summer updates

I know! I know! It's been forever. But you know what? I've got my head back in the game. Now that Round Robin is over and that Rachel has totally inspired me with her amazing blog (Vive La Goos!), that I need to get back into the habit of posting. Even if only to share recipe successes (and failures) with the world :)

Let's start with one success I'm particularly proud of: a roast chicken. Who knew it was so easy? Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame, gave me this recipe which turned out beautifully. If the smoke detector hadn't gone off thirty times during the process, it would have been perfect!



Ingredients:

• One 2- to 3-pound farm-raised chicken
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons minced thyme (optional)

• Unsalted butter
• Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Rinse the chicken, then dry it very well with paper towels, inside and out. The less it steams, the drier the heat, the better.

Salt and pepper the cavity, then truss the bird. Trussing is not difficult, and if you roast chicken often, it's a good technique to feel comfortable with. When you truss a bird, the wings and legs stay close to the body; the ends of the drumsticks cover the top of the breast and keep it from drying out. Trussing helps the chicken to cook evenly, and it also makes for a more beautiful roasted bird.

Now, salt the chicken—I like to rain the salt over the bird so that it has a nice uniform coating that will result in a crisp, salty, flavorful skin (about 1 tablespoon). When it's cooked, you should still be able to make out the salt baked onto the crisp skin. Season to taste with pepper.

Place the chicken in a sauté pan or roasting pan and, when the oven is up to temperature, put the chicken in the oven. I leave it alone—I don't baste it, I don't add butter; you can if you wish, but I feel this creates steam, which I don't want. Roast it until it's done, 50 to 60 minutes. Remove it from the oven and add the thyme, if using, to the pan. Baste the chicken with the juices and thyme and let it rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

Remove the twine. Separate the middle wing joint and eat that immediately. Remove the legs and thighs. I like to take off the backbone and eat one of the oysters, the two succulent morsels of meat embedded here, and give the other to the person I'm cooking with. But I take the chicken butt for myself. I could never understand why my brothers always fought over that triangular tip—until one day I got the crispy, juicy fat myself. These are the cook's rewards. Cut the breast down the middle and serve it on the bone, with one wing joint still attached to each. The preparation is not meant to be superelegant. Slather the meat with fresh butter. Serve with mustard on the side and, if you wish, a simple green salad. You'll start using a knife and fork, but finish with your fingers, because it's so good.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Simple-Roast-Chicken-231348#ixzz0vHvCY3pu

Other highlights of the past few weeks:

- The wedding of one of Tim's coworker friends from Bain at the Thomas Fogerty Winery. I can't imagine a more beautiful setting, overlooking the Santa Cruz mountains. (image courtesy of google)


- Seeing Parker play a show at the Brainwash Cafe in SOMA. Hanging out with Jane and Parker in the city was somewhat of a time/space warp, but needless to say it was super fun getting to catch up.

- My birthday. Ahh, my birthday! So special, so much fun. I was really surprised how many people actually *remembered* my birthday, no less sending me emails and tokens of affection :) A few of my friends and I went to Beretta for dinner, followed by drinks at the Latin American Club and dancing the night away at the Makeout Room. Natalie even made the trek from Sonoma to say hello - even though she was recording with Ben Folds the next day!! Photos to come.


Okay, ONE more recipe winner, since I'm making up for lost time. This one's really delicious, and pretty darn easy:

Mascarpone-Filled Cake with Sherried Berries

Drool away, my friends!


Finally, books. I've read some fantastic books lately. Favorites listed below:
- The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
- The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz-Zafon
- The World According to Garp, John Irving

And now, I'm reading The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall... on my Kindle!! It's hilarious, and I absolutely LOVE reading it on the Kindle. The only downside is that I can't share it with anyone...

Stomach growling. Too many food photos. Updates soon!

oy vay

What would Tim Gunn do? He would be bold! He would totally cut 5 inches off his hair (if he had 5 inches to spare). And in the spirit of Project Runway, I took a photo of Heidi Klum to a shishi hair salon and let the scissors fly.

And?

