Asian Cashew Chicken

I really, really love Chinese food.  Any Asian food, actually, but especially take-out Chinese.  It gives me the same comforting feeling that other people probably get from fried chicken, mashed potatoes, or collard greens.  I can't explain it, but it just makes me happy.  But for some reason, I rarely cook Asian food myself.  Maybe I was afraid I'd get sick of it if I actually made it, or that I'd screw it up and ruin Chinese forever (highly unlikely).  Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try.

Another blast from the past (I first made it last January), this Asian cashew chicken is just as awesome as anything I could get at our local No. 1 Chinese Restaurant - and without all the MSG, whoo!  Makes great leftovers, too.  I proudly announced that I had made this from scratch when I brought it in to school for lunch the next day.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Favorite Chili & Corny Bread

I have a confession to make.  It took some inspiration from my truly lovely friend Janine (over at HeARTful Cooking) to get back on my food blog.  I really enjoyed making it, and I've cooked so many interesting things over the past year, but never found the wherewithal to just bite the bullet and make a post about it!

I tend to be long-winded in my blog posts.  I think that's my problem.  Ever get to a point where you know it'll take you so long to do something (like, really unnecessarily long) that you just don't want to start?  That was where I was at.  For a year.

But I really, really like this little blog of mine, and you know, next year's going to be a little weird.  My funding situation is potentially non-existent.  I probably won't be teaching.  I'll be taking just two classes, most likely.  I'll be retaking a Masters exam.  So I'll need to find some solace in food.  Cooking it, not getting take-out like I have been.  But that's a different issue.  (Damn you, Falafels and your shawarma!)

Welcome back to Please Pass the Muffins.  Here, we like muffins.  And you.

Cheddar & Apple Salad Bites

I'm back!  I've got bronchitis, and I sound a little pitiful when I talk, but I'm back!  And I promise, I didn't cough on these bites before I served them to my boyfriend for lunch.

The first week of classes went well, but it's funny how your body can just rebel against you and tell you a firm, "NO.  I'm not doing this anymore.  I need sleep, and water, and some antibiotics.  Then - and ONLY then - will I do what you want me to do."  I thought I had a cold for a while, but it didn't go away.  Then I got a cough.  And by Friday, I had a full-blown fever, which is always the winning point in the "should I go to the doctor?" argument I have with myself sometimes.  So I got "on the sauce," as my dad likes to say, and now I'm here.  Thank God I have a 3-day weekend and some codeine-infused cough syrup to help me recuperate.

Also, I finally finished reading a book I've been working on for literally more than a year (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, in case you're really wondering).  I'm not sure why it takes me so long to finish books, but I think it has something to do with a lack of time for pleasure reading, combined with a desire to make things last.  Probably more of the latter.  It actually makes me sad to hear people say they finished a book in one day.  Where's the chance to really think about it and enjoy it and let the characters sink in and become part of you?

I guess I do the same thing with food, too - I've definitely been called a food hoarder more than once in my life.  I've let food go bad more than I'd care to admit because of this habit of wanting to "save it for later."  I just don't like to see things go quickly, you know?  I want to know that I've gotten to spend a sufficient amount of time with my food (or book) for my money.

These salad bites are my first venture into my new project, based on the lovely 30 Pounds of Apples and her delicious recipes.  So even though I may be slightly phlegm-y, I managed to keep my promise to myself (and to you) to do a post this week, and I intend to continue.  See you next week for round 2!

Projects. And Love.

I need a project.  After watching "Julie & Julia" for the first time today... as a food blogger, I need a project.  I need something that will keep me writing here, because it's rare enough that I cook something, what with the crazy hectic schedule of a grad student and teacher.  It takes all I have to make something that isn't frozen pizza, I will tell you right now.  So even if I do cook something, I just can't find the time or energy to take pictures, or to write about it.

BUT.  If I gave myself a project, like the one Julie Powell gave herself.  Maybe I could find the time to actually make food that is good for me, maybe some that's not, and maybe... just maybe, I could breathe life into my relatively short-lived and currently dormant blog.

I used to have a LiveJournal in which I wrote all the goings-on of my little life.  I was most active with it during high school, and some in college.  I chronicled every single day I spent in Paris, which I'm so grateful for.  But my last entry was nearly two years ago, and I can't think why.  I have just as many feelings now as I did then - perhaps more - but nothing seems as dramatic or perhaps able to be put into words as it did then.  Sometimes when I was feeling really crappy, I would rant and rave and dump everything in a private entry so I could just be rid of it.  I guess it wasn't too long after Kyle and I moved in together and I could rant and rave to him instead that I stopped writing everything down... Huh.  I guess boyfriends and blogs have a lot in common.

Elsweyr Fondue, Grilled Leeks, and Black-Briar Mead

So much has been going on lately!  I've been taking all kinds of trips all over the country and am planning more soon.  I wish I could talk about all of them in detail, but I will just say that I'm preparing for something, and I'm very excited about it.  After traveling to different states, I've been daydreaming about traveling to different states and different countries almost constantly, and I've been trying to come up with a Travel Bucket List.  Here's what I have so far:

1. England.  Not just London either, but Oxford, the Cotswolds, the Yorkshire Dales, Birmingham, and many other places I haven't even realized are there yet.  I've been to England twice already, but I need to take Kyle with me this next time.  I just love being there.  Having lots and lots of ancestors that are from there, I feel like I'm making a pilgrimage to the Motherland each time I go.

