Justyn Cooking: Okonomiyaki

Last week we went to Mitsuwa (a local Japanese store) for dinner and they had set up a stand to sell Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake/pizza) along with the ingrediants to make it at home. We hadn't had it since the Japan trip so we immediately jumped on the opportunity to make it at home. They even had a little brochure with the necessary ingrediants and instructions.

I prepped the cabbage and green onion and Justyn did the actual cooking. It turned out soooo good!

OFG KS 2010 Party

I'm really sad... this is a party that I look forward to every year and, sadly, it was the last one. I always get to see familiar faces and catch up with great people. Oh well, I guess this is an opportunity to keep in touch :)

I made Buffalo Chicken Dip which was devoured in no time. (Thanks Melly for the recipe! I changed a couple things but it's essentially the same)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

2 rotisserie chicken breast (from your grocery store)

8oz cream cheese softened

1/2 cup ranch dressing

1/2 cup Frank’s Red Hot

8oz shredded cheddar (save a bit of cheese to put on top)

Chop chicken (I did a fine dice) and mix with hot sauce, shredded cheese, softened cream cheese and dressing in a bowl.

Spread into an 8x8x2 baking dish.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with crackers and/or celery/carrots.

Anyway.. it was good times. I'll miss every one of you if we never get to keep in touch.

Chunger did an amazing job with the photos. (Website: http://studio939.zenfolio.com/)

Cooking: Hainanese Chicken Rice

I made this a while ago and had a massive craving for it. We were going to eat this last night but I ran out of time so I just cooked it for the next day. It doesn't tastes as good as the first time I made it but I suspect it's because I closed up the chicken's butt so the aromatics didn't have a chance to flavor the broth. The rice tastes better this time though. Justyn is loving the chili sauce too which is good.

Here's the recipe in case any of you are interested. This is one of those recipes that you must follow to strictly.. but I promise it'll turn out delish. http://steamykitchen.com/5068-hainanese-chicken-rice.html

Finally Friday Video Challenge: Birthday Card

I always love when Kristina Werner uses stitching in her cards. It reminds me why I started cardmaking. With my uninspired mood, her card this week for her Finally Friday video jump started my creativity. What's weird is that I started making this card before her video came out. The candles on my first attempt turned out kinda chunky and ugly so I revised it so the candles were more uniform and clean. I then added a simple stamped birthday sentiment from my favorite papertreyink.com stamp set. As I'm looking at it, it could probably use something more but I keep telling myself to leave it alone.

Here's another version I finished the next day.

Cooking: Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken

From some of the ingrediants I got at this weekend's trek to the farmer's market, I cooked a Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken recipe from rasamalaysia.com. I think I've become obsessed with getting this recipe so it tastes the same as latest and favorite Vietnamese restaurant. It's harder than you think. The first time I tried it, the chicken was bland and didn't taste anything like lemongrass. This time chicken turned out really yellow (from the tumeric in the impromtu curry powder I made). The sauce isn't even close either! I know the chicken at the restaurant is grilled but the recipe said to stir-fry it and also didn't call for it to be marinated. At the very least it's a pretty easy weeknight recipe and doesn't taste bad. Anyway.. back on the hunt for recipes. Well.. after I finish eating :)

Farmer's Market & Paula

Today my sister and I went to Campbell's farmer's market which is supposedly the biggest in the area. We purused the stalls for ingrediants to make salsa & some lemongrass chicken. My sister ended up getting some heirloom tomatoes, cilantro and limes while I was only able to find garlic, green onions and shallots. It was still fun to look at the variety of specialty foods such as oysters and parmesan twists which were delectable.

After the farmer's market, we met up with one of my friends, Paula, that I haven't seen since college. We went to one of my favorite restaurants called Nam Vang which specializes in Cambodian noodles. I wanted them to experience my favorite noodles, so I ordered on their behalf which was simply a small #1. It consists of "dry" noodles, with some sauce, a variety of meats including liver and heart and a side of pork bone soup.

After a late lunch we went over to Valley Fair so I could return some Laura Mercier tinted moisterizer and to hang out at the wine bar in Santana Row. It was super chill and relaxed which is exactly what I needed after a crazy Friday night. I'm glad I got to reconnect with an old friend on a nice Sunday afternoon.

Cards Blog Challenge: Pinwheels

Here's a pinwheel card I made for this week's Cards Blog Challenge. I didn't want to make a typical pinwheel so I googled how to make different kinds and settled on this style. I used Stampin Up's large tag punch and folded it so it resembled an origami style petal. Unfortunately it doesn't spin but I may make another one that will.