SUPER DELICIOUS

And this is the genius ad that had us all calling everything "super delicious".

Yes, I do watch too much tv. It's research.

Sunday Family Dinner - Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Puffs

Second weekly dinner was a success! We were missing Mels, but Rach's cousin took her place at the table. And this week I had co-pi/sous chef Rona.

I guess picture, as usual, lacks fab, but I assure you this is easy and well worth a try. The innards are easy to change around, if you want to make it vegetarian or would rather put something else in it.

Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Puffs with Cream Sauce

Makes 8 puffs

1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 leeks, washed and cut in 1/4 inch slices
1 pack sliced mushrooms
4 chicken breasts, cut into 1/3 inch cubes
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter + some melted for greasing the sheet
1 tsp nutmeg
2 boxes/4 sheets of frozen puff pastry dough
2 tbsp ++ flour for dusting
8 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp parmesan
1 tbsp parsley
1 egg, beaten

For puffs:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Heat olive oil and butter. Sautee onions and garlic until tender, 3-4 min. Season with salt/pepper/nutmeg, 1/2 tbsp parsley. Add chicken, sautee. Add mushrooms and leeks, cook until tender. Add cream. Simmer for 1-2 min.

Roll thawed pastry into squares, then cut diagonally twice to make 4 triangles per sheet, dusting to stop them from sticking to each other.

Grease cookie sheets and lay half the triangles out (you'll probably need 2 sheets unless you have some kind of ENORMOUS sheet... maybe even 3... I used 2 next to each other and then the oven couldn't close properly). Spoon chicken/veg mixture onto the middle of the pastries, leaving 1/4 inch around the edge. Try not to get too much of the liquid oozing around the place, leave it in the pan for the sauce. Coat the edge with the egg mixture, then cover with the leftover triangles. Use a fork to press the sides together. Coat the tops with egg. Put tray in oven.

Bake for 20 min, until golden brown. Serve with parsley and cream sauce.

For cream sauce:

Simmer the cream mixture left in the pan (and it should be quite a bit...) with the parmesan, stirring, until of desired thickness. Yes, it is pure fat with fats, and it is delish, thanks.

Rave Reviews - Chocolate Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have pictures of these, but I thought I'd share anyway. And trick you with a stolen google pic of some chocolate chips.

As of late, I have been on a mini-mission to make good chocolate cookies. I make good chocolate chip cookies, because I cheat and use the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip packet. My roommates affectionately call these the 'salty cookies', because they aren't super sweet. But they love them.

Last weekend, I tried making a modified version of these, with white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips and chopped pecans. I used her base recipe, took out the M&Ms and substituted with a cup of each chips and 3/4 cup of pecans.

The experiment was kind of a fail fail. The cookies were okay, but they weren't great or anything. They were a little dry and cakey. Plus the pecans were from my Costco spiced trail mix because I was too cheap to buy real nuts, so they made the cookies taste a little strange and peppery. I should have known not to trust a recipe with no salt and only one type of sugar.

It occurred to me last night that to 'chocolate' most recipes just involves substituting half a cup of flour for cocoa powder. Duh! Back to the Tollhouse recipe. Tried that, with 1 cup milk chips and 1 cup white chocolate. Success!

Here are the reviews:

"Oh my god, these are so good." - Shannon, the New Roommate.

"Your best yet!" - Adam, from Work

"These are by far my favorite." - Adam, from Work.

"These are really good." - Adam, from Work.

"Ngyrumsfds *mouthfull of cookie*, thanks." - James, from Work.

As you can see, Adam was a big fan. So yea, y'all should try that out, if you get all sweet toothy. They are really easy to make, especially with a KitchenAid. Heh. Product Placement. But not really, because they didn't pay me, I just want to show off that I have one.

Fist Weekly Family Dinner - Vegan Paella

Everyday at the co-op, 2 people are in charge of making vegan dinz for the whole house. When I first heard that, I was green with envy, looking at all these fun vegan recipes on tastespotting and stuff. Then I remembered: I have my own house of people to feed.

