My inner Zooey...

made me buy this one-piece from Anthro. I haven't worn a one-piece since I was 13... before I got my two-piece from 5*7*9... oh what a store that was. And yeah, Marissa, you can go ahead and comment on the "mess" Natalie made about my first bikini. Gotta love her.

But one-piece can bring sexy back. Oh, yeah baby. Bringin' the heat.

Idol Madness

Because Marissa and I are that cool, we've created Idol Madness, the bracket tournament of American Idol. Here are our picks for Top 12 (and we'll do another one for the Top 12 when we get there).

This is mine (Chan's): --click to see it larger--

And this is Marissa's:

Her Excel skills are truly superb, aren't they?

We haven't decided on prizes yet, but loser will most likely get something Gokey related.

From amateur to halfway decent

I haven't done a lot of blogging and maybe just a bit of shopping... But I  have done a ton of cooking! And with each new dish recreated (from cooking class) I had a new blog. But life got in the way--and laziness, and I've made like five dishes but I don't feel like writing five blogs. So here it is--in one post, see how I've grown over these past four to five weeks. Are you proud of me because I'm pretty proud of myself. The bag of baked Cheetos that continues to haunt me and find its way in my shopping cart and next to me on the couch every night--that I am not too proud of. Yeah, not so much. Oh but before we begin, let's post a picture of Miss Bits (because this might be a long night of blogging).

This was taken last week at a park right off of Key Biscayne. This oceanfront, picnic-perfect park is secluded, (maybe) allows dogs, is nestled in a neighborhood of old, gorgeous mansions (Madonna used to live in one), and is just a couple of miles from mi casa. If I did yoga, I would so run to the spot, do some yogi poses, and run back. But since I don't do yoga, I'll just run there and run back.

But I sidetracked per usual. Let's start with me falling back on what I know when I don't know what to cook:

Natalie's fried rice, which is oil or butter, garlic, onion, eyeround steak (leaner beef), eggs, steamed white rice, frozen veggies, soy sauce and lots of cilantro because I am a cilantro fiend. Always a good, hearty meal and we eat it for days--literally. We make so much we have to.

I juxtaposed this oldie but goodie with a new but scary (for me):

I learned how to debone a chicken--sort of. My technique is a little off, but at the end of the day, I had two wings, two drumsticks, two sorry excuses for the thighs (I really butchered it there trying to pull them apart from the drumsticks), and two breasts. Upon removing the wishbones when I was home practicing, I failed to follow the knifing instructions my chef instructor explicitly told us about.

                                                  

(The absurdly large Band-aid is because it was the only one in the SOBeFiT First Aid box but it was better than securing toilet paper around my finger with a ponytail holder.) Lesson learned: Hold the part you're cutting UP so it's away from your fingers. Got it.

Chef Debi's chicken marinade recipe is this amazing, robust, flavorful stuff:
balsamic
mustard (whole grain dijon)
herbs
salt and pepper
oil

We roasted everything but the chicken breasts in the oven at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. The breasts were cooked on the stove. And tip of the day: To prevent from overcooking (thus drying) chicken, which I do because fear of massive food poisoning, cook your chicken in a pan like normal--but when you turn it over, add chicken stock (and any other vegetables you want) and continue to cook while covered. It retains the moisture of the chicken. I also roasted chopped yukon gold potatoes tossed with garlic, herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper, and balsamic in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. The results: Yummy:

And what is a huge, huge hit with Timmy and I because it's seriously Cracker Barrel-quality:

Paula Deen, be so proud. For fluffy buttermilk biscuits:

1 1/4 c. cake flour
3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1/4 c. butter, cut in small chunks
3/4 c. buttermilk

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Whisk together dry ingredients. Add butter and cut into flour using your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in buttermilk and stir lightly until dough comes together in a ball. Dump all-purpose flour on workstation surface. With floured hands, lightly knead dough a few times until it is fairly well blended. Pat out into a circle, 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Use a cutter or wine glass rim to cut out circles in dough, without twisting the cutter. Form the dough scraps into an extra biscuit-like shape instead of re-rolling the dough. Place biscuits on baking sheet with parchment paper so that the sides are touching. Brush melted butter on top. Bake for 10 minutes.

Timmy was a happy man, but then I made gravy (chicken stock plus roux, or butter and flour folded together in pan) and he was gluttonous.

And then I made the biscuits again, this time to go with my chayote salad and BBQ ribs!!

To make it: Julienne chayote (a Mexican plant), tomatoes and red onions. Chop cilantro and combine all in bowl. For the mojo sauce to go over the salad: In hot oil, toast sliced garlic until they are slightly browned. Then throw in lime juice and cilantro. Let cool then mix in with salad; add salt and pepper to taste.

