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Tuesday: 11 October 2011

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).
Monday: 3 October 2011

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.

 

Thursday: 8 July 2010

I don’t know how many people have heard of Desigual, a Spanish design company that opened at least 2 storefronts in New York City in the past year or so (one’s in SoHo, it’s not difficult to spot). They sell these amazing coats and dresses made of a mish-mash of fabrics and patterns that just make me want to drop the $400 dollars the clothes are priced at.

Fortunately for my wallet, I was able to dig this dress out of a large pile of thrift clothes at a stall in the somewhat sketchy Montreuil markets in Paris and purchased it for the bargain price of 8 Euros!

full back

This is the back of the dress.

Full front

The full front view of the dress.

Bodice

Notice the zipper details and the empire waistline.

Detail

The patterns remind me of Ming vases.

Dress Bottom

Hemline.

Tuesday: 13 April 2010
The rock/punk

Crawled up around 7am on a Saturday (the first time) to do a photoshoot with my friend Megwa to enter into the photo contest for Tokyo Rebel. Meg happens to be the model and stylist and makeup.

punk full

The two categories where punk (above) and lolita (below). Winners of the contest, one in each category, get $250 in store merchandise–not that this is very much, considering a dress on this Japanese street fashion site goes for about $300, if not more–and a chance to model or photograph for them.

lolita door

Meg actually designs and makes some of her own clothes. She concentrates on the Lolita style and has her own design site.

lolita full
Friday: 5 March 2010
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It’s been a bit since the last snow storm and snow day, and it’s finally feeling like spring again, though I’m not sure how long that will last. This is a peak around campus when it’s transformed into a winter wonderland.

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Snow flowers on tree branches; almost like spring.

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A more automotive view.

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The castle.

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