a lesson in twisting the facts

For those of you who have been reading this blog since the beginning, you will remember the post “adventures aren’t always fun“ about the Sanda tournament in Taigu, often referred to by friends and family as “that time Sarah got kidnapped by the Chinese government.”  If you are a newbie to my blog, or need to refresh your memory, feel free to read it now (warning, it is a bit long).  Anyway, the reason I am bringing this up again is WLE recently did their own write up about the trip, which can be found here and either scroll down or click where it says “WLE MA – Zhongyuanwei Cup Championships”.  I don’t ever go back to their site, so I never would have known about it had a friend not emailed to tell me.

Ummmm, that’s not exactly how I remember it.  “Highlight of the trip”?  They didn’t want to fight!  Notice there is no mention of the black eye Sam received which you can see in this picture.

Mauro, me, and Sam

And while I do remember the opening ceremony (how could I not considering I roomed with one of the performers), I sure don’t remember any “calligraphy and painting demonstrations” or “an introduction to the culture of the Jin Merchants.”  Not to say they didn’t happen, just that we were never told about it.  Oh and that picture with me where the caption says, “in high spirits before the Championships” was actually taken more than 24 hours after the Championships had ended.  We were in high spirits because we were finally almost home!

“Don’t believe everything you read” is a well known cliche, but the point really sinks in when you are reading about yourself!

thank you, Sean Penn

couchsurfing.com

the cozy accommodations we offer

Lately I have been really energized, really excited about life.  And I don’t owe that feeling to eating healthy, getting exercise, or anything like that… I owe it to couchsurfing.com, possibly the greatest networking website ever created.

Back in 2007 my boyfriend up and quit his job to go backpacking through Europe with a friend of his, and it has been the greatest experience of his life.  Not for the places he went, but for the people he met.  Those people, in many different countries, offered them a place to sleep in their homes or offered to show them around their hometowns.  Those people weren’t being monetarily compensated, there is no cost to join the site, everything is free.  People join and help others simply because they want to meet all walks of life.  When you’re not out travelling the world, there’s no reason you can’t bring the world to you.

Fast forward to now.  Since the day my boyfriend and I moved in together we have talked here and there about getting involved in the community again, offering up our place as a way to repay the generosity he received while travelling.  But we live in a studio apartment that is a little cramped with just the two of us so we decided to wait until we moved into a bigger place.  Until last week when he said, “You know, maybe we should just do it now.  Who cares if our place is small?  Couchsurfers won’t.” I readily agreed and we got to work changing “his” profile to “our” profile.  (I added a link to our profile under the “About Me” section in the sidebar.)

It didn’t take long for us to start getting hits and tonight we are hosting our first surfers!  Two guys from North Carolina here to watch a bike race.  We have also had a request from a guy and girl in Norway for this April.  Oh, and the community also has an “Events” section and there are always happenings all over the world.  On Sunday we are signed up to go on a hike where everyone brings wine and cheese to share with the group! 

I feel like I have a new zest for life.  I wake up each monring excited about what country may have contacted us and about the great people we are going to meet.  Because honestly, you’ve never known a better group of strangers than the CS.com community.  If you’re a traveler at heart, I encourage you to check it out.  You don’t have to have a couch availble to be involved, just offering to meet for coffee is an option too.  They are expecting their ONE MILLIONTH member this March.  It could be you!

leave it to the Japanese

Not only does Obama rock, he rolls too. Behold, the Obama Sushi Roll…

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/02/19/obama-sushi.html

To see a photo of the whole platter, click here.

getting our drink on in Temecula, CA

The next town over from Pala where we went gem hunting is Temecula, Southern California’s growing wine region. We aren’t wine connoisseurs by any means, but I guess you could call us enthusiasts as we take great joy from learning about and trying new wines. So, we couldn’t even consider being that close and not spending time at the wineries doing some tastings. (Rightfully) predicting that we would be filthy after gem hunting I had booked us a hotel in Temecula where we could wash up before going out.

