Lazy Sunday

Out of desperation and laziness I microwaved an egg this morning. Two eggs, to be exact, in the microwave on .40 power for 90 seconds. I wouldn't recommend it.

You see, I woke up feeling pretty gnarly after 3 Mimosas, 2 shots of Jager, 1 glass of wine, 3 cake balls, 1 slice of Harry and David Mocha Cheesecake, 1 slice of apple pie, and who knows how many buffalo chicken wings, Baked Cheetos and Kettle chips. (This was in addition to my usual breakfast, lunch, and dinner.) Dessert-potluck party: good in theory and fun at the time, bad on the stomach and blood glucose levels. So here I am thinking, "that [breakfast] was kinda gross" and "I should go to the gym." But instead I'm probably going to just finish up blogging before continuing to research digital cameras.

I broke my just-three-year-old (or is this old in digital camera years?) Sony Cyber-shot last night, ironically due to the fact I was being careful handling it. I always put the little wristlet around my wrist but as I was handing it over to my boyfriend, the wristlet caught on my ring and fell onto the counter with the lens sticking out. Although I was able to recover all the recent photos I'd taken and they are now safely stored on my MacBook Pro, picture-taking itself is a lost cause. A bummer, but I've been wanting to upgrade my camera for awhile now. I guess this is the excuse I needed.

I would LOVE to upgrade to a serious camera like the Canon 5D but it's waaaay out of my price range at $2600. I'm looking for something about a tenth of that price and maybe, possibly investing in Adobe Photoshop.

Is it too early to start pestering Santa for this??

Craftin' the Cake Balls - The Funfetti Way

To make Funfetti Cake Balls...

Follow the directions for my brownie bites except use 1 box Funfetti cake mix, Funfetti frosting, and dip in white chocolate.

Just a few changes:

• I found that an entire can of frosting was too much and the cake's consistency was a little mushy for my taste. Next time I am going to use only 1/2 can of frosting.
• Melt three 12 oz. bags of white chocolate chips in the microwave at 30 sec intervals and .20 power. Stir well
• Decorate with the Funfetti sprinkles right after each ball is dipped to the sprinkles stick.

Craftin' the Cake Balls

Cake Balls: hard chocolate candy coating on the outside, fluffy cake on the inside. I swear, it's really not as daunting a baking project as you may think. What helps is that the process practically requires that it be broken up over the course of several days. Plus, I am going to share some tricks and tips for rolling and dipping that make this baking project much more sane.*

Being the chocolate lover that I am, I decided to make my first cake balls into brownie bites by dipping brownie and chocolate frosting balls in semi-sweet chocolate. I know, WHOA, chocolate overload, right? Absolutely! Still, I took them to work on Friday as well as a housewarming party on Saturday where they were gobbled up. However, if you're not a chocolate fiend, the great thing about cake balls is that you can use any combination of cake mix, frosting, and chocolate shell.... Recently I've had red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting dipped in both white and milk chocolate and Funfetti dipped in white chocolate.

Here's my recipe for brownie bites:

Ingredients:

• 1 package of brownie mix
• eggs, vegetable oil, water to make brownie mix as directed
• 1 can of frosting - your choice but I used chocolate. I think I may try cream cheese next time, though!
• 24 oz (2 bags regular-sized 12 oz bags) semisweet chocolate chips
• 12 oz white chocolate chips
• powdered sugar

Tools*:

• 2 large bowls (1 microwave safe)
• 1 baking pan
• wax paper
• spatula
• dipping wand (found at Michaels)
• 3 cookie sheets
• 2 pots as a double boiler
• 1 ice cream scoop
• 1 butter knife
• 1 piping bag and tip (also found at Michaels)
• mini cupcake cups (optional)

*I originally picked up all my supplies at Sur la Table then went to Michaels for the dipping wand where I discovered everything I'd purchased at SLT was cheaper at Michaels.

