9 Dec 2011- The Speed of Time, Knitting, Allergic Reactions, Dave and Buster’s, Dog Sitting, a defective Kindle and a Giant Cookie, and Cold nights, Warm days!

I have recently reduced the frequency of my blog posts from every other day to once a week or so, since time seems to be moving especially quickly nowadays, and I’m very aware that my time spent in the US is fast approaching its close!

Recently, I’ve been knitting a hell of a lot, since I have decided to make scarves or hats for my relatives here, as Christmas presents. So far, I have knitted 3 scarves (1 dappled brown and seen in a previous post, 1 cream and light brown, and one plain light brown), and two hats (one burgundy, and one light brown). Below is a pic of the light brown and cream scarf, and the light brown hat:

Obviously, knitting takes a lot of time, and I’ve been knitting whilst watching the TV, or traveling in the car with Winston- just whenever I have a spare moment! It’s satisfying to see a finished product handmade from long strings of twisted wool, and it makes a lovely gift. I’m so grateful to my ole’ Auntie Frances (the next door neighbour who babysat me and my siblings when we were little) for teaching me to knit during school holidays. Hopefully, I’ll learn to crochet as well, and Winston will be my teacher in that. I find it quite funny he knows how to crochet, but he learnt how to do it himself, and used to sell his beanies at $10-$15 a pop in college!

I do not like suffering extreme allergic reactions. Especially when it’s to a substance that I haven’t suffered an allergic reaction to before. That substance was oyster sauce, and I used it to make some chicken and bacon adobo as an aromatic surprise for Winston when he came home from work the other day.

Granted, the adobo was very tasty, but about an hour later, I started to itch a little. Then…I started to itch intensely, and complained to Winston about it. He told me to lift my top- not in a perverted manner, but to see how my skin was doing, and I had broken out in hives. My skin was welted everywhere on my torso due to my scratching, and after another short while, when I noticed that the hive blotching was spreading to the hollows of my knees and the insides of my elbows, I took a antihistamine called Loratadine. This is a non-drowsy anti-allergy drug with one dose lasting 24 hours, and I was so grateful I had it in my bag. When you’ve suffered from bad eczema in the past, and urticaria is a constant but manageable bane in your life, you become more conscious of allergens that could cause a potentially large reaction, and hence carry antihistamines as a backup. Imagine if the reaction had happened when I was outside and wearing a sleeveless dress with no tights? I would have been okay, but people may have recoiled at the sight of me, lol! It didn’t help that I’d been drinking light beer with Winston beforehand whilst eating the adobo, so it took a while for the antihistamine to kick in. A very uncomfortable while! Winston got quite worried, but the antihistamine did its job well! I don’t quite understand why I had such a reaction, since I’ve eaten enough oyster sauce in the past and use it in a lot of my home cooking, but when I checked the bottle with its faded BBE date, I saw it state Oct 2011. Maybe that’s why I had a reaction? What do you think?

On a lighter note, we visited our local Dave and Buster’s the following evening. Obviously, saying anything is local in the US is equivalent to a place being 15 to 30 minutes car ride away from a home location, and D and B’s was 15 minutes car ride away. This social place has a big bar, a restaurant, and loads of video game machines and gambling machines, and Winston and I had a great time gambling on one machine in particular- Deal or No Deal. The prize was a number of tickets that could be exchanged for a gift, as long as one had collected enough of them. We managed to get a lot of tickets from this machine but haven’t exchanged them yet.

We also played a video game using those plastic guns. My character died after the enemy started getting too close for comfort, but I had a good innings while I still had some life! Winston was a much better shot! I guess guys just have an inherent ability to play shoot-em-ups particularly well.

The next day, Winston and I visited his friends, Sid and Annie. Sid and Annie are a married couple who own a dog named Bella. She’s two years old, and pretty energetic and boisterous most of the time. Here, she was relaxing with her head half off the sofa cushion, but usually she’s a streak of energy I can’t capture properly on the camera!

