When we moved out to the suburbs of Atlanta over two years ago, my mind went into cultural shock from being one of the very few couples in our neighborhood without children to having a 40 minute drive get to midtown Atlanta. Luckily (or not) I happened to work from home and a daily commute wasn’t something that I needed to worry about.

Over the past couple years, I went through phases of “I hate living out in the ‘burbs” to “well, I love our house so I guess I’ll deal” back to “when are we going to move already?!”

Well, I am glad to say that I’m finally, really(?) starting to warm up to living in the suburbs. It may be from joining a gym that I really enjoy or having new neighbors that we like chatting with or finally realizing that we won’t be able to have a monster-sized backyard if we move back into the city.

What do you do with a large backyard? You plant things of course!

Edible things, that is.

I’ve been wanting to plant a fruit tree in our backyard for a little while now and when I heard about Atlanta Local Food Initiative‘s Incredible Edible Grow-It-Yourself Fruit Tree, Vine & Berry Bush sale (wow, that was a mouthful!), I immediately hopped over to Georgia Organics’ website and pre-ordered a brown turkey fig tree and a blackberry bush.

Figs and blackberries – two of my most favorite fruits in the world. If we can manage to nurture and grow our little plants, just think of the lovely fruits that can be picked right out in our backyard!

Pick-up of our new plants was over this past weekend at the Atlanta Community Food Bank. Despite the crazy thunderstorm that morning, we picked up our little ones and brought them home, safe and sound.

Then it was time to place the fig tree in the ground. Of course, my lovely husband was kind enough to do the hands on part:

And put up some chicken wire to deter our dig-happy pups from the new tree.

“Hey Mom… whatcha doin’?”

Grow little one, grow!

Our figs and blackberries won’t be ripe and ready for picking for another year or two, so in the meantime, I thought I would satisfy my fruit craving with a nice coconut panna cotta with pomegranate jello inspired by my brilliant friend, Jen of Use Real Butter.

Coconut Panna Cotta with Pomegranate Jello (4 servings)
1 can coconut milk (15 oz)
1/4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons agar agar, divided
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup pomegranate juice
1/4 cup boiling water

Let’s Cook:
For the panna cotta, mix 1 teaspoon agar agar in a small bowl with 1/4 cup warm water, then set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the coconut milk, agave and vanilla. Mix well and bring the mixture to a boil for about a minute. Pour the agar agar mixture into the coconut mixture and stir to combine.

Divide the coconut mixture evenly into four serving containers and place in the refrigerator to set for about 4 hours.

To make the pomegranate jello, mix 1 teaspoon agar agar with 1/4 cup boiling water. Then pour into a small mixing bowl with the pomegranate juice. Mix well, and then pour onto the panna cotta after the panna cotta has set.

Then place the containers back into the refrigerator to set for another 4 hours.

Note: If the pomegranate juice is too tart or sour, mix in some agave or sugar to taste. The result should still be tangy.

I started this blog almost two years ago as a not only a way to archive my family’s recipes, but to also explore eating health benefits of Asian cuisine and staying fit and healthy.

I have always prided myself on being more on the athletic side, from cross country in middle school to varsity tennis in high school to dancing in college. (Yup, that’s me)

When we moved to the suburbs 2 years ago, I stopped dancing but took up kung fu. After almost a year of training in kung fu, and working my way up to a brown belt, I quit because I realized that I was more of a lover than a fighter.

Over the past year I have relied on my own will power to stay in shape, with my only form of exercise being when I am able to somehow convince myself to go for a run (I hate running) or when I take the dogs for a walk. (I did manage to complete a half-marathon though.) This, combined with an incredible amount of stress from work, not treating myself well and eating like crazy (a side effect of having a food blog).

I finally came to the realization that the reason I was feeling so crappy was because I was slowly gaining weight, pants were getting tighter and I was just was no longer feeling healthy anymore. Even though I think we eat relatively healthy foods in our house, not working out was starting to take a toll on me, both physically and mentally.