We decided to take it easy and just go out to a nice dinner that night. I chose Cafe Champagne at Thornton Winery after looking at the menu online and seeing that they paired a wine with each item. We’re a big fan of restaurants that do that because it saves us the trouble of looking through the wine list and guessing. Our appetizer was described as “French Brie wrapped in puff pastry, Warm Honey-Walnut Sauce” and the suggested pairing is Thornton’s 2006 Chardonnay… we each ordered a glass for ourselves, despite my boyfriend not really liking white wine that much. Always go with the suggested pairings! The appetizer was delicious alone (though heavy in my opinion) but the Chardonnay just made it so much better. For dinner I ordered the swordfish with the suggested Sangiovese and he ordered the lamb with the suggested Syrah. The entrees themselves weren’t impressive, but the wines were good and again, the food did make them even better. We had a little piece of chocolate cake for dessert which was yummy, but stayed away from any dessert alcohol since we were already feeling the effects of two glasses each.

Prior to leaving we asked our server for recommendations on other wineries to try and he circled a few on a map for us. We ended up going to two out of the three, but choosing one other by ourselves. Our first stop the next day was Hart Winery which is described as small and family-owned, always a draw for us. My boyfriend had been there before, but in the days when he didn’t drink and was only there to show around out of town friends. Those friends said they enjoyed the wines at Hart more than any of the other wineries they tried that day, so my boyfriend has always wanted to go back after he gave in and started drinking wine. We did a flight of six for $5, trying a variety of reds. The staff was alright, not snooty but not overly friendly either. Of course, it was raining outside and that can bring people down sometimes, especially in sunny California. It does have the family atmosphere though, a container of crackers sat near the counter with a label that said “please do not feed the dogs” referring to the two beautiful Australian Shepherds that were walking around. Out of the six wines, I wasn’t ecstatic about any, but my boyfriend really enjoyed their award-winning Cabernet Franc so we bought a bottle. You also get to keep your glass, so out we went with bottle and glass in hand, on to our next stop.

One of the wineries our waiter had suggested was Leonesse, however he specifically noted that it is known for their White Merlot and their Port. Again, being more into reds and not generally liking sweet wines we considered skipping it, but we did some internet research at the hotel and it had gotten rave reviews, so we went. This time a tasting of six was $12, we started off with the White Merlot, ended with the Port, and tried four reds in between. Actually, five reds in between because our pourer took a liking to us and let us try one not on the tasting menu. He described it as having a heavy pepper flavor and for once I could actually taste what I was supposed to taste. It was so good I bought a bottle (the Zinfandel pictured above.) The White Merlot is actually fabulous and I can’t wait until a hot summer day when it will taste perfect (yes, I bought a bottle of that too). Mom and Dad, I have a feeling you would love this wine, it has the appearance of a blush/rose. We were really nervous about trying the Port but supposedly it is the best around, plus they give you a little chocolate truffle to try it with, so we gave it a go. Add one more bottle to the list please! Fantastic with the chocolate and also great by itself. This was by far our favorite stop on the wine tasting part of our trip, thanks not only to the good wine but also to our pourer, Michael, who has only been working there for a month. We liked him so much I emailed a glowing review about him to his boss when we got home!

Last stop was lunch at Ponte (The Smokehouse Restaurant) which our waiter from the night before had circled and wrote “lunch” next to it. The restaurant is normally outdoors, but since it was raining they had moved it inside. Even so, the grounds were gorgeous and you can tell it was designed for weddings. However, much like dinner the night before, the service was great but the food was just okay. I got an appetizer as a meal, butternut squash and shrimp risotto, and my boyfriend got the BBQ chicken pizza. Both were decent but mine seemed to lack flavor. I actually said aloud that I thought I could make it better and my boyfriend called me out on how cocky I have become about my cooking already!