 

Anyhow, we had a nice time hanging out with them watching the Victoria’s Secret Model Beauty Pageant, and chatting before going home via the Trolley (San Diego’s tamer version of the tube, but above ground). Before we went home, we offered to Bella-sit for them on the Saturday, since they were flying off to a different state to attend a wedding during the weekend. Their lodger, Rodney, could have looked after the dog, but he was away at Disneyland on the Saturday. So, Sid and Annie accepted, and Bella was picked up and ran free in Winston's flat. Goodness, does that dog have a LOT of energy. We took her for a walk around the local area for 45 minutes or so, and she bounded up and down playing with the fallen autumnal leaves. On that same walk, I discovered the mall is half an hour fast walk away, so at some point, I’m going there to check it out properly.

Later on that night, Winston told me that Bella was used to sleeping at the foot of the bed. Now, I don’t mind dogs, but I’m not used to them sleeping in the bedroom, and it didn’t help that Bella liked sleeping on my covered feet, or resting on my calves. But she was a welcome warmth on a cold night (along with Winston of course), and luckily for her, I didn’t toss and turn as much as I usually do. Must be my subconscious being polite, hehe!

The nights are really cold here, but the days are quite warm, so multiple blankets are great to snuggle into. At this time of year, the UK is absolutely freezing, so since I’ve acclimatised to the recent San Diego weather, I’m not going to insult a Londoner’s intelligence by saying ‘You think it’s cold in the UK….gosh, it feels much more colder here at night!’ (said with a wry grin).

Bella went back on Sunday, and, as I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Winston and I hung out with him watching football the entire day, and me (being a football widow) watching old Family Guy episodes on the iPAD via Hulu (a streaming channel provider), and knitting. I would have read instead, but my kindle had become defective and the eInk screen was obscured with vertical and horizontal lines and spaces.

Turned off completely!

I rang up Amazon, and after discussing my problem, they said they’d replace my defective kindle with a new kindle! I call that great customer service! However, since my kindle was registered to the UK, they could only send the replacement to a UK address (so thanks, Belle, for looking after it for me!). I’ll be returning my old one back once I’m back in the UK, otherwise Amazon will charge me the price of a new kindle! Fortunately, having no Kindle means I’ve rediscovered the joys of a hard copy book and newspaper world, and I came across some funny cartoons while I was waiting for a cookie to bake. Two cartoons specially tickled me, so I’ve posted them below. Do they make you smile too?

As for the cookie…I spontaneously decided to make one huge giant cookie for Winston as a demonstration of my affection for him, and it was a big, chewy success! I obtained the recipe from this website: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/05/giant-cookie.html but I baked the cookie at a lower temperature of 325 degrees Fahrenheit for a slighter longer time to ensure the cookie middle was cooked sufficiently, and I used chopped Butterfinger pieces (from a leftover box bought during a cinema outing) instead of chocolate drops.

For convenience’s sake, here’s the recipe as taken from Mel’s Kitchen Café:

GIANT COOKIE RECIPE

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cream together the sugars and butter. Add the egg and vanilla and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Line a large (11X17-inch) baking pan with foil and press the cookie into a circle. I press my cookie into a 9-inch circle, about 1/4 to 3/8-inch thick. When it bakes, it spreads to about 11 inches, which fits perfectly onto a 12-inch round cardboard circle you can find at most craft stores.

If desired, top the cookie with M&M’s or any other garnishes. Bake for 13-16 minutes until the cookie is lightly golden brown. Let the cookie cool completely on the baking pan – this helps the cookie stabilize and set so it can be easily lifted off the pan. Once cool, gently use the foil to lift the cookie off the pan.

Winston wished we’d had some plain icecream to eat with the cookie, but it was only a wish, and the cookie was absolutely DELISH!

I just wish the tines of the E hadn't got slightly wonky! :) 

(Certain names have been changed to protect identities.)

30 Nov 2011- Moving, Mexican Food, Thankgiving, Tailgating, San Diego Chargers and a Sparkly Christmas Tree

It’s been quite a while since I last blogged. I said I would do so from the 23^rd Nov, but I didn’t realize it would be quite so hectic from then until now!

We finally managed to finish unpacking and tidying on the 23^rd, but goodness me, it was a long-winded and quite stressful process to move.  Multiple trips, multiple boxes, multiples of everything! But I am so glad we finished doing all we needed to do before Thanksgiving. Initially, Winston wanted to move the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I persuaded him otherwise. Who wants to move after a national holiday had made you replete and indolent? Best to do it beforehand, I say!!

