Italy - Feb 16, 2012

As you may know, I have the worst case of the travel bug. I am beyond excited to say that in about 2 weeks, I will be traveling to a country that has been on the top of my list of places to go for as long as I can remember. On February 16, I will embarking on a multi-city trip through Italy. I will be traveling to Rome, Siena (Tuscany), Florence, and Venice for a total of 9 days minus travel-time. 

I cannot put my finger on any one reason but Italy has always seduced me for a number of reasons - the food, the language, the culture, the people, the culture, and so much more. I found this great website that has 25 beautiful photographs of Italy. Here are some of my favorites and its still surreal to me that I will be in all of these cities below. 

I like to take a big trip at least once a year. Last year was Paris and Barcelona. This year, its Italy. Looking forward, I think my next big trip will be to Thailand and the surrounding islands, which is #2 on my list. I cannot wait!

Poached Eggs for Breakfast

I love breakfast and breakfast loves me. It's the most important meal of the day but I can have breakfast any time of the day! One breakfast food that's always been challenging to me is poached eggs! I havent been able to make poached eggs without it turning out like egg-drop soup. One night of watching the Food or Cooking channel, I saw a chef that made them perfectly. So thanks to the modern technology of You-Tube, I watched several videos of how to make perfect poached eggs. This weekend, I decided to put my research to the test. I am happy to say these are the best poached eggs I've made thus far! The secret (for me) was not the whirl-pool method! I just cracked individual eggs in a small bowl and gently dropped it in the water when it is simmering (not boiling). I was careful not to disturb it and scooped them out when they looked firmer, but still soft to the touch. I put them over a toasted french baguette from the bakery and simply added salt and pepper. I enjoyed it with oatmeal and bananas making this one HEALTHY and DELICIOUS breakfast!

Wafas, Queens NY

I wish I could write my blog entries the day of, but I'm usually a day behind. Hope you can forgive me! Yesterday was Saturday and lunch was at a Middle Eastern restaurant called Wafa's on Metropolitan Avenue in Queens. I've honestly never really tried home-cooked middle eastern food and to be honest, I've just never had a craving for it. Although I do love the spices from this region. I was taken here for lunch and I am so glad I tried it. It was very delicious and I would definitely come back. Below are photos of the chicken and lamb shawerma platter. Also got a salad for the appetizer and rice pudding for dessert, which was devoured far too quickly before I could take a photo, but that's how good it was!

When it comes to food, I consider myself very adventurous. Im glad I tried this, and 2 more types of food I'd like to try but never have is Ethiopian and Haitian food. And I know the Haitian restaurant I want to try to! It's Tap Tap Haitian Restaurant in Miami Fl. Next time I'm in Miami, I'll let you know how it is!

http://www.yelp.com/biz/wafas-forest-hills-2

Pinterest.com

This post is dedicated to a site I am absolutely, positively, deliriously in love with. Its a virtual pin-board to pin and organize any photos, ideas, crafts, anything you love on to your own created boards. Some of my boards I've created are 'DIY Crafts, Food with Style (recipes), Dreamy Homes, Photography I love, Travel and Find Yourself'...and a bunch more! I've been on it for about a few weeks now, and my addiction (thankfully) is getting a little more sane. When I first signed up, I could be on it for hours at a time - completely anti-social and oblivious to anything around me. Meaning a bomb could've went off and I would have still been on my macbook pinning pictures! But now I know when to click the little X on my browser and say, "ok Sandy... its time to slowly back away and... get back to work!" Below are some of my favorite pins to give you a little taste as always. Take a browse, and if you love it as much as I do, please follow me below and share in the brilliance of ideas! :) 

http://pinterest.com/sandypins/ 

Japanese Style Chicken

Hello again! 2 days of blogging in a row! Is it too early to be excited about this? Well dinner tonight was a recipe called "Japanese Mums Chicken" that I found online at food.com. And let me tell you... it definitely earned its 4.5 star review from all 834 people. Its delicious and needed minimal ingredients, preparation, and expertise. It actually reminded me of the teriyaki chicken at your local mall's food court, you know, the one that ALWAYS suckers you in with the samples!! Yes. That good. This was made with chicken thighs instead of drumsticks, a little garlic, and was cooked in the oven to make it a little more healthier. Served it up with a side of brown rice and kale.

INGREDIENTS

8 chicken drumsticks, skin on (the skin is important for flavour, and is so tasty to eat!)
1 cup water
½ cup balsamic vinegar
1⁄3; cup soy sauce
2 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 garlic clove, peeled and bruised
1 small hot chilli pepper slit open, seeds removed

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all the ingredients in a saucepan over a high heat.
Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes.
Increase the heat, turning the drumsticks frequently, and cook until the liquid has reduced to a sticky glaze.
Arrange the chicken on a serving platter, remove the garlic clove and chili from the liquid, and spoon the glaze over.
NOTE It's a glaze rather than a sauce, so there's not a whole lot of it.


Enjoy! 

Happy (Chinese) New Year!

I love how my last blog entry was in 2009 saying that I'll start a blog! Boy am I a procrastinator! Well since Dec'11, blogging has been on my mind again and as one of my new year resolutions, I am going to dedicate my time to writing on this. 

Well today is Chinese New Year and what better day to start blogging! For those of you that aren't familiar, Chinese New Year refers to the beginning of the year in a lunar calendar, so the date changes every year. This year, it fell on January 23 and its the year of the dragon. 

The celebrations began the day before at dim-sum with delicious traditional little dishes. For dinner, to continue the theme, I made kung-pao chicken with broccoli and fried brown rice. I've recently discovered my love for cooking so most of my plates are fairly simple, but very delicious. I've posted the recipe below. I promise you wont be disapointed if you try it! 

Ingredients

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tablespoons water
• 1 ounce hot chilli paste
• 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• Head of broccoli

• Directions

  1. To Make Marinade: Combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture and mix together. Place chicken pieces in a glass dish or bowl and add marinade. Toss to coat. Cover dish and place in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
  2. To Make Sauce: In a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon wine, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oil, 1 tablespoon cornstarch/water mixture, chili paste, vinegar and sugar. Mix together and add green onion, garlic, water chestnuts and peanuts. In a medium skillet, heat sauce slowly until aromatic.
  3. Meanwhile, remove chicken from marinade and saute in a large skillet until meat is white and juices run clear. When sauce is aromatic, add sauteed chicken to it and let simmer together until sauce thickens.