Potentially One of the Worst Days Possible....And Yet I Lived

I think my Skype yesterday with Boober says it all: 

Me: OMG!!! You will never *%&#ing believe my *%&#ing day!!!!
Boober: what happened??
Boober: good or bad?
Me: (angry) <------------ this represents a little face character that they have on Skype
Boober: ugh
Boober: is that why you didn't want to talk to me ALL DAY? :(
Me: 1. Forgot to charge phone last night and left it plugged in at home.
Boober: gah!
Me: 2. Got up early to shower and take mom to Bart so I could go straight to my interview in Oakland.
Me: 3. Realized I didn't have my phone after I was getting on the bridge and had no directions for how to get to the place and no GPS.
Me: 4. Pull off the freeway cuz I see a FedEx/Kinkos sign and think I can use the computer to look up the directions.
Me: 5. Before I can get to the store, my car stalls in the middle of a *%&#ing railroad track!!
Me: no way
Me: 6. After I get the car started and move past the tracks, the train comes 1 minute later.
Me: 7. I hear a sound that sounds like a Harley chopper and it will not stop, although I see no motorbike around.
Me: 8. I press the excellerator and the car won't move faster than fucking 5 mph!
Me: 9. I realize the car is making the damn noise!!
Me: 10. I get to the FedEx/Kinkos and their fucking computers won't work.
Me: 11. I get directions to a nearby autoshop, approximately 7 minutes away.
Me: 12. I drive noisily down the road at 10 mph max and cannot find the damn place where they say it is.
Me: 13. I finally find the only auto shop I can find and the asshole wants to charge me $65 just to look at it and tell me what's wrong with it.
Me: 14. I decide that's fucked so I drive, between 10 and 20 mph, all the *%&#ing way back to the city, across the bridge and everything, to MY autoshop.
Me: 15. They do the diagnostic and tell me it's an exhaust leak and my muffler's so *%&#ed up they can't fix it and I need to go to a specialist.
Me: 16. Again driving 10 mph on hilly streets over by Van Ness, I drive to another autoshop and finally get someone to tell me they can fix it.
Me: 17. But the part won't come until tomorrow and it will cost $225.
Boober: jeezus
Me: 18. So I take a *%&#ing bus to school.
*%&#ing: 19. And home.
Boober: :(
Me: 20. I also had a final exam today.
Me: And somehow I'm not nearly as upset as I should be....
Me: Let's laugh it off!!
Me: (rofl)
Me: I think I'm going loony.
ME: :P

DIY wedding cake

Had a fiasco last weekend doing a first trial on my wedding cake. I was going to do it from scratch but since I'm also doing 4 other flavors of cupcakes, and the kitchen I have to work in so soooo small (as are all kitchens in San Francisco) I decided to try a box. I've never done a fully iced and decorated cake using a box mix.

First I tried Betty Crocker Super Moist White Cake.... it fell apart when I tried to ice it. I even tried keeping it in the freezer for a couple of hours. It was just too moist and fluffy.

I then went out and bought Dunken Hines White Cake, which was definitely better. But after a very crumbly crumb coat, and keeping it in the freezer for a couple hours, icing it still was a bit tough as it was still kind of fluffy. Then when I put the fondant on, it didn't stick very well to the Whipped Icing from a can and I ended up with large bubbles. I'm thinking the later results from not having a fondant smoother.

I am next going to check out a tip from a friend in baking class regarding the cake. She says they add shortening to their cake recipes to make them a bit more solid and they still taste okay. I will let you know how it goes. I also got some tylose powder to whip up a batch of royal icing to help the fondant stick better.

Unfortunately, I only have one more chance to get it right. But, as I reminded my mother, a Power Rangers cake from Safeway will be just as memorable. :)

Mind Rantings

Last night I couldn't sleep again until about 3am. That's the 4th time in the past week. And it's not like I can sleep in either. My brain won't stop ticking and neither can my mind stop racing.There are too many changes happening in my life. It's like being on a roller coaster, without all the drops.

