UPDATE!

Hi beautiful people! I know I haven't been posting as much as I want to, but I've been super busy! I hope everyone is doing well! In the last post I wrote (like a million years a go), I noted that I was pursuing another business endeavor. You see, I was planning to open a bakery within the next few months, I already wrote my business plan, set a budget up to buy supplies, and started testing recipes. My birthday was yesterday (more on that later!) and it hit me a few weeks ago. I was only 19 (now 20)years old, a college dropout. Yes, I have success as far as having my own restaurant (which had been my dream for a very, very long time)...but I wanted more in life. School may seem pointless at times, but honestly, is soo soo important. I really want to go back, and there's no way I could juggle my restaurant, the new bakery business, and school...so I made the decision to close down. I want to take Broadcasting, as well as get my culinary degree. I'm determined to cook on television one day. I'm moving out of this forsaken town too, closer to Houston. A business, especially a restaurant takes too much out of my life. Life is too short to not get the education I want. I am happy that I had this experience though, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Now, I'll be able to post more (hopefully).

It was my 20th birthday yesterday (thanks Chiara)! The fiance spoiled me all day! He's too good to me. Just because I'm materialistic (I think most girls are), I'll tell you what he got me haha. I got a HUGE triple chocolate cake (it honestly looked better than it tasted, at least he tried lol), a new haircut (chitty chitty bang bangs, as the hubba calls them), 3 Dooney purses (I was in a D&B mood yesterday), a gold Juicy necklace (I only like Juicy b/c they have cute stuff with my first initial on it haha), and a bunch of new clothes.

Ahh, this is a huge change in my life, I hope I adjust well. I'm so used to being the boss lol. Well, I'm naturally a bossy person...but hopefully I don't try to boss around future bosses ^.^ Again, I hope everyone is doing well, I love you guys!


***UPDATING MY UPDATE!****
lol SORRY! I was rambling on and on and making no sense..I'm closing the restaurant for now, not opening the bakery yet, and going back to school. Thanks for the belated birthday wishes!

Tagged! My Top 5 Food Pleasures!

I was tagged by Her.Peachiness about my top 5 food pleasures! I believe that most eating I do is for pleasure (everything in moderation). I could probably name my top 50 food pleasures if I had the time! Sorry I've been updating once ever 5 million days (according to xppinkx ^.^)! I've been working on a business plan for a new business venture (crossing my fingers..wish me luck ^^) and I've been busy with the restaurant.

1. Meat: foie gras, Kobe, dry aged beef, lamb, duck, free range chicken mmmmm. I don't eat meat as much as I used to, but when I do..I overdo it.

2. Gelato: I used to live in Connecticut, where the Italian population is HUGE. Ice cream is nice, but Gelato is just another level..especially alcoholic flavored gelato lol.

3. White Trash Cuisine: Blame Texas for this. SOMETIMES (only occasionally), I just want to sit back, relax and eat some Cheetos, TV dinners, Ramen, drink Coca Cola, and have canned Whipped Cream Battles with the hubba bubba.

4. Dark Chocolate: I've tried too many kinds of dark chocolate and most of them agree with me. The milk and white variety just doesn't satiate me.

5. Carbs: I once tried a low carb diet when I was younger. It lasted for a whole summer and I lost tons of weight...but it wasn't worth it. If I don't have carbs, I'm cranky and yell at everyone. Bread, pasta, noodles, potatoes...repeat.

Spaghetti Squash in The Way a Whore Would Make It

Yesterday, I made 2 things that were new to me..Spaghetti Squash and Puttanesca sauce. Spaghetti squash is a squash that when cooked, the meat falls away in strands that resemble angel hair pasta. I was wary of trying this because I love my carbs and angel hair is my favorite kind of pasta. Spaghetti squash is always associated with dieters and I don't diet. However, I was really surprised that the squash was not only delicious and unique, it satisfied my pasta craving and didn't make my stomach feel as if I had just eaten a wet rock. It won't taste like pasta, it has a subtle squash flavor and is a little crunchy. It also has tons of vitamins and nutrients and is available year round.

Pasta alla Puttanesca translates into "Pasta in the way a whore would make it." Hence the name of this post haha. Historically, during the 1950s, Italian prostitutes could make this dish out of odds and ends in their pantries. They didn't have the luxury of shopping everyday like the goodie goodie Italian housewives and they didn't have the time to cook extravagant meals between customers...prostitutes are hard working girls. This sauce is spicy, robust, and pungent due to the use of anchovies, olives, capers and hot pepper flakes.

Spaghetti Squash in The Way a Whore Would Make It
1 whole spaghetti squash
Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup pitted, chopped olives
2 tablespoons capers
1 tsp anchovy paste
1 tablespoon fresh oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 (14 oz) can of plain tomato sauce, natural and no salt added
2 Bay Leaves
sea salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and pierce the outsides with a fork (just a few stabs). Clean out the seeds and extra gunk in the inside. Rub the cut sides with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and pepper. Place cut sides down on a cookie sheet and bake for 40-45 minutes (until a fork can pierce it with only a little resistance). Meanwhile heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and bay leaves and saute until garlic is golden brown. Add the olives, capers, anchovy paste, oregano and crushed red pepper to the skillet, and saute for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer until the squash is done. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

When the squash is done, using a fork, lightly scrape the meat and you will see that it will fall apart like strands of pasta. To serve, top the pasta with the sauce in the empty squash shells. ENJOY!




