Fresh Goji Berries

My grandma grows a goji berry plant in our front yard. There are plenty of fruits every year (the joys of planting!) and the taste is sweet with a punch of bitterness/spice.

I don't think I like fresh goji berries that much (because the spice leaves a funny aftertaste), but it's good for my eyes apparently, so I shall suffer through.

It's interesting how nature opts for complementary colors though, it feels so intentional.

Taste Test: Tarte Asian Yogurt

I was in a local grocery store (see Old MacDonald's Farmer's Market) and saw that there was a new locally made yogurt, so I decided to try it.

        

Even though there was less sugar in Tarte than regular yogurt, it had a weird aftertaste that stayed in your mouth for a long while. I don't think anything was that special about it other than the odd flavor. 

Note to self, probably won't buy it again, but it's fun to go out of my comfort zone and try different variations of products in the grocery store. I feel like I often end up buying the same thing over and over again, so as long as I make a conscious decision to diversify, I can experience a lot more flavors and each bite could be a new adventure.

San Jose Municipal Rose Garden

Free things to do are probably one of the best things in life. For my grandma's birthday, I took her to the San Jose Municipal Rose Garden and fell in love with some of the roses with unique colors.

Trying my hand at photoshop...
The roses were originally purple!

I think roses need to be at least two colors to be considered legitimate.

Polka dot roses?! So beautiful

I love my grandma! (:

I think it's definitely worth checking out, although it's not like you can spend hours of your day here, you can still be amazed by how many different kinds of roses there are and enjoy the sunshine.

Foodspiration: BacaroLA

My friend Karen (check out her food blog here) took me to this small restaurant near-ish her apartment in LA. It had some really crazy interesting ingredient combinations that somehow worked! I liked how the portions were small, but everything had really strong flavors, so it ended up being very satisfying. The place is sort of experimental, and there's definitely a lot to learn from from their entrees.

Buffalo Cheese - apparently made with buffalo milk? It's much creamier and slightly sweeter than cow milk cheeses, although the difference is very nuanced. 

Bacaro Burger - The bread is a piece of toast instead of regular burger bun bread, so maybe next time I make burgers I don't have to go out of my way to buy the bun especially... but I typically make bun-less burgers anyway, but still a cool flavor combination~

MY FAVORITE DISH OF THE NIGHT - lamb in eggplant. SO MUCH FLAVOR I can't even explain. They used a lot of citrus to probably balance out the lamb with this crunchy potato chip on the top. The eggplant on the outside contrasted with the super soft lamb on the inside. 

Bone marrow! Honestly I thought my family was weird for eating this, but now they just legitimized it...by serving it at a restaurant. Anyway, so they used some lemon-y flavors to make the bone marrow into like a paste to put on bread. I didn't know this could be a dish...

Dark on the inside for ambiance~

Thanks for taking me, Karen! I really enjoyed it. I think they were also able to price their dishes super fairly (3 for $21?!) because they're in a sketchy-ish part of town, but this place is definitely worth trying. I love restaurants that challenge what I thought was possible in cooking.

Art Inspiration: Native American Pottery

I went to Stanford University's Cantor Center for the Arts the other day. Although the exhibition for SFMOMA's Pop Art Collection was still under construction (such a bummer! I really wanted to see it! Hopefully, I will get a chance to see before I leave...but it's difficult to schedule in), the closing gave me a chance to become very inspired by the geometric designs in the Native American pottery exhibition. I love the harsh edges and super modern patterns.

Asymmetrical, minimalist feel. Use of negative space very effective.

Typically, circles don't really work well in an art piece because they draw so much attention, but this somehow manages to complement the other rectangular elements.

Contrast with solid colors, repetitive lines. Varied Textures.

Love how they added a fantastical geometric shape in the center of the animal. You can still tell what it is, but the diamond makes it unique and interesting.

I think I'm often so caught up with modern or post-modern pieces that I forget to appreciate the more rustic roots of where a lot of these artistic ideas come from. I can't wait to add some of these geometric patterns into my future sketches! 

Easy Bulgogi Recipe

I love bulgogi, and turns out, it's much easier to make than I originally thought!

Ingredients (5-6 Servings)

2 pounds Rib-eye or other tender Beef (thinly sliced)

2 tablespoons Soy Sauce

2 teaspoons Asian Sesame Oil

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 bulb Garlic (minced)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper (to taste)

3 Green Onions (cut into 1 inch pieces)

Toasted Sesame Seeds (for garnish)

Optional: Oyster/Shiitake Mushrooms, Onions, Zucchini, Bell Pepper, Thinly Sliced Carrots

Prep

1. Marinate the beef in the soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and garlic for 30 minutes (or overnight)

Cook

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef and stir-fry completely until browned. (5-7 minutes)

2. Add the black pepper and green onions and cook until the green onions are slightly limp, but still retain their color. (1-2 minutes). 