Ribs are surprisingly easy to make. Take a rack of back pork ribs and tear off the cartilage that's holding the ribs together in the back. Season with salt and pepper and liquid smoke. Place in baking pan and add a little chicken stock. Cover in foil and slowcook at 300 degrees for three hours. After, slather on BBQ sauce and enjoy, or place it on the grill. Since we don't have a grill, this was our finished product. My Valentine gift to Timmy is my labor of love:

Seriously fall-off-the-bone good. And finally, stir-fry and steamed snapper/fish. Stir fry is julienned Bok choy, Napa cabbage, snow peas, bean sprouts, garlic, onion, ginger, any other veggies, and soy sauce in peanut oil and a little bit of vegetable stock. The tilapia or red snapper was marinated in homemade ponzu sauce: soy sauce, water, rice wine vinegar, freshly squeezed lime juice, orange juice, fresh ginger, 1 scallion, thinly sliced. I wrapped the fish in banana leaves and then in foil. Cooked for 12-15 minutes at 350 to 375 degrees. Then served with steamed white rice:

Everything was super flavorful, and OK, Tim's fish was a little undercooked, but overall--a success story for the month with all my cooking feats. So fish I need to do better in, as well as photographing my food. If only I had an SLR camera. My presentation skills could step it up too. Still, very happy. bon appetit. Chan. 

Shop Boppin' it

Ella Moss funky snakeskin print dress in my size and it's on sale? And it's 1:30 AM? All I need to whip out my credit card.

So Fab.

Still no shopping. It's been at least two months since I have indulged. This weekend might break the spell. I've been having a really hard time getting dressed for work. I need some cute slouchy tops for when I just can't deal....hello, Urban :)

I'm trying to hold out until Coachella because I know I'm gonna want outfits for it...we'll see. That is 2 more months away!

In any case, in place of Dress to Obsess Fridays which Chan and I have all but abandoned, I thought I'd highlight one of the millions of fab looks happening in awards season. Maybe I'll do a full recap once it's all said and done.

I love the shoes...I love the dress...I love the smile. She looks amahz.

Go to sleep, little Chan

I don't know why I insist on staying up past 1 AM every weekday night, except for the whole I-work-all-day-and-then-I-exercise-and-then-I-attempt-cooking-or-go-out-to-eat-and-then-I-entertain-Bits-and-Timmy-and-then-I-do-10-minutes-of-schoolwork-and-this-my-time-to-de-stress-and-just-be-goddamnit.

And so, even though my eyelids feel heavy and my mind says--"If you're going to stay up, why don't you do something more productive?" you can usually find me on the couch way past midnight with a sleeping puppy snuggled next to my leg and a laptop on my lap (and lately with another hand inside a bag of baked Cheetos--shame) and with 50 windows popped open--all scouring Fbook or even worse--shopping sites.

And all of this primer to explain why I bought this on Haute Look last night:

I want long lashes, mmkay? Brooke Shields really convinced!
But a less random purchase I made in the wee hours is this 1960s vintage chain-mail clutch on Etsy--I just hope it's bigger than a coin purse.

Light Up the Night--Kyoko Nakamura

Lemme be the first to blog about something truly unique and fabulous. One of my dearest friends, Kyoko Nakamura, has been slaving away in her Brooklyn abode for almost two years to launch her accessories line. But before we start there, let me back up to how it all began.

It started the spring of 2007 when we were headed to Ultra Music Festival in Miami (for those who don't know, the fest is a lot of techno, a lot of trance, a lot of drum and bass, some "normal" band, and a lot of drugs). Kyoko practically begged me to go my first year (in 2006) because it really was not my scene (I'm more of the Bonnaroo-music-fest-kind-of-gal). But after after a whole night of dancing and glow sticks and "feeling the beats" and loving life and sneaking up to the front row for the Killers and Prodigy (hey, we're both under 5 feet, mmkay?) I couldn't wait for the next year. So in 2007, we went to the Fest on Friday night and the after party (after a LONG day of recovering) the night after. For the after party/giant rave, Kyoko sewed (glued?) glow sticks on a light white fabric and made a glow-in-the-dark cover-up dress. After the night, the dress was basically ruined, but it gave Kyoko the idea to make glow-in-the-dark dresses. The market? Basically any clubber/party-goer/raver in Miami, New York and L.A.

