Remember When...

I used to write a new blog post, like, every three days? It makes me wonder how I had so much time/stuff to say.

huh.

A Few Reasons Why I Went to India

Summer Sunrise

I have had a fantastic morning. You know those mornings where things just keep getting better & you're listening to all of your favorite songs & it's just...so good you're about to burst?

 I love those.

THEN, I made the following recipe for breakfast & my day almost exploded with amazingness.

By small & simple breakfasts doth great mornings come to pass.

Summer Fruit Salad & Yogurt

serves at least 3, probably 4

8-10 ripe strawberries

1 ripe mango (or mahngoe, if you prefer)

2 ripe bananas

1 large navel orange

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

plain yogurt

Peel mango, orange, & banana. Dice all fruit into a large bowl. Add sweetened condensed heavenly goodness milk & mix it up. Let the fruit mixture sit for a few minutes & get all juicy & fantastic.

Divide yogurt into bowls & top with fruit salad. Yes, it really is that easy.

NOTE: This summery fruit blend is also a great topping for yellow cake.

Serving Suggestion: Eat while listening/dancing around the kitchen to Van Morrison & David Gray.

Okay, so you can't really see it, because of the
way my bowl is glowing in such a heavenly way but

it's also a really pretty salad.

Oh Bother

 I have to cook dinner for 30 hungry Spanish-speaking people on Wednesday.

That's a lot of people.

I am, as always, "cooking on the fly." This does not mean I will be cooking insects. It means I don't have any sort of actual recipe, but rather a vague concept of what I'd like to cook & how I hope it will turn out.

Current Game Plan: Chicken Pasta Primavera with Browned Butter & Garlic Sauce
(translation: I pan fry chicken. I cook butter until it browns, add fresh garlic & a lot of spices, & pour it over cooked noodles, red pepper, cucumbers, spinach, onions...& possibly broccoli. Yay/nay on the broccoli?! Mix it all up. Voila.) 

I am armed with 5, yes, 5 "family sized" packages of rotini.

I will be cooking on a Barbie-sized stove.

Think happy kitchen thoughts for me?  

Oh, & desert is vanilla ice cream with coconut caramel sauce. New twist on an old favorite. This is my fridge, already awaiting its debut. whew. 

Orange-glazed Pork Chops

In a burst of culinary creativity (and with the help of my Gooj), I've invented about five new recipes in the last couple weeks. It's been delicious. I hadn't realized how much I had missed spending time in the kitchen! I'll be posting more in the coming weeks, now that my crazy semester is over. whew.

I'm still in Provo, spending Spring Term living in La Casa Española in the FLSR (Foreign Language Student Housing). Living here is a bit like Harry Potter, only with languages instead of magic. And I'm loving being roomies with my Carrieface again.

Each night, our house gets together for dinner. We take turns cooking and helping each other out, and last Wednesday, I was playing assistant chef to my amigo, Casey. He had a recipe for a citrus and pork chop casserole sort of thing...? But we weren't exactly sure how it was all supposed to come together, whether the rice should be cooked, how everything should be layered, etc. All we really knew was that orange juice, shallots, pork chops, chicken broth, and rice were supposed to somehow come together to make dinner. As that seemed rather mysterious, I suggested to Casey that we cook the rice on its own--even rice deserves a bit of independence--and make sauce to pour over the pork chops before baking them. I was completely winging this and cooking for 30, so these measurements are... approximate. And it was my first time ever cooking or even eating pork chops! But it was yummy!

Bon appétit and buena suerte! And, of course, I added a bit of extra spice. And some butter. mmhmm... 


Saucy Oranged Pork Chops (For 6)
That ^ was a typo, but I like it.
6 pork chops (redundant much...?)
3 or 4 shallots, minced
2 tbsp butter (maybe a bit more...)
3 cups of orange juice
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 of a can of chicken broth
1 1/2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste

In a large (and deep) skillet, melt butter and saute shallots on medium-high heat, stirring regularly to prevent shallots from sticking and burning. When shallots start to soften, add paprika, red pepper, nutmeg, cayenne, and salt and pepper, to taste. Once the shallots have browned, leave the pan on the heat, take a step back from the stove, and add orange juice. The step back is necessary because this should ideally cause a mighty spicy citrus steam-cloud.

Stir in brown sugar and let the sauce reduce for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, rinse and dry pork chops and place them in a greased baking dish. Season chops with salt and pepper. (Depending on the size of your pork chops, you may have to use a 9x13 and an 8x8. Do not use a cookie sheet, as it won't be deep enough.)Mix cornstarch with chicken broth and add to sauce mixture. Let cook for about ten more minutes. Gently pour sauce over chops--be sure each one gets some shallots on top. Bake at 370 F for about 45 minutes. Disfruta!

Unfortunately, these chops were a big hit and everyone was really hungry, so I didn't get any photo evidence of their goodness. This will have to do.

Happiness. 

& Pasta with fresh tomatoes & basil  & 

spicy browned butter & garlic sauce. mmhmm. 

Rock On

Once upon a time, there was this band called Muse. Behold/listen: they rock.

Once upon a much earlier time, there was my daddy. He's kind of an old fart. He's a slightly stubborn fighter who doesn't give up. Ever. Never start a water fight with this man. You will lose. After battling cancer for almost twenty years, he's pretty skinny. He happens to be a huge Muse fan.