3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I'm not sure when you should add the optional ingredients. I'm assuming you would put those in right after you add the beef and stir fry them all together. Or maybe I should put the onions in first, and then the beef to get the flavor.

Credits to Quick & Easy Korean Cooking by Cecilia Hae-Jin Lee

Easy Stir Fried Onions Chinese Recipe

Again, super accessible ingredients, and very similar to the previous green beans stir fry.

A colorful final product

Ingredients

1 Onion

1/2 cup Marinated Pork or Beef Slices

1 pinch of Salt

1/2 tablespoon Soy Sauce

1/4 tablespoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Water

1 tablespoon Oil

Optional: Picked Mustard (or Zha Cai)

Preparation

1. Onion: Cut the Onion into thin, curved slices. This is done by cutting the onion in half (by the flat way) and then putting the flat section faced down. Slice rainbow shapes from there.

2. Marinated Pork or Beef: Cut a piece of meat into small, thing slices. Add rice wine, oil, soy sauce, and salt. (If you do not have rice wine, you can add a bit of vinegar instead.) Put in fridge to marinate. Stir fry until brown and refrigerate to store. 

Cooking

1. Heat the wok. Add oil and wait for it to become hot.

2. Add the prepared Marinated meat. Stir fry. Then add the onion slices and continue to stir fry.

3. Add soy sauce, then add water (if it start sticking to the bottom of the wok). Add the salt and sugar. 

4. Stir fry until onion slices are bendable, but still crunchy and serve! 

Green Bean Stir Fry Simple Chinese Recipe

I love this super easy and delicious stir fry recipe because it uses super accessible ingredients and is fun to make!

Excuse the blurriness, it's the steam.

Ingredients

1 cup Green Beans

1/2 cup Shredded Carrots

1/4 cup Shredded and Marinated Pork (see below)

1 Tablespoon Oil (or even less)

1/4 Tablespoon Salt

3/4 Tablespoon Soy Sauce

1/2 Tablespoon Sugar
3 Tablespoon Water

Optional: 1 tablespoon pickled mustard (Zha cai)

Preparation

• Green Beans: Select small, straight, and fresh green beans from the supermarket. This is very important for optimal taste. Wash, cut off the two ends, and use your fingers to break the green beans into two or three small pieces each. (Do NOT chop, breaking retains taste)
• Shredded and Marinated Pork: Buy a piece of pork and chop into small, thin, long pieces. Add a bit of rice wine, salt, and soy sauce. Oil the wok and stir fry until the meat changes color from pink to light brown. Take out of wok and store in the refrigerator. 

Cooking

1. Turn cooktop to High. Heat the wok. Once the wok is heated, add the oil, and wait for the oil to heat up as well. 
2. First add the shredded carrots and start stirring until the carrots soak up most of the oil.
3. Then add the prepared pork into the wok. Keep stirring in the process. Finally, put in the green beans. Add water. Put the cap on the wok. Wait for a minute or two. Add the salt, soy sauce, and sugar and keep stirring until desired crispiness. When the green beans become more vibrant in color, they are ready. 
4. Optional: When the green beans are ready, add a little bit of pickled mustard into the wok and stir fry super quickly.
5. Pour contents onto a plate and serve!

Notes: My grandma likes to make a little hole in the middle of the dish for presentation purposes.

A Self Portrait: Six Months

I dislike drawing self portraits (or collections surrounding self portraits, unless you have an extremely distinctive look) because it either ends up similar to other portraits, or a super cliche way to express how you feel. However, with my baby pictures, I feel a slight detachment to them. I know as common knowledge that it is me, but I don't feel anything when I see the pictures. I have no idea what I was thinking or feeling at that time. I didn't even know the picture was being taken. I think that detachment leaves room for exploration and a good opportunity to draw non-adult proportioned faces.

Sometimes I wish I still had that mohawk! 

Foodspiration: Siggi's Icelandic Skyr

I was in Whole Foods dairy section, and I literally couldn't find any yogurt that had less than 20g of sugar in a serving. In my frustration, I finally stumbled upon Siggi's Icelandic Skyr, and decided to give it a try.