Directions:

• Bake brownies as directed. Let cool before adding 1 can of frosting. Mix well.
• Chill brownie + frosting in fridge until rollable (I've been know to leave it in the fridge overnight to pick up 24 hours later)
• To make consistently shaped brownie bites, I suggest setting up a work place like the one pictured (minus the tinfoil-ed pan):

• Place wax paper on a cookie sheet.
• Pour powdered sugar into bowl.
• Wash your hands!
• Coat ice cream scoop, knife, and hands in powdered sugar
• Scoop brownie mix and use the knife to scrape off excess
• Pop brownie scoop into your hand, half it, then roll. This process made easier by watching Sex and the City re-reruns ;)
• Since the next step is to dip the balls in melted chocolate, they need to chill in the fridge. (Some people suggest freezing them, but I find that they sweat once they start to defrost which makes the consistency mushy. Yuck.) Again, I usually come back to them 24 hours later as I have a full-time job and only have an hour or two to dedicate to them after work.
• Set up your double broiler (water in the bottom pot, chocolate chips in the top).
• Place wax paper on two cookie sheets to switch back and forth between when one is in the fridge. Hardening your chocolate in the fridge will give them a nice shine versus hardening them at room temperature which leaves them dull-looking.
• One by one, toss the brownie balls into the melted chocolate. Use your dipping wand to scoop completely cover it before scooping it out. Shake as much excess chocolate off before placing onto the cookie sheet.

• After all brownie bites have been dipped and the chocolate coating is hard, melt a little white chocolate in the microwave. (I tried using the double boiler and burnt the chocolate.) I found that microwaving for 30 second intervals on .2o power does the trick!
• Pour white chocolate into piping bag and go to town! I don't bother decorating one ball at a time. I just kinda do it by rows.
• 
• Stick in fridge before popping into cupcake cups. Voila! You're done!

• Store in fridge up to a week. These can also be frozen and defrosted in the fridge.

 For more tips and to view my Funfetti Cake Balls, visit here. 

*Having a partner in crime to assist with the roll, dip, n' drizzle is a huge time saver. Thanks for the intro to cake balls and helping hands around the kitchen today, ladies!

Not Your Average Ramen

Thanks to our neighbors for pointing us to Han Kook Supermarket! Shrek and I are infatuated with this Asian Market down at the corner of El Camino and Lawrence Expressway. In the past, I'd every so often venture into Kyo-Po or Ranch 99 and scurry out with my Kimchi and seaweed salad. (Seaweed salad, by the way, is a delicious side! If you've never tried it, it's got a lovely sesame flavor. A plus? It's a good-for-you side!)

These days I frequent Han Kook at least twice a week to get my fix. Han Kook's got a terrific spread of marinated meats, vegetables, Kimchi, etc that Shrek and I take home to prepare for dinner instead of dining out at Korean BBQ.

We are also really into ramen and Yakisoba after being inspired at Oakland's Eat Real Foodie Festival. Han Kook just makes it all the more easier to be creative. We took it upon ourselves to recreate these delectable dishes:



















Ramen:

Instructions: A little ramen cooked per the package's instructions. Add canned corn (I like Trader Joe's because it's crunchy as if right off the cob!), a little sliced shallot, dried shredded seaweed, and kimchi on the side.

The Yakisoba is slightly more involved: Cook the ramen per the package's instructions but before adding the flavor packet, strain the noodles first. Toss noodles into a griddle with some fresh veggies (Shrek likes green and red peppers, corn, and onion).

Yakisoba pictured on two different occasions. The first is with potstickers, tofu, kimchi and shredded seaweed. The second is with Bulgogi, tofu, kimchi, and seaweed salad sides.

I reccomend pairing the yakisoba with shots of Korean wine ;)

Backyard Tourists

Apologies for my recent absence. Work, play, family, and friends have been keeping me busy! Fortunately, that means I've got a stockpile of reviews to writeup. I'll start with the most recent since it's the most fun.

Last weekend Shrek and I basked in an impromptu weekend getaway in San Francisco. (Thank you extra paycheck that comes around but twice a year!) Sure Shrek and I get away to San Francisco every now and then as it's only a 45 minute drive up 101 from us. But this usually entails grabbing a bite to eat, checking out an attraction like the California Academy of Science, or shopping before returning home the same day. Last weekend, however, was different. What made it a true getaway, in our opinion, was taking on the persona of tourists. We booked the Intercontinental's awesome California Staycation rate as well as a sunset cruise on San Francisco Bay. Although we had our car and knew our way around to BART, we cabbed everywhere. We splurged on food and drinks at the hotel bar (ridiculously overpriced but soo good!), dined out, and capped off the evening by meeting up with friends for birthday drinks and dancing in honor of a SCU friend. The following morning we slept in (i.e. I skipped my usual work out even though the Intercontinental has a beautiful workout facility and lap pool), brunched, and shopped til we dropped. Well, one of us did. I got some boots and finally found my purse, but more on those later.

