Whole 30 and Random Thoughts

Fuck.

I should be working on something, but obviously I'm not since I'm on here.

There are so many things I should be working on, but instead I'm typing into this. You're welcome.

• Lice combs do a very good job of getting the larger pieces of cajun seasoning mix out of one's hair.
• cajun seasoning does not feel so great when it gets in your eye. I do not have first hand knowledge of this, but I have been told that this is true very vehemently. 
• I've been running on caffeine, adrenaline, and cortisol for the past month+ with the occasional ounce of ethanol thrown in for good measure. do not recommend.
• I similarly do not recommend jumping head first into Whole30 when insanely stressed
• and yet, here I am. Goddamnit.
• I'm letting myself off the douche hook and am instagramming the shit out of what I eat so I can at least be entertained while I spend the next 28 days extremely hangry
• while I prefer the syntax and ease of Postgres, switching between that and hive is fucking up my brain.
• Ramona is super into quesadillas, excuse me, tortillas with melted cheese right now. It makes me want to buy a quesadilla maker since I am currently weak to shopping. 

ube ice cream kid cone - Cookiebar Creamery - $ 2.5

Birthday Month 2015!

My birthday month is fast approaching, so I figured it was time for me to put together my annual list of demands, erm.. I mean, wish list for Colby. Also, I should be studying right now, but I am a super wonderful procrastinator.

Raleigh Retroglide

I really want a bike for riding around Alameda. Since Alameda is completely flat and the speed limit is 25 MPH in most places, I don't need anything fancy. Therefore, I want something cute. Like, super cute.

Over the past couple of years, I've noticed that whenever I've tried a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe, it's been a great success. Next on my list to try is his caramelized garlic tart. And now I want all of his cookbooks and have my Julie/Julia moment with him, except that Julie/Yotam is not nearly as alliterative.

Ottolenghi: The Cookbook - Recipes from his restaurants

Jerusalem: A Cookbook - Written with Sami Tamimi, explores the cuisine of their home city

Plenty - Features all vegetarian recipes

Plenty More - Follow up to Plenty

Bonavita Electric Gooseneck Kettle

I've been getting into coffee again. I still haven't found a good replacement for my beloved Epoch, so making coffee at home is a must. I prefer pourover style to coffee machines and a gooseneck kettle allows for much better control. Even better than a gooseneck kettle? An electric kettle. Because I'm lazy.

San Francisco recommendations

Colby's got a work trip in San Francisco coming up and Ramona and I decided to tag along.  I'm going to take advantage of the free admission to the conference and the fact that his company is situated next to the job fair.  Because in about a year and a half, I'll be looking for my first grown up job... at the age of 28.  Ugh.

I solicited some people about places to visit/eat/see/eat again in San Francisco and this is my synthesis of their responses.  Props to my friends for being awesome.  Now to decide how to proceed.  So basically, this post is for me.  :)

Restaurants

Bistro Boudin
160 Jefferson Street
415-928-1849
www.bistroboudin.com

The Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream & Chocolate Manufactory
900 North Point Street (corner of Larkin Street)
415-474-3938
www.ghirardelli.com 

Ferry Building Market Place
One Ferry Building
San Francisco, California 94111
(415) 983-8030
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/farmers_market.php

Trace
181 Third Street, San Francisco CA 94103
415-817-7836
http://www.trace-sf.com/

Greens (vegetarian)
300 Page St, San Francisco, CA
http://www.greensrestaurant.com/

Aziza (Morrocan)
5800 Geary Blvd, San Francisco, CA
http://www.aziza-sf.com/

Chez Panisse Cafe
1517 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
(510) 548-5525 ‎
chezpanisse.com

Osha Thai

149 2nd St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 278-9991 ‎

or

696 Geary St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 673-2368 ‎

http://www.oshathai.com/

South Seafood Village (dim sum) ???

Brandy Ho's (chinese)

4068 18th Street

San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 252-8000

brandyhos.com‎

Papalote (mole sauce)

1777 Fulton St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 776-0106 ‎

papalote-sf.com‎

Little Chihuahua (garlic shrimp or plantain burrito)

292 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 255-8225 ‎ 

thelittlechihuahua.com

Savor (brunch)

3913 24th St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 282-0344 ‎ 

savorrestaurant.com

Kate's Kitchen (brunch, cash only, biscuits)

471 Haight St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 626-3984 ‎ 

kates-kitchensf.com

Honey Honey (brunch)

564 Hayes St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 255-6858 ‎ 

honeyryderboutique.com

Little Star Pizza (deep dish)