The first reaction I had upon trying this was WOW THIS IS SO THICK, and it's hard to eat in large quantities. You have to savor the flavors in your mouth. I tried the ginger orange (or orange ginger?) and loved the feel of real ingredients inside, but thought that the ginger was a little bit too overpowering (especially because I was consuming it on a hot summer's day).

I think I'm definitely going to keep going with Siggi's because of its low sugar content and all the health benefits (see here) of the different cultures in the yogurt. I was also super inspired by their beautiful story, starting out small in a farmers market and now taking over the world! Well, if not the world, my stomach at least. I really want to have a stand in farmer's market and influence healthy food culture someday, so this makes me hopeful. (:

The price is a little high, but it has the content to make up for it. I'm just wondering if plain yogurt with my own fruit toppings could match up with this lack of sugar?

Art Inspiration: Anthropologie Window Display

I have basically stopped shopping, but I had to go to Santana Row yesterday because the rest of my family enjoys walking around the area.

What caught my eye was the window display art at Anthropologie! They're so beautiful. 

My mom hiding in the corner! The reflective glass creates a cool effect, but makes the art harder to see.

I love the use of the drip technique that allows the 3D string to flow and continue the unity within the piece. Mix of textures (contrast with thin paint and thick cloth attachment) and bright colors (orange/blue/green) make this piece pop!

"Red Face": A Short Story

“Red Face”

            The flavor of fluoride mint toothpaste in my mouth as I brushed my teeth this morning conjured up childhood memories of none other than my fourth and fifth grade orchestra teacher, Mr. Picardo.

            He looked like the kind of person who might’ve worked as a Santa Clause in a two-bit mall on his days off. His greying hair lay thick on his head down to his impressive beard. It was clear that he rarely shaved and, his rounded belly bulged past the buckle of his black leather belt. After we squeaked D and F scales out of our violins, “Smashing,” he would reply sonorously, with a hint of sarcasm mediated by an eye-wrinkling smile. It seemed like he was always in tune with the music, his arms and head bobbling with the beat as he conducted.

            I don’t remember the color of his eyes, grey perhaps or green, I never really paid attention. Most of what I did notice was that his cheeks blazed with color, like he was constantly blushing, but never embarrassed. “Why is your face so red?” my classmates and I would ask, brimming with playful curiosity.

            He stopped for a moment and feigned innocence, “What? My face isn’t red…”

            “Yes, it is!” we continued.

            “Well, that’s normal, isn’t it? Why aren’t your faces red?” His gaze shifted and indicated that we should go back to playing Hot Cross Buns. He scratched his salmon skin under his blue Hawaiian shirt with his pudgy, weathered fingers and readjusted his legs. He was that kind of guy; the crazy Hawaiian shirt and acid wash jeans kind of guy.

            “Haha, nobody else’s face is like yours!” We giggled and, like the elementary schoolers we were, started running around him teasing, “Red Face! Red Face!”

            He chuckled a few times, shrugging it off and unsteadily asked us to come closer, “Alright, alright everyone. Janna, practice your bow form, and the rest of you need start practicing Hot Cross Buns for the Fall Concert.” But as soon as he opened his mouth, the room filled with an uncomfortable odor like fermented saliva. I held my breath and tried not to breathe when I was near him. Suddenly, somebody broke the silent thought in everyone’s minds.

            “Mr. Picardo, your breath STINKS!” she exclaimed, smirking because even though the stale smell was indeed terrible, we still looked upon him with unwavering admiration. He was our funnily sardonic, always enthusiastic orchestra teacher after all. All the kids loved Mr. Picardo for his openness, his droll disposition, but the other teachers seemed to keep a steady distance away from him. Perhaps it was the smell, we thought.

            It isn’t until now that I realize his habits and appearance embodied one of an obvious alcoholic. Yet, why does my growing maturity bring upon such instant judgment? Why does the label “an alcoholic” seem to say something about his entire being, not simply a part of his life that he might’ve struggled with?

At the time, I only understood that it was Mr. Picardo who taught me what each string on the violin was and what rosin was for, gave me an enthusiasm for music and helped me string together tunes from a collection of broken notes. Now, what runs through my mind isn’t how well he taught scales or conducted our concerts, but rather why he drank the way he did, how he became an elementary school music teacher (maybe he couldn’t make it in the music world), and how many bottles of wine he would consume when he wasn’t teaching us – none of which has anything to do with how he treated me.
I am nineteen, technically a legal adult, but I think I saw people more clearly when I was nine.

I hope you enjoyed this true story from my elementary days.