On our way back the plan was to take the scenic route and head out to Half Moon Bay for some frolicking in the surf and an early dinner. We're dying to try this Crab Landing restaurant after Shrek's brother and sister-in-law raved about it. However, it would have to wait. Our lack of sleep was starting to get to us so we went home, did some laundry and vegged. Later that night as Shrek and I were drifting off to sleep, we were in agreement: we need to do this more often! Not the city again, per say, but more impromptu mini vacations instead of saving up for a big vacation. Of course, those are nice, too, but with only 10 vacation days per year, these weekend getaways are much more practical. And, it truly felt like we were on vacation!

* * *

The reviews:

Since I've already reviewed SF's Intercontinental Hotel ($199), I only have few notes to add:

• -Our last staycation was in February. Hence, it was cold and there was no need for AC. This time AC was a necessity. The room was uncomfortably warm when we arrived. Though it's not energy efficient, it'd be be a nice touch if the hotel anticipated their guests don't want to walk fully-clothed into a sauna. Oh well. We set the AC to 68 before heading down to the bar and our sunset sail. The idea was to return to nice cool room. Unfortunately it was not to be. As far as we could tell upon our return (together, Shrek and I consider ourselves tech-savvy) the AC was set on a motion detector. You leave for more than some odd hours and it turns off. Only later we discovered you can override this feature by pushing the "Do Not Disturb" button. (Which also switches on a red light outside of your door.)
• I'm a serious breakfast person and brunch is one of the reasons I love staying here. It was excellent as always. Choose from gourmet potatoes, scrambled eggs, chicken apple sausage, bacon, various fruits, yogurts, breads, pastries, hard boiled eggs, lox, bagels... Yum!
• Everyone we interacted with who works at the hotel is super friendly. The bartender recommended delishVietnamese pulled pork sliders, were generous with the champagne in the Mimosas, and recognized us the next morning when they assisted serving us breakfast.
• The bar makes deliciously potent Mimosas
• I forgot my toothbrush and got a complimentary "Dental Kit" from the concierge. They don't mess around: you get a real toothbrush and travel size toothpaste as opposed to the generic teeny tiny throwaway ones some hotels stock. I actually kept mine.
• To reiterate: $199 gets you: a superior king room (20th floor or up. Photo is the view from our room. You can also pay $179 and gamble on whether or not you'll get a view of something other than the buildings across the street) + overnight parking (a $55 value) + bfast for 2. (Based on their room service menu, I'd base the value at $25 pp.). They no longer include a $10 gas card which was included last time we stayed.
• Love that it's just 3 blocks walking distance to Union Square shopping and BART. After checking out at noon, the hotel stored our luggage and car at no extra charge while we shopped.

...I'll definitely be back!

Sunset Cruise ($45 pp):
By Adventure Cat. The words that come to mind are: refreshing, breathtaking (literally... you're sailing so fast that it's difficult to catch your breath!), freezing cold, and windy. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

They also offer regular bay cruises at 1 pm and 3 pm for $30 pp. However, aside from the sunset, they don't include drinks and appetizers. I actually managed to finagle a -$10 discount, so the sunset cruise was well worth the extra cash for us. PS The crew is super friendly and the company provides cozy waterproof jackets. Some women were super dressed up and wearing stilettos, which I wouldn't advise. The bow of the boat gets wet and slippery. Fortunately I wore my new boots!

...That's it for now! More later.

My Go-To For Personalized Stationery

A really cute all-around gift idea (bridal shower, wedding gift, friend's birthday, self) is personalized stationery from Design-her Gals.

