the food network and family

i have never watched so many food network shows in my life. it's the one thing that my mother and i can bond over. our love of food. not to mention one thing that we both agree on is: american food is disgusting.

i never realized how healthy korean food actually was for you. i just started typing this whole shpeal, speal (sp?) on americans, food, and racism, but i'm tipsy right now and i had to force myself to delete it all.

basically, this guy, the face of tgif, the guy who does the thing on food network where he goes to diners and stuff? he's disgusting! GOD. well, to be fair, maybe it's not him, maybe it's just the producers. but his "pleased" look is too convincing for me to think that he's not actually enjoying the bullshit that he puts in his mouth. he went to a place that actually had a pizza flipper to flip PANCAKES. so this diner had pancakes that were too big for a regular spatula. and the same restaurant served this ungodly dish that consisted of sliced bread, topped with a slice of ham the size of a really fat ass, CHEESE SAUCE (do NOT make me get into what this consists of), and crispy fries.

and this guy alton brown is really corny and annoying too. his show 'good eats' is doing a special on sushi and though it's informational, it doesn't denote the fact that the little acting there is on this show is annoyingly bad, as well as alton's technique for delivering information.

but all in all, being with the family is nice. the cake part of the family is always in the living room talking about cakey things together. and cuddling our cakey dog... and my dad is always upstairs watching korean tv on my computer...

i've also realized that if i just spend a few weeks at home, eating my mom's food, i would probably drop about 30 pounds immediately. koreans love pickled shit, but they also love low-fat, low-carb (excluding rice), and low-american-influenced-food. i kind of love it. maybe i should write a book about how you can go to asia and have it be a diet plan.

but i've been baking

today's cups:

i haven't written in a while.

a few things:

one summer ago. sandal tan, bikini tan, so happy.

1. i'm moved into my new place. windansea. next to the beach. i can hear the ocean crashing from my bed. the air is salty. i can't believe it.

2. going to korea for three weeks in july into august. can't express how excited i am to experience humidity, bakeries, and post-hana-in-jr.-high korea.

3. daedelus this saturday. i'll go alone if i have to. that might actually be fun.

4. the veils coming to LA july 15th. definitely going. especially since i have a car now.

5. oh yea, i have a car now. god i can't believe i lived in san diego so long without one.

6. school of seven bells in october at CASBAH. yessssssssss.

7. mandifer moving in soon. so so excited.

8. an order for five dozen cupcakes this saturday. kitchenaid to the rescue.

restless

father's day menu: horseradish potato salad, mustard salmon, bruschetta with french bread, spinach salad.

me and the pops

my homer simpson donut cupcake.

this weekend consisted of a really good show, good food, and good family time. i'm supposed to be moving out of my place tomorrow, and i haven't gotten anything packed. i'm sitting on the floor of my room, next to my bed, dreading the time when i have to put everything in boxes again. it would be nice to settle into a place, once and for all. or it would also be nice to not own much, and be able to move places whenever i feel like it. how did i end up with so much stuff? two years ago i didn't have anything. i like to nest in places, which is why this apartment was so strange. i felt like it was only for a short time, and so i never properly nested. which is also a part of the reason why i never felt at home with it. i still feel like i'm sleeping in some nice hotel that happens to have all my stuff. but the only time i ever felt at home anywhere was when i was living by myself in hillcrest. i guess that's the benefit of paying a lot for an apartment... living itself shouldn't be so expensive. why is it so expensive? why is it so hard? i went home this past weekend and i realized how at home i really felt there. even though it's not mine anymore, i still feel comfortable when i'm there. like all my secrets are out in the open and even though my parents might give me shit, they're not judging me. it's strange, being home. so i'm here now, and i have all this stuff to move tomorrow, into another temporary place, that happens to be right next to the beach, and i know i won't be able to nest there either. i feel weird about this.

but on a semi-related note, i think i'm going to invest in a truck and open up a shop that moves.

and i don't know how i feel about ellipses yet. i don't really like them very much... but i realize that two more periods can go a really, really long way.