And it's quite ironic how I now live in Miami and she is living in Brooklyn, but her three-year project (she patented her light technology) is finally seeing the light on Etsy--at least while her actual Web site is getting built. How approp. since it's my fav. site, duh. So go here NOW and check out Light Up The Night. I think the dresses/apparel will come one day but for now she has her multi-use accessories that are colorful and gorgeous and made of the finest Italian silk material (hence the price of her pieces). And even if you don't want the pieces to "glow" I think they are still so beautiful and hip for day wear--especially as a necklace or headband.

Anyway, such a long intro...now for the revealing!

This shopaholic may be Kyoko's first business...xoxo

Wonderful Tonight.

I swear I didn't disappear. I was just in haze of dirty laundry and a lack of endorphins- my new shiny washer and dryer has solved all of my problems! Well, the immediate problems at least...

Just finished the first of the 10+ biographies I bought at the Borders liquidation sale. I started with Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd- who I've been jealous of/fascinated by since I was 5 years old and heard Layla (written for Pattie by Eric Clapton) for the first time. To add insult to injury, my favorite Beatle has always been Georgie and Something is likely my favorite Beatles song (also written for Pattie). Who knew Pattie's little sister Jenny was married (twice) to Mick Fleetwood?!

The book was everything I wanted it to be- a first hand account of London (and sometimes LA) in the 60's and 70's. Most people who know me can agree that much of me wishes I had been around back then- my favorite movie is Almost Famous after all (big shocker!). Luckily, I have my mom's stories to live vicariously through and I don't want to go on and on, but the world will never be the same and it will never be anything like it was back then. The book totally inspired me to be more creative after hearing about all of the crazy eccentric and extremely talented people in her life.

Pattie started as a model and throughout her famous troubled marriages, became an amateur and then professional photographer. In the last decade, a few different galleries in California and England have exhibited her photos. My new ultimate grown up purchase goal is to be able to afford one of these two prints of Eric and his guitar:




Additionally, on a smaller scale, if anyone EVER sees the book Birds of Britain about all of the classic 60's mod models (with Pattie) on the cover, call me immediately. As stated before, I love coffee table books and this is going to be my holy grail of coffee table books:




Next up- Clapton the Autobiography :)

Two for one!

I'm judging my weekends now on how much I cook, and this weekend gets an A+ cause I cooked Saturday and Sunday! I was inspired by a) whopping $200 bill for two at New York-based STK steakhouse, which just opened in Miami (oh, but we had to be trendy and swanky and Miami for the evening). b) We bought a new Wusthof cleaver and boning knife (we is so fancy) c) a new stock pot (the dream of making pho is coming closer to reality) and d) two new learned recipes from class. First up, some tomato basil soup:

1 onion, diced
2-3 garlic cloves
1 14 oz can of plum tomato or fresh eight plum tomatoes or five wine ripe
5 cups of vegetable stock (I MADE!!!)
2-3 springs of basil
salt and pepper to taste
splash of red wine vinegar
cream (optional)
Parmesan cheese

In a pot, I sauteed onion and garlic on medium-high, added the tomatoes and cooked them until some juices were released, and then added stock and basil. I let the soup simmer for 15-30 minutes. Added 1/4 cup cream...brought the soup to a boil. Then removed from heat and pureed in the blender. I transferred soup back in the pot and added salt, pepper and vinegar to taste. The most amazing thing about the soup is the red wine vinegar. Without it, the soup was good, but missing something. Well, that something was a few splashes of vinegar. I garnished with more fresh basil and served with a grilled cheese sandwich.

On the menu for Sunday night: Pesto pasta with oven dried tomatoes.

First I made the tomatoes, because they take about 2-3 hours to bake in 200-degree oven. (Or, if you have a convection oven, it goes by faster).

Oven Dried Tomatoes:
Plum tomatoes--quartered
olive oil
fresh herbs chopped--thyme, rosemary, basil
chopped garlic
salt and pepper
pinch of sugar
balsamic (optional)

Toss tomatoes to mix ingredients. Place on parchment paper and cook for 2-3 hours at 200 degrees. Simple. And the results:

Now for my pesto:

2 cups of basil packed
1/2 cup of Parmesan or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts, toasted
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper to taste
spinach

Toast the walnuts and grind them up in food chopper. Add basil. Pulse. Add olive oil. Pulse. Add spinach (makes the pesto greener). Pulse. Cheese, garlic, pulse, pulse. More olive oil if it looks too dry. Taste it and see if you need salt/pepper. And there you have it--pesto:

In saucepan, add garlic and onions. Then add spoonfuls of pesto and oven-dried tomatoes (cut) and pasta--I used whole wheat. Timmy had seconds (again with the portions) and licked his plate. I think he likes it.

I am impressed with my mad skills.

Presh!

I love everything mini, from mini dachshunds to mini-skirts. And now check out these bookends from Pottery Barn. Adorbs!

