Tomato-Basil Soup

In general, I am not very enthusiastic about cooking-- my attitude is that, basically, it's time-consuming (the planning and shopping more so than the cooking; I feel I'd be more enthusiastic if someone would grocery shop for me!) and not that enjoyable, but someone's gotta do it (and it's way cheaper than eating out). I have been better about my motivation for cooking since getting married, especially getting into using the crockpot (GREAT, especially with working full days, as long as I remember to turn it on!), trying to shop regularly and smartly (with coupons and club card deals), and experimenting with new dishes (which Kelvin, sweetly, tries despite how good/not good they appear); however, I still wouldn't say that cooking is an activity that I enjoy nor at which I excel.

This week, however, I did try a soup recipe from Cooking Light magazine that I thought was delicious and which I had to share.

In honor of our upcoming trip to Italy (where I'm sure we'll have a lot of delectable tomato- and basil-containing dishes), here is my newest favorite recipe:

Tomato-Basil Soup
1 tbsp olive oil
1 - 1/2 cups chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
28 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained (purists may say that one should only use fresh tomatoes for a real soup; I'm sure that would be good, but the canned tomatoes worked really well)
1/2 cup cream cheese, cut into cubes (the recipe calls for reduced-fat cream cheese)
2 cups milk (the recipe calls for 1%)*
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
cooking spray
(garlic bread on the side, if desired)

Directions:
1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat
2. Add onion, saute for 3 minutes
3. Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute
4. Add basil and tomatoes, bring to a boil
5. Stir in cream cheese, until melted
6. Place mixture in blender and blend until smooth
7. Return mix to pan; stir in milk*, salt, and pepper, and then cook on med-high for 2 minutes
8. Serve with garlic bread (if desired) and ENJOY!

* Speaking of milk, our friend Alyssa told us about this wonderful organic milk from a California (Marin)-based family-run company, Straus Family Creamery.



I finally bought a half-gallon this past week at Wildberries, one of the (several) local natural foods markets. Despite paying a bit more for the product, we were not disappointed and it is worth it to support a small, California-based business! The milk, which tastes great, comes in reusable glass bottles (seemingly so old-fashioned! If only they were delivered...), which you return for a deposit and which are sterilized and reused by the company (even better than recycling!). All of their milk is cream-topped (yum!) and tastes a bit different (fresher) because it is pasteurized for a longer time (19 seconds vs 2-4 seconds) at a lower temperature (170 vs 280F) than most milks. If you live in Humboldt County or anywhere in northern California that sells it, you have to try this milk. Why don't you try it in your tomato-basil soup?! :)

My kind of Shamrock Day

If you haven't picked up on it, I am not very "into" festive-type holidays (with the exception of Christmas). I don't like dressing up for Halloween, I detest Valentine's day, and I don't own very much green (and certainly didn't dress up on St. Patty's day, or the Friday before). I think I have some shamrock socks which I got from my Grandma about 15 years ago, but didn't spend the time trying to dig them out to wear for the March 17th occasion. I don't really like beer (or Guinness, or any varieties of green beer), and besides soda bread, I am not even a fan of most Irish fare (and especially not a fan of corned beef and cabbage).

Our Shamrock Day was a perfect, quiet Saturday. It started with a successful run with Peppy, where she didn't even fight me much getting out of the neighborhood (it has been really rainy lately, but we had a gorgeous, sunny Saturday). We gave her another haircut, which went very smoothly. We watched a lot of NCAA basketball and relaxed on the couch. I read. We took Pep to Hiller Park in the afternoon, where she had her first real "dog park" experience. While it is not a fenced area, this park has the only (un)official dog park in the area (there is a movement to build a Eureka Dog Park, but they are still raising money), and Pepper had a great time!

While Pepper was just about the smallest dog there, she met another shih tzu (her twin, "Piper" who, at a mature 6, was mostly content in sniffing rather than running around).
Can you tell who is who?




She had a great time frolicking with "Daisy," this poodle mix.


We then stopped for one of the "Shamrock Shakes" we'd seen advertised...