Eating during a move, and before and during the holiday was not the healthiest I’ve been with foodstuffs, but it was definitely tasty. On the 19^th, we were so tired with moving a lot of boxes that we ended up having a midnight feast of Mexican takeout from a food chain called Sombrero. What I have pictured below is 1 portion of Carne Asada Fries- composed of thin chips topped off with fried pieces of steak, guacamole, sour cream, tomato salsa, and shredded cheese; 4 rolled tacos with a little bit of shredded steak wrapped within and the whole lot topped off with sliced lettuce, cheese, and the condiment of salsa verde; and 1 large burrito enclosing Mexican rice, mixed salad, and pulled pork. On the left in the plastic bag is Mexican carrot pickle, and surrounding the food boxes are various condiments and a drink of rice cinnamon milk. I’d like to point out that these portions are sized for 1 PERSON. Yep, I said they are 1 PERSON PORTIONS! Aren’t they huge? Winston and I shared all the food between us, and I was stuffed.

Mexican Takeout!

I’m glad Winston can cook though, because eating too much junk food can make the colon sluggish. I usually cook the majority of meals since I have so much free time, but he made us dinner on the 21^st, of marinated pork escalopes, rice and sinigang- yum!

Garlic Chili Oil, a bowl of sinigang, and pork escalopes with rice!

I used the condiment chili garlic oil (homemade, as mentioned in my post of 19 Nov) to add a bit of a kick to my rice, and honestly, I reckon it goes well with everything savoury!

We had an early Thanksgiving Dinner, just Winston and I, on the 23^rd. We were stuck between going to the Royal Mandarin restaurant for Chinese, or the Korean BBQ place we visited before. Royal Mandarin is very well known in San Diego for its Salt and Pepper Chicken wings, which are apparently very crispy and very tasty. However, the Korean BBQ place has the most delectable tidbits of fresh and marinated vegetables, meats and seafood on offer to cook for oneself! Korean BBQ won out in the end, but at some point, we’ll probably get takeout from the Chinese place. 

We were on a portable grill at first...

Mmmmmm......

Then we moved to a table with a proper grill once a few diners had left!

For Thanksgiving, we went to Winston's cousin’s house in Long Beach (located between San Diego and Los Angeles), and started out at about 3.30ish. The drive was 2 and a half hours long, and the roads were almost deserted during that time. Most Americans had traveled during the earlier hours of the day or the night before, so there was hardly any traffic.

By the way, I didn’t waste that driving time doing nothing. I knitted. I finally finished that scarf yesterday, and here’s the result of my hard work:

At least I’m ready for cold weather when I go back to the UK!

Anyhow, once we got to the house, we ate a goodly portion of roast turkey, baked ham with pineapple, lumpia ubod, vegetable lasagna, baked bread stuffing, creamy mashed potato, mixed salad, steamed asparagus spears, and rice, followed by a goodly portion of pureed pumpkin pudding, Rice bico (aka a Filipino baked rice dessert with cinnamon and coconut cream), mini chocolate cupcakes with soft icing sprinkled with hundreds and thousands, walnut cookies, and chocolate cookies. I contributed the Rice bico, and they were a success! Phew! Because the recipe for that was an experimental composite of ingredients gleaned from the multitude of recipes I read for Bico!

The rest of that night was taken up with grazing here and there whilst having a nice chat with everyone, and a fire pit was created in the back yard around which we drank alcohol, chilled out, and chatted more.

However, Winston and I didn’t stay. We left about 11pm, and it took 2 and a half hours to drive back (during which I did more knitting). We were thinking of taking a gander at the Black Friday sale that started at midnight in Best Buy, and Walmart, etc, but we were too knackered by the time we got back to San Diego, and car parks and queues to get in the stores were amazingly packed and long. I don’t like too crowded a shop, or too long a queue, so I’m glad we bypassed it to lay our aching and tired limbs in bed. Sitting in a bucket seat for a long while makes the tailbone ache!