The idea is to "create your own gal" (or guy) by selecting from thousands of features including eyes, body type, skin color, hair clothing and accessories for production on your choice of stationery, note cards, mugs, etc. I blissfully wasted HOURS creating my look-alike gals with different looks before settling on the following two. At the time there was a buy one, get one free promotion so I was able to order a set of 4 tablets and something like 20 sturdy note cards and envelopes. I think my total was $54 including shipping. A nice touch? 5% of annual gross sales are donated to Stage IV Breast Cancer patients.

Worth the Wait - and the Price Tag

Had been eyeing these ballerina flats by Tory Burch for some time now and finally just last week made them mine when they got them in my size at Nordstrom. 

What initially attracted me to them is their versatility, which I've certainly put to the test this past week. They dress up or down when paired with jeans or skirts and dresses. I can wear them to work, dinner out, or even just running errands. And the greatest part about these shoes? They are sooo comfortable! They - or rather, my feet - survived their inaugural wear trudging all around Santana Row, Valley Fair, and downtown Los Gatos without a blister or sore toe to be found. 

I think it helps that the heel of the shoe is scrunchy-like and hugs your heel so there is no slippage or rubbing while walking. 

The only problem I've come across so far with these shoes? I want them in other colors! Unfortunately, I think I can only rationalize one pair at this time. (Especially since I've been shopping around to add a new belt and bag to my Fall wardrobe, and the bag is shaping up to be Marc Jacobs.) I've already worn them at least once every day since I got them, so if I can get at least 365 wears out of them and they retail for $195, that's roughly 50 cents each time I slip them on and wear them out. So worth it!

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Comments via Facebook:

Ultimate Banana Nut Bread Recipe

I heart banana bread and have been making it for years. However, I think I finally came across the ultimate banana bread recipe. Usually I like mine warm with a little butter melted on top, but this one is perfect just as it is!

It's from the Food Network but I tweaked it for the sake of convenience: I used pecans instead of walnuts and it turned out GREAT! I don't know if it was the extra salt on the pecans or what, but I'm definitely doing that again. Also, if you want to make banana nut muffins instead of bread in a loaf pan, then use a muffin tin and bake for 19-20 mins at 350 degrees. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for preparing the pan
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 very ripe bananas, peeled, and mashed with a fork (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup toasted walnut pieces (I used about 1 cup salted pecans)

Directions

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl, set aside. Whisk the eggs and vanilla together in a liquid measuring cup with a spout, set aside. Lightly brush a 9 by 5 by 3-inch loaf pan with butter. (I spritzed my pan with Pam.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with an electric hand-held mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually pour the egg mixture into the butter while mixing until incorporated. Add the bananas (the mixture will appear to be curdled, so don't worry), and remove the bowl from the mixer.

With a rubber spatula, mix in the flour mixture until just incorporated. Fold in the nuts and transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out of the pan and let cool completely on the rack. Wrap in plastic wrap. The banana bread is best if served the next day. -No way! It's best as it's still warm from the oven! 

My Jamba Alternative

I think I'm one of the few to politely pass on Jamba Juice. However, I certainly haven't been missing out on smoothies this summer! Discovered these at Costco by Yoplait: a super refreshing medley of frozen berries and yogurt cubes packed in 5 individual packets. After adding a cup of milk each packet fills 2 glasses - perfect for me and Shrek. Since the entire package of 5 is purchased for $9.99, each smoothie comes to about $1 each. (And something like 70 calories. Although, we also like adding vanilla-flavored whey to our smoothies, and occasionally we'll add vanilla ice cream if we've got it on hand at home.)

These smoothie packets are also really handy to have at work. I've got my Magic Bullet from my college days which I keep at the office to whip up smoothies and frozen mochas on break. There I use only half a packet each time plus the milk our office keeps on hand for coffees and lattes.

Turning 6 Minute Runs into 6-Milers

Another of my interests outside of what I've touched upon in this blog (being shopping, food, and fun) is health and fitness. It's something I kind of fell into when I started running track and cross country way back in 1996. Fitness- and nutrition-mindedness just naturally followed and, thankfully, stuck with me. Although, those who catch me eating Nutella and frosting straight from the jars by the spoonful might beg to differ. (C'mon, it's FUNFETTI!) Nevertheless, I've decided to include some limited anecdotes on what I've found works and what doesn't for me after years of trial and error.