And let me tell you, that old dude can really rock.

This last week, Daddy finally cashed in on his biggest Christmas present from me, and we went to the Muse concert in SLC. It was, in a word, epic. 

We rocked. 

We rolled. 

We endured a random Utah blizzard. 

We maybe might have almost blown the Bose speakers in the car on our way back to Provo. 

We stopped at In-N-Out at midnight. 

Yes, it is the week before finals. Yes, I have four major projects still to do. Yes, I had class the next day. Yes, I lost my voice for a day from screaming and singing so loudly. Yes, this did not help my sleep deprived state.

No, do not have any regrets.

Love you, Daddy. Keep rockin', dude.

This song goes out to you.

[drifting]

The list of things I should be doing
is long enough to wrap around me.
Three times around me.
But the play of the clouds
won't let me focus
on all those waiting things,
waiting for that check mark that means
freedom is one scribble closer.

But they can wait.
They won't change.
But this hazy blanket of grey
is never the same.
I watch it crawl across the sky,
slowly overtaking the brilliant white cumulus
that floats high, shining in the pale blue.
Spring defying the winter gloom.

Beyond the grey,
the clouds look warm and soft,
gentle under the sun,
mimicking the way I feel.
And as the snow starts to drift past my window
while the sun still shines through,
I think of how nice it would be
to watch this struggle across the blue
from the warmth of your arms,
to feel the sun on my face
and listen
as you tell me
precisely why the clouds form the way they do.

And then I'd tell you the truth of why
they curl up on the edges that way.
See that swirl, there?
That's a smirk.
They would look down and see us here,
a mix of white and brown,
blue and grey.
And they'd be jealous.
Because not even drifting
across that hopeful blue sky
could feel this perfect.

Just for Funny Sharing Time with You Things

I have found a new procrastination tool - yay! Engrish.com is a dangerously hilarious spot for a future editor. Enroy!

I love we toast.

 

No you be mean travelers.

Thank you, India, for confirming my gender for me. Now I know why they were always so...thorough when I went through security.
Because everyone knows that the only way to ride a motorcycle is by moonlight. 

 Oh, India, how I miss thee...
Sweet sleepy dreaming are the flowers also.
 
Whoa-oa-oa, Kelsey...

Sweet Comfort in a Bowl - Rice Pudding

Last night, I was treated to a lovely dinner at Spark, a classy club-like establishment in downtown Provo. I ordered butternut squash ravioli in a leek cream sauce. It was warm & filling, with many complex, yet subtle, flavors. It was delicious & lead to an epiphany: I don't do subtle. I like it, but I'm not good at it. The dishes I cook are full of bold, fresh, outspoken flavors (I feel like I just described myself more than my cooking). So, in an attempt to broaden my culinary range (& myself), today I opted for a classic simple comfort food--rice pudding.

There's something really cozy--and subtle--about rice pudding. There are a lot of reasons for that; the warm creaminess, the vanilla, the cinnamon. But I think mostly it's because of Costco and the giant tubs of Kozy Shack rice pudding that they sell. Back when Gooj & I made frequent pilgrimages to that Mecca of bulk foodstuffs, we would often buy one of those giant tubs of goodness, steal a couple spoons from the Costco eatery, and eat half of the pudding before we even got home. This was occasionally messy, but always delicious.

So today, in homage to my Gooj (& because it sounds yummy and goes with the whole subtle thing), I thought I'd try making my own cozy rice pudding. This is based on a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, a recipe blog that full of wit, great recipes, and pictures that make me ashamed of my sad attempts at kitchen photography.

Rice Pudding
1 cup basmati rice
4 cups water
2 slices orange zest
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
dash of allspice
1 small piece fresh ginger (about a 1/8 inch slice)

1 egg
3 cups milk
2 tblsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. Mexican vanilla
1 12 oz. can sweetened condensed milk - less about 1 1/2 tblsp
cinnamon - to taste

In a large saucepan, combine rice, water, orange peel, nutmeg, allspice, and fresh ginger. I also added a pinch of salt. Let this mixture soak for 1 hour. After one hour of soaking--this is like a day at the spa for rice-- bring to a high boil. Reduce heat until rice is at a steady simmer. Cook for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the almost all of the water has evaporated. Remove ginger.

While rice cooks, beat egg in a medium bowl. Add milk, brown sugar, vanilla, and almost the entire can of sweetened condensed milk to the egg--I held some back because I didn't want it to be too sweet, but if you want something a bit more toothsome, you can add the entire can. Add milk mixture to rice and simmer gently. Cook for another 20–30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Keep an eye on the heat; if your flame is too high, the rice will  stick and scorch on the bottom (these stuck spots became my "testers"). 

When the pudding reaches the consistency that looks most yummy to you, turn off the heat & allow it to cool for a few minutes (or until completely cool, if you prefer). Pudding will thicken as it cools.

Top with cinnamon and serve. mmhmm.

*photos to come*

Something I Didn't Write

...but how I wish I had. I found this on a blog that also isn't mine. I believe it was taken from First Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke.

And it's lovely.

Understand, I'll slip away quietly
Away from the noisy crowd.
When I see the pale
Stars rising, blooming over the oaks,
I'll pursue solitary pathways
Through the pale twilit meadows, 
With only this one dream:
You come too.