On Friday we visited my Auntie Nora’s house and had a late lunch there after which we went to the Mall to check out the 30-40% discounts on clothes (that only occur on that particular Black Friday). I wish it was Black Friday every day, because some of the clothes I saw were lovely and usually much more expensive! Saturday was our only day of rest, since we had a ball game to attend at the Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley on Sunday 27^th Nov. This was also my first tailgating event. Tailgating to an American is basically cooking a barbecue and eating food out the back of your car in a parking lot before or after a special event. I always thought tailgating meant driving too close to the car in front of you, but that’s the British definition for you!

Winston and I and a lot of Winston’s friends were there from 9 onwards, and a lot of food was made! I was introduced to Loco Moco for breakfast. It’s a Hawaiian breakfast that consists of rice, a beef pattie, and a fried egg all smothered with gravy, and it was delicious! The rest of the time was spent with everyone chatting and playing games- basically hanging out- whilst grazing on barbecued Louisiana fire sausages eaten with mustard and ketchup in a soft hotdog bun, rice, barbecued beef patties, mini cheese danishes, different flavours of crisps, and plenty of beer or well drinks (I discovered the definition of well drinks during a visit to TGI Fridays. It’s basically a hard liquor like whisky or vodka mixed with a non-alcoholic beverage like soda water, lemonade or coca cola).

Part of the Stadium parking lot

It was a marvelously hot day, and there was a huge sense of camaraderie in the air. I have to admit that Americans really know how to make any event seem ‘huger’ then it is, and definitely know what to do when it comes to entertainment and getting a crowd moving! Especially at football games!

The stadium was packed and amply dotted with waving flags, banners, costumes, face paint, and T-shirts showing their support for that person’s chosen football team, and the speakers blasted out commentary and music which gave the stadium a very cheery feel!

Refreshment booths inside the stadium.

Cheerleaders hyping up the crowd!

Annie and Sid- a married couple we know. Sid is one of Winston's close mates.

Popcorn, Crisp, and various cold drinks vendor.

A mate got a bit more wasted then bargained for, and fell asleep- during the game!

Flags for various football team logos were displayed around the entire stadium.

Unfortunately the San Diego Chargers lost, and Winston and his mates were a little disappointed but accepting of that loss. The Chargers have been on a losing streak recently, and TV sports news commentary blame the coach for not training the players properly so they play as a winning team. Since I don’t support any team, and only support the Chargers by default (because Winston is a fan), I don’t care who wins one way or another, but I did have a wonderful time!

Chargers Who? Hehe, just kidding!

Winston and I had taken the Trolley (equivalent of the Tube in London but less stops and it’s above ground) to the game and luckily, we only had one stop to go to get home. Unfortunately, someone in the carriage let off a stink bomb of a fart, and when we managed to escape its lingering smell, a guy shouted out at us, ‘You are so lucky you get off here!’

I’m just glad we had one stop to go, followed by a 5 minute long leisurely walk back home and a welcome by a sparkling Christmas Tree. Have you put yours up yet? In the UK, I usually put mine out on 1^st Dec, but Winston wanted the faux tree up on 1^st Nov! But I stopped him and said we could do so as soon as we moved into the new flat. I decorated the tree, and Winston helped me make a few metres of aluminium chains for it from scratch to fill in any foliage gaps.  I don’t recommend making aluminium chains unless you have the patience to do so. It’s easier to get tinsel, but I wanted us to make something for the tree that we teamed up to make together! In essence, it was our first Christmas Tree decorated together! Now all I have to think about are what presents to get!

18 Nov 2011- Why I like experimental cooking, Sisig, Chilli garlic oil and salted eggs, and warning of a unavoidable blog break!

Every day is a cooking day! And for me in particular, every day is an experimental day! Winston gets the brunt of my experimental recipes- called that because I will usually come up with a spontaneous idea for what I want to cook that day, will then browse the internet for recipes, read quite a few of them, and then adapt parts from each to make my own recipe. I don't really record what my recipes are, but if I find that a recipe is successfully eaten with pronouncements of 'Oohs' and 'Ahhs' and 'Can I have some more please?’ I try to write it down in my notebook (old style pen and paper, not on my computer). Don’t get me wrong, some experiments will work, others won’t, but through trial and error, the majority of experiments do! Phew!