So that’s it. After lunch we headed out and were home in under two hours. With four new bottles of wine to enjoy sometime in the near future!

gem hunting in Pala, CA

Awhile ago my boyfriend had seen some TV show about gem hunting and has wanted to do it ever since.  The idea didn’t really appeal to me, but I am always game for new experiences so I agreed to tag along as he went looking for rocks.  There are places all over the country, each area generally known for a different gem (i.e. diamonds in Arkansas), but the closest one to us is about 1.5 hours South in Pala, CA at a place called Oceanview Mine where they mainly mine for tourmaline.

When reading through the webiste and throughout the reservation process the staff seems a little uptight, stating time and again that you must arrive between 10:30am and 10:45am no earlier no later, and when you make a “reservation request” you will receive both an email and confirmation phone call during which they will give you a password so you can download a map to the mine.  However, after arriving there we realized that all these precautions came with good reason and the people were actually really nice and fun.

We arrived at 10:30am and at 11 they gathered everyone together to show us how to properly look for gems.  There was a big pile of dirt and rocks in the middle of a circle of benches where we worked and that pile is what we would be looking through.  So after the fifteen minute instructional period they set us loose and filled our buckets and started sifting, doing so over and over again for about four hours.  They also give you a tour of the mine, but my boyfriend and I opted out so we could continue to look through the pile without interruption.

The experience costs $60 per adult and $50 per child, but you get to keep everything you find, and it seems like everyone found something.  Our best was probably the decent size pieces of aquamarine, a tiny piece of watermelon tourmaline and a tiny piece of green tourmaline, and we each found a pretty looking piece of smokey quartz which isn’t worth much but we kept them anyway.  I don’t know what we are going to do with what we kept, probably keep it in a bowl until we have extra money to throw around and then have it cut and maybe made into jewelry.  I am sure that whole process is more expensive than just buying a similar piece of jewelry in a store, but there is something cool about being able to say you found that gem.

So all in all it was a really fun time and I may just have a new hobby.  I have to admit I am now looking forward to trips to Arkansas and North Carolina and Nevada and all the other places in this country where you can spend the day “looking for rocks”.

my findings

v-day dinner (and dessert)

Considering I gave blood that morning, and also because it was Valentine’s Day, it sounded like the perfect combination of excuses to enjoy red meat guilt-free.  Hey, my body needed the iron.  Again finding myself in a situation where a grill would be nice to have, I worked around it and found a recipe for filet mignon that called only for a skillet.  Plus there are minimal ingredients and no marinating time, that is my kind of recipe. 

What it did call for was some dry red wine, and a lot of the reviews said the dish will only turn out as good as the wine you are cooking with so don’t skimp.  I like to do things right so I looked up what type of wine goes best with filet mignon and resources said Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Cab I ended up choosing was Kuleto Estate 2005 (Lone Acre) from Napa Valley.  No complaints there and we drank it with dinner as well as just cooking with it.

From the pictures on the site it seemed like everyone was having asparagus as a side for this, so I did the same.  They went so well together and my boyfriend said this asparagus recipe has taken the top spot in his list of favorite veggie side dishes so far.  The filet itself turned out pretty good too.  I mean, it wasn’t restaurant quality, but it was mighty tasty for a home cooked meal… especially since it was my first attempt at steak.

Click the links below for recipes:

FILET MIGNON WITH RICH BALSAMIC GLAZE

PAN-FRIED ASPARAGUS

But wait, that’s not all…

…I went all in and made fancy chocolate covered strawberries too!  They looked so pretty I told my boyfriend he couldn’t eat any until he took pictures of them (he is by far the better photographer out of the two of us).  So there, to all my family members who are still in disbelief that I am spending this much time in the kitchen and actually having some success, look what I just made!