846 Divisadero St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 441-1118 ‎ 

littlestarpizza.com

American Grilled Cheese Kitchen

1 S Park St #103A, San Francisco, CA

(415) 243-0107 ‎ 

theamericansf.com

Pearl's Deluxe Burgers (Spicy Sly)

708 Post St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 409-6120 ‎ 

or

1001 Market St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 861-1605

pearlsdeluxe.com

Bossa Nova (mojitos)

139 8th St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 558-8004 ‎ 

bossahome.com

Stella Pastry & Cafe
446 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA
(415) 986-2914 ‎
stellapastry.com


XOX Truffles, INC
754 Columbus Ave, San Francisco, CA
(415) 421-4814 ‎
xoxtruffles.com

Places to go:

Golden Gate Park

Fulton & Stanyan Street
http://www.golden-gate-park.com/childrens-playground.html

San Francisco Zoo  

1 Zoo Rd, San Francisco, CA

(415) 213-4781 ‎ 

sfzoo.org

Japanese Tea Garden

75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr, San Francisco, CA

(415) 752-1171 ‎ 

japaneseteagardensf.com

Muir Woods National Monument

Mill Valley, CA 94941

(415) 388-2595

nps.gov‎

Ocean Beach

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, CA 94122

http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park-sites/ocean-beach.html

Yerba Buena Gardens (carousel, bowling alley, ice rink, shops, tea lounge)

750 Harward St, San Francisco, CA

(415) 820-3550 ‎ 

yerbabuenagardens.com

The Presidio of San Francisco (Chrissy Field; Land's End Trail)

Pacific & Lyon

http://www.nps.gov/prsf/index.htm

Districts:

Chinatown 

Fisherman's Wharf - tourist trap

North Beach - little Italy?

The Marina - coffee shops and stores

The Pier 

The Richmond District - Eastern European/new Chinatown

Noe Valley

Castro

Random Answer to Random Questions

Now that I am no longer shackled by the convention of the giant fail that was NaBloPoMo, I finally have something to post. The lovely Mica, who is also a Korean adoptee with a smushy-faced dog, nominated me to answer 7 questions about myself.

1. Do you wear make-up every day?
Not at all. Since college, I've worn make up 3 times - once for my wedding, once for Halloween (does that even count?) and once for my friend's wedding.

2. In your opinion, what is the best part of the holidays?
Winter. We go home for Christmas and get actual winter and I can do crazy things like wear sweaters and boots without dying of heat stroke. it's wonderful. I'm sure that I'm supposed to say something sentimental about Ramona, but um... Texas is really hot.

3. Which character are you most like from Winnie the Pooh?
I would say Eeyore because I'm kind of a huge pessimist, but I'd say now I'm more like Pooh. Breastfeeding means that I'm hungry all. of. the times. and that seems to parallel Pooh's hunny addiction.

 4. What holiday movie are you excited to see?
There aren't really any new holiday movies that I'm excited about, but my favorite movie that includes the holidays is definitely You've Got Mail, although if we're going for something that's only the Christmas season, I'd have to say it'd be Love Actually.

 5. How many pairs of jeans do you own?
A lot, but I don't wear most of them. I'd say that I have about 6 pairs in my regular rotation: 2 normal denim skinnies, 1 black denim skinny, 1 teal skinny, a stonewashed pair of flares and a dark denim pair of flares.

 6. What’s a gross fact about yourself?
I have pregnancy dreams after I eat a lot of cruciferous vegetables. If this doesn't make sense to you, then you've obviously never felt fetal kicks (which totally feel like gas).

7. What would you choose to eat as your “last meal”?
Oh. Man. Let's make this not from the same place and a progressive meal because this is supposed to be a food blog, damnit.

beverages:
Mexican coke
Chateau Chantal chardonnay
unpasteurized apple cider from any number of cider mills in Michigan

Cold Appetizer/Hot appetizer/soup/salad:
Hummus + zataar spice + olive oil + pita from Steve's Backroom
fried potato knish from Zingerman's Delicatessen

cheddar cheese soup from Hudson's  (which was department store chain in Michigan)

Olga salad from Olga's Kitchen

Vegetable/Starch/Protein

Brussels sprouts from Uchiko
truffled grits from Dusty's Cellar
Picanha from Fogo de Chao

After dinner:
a cheese plate from Antonelli's Cheese Shop
bavarian cheesecake from Champs Rotisserie

So in theory, I'm supposed to make up 7 questions for 7 other people to answer, but I actually only know of one person who reads this consistently with a blog (who didn't already nominate me. *ahem*) So Chris, you get to answer these questions and everyone else can feel free to answer in the comment section. :) 1) What Adventure Time character is your favorite and why? 2) What's the perfect New Year's Eve dinner menu? 3) If you could go back in time and change your major, what would you change it to? 4) Who makes the best chili-cheese fries? 5) What's been your favorite book you've read this year? 6) What vacation spot would you want to visit in the U.S. in 2013? 7) cake or pie? recipe for your favorite.