Thus began the new (actually, renewed) tradition of Sunday night dinners. This week, we had

Veggie (for Rach, which in this case is also Vegan) Paella.

You might remember I was a little obsessed with making the perfect paella after my Spanish Summer. I haven't revisited it in a while, but this time was by far the best.

Ingredients:

(feeds 4-6, depending on how fat you are)

1 brown onion, diced
3 tomatoes, diced and deseeded
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 red/yellow/orange bell pepper
6 stalks of asparagus, sliced
1 cup of peas (I used frozen)
1 cup of artichoke hearts
2 1/2 cups of medium grain rice
1 cup of white wine
5 cups of vegetable stock
2 tbsps of olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp saffron, crushed
salt & pepper, to season

Heat olive oil on med heat (I added a pinch of chili flakes for an extra kick). Sautee onions and garlic until the onions are transluscent, then add the tomatoes, and sautee together. Add paprika, and seasoning. Add bell peppers, more sauteeing. Add rice, artichokes, asparagus and peas, and stir them all together so the rice is evenly coated, then add wine, stir until it cooks off a bit. Season again. Add vegetable stock, then cover and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes. Uncover and simmer for another 10 minutes so that the stock boils down.


Try a spoon of rice from the side to make sure it's cooked. If it is and the stock hasn't evaporated enough, try scraping the sides in to let the liquid run through the rice a bit more. Turn up the heat for the last minute to slightly burn the bottom of the rice. (Like bibimbop, the burnt rice is considered a delicacy. I failed at this part because I walked away to watch the end of the superbowl and the bottom ended up very black. But the rest of it was good!)

Baby It's Cold Outside

Here is what is making me happy at this moment:

1) I finally got my Advent Calendar off Ex-Arty-Neighbour, and it is more glorious than you can imagine. Little windows with chocolates somewhat resembling the Lindt Truffle Ball Things, and a 3-D tree! Plus, because it was the 7th, I got to crack open 7 little windows and share :) I know, I'm so nice.

2) We did our Secret Turkey exchange. Yes, you heard right. The roomies and I have a little tradition going on where before Thanksgiving we do a secret-santa like thing with a $10 maximum, then we switch gifts after. Mel had me, and she bought me some large underwear. It is a running joke with us that I wear a lot of giant underwear. Which really, I do. Sexay.

3) The Ex-Neighbours had their annual x-mas party, and I got a French for Children book from the white elephant. I love it, because even though I took French for more than 10 years, I am still at child level.

4) I got to talk to NB on webcam for a fairly long time, and laugh at his horrible hair and tufty facial fuzz.

5) The Irvine non-relations sent along a bag of 22 romance novels that Rona and I are working our way though.

Here are some things I am not happy about:

1) I have a final due tomorrow morning that I am only starting on now. There is a long story behind this, where everyone in my class thinks our teacher is an idiot, especially after he announced over Thanksgiving that he changed his mind about not having a final, please make ourselves available on the last day of finals to do a group presentation. Horrendous uproar from class ensues, because half of these people have already booked tickets home for before that, ecstatic to have no final. He settles on an email final, which is grammatically incorrect.

2) There is never enough sleep.

Here are some things that I am neither way about, but that I am sure you will find interesting:

1) The 2-week boyfriend, here on known as Facebook Foul (much like Party Foul, so named for his question upon being broken up with: what will we put on facebook?), drunk texted me on Sat with what suspiciously looked like a booty call. Luckily, I was too enthralled with my romance novel to be even slightly tempted..

2) The Spanish Summer Senor Facebook chatted me about how he wants to get married and have babies, but is lacking the woman and job. This will probs surprise a lot of you, but that's just how he is. He likes to be affectionate.

A GG Kind of Day

Campus was bumpin' with cameos today, to the point where it was the most significant part of my day despite 2 midterms.