I LOVE it! I actually had to go back once and get more layers put in, but now, I couldn't be more thrilled with the haircut. When I let it dry naturally, I have BIG, BOUNCY curls - and when I blowdry it straight, I have more voluminous hair than I ever thought I could have. Tim (boyfriend, not Tim Gunn) loves it too.

I start interviewing for my final placement this week - AACK! - but looking at my interview list, I feel pretty great about my prospects. All I have to do is make it through these next few weeks, and then I'll be done with the program! Hard to believe.

I don't have too much time to blog - want to get to bed early tonight - but thought I'd post some photos of fun adventures in the city.

From Sara's visit to SF, when we waited in line for an hour and a half for an Ike's Sandwich (worth the wait - at least Sara and I had PLENTY to talk about!). Sara ate the "MILF" (chicken, ranch, frank's red hot sauce, and jalapeno poppers) and I had the "Sometimes I'm a Vegetarian" (veggies, dirty sauce, yum). They were way too big for us to finish and very, very decadent, but the whole thing was an experience. Also notice our sleeveless shirts!

Sara chowing down:

My sandwich:

The line AFTER we got our food:

And Tim and I have been having our own culinary adventures (of course). We tried oysters at a seafood restaurant called Bar Crudo (and survived!), and spent Sunday afternoon tasting wines at the SF Vintner's Wine Market. Lovely weekend - and check out the hair, of course. I'll post better pictures of the cut when I take them.




Reading: The Help, Kathryn Stockett. Thanks Mom!
Listening: Thinking Allowed, BBC Podcast - highly recommended

WWTGD? (what would tim gunn do?)

Emily reminded me that it had been "ages" since I posted. Absolutely true, Emily - thanks for the reminder. I needed the little prod back in the blog direction, and I have so much to update I don't know where to begin! Let's start with today, and maybe work backwards.

I'm on week 3 of my final RMP rotation. It's hard to believe. I feel like this process has been such a long time coming - I remember when I found out that I got the internship (junior spring) and I felt like I was set for life. I crossed my fingers and hoped/prayed/believed that the internship would lead to a job. I started interviewing for the program that summer - continued interviewing through November, got into the program, then waited another 9 months to START.

And now here I am? Already sprinting towards the finish line? Like I said, hard to believe.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm pretty excited about the idea of being in one department, one function, one team for more than 10 weeks. But I'm honestly so befuddled about what I want/what I think is going to happen that sometimes I wish I could just push the fast forward button and skip all the drama. Interviews start in a couple weeks. Thank God I'm guaranteed to graduate with a job, or I'd be pretty damn nervous.

Let's see, other news. Just got back from a trip to HAWAII this week! Tim and I made spontaneous vacation plans 2 weeks ago, and had a total blast. There aren't any good stories, honestly - we relaxed, scuba dived, snorkeled, relaxed, beached, hiked, relaxed... I guess the only funny part was how the hotel couldn't seem to get our names right. The names listed in the room were Tim Wood and Kelly Peterson. In our interactions with the concierge, we got every possible combination - Miss Peterson, Mrs. Peterson, Mrs. Wood, Mr. Wood, Mr. Peterson (?!?). Pretty funny, actually.

The hotel was stunningly beautiful. If we had been paying for our rooms, they probably would have cost around $550 a night - luckily, Tim had 4 free nights in any Hyatt in the world, so we skirted that :) We were by far and away the youngest people staying there on our own. The valets thought it was hilarious that we rented bikes for the weekend as our main mode of transportation. They weren't exactly used to guests traveling on a budget.


And the pool was the size of a miniature lake. Stunning.



Tim took all the pictures and I promise to hold a gun to his head until he uploads them on the internet. When he does, I then promise to share them with you.

I haven't been cooking much these last couple weeks - trying to clean out the pantry to go on vacation, and now trying to survive on what scraps I have left until I go grocery shopping. The one recipe I stumbled on that I absolutely LOVED was from the New York Times food blog: Eggplant, Tomato, and Chickpea Casserole. Vegetarian, delicious.


Currently reading The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver. It's quite good but slow going. I'm finding a lot of my free time going to the Round Robin, which is also almost over. I'm debating about whether or not I want to continue with this class, or maybe take a *real* writing class? Ahh, the possibilities.

