First foods of 2012

Before posting for February, got to document the January eats.

Mapodofu, egg and tomato soup, shrimp with black vinegar, cabbage, and wood ear mushrooms

My friend, Hantten, invited Ingrid and I over to her place in South Pasadena for lunch. We were given a tour of the area and then were treated to a 5 course cuisine! Thanks Hantten! :)

Hantten, Ingrid, and I walking around South Pasadena!

Next, Beijing Beef - inspired by Panda Express. Loosely based off of this recipe:
http://www.food.com/recipe/beijing-beef-463847

Salmon and simmered pumpkin with (of course) rice.

Tri-tip: salt, pepper, garlic, and brown sugar dry rub.

Perfect on the outside and inside!!

And finally, a pistachio and coconut macaron from Little Tokyo.

The first macarons I had that were actually GOOD. Thanks EDeng!

Other happenings:

I got to meet Sean "Day[9]" Plott at the USC eSports club! He's a game shoutcaster for Starcraft 2 tournaments and also hosts an (almost) daily web series called the Day[9] daily, where we learn how to be a better gamer. <3
http://day9.tv/

Finally, a highlight from a 1 hour 45 min study session for class... we're forced to record and submit it to the professor to watch... every week.

Destroyed.

Thyme for Pork Belly!

Got this baby from 99 Ranch in September... its been chilling in the freezer until now.

Slow roasted on a bed of veggies and white wine.

And of course nestled on top of rice. :)

Recipe

Ribs and Blueberries

Hello all,

Little update on life: living in Glendale with 2 amazing friends. Studying for a MAT in TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) at USC. Keeping this blog in English because Japanese is a little too 面倒くさい (bothersome) right now..

Dinner for tonight:

Out of the oven!

Chopped.

Pork spareribs with bottled teriyaki sauce. Baked, glazed, broiled.

And a little plug for an awesome game from the 90's...

Logical Journey of the Zoombinis - greatest game ever?? I'm in love all over again. Anyone remember playing this jewel?

Katelyn...どこに行ったかな

三月はとっても忙しいです。大学院の申し込み、グローバルスカラーという奨学金などをしなければなりませんでした。
This month has been tough. Grad school applications, global scholar "scholarship," and other things were all due in March.

今日グローバルスカラーのプロジェクトできました！スクラップブックで、去年の留学の思い出と文化の意見について作りました。
Today I finally finished my global scholar project. It was a scrapbook of my recollections from studying abroad in Japan last year as well as thoughts and reflections about cultural issues I encountered.

For a lack of a better title. Sorry about the glare.

Mamues woman's baseball One of my favorite pages.

The elusive conclusion page. Used some of roommate's yellow tissue paper that was on the couch.

でも今部屋はちょっと。。。すみません。掃除をします～
However, now the apartment is a mess. Sorry roomie, I'll start cleaning it up.

やばい。 And that's not including my desk area.

最後にすばらしい衝動買いした時計はメールでありました！
Lastly, I got the awesome watch I ordered in the mail today! Get ready for this.

Gotta catch 'em all!

I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts...

晩御飯です。
Dinner.

Leftovers will go into my lunch tomorrow. 

焼肉、かぼちゃ、キャベツ、ダンプリング、ごはんです。最近、健康のために油をあまり使わない食べ物を作ってみます。
Yakiniku (grilled meat), kabocha (pumpkin), cabbage, dumplings, rice. Lately, to be healthy, I've been trying to cook foods that don't require a lot of oil. 

そして、なんでアパートの駐車場でココナツがあったのか？
And, why was there a coconut in the parking space next to mine?

Hello?

迷っていたかな。
Maybe it was lost.

やる気のパン

明日はインターバシティーの四年生とキャンピング旅行に行きます～　ジョシュアトリーという国立公園に泊まります。天気予報によると３２度～４７度（F）になて寒いそうです。
Tomorrow I'm going with my fellow Intervarsity seniors on a camping trip. We are going to be staying overnight at a site called the Joshua Tree, but it looks like it'll be cold (highs 47, lows 32). Sorry snow people, we're not use to it.

今朝にこれに気づきました。
This morning I found this interesting sight.

<3 smooooch <3

私の車じゃないけど、ちょっと近すぎると思いました。詳しく見て、あ、やっぱり当たっていました。どうやって気づけなくて動かなかったのか？
It's not my car, but they looked oddly close together. Looking more closely, yes, they were indeed bumping. How could you 1. not feel that and 2. not readjust? Oh well.

Alana, Ashley, Eunice, Valerie, Stephanie, you girls rocked it!

夜にゴスペルのコンサートを見に行きました。みんなはすごい上手で情熱に歌いました。おめでとう！
Tonight I went to the Saved By Grace Gospel Choir Showcase at Bovard. Everyone was really good and super passionate. Congrats on a great show!

後で雨が強くて寒いから辛いカツカレーを作りました。今度のカツはパンコとパルメザンチーズを使いました。そして上にキャベツを置きました。
After, because of the cold and rain, I decided to make spicy katsu curry. This time for the breading I mixed panko with parmesan cheese. And added cabbage on the top.

Trying to keep up with my veggies.

今、キャンピングの前に、宿題、大学院申し込み、奨学金などをしなければなりません。たいへんですが、やる気のパンを食べる予定です。やる気のパンは何かしたくない時やる気を持つようになるため美味しいパン（たいてい甘い）を食べます。やる気のパンを少しずつ食べたら集中ができます。
Right now I have some work to do before camping tomorrow. Homework, grad application, scholarship, emails, ect. all need to be worked on. It's a little much, but I have some motivational bread to get me through tonight. What is motivational bread? It's something you should try. When I lack motivation to do something (usually homework), I like to eat bread (usually a sweet pastry). In theory, while eating the bread bit by bit, I get "motivated" to concentrate on the not so fun stuff.

Chinese bakery coconut filling bread.

vote = food.

今日は学生自治会選挙決議をしたら無料のホットドッグをもらえました。今日の昼ごはん準備ができなかったから食べたのは。。？
Today on campus if you voted in the student government elections, you got a free hot dog from Wiener Schnitzel. Since I didn't have time to make lunch today, guess what I ate.

Chili dog, fries, and a soda for doing my "civic" duty.

そして全然待たせなかった！
Best part: no line. Yay!