Monday impulse buy

Anthropologie shirtdress. Customer reviews say it's short otherwise adorable. I say then it's perfect for a shortie like me.

Southern Comfort

I interviewed Katie Lee, Billy Joel's much younger ex-wife and host of Top Chef season 1, in our February/March issue of SOBeFiT. Raised on a small farm in West Virginia, the girl is all about being a young Paula Deen, but her cooking philosophy is "conscious consumption" and "knowing where your food comes from." Katie's recipes are simple and use fresh ingredients, and her cookbook is fun and cute and so makes me want to throw dinner parties and be as cute and pretty as Katie. So yes, I snagged her cookbook  filled with yummy pictures, and naturally I found the easiest thing to make in it: Chives egg noodles.

The recipe:
Egg noodles
Chopped chives
three tablespoon of unsalted butter
1/4 of noodle cooking water
salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together.

Simple, yet really yummy. Since I have not learn how to roast chicken yet (and have a personal phobia about cooking poultry), I got the lemon pepper chicken from Publix and shredded it over the noodles. Dinner under 10 minutes? Heck yes.

beauty, beauty, beauty

So Timmy, my voice of reasoning, is making me "simmadownnah!" on the furniture buying  for our apartment, which I swear is having an identity crisis. He totally vetoed the selling our bed idea so we can get a new one (I posted it on Craigslist and got three takers). But if my room can't get a makeover, my walls will.

So new home project: Prints! Frames! Wall art! Oh my! I feel that my palm tree candle holders/palm leaves picture frame over our bed is like so last February. I've been neglecting my studies this week to scour the net for affordable prints, paintings, frames, canvases, etc. Starting at $28, Hadley Hutton's prints are  absolutelyperfectforme. I could buy them all, but for now--I'll do three.

Churrasco with chimichurri and tomato salad

So I'm putting my newfound culinary skills and knowledge to the test. Let's give recipe credits to my cooking instructor, Chef Debi Hornbeck, who has worked under Michelle Bernstein for seven years and also  at Michael's Genuine. And her husband is a chef at The Standard hotel. What I would give to be in that kitchen every day. Apparently, her two children (pre-school age) are learning how to make homemade marshmellows, bread pudding and tenderloins. I'm just a few years behind them, that's all.

Anyway, the churrasco with chimichurri and tomato salad is from last week's cooking class. However, I recreated it Monday night to see if I really passed my test. First, some new things I learned: 1) you cook with canola oil and marinate with olive oil because olive oil burns faster over high-heat and ends up tasting bitter...and everything you're cooking will also taste bitter. 2) Save all vegetable scraps and make vegetable stock (stick leftover veggies in giant pot of water and simmer for 1 hour)...and never use sodium-loaded store-bought chicken stock again. All for health. 3) If you're short on time, marinate meat at room temperature. Best results: Stick in fridge overnight. 4) Yogurt makes a healthy, tasty marinade for chicken.

So now the recipes:

chimichurri:
3 large bunches of flat-leafed parsley
3 to 4 garlic cloves
3/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil + canola oil blend
red wine vinegar
dried pepper flakes
kosher salt
pepper

Mix all together, cover and chill.

churrasco:
skirt steak
garlic
cilantro stems
olive oil + canola oil blend
pepper
kosher salt

remove fat, mix ingredients and marinate.

tomato salad:
2 to 3 large tomatoes quartered
1/2 red onion julienned
cilantro (leaves for salad, stems for steak)
balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar
olive oil
salt and red pepper

I cooked Monday for Timmy and he absolutely loved everything.  His favorite is the tomato salad, which he had me make more of already.

It was seriously hard to mess this one up and we even cooked the steak right (aka not overly well done). We're still afraid about massive food poisoning when we do meat, but thank god for meat thermometers and being okay about a little pink in the middle.

Pair our steak with the Little Vineyard Cabernet from our Sonoma trip and voila--one of the best meals I've ever cooked.

moving on to newer and bigger things

$499 at Pottery Barn. And look! It has storage! I am obsessed with storage since now I am cramming our beautiful, whimsy bird wedding China in my storage bench, and that's no place for fine China. Neither is underneath a dining table, really, but there's definitely no room for a buffet/hutch in my apartment. But back to this table, which is the quintessential breakfast nook if I ever saw one. Oh, I want, I want, I want! ...and it's on sale. Plus, my table now--though pretty--is wobbly, Ikea-quality. We can seat more than two people, and since I'm on my way to being the best cook ever, I will certainly be playing host to a couple of friends for dinner. Who wants to dine with the Huths?

Why am I so Suzy Homemaker lately?