I'm also thinking about cutting my hair like Heidi Klum. Much shorter. Thoughts?

miso glazed salmon

Body hurts from standing all day. Store rotations are cruel. 12-9 shifts especially so.

But quick post anyway, because I found another ridiculously easy and terribly delicious recipe that I *had* to share with you.

Miso Glazed Salmon



Recipe here: Miso Glazed Salmon

The only change I made was adding more miso paste on the 3rd glazing, because it was too liquidy. I might use slightly less soy sauce next time to make the glaze thicker. Otherwise perfect, and done in 10 minutes. Tim liked it too :)

happy day

Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Birthday, Anna Howard Shaw! Happy Singles Awareness Day! Happy Sunday!

So much to celebrate. (Anna Howard Shaw was a suffragette in the early 1900s - as I learned through 30 Rock.) I realize I haven't posted in a while, but strangely I don't feel like I have much to say. Perhaps if I break my life down into categories, I can formulate some sort of update...

FRIENDS:
Are great. I have them.
I threw my first housewarming party last Sunday for the Superbowl, which I called the "Superbowl Party for People Who Don't Care About the Superbowl." I asked people to bring appetizers and drinks and served mom's Red Chicken Chili and Mexican Cornbread. About 12 people showed up, and it turned out fabulously well! The chili and cornbread were a huge hit, and impressively enough, people who came actually didn't seem to care much about watching the Superbowl - though we were all pleased that the Saints won.

Lots of people have been popping in town lately - Beth D., Christian, and Becca's boyfriend Andrew, just to name a few. It's been really great to see them and hang out for a meal and catch up. Seeing Beth was particularly fab. She, Becca and I went to a new restaurant in the Marina called Tacolicious and split 10 delicious tacos. We were smart to get there early, though, because the wait was insane when we left. Beth sounds like she's doing really well, though perhaps ready to get back to DC. I don't blame her.





This weekend, went to see Tim's band play at a bar in the Inner Richmond, and went to Palo Alto on Saturday morning to hang out with Becca, Andrew, and a ton of other people at Becca's house for a bagel brunch. So yummy! Becca served all kinds of fresh Izzy's bagels, cream cheese, lox, salad, fresh fruit, and homemade brownies. And the weather certainly turned out fabulously - SF has finally taken a break from the rain, and the sun has been shining all weekend.

Last night, Alison, Kate and I went to Mas Sake for a pre-Valentine's girls night out. Though we had a difficult run-in with a bitchy hostess and the entire waitstaff looked exactly the same (blonde, thin, busty, wearing short black dresses), we were happy with the crazy fusion sushi and (of course) sake cocktails. Alison had a Groupon coupon for the restaurant, which saved us some money - all the better!


WORK:
Almost done with my 2nd rotation - can't believe how fast time is flying! I had my final project presentation on Friday and it didn't go as well as I hoped it would, but I'm trying not to beat myself up too much about it. I also found out where I'll be going next: GAP Women's Accessories!! Super excited to be going to Gap brand. I'll be working in stores week after next, for the *last time*. Whew!

TIM:
Things are going great! We're going to Yu-Zen for Valentine's Day - celebrating our 1-year anniversary with the restaurant :)

ROUND ROBIN:
Really, really enjoying it - Mom has been reading some of my writes, and she gives great feedback too!

FOOD:
I've been eating chili leftovers all week, but finally made it through them last Friday. This week I'll be eating Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad for lunch, and have lots of options for dinners. I baked Raspberry Oatmeal Scones for my team today, and on Thursday, we'll be celebrating Chinese New Year with a potluck lunch. Yum!!



BOOKS:
Finished Let the Great World Spin, and while I enjoyed it, it was a little slow. I've just started Barbara Kingsolver's new book, The Lacuna, but I haven't read nearly enough of it to pass any judgment.

Whew. That ended up being quite the recap. I won't wait so long next time...

hero in my head

Oh boy - do I have a treat for you! I've been meaning to share it ever since Tim and I made it for dinner last weekend (and I enjoyed for leftovers the next day), and it's so fantastically simple, I can't wait to make it again. The name of the recipe says it all - Tuna Marinated in Soy Sauce and Mirin - and all you need is tuna steak, soy sauce, and mirin. Of course it wasn't the most inexpensive homemade meal, with the searing grade ahi tuna coming in at $23/lb, but that's still cheaper than eating out.



