1-Minute Homemade Cheater Cappuccino in a Mason Jar

My relationship with coffee is a complicated one. I LOVE it and resent it at the same time.

Avocado Muffins -- only for my best friends

I am blessed with the best friends one can ask for -- fun, smart, and most importantly: they will be there for you at times of need. This is no Oscar or Nobel, but I just want to jog down that C,  D, G, M, N, P, S, S etc really got me through the toughest times ( I hope the toughest is over). Especially M & S, who took me out for an all time favorite: oysters (!) + bubbly sangria @ pacifico last night.

I don't think I can ever thank them enough for being good companions, and treating me to the best in town on top of that. Pardon me for not disclosing everything here, but just trust me that they are awesome.

The only way to thank them ( that I could think of) was to make these: avocado muffins. I started wanting make a brownie, and changed my mind half way through, and the resulted recipe was inspired by M&S's favorite food. Here's the whole spiel.

Greek Yogurt Blueberry Muffins -- maximizing goodies from the farmer's market

If you are like me, you will find it hard to resist getting that fresh pint of blueberries from the farmer's market, together with the peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, and strawberries. It is just impossible to go through those fast enough as a two-people household! Still, come the following week, despite the fact you've checked your fridge and warned yourself not to go crazy, you'll grab another pint...This happens every single time. After blueberry pancakes, berry-banana smoothies, berry-topped yogurt, here comes the final bomb: blueberry muffins.

No-Bake Dried Fruit Coffee Bar -- a perfect post-workout snack

D has started working out again: bought a new bike, and has been going on 25-mile rides on weekdays and 50-mile ride on weekends for the past couple month. Believe it or not, one can easily burn over 1500 calories per ride!

To help with a speedy recovery, I made this yummy treat after reading this article about caffeine and cycling.

Open Face Chicken Naanwich -- leftovers are wonderful for lunch

I love dining out in summer time -- sitting out on a patio with a glass of white sangria or margarita. I also love the numerous barbecue parties -- blue cheese burgers, grilled steaks, corn on the cob, and of course, lots of beer. My point is, with the increasing dining options, I tend to cook formal meals less frequently in summer. Heating up the stove twice a day is just not that appealing somehow.

So when I do cook, I make more than enough for a meal, and rely on the leftovers for a while. Trust me, leftovers can be very tasty! Here is a lunch we have been having for lunch ever since I discovered the fun of making naan at home.

Homemade Naan Bread -- for dinner, lunch & BREAKFAST!

What do you think of when it comes to Indian cuisine? For me: aromatic spices, crispy veggies and tender meat, and NAAN!

I had always thought that naan would be unattainable without a clay oven, until I stumbled upon this. It seemed so simple that I ought to try it!

Secret Chocolate Birthday Cake -- shh...don't tell anyone

When it comes to birthday cake, I constantly find myself debating between lemon, chocolate, and coconut. Really, it is just too hard! In the end, chocolate wins 80% of the time, as it is rich, scrumptious, and very seductive.

It turns out that I am not alone! Not long ago, when my dear friend S wanted to make (for the first time) a birthday cake to surprise her boyfriend B, she opted for CHOCOLATE (black forest to be exact).

We had a practice run at my loft a week before the actual birthday (S is the best girlfriend one can have!), and since it was meant to be a surprise (and ok, I have been a bit lazy these days), here comes the delayed post.

Lemonade Chia Seed Muffins -- we all have lazy days

It's time for breakfast again, and I had NOTHING prepared. Digging through the fridge, I found nothing but eggs and milk, along with some cabbage and dried shrimp & squid (!) What can I do?!

Luckily, D has got some lemonade in stock, way way in the back. How lucky! With a pantry stocked with flour, baking powder and vanilla, I could totally pull it off -- or could I?

Gluten-Free Corn Muffins with Chia Seeds -- start your day with a smiley face

It's 2 o'clock in the morning. I'm not sure how many of us would stay up to write or read about food. But if there's a group of such, then I'm one of them.

As you may have already guessed: breakfast is the most challenging meals to make for me. D doesn't really like the eggy flavor at all, and I can never get up early enough for a gourmet morning deal. So I made more muffins. Day after day until we ran out of flour! The horror! Out of desperation, I whipped up some corn muffins with fresh blueberries, and oh my, they were good.

Farm Fresh Hangover Detox Smoothie -- for someone you love

One perk of being a graduate student here is the numerous social hours -- monthly happy hour and First Friday at Five, biweekly TGIF, spontaneous outings, etc. It also helps to have brilliant and generous friend who offers to pay for beer as his new Science article is getting super hot. It's no surprise then we got to kick start our weekend with some free pizza and beer, from where D and others moved on to a restaurant downtown for dinner, and continued with flowing delicious beverage, until...until it's time to crash. (I got home early, not 100% by choice -- I was still recovering from the night before, from pitchers of Negra Modelo at the allegedly best Mexican restaurant in CT.)  D's hangover today was only natural -- I just need to find a CURE to it.

This brings me to another perk of living here -- an awesome food co-op and a great farmer's market a few blocks away. Fresh from the market today -- garlic greens, rapini, and a cherry tomato plant.