Amusing things on the internet

Aside from Colby locking my keys in the car, I had a ridiculously nice birthday, complete with a zillion facebook messages, snuggles with Kimchi, and one of the best meals I've had in recent memory.  I took pictures, so I definitely plan to post about that soon.  In the meantime, posting around here has been sparse, so I figured I'd share some interesting things I've been reading on the internet, some of which are actually about food.  And in no particular order, here we go:

Jeremy Lin

 This McSweeny's piece on Jeremy Lin is fantastic, but it has nothing on the Disgrasian post about who should be his basketball wife.  Personally, my choice is Michelle Wie because she could finally wear heels without dwarfing a dude.  If you don't know who Jeremy Lin is, he's a point guard from Harvard who's the biggest sensation in the NBA right now.  Oh, and he's the first American NBA player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent.

Baby Shit (not literally)

Apparently, in France, the government provides services to women to get back "in shape" post-baby.  And by "in shape", they mean vaginally.  It sort of sounds like the best idea ever, especially considering the "cooter pac man".

There's a shit ton of sugar in baby formula and the FDA doesn't require companies to reveal how much.  I'm firmly in the camp of "breast is best", but for those people who aren't, or don't breast feed for whatever reason they choose, they deserve the right to know what the hell they're feeding their kids.

Random things I find amusing


Rick Santorum is winning in Michigan.

a) it's called the Daily Santorum.  When I see the word "Santorum" I think of this (LSWF)

b) they used a picture of the Sufjan Stevens album, Michigan.

c) the only county in which Mitt Romney is winning is where all the "new money" in south-eastern Michigan lives.  This goes to show that Mitt Romney is a rich-people republican's rich person republican.

Stop motion animation of a Michael Pollan talk.

I honestly didn't even read this article, but, um, like... look at the title and then laugh your face off.

Kimchi thought these articles were interesting too!

My annual letter to Colby

Dear Colby,

I want these for my birthday:

I'm size 37.  And the bonus part?  If you order them before next Tuesday, they're 50% off.  Also, I kind of want this too:

In green and definitely with the Boston Terrier design.

And while we're at it, I want this rug from Pottery Barn Kids for the nursery.

I mean, it's not even for ME and it's MY birthday.  I'm being completely selfless here, so you basically have to get this for me.

Love,

Julie

Resolutions

So it's almost a week late, but I've been thinking about resolutions.  Everyone makes them and they mostly include being a better person in some way, shape, or form.  I usually resolve to lose weight, but this year it's a bit more difficult for me to get a gym membership and start pounding the pavement right. this. moment.  Instead, I want to set realistic goals with built in metrics, instead of some nebulous promise of "improvement".

Take better pictures
I've come a long way from not posting photos to posting grainy blackberry photos to my camera phone and now the DSLR, but I think it's time to actually figure out how to take pictures that don't suck.  I'd love to take a class, especially since baby portraits are CRAZY expensive, but we'll have to see about time and money constraints on that.

This? This is a crappy picture.

Comment on at least three posts for every time I sit down and go through blogs I read
I read a lot of blogs and I usually have a lot to say, but I hardly ever take the time to comment.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm shy or what, but it seems like it'd also help me bring in readers and show my appreciation for the time and effort the bloggers I read put into their posts.

Respond to comments
I'm notoriously bad at actually responding to blog comments and I want to make sure that I start responding to the few that I do get.

Post at least weekly
Last year, I posted more than I've ever posted, but most of these came in November and December.  I'd like to make sure that I'm posting at least weekly.  If I get into the habit, it'll make it easier not to just drop my blog once the baby comes.  Speaking of which...

Make sure that I'm putting real food into my body
Now, more than ever, it's important that I eat real food.  We generally do eat unprocessed foods, but sometimes it's hard and I'm tired and we give up and eat something that has more preservatives in it than is necessary.  I know how to cook... and well, if I do say so myself, so this shouldn't be such a problem for me.

real and tasty. also, real tasty.

