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Thursday: 20 October 2011
Waxing Nostalgic

I was going through pictures I took in high school, when I still aspired to do high fashion photography portraits, and realized I never shared my first set. I’m not really sure what I said to my friends to convince them to model, or what this set was intended for. [I wasn't taking photography at the time.]

And I have more where that came from.

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Tuesday: 11 October 2011
Fancy Beef Top Ramen

You're not a real college student if you don't at least revert to this tried-and-true staple at some point in your college dietary career.

And frankly, quite a number of boys don’t really graduate away from it. After all, what’s easier than making ramen? You boil water, toss in the noddles, add the sauce packet, and you can eat in less than 3 minutes!But as great as they are plain, I do like my veggies and meat, so here’s to fancy, kinda healthy ramen noodles!

Ramen can be even fancier when placed in a pretty bowl and photographed on a cutting board.

How to pre-pare the beef (as in, prepare this before hand, refrigerate, and slice off as desired):

Ingredients:

  • Dark Soy Sauce
  • Salt
  • Hunk of Slightly Fatty Beef

Directions:

Cut beef into more manageable sized chunks, rub salt all over lightly, and throw in sauce pan. Fill saucepan with water till it just barely covers the top of the beef. Drench in soil sauce; mix into the water. Turn heat on medium or medium-low and simmer with covered lid for two hours. Add water as needed.
Now for cooking the Ramen itself:
Resort to regular cooking, but after adding the noodles toss in some beef and cabbage (nappa preferred, but other varieties will work too).
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Monday: 3 October 2011
It’s Not Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken

This summer, on the few days I made it home for dinner (including weekends), I shopped for groceries almost exclusively at Trader Joe’s. There, my roommate introduced me to Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken, which I would throw into my wok with the pre-made sauce and a few vegetables.

I no longer live a 15 min. walk from a Trader Joe’s, but boy was I still craving my mandarin chicken. Lo and behold, why not fry and sauce my own? Here’s the adapted recipe I’ve been using. Pair the chicken with your own vegetables–my favorites are broccoli, green beans, or mushrooms. I also do single servings and frequently eyeball, so multiply and be warned!

Ingredients:

  • 1 Chicken Breast
  • Salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • Cooking oil

Batter:

  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 1/4 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Salt
  • Ground black pepper
  • 1/8 cup cold water

Sauce:

  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/8 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • Fresh garlic clove (minced)
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ginger (minced)
  • 8 cup water
  • 1 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

Cut chicken into cubes or strips, then season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Combine all batter ingredients. Mix well to achieve a smooth, thick consistency. Dip and coat chicken pieces into batter and deep fry in hot oil until chicken turns golden and is cooked through. Set aside to drain on paper towels.

Separately, combine sauce ingredients.

Stir fry vegetables until tender. Stir in chicken pieces and pour in sauce over chicken and vegetables.

Easy peasy, lemon squeasy.

 

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Saturday: 12 February 2011
Downsized, My Size

Fits right in the palm of my hand.

I mentioned that I’d spend most of January camera shopping. I did, and I finally got the fruit I was waiting for yesterday, shipped all the way from Hong Kong. This here is a Golden Half camera, which was just reissued in Japan sometime in or around 2008. It’s an analog toy camera and has plastic & rubber parts. It takes regular 35mm film, but as a half-format, doubles the number of pictures you can take with that roll, so a roll of 24 exposures can fit 48 pictures, and so on.

I first saw the camera in the Tokyo LOFT (giant stationary store with indie-leaning design interests). I didn’t feel like paying the premium of the yen’s exchange rate + Japan’s tax while there so I held off until I got back to the states and did a bit more research on my own. My golden half came in the black mountain design.

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Wednesday: 9 February 2011
The January Effect

January into February and I find that I’m spending all my money. Poof, like that. One month in cameras, and another in clothes. My days can be summarized like so: work, class, online shopping, blogs, online shopping, sleep, repeat. Most of the clothes lust comes from the one movie I watched in theater whilst in Japan last month (and rightfully so, with them being ¥18 a screening!): Norwegian Wood. G.’s a big Murakami fan.

Will probably obsess more about the costumes and Kiko Mizuhara at a future point in time.

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