2. Argentina.  I have been infatuated with South America ever since I got the Amazon Trail CD-ROM game in like, 1996.  Argentina has always held a sense of mystery and exoticism that I've always been attracted to.  So much so that I did my 5th grade project on it.  I secretly want to hang with South American natives, drinking maté and dancing the tango.

3. Prince Edward Island, Canada.  If only because Anne of Green Gables was set there, and it looks gooorgeous.  My trip would, of course, be during the summer and not during the butt-ass-cold of winter.  And then I could pretend I'm Anne Shirley, traipsing about the countryside and getting into Scooby-Doo scrapes, turn-of-the-century style.

4. Washington State, USA.  I never had a huge burning desire to go there until Kyle's mom and brother moved out to Puyallup, WA, and I started to see pictures of lush, green forests and majestic mountains.  It looks like a beautiful place to be (almost reminds me of the Alps), and it has an alternative side, too - with lots of unique shops and cool, organic and ethnic restaurants - which is right up my alley.

5. Iceland.  Maybe it was seeing it from an aerial view as we came into the airport for our flight connection, but there's something other-worldly about Iceland.  It actually looked a lot like Mars from my IcelandAir jet.  And their language!  So alien and beautiful to my ears.  I want to hear moar.  Also, they have crazy Northern Lights, as seen in this picture.

 

6. Arizona, USA.  I went once in elementary school, and absolutely loved it.  There is a very quiet, serene beauty in the deserts of Arizona.  Once again, it appeals to my sense of mystery and exoticism, and I don't even need a passport to feel like I'm in a different world.

7. Cairo, Egypt.  Another childhood fascination of mine was ancient Egypt and its culture.  Seeing the pyramids at Giza and experiencing that culture firsthand would be an experience I don't want to miss.




These are just a few places, of course.  There are many others that are on my much longer list.  But one of these days, when I have the time and the financial resources, I will get on a plane and go!

Anyway, back to food!  In this entry, you will find the bulk of the Skyrim meal I made.  Not featured here are the Sweet Rolls I made to go along with it.  All the recipes are from the same lovely blog as last time, Gourmet Gaming, and all the food is inspired by the video game Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and is reminiscent of something a Viking would have eaten long ago, in a galaxy far, far away...

Skyrim Sweet Rolls

A while back, I discovered a wonderful fantastic blog called Gourmet Gaming.  The girl who runs it posts a recipe every Wednesday.  Unlike most food blogs, each recipe must be for a food featured in a video game.  Every recipe is an original creation by her because, with very few exceptions, video games don't include nutrition facts and ingredients.  She does a phenomenal job recreating foods no one has ever seen before, let alone tasted.  Personally, my favorite part of each entry is seeing the side-by-side comparison of her food with a screenshot from the game, such as:

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep - Spark Lemon

Yoshi's Cookie - Yoshi Cookies

And of course...

Portal - The Cake Is A Lie

But the food that I was most excited to make was from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  Mainly because I had fallen in love with the Elder Scrolls universe when Kyle and Wil had me make a character in Oblivion a few years ago and roam around the gorgeous scenery and meet all the fantastic creatures.  It's like WoW on steroids, with prettier graphics and more features.  And then Kyle got Skyrim when it came out in November, and I fell in love all over again.  With the sweeping mountainous scenery, the animation and interactions with the people, and the food!  Food fit for a viking, which Kyle loved.  So I was joyfully overwhelmed when Gourmet Gaming posted Skyrim recipes.  And not just the sweet rolls, but an entire Skyrim meal!  I had to save up my gold to get all the fixin's for it, but I ended up making it just before Christmas. (Yes, I'm aware that Christmas was many days ago.  But I'm actually, legitimately going to try to post once a week again, yay!)

But let's start out with the sweet rolls.  This was dessert, but I made them first, because, as I suspected, they took the longest to make.  Many steps.  None of which I had ever really done before.  But so worth it.

Catch Up With Kale Chips

As the title of this post suggests, I'm playing "catch up" now that I have a leeeettle bit more free time.  As of right now, there is only a very small amount of work left to do on my grad school applications before I just sit, wait, and relax.

I say "relax," but it's actually quite nerve-wracking to have absolutely no idea where you're going to be in six months, and how things are going to play out during that time.  When will I move?  To where?  When will I start school?  How much financial aid will I get?  What will the area be like?  How will I get to visit someplace far away like Texas or Indiana?

These are the kinds of things that are always picking at my head like an angry bird.  No, not the kind on your cell phone.  Maybe more like an annoying bird.

But in the mean time, I'm still cooking, trying to save money and eat healthy at the same time, which is a large feat in and of itself.  Most days I'm not doing either particularly well!  But I try.  And I exercise!  Zumba is so. much. fun.  It gets me home late, which is the only reason why it's hard to make myself go, but once I get there, I have a blast!  There's no way the chicks on the ellipticals look forward to working out as much as I do.

Without further ado, I made kale chips a while ago now.  They came out a little oily, and very fragile, but for the price of 1 bunch of kale, I made the equivalent of like, 10 of those $5 bags of kale chips you see at health food stores.  AND Kyle and Jim, who are normally averse to eating healthy food, like them too.  Whoo!