Looks like a PICTURE whore

Tagged! My 5 Beauty Crimes

I've been tagged by Lurve and Vi Anne to name my 5 beauty crimes. There are so so many.

1. I hate the feel of any lotion on my body..so I don't wear any unless I'm ashy. It's horrible. I can stand lotion on my face, but greasy, cold lotion on my skin and in the crevices of my body makes me feel nasty. I don't get very dry, so I guess I'm okay. I constantly have to throw my old body lotions away because I buy them and never use them.

2. I rub my eyes all the time. I envy the beautiful, line free eyes of Kaye Bee. She's a hot MILF and is 12 years older than me and has perfect eyes. I'm starting to form these little lines underneath my eyes that I hate. I need to know her secret! And I think my eyelashes suck b/c I rub them out.

3. I hate brushing my hair. This sounds nasty lol. My hair doesn't get all that knotty anymore, so I just comb every few days. My hair is a weird medium of wavy and straight (My sister tells me it's nappy, only because she has perfect hair) and if I comb it all the time, it looks bad. If I don't comb it often, it stays nice and wavy.

4. Sometimes I just wash my face with warm water, no soap, no cleanser. I'm horrible. I'm so lucky I have skin that just stays the same and never breaks out. Sometimes, I don't even put my moisturizer on. It's maintenance free and I feel so bad for my boyfriend. He has an incurable skin disease that makes his skin look red, flakey, and scaly, like a reptile. People always stare and I always give them the finger and curse at them, even though he says it doesn't bother him (If it did, then I pity the fool his big ass 6'3", 240 lb self gets angry at).

5. I get my eyebrows and hair done professionally like, once a year. After years of bad waxing, threading, highlights, cuts, and dye jobs, I've given up on beauty professionals. It doesn't matter if I go to a high end salon or the Viet shop down the street, people just love making me look bad. If anyone has any recommendations for a salon in the Houston area, please tell me.


I think I'm like the last one to do this, so I have noone else to tag ^.^

Random Picture Whoring

Olive Oil Cookies with Figs and Dark Chocolate aka Jesus Cookies!

I just bought an awesome bottle of cold pressed Spanish Extra Virgin Olive Oil and felt like making something sweet with it. I found a recipe for Olive Oil Cookies by Mark Bittman, the famous and amazing food writer that writes for The NY Times and wrote, "How to Cook Everything." Like he said, olive oil won't produce a cookie with a tender crumb like butter does, but more cakey with a crispy surface. His recipe calls for red wine, but unfortunately..I'm underaged and didn't feel like bribing people outside the liquor store to buy me wine haha. Also, I thought that maybe the red wine would overpower the expensive olive oil I bought, so I used milk instead (it was one of his variations).

I added dark chocolate and dried figs to the cookies (figs+rosemary+olive oil=make me think of Jesus) These are nicknamed "Jesus Cookies." haha The rosemary and the black pepper are strange cookie ingredients, but these are seriously really good and cakey. It tastes "grown up" and not cavity inducing sweet.

You can click on the earlier link to see his recipe, or just look at my variation.


Jesus Cookies! (variation of Mark Bittman's Olive Oil Cookies)
2 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp fresh minced rosemary or 1/2 tsp dried
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup milk
4 oz dried figs, chopped
5 oz dark chocolate, chopped (or more if you like to lick your fingers and sample while you bake)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients together and combine well. In a separate bowl, beat the milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla together. Combine the wet and dry with a rubber spatula until just well combined. Fold in the dried figs carefully. Drop by the rounded teaspoonful onto a lightly greased cookie sheet. You may have to chill for a bit in the freezer so it's easier to work with. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Melt the chocolate in the microwave or double boiler. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack and coat the bottoms with melted dark chocolate. I used a plastic spoon and sort of painted the chocolate on the bottom of the cookies. Let the chocolate harden and ENJOY!

omg

Brad Pitt, Ashton Kutcher, and Sean Penn are going to be in my tiny little town shooting a movie and I have to stay here. arggh..sometimes it SUCKS having your own business. Maybe they'll eat here haha. Brad Pitt people!

Easter Dinner

Happy (Belated) Easter everyone! The bf and I are meat and potatoes kinda people. I was going to go with traditional lamb, but I live in the middle of nowhere and nobody carries anything good around these parts. I seared and simmered a hunk of beef chuck in a crushed tomato sauce with garlic, rosemary, and oregano for a couple of hours and it came out sooo tender I could cut it with a butter knife. The veggies are flavored with rosemary, whole grain dijon, garlic, and tossed in extra virgin olive oil and roasted in the oven.

If you need the recipe, email me at jtabithapeng@yahoo.com