A new appliance put to use!

So... in a couple weeks I've already used my pressure cooker at twice and am hoping to keep the cooking going for a while. I'm up to my ears in terrific tiny appliances, including a snackwich-maker, an electric kettle bethany got me for christmas (heats water to boil in < 2 min!), a pressure cooker, and finally I have used my rival 4 quart crockpot. Here's my first creation, a 6 hour slow-cooked jerk chicken. I've eaten 3 times already from this, and it's great! I think my next attempt will be to cook something on a bone, though I'm not sure what yet! any suggestions?

My kitchen!

Remarkably, this is where the "magic" happens in my apartment lately. My apartment has this separate kitchen near the entrance, which is pretty short on counter space. Still, it's big enough for me, a small pub table with some bottles of wine and some bamboo from chinatown, and an oven and fridge (not shown). The green tile is a nice touch, but I don't think I would have chosen yellow for the painted wall colors. I can see right into my neighbor's apartment through the window, which probably means she can see me as well. It's just a matter of time before one of us challenges the other to a cook-off. And I'm loading up on niche appliances to prepare for the showdown! (I'm running low on wine it seems)

Apartment progress!

Now that I've finally gotten furniture in the form of a loveseat-futon, the apartment is really starting to come together. I still haven't really had people over yet, but it is bound to happen.
Here's my main studio room, which contains my air mattress, computer desk, futon-loveseat, and bass guitar / amp. This is where I spend most of my time when I'm at home, except when I'm in my kitchen or closet. (or bathroom, hopefully with the door unlocked!)

Pressure Cooking!

I finally got my pressure cooker in the mail from Amazon, and have been excited to finally get around to speed-cooking. I love indian curries so I figured this would help me make them with tender meats and veggies in a quick amount of time. I read all the safety instructions first and found out this particular pressure cooker reaches 15 PSI, which is on par or exceeding most automotive turbochargers! This raises the effective boiling point of water contained in the cooking chamber, and allows it to cook food more effectively and potentially reduces cooking time by 70%.

I decided to go for the gold on my first try and attempted a Lamb Rogan Josh, a favorite lamb dish of mine that I don't find anywhere. I found a recipe here: http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recipetemplate.php?scale=2&mid=15732 and decided to for it. I skimped on the marinade time, and spend an hour chopping onions, garlic, and cubing lamb, but in the end it only took about 15 minutes in the pressure cooker to end up with something extremely delicious! I did not have ginger, so I used some random Gingerbread yogurt I had in the fridge, and added cinnamon sugar instead of cinnamon, so I may have ended up a bit sweet.

Even after one experience with pressure cookers (and a quick explosion leak I had by reducing the pressure too quickly with too much cold water at once) I may have never eaten lamb that came out this tender, and after just 15 minutes. I recommend a try at least once. Curries are usually better on the second day also, so I may have some updated raving tomorrow. Even as is, it was delicious, though I may add some serano peppers next time to spice it up a bit more.

Note: I made the pac-man spatula holder at a place in Menlo Park with Bethany called "Color me mine".. you buy ceramics and paint them at their store and have them baked for you... it's pretty cool, but more cost effective if you make larger items.

Back to UCLA and a fun wiikend!

The company has asked for help in recruiting from UCLA a couple thursdays ago, and I jumped at the chance to seem some old friends in So-Cal and talk about my experience at Abbott Vascular. My knees got weak when I walked through the 5th floor of UCLA's boelter hall, where most of my grad classes happened. I got to see my old friend Patrick and of course Andrew, who is still completing his PhD down there. It was a lot of fun to be on the other side of things as a recruiter, but a little strange at the same time. It's hard to believe I've been working at this company for a year... Something registered when I was watching the superbowl this year too.. I watched last years superbowl in Paris on my "last hurrah" trip before starting work.

Anyhow... I believe that fun is still to be had, and on this trip to UCLA, I decided to stay the whole weekend with Mike and Jessica. Mike and I can be a dangerous combination when it comes to impulse purchases, and it just takes one of us to pour gasoline on the other's tiny flame until we both leave best buy with Nintendo Wii's. We were very lucky to find some randomly on the friday I visited and my luggage was a bit heavier on the way home. The wii is totally awesome... here's Mike and Jessica boxing. It is exhausting!

Andrew (who is a karaoke superstar) led the way to a blast of a time in K-town with Soju and Karaoke, and I had the best sushi of my life on friday night with Werckle and the rest of the gang. (I think the place was called hakato?) Fun times... I am going to have to try to setup a UCLA reunion one of these days.

Daily grind

So... when I started this blog, it was all about adventure. The thrill of seeing a new land in california, grappling with the challenges of graduate school at UCLA, and eventually settling in on a new life out here. Yeah.. all that stuff happened. So here's a snapshot of the daily grind for me... I've been committed to making 2007 a year where i get in shape and "hit the gym". That means taking the early train, which leaves san francisco at 6:16AM. Luckily, I typically remain a crusty zombie until I arrive at work around 7:20 to start my workout. My goal has been to run 3 times a week before work, and after each workout I put a check mark on my calendar in my cube. I'm at 6 weeks now of 3 to 4 check marks per work week and I'm pretty proud of that. One month down! Anyhow, the hot water comes faster from the showers at work. (at least versus my shower before 6AM) here's a shot of me on cal-train, which is very nice, smooth, and quiet on its way to and from my job in santa clara.