na, this one is for you. i know you'll be delighted with this picture:

class of 2008

i just got my cap and gown. for some reason, maybe it was because of last year, i didn't think it would actually happen. i thought that i would go up to the counter, they would swipe my card, put in my information in the computer, and they would look up at me slowly, eyes still on the computer screen, and say something along the lines of: sorry, we can't let you graduate yet. i was kind of hoping something like that would happen. but that would also have been devastating. i was also expecting the guy to swipe my card and then say, i'm sorry, you're not in the system. and then it would've been like i didn't really exist, like i wasn't actually about to graduate, or take a final, or buy my cap and gown. sometimes i really don't think i exist in college. i feel strange, like a fish out of water. but what actually happened was the guy took my broken ID card and chuckled, "i guess that's a sign it's time for you to graduate!" ha ha ha. so he enters in my number and gives me a ticket. asks me what height i am and gives me a gown. and a cap. and a tassel. and that's it. granted, i still have a class left to take. but that's it. the end of college. i don't really know how else it should be. but now i'm about to take one of my last finals of college. and i can't believe it's all really happening. i feel like curling up into a ball in the corner of a room and disappearing.

hero:

finals week

sit down by the fire

there ain't no way to get what i want

proteins are composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.

i feel like i'm wasting my time.

it's windy and dark outside. but i'd rather be there than in here. libraries are so unnatural. humid and unnatural. nobody wants to be here! do they? 

back to cellular respiration.

blackbird singing in the dead of night

Lately, the Price Center blackbird is all the rage:

picture from the guardian

these birds kind of make me happy... but maybe that's because i haven't fallen victim yet.

nutrition

so far, my favorite part about the nutrition class i am taking is how the "average American" and "average person" are always distinguished from each other.

a strawberry cupcake on a gloomy day

thanks to mandifer, i finally have a picture of one of my cupcakes!

here is a strawberry one, positioned next to a cup of coffee from the panni:

and how could i make a post about The strawberry cupcake without any recipe? (S, this is mostly for you since i know you'll use it)

ingredients:

strawberry sauce

2 cups (an overflowing little green basket from the store) of fresh strawberries, stemmed.

a little bit of sugar to taste (i don't use any in mine)

cupcake

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour (i use cake flour but all-purpose works fine)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup strawberry sauce

1/4 cup milk

cream cheese frosting

8 oz. (1 rectangle package) of cream cheese (room temp. let it sit out while you're making the other stuff)

1/2 stick butter (room temp)

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

1/4 cup (i end up using less) of strawberry sapreuce

directions

1. soak the strawberries, stemmed and cut up, with a bit of sugar for 15-20 minutes. put strawberries in a small saucepan and heat under medium heat. cook the strawberries until they get all soft. puree with a blender until it's nice and smooth. cool before using it in the recipe. (because i don't add more sugar to the strawberries, i skip the entire saucepan step and just puree the strawberries. this works fine, and you don't have to wait for it to cool)

2. preheat the oven to 350F. whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium sized mixing bowl (you don't have to use your giant one for this one). set it aside. in a separate bowl (an even smaller bowl), mix the milk and the strawberry sauce.

3. beat the butter on high until it's soft. add sugar and beat until it's light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. add eggs one at a time and beat smooth in between each.

4. add about a third of the flour mix to the butter/sugar mix and beat to combine. add a third of the milk/strawberry mix and beat until combined. keep alternating the flour and milk until you've finished!

5. scoop the mix into cupcake papers until almost full. bake for 20-22 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean! 

frosting

1. sift powdered sugar into a bowl. (when i first started making cream cheese frosting, i would skip the sifting step and god, does it make a difference. sift, sift, sift!)

2. beat butter and cheese together until creamy.

3. add half the sugar, beat until combined. 

4. slowly add some strawberry sauce, not too much because it'll be runny otherwise.

5. gradually add some more sugar (more if you have to because it's too runny) 

6. beat, beat beat!

(another tip: if you want to bring your eggs to room temp real fast, just pop it in a bowl of not-so-hot water and wait for 2 seconds. feel them and they should be warm!)