it turns out, every main course out of Mastering the Art of French Cooking takes about three hours to make, so I needed to be at full strength!
All in all, French Week was very rich and yummy. I think I also learned a lot of great cooking techniques. Julia Child’s recipes are certainly not the easiest to follow, but they are very proper and thorough.
Dinner No. 1: Boeuf À La Bourguignonne (no translation needed)
A classic to say the least. It was a fair amount of work – first taking care of the meat, then braising the onions, sautéing the mushrooms, and boiling the potatoes. There was a lot going on at once. But in the end, it came out pretty well. I wouldn’t say it was the most amazing beef stew I’ve ever had, but it was definitely tasty – I especially liked the onions and mushrooms.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 2: Soupe À La Victorine Puree of White Bean Soup, Eggplant & Tomato Garnish
Another dish with multiple components to take care of, this soup was excellent. Step one was quick soaking the beans, then simmering them with bacon and spices. While that simmered for over an hour, it was time to work on the eggplant and tomatoes. The eggplant had to be salted and drained, then simmered with the tomatoes for a while. Lastly, the beans were pureed, and all the components came together with some more broth to simmer for a while more. The result was so flavorful and filling – Adam didn’t even notice the eggplant!
Soup Rating: 4.5/5
Dinner No. 3: Thon À La Provençale Tuna Steaks with Wine, Tomatoes, and Herbs
I’ve never worked with raw tuna before, so that was a cool experience in itself. The sauce complemented the tuna perfectly and it was fairly easy to put together. I don’t have too much more to say about this one, except that it was pretty good.
This one turned out to be the best of the week! The paprika-onion cream sauce was rich and delicious. I’ve never used paprika as a primary flavor before, but I’ll definitely consider it more often in the future. Paired with peas and risotto, this was an amazing dinner!
Rating: 5/5
Dinner No. 5: Galettes de Pommes de Terre Farcies Filled Potato Cakes
These potato cakes turned out nice and tasty, but they were probably the least successful item off this weeks menu. When I made the mashed potatoes, they came out too thin – so it was difficult to form patties with them. Then I forgot to add the cheese in the cakes, so I added it on top after flipping them over. Minus the cheese, they were stuffed with mushrooms, scallions and ham. Pretty tasty all said and done.
Rating: 4/5
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And that was it for French Week! All very good, but ultimately very exhausting. Next month…errr.. this month – it’s Irish!! Just in time for St. Patty’s Day!
Well once again, RootsTech was a huge success. With registrations up over 30% from last year, we had over 4000 genealogists and developers in attendance. And if I had to guess, there were probably twice as many developers as last year.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been up since 5am, have a cold, and generally haven’t gotten much sleep in the last 4 days, but I find it difficult to describe the overall essence of RootsTech – at it’s purest, perhaps: passion and excitement. Everyone who was there, or who followed it online, knows it was a big deal, a game changer. Two booming industries, two completely different types of people, massive age gaps – but – everyone’s on the same page. Everyone knows that technology is what will move the field of genealogy forward. Everyone is excited about the possibilities.
This was a recurring theme among attendees. Seeing genealogists and technologists sitting down together and discussing the need for advancement and the possibilities for implementation was a sight to be seen. And we already know this mashup of communities works – GEDCOMX is a direct result of it. Genealogists made the call for a better standard, a better way to house data – of all types – and technologists are coming together to find and implement a new, dynamic solution.
The Sessions
I attended a pretty even mix of user and developer sessions, here’s a semi-brief run down on my favorite five:
The Powers of Evernote: Photos, URL’s, Censuses, Geo-location, and Stories
I already use Evernote quite a bit, even for genealogy to some degree. In fact, I’m composing this blog post in Evernote on the flight back to Detroit. So I already had a fair idea of what it’s capable of, but I wasn’t familiar with the many of the integrated tools and was interested in how others are using it to supplement their research. Here are just of few of those tools and uses:
Evernote Web Clipper – This one is pretty straight-forward. You install a plugin and can create new Evernote’s with the click of a button that contain the content of a webpage, snippet of a webpage, or just a link to the webpage. An easy way to bookmark and store research.
Clearly – This browser plugin makes web content easy to read in Evernote. Great for those ancient, hideous web pages.
Skitch – An app that allows you to markup images. Perfect for highlighting names or keywords and annotating photos or records.
NoteFuser – This Chrome plugin, created by Jimmy Zimmerman, won First Place in the 2012 RootsTech Developer Challenge. The plugin hooks into FamilySearch.org and geni.com person pages allowing you to tie Evernotes to specific people in your tree.
ifttt (if this then that) – Here’s a really interesting service that “puts the web to work for you” by automatically… doing stuff. For instance, it can create a new Evernote everytime your favorite genealogy blogger publishes a post. Their site can explain it better than I can.
EverPress – A lot of genealogists seem to like keeping their research log in the form of a WordPress blog. This allows you to automatically share the contents of an Evernote folder with your blog.
GEDCOM storage. It was suggested you could store your tree files in Evernote. However, another session suggested keeping them in Dropbox – which I like even more, since you could setup your apps to source that file and keep it in sync.
Basically, it was suggested that you store everything related to your genealogy research in Evernote. Could be cool, will I try doing that… mmm, I don’t know… we’ll see.
Eleven Layers of Online Searches
This was an awesome presentation from Barbara Renick – she really knows what she’s talking about here. So if you’re having trouble finding someone, here are 11 steps to take that might just lead you to a breakthrough:
Try just the name – see how many results you get, look for patterns
Try the name with identifiers – such as event, place, dates, relationships
Try name with initials – there is a handy page on the FamilySearch Wiki on guessing name variations
Try no last name with identifiers – see Layer #2 for identifiers
Try no first name with identifiers – see Layer #2 for identifiers, including the sex of the person will help with this one
Try no name with identifiers – mix and match identifiers, expand or contract geographic focus
Try another name in the household – a more unique name
Try another name in the neighborhood – that has been enumerated nearby in other census years
Try combining names – husband and wife, multiple generations, related surnames – godparents, witnesses, etc
If at first you don’t succeed try a different search tool – websites, CDs, search catalogs for resources by keyword (not name), or go classic – books, films, manuscripts.
Telling Stories: Transforming the Bare Facts of Genealogy Into the Astonishing Tale of You and Your Family.
As genealogists, we’re constantly digging up facts and compiling information – but just having all of that data doesn’t mean we have a story to tell. Presenter, Ian Tester, discussed what it takes to turn your own family stories into Who Do You Think You Are? worthy tales. The following video was shown as a basis to that discussion.
Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Ancestry.com Panel)
This was a great panel with some of Ancestry.com’s top technology leaders led by Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of Ancestry.com. They discussed technologies they’re working on, technologies of the future, what it was like to support the website during the third season premier of Who Do You Think You Are?, and the growing IT needs at Ancestry.com.
Creating Cross-Platform Mobile Apps with Titanium
So Titanium is pretty awesome. Now that I know more about it, it seems like a good candidate for an idea I have (see the conclusion). The session discussed the pros and cons of using Titanium, and ran through a simple demo. It was led by some of the Family Search developers – who just the day before – launched the brand new, Titanium made, Family Search Indexing app.
Honorable Mentions
Genealogy Idol – Just like it sounds, four genealogists competed for the title.
Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote) – A very fun discussion of where technology has been, where it is now, and where it’s going.
Genealogy Internet Gems – A run through of some of the best genealogy sites and services available.
Ancestral Lines Pairing Systems: Uniquely Numbering Each Ancestral Line, Generation, Pairing and Sibling – An overview of a newly published pedigree numbering system. Pretty interesting, I am currently working with my own custom system that is somewhere between this and Aftenafel.
Event Driven Web Apps with Node.js – A solid overview of how Node.js works and what you can do with it.
Video for a lot of these sessions will be up soon, but the highlights are already streaming on the RootsTech homepage. You can also check out the session schedule, where you’ll find syllabi for most of the sessions, as well.
Events & Excursions
Ryan Hamilton
The first night of the conference, RootsTech brought in comedian, Ryan Hamilton. He was hilarious!! I think he thought our odd combination of genealogists and technologists was pretty entertaining as well – cracking a few jokes about the age gap. At one point, he started taking audience questions which was epic. Here’s a bit he did for our show:
Late Night at the Library
A tradition carried on from RootsTech 2011, Late Night at the Library was an even bigger success this year. They had to ask us not to all come at once so that they wouldn’t run into fire regulation issues!
First up was the Who Do You Think You Are? Season 3 premier! It was a blast watching the show with such a huge group of genealogists. The crowd’s reaction to the findings and to Martin Sheen’s reactions were very entertaining. And hving an inside look at the production of the show made it that much more enjoyable.