On running:

I've become something of a gym rat while living in California. After years of running dirt and gravel trails that snake along the local bodies of water and mountainsides of my little corner of the Pacific Northwest, I'm just not accustomed to pounding the pavement with traffic whizzing by, having to pause or stop altogether at streetlights, and getting beeped and whistled at by passersby. Oh, and there was that time I was chased by a bum. It was early a.m. when I spotted him toting his garbage bags full of aluminum, glasses, and plastics. He spotted me and started chasing me down while singing/screaming 'C'mon Baby Light My Fire,' containers clanking and everything as they bounced along the sidewalk. Funny now, terrifying at the time.

As a consequence, today I barely make it as runner on the treadmill. That is, in terms of mileage. I just can't motivate myself to run more than 6 minutes. No more, sometimes less. Recently, however, I got cabin fever and ventured outside to hit the pavement. Much to my delight I found that I could run what I thought was 3 miles quite easily. In fact, I decided to do it the next day and the day following. After a few days of running this loop I decided to track the distance. It turns out that my little 3 mile fun run was actually closer to... a 10K! Or 6.2 miles, which translates into an awesome pace. I immediately looked into some local half marathons to enter. SJ Rock N' Roll or Big Sur?

To think, all those years I spent distance training up to 8 miles per workout in order to be competitive and I could've been running just 6 minutes! As it turns out, there is recent research with results that embrace this "Less is more" concept. (A friend from back in WA shared this with me after asking how my running was.) Although, Runner's World advocates cutting back on workouts while I just cut out the miles. Anyways, here it is broken down for you: the workout I've been following that unwittingly enabled me to run 6 miles easy after only running 6 minutes per day. Though, part of me thinks it has something to do with my distance-running past and muscle memory. This workout has also kept me at a consistent 113-116 lbs for over the past year, even with my self-indulgent eating habits! (To visit in a later post.)

On working out:
I do some combination of the following 6 days per week, not necessarily in this order and I usually vary the intensity and weight depending on how motivated I am on a particular day.

• 4 minute warmup - this morning on the treadmill at a 4.4 mph walking pace and 7.0 incline.
• As soon as the timer hits 3:50 minutes, I bring the incline down to 5 and amp up the speed to 9.0 mph for a full minute before returning to 4.4 mph to walk for a minute. This walk-run pattern continues as I consistently increase the speed each time I run. This is until I'm full-on sprinting at 10 mph (damn treadmills at my gym won't go any faster) by the end of my treadmill workout which ends when the timer hits 15 minutes. Yes, folks, I've got my running down to a total of 6 minutes.
• Next I hop on the elliptical trainer and set the resistance at 13 or 14 for the next 10 minutes. Mind you, I'm not just floating daintily up and down. It's a thigh-burning, heart-pumping 10 minute sweatfest.
• Finally, I pick myself an upright bike and spin for 10 minutes. (Another thigh-burning, heart-pumping 10 minute sweatfest.)
• In order to keep my workouts around 45 minutes, I take the remaining 10 to do some stretching (toe touches and various yoga poses) and a combination of squats (45 lbs on each side), shoulder presses (15's in each hand), and bent-over rows with a 55 lb bar, 10 - 15 reps x 3 sets each.

Some days I'll substitute the leg press (2 45's and a 10 on each side) for squats or bench press (10s on each side of the bar) for shoulder presses. Other days I'll skip weights or running altogether.

That's it!

Although, recently I've become addicted to an exercise I call "rolling" (though I'm sure it has a more technical name) and it's become part of my fitness repertoire. My rolling is a series of movements on a foam roller I picked up at Sports Basement in Sunnyvale for $40. (Awesome active gear and casual wear, by the way! They also give -10% discount on purchases if you belong to Club One.) I enjoy rolling in the evenings while watching TV or on a Saturday morning when I'm not pressed for time. I also do it as an alternative to the gym altogether. Along with massaging and stretching, it strengthens by working my core and arms. Actually just searched YouTube for "foam rolling exercises," and there are quite a few demos out there.

This coupled with the gym routine helps to keep me balanced and sane when my full-time job holds me captive to a desk chair for a good 9 hours straight 5 days a week. Hope some of you can benefit from it, too!