As a lover of mint ice cream, I must say that it was delicious.
We ate some leftover sushi from our Friday night sushi night at Beth and Mike's (delicious, too) and relaxed some more at home for the evening (no wild parties here!).

We should have more St. Patrick's Days like this one!

The Asian Way

My Dad forwarded me this funny list. It is most amusing if you are married to an Asian or are one yourself :)

TOP TEN REASONS WHY THERE WON'T BE AN ASIAN PRESIDENT ANYTIME SOON
10.White House not big enough for in-laws.
9. Engineering, medicine, and law always preferred over politics.
8. Oval Office has bad feng shui.
7. Can't find decent roast duck or sashimi inside the beltway.
6. Secret Service can't handle nagging from mother.
5. Dignitaries generally intimidated by chopsticks at state dinners.
4. No chance for promotion.
3. Lactose intolerance not considered politically correct.
2. Senior aides won't take off shoes before coming in.
1. Air Force One: No frequent flyer miles.

50 WAYS TO KNOW IF YOU'RE AN "ASIAN" (I'll star the ones that seem to apply to either K, me, or us both)
1. You were/are a good student with very high GPAs.* (T/K)
2. You majored in something practical like engineering, medicine, teaching or finance. *(T/K)
3. You have more than one college degrees, especially more than one Master's.
4. If you play a musical instrument, it must be piano.* (T)
5. You have a vinyl table cloth on your kitchen table.
6. Your stove is covered with aluminum foil. (or, my substitution, you use foil to cover pans for broiling *[K])
7. Your kitchen has a sticky film of grease over it.*(T)
8. You beat eggs with chopsticks * (K-- or you eat cereal out of a pho bowl with an Asian spoon)
9. You always leave outdoor shoes at the door.*(T/K)
10. You use the dishwasher as a dish rack or extended cabinet.****(K all the way! I am pro-dishwasher)
11. You keep a Thermos of hot water available at all times. (I don't do this, but I do drink a lot of hot water)
12. You boil water before drinking.
13. You eat all meals in the kitchen to keep your dining room clean. (I would add that you don't tend to refrigerate food if it will be eaten the same day, so it stays "fresh")*(K)
14. You don't use measuring cups when preparing foods.* (K)
15. You save grocery bags and use them to hold garbage.* (K/T)
16. You have a rice cooker.* (K --> T)
17. You're a wok user.* (T)
18. You fight over who pays the dinner bill.
19. You wash rice 2-3 times before cooking it (My alternative-- you cannot eat a meal without rice and some type of meat* [K])
20. You make sounds when you have a bowl of soup.* (K)
21. You don't dry-clean clothes, even if they need to be dry-cleaned.* (K)
22. You iron your own shirts* (T); or you only trust Orange County Tailors * (:) K)
23. You like congee (Chinese porridge) with thousand year old eggs.* (K)
24. You always cook yourself, even if you hate it. * (mostly- T)
25. You use credit cards, and pay monthly bills IN FULL. (I will note that Asians actually trust and prefer cash more than cards/checks but always pay their balance)* (T/K)
26. You keep most of your money in a savings/checking account.* (or under the mattress)
27. You buy Christmas cards after Christmas, when they are 50% off. *(T/K)
28. When you hand wash dishes, you only use cold water.
29. You hate to waste food -* (T. K is now more interested in eating leftovers now than he used to be. In general, Asians think it's a sin to waste meat especially, since it is the most costly part of the meal)
a) Even if you're totally full, if someone says they're going to throw away
the leftovers on the table, you'll finish them. * (T)
b) You have Tupperware in your fridge with three bites of rice or one
leftover chicken wing. * (T)
30. You don't own any real Tupperware, only a cupboard full of used but
carefully rinsed margarine tubs, takeout containers, and jam jars.
32. When toilet paper is on sale, you buy 100 rolls and store them.*(T/K; we love Costco)
33. You have a collection of miniature shampoo/conditioner bottles and
little soap bars that you take every time you stay in a hotel.* (K- SO TRUE)
34. The condiments in your fridge are either Costco sized or come in plastic
packets, which you save every time you get take out or go to McDonald's.* (K LOVES packets, of hot sauce especially!)
35. You carry a stash of your own food whenever you travel (and travel means any car ride longer than 15 minutes). *(T; more Asian than K on this one)
36. You spit bones and other food scraps on the table.
37. Your dad thinks he can fix everything himself.
38. You wipe your dog's paws and bottom before she is allowed in the house (okay, I substituted this one) * (K)
39. Your house/apartment is always cold in winter, and hot in summer. *(K; I want the house HOT in winter)
40. Your mom drives her Mercedes to Costco, or Super Store regardless how far it is, even if Safeway or Co-op is next door
41. You never pay full price for anything (there is always a coupon, sale, or internet deal to be had)-- okay, I added this one, too *(K/T)
42. You only make long distance calls after midnight or during weekends.
43. You prefer your shrimp with the heads and tails still attached. *(K)
44. You put away money to support your parents *(K); this is a responsibility most Asian children assume without question.
45. You think ONLY Japanese can make good cars!
46. You use a colored face cloth every morning.
47. You starve yourself before going to all-you-can-eat places.
48. You've joined a CD club at least once.
49. You never discuss your love life with your parents.
50. You take this message and forward it to all your Asian friends!