After the show, it was time to get down to business. First, I hit up the subscription sites and scored three key obituaries that confirmed some things I wasn’t quite sure of! After that, I decided to try my hand at searching the microfilms (for the first time) for a specific naturalization record and declaration of intent. I found the naturalization record as referenced the by index, but no luck finding the declaration – I even went back and tried again after the conference.
Salt Lake City
Me, Benjamin, Mary Lou
Between all the sessions and events, I had a bit of time to explore the Temple Square area. First, I went at night to take a few photographs. The second time, I went back with a few new RootsTech genealogist friends – Mary Lou and Benjamin. Benjamin, mysteriously, has no legal surname… no joke. Being that he is a genealogist (ie. someone who spends his time looking for last names), this baffled Mary Lou and I to no end. We have not been able to pry to story out of him yet. Maybe next year.
After strolling around the Square and taking a tour of the top level of the secondary LDS office building (where we got some great views), we headed out for a drink at The Beerhive. I had a pretty good Desert Edge UPA, although it was a little weak as far as the alcohol content goes – a theme you can expect from UT beers.
Compared to last year, I didn’t see nearly as many SLC oddities. See last years RootsTech Recap if you want to know what I’m talking about. I did get a few alright photos though – check out the best in the Flickr slideshow below:
Ready for Next Year
Last years inaugural event was excellent, and to me, my official entry into the world of legitimate genealogy. Obviously, I enjoyed the event so much that I didn’t even hesitate to return. This year’s event, however, left me with a much stronger feeling of inclusion and forward momentum. Throughout the conference when people would ask, “Are you a user or developer?” I replied with, “I’m in the middle,” and I think that’s probably the best place to be. I have a strong interest in doing the research and seeking out dead people, but I’m also interested in creating the technologies to help me do that research.
Just a week ago, an idea for a genealogy research log tool popped into my head – because, in all honesty, I suck at logging my research. There’s no easy way to do it! You either have to write or type out long names, specific spellings, data sources, and more. I just want to do the research, not spend 75% of my time compiling the details on how I’m doing it. And, it seems like I’m not alone. In D. Joshua Taylor’s Genealogy Software Forecast session, there was an overwhelming majority of attendees who admitted to not keeping a log, and a discussion that went on to cover the need for an easy, fast, intuitive, and even automatic way to log from any location. So that is my goal this year, to create and develop an awesome multi-platform (see the Titanium session mentioned above) research logging tool – specific to genealogy. If all goes well, I hope to be entering it into the RootsTech Developer Challenge in 2013!!
Well that just about covers it! It was a pretty awesome and successful trip and I can’t wait for next year. Side note: it was also pretty successful for my Twitter account – I was retweeted by @RootsTechConf, @AncestryDotCom, and even @RyanHamiltone – hello >20,000 impressions!!
Wow. So, who knew those online contests where you can win trips and meet celebrities ever paid off?!?! It turns out, the grand prize is not a lie. Because I won it!! No joke.
Each day for two weeks, I submitted my basic contact information to the Ancestry.com 15 Days of Discovery sweepstakes hoping to win an iPad 2 or a camera or a 1-year subscription… any of those would have been nice. The contest ends, a few weeks go by, and I get that magical phone call: “You’ve won the grand prize of the Ancestry.com 15 Days of Discovery sweepstakes!”. Ummm…. what!?! No. Freaking. Way.
At the time, I honestly had no idea what the grand prize even was. LOL. So I was in a bit of disbelief. And then he told me what the prize was, and oh.my.god. …
Airfare for two to Los Angeles
Two nights stay at the luxurious Beverly Wilshire hotel
Transportation to all locations
A private tour of NBC Universal studios
A tour of Shed Media, where Who Do You Think You Are? is produced
Lunch with Lisa Kudrow and the producers of Who Do You Think You Are?
VIP tickets to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Wow. Very cool. And it turned out to be even cooler than I expected.
Adam and I left for LA on Tuesday morning and got in with enough time to see some of the city. Our car picked us up from the hotel and took us to the swanky Beverly Wilshire where we checked in and met up with Marvin, who you may know as our awesome wedding officiant.
First stop was Santa Monica Pier where they happened to be filming for the show Private Practice. We made it just in time for sunset which was beautiful. It was a lot chillier than expected though!