Maintain healthy blood sugar levels
At my most recent prenatal appointment, my midwife indicated that she thinks that I'm really starting to develop gestational diabetes.  If it progresses to the point where I can't control my blood sugar through diet and exercise, I'll end up on synthetic insulin to regulate it.  Most people know that gestational diabetes creates big babies, but what it also does is degrade the blood vessels in the placenta, meaning that the fetus doesn't get adequate support.  It's because of this that my super natural birth-friendly OB induces labor at 39 weeks for women with uncontrolled GD.  After monitoring my blood sugar off and on for the past few weeks, I've sort of found a pattern that works for me.  I need to stick with it and not just get frustrated and quit so that I can make sure that i have a safe delivery and a healthy baby.

Drink more water
I shared this on twitter, but here's a graphic about what happens to a person's body when she's pregnant.  (TMI warning...) So it makes sense that I have to pee every 5 minutes... which is why I don't drink nearly as much water as I probably should.


There are a zillion more things that I should resolve to do better, but this is sort of what's been at the forefront of my mind for the past week.  Obviously it would be good to maintain healthy blood sugar levels my entire life, but some of these goals are shorter term than others.  I hope that by following these resolutions, I'm able to have both a healthy baby and become a better blogger.  What are your (late, like mine!) resolutions for the upcoming year?

2011 in Review

This probably should have posted earlier, as I'll have another couple posts coming up later today, but I wanted to reflect on 2011 for a moment.

This year seemed like it flew by.  Here's a month-by-month recap, for funsies:

Take 9

January

I spent the beginning of the year with the usual suspects in Austin and we rang in the new year like we do every year: too much food and just enough alcohol.  This was followed by a trip to Seattle for the American Astronomical Society convention, where I picked up a pretty nasty case of the flu.  Randi and her boyfriend Steve shot a short film at my house.  At the very end of the month, I started Community Supported Home Cooking with Athena, Randi, and Chalence.

sweet corn dessert at Uchiko

February

I was still sick in February, but I managed to get healthy enough to create a list of demands for my birthday.  Colby complied ;) and we had a lovely dinner at Uchiko.

rabbit and duck liver pate at Luke New Orleans

March 

I did a Nerd Nite talk about astronomy with a couple of my friends from the department.  Mid-month, I went on a spring break trip to New Orleans with Kyle.  We had ridiculously good food and way too much alcohol. 

ridiculously tasty apple tart from Austin Bakes for Japan

April

I participated in the Austin Bakes for Japan bake sale with a lot of my fellow AFBA members.  It was quite the success and I met a lot of really cool bloggers.  A few days later, Colby and I went to the Guster concert at Stubbs and I had the past 11 years of fandom fulfilled when I got to meet Brian, Ryan, Adam, and Luke of the band.

my plate at the AFBA farmers market potluck

May

May was busy and filled with a lot of things having to do with school.  I spent most of it frantically writing a paper.  I also joined the AFBA officially that month, I believe, and went to the first official event -a farmers market potluck at someone's home.  There was more meeting people and eating of delicious food

I think this one speaks for itself

June

Ahh June.  For thirty days, I took a picture of everything I ate, so the posting was thin to begin with.  I got really drunk with Randi and dyed my hair purple.  I'm still living with the consequences of that decision.  At the end of the month, I submitted my paper to the Astrophysical Journal.  At some point mid-to-late month, I started feeling crazy sick and when I couldn't stand it anymore, took a pregnancy test which came back positive.  I took three more that day to confirm.

someone besides me cooking

July

There was a whole lot of morning sickness going on, so I didn't cook anything, really.  Also, it was really freaking hot and I threatened to kill anyone who tried to turn on the oven.

My muse for the month of August

August

Still in the throes of morning sickness, I continued not to cook.  I had a disappointing pasty, but that was mostly it for my food adventures.  At the end of the month, my paper was accepted and I posted it to ArXiv and I said good-bye to Athena.  This was also the end for the Community Supported Home Cooking project and blog.  I also took a lot of pictures of my dog.

One of my contributions to the Austin Bakes for Bastrop bake sale

September

The morning sickness finally started to ease up, and we announced the pregnancy to people.  Although, I guess we did it kind of sneaky-like because I surprised a whole lot of people with my pregnancy when I sent out my baby shower invitations later.  Oops.  I also participated in the second bake sale of the year, Austin Bakes for Bastrop.  This was put together by the same people as Austin Bakes for Japan, with the proceeds being donated to help the victims of the Bastrop fires.  We also got a DSLR for the baby.  This has definitely been used for the baby... we have ~10 GB of pictures of Kimchi. ;)

seagulls in Port Aransas, TX

October

We found out that we were going to have a girl and I started cooking again.  We also took our babymoon in Corpus Christi and Port Aransas and ate at some pretty yummy places and watched Michigan State beat Michigan from a brewery in Port A. Go Green!

cider making ingredients

November

I attempted to participate in NaBloPoMo for the 6th time and FINALLY finished a month.  (Go me!)   Colby and I went to a Slow Food Austin session on the making of hard cider and decided to start making our own.  The plan was to make a bunch to bring to Michigan for Christmas gifts.  I graded a lot of papers and gave a talk at the end of the month, so mostly the month consisted of cooking, working, and more working.

