Jaded's Kitchen: March 2009

Monday, March 30, 2009

Cooking: Chinese Black Bean Chicken

I actually had to type that title a few times. Using the word "fermented" normally turns people off. Yes, I used fermented black bean sauce in this recipe. I'm eating it right now and it's delicious. I actually screwed up and added too much black bean sauce to it which made the dish too salty but I used some water and sugar to balance it out. Plus, I served it over really bland brown rice so ultimately it worked out heh.

Recipe: http://www.noobcook.com/2008/09/06/stir-fry-chicken-with-fermented-black-beans-and-bell-peppers/

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Weeding Sucks!

Justyn and I are gonna redo the back patio. It's filled with ugly 70s style rocks, weeds and all around just plain old OLD. Today I pulled out half the weeds while Justyn started shoveling rocks. Total back breaking work I tell you. At least we're getting a workout though right?

Before

After

I plan on replacing the rocks with tiny, smooth, gray pebbles and planting some herbs in some planter boxes. Other than that I haven't exactly figured out what else I'm gonna do with it but I hope in the end it turns out modern and pretty!

Thursday, March 26, 2009

KWerner's Color Inspiration # 47

I have a couple of friend's birthday and a thank you card to make which Justyn just reminded me about. Oh crap! I should've made the thank you card first! Oh well. That just means I need to make more cards. YES! I've been holding back on making cards just because I don't want to get burned out of it and I only want to make cards if I need them. I have two more opportunities now to do so :)

Here's my submission for this week:

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Yummy Dinner

Justyn assembled this spread for dinner tonight. Man it was suprisingly good! I normally don't like eating like this but the different combos that we came up with made it interesting and fun. I paired it with some Talus Pinot Noir 2007. It went perfectly with the snacky dinner.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Scrapbook Expo & Party

On Saturday night I went to the Scrapbook Expo with Esther in Pleasanton. We spent a few hours there shopping and doing make & takes. It was my first experience going to this sort of thing but I had a lot of fun. It doesn't hurt that I scored some great deals too! I bought some American Craft buttons, a Colorbox cats eye in Charcoal (I've been looking all over for it!), some patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket & a couple other tools.

After that we went to Esther's friend's house for a birthday party. It was really cool seeing kabobs hand made. We even go to help which I loved!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

KWerner's Color Inspiration # 46

Wow, I can't believe I've already participated in 13 of these challenges :) Can't complain though, I love doing these. It's so fun to see everyone else's creations and pick up some great ideas along the way.

Anyway, here's my submission for this week.

I also made another birthday card while I was at it. This one is for Ema's friend. I used my new Maya Road gear chipboard shapes. I embossed with silver embossing powder and then used some clear embossing powder on gold chalk ink. I think it's really plain but I'm too tired to do anything more to it.

A Few Layouts

I finally took the leap into scrapbooking...

Leyla's Housewarming Party - Take 2

Yay! I finally got my camera back and now I can start posting again! OK, I'm super excited to have my camera back because I can take pictures of food and my craft shiz too besides sharing pictures with you guys.

Leyla and her roommate decided to have another housewarming party to get rid of all the booze she had at the first party. Hey.. what better way than to get rid of it through partying? Anyway, she requested buffalo chicken dip but I never got around to making it for the first housewarming party. So, I made it for this time around.