Tim and I served it with white rice, homemade ginger-pickled carrots, and a new recipe from my Jamie Oliver cookbook, braised red cabbage with apple, bacon, and balsamic vinaigrette.



The whole meal was absolutely to die for. I think the pictures do it justice - are you hungry yet?

Work has been crazy crazy this week, and even though it was a four-day week, it felt so much longer. The highlight was getting to go out to dinner with Tim (to an adorable tiny spot in the Dogpatch called Piccino's, which makes awesome pizza) and getting to see Cirque du Soleil's OVO. They really put on an amazing show - check out the trailer here.

But even with that ray of sunshine, it's been a stressful week. My final project got rolled out, and instead of doing a mock project, I'm in charge of REAL costing! It's terrifying, and pretty cool considering they're trusting me to negotiate for the best cost possible on about 300,000 units of girls accessories.

Needless to say, I'm so glad it's the weekend! Last night, Tim's band played at the Red Devil Lounge, and a few of my coworkers came out to check them out. I think they were impressed! Ever since they got a new drummer they've been putting on better and better shows. It's great to see that working out well.

Tonight, I'm going to a dinner party followed by a birthday party, and tomorrow morning is the first day of my writing class! I'm super excited, and slightly nervous. It'll be good to get that part of my brain working again.

I'm off for a run - it was sunny just a few minutes ago!! It's been terribly gross and rainy and I haven't wanted to leave the house at all. So I've got to make hay while the sun thinks about shining.

Reading: Let the Great World Spin. It's good, but slow. Feels more like a short story collection.
Listening: Mass Fiction in my head! Listen along with me on their website :)

gold stars

Starbuck's has recently come out with a new customer loyalty program called Stabruck's Rewards, where you register an account in conjunction with a gift card. After buying one coffee, you get credit for a free drink on your birthday and two hours of free wifi per day. After 5 drinks, you get free drink customization (free flavors or soy milk), free brewed coffee refills, free drink with bean purchase, and free trial offers. And finally, once you hit the GOLD STAR level (30 drinks), you get a free drink with every 15 you buy, a personalized gold card, and personalized coupons.



While I know this is totally a ploy to get people to buy more coffee from Starbuck's, I have to say, I find it pretty compelling. I go out for coffee maybe once a month, but geez, it makes me want to load up a card and start swiping to reach that middle level! I know it's bad, but it feels so good...

Let's see, last night was not one of my best nights. Went out to Cha Cha Cha, a tapas bar, to celebrate some of my RMP coworks' birthdays. 25 people showed up (we were split into two tables - I was with about 10 and 2 birthday girls, the other table had 15 and 1 birthday girl), and one of the birthday girls at my table insisted on ordering five - FIVE - pitchers of alcohol (sangria, mojitos, margaritas) and managed to only order 7 tapas. You can see where this is going.

At the end of the "dinner" (read: snack), the bill comes and someone pipes up that the birthday girls shouldn't have to pay. I have very strong feelings about this - if you organize a birthday party for yourself, you shouldn't expect your friends who show up to pay for you. Also, it puts a burden on people who already got gifts for the birthday girls to pitch in extra. And I was at the table with 2 birthday girls and less overall people, resulting in a FORTY DOLLAR per person tab. Considering I was drunk and hungry, I was not happy.

We went out to a few bars, which I found horrendously hot, crowded, and full of creepy guys leering at me. It didn't help that the first person I ran into at the first bar was an 09 Stanford sigma chi who made my ski trip eviction experience extra miserable last year.

Luckily, Tim came home from Fresno last night at midnight and picked me up. We got a slice of pizza from Pizza Orgasmica on the way home (pesto mushroom! yum!) and played Super Mario Brothers on Wii. It was the highlight of the evening.

Went shopping today with Alison and Molly but didn't buy anything. I have, however, been scoping out a new purse from Nordstrom's which may blow a small hole in my bank account... see below:


So cute. So expensive...

Reading: Let The Great World Spin
Listening: Vampire Weekend, Contra. Totally obsessed!! Listen here: http://www.myspace.com/vampireweekend