We ate them up pretty quick, but in all honesty they are kind of a pain in the butt to make and in the future if I ever want chocolate covered strawberries I am more likely to just buy them.  But if you’re ambitious…

Click the link below for recipe:

CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES

drained

Everything went great today donating blood.  Well, except for the fact that I apparantly have very tiny veins.  This information isn’t new to me, but somehow I manage to forget every time.  The story is always the same… I choose to give them my left arm but they can’t find the vein so they go to my right arm and find it but don’t feel confident because it is so small so they go back to my left, find it this time but realize it is equally small, so they settle for my right but call over the most skilled needle-poker within earshot to do the honors.  Since I plan on doing this on a regular basis now, perhaps I will remember next time and just offer up my right arm first.  I even grabbed a little booklet that has a calendar inside so you can mark off your donation day and it tells you when you are eligible to donate again.  I have to wait until the middle of April, but in the meantime, you should all get out there and donate if you are able!  Try going to www.givelife.org or www.americasblood.org to find a donation center or blood drive near you.

blackened chicken dinner

Alright, with this post I am up to date on my cooking/baking that I took pictures of, so hopefully from here on out it will be more of “this is what we had tonight” not “this is what we had a week ago.”  That being said, here is what we had about a week ago.

Stumbled across a recipe for BLACKENED CHICKEN that sounded good and easy so decided to go with that.  The submitter said it would go good with corn, which I like but have not tried preparing yet.  We don’t have a grill so recipes were limited and after a long search I finally gave in and decided to go for the HORSERADISH CORN ON THE COB, depite not really liking horseradish, because you bake it in the oven instead of grilling it.  Really glad I gave the recipe a chance because it was soooo good!

We like to make sure we have some greens with every meal so I went in search of a salad and found one called FAB SUMMER BLACKENED CHICKEN SALAD.  Since the original recipe calls for blackened chicken I figured it would go well with the rest of the meal, I just omitted the chicken from the recipe since this was just going to be a side not the main dish.  This one gets another “soooo good!” praise from me.  Of course, avocado, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes are probably my three most favorite toppings of all time, so I kinda felt like this recipe was somehow created with me in mind.

As for the BLACKENED CHICKEN itself… eh.  It was good, had a “bit of a kick” as my boyfriend put it, but nothing we found to be super special.  Of course, that could have something to do with the healthy Organics brand chicken I bought.  I’ll have to test that theory later.

Click the links below for recipes:

BLACKENED CHICKEN

No changes.

HORSERADISH CORN ON THE COB

Settled for microwavable corn on the cob since it is out of season and couldn’t find any to “husk and clean”, used dried parsley flakes instead of fresh.  Also, doubled all the ingredients (except for the corn) as other reviewers had suggested in order to get more flavor.

FAB SUMMER BLACKENED CHICKEN SALAD

Just didn’t include the chicken and those ingredients that were only there to season and cook the chicken.

thai night

It was over a week ago now, but the first actual meal I took pictures of was when I decided to try my hand at some “ethnic” cooking.

Good, not great. When I was reading the reviews for the THAI CHICKEN TURKEY BALLS recipe, however, a lot of people said they were bland and needed a sauce to dip in, so I came prepared. A couple specifically recommended SWEET CHILI THAI SAUCE so I made that and it was excellent!

I don’t plan on ever making the THAI CHICKEN TURKEY BALLS for anyone other than myself again, but I will likely make a batch over the weekend every so often and bring them to work for lunches throughout the week, accompanied by the SWEET CHILI THAI SAUCE of course.

The THAI CUCUMBER SALAD was actually pretty good too and I want to make it again, only next time not with a meal where the SWEET CHILI THAI SAUCE will also be in attendance.  They are both on the sweet side and dinner should never make you feel like it is going to give you a sugar high.

Click the links below for recipes:

THAI CHICKEN TURKEY BALLS

I used turkey instead of chicken because I read somewhere turkey is good for you and that I should be eating more of it.  Also, I baked them instead of frying them in an attempt to be more healthy.  Other reviewers had done the same and said to do so at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

THAI CUCUMBER SALAD

I omitted the jalapeno peppers because I am not a big fan (except for jalapeno and cheese bagels, yum!), my boyfriend doesn’t like them, and frankly I was too lazy to seed and chop them.

SWEET CHILI THAI SAUCE

Followed this one exactly.