Next it was off to dinner at Umami Burger. It took us quite a while to get there since we hit the legendary LA rush hour traffic, but it was definitely worth it. I had the Earth Burger which was excellent – a mushroom and edamame patty, white soy aioli, truffle ricotta, cipollini onions, lettuce, and slow-roasted tomato. Yum! We also got an order of truffle cheese fries which were just as good as they sound!!
After dinner, we headed to the famed Hollywood Boulevard to stroll the Walk of Fame, Kodak Theater (where the Academy Awards are held), and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (where you can find the hand and foot prints of the stars).
Lastly, we decided to stop for a drink at Blue Palms Brew House, a specialty bar that rotates craft brews in every few weeks. I had a pretty solid Beachwood BBQ Breaker Pale Ale. The whole time we were there, I kept noticing a man in athletic wear and a ball cap who bared a striking resemblance to Nick Lachey, formerly of the boy band 98 Degrees and married to Jessica Simpson. Turns out, it really was him. Woot! My first celebrity sighting in Hollywood!!
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The Big Day
Early wake up. $80 breakfast room service. Limo pick up.
First stop, NBC Universal for a private tour. No photos allowed unfortunately, but we got a pretty cool inside look at the studios and how things work. Things of note: the set of the Tonight Show, the set of Access Hollywood, the set of Days of Our Lives, the set warehouse, old costumes. Cool stuff.
Second stop, Shed Media – where Who Do You Think You Are? is researched and produced. This was really awesome. We got to meet all the shows producers and researchers. Everyone was really nice and happy to be there. It seemed like a really fun work environment where everyone loves what they’re doing. After a bit of chatting about what goes into producing an episode, Lisa Kudrow and the other producers showed up! Lisa seemed pretty surprised that Adam and I were so young. We talked about where my genealogy research has gotten me and some of the road blocks that I’ve hit. She encouraged me to ask the researchers for their thoughts, which I did and to which I received some great suggestions.
Alex Graham, Jennifer O’Connell, Me, Lisa Kudrow, Adam, Dan Bucatinski
From Shed Media it was off to lunch with Lisa and the producers at the restaurant: Ammo. I got the orecchiette with rapini, radicchio, Picholine olives, breadcrumbs and crushed red pepper . It was absolutely excellent. While we ate, we discussed everything from the shows we watch, to ideas for celebs on WDYTYA, to SOPA and copyright infringement. Everybody was really down to earth and nice. It was an awesome experience to say the least.
Finally, we said our goodbyes and nice-to-meet-you’s and it was off to our final stop – a taping of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. I was probably the least excited about this part of the prize as I’m not a huge fan of Jay, but it was certainly cool to get a behind the scenes look at how those late night shows are filmed. The guests were Jennifer Garner, Ross Matthews and the band Parachute. Ross Matthews was my favorite guest, he was pretty hilarious. The whole episode is available online if you’d like to try and spot us in the crowd – we had pretty good seats – fourth row and center.
After that it was back to the Beverly Wilshire in the last limo ride. Since Adam’s grandma lives in the LA region, she came out to the BW with some cousins and we all headed out for a tasty dinner at a nice little Persian restaurant. The food wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. The company was the best part! Finally, we were back at the hotel and decided to use our $100 dinner credit on a lovely dessert spread – cookies and ice cream and strawberries with balsamic, oh! and a $22 glass of Cabernet Sauvignon!
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And that was pretty much it, the next morning we had another $80 room service breakfast and made our way to the airport, travelled ALL day long, and finally made it home.
What a trip! And there were so many things I left out of this already lengthy blog post! So here’s a few of my favorite photos from the journey to help fill the gaps for you! Best viewed in fullscreen!
It’s 2012!! Wow, did 2011 go by fast!? A big part of what made it such a good and fast year for me was my journey into the world of real cooking. Prior to April, we didn’t stray too far from the norm – Foreman burgers, frozen bagged dinners, pizza, quesodillas – things that were generally pretty quick and easy, but also pretty boring and repetitive.
After spending a week in Israel eating nothing but the best, I came back feeling inspired and motivated to eat better and work towards being healthier overall. So, I stopped shopping for food at Meijer and started shopping at the local Westborne Market. I picked up a few cooking magazines (the books would come a little later). And I was off to the races. It started out pretty simple – basic chicken and veggie recipes, steak and potatoes, etc. – but it didn’t take long before I was trying new things and getting creative.