Fresh Herb Roasted Chicken Thighs with Asparagus and Cauliflower -- quick (and balanced) weeknight dinner

I was going to write the past weekend, including the last show of the season at the Yale Rep, hanging out with friends at our place catching up till 3 a.m., a tasty Mother's Day brunch with D's family, a great run of Dungeons and Dragon's, and a Game of Thrones viewing party...Then I quickly realized that we were so busy DOING things, that we only took ONE photo, for all that have happened!

Though this photo is of my favorite people -- J&C enjoying their fluffy chocolate pancakes at the Mother's day brunch. The pancakes were bigger than their faces! J kept saying that his hands got dark (because of the melted dark chocolate chips), yet both seemed to have enjoyed lunch very much. They finished the pancakes without a single drop of maple syrup. I love how they stuck to the true taste of a plain old chocolate chip pancake! The brunch for adult included bacon & salmon eggs Benedict (with homemade hollandaise sauce), hash browns, more bacon, and mimosa (of course)! We were too busy eating and chatting for pictures. So...I won't be writing about that.

Instead, I will be writing about random dinner, that I happened to snap a couple shots before it was gone.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Banana Muffins with Chia Seeds -- 5 muffins a day is not too crazy

I am convinced this is D's new favorite. Every now and then I would whip up a dozen of breakfast cookies or muffins, which usually last for a longggg time. Usually after day four they stop being attractive -- not as moist, soft or fragrant. Then I'd grind them in a food processor to make a pie crust or something, or they'd sit in a freezer forever, together with the failed bread attempt, because I hate wasting food.

Two days ago I made some muffins, and this time I learned from the past and became smarter: instead of fill an entire muffin pan, I halved everything and made six only, so that there would not be any waste. (Our freezer was getting pretty full!) To avoid muffin piling up in our apartment, I took one of those to work the next morning and gave it to a fellow grad student. Her reaction was -- " OMG this is so good! What did you put in this!?" I was happy -- these muffins would disappear within three days for sure!  Boy was I wrong. When D asked about breakfast the following morning, I reached out to the cookie  jar (yes, we store muffins in our cookie jar), only to find it empty!

-Where were all the muffins? (I was in disbelief)
-Well, those muffins are tiny and I had snacks! (D always has good reasons)

Five muffins in one day? That means SUPER good by D's standard.

Cornmeal Craisin Sunflower Seed Muffins -- we heart breakfast

It's been a while since the last update. A LOT has happened. D and I just signed a new lease last Friday for an awesome/spacious loft downtown. I can't wait to move into that space with 20-fee-high ceiling and the two skylights. The best of all? We are finally going to get a nice kitchen -- a kitchen island, a real pantry, and a DISHWASHER!!! We have also just put a down payment for a walnut top/maple base coffee table, which converts into a huge dining table for dinner parties. I can't wait to move in, seriously, the walk-in closet is bigger than our current kitchen, with a motion sensor! What a life!

Besides all the excitement, we've been working working working. Lab stuff has been demanding as usual, and I tried to pack in as many as recruiting events/fun social gathering as possible. I attended a political conference about Mexico with D last weekend, which totally opened my eyes. (The only conferences I had been to were full of science/math geeks.)  I was shocked at how poetic and enjoyable the opening speech could be. One of the side benefits of attending events was free food. As a result, our grocery bill for February was only $260, for the two of us! Granted we ate out several times, but still, less than $5/person/DAY!

The down side of attending all those activities was we were constantly on the run. Hot breakfast became a luxury and D had lived on pre-made breakfast muffins and cookies a lot. Though I tried to cook every night, it was hard to remember taking pictures for blogging cuz we were usually so hungry that we didn't even bother to plate dinner -- we devoured everything in the pan as soon as it's cooked! I was going to write about some awesome breakfast cookies, but realized that we usually run out of those within two days that I had NO pictures. Lesson learned. Today, before it's too late, I managed to photograph some tasty muffins. Yay, finally I can blog about SOMETHING.

Here's the ONLY shot of the muffins. Have you noticed that they are heart-shaped?

Eggs Benedict with Smoked Salmon -- Another Reason to Get Up a Bit Early on Sundays

The first time I tried an eggs Benedict was at this very cute breakfast/lunch place named The Pantry. They were only open till 2p.m. everyday, and I remember thinking: how could a place remain open with such short business hours? Then I saw the line, ordered the food, bit into the Blackstone Benedict I ordered, and my question just evaporated into thin air. Of course they could stay open! With all the deliciousness, why weren't they opening a 2nd or a 3rd little pantry?!

Egg-in-a-Boat -- a Nutritious Pre-flight Breakfast

Counting all the breakfast you have ever enjoyed (or dreaded), you probably have tried one of the "egg-in-the-something": egg-in-a-hole, egg-in-a-nest, egg-in-a-bowl, etc. But have you every tried the egg-in-a-boat?

Yep you are seeing this right. It is a baked egg in avocado! It was a perfect breakfast to have on the day of departure, when the fall weather had just started to creep in around the New England area. Rich and luxuriously creamy, perfect with a side of toast and a mug of black coffee.