A couple months ago I had a complete breakdown when my knife bag was stolen while at school. I hated school. I hated the class I was in and the people I was in it with. My trust in the world was completely lost and I felt like I'd truly hit bottom. The great thing about that is, as long as you can scrape yourself off the canyon floor, there's only up from there. And it really feels like I've been moving up ever since.

I've found an instructor that has really helped me see how far I've come and the potential I have. I can do a lot with what I've learned and that is truly exciting. I've won 4 competitions in school, the most recent one being 1st place in a Food Business Plan competition where I had to come up with a real business that I wanted to entrepreneur (used in the vernacular). Somehow that boosted my self-confidence and desire to really take on all the things I want to do in life. I finish school in 2 weeks and the world is my tomato sauce.


I know that none of this is particularly relevent to anyone but myself. And I also know that most of the blogs I've seen cover important subjects such as DIY weddings and how to frost a cake...but this is just what I feel like writing.



There are also a lot of scary things, such as how to afford kids, how to buy a house or have money for healthcar and all that. And for some reason, I just feel that it's all going to work out. We just have to work together, right?

Glee-diction

I have an addition to Glee. Not just the show, but the concept. 

I think the fact is that we'd all like an endless supply of back tracks, musicians and back-up singers to help us break into song whenever we need to express some deep-felt emotions.

I've tried singing through my own frustrations but all I get is funny looks in the halls.

An update on life....

I can't even believe how long it's been since I've blogged. And so much has happened! I had completely forgotten that my blog link was still attached to my email account, when someone I sent an email to commented that they liked my blog. Oops.

I was highly considering deleting this blog, but looking over it I think it deserves another chance. So much really has happened in the past year I feel like I'm a completely different person. Even just on a personal level, I think this blog can help me with my perspective on life.

Okay, here's the update:

I am about 2 weeks out from completing my last class on the school campus. I have 2 more classes that require an externship (meaning I work somewhere outside of the school for 12 weeks and get a good review). The externship I applied for several months ago and got chosen to do is in Walt Disney World. It's supposedly a tough one, but to me it is so exciting. I will have housing and transport and everything provided for me. I just have to cook and probably smile a lot. Super! I have always been a bit of a Disney "tramp," growing up in Los Angeles and spending as many birthdays as possible at the happiest place on earth. I couldn't think of a better place to help me get my degree as a chef.

I'm 3 weeks out from getting married! OMG! Boober (undercover name for the love of my life) is an amazing, kind, gentle and caring man. We have different taste in music, movies, food , clothes, and you name it. And yet we somehow bond on the most random things. He is an extreme cat lover and we've already taken in 2 stray kittens during the last 6-8 months. We both desparately want kids but also have personal goals we are looking to settle first. Life is very exciting and the wedding - a DIY masterpiece - is going to be spectacular. I promise I will blog again and go into great detail.

For now let me say, it's good to be back!

Dream Diary

3 nights in a row of odd dreaming certainly warrents a dream diary....

3 nights ago - Something about trying to get away from an old job, a bunch of painters in my way....

2 nights ago - Tinia (school mate) gets a plane ticket to Vegas from some random guy who decides he wants to drive there instead. I decide to buy a ticket to go with her. On the plane, she sits with a group of girls who look exactly like her, and she completely ignores me. She tells me to meet her in the gift shop. I stand in the gift shop waiting for her to come. Every 2 minutes another girl walks in who lookes exactly like her. I say, "Tinia?" and they all look at me funny. She never comes....just a neverending stream of "others."

last night - ...um...darn...I forgot.

And now that I go to write them out, I can't recall them fully.... I guess that's why people keep dream diaries.

About blogging daily....

As you can see from my earlier posting (you, who aren't even paying attention), I made a resolution to blog daily, and it has been approximately 25 days since my last post.

I have no excuse other than my laptop broke and I had to send it back to Toshiba. I have decided to resort to the school's library computer for my blogging. That does not mean that I will be blogging daily.

Also....truth be told, I am in sort of a writing rut. I come up with topics to write about all the time, but then I fail to sit down and write them. Now I'm so backed up with ideas, I don't know which one to pick. Please help me!

What should I write about?
1. Unanswered questions about the last season of Lost. (it's been done)
2. Funny things people did in my speech class. (not very nice...for them)
3. Why don't the American magic schools come to Harry Potter's aid in fighting Voldemort?