There are times when I will follow a particular recipe to the letter, but those times are few and far between, and following a recipe properly does not always guarantee success.

I remember when I was about 13 or 14, that I made Greek lemon chicken for my family. I followed the recipe EXACTLY. Lemon chicken is supposed to look like this:

Instead, it looked worse then this:

The person who cooked this recipe stated that ‘There was way too much watery juice and too much lemon flavour’.  I had the same problem, but I thought it could be resolved by boiling. I boiled so much that the chicken fell of the bone and everything actually dissolved into mush! My logic behind that: boiling will boil the excess lemon flavour away. Sadly, my logic didn’t work. I served the pot of lemon chicken mush to my family, and my brother rated it ‘yuk’ after trying it because the lemon taste was too overwhelming. Everyone tried a bit out of respect for my effort, but couldn’t take more then a mouthful. I did my best to promote my dish by taking a few more mouthfuls, but even I couldn’t take it anymore and acknowledged defeat. I think we ended up eating bowls of cornflakes sprinkled liberally with sugar and drenched in cold milk- much more ‘Yum!’

This is where my love of reading saved me. I like reading food encyclopedias and interesting cook books, and I read almost all the contents of the various food associated books my mother owned as I wanted to limit any food mistakes I made in future. I’m a ‘whatever’ cook really, as I use ‘whatever’ I have in the cupboard and throw it together (with a little bit of thought) with some herbs, spices, or/and other condiments into a pot or pan. Although there are six essentials for me that must be in my food cupboard at all times: onions, garlic, ginger, canned chopped tomatoes, eggs, and chicken stock cubes. I always use something from my essential list in my cooking, especially onions!

Recently, I’ve made salted eggs, sisig (a favourite of Winston's) and chilli garlic oil. The salted eggs are a surprise for Winston to be eaten from the 17^th Dec, as it takes a month to salt them properly. Luckily, I didn’t have to explain away the disappearance of 8 eggs from the fridge as Winston just assumed I’d used or eaten them from all the cooking I’ve been doing. Fingers crossed they turn out well, as they will be well seasoned with pepper, cooking sherry, star anise, and especially salt!

The sisig recipe was a success, even though it should be pure chopped pork from all parts of the pig used to make it. I used a mixture of pure sirloin steak burgers and pork sausage patties all chopped up, boiled and drained to remove as much fat as possible, and then marinated with a special marinade made from chillis, onions, garlic, ginger, vinegar, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and salt. Erwin obtained the meat from his work place, hence the oddness in meat ingredients, and I obtained the recipe from here: http://www.pinoyrecipe.net/filipino-pork-sisig-recipe/#ixzz1e0ZmZqpm. It tasted so good, and I discovered that Guinness instead of lager or beer pairs very well with it! Try it out if you can!

The chilli garlic oil was the best thing I made, and I am SO going to make more of it in future. I got the recipe from a YouTube video, but adapted it as I prefer more solid matter then oil in my chilli garlic oil!

The recipe is as follows:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of any neutral flavoured oil (like canola oil)

Half a cup of dried chilli flakes

Half a bulb of garlic (finely chopped)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

METHOD:

Heat the oil in a high-sided pan on the hob on a low heat for 10 minutes.

Add the half cup of chilli flakes. The oil will froth and rise on the addition, which is why a high-sided pan is needed.

Cook the chilli flakes for about 10 minutes. They should look a bit darker and toasted after that time.

Add the salt and sugar.

Add the chopped garlic. Cook for a further 10 minutes, or until the garlic has browned but not burned.

Pour it into a clean jar. It is best to leave the chilli garlic oil to cool to allow for a stronger flavour, but you can start using it as soon as the mixture is warm.

I think I’m addicted to using it as a condiment now, hehe!

Just so you’re forewarned, Winston and I are moving today and tomorrow. As you know, moving the contents of an apartment can be pretty tiring, and I won’t be able to blog properly from now until the 23^rd Nov- basically because the new apartment won’t have an internet connection until the 22^nd Nov, and we will also be busy packing, moving, and unpacking boxes.

Any Skyping I do won’t occur until the 23^rd Nov.

So you’re rid of me for now. Enjoy the break, hehe!!