state of the economy...

has made it quite difficult for me to continue eating out..however, it has given me the opportunity to eat in more and try new recipes...and old ones too...

therefore..i have not had much to blog about..hopefully soon..

Valentine's Dinner

Made by mr. edmund lee :D


what's for dinner?

Entree: GoatCheese-SunDriedTomato Stuffed Chicken









Prepped, Cooked and Plated!


Salad nice and simple


Dessert: Croissant BreadPudding





i didn't wash.cook.clean! how nice it was :)

Christmas Eve Dinner...

(disclaimer: there was much more food than what i photographed, but i was too busy eating to take a photograph)

I celebrated Christmas with my parents for the first time in 4 years...we decided to do alittle potluck on Christmas Eve with a few family friends.

I decided to tackle my first prime rib :) With the help of my dear chef friend mLee, i obtained a recipe and an idea of what i wanted to do...get a bone-in prime rib roast, make a good rub of garlic, rosemary, and olive oil...I tried to capture the process i took in making it, but as you will see below, i did not do a great job in getting my camera out.


The 8 lb standing rib roast


The spices used for the rub


Fresh out of the oven, with a bulb of roasted garlic on the side


moose cookies that my friend made...they're like rockyroad ice cream put into a cookie. quite delicious (i'm eating one as we speak)


The gingerbread house (from a kit) that a few of the girls made.


The yule log cake that we had for dessert...unfortunately looked better than it tasted..

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

My sis made some delicious pumpkin pie (as reference on cathalinaK). she made the crust from scratch..and then mixed the pumpkin mixture. it turned out pretty well.

here are some photos of the process.


pouring the batter into the pie crust...


after the filling was poured into the crust...


after coming out from the oven..notice the crater...anyone know why?


first slice of yumminess.

Our Food System...

I came across this video...an interview with Michael Pollan..who is a writer..and has a very unique view on our food policy as a nation..

I'm currently reading through his book "Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals" (thanks to Peter)...

Take a look at the interview here. You can read the transcript here.

He talks about how our food policy affects our health care crisis...how the food system affects our energy independence...moving school lunch to department of education...

one of my favorite parts:
"Cook. Simply by starting to cook again, you declare your independence from the culture of fast food. As soon as you cook, you start thinking about ingredients. You start thinking about plants and animals, and not the microwave. And you will find that your diet, just by that one simple act, that is greatly improved. You will find that you are supporting local agriculture, because you'll care about the quality of ingredients. And you know, whether you're cooking or not is one of the best predictors for a healthy diet. It's more important than the class predictor. People with more money generally have healthier diets, but affluent people who don't cook are not as healthy in their eating as poor people who still cook. So, very, very important. If you don't have pots and pans, get them."