Now, eight months later, I have a growing collection of over 20 cookbooks and magazines. And in the last few months, I’ve been getting more and more into international cuisine – as you all know by now. With the new year comes new resolutions, and so it was decided:
My goal for 2012: One international cuisine week per month for twelve months.
As you may have guessed, this first cuisine week is Vietnamese – a cuisine I was entirely unfamiliar with. It turned out pretty well, with a few particularly awesome dishes. Read on for the deets… (and to find out what cuisine weeks are coming up next!)
Not a bad first dish, pretty basic – flank steak and cauliflower stir-fried in garlic and fish sauce with a bit of onion. I served this up with kasmati rice and some lightly dressed spinach. Solid flavors overall.
Rating: 4/5
Dinner No. 2: Canh Riêu Cá và Chả Bắp Rán Salmon with Tomato, Dill & Garlic Soup and Corn & Coconut Fritters
In this case, I’m going to have to rate the two parts of the dinner separately because the soup was okay, but the fritters were pretty freaking awesome! The soup probably would have been better if I had used fresh dill, however the market was out that day. Oh well, it was good for what it was – very salmony.
The fritters though, wow. Tasty fried sweet corn bundles of joy. And dipped in a sweetened Sriracha sauce for some serious kick. SOOOO good. I will be making these again – and will probably double the batch!
Soup Rating: 3.5/5 Fritter Rating: 5/5
Dinner No. 3: Gà Kho Gừng Chicken and Ginger Simmered in Caramel Sauce
If you recall, I said Vietnamese week had some particularly awesome victories – the fritters were the first, and this chicken was the second. First of all, I made the caramel sauce myself – just a) boiled sugar in water until it smoked, b) took it off the heat and swirled it around until it blacked, c) submerged the bottom of the pot in cold water to stop it from cooking, d) poured additional cold water into the caramel (this extra water is what made it into a liquid sauce), e) returned it to the heat and stirred until the water was mixed in well with the caramel. Bam. Caramel sauce.
The rest was pretty straight forward – place boneless, skinless chicken thighs chopped up with some ginger in a sauce pan, add the caramel sauce and some fish sauce and simmer for 15~ minutes. Viola, you have the most amazingly tasty chicken ever.
Rating: 5/5
Dinner No. 4: Bí Đỏ Hầm Dừa Winter Squash Simmered in Coconut Milk
This one turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. I used acorn squash instead of the recipes banana squash or butternut squash. I don’t think that was the problem. It really just lacked strong flavor.
The recipe called for raw peanuts, winter squash, sweet potato, a bit of sugar, and of course the coconut milk – simmered until the veggies had cooked and the coconut milk had thickened into a sauce. The best part in my opinion was the peanuts! If the recipe had has some kick to it, maybe a bit of curry, more of a Thai spice flavor – it probably would have been pretty good.
These were sort of like an egg foo young, but better. They were also extremely simple to make – just mix a few beaten eggs with shrimp and scallions and ladle about 2 tbsp. at a time into a 1/4″ of oil. Flip when the edges start to brown. On their own, they were pretty good – but dipped in a tiny bit of fish sauce, they were epic.
Rating: 4.5/5
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And so that was Vietnamese Week! Pretty good, I’d say! There are definitely a few things I’ll be cooking again. Now it’s time to prepare for next month – FRENCH!! And what better cookbook to refer to for French cuisine than Mastering the Art of French Cooking?! So if you have any favorite recipes from the book that I should consider for next month – let me know in the comments!!
Well, I should have posted about this way back in September, but life has continued to be busy – so here it is, three months later… an overview of our honeymoon in Toronto, Canada!
We were married on Saturday, September 10, and after a nice family and friend brunch on Sunday morning, we hopped in the car and headed to the good ‘ol Canadian border. Of course, we got caught up in customs and had to sit in the immigrations office for a whole hour. That was sweet. It also turns out highways in Canada are freaking helicopter patrolled!?! WTF? So we didn’t speed on the way to Toronto. So we arrived at our adorable B&B a little later than expected.
The owner, Geoffrey, was lovely though and welcomed us warmly. He also gave us an awesome late night dinner suggestion – House on Parliament. Adam got a burger and I got a beef and mushroom pie and a tasty Spearhead Hawaiian Style Pale Ale!