Ideas please.

Happy New Year!

All bloggers unite! It's a new year, time for our New Year's blog! I've changed up my design and my title, don't ask me why. Time for my resolutions:

1. Blog daily.
2. Eat better.
3. Continue getting straight A's.
4. Finish writing the novel I started 2 days ago.
5. Finish all my classes in school and get a great externship/internsthip.
6. Be good to my new boyfriend.
7. Try not to be bothered by his ranting and raving while playing video games and sitting right next to me. (Shut up!)
8. Don't worry, be happy.

Lobster Killer

I was watching Julie and Julia and I totally remembered that I have a blog! I promised myself that I'd write daily once I got a new computer, but then I got wrapped up in the throes of life and completely forgot.

So, I just completed (meaning a week ago) Foundations 3 class, which is my 3rd and final professional cooking techniques class. The class focused mainly on butchery as far as theory goes, not the easiest subject. But it also required that every other day I make 2-3 dishes and present them to the instructor and get a grade for them. I swear that it's the hardest class I have had so far and I was counting on getting a B, simply because I thought it impossible to get an A. I was also told by several other students who had already taken the class that no one gets an A. However, being the perfectionist that I am, I worked as hard as I could manage, falling asleep with my books, and did manage...an A! Not to brag but, I am such a stud.

Anyway, in the very last class, we cooked live lobster and crawfish. The boys in the class, having to hold up to their boyish reputation, took all the animals and put them head to head so they could watch them "fight" with each other. Meanwhile, the girls in the class (particularly myself) attempted to make the last few moments of the lobsters' lives as comfortable as possible. I got the personal honor of lifting 3 completely live lobsters and dropping them into a large pot of boiling water. According to the instructor, they die within 10-20 seconds of being in there, however I did note them squirming for quite a bit longer than a minute. It was so sad. I had to hide my tears. The result being, I don't think I can ever eat a lobster again. Although I did manage to break one down, twisting the tail off and pulling out all the meat.

Watching Julie and Julia after completing my classes is so much fun. I actually recognize everything they are doing now. Sweet.

Tuna Failures, Gingerbread Houses and Creamy Bacon Spinach Soup...

I got this e-mail from Tonnino Tuna that says, "Congratulations on winning first place!" Which basically means I didn't get the Grand Prize of a trip to NY and a $5000 scholarship award. But I did get....drum roll...a year's supply of tuna. To define that, I get a case (6 bottles) of tuna (yes, it comes in bottles) per month, which is a total of 72 bottles in a year. Yum! It's a disappointment but, after crying for a couple days, I got over it.

The next competition was a gingerbread house competition at a retirement home. Although my gingerbread came out kinda funky (little zombie men - see below), the house turned out okay. It was a sort of pink-Victorian Barbie house, with a Golden Graham's roof top and a red licorice chimney. I came in 4th place, 1 point away from 3rd, simply due to resident votes. The judges LOVED my house and possibly would have given me 2nd or 3rd place if it was just up to them. As a result, however, they raised my prize money from $50 to $120. At least I got most of the money I spent on all that candy and icing...

But let me also clarify, I HAD A LOT OF FUN! I love competing. :)~ I just have to learn it's not all about winning.

And finally... by popular demand....

CREAMY SPINACH AND BACON RECIPE (low fat version)

Ingredients


6 slices bacon
1/4 c. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14 oz.) cans reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 oz. (6-7 cups) fresh baby spinach
1 1/2 c. non-fat milk
6 tbsp. whole-wheat flour
to taste salt and white pepper

Directions

1. In an oven preheated at 350 degrees, cook the bacon on a baking sheet for about 10 minutes until crispy; set aside to cool.

2. Pour a couple teaspoons of bacon fat from the baking sheet into a dutch oven, over medium-high heat, add onions and garlic, a pinch of salt and white pepper, and cook until tender. Reduce heat to low.

3. Crumble bacon and add to pot. Stir in broth.

4. Rinse spinach well and add to soup. Increase heat to medium and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

5. Reduce heat and cover. Simmer for about 8-10 minutes or until spinach is wilted and cooked, but not fully broken down.

6. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine milk and flour; beat with whisk until very well blended.

7. Stir milk mixture into soup. Simmer on low heat until it thickens, stirring often.
Suggestion: Top with shredded Parmesan cheese. Serve with whole-grain bread.

Serving Size: 2 cups
Number of Servings: 3

Iron Cupcake Competition! Yummeeee!

I participated in my first Iron Cupcake SF competition and it was awesome fun. The theme was "nuts" so I entered with a spiked eggnog with nutmeg cupcake. It was a yellow cake with a rum glaze and butter cream frosting with a sprinkle of nutmeg. It really tasted like eggnog! I served it with eggnog, too....  Sooooooo YUM!

I didn't win but it was a super fun experience anyway. I actually can't remember all the winners because they didn't really stand out for me. We each had to taste 22 different cupcakes and by the end of it I was a little...well...cupcaked out. So was my mom.

I am definitely doing it again! Next competition is in December and I have to do my "signature cupcake." I think I'm going to do bacon and cheddar. Yum!

And suddenly life happens....

I feel guilty about my lack of blogging presence. I did just get a new laptop so, once I get it online, I should be more attendant.

Life has been a whirlwind. I am in my Foundations 3 class, which basically consists of a day of lecture and food preps, and a day of mastering 2 dishes which are then graded. It's super busy and super tiring, but it's the nitty gritty of what school is about.

I recently participated in the Almost Famous Chef on-campus competition. I was chosen as a finalist, as usual, based on my personally written recipe and essay. The 5 finalists competed in a cooking and personality competition to see which 2 would represent the school in a regional competition in LA. I unfortunately lost, thankfully not due to my lack of personality, mostly due to my crappy food preparation. I have no problem following directions in class. But a recipe of my own creation tends to go bad.... One of my chefs put it like this, "If you were a jazz musician you would have to learn the basics of music before going into improvisation of jazz licks and being any good at it, right?" Right. So, I guess I'm not a pro chef yet. Oh well....the journey continues.

Monday is a cupcake contest that I'm super excited about. And a week after that is the gingerbread competition. Life just gets more and more exciting....

Meanwhile, I have until Dec 1st to get as many votes for my recipe as possible so that I can win the Tonnino Tuna scholarship. So post this link on your Facebook and get your friends to go here and vote for me!

http://www.tonnino.com/challenge/tannos-tonnino-tuna-treasure

You're the best fans ever!

The Ups and Downs of Wine Class...

So last week I finished my wine and writing classes. I got an A in each of them, despite my typical finals freak out.

I really feel like my freak out on the wine final was totally valid. He was really, really tough. I had trouble paying attention in class because of his lecture style (which I will not mock here, as you never know...). And there is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much random information about wine, you would not believe it!

Despite my qualms, I managed to perfectly translate an Italian wine label including what region of Italy the wine came from, what year it was harvested, the official quality level, what grape it was made out of, the body and taste of the wine and what to pair it with. Not an easy task. It surprised me how much information had seeped in over time.

One thing I can say I definitely got out of this class is an appreciation for wine. Jason (the new beau) and I went wine tasting and it was a lot of fun!

I'd go into more detail, but I guess I get scared no one will understand it. 6 weeks ago, it was Latin to me...

I Changed My Facebook Status....

Okay, I did it. No atom bombs blew up. But so far we've been hanging out for six straight weekends and it's been awesome! It's like meeting one of those people who you can just be completely comfortable with. I can't say anything that's embarassing because he just laughs everything off and makes it so much fun. We definitely have different tastes in a lot of things, but I almost enjoy listening to his annoying complaints about food, and he doesn't seem to mind my obsession with Justin Bieber....so sweet.

When Are You Ready to Change Your Facebook Status?!!!

To all my adoring fans, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I got caught up in a whirlwind of wine class, English papers and...a guy.

I met him via an infamous and unmentionable dating site. Meaning, I keep forgetting where I met him exactly but I'm sure it was online.

The first day of meeting we were just going to have breakfast and go to the Exploratorium, but we were having such a good time it turned into bowling, then sushi, then a movie.

