WEEK 9: Epicurious

Ended up not making the last recipe because 1) we were too busy, and 2) we didn't have a pizza stone as the recipe called for. So instead I made this:


Benghan Bartha
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Bangan-ka-Bhurta-Indian-Eggplant/Detail.aspx
- Indian curry Eggplant

Yummy!

This week via Epicurious:
WHAT: Tomato and Onion Tart with salad, Grilled Flank Steak, and Chocolate Molten Cake
WHERE: My place
WHEN: Sunday, February 28th, 2010

REVIEW on WEEK 8

Monday
- started Freelance for Nick Jr's Fresh Beat Band

Tuesday
- custom jewelry orders
- lunch with Lisa at Fox
- class

Wednesday
- lunch with Dan
- errands
- met with Auntie L.
- Brand Library
- Gefer Farms Market
- Studio Arts with Tony
- Hannah and Codes sleepover

Thursday
- revised play "Life As Lauren"
- FOH duties for "Just a Song at Twilight"



Friday
- took Jessica out for belated bday - Street and Scoops
- Paramount Movie: Shutter Island

Saturday
- freelance
- went to mom's


Sunday
- hike
- readthrough of musical "Haywire"
- Mission

WEEK 8: Food and Wine Magazine

Green-Mango Salad (70 - 5/09)
Free-form Onion Tart (44 - 5/09)
Chocolate-Almond Toffee (130 - 12/09)

REVIEW on WEEK 7

Monday
- printed postcards and Valentine's Cards
- Pearl Art

Tuesday
- Writing Homework
- Class

Wednesday
- Mehu and I made feather hair clips and packed/prepped for Artwalk












Thursday
- Last minute prep and photos for Artwalk
- Downtown Artwalk REVIEW on MONTH 2:
A LOT of work to set-up the tent and then a lot of "hurry up and wait." We didn't sell nearly as much as we thought we would. I sold a lot of feather hair clips, whereas I thought the steampunk (more expensive things) would sell first. Then Mehu sold a lot of soaps, whereas she thought that she'd sell more of her handbags. In short, the items that took a longer time to make ended up not selling... probably because those cost more for supplies and labor. Many people didn't want to spend more than $10. But who can blame them? It's the bad economy and it's right after the holidays. I'm just happy people stopped in and even if they didn't buy anything, it was nice to hear them say, "Wow, these are beautiful!" or "You're so creative! I love these!" I made about $250, but most the sales came from friends. Well, thanks to all my friends who stopped by and supported us! We love you!



Friday
- Hung out with Mehu and Nika - Seasons Thai and Ben and Jerry's
- Supper Friday
REVIEW ON SUPPER CLUB for WEEK 7:
Yummy! I've been craving chicken, so I made a Chinese-style chicken with lettuce wraps. Being Asian, I had to make some rice though. A nice, simple meal. Mehu's vegetarian, so she made the eggplant mushroom dish and experimented with one of the boats by putting bleu cheese over one. I think the bleu cheese should have been put on after it was baked, but it was still interesting. The first time I've cooked with so many people - 4 including me. Usually there's me or my mom or me and Deane. The next night I made a rendition of this one, and it actually turned out to be more tasty than this recipe. And it was all an experiment! Deane was pleasantly surprised and said he wouldn't doubt my experimenting anymore. I put in the rice vinegar dipping sauce from the Friday Supper and then poured in some red wine and sugar. It was superb! Hoping I can get the recipe to you guys soon... but I'm SOOOO busy with this new freelance and custom jewelry orders!






Saturday
- LA Street Food Festival
- Scoops
- Started Freelance
- Experimental Chicken Dinner
- Hank's in Downtown with Helena










Sunday
- Freelance
- Hollywood and Vine - Coffee Shop, W Hotel, and Space Fifteen Twenty
- Valentine's Day - Presents for Deane and Pizzeria Mozza

WEEK 7: Fannie Farmer Cookbook

WHAT: Chinese Chicken in Lettuce Leaves (242) and Baked Stuffed Eggplant (406)
WHERE: My place
WHEN: Friday, February 12th, 2010
(Has been pulled forward due to Valentine's Day.)

