Quite some time ago, I bought a cookbook on clearance at Borders: Vietnamese Food & Cooking by Ghillie Basan.  The blurb on the cover goes on to say "Discover the exotic culture, traditions and ingredients of Vietnamese and Cambodian cuisine with over 150 authentic step-by-step recipes and over 750 photographs." Like most things I buy on ... See Full Entry »

Today was a bright, overcast day - perfect for taking pictures! We get a lot of natural light in the apartment and I snapped some shots of my 8-year old pit bull, Penny, in the bathroom earlier tonight. See Full Entry »

Tim was working late last night and I wanted to make him something for dinner.  He tries to avoid carbs at night and also watches his sodium and fat intake. These are things that aren't important in my own diet so I had to put extra thought into what I would make.  If I was ... See Full Entry »

Around 5 this evening, I got up to investigate the flood of orange light streaming in through the glass doors of my balcony.  I figured the sun was setting, but since it has been dark and stormy all day, the vibrancy of this light caught my eye.  I noticed a guy in a building across ... See Full Entry »

A couple weeks ago, Tim found a very old, barely used meat grinder at the thrift store down the street.  It has a manual crank and is 100% metal with quality construction that's hard to find nowadays.  He bought it right away and though we've already made our own ground beef burgers and chicken patties, ... See Full Entry »

I'm a big carnivore.  I don't find a meal to be very satisfying unless it has meat in it, so it's quite rare for me to enjoy the dish pictured above. I was in the Asian market the other day and noticed that they had water spinach for sale.  It's not something that's always available so ... See Full Entry »

In the past, I would have heavily salted the untrimmed steak, fried it til crispy, and devoured it with a mountain of white jasmine rice. Tonight, I very lightly salted the trimmed steak and pan-fried til medium.  I had some asparagus that were a bit passed their prime, but they came out tender once trimmed and ... See Full Entry »

Last week, while lounging on the sofa, I noticed the balcony doors were suddenly aglow with steaks of orange.  I looked outside and caught my breath at the sight of a gorgeous sunset disappearing behind buildings and palm trees.  I don't think the English language has an adequate word to describe the sense of awe, ... See Full Entry »

I'm a domesticated diva! Okay, maybe not quite. I don't cook without looking up recipes and am working on the whole cleaning thing, but being home has made me a tad more domesticated. I am cooking a lot more often, gardening, and trying new "crafty" things. I even plan to do a little wall ... See Full Entry »