The next weekend we went to Six Flags and pooped out after only a few hours and a couple rides. The thing we enjoyed the most was probably sitting on a bench drinking beer and watching little kids run by.

The weekend after that we ended up in Tahoe, on the gambling side, and had a fun time at the rapid roullette and the hamburger slot machine. I won $500 and lost about $600.

The weekend after that, last weekend, he followed me around the city to my cooking competition and a temp job I had to do. We went shopping together and I made dinner. We ate snuggled up on the couch watching random Netflix. The interesting thing was that we managed to keep it pretty platonic the entire time. I'm sure most can't imagine a boy/girl trip to Tahoe remaining platonic. But it was pretty easy and pretty fun and there was really no pressure, which I thought was awesome.

On Sunday morning, we went to eat at The IHOP and started talking about changing FB status. That's a big step, don't you think? I'm not sure I'm ready. I definitely like the guy. We are cracking jokes with each other and LOAO all the time. Why not change the FB status?

I guess it's just that none of my friends even know who he is and I really don't want to talk about it. So there... that's that.

Ladle Rat Rotting Hut

At the Exploratorium in San Francisco, there is an awesome exhibit on sound that features the story of Ladle Rat Rotting Hut. If you haven't experienced an Anguish Languish Furry Tell, you must.

Not wanting to plaguerize (spelling?), I'll just give you the link.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/ladle/

Even if you can't listen to it, at least go and read it. I swear, I was on the ground, laughing so hard I cried. I have it on video....

The "Hot Pile" A.K.A. Warm Bacterial Poo Dirt

Another fun exhibit at the "you know what" was the Hot Pile.

HOT PILE

This dirt feels warm because bacteria and fungi in it are harvesting energy from decaying plants.

Dig your hand down into the soil. (Use a plastic glove if you like.)

Can you feel the heat? You may need to dig deep to find the warmth.

Are you serious?

Have You Ever Drunk From a Toilet? I Have....

And yet another fun experience....

Not so hard....but you wouldn't believe the squeamish, giggling girls who tried to drink from this thing before me and failed. No joke.

WOMAN WANTED

A tall, well-built woman with good
sense of humor, who can cook frog
legs and who appreciates a good fuc-
schia garden, classical music and tal-
king wihout getting too serious.

But please only read lines 1, 3 and 5


I hope I didn't offend anyone. I just came across this recently and was lmao.

Tanno's Tonnino Tuna Treasure - The Recipe - By Popular Demand

My fans have requested a copy of my video recipe for them to follow. So here it is:

Ingredients:
1/2      jar         Tonnino Tuna (any flavor)
1         each      Russet Potato (thin slices)
2         oz         Gruyere Cheese (grated)
1/2      oz         Parmesan Cheese (grated)
1         tbsp      Cream
1/2      oz         Butter
To taste           Salt and White Pepper
Garnish            Paprika and fresh parsley

1. Coat the bottom of an oven-safe dish with butter.
2. Put down a layer of potato slices.
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Pour cream over.
5. Sprinkle a layer of Gruyere.
6. Put down another layer of potato and another layer of Gruyere.
7. Top with a layer of parmesan.
8. Wrap with foil and bake approx 30-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven, until you can poke a toothpick easily through the potatoes.
9. Uncover and put back in the oven for about 5 minutes to toast the parmesan, until light golden brown.
10. Cool for 5-10 minutes (so the cream stops bubbling), and sprinkle with paprika and fresh chopped parsley.
11. Serve hot and YUM!

Notes: For more servings, just increase the potatoes until you fill your dish and sprinkly with enough cheese for a very thin layer. Don't over cheese or over cream, as it will become a soggy mess. Definitely use Tonnino Tuna, it is very moist and works well in the oven.

And don't forget to vote for my video recipe: http://www.tonnino.com/challenge/tannos-tonnino-tuna-treasure

Directions for voting: Click on my video, "Tanno's Tonnino Tuna Treasure" and look below the video. A "like" button should pop us as well as a list of comments. Click on the "like" button (you may have to login your Facebook account) and you have voted. Leave me a comment for extra pizzaz!