REVIEW on WEEK 6

Monday
- Production Day with Mehu - made spicy Chinese eggplant for her and mom



Tuesday
- Lost Final Premiere Party



Wednesday
- La Descarga
- Flaming Taco

Thursday
- Scoops with Carolyn






Friday
- The Blue Whale - UCLA GAB Fundraiser





Saturday
- Mailed items I sold on Etsy!
- Chun Family Bday Parties


Sunday
- Write Act Company Meeting
- Writing Meeting
- Picked up tables from Auntie
- Elf with Sheri and Jen


REVIEW on SUPPER CLUB MONDAY!
This was another improvised dish. I couldn't find pork belly at Ralph's so I just picked up the loin which was on sale. I didn't leave it to marinate overnight in the fridge either. It was so yummy. The miso soup base made it tasty. As for the tempura, I've never fried bacon right, not have I ever attempted to make tempura. Surprising I didn't burn the bacon and the the combination was very tasty. I also threw in some carrots and zucchini since our meal seemed to be veggie-deprived. Not ideal to stress out about cooking a great meal on Monday, but it was fun and not fancy, so it was fine. I just have the Artwalk on my mind and I feel like I've never been so tunnel-visioned in my life! Hopefully something fancy to come in two weeks!

EXPERIMENTAL MONTHLY 2: Downtown Artwalk

InspireAshine will have a booth at Downtown Artwalk on the 2nd Thursday of February! This is a huge endeavor for me and my shop, and I hope you can come by and support us and the other local artists! My friend Mehuli Shah will also be there with me, and between the two of us you'll find my steampunk/jewelry, hair clips, handbags, homemade soap, and supplies. And if you've never been before (or even if you have) come see what the galleries are showing as well as other artists. It's a very cool walking event that LA offers, and come grab a drink withus at a local bar afterwards. For more info about this event, please visit http://www.downtownartwalk.org/

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Much love,
ROchelle

WEEK 6: The Bacon Cookbook

I got this cookbook for Deane last year. As you know, bacon is his favorite snack, side dish, meal. I don't think he's ever used this book before, but this will be my second time attempting to make a bacon meal. I dunno if I should ask him to cook the bacon for me (since I always burn it) or if I should take my chances and risk the $14 bacon its ultra-crispy and inedible demise.

Anyway, here it is. I've been wanting to cook an Asian meal for a while, and Deane is always up for the pig, so it makes a nice compromise. Let's just say this could be an early Valentine's day meal since next weekend is filling up fast.

WHAT: Japanese braised pork belly (162)and Japanese bacon tempura (43)
WHERE: My place
WHEN: Monday, February 8th, 2010
(Has to be pushed back due to last minute family plans.)

REVIEW on WEEK 5

Monday
- lunch in Burbank
- Ebay vintage items pickup
- cleaned house

Tuesday
- lunch in Burbank
- writing homework



Wednesday
- picked up Mehu
- Mehu and me production (Mehu: handbags; me: jewelry)
- apple berry pie

Thursday
- Continued production for Artwalk

Friday
- portfolio
- class cancelled (wah!)
- Gabe's bday party at Miyako sushi

Saturday
- Silverlake Farmer's Market
- Mozza2Go in - finished "Rome"

Sunday
- Farmer's Market
- visited Nick


- SUPPER CLUB MEAL:
This was my first attempt making lamb. It was also the first time I used Deane's Cuisine Art (food processor) unsupervised. The salsa verde was so yummy! I took half the mix (about a half cup) and marinated the chunks of lamb in it, adding the cumin/coriander spice mix Mehu gave me last week. I waited till Deane came home, and he showed me how to use the new grill. It's pretty easy to use, but he ended up watching the grill and cooking it to perfection because I was busy in the kitchen still cooking up the bravas (a method of cooking potato which I learned last week) and the Indian-spiced veggies (which I also learned last week from Mehu.) I've come to realize that cooking isn't all the difficult as people make it out to be. I actually feel really comfortable "guessing," meaning I don't have to use measuring cups. Okay, the first time, yes, but after that, I just put in what tastes good and I leave out what I don't have. And "what I don't have" could mean an ingredient that requires only 2 tsps, or I'll just substitute it with another ingredient, or better yet just add something which I think will taste good in the mix. Anyway, the meal was excellent and since we had a lot of mint leftover, and rum and limeade from the party, Deane mixed us some mojitos! Yummy! What a delicious meal! I will definitely cook lamb again... and the salsa verde.

SIDENOTE: I'm really enjoying this learning/eating experience! And what's better, it saves us money on taking a $60+ cooking class. Plus, I like to choose meals around what we "already have" in the kitchen. I'm an economizer, as you can tell. And I know how to make new and tasty meals with leftovers. It's something we had to learn to avoid eating leftovers every night of the week growing up.