I don’t think I can survive without rice. I can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.
Rice goes with anything and I’m always learning new ways to enjoy this personal food staple. My cousin and hubby gave us “Seductions of Rice” for Christmas. It’s a big cookbook with beautiful pictures on how rice is used around the world. I love trying out the book’s tasty recipes for rice and other dishes. A few weeks ago, I whipped up this Low-Country Pulao with Chicken and Bacon.
I try to find new recipes to try out on my weekends. I’m thrilled with the huge kitchen space in our Vacaville home. There’s plenty of room to spread out my herbs, veggies, meat and cutting areas. Sometimes I have my PowerBook open to a tasty online recipe. When I’m prepping meals, sometimes I stare out at the backyard and watch my Daisy defend the house against blue jays, squirrels and pedestrians.
After almost a decade of cooking, I still feel like a novice in the kitchen. I think that’s cool because I’ll always find something new and challenging to tickle my taste buds. My love of culinary adventures goes back to my family. I’m happy we had a chance to return to some good home cooking for the P-Day Weekend.
I loved my dad’s home cooking: fish, laarb, fried rice and more. He’s the first one to teach me how to cook. During my 2nd year at Cal, he showed me how to make chicken adobo in the our tiny dorm kitchen. Little by little, I got more daring in the kitchen. Sometimes I had misses when it came to my cooking. Other times, one bite showed me that it was all worth the time and prep invested in the dish.
Mark sent this link to me from Digg: New Star Trek XI Teaser Trailer. It runs before the Cloverfield movie.
So we have to watch that movie now…
And guess what we’re doing for Christmas? That’s right. We’re joining the other cool cats and waiting in line for the first damn showing of the coolest Star Trek movie. Ever.
It’s my weekend and I woke-up ’round 3:00 AM. I suppose that means I’m getting used to my vampire shift at my new station.
Even though I had a morning show to produce on New Year’s Day, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the New Year’s Eve action in Old Sacramento.
After the fireworks, we left Old Sacramento with some time to spare. So we ended-up checking out the California Statehouse ’round 1 AM. It looks beautiful, all lit-up at night. In fact, I think we have a beautiful Capitol City for California. This is the second time I’ve worked in a town that’s the headquarters for state government. During the week, there’s a lot of energy in this city. However Sacramento still has some small town charm. Midtown, Old Sacramento and other neighborhoods have many kitschy, tasty spots and I can’t wait to stumble on them.
Dancing with Fire from Kris Vera-Phillips on Vimeo.
Before the fireworks, fire dancers entertained the crowd. They had a new age vibe but their flame sticks kept us warm when it was something like 40-degrees outside.
Getting ready for New Year’s Eve dinner and fireworks in Old Sacramento. Then I go to work. This is my Friday. I’m happy I get to spend the last hours of 2007 and the first hour of 2008 with my hubby.
The concept of a White Christmas is overrated. We enjoyed beautiful sunny weather for the holiday. I figured Napa would be a nice place to spend Christmas Eve. We drove around the valley and checked out a few spots still open for wine tasting. These are the wine barrels at Grgich.
Several winery spots closed early for the holiday. We got lucky with Grgich and we saw that business was bumping on Christmas Eve. Folks at Grgich Hills say they’re known for organic and biodynamic wines. It’s suppose to be better for the environment and the vines. I suppose that translates to the flavor of their vintages.
Here’s our beautiful tree, all decked out for the holidays! Right now, we’re cooking our Christmas dinner: Ham, pineapples, chorizo, pasta and good times. Then I head off to work. Sigh. My vampire schedule is painful but I’m getting used to it. I end up sleeping by day and then I spend time with my Vacaville family at night. As long as I have my black curtains in the bedroom, I manage to trick my body into thinking it’s nighttime. Still, it’s a pleasure to spend Christmas in beautiful, sunny California.
Merry Christmas!
I lucked out this year and I got Christmas Eve and Day off from work.
Woot!
Since I’m still on my vampire schedule, I woke before the crack of dawn. I squeezed in some tv news watching, e-mail and headlines.
Here’s one for the holidays: NPR : Queen Elizabeth’s Christmas Address on YouTube
This Christmas will be another landmark for the 81-year-old monarch. Over the weekend, she launched her own video site on YouTube. It’s called the Royal Channel. Queen Elizabeth will use it to broadcast her Christmas message far beyond the borders of the realm.
I’m tickled by the idea of Britain’s monarch using youtube, but I’m sad they’re a little bashful when it comes to sharing the content. (there’s no place to embed the video on other web sites…)
We woke up to a light dusting of snow this morning in Laramie. I’m blogging from the Coral Creek Coffee Company and about to bite into my bagel with veggie cream cheese.
We said good-bye to Kansas yesterday. A cold start to another cross-country road trip. Daisy made herself at home in the back seat. I’m happy we didn’t have a medicated puppy on this ride.
Here’s one last look at Kansas. We thought about taking a meandering pace. But we were worried about the forecast for a weekend ice storm and snowfall. We ended-up taking advantage of the clear skies. We drove through Nebraska and crossed over to Wyoming.
We’re heading back to California in a few minutes…
We checked out at the Christmas Lights at the Plaza in Kansas City. Always a beautiful sight.
I plan on updating my twitter over the next few days. You can follow my succinct notes on our cross-country roadtrip back to California on twitter.
Whirlwind.
This week went by in a blur. I said good-bye to so many people. I tried to bottle-up all the memories: favorite pubs, sayings, jokes, meals and other things that made me smile in Kansas.
Happy Mardi Gras!
In Kansas - I have 3 hours and 30 minutes to eat meat and drink alcohol. That’s because at the stroke of midnight, Ash Wednesday begins.
This week, 50-degree weather and plenty of sunshine melted winter in Topeka.
Today, it felt pleasant to walk Daisy in our backyard. I’m happy she didn’t find any mud puddles to investigate. I don’t think our cozy apartment could withstand a puppy bath. Right now, Daisy is snoring on my blue chair from Cost Plus at Jack London Square.
Daisy misses Mark. Sometimes she’d run to the bedroom and sit by the door, waiting for him to come out. Other times, she would sit on the bottom ledge of his desk, waiting to place her puppy chin on his knee.
No worries...
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