So, while this is not exactly a New Year’s resolution (I started a membership at the gym in early December), I am on a quest to get myself back to my high school weight (have about 35 lbs to lose). And I decided that if I share this goal with all of you… you can help hold me accountable for my actions.

Never fear, this will remain a primarily a food blog. Food is one of my great passions, and it is also such a big part of staying healthy and fit. I will throw in a bit of…
- Thoughts about working out… the blood, sweat and tears,
- Workouts that I am currently obsessing over,
- Any races or events that I’m training for,
- What foods and recipes I’m working on that are both healthy but yummy.

It’s only been a month, but I am already feeling happier and much less stressed now that a regular workout schedule has been put in place.

Glancing over at my 101 in 1001 list, here are a few goals that I’m working towards in the health section:

1. Get back to my high school weight
2. Go on a yoga retreat.
3. Go without soda for a month
4. Complete a sprint triathlon

I hope you join me on my journey. I’m excited to see what’s in store this year!

In the meantime, I will leave you with this easy tilapia recipe that incorporates the Chinese cooking “holy trinity” if you will: green onions, garlic and ginger. This dish is easy enough to make for a quick and healthy lunch, but fancy enough for a weekday dinner.

Tilapia with Green Onions, Garlic and Ginger (2 servings)
2 tilapia fillets
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 thumbsized piece of fresh ginger, minced
1/2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
4 green onions, cut into 1/2 inch long pieces

Let’s Cook:
Rinse and pat dry the tilapia fillets, then cut each fillet into 7 or 8 pieces, about 2 inches long.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Then add the tilapia fillet and let cook for about 2 minutes until the side is slightly golden. Then flip the fillets over and add the garlic and ginger to the skillet, sprinkle evenly over the fillets. After cooking for about 1 minute, add the soy sauce and let cook for another minute.

Finally, add the green onions and flip the tilapia fillets again. Let cook for another minute, then remove from heat.

Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy!

I don’t make enough trips to Virginia. I’m not sure if it’s because of the 6.5 hour car drive or the lack of things to do in the small town, but I only make the trip up north once a year – twice if I’m lucky.

I’m never in town long enough to really slow down and take in the small town feel, because the moment I start feeling relaxed and my mind starts to take it easy, it’s time to head back down to the “big” city again.

I’m going to miss driving around at 25mph, cooking with my dad and not keeping track of what time it is and where I need to be.

The little brick building below used to be a piano/music school, where I took my first piano classes.

And this is what used to be my parents’ restaurant. They started renting the building out to another Chinese restaurant business, which recently went bankrupt (horrible people, by the way), so now we’re remodeling the building – hopefully will be ready to be rented out again sometime next year.

More on family business and food tomorrow!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas weekend!

For a few more photos of the town and a quick (I promise!) history lesson on Radford, visit my photography blog.

Sometimes all you need for a good time with the family is a box of wine.

Although I usually would pride myself in finding a great wine and some local cheese and organic crackers to go with, sometimes a box of wine hits the spot. It’s big, it’s cheap… and it reminds us of our old college days.

Besides, it’s tough shopping local when there really isn’t much around (more about that in tomorrow’s post).

So, off we went to Wal-Mart (shuddering as I type those words… we are not fans of the mega store, and usually avoid it at all costs when we are in Atlanta). But, when you are in Radford (my hometown), do as the locals do.

So… back to Wal-Mart… we picked up a box of wine, a couple boxes of crackers and a block of cheese. Then it was back to the house for a night of wine, cheese, crackers and Christmas movies with the husband and the little brother.

Love my boys!

Of course, we didn’t forget about the pups. They each got a huge rawhide/bacon bone to rub their teeth on.

On the left is my niece – my little bro’s newish puppy, Angie. And on the right is my sweet Roxie.

And no Christmas would be complete without plenty of doggy kisses!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I hope the season has been good to you. We’ve had a great time with friends and family.

We’re still in Virginia today and will be heading back South tomorrow morning!

We were in a pretty bad car accident this past Friday night:

Paul and I were heading out, on our way to a late dinner, because Paul had to work till about 8:20pm.

After getