Family Gathering for St Patrick's Day with an Awesome (Healthier) Soda Bread

This post is a bit delayed -- we've been having guests over for dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT since Saturday, and there was simply not enough time left for blogging besides all the lab stuff and fun gatherings. But I'm ready to share the party that kick-started everything -- the family gathering to celebrate St Patrick's Day. D's got some real Irish blood in his vein, have lived in Ireland, loves a real Guinness and has a harp tattoo on his back -- in case you are wondering why we were so eager and had the celebration party way before actual day and the parade! Our guests were awesome -- they spread green and joy everywhere in our loft. 

Together we shared corned a great time over black velvet, green hummus, beef and cabbage, Irish flag oven fries, almond butter coconut cookies, and this Irish soda bread.

Roasted Pork Chop with Sautéed Cabbage and Mushroom -- 30-minute one-pot dinner

The past week has been exciting: we are moving into our new loft downtown! While the new place is absolutely amazing (for example, besides a huge kitchen island, we also have a walk-in pantry with motion sensor now), we are still missing some odds and ends in terms of living. We left our bed in the old apartment for the subletter, which translates into us sleeping on an air-mattress for three months. Not ideal but doable. We spent our free time furniture shopping and assembling. We jointly designed convertible coffee table made of walnut and maple. We went to five different stores so far for a ton of new furniture/household goods. What I am trying to say is, we are excited about our new place, though there are plenty challenges yet.  What powered me through, is the aspect of cooking, in a huge kitchen equipped with everything I could ask for. So far I have been making a different breakfast bar/cookie every day, plus our three course dinner and two course lunch. I have also made some almond butter which turned out pretty well. 

Tonight is the first night we are downsizing, from three course to one: pork chop with sautéed cabbage and mushroom. 

50/50 Meatball Stew -- give me some tasty meat on a budget baby!

Chewing a bone is nice. In my opinion, the best part of the meat is always connected to bones -- ribs, any kind, are tasty without a doubt. So are rack of any animal, ham hocks, beef tendons, among many other tasty cuts. But sometimes, we just feel lazy. Won't it be nice just to bite off a big juicy piece of meat without worrying about bones? That's why I love meatballs -- just as meaty as anything can be, and with a little bit more surface area to soak up all those heavenly sauce. And, since it's made of ground meat, you can pack the flavor of beef/pork/turkey/chicken all into one very tasty bite!

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?

Orc's Desire -- Pork belly braised with Chrysanthemum coronarium

Our Valentine's Day dinner turned out to be great -- both in taste and in terms of ease of cooking. The main dish was done mostly by a slow cooker, while both of us were at work.

The pork belly turned out tender, and the crackling very crispy. I simply could not find a single thing to complain about.

Planning for Valentine's Day

I'm not really good at planning. Valentine's Day is tomorrow and I have NO gifts prepared. In fact, I am going to a play by myself at 4p.m. while D is going to stay at work till at least 5. But but but, I'm not such a bad girl friend at all, as I have spent some time planning for a perfect Valentine's Day dinner...for nerds like us.

The No Fail No Knead Homemade Bread

I love bread, especially when it is freshly out of the oven. Nothing opens up my appetite more than the aroma of a newly baked loaf.  In France, I had the luxury of living close to a neighborhood boulangerie, from which I'd pick up a small baguette on the way home almost every single day.

Perhaps because it was so readily available, bread has been one of the things that I never even bothered to learn how to make. Years later, it came back to bite me. After our local bread place went out of business last year, I found myself in despair. When I really crave for a fresh loaf, I have nowhere to turn! Even worse, I cannot make a good loaf by myself! The horror!