... I just wanted to share publicly my love for this cookbook:
This book has become my cooking bible. I use it all the time. It not only has 100% foolproof, delicious recipes, it also has long explanations of why each recipe uses certain ingredients and techniques. It explains the methods the test kitchen used to get each step of the recipe, and give very clear, precise instructions that, if followed, lead to perfect dishes every time. It's like going to a cooking class for every recipe.
It has over 1000 recipes, and ranges from appetizers to grilling to baking to desserts. If I want to make a certain dish, I always turn to this book first. I highly recommend it to any home cook, and for those of you with a Costco card, it's only $20, which is a steal for such a large cookbook.
Just thought I'd share this goodness with all of you. You're welcome!
... In high school, I severely disliked watching sporting events. Now, for whatever reason, I love it! And this month is a great one for sports-watching.
The Lakers (Alma's fave team) are playing the in the NBA Finals in a repeat of 2008 with the Celtics, and the World Cup just started and will last for the entire month! Even better, USA & Mexico tied their first games, and South Korea won! (Isn't it great that our house is so multicultural?)
We were about to cancel our cable service, but have decided to wait until these awesome games are done.
In other sports news, can you believe the turmoil in college football conferences? Here's hoping the Mountain West becomes a BCS conference!
... My darling sister-in-law Ji-hye came to keep me company over the weekend while Alma's in Hawaii. We had an excellent time!
Saturday night we had the fantastic idea to get a pedicure. Halfway through the pedicure, the Vietnamese woman doing my feet looked at my nails and said (please read in an Asian accent):
"Oh your hands are no good. You want manicure?"
I politely declined, but she was insistent.
"Only ten dollars more for manicure. Already paying $25. Only $35 for both. Cheap!"
How could I say no to that marketing ploy? I looked over at Ji-hye and said, "Why not?"
I'm a total sucker. But my hands and feet sure do look nice!
... Alma is in Hawaii right now without me. Lame. Exceedingly.
Really, he went home to take his brother Sung-do through the temple (yay!), and to attend his brother Mosiah's seminary and high school graduation. So he has some pretty good reasons for leaving me home alone while he basks in the tropical sun on the beach in Hawaii.
But that doesn't mean I have to be happy about. Darn the fact that I have a job!
... I went to my very first Bunco Night on Tuesday. I now feel completely inducted into Mormon Housewifedom. I'd never played it before and always wondered what all the hype was about. Now that I've played, I still don't know why it's such a craze among Mormon women. Just between you and me, I think it's really just an excuse to get out of the house and away from husbands and children for a night.
That said, however, I of course couldn't reject the offer to become an official member of their bunco group -it's an elite club of only 12 women - and you can only join when another woman drops out. I went as a substitute, but fortunately for me, a woman there announced that she was moving and I jumped on the opportunity to become a permanent fixture of their bunco group.
As a devout, faithful Mormon woman, how could I turn that down?
... Sometimes, in life, living from day to day, I lose sight of the big picture. During those times, it helps to remember that certain things are temporary and others are not. It helps get me refocused.
Things that are temporary:
My job
Law School
Being poor
Student loan debts
Not being able to visit family and friends
Rainy days
Things that are forever:
Marriage
Family
The Church
Friends
... I've found that sometimes the kitchen can be a hazardous place.
Soon after Alma and I were married, we were having dinner with his mom. I guess she was checking my hands out, because she started asking me what all the scars on them were from. I explained that most of them were from cuts and burns I had gotten while cooking. She then said, perfectly sincere, in her wonderful, thick accent, "Alma tells me you're a good cook, but I don't know how you can be a good cook if you're always hurting yourself!"
Needless to say, I currently have four cuts, in all stages of healing, and two pretty raw burns on my right hand alone. I also have a very large, interesting scar forming on my wrist from a hot oil spill a month ago.
Contrary to my mother-in-law's belief, I'm of the opinion that if you don't have the battle scars to prove it, you must not be trying that hard in the kitchen!
... It's spring in Salem, Oregon! Which means:
- Alma's on spring break - and he's in a wonderful mood all the time!
- The trees are in full blossom and the flowers are in bloom!
- Daylight savings time switched, so it's light when I come home from work!
- I can run outside again!
- First year of law school is almost over!
- My winter weight should start to come off soon ... hopefully!
- The Salem Farmer's Market will start back up soon!
- It's not raining quite as much as it did during the winter!
- I'm blogging again! Yay!
Wow, that was a lot of exclamation points. I just really like spring!
... Happy Thanksgiving!
The wireless internet we were bootlegging at our apartment disappeared, so I haven't had real internet access for a while - thus the blog silence.
I hope everyone has a fantabulous turkey day. Wish me luck with roasting my first turkey. I bought the smallest turkey I could find - 10 lbs. This dinner will be good practice for when I have family over for Thanksgiving (next year, hint, hint).
Cheers!
... I feel a little tickle in the back of my throat tonight, and my ears are inching. I sure hope I'm not coming down with something! Mostly because Alma can't really afford to get sick right now since finals are right around the corner. And I happen to be medically uninsured at the moment, so let's hope this is just a passing fancy!
