Queenkv’s Brainpickings

Channeling my inner Martha Stewart.
Since I’m freelancing, between jobs and spending plenty of time at home, I’m challenging myself in the kitchen.

Thanks to Serious Eats, I tried out this French technique with fish: Cod en Papillote. The foil helped cook the cod fillets perfectly. Unfortunately, I used salted butter. That, plus a generous pinch of [...]

My parents have been doing a lot of traveling in the last few months.
In November, they won a cruise vacation. It sounded like a relaxing way to explore the western coast of Mexico. My dad brought back several bottles of tequila and snapped some beautiful pictures at sea. Together – they had plenty of good [...]

(Side note: The job hunt, social media video projects and Google Reader distractions have pushed me behind on this blog and my little videos. I’m playing catch-up. I’m also grateful for everything that’s keeping me busy while I live a life of leisure in Cow Town)
Good times in Vacaville: We rang in the New Year [...]

Short weekend vacations rock my world.
It’s wonderful to head to the Sierra when we need a change of scenery and break from life in Vacaville and the Bay Area.
I missed watching snowflakes fall and our Tahoe trip gave me plenty of the white stuff. I snapped this picture of the mountain off Ski [...]

Today – I slept in until 6:30 AM.
24 hours earlier – I was printing scripts for my director, swapping out stories for a live report at a deadly accident scene and writing teases for my 2-hour show.

Yesterday – I wrapped up my last day of work in Sacramento TV News. It’s the end of my [...]

Finally. December.
I’m trying to keep track of all the amazing food we sampled over the past few months. So far, I have tweeted several gourmet experiences. Now – I’ll try to sum up some of those dining adventures, beyond 140 characters.

We did a Thanksgiving Lunch at the Bistro in downtown Sonoma. I needed a [...]

Type, check & hit send. A new chapter in my life starts today. #
@chewyfally No! No Rick Rolling! He's "Not" David Caruso! You should have seen his badge and Miami PD ID. in reply to chewyfally #
@suzannephan Wedding in Mumbai! Once-in-a-lifetime experience for your friends who are tying the knot! in reply to suzannephan #
@ColeDavid [...]

Bringing work home and looking for someone who can relate. Then I stared into the puppy's eyes…http://bit.ly/2DqRQW #fb #
@brianstelter Also loved how Jay Leno gave "America what it wants!" in reply to brianstelter #
Sipping a hot toddy and shake off the disturbing, violent scenes from Murakami's Kafka on the Shore #
On the move! RT @NASA: [...]

Inside my newsroom, I surprised people with my plans to visit Cleveland on my 2-week vacation.
They thought I was crazy. I rattled off some places worth visiting, like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They nodded, but I don’t think I changed any minds. Screw it. I had fun. This city by Lake [...]

Imagine – ordering le petit déjeuner at the McDonald’s inside Lourve.
Honestly, I thought it was only a matter of time.

[Sept. 2004: Next to the Chatelet metro station, on the way to Norte Dame]
I thought this BBC article summed up the international foodie reaction to the news of a new McD’s inside an iconic French institution. [...]