Additional "write-in" items are welcome!

Dog Psychology 101

I have gotten hooked on Cesar Millan's dog psychology and episodes of the Dog Whisperer, which, if you haven't seen the show, involves transforming previously aggressive/possessive/obsessive/demonic/lazy/neurotic dogs into well behaved pets and "pack members" by improving the owners' "pack leadership" skills. This is totally fascinating to me. The two books of his which I've recently read, Cesar's Way, and Be the Pack Leader, are also wonderful reads for any dog owners (or prospective dog owners; and I even think the concepts can be extrapolated to parenting [human] children).

Pepper is a really good dog. While she took a little time to warm up to us, particularly to Kelvin, she is now wonderful with us. She is playful but not hyperactive, loyal, well-behaved (except with some jumping/nipping when we come home from work), and only slightly "naughty"-- when we are gone for our half-days at a time, we sometimes come home to various objects (usually shoes, slippers, paper towels or bathmats) piled in her doggie bed, although nothing has been chewed/damaged.

She is a bit stubborn sometimes on walks when she is close to home as, after going potty, she sometimes tries to turn around and race home; however, when out of the neighborhood, she is a great explorer and even goes on runs with me. She is obedient off leash, as long as we are not in the vicinity of our house, and we never feel she is going to take off and run away.

She is sometimes finicky with her food, but we give her about 30 min to eat it and then take the bowl away, reminding ourselves that she will eat when hungry enough.

She is a pretty smart cookie-- she has been easily taught to sit and stay pretty well, and, this week, I accomplished the "shake" which is totally adorable.

While (thankfully) it is nothing compared to having a digging or aggressive, biting dog, her biggest issue, and one which I really hope we can fix, is her stranger anxiety and shyness. As I have been reading (recently read Patricia McConnell's For the Love of a Dog), a lot of inherent "shyness" is inherited/genetic; shy puppies can come from shy parents, and often turn into shy adults. Some of dog- and people-oriented shyness is due to the extent of socialization critical in the puppy period-- puppies should be exposed to a wide variety of people and situations so as to improve their adaptability. I am not sure how well Pepper was socialized but, in the time that she was with her previous owner in Happy Camp, she was around a few other shih tzus and her female human "leader," but was in a very remote area and I don't think "got out much" in the past year. I think this probably greatly contributed to (or magnified) her already introverted, nervous personality. I think it may also have been the reason that the owner didn't want to keep her to breed (as this is not a very desirable trait) and wanted to adopt her out.

Pepper still tends to cower in the corner when we have guests over and is something of what McConnell calls a "velcro dog" (sticks to ya!). On walks, she'll show interest in sniffing and greeting small dogs but tends to cower and run behind us when she meets a larger one. She never bites or becomes aggressive, but she shrinks away at strangers' outstretched hands, particularly those of kids, not even taking treats from people she doesn't know. I wish we could get her to be more of a friendly, happy-go-lucky extroverted doggie. Per Cesar, and which I understand, in order to improve her nervousness, we have to let her become curious and approach others, rather than let others approach her. I know this is going to take time, but I'm not sure just how long, or how successful we'll be.