Here's a listing:

1) On the way to Doheny a pre-midterm iced green tea: My dateless-lunch-date, in our regular spot, eating a miserable looking plate of noodles. It seems Zao's has halved the portions and kept the prices. Laame.

2) Still pre-green tea, Sudoku Sweetheart from my marketing class. She later sits next to me in class and is mad that I beat her at the Sudoku.

3) On the way to midterm #1, post tea: Pope Joan van Bombshell. Casual convo on how our prof is a fool of a took.

4) Somewhere during the day: E Coli, aka scum-of-the-earth, loitering around some garbage can. Home sweet home.

5) At the UV: Ex-roommate and her ex-flame having one of their 'catch-ups'. I guess he could count as my old flame too, if unlit candles count.

6) At the UV: Big Red and his Ethnic-Ex also doing a 'catch-up'.

7) At the UV: Speaking of E-Coli, E-Coli fanclub member, Miss Snobby Stylesaster Screenwriter.

8) At the UV: Still speaking of E-Coli, the ULTIMATE E-COLI FAN, the ex-ex-roommate, seeking midterm notes.

9) Post midterm #2, at the fountain: Little Red Riding H, on the phone.

10) On the way home, Mama and Papa looking all matchy matchy at their sexy dance practices.

11) On the way home, the Ginger Rogers of BCA on a bike.

Boy, what a lot of red heads. See, pretty eventful. If you go here, or if you know my histories, try and figure those out. :)

Uh, xoxo, gossipless girl.

The Death that was Last Campus Movie Fest

Here's my first movie.

Lots of people who worked on it never got to see it, so here you go guys. And you wonder why they asked us if we were high when we arrived for the screening...

That was this time last year. This year I hope to improve a little.

Just a little update...

So here's a little bit of my life right now:

- Have slightly smelly, stubly armpits but fear the damaging effects of shower on newly french-manicured/pedicured appendages.

- Have 2 internships, so back to being constant worthless intern. Enjoying the reading of one and the hilarity of the dodginess of the other.

- Am still a bad driver, but at least I am insured. Am also in love with my car, despite the left blinkers being a little crap in the not-working kind of sense.

- Have yet another bag of lettuce that has rotted before being opened. Am considering giving up on buying it.

- Have probably failed my first midterm.

- Have a short film to make, have not done anything in the two weeks that I was meant to be finished in.

- Have spent a long weekend not doing any work. Am not sure if there is any work that I am meant to be doing.

- Was recently conflicted when NB stole a sausage off Mom's plate to feed me because I was bitching about being hungry and IHOP's service was being not good. On one hand, was all "why did you do that you moron?" with everyone else, on the other hand was quite chuffed when he looked around indignantly and proclaimed "when my girlfriend is hungry, I'm going to find her food!" Felt this statement deserved reward.

- Now need to do my laundry as while putting strawberry-syrup covered pancakes in a leftover box at said IHOP, said box flipped them onto hoodie and holey jeans. Also splattered onto Marine's pjs.

- Am excited that a man Rona met on Woome may get us into Jay Leno (maybe?) when James is going to be there. Am planning on seducing him. Am probably not going to manage.

- Am awed by awesome ads for 'Wanted', James' new movie with Angelina Jolie.

- Am sad that I still don't know how to put youtube vids in.

Post-Thanksgiving Pre-Christmas Celebrations

Secret Not-Santa Turkey

The Rulez:
1) Must be under $10 or handmade
2) Must be a secret
3) Must be amazing

Apart from no 2, we kept it pretty good.

Here are the prizessss:



Dear Shawks, Here is a turby twist for your unruly hair. Love Rach.


Dear Mom, Here are some hello kitty things because you love her. Just keep that shizz outta my room. Love Me.


Dear Rach. Because You Love Nuts. Love Mom.


Dear Ronez, I'm sorry assholes like Clark steal your snapple. Love Shawks.


Dear Amanda. Here are some really awful socks. Love Ronez.