Day 1: Exploring the City
Our first full day! We headed out to the Lawrence Market to catch the City Sight Seeing tour bus. Not a bad deal, by the way. Thirty bucks for a guided ~two hour tour around the city and a bonus boat tour of the Toronto islands!! We stepped off the bus for lunch around Dundas Square and picked up some Magic cards at the pretty serious card shop that we passed by. Stopped for some tea and coffee and then grabbed the next bus that passed by!
Finally, it was time for the boat tour! This was one of my favorite parts of the trip – a nice relaxing boat ride around the islands. Spectacular views, great weather, and my new husband! <3
Day 2: Casa Loma & the Royal Ontario Museum
Day 2 was rather pleasant. We headed out to Casa Loma after breakfast and explored the castle and gardens. Lots of cool old stuff all over the place! After a few hours of exploration here, we headed downtown to grab some lunch and then to the Royal Ontario Museum.
The museum was pretty sweet – some of the cool stuff: the crystal room, the gem room, DINOSAURS!!, taxidermy, and all sorts of art.
Day 3: Niagara Falls
This was probably my favorite day. The falls were beautifal and mind-blowingly awesome. Of course, we had to take the Maid of the Mist out to the bottom of the falls – which was crazy!!
After a few hours, we hopped in the car and took the scenic wine-trail drive up to Niagara-on-the-Falls. We grabbed a great lunch and then strolled along the streets and did a bit of souvenier shopping, grabbed some coffee and tea, and then headed out to the lake. Soooo relaxing :)
Day 4: Science Center, CN Tower, Chinatown
Well the Science Center turned out to be pretty weak. I only took one photo while we were there. The place was practically empty, maybe because the school year had just started and it was too early for field trips. Everything was really old, a lot of the interactive displays were broken. They clearly haven’t gotten much funding in the last 20 years. Oh, and food options = zip.
So we headed back downtown to the CN Tower and took the elevator to the top for some awesome views. And afterwards it was off to Chinatown for an amazing dinner.
Day 5: Toronto Zoo
The zoo was pretty awesome, and not crowded at all, which was good except that it meant that none of the food stands were open. So we kinda starved ourselves through lunch. But there were a lot of cool animals out and the indoor animal environments were pretty cool since all the animals could move around us freely.
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And that was just about it!! Lots of good sights and scenes, tasty treats and drinks, relaxation and great company.
Here are some of my favorite photos from the week, and below that is the complete photo book I made to remember the week by. Hope you enjoy checking them out!
I can’t believe 2011 is over… seriously… I can’t. Fastest. Year. Ever.
2011 was phenomenal. Insane. Exhilarating. Awesome. Joyful. Busy. Just all around generally incredible.
Probably my favorite year in my <27 years of existence.
Here’s just a few reasons why:
Marriage – Best day of my life. We did it!! And it was wonderful!! Everything was perfect and beautiful, and everyone had a wonderful time. It couldn’t possibly have been much better. Not to mention our awesome honeymoon in Toronto (blog post coming soon, seriously)!!!!
Israel – Best week of my life. Adam’s family, the sites, the history, the people, the FOOD!!! Such an amazing experience and SO thankful to have had it!
Cooking – After returning from Israel and the week long experience of exquisite cuisine, I came back yearning for a healthier, more enjoyable lifestyle. And for me, that started with the abandonment of frozen bag dinners and the purchase of several great cookbooks (which eventually lead to Cuisine Week)!
Genealogy – In between wedding planning and traveling, I was able to break through a few brick walls, connect with some distant cousins, and I even managed to win the GRAND freaking PRIZE in the Ancestry.com 15 Days of Discovery sweepstakes!! The trip to LA is in just a few weeks!!
RootsTech – And going along with the genealogy stuff, I had the opportunity to attend the first ever RootsTech conference in February which was an awesome mashup of genealogy and technology. I’m already all booked for the second conference in Feb. 2012!
CodeMash & An Event Apart (San Francisco) – My first two real web / developer conferences – all thanks to my new(ish) work home – Quicken Loans! These were a lot of fun, a lot to take in, and certainly reinvigorated my profession.
So much awesomesauce in 2011. It’s actually pretty hard for me to imagine 2012 being better than that.
No big life events planned and no super huge crazy travel plans. Just the Ancestry.com trip in January and RootsTech in February – which will both be awesome. After that I’ll be able to actually start conserving my time-off. Maybe towards the end of the year we’ll plan a bigger vacation, who knows what 2012 will bring?!
Time to go work on my list of New Years resolutions!