I have also been struggling with the parental guilt that comes with leaving your "child" behind while you go to work. I am usually the first one out of the door in the morning-- either to round on moms/babies at the hospital, or to get up to McKinleyville to the clinic. I don't think I could manage it any other way. When I am (rarely) the one getting ready (i.e. coat/boots on) to leave Pepper alone, her round chocolate eyes seem to plead, "don't go," and usually as soon as we/I walk out the door, this is the position she assumes:



I have to avoid looking back at the house, because it breaks my heart to see her little fuzzy face peering out the front window as I drive away.

This is where she often waits for us to walk through the front door (which we term "the throne")



Because I know that her "hoarding" objects to her dog bed is a sign of boredom while at home alone, we have been trying to mix things up to make her three days of full-time alone time (broken up by our lunchtimes walks/visits) more interesting (and to assuage my personal guilt at working outside of the home).

- We have tried to exercise her more as, as Cesar says, a well-exercised dog generally sleeps a lot more and gets into less mischief; I have been taking her for runs in the mornings when the weather cooperates.
- When we do walk her and we have a bit more time, we try to take her to new places (i.e. the Arcata Marsh, Hammond Trail, Hiller Park) to mix up the daily routine
- We have left the TV on with the music channel for background noise (however; it shuts off automatically if there isn't movement for a while)
- We give her rawhide bones or sticks to gnaw on; this works pretty well
- We have invested in a couple of Kong doggie toys which are plastic, hollow toys that you can stuff with treats that require the dog to work to get them out (Pepper works to some degree but, if too difficult, seems to give up on these). I just bought another toy, the Tug-a-Jug, which I think will be very enjoyable for her, as the only toy in which she has ever taken interest is a rope bone. I wish these toys didn't all have to be food-oriented, so I'd welcome any suggestions for doggie-occupying and mind-stimulating activities that are less nutritionally-motivated.




Tug-a-jug


Last week, we took Peppy to doggie day care for the first time. I had been interested in exploring this option for a while, both to "mix up" the monotony of half-days alone at home (and to prevent the mischief, albeit benign, that she does exhibit), as well as to try to get her more used to being around other dogs and people. Kelvin was a bit more hesitant to leave her there, and is now more hesitant to take her back there, as it was a bit of a bust.

Pep was only there for 4 hours (the afternoon session), but both when I dropped her up and when we picked her up, she was shaking. She did NOT look very happy to see us immediately when we came in and seemed a bit traumatized by the whole experience. The dog sitter said that, while nothing bad happened, she was just very shy (as we expected) and kind of hung out in the corner.

When we got into the car, we smelled poop and her whole behind was kind of smeared with it. This struck us as quite odd-- she had already pooped over our lunchtime walk, and she never makes a mess like that. We couldn't figure out if she "crapped her pants" out of fear and then sat in it, or "sat in another dog's poop" which Kelvin hypothesized (and which I found fairly ludicrous).

We had to sit her down on the car floormat to not contaminate our seats:


Don't you love this face?


In any case, K is quite reluctant for me to take her back to daycare as he feels that she was somehow traumatized. However, I feel quite strongly that we should continue to try this option out, to get her "back on the horse," and to keep her getting used to new situations so that, with hope, she gets to where she enjoys going to be around other dogs and people. Thoughts?

I am eagerly expecting in the mail McConnell's The Cautious Canine for more tips on getting our cutie to be a lit less of a 'fraidy dog. Your suggestions are very welcome, too!

Italia '12

We are coming up on our first vacation days since starting our jobs here in Arcata.
In just over two weeks, we are headed to:




ROMA (Rome)!!

and...

Firenze (Florence)

We are sooo excited. Kelvin has never been to Europe, so it will be fun to introduce him to the great public transportation and $5 water.

Laura and I did the grand Euro tour (/Italy) right after we graduated college in 2003 (almost 10 years ago!), including a great three days in Rome and then Venice; however, I've never been to Florence. In order to better plan our trip (the Rome part, that is), I did look back on my journal, which was actually really amusing. I hope that Kelvin and I don't get near-robbed on a night train like Laura and I did and I hope (but doubt) that the Rome traffic has gotten better.

Here is one of my most favorite memories, gelato outside the Vatican.


MMM. Can't wait.

Jacks Hoops!

This past week, we had the joy of attending our first Humboldt State (HSU) college basketball game (thanks to Alyssa for organizing!). Being there reminded me a lot of my days at Richmond, where I attended pretty much every men's basketball home game as a participant in the band. Kelvin, however, had never actually been to a college basketball game, as, in order to get tickets at UCLA, students had to skip classes/camp out for days (what a difference, eh?)! In any case, we love watching basketball, particularly live ball.

We'd heard that HSU had had some exciting games, and this was their first day of conference playoffs which was fortunately a home game. The girls played first (we caught the last 15 min or so of their game); while they made an impressive comeback in the last 5 minutes, they lost in a heartbreaker by 3 points to Chico State.







The men's game was one of, if not THE, most exciting basketball games I have ever watched (and definitely the most exciting game I have watched live). Cal State LA had a bunch of towering guys (their players' average height was probably about 5-6 inches more than that of the HSU team, whose electrifying pointguard is 5'5, shorter than I am!), including this one guy who looked like a football center (or Paul Bunyan) and who shot a bunch of annoying 1.5-foot shots to keep the CSULA Eagles comfortably ahead for basically the entire game.

The Jacks (short for "Lumberjacks") made an amazing comeback, down 15 in the second half, and took their first lead 39.8 minutes into the 40-minute game with a pair of free-throws that put them up by one point with 11 seconds to go. They held their opponent scoreless for the last 3 minutes of the game and, with a full-court-press steal, ended the game on a fabulous breakaway dunk to win by three while the crowd stood and cheered. It was amazing to witness!!



The post-game celebration ("Why aren't the fans storming the court?" asked K).




The team went on to beat Cal Poly and then Chico State to win their division! I hope they can go on to do well in the region and nation in D2 ball! Bring on the March Madness!

A Night at the Oscars

On Sunday night, we hosted an Oscars party. Until about 2 years ago, I had never watched the Oscars presentation and, thanks to Wai Kiu, who hosted our get-togethers in Sacramento, it has become something of a tradition. Since being with Kelvin, I have become much more up-to-date on recent movies as he is a big fan of films and going to the cinema. While we didn't catch them all, we did see quite a few of the Oscar-nominated films from 2011.

We encouraged guests to dress up as characters from 2011 (or other) films.
Here is me (dressed as a maid costume from The Help, and K as George Clooney's character from The Descendants [one flick we missed]).



The group (Josh- Billy Beane from Moneyball, Sean from Bad Teacher, Jenna as Hannah, Rob (?) and Alyssa, a belle from The Help.


Rob, Alyssa, and Pepper (who we did not dress up!)



Elise, a girl from Bridesmaids


Josh + Sean


We had an Oscars pool going for the person who got the most Oscar winners correct on their ballot (congrats, Josh!), as well as a prize for the person guessing the most correct answers right on "Movie Trivia" which we played during the commercials.

We ate delicious pizza from Live from New York (supposedly the best pizza in Humboldt County!), and enjoyed snacks including popcorn (believe it or not, the first batch I've ever made in my life! I'm not a big popcorn eater), delicious crab dip from Maddie, fruit punch, and Elise's famous Corona-margaritas.

I'm thankful that this year's presentation did not drag on too long... the speeches were overall short and sweet. I was bummed for Viola Davis, who unfortunately was eked out by Meryl Streep for best actress, and surprised by the sweep of Hugo, a film which we have yet to see, but was happy for most of the winners (including from The Artist, which I thought was a great film)! We have a few movies to add to our Netflix queue now (if I can stop obsessively watching the Dog Whisperer, that is).