Christmas Eve dinner at my great aunt and grandma's house

December

After NaBloPoMo, I was about ready to stop blogging for awhile, but then found out that some people were going to post 30 times this month about what they were grateful for.  I decided that after a month of posting every day, I wasn't ready to commit to posting that frequently again, but rather decided to post 12 times.  The first part of the month was filled with more school duties, what with getting final grades in for my students, a committee meeting, and a paper draft.  I also started a new research project.  We went home for our baby shower and for Christmas.  The shower was lovely and we got a lot of clothing.  We also celebrated our third anniversary Christmas was less lovely and it made me grateful that I live 1400 miles away from most of my family, but that didn't seem to fit the spirit of the 12 days of a grateful heart, so I kept that to myself... until now. ;)  And now I'm home and the usual suspects are back at my house hanging out.  I have a menu plan for New Year's Eve posted.

This is for Colby

My birthday is fast approaching and I'm just about through compiling my wishlist.  I have pretty much the easiest birthday to remember if you're a dude: Valentine's Day.  I can't tell if this is a blessing or a curse.  On one hand, there's only one day to not screw up.  On the other hand, there's no making up for a bad birthday with a good Valentine's Day.  I've decided to make it easy on Colby this year and post my birthday wishlist here.

Everyone needs a good pair of black shoes, right?  These Tsubo Acrea are super cute and totally work appropriate.  And by "work appropriate" I mean that they look like I can walk more than a block in them without wanting to fall over in pain.  Unlike these.

The Cooking Channel has to be my favorite channel on TV.  I've definitely become a Nigella fan and Nigella Express has become one of my favorite new (to me) shows second only to...

Bitchin Kitchen.  OMGWTFBBQ I love Nadia G.  Her show is awesome and the food looks even better.

Everyone also needs a good right hand ring.  Right?  Right?  And amethyst is my birthstone and Colby loves Costco... so I'm pretty sure that getting this would be a match made in heaven.  Yeah.

Additionally, everyone needs at least one good, sharp knife.  I actually prefer santoku style knives to traditional chef's knives because I'm a rebel like that.  But really, my hands are small, so I find chef's knives to be too unwieldy.  This Global knife is pretty awesome.

In keeping with the overall theme of this list, most of what's on here is an essential.  What's more essential than a classic strand of akoya pearls? 

And finally, I'd just really like to be able to sous vide cook at home.  I have a rice cooker and two slow cookers now and all I need is a PID controller.

Stuff I Will Miss in EL, MI

So I started writing this a couple different times, but I never had the patience to finish it. I guess now's the time. I haven't done anything in the week since graduation. I've never been so bored in my life. I made mac'n'cheese with my brother last night because I didn't have anything better to do and the night before I made curry for my surprisingly receptive dad. Anywho, things I'll miss...


in list form! (and in no particular order, might I add):

Menna's Joint-they're the only legal dub in town! But no, really, for some reason they never caught on with my friends, unless I was dating them and forcing them to eat delicious-filled tortillas with me. Also putting fried potatoes in flour tortillas with cheese is pretty much Julie-speak for "omg eat me" in the way that doesn't mean bma.

Emo's Cafe- It was (apparently) originally Rivis Korean and American cafe, but then they changed their name to Emo's. It took the place of Mexico-to-go which was a staple for my dad and me when I lived on campus. I *just* discovered Emo's last weekend, and wow, it's phenomenal. Their bulgolgi is waaaay better than Charlie Kang's (though, Charlie Kang's does have superior choice in vegetables in their bibimbahp).

Flat's Grille-I wasn't a huge fan of their actual flats (which are essentially quesadillas), but they had pierogies and really amazing sweet potato chips. Also, the best limeade in town.

Vernors - I haven't really seen this pop outside of Michigan much. There's Canada Dry, I suppose, but it's not nearly as cough/sneeze inducing. Also, what am I going to do when I'm sick? Vernors+saltine crackers = best sick food evER

National Coney Island - best. food. ever. I want a hani.

I'm sure there's more. And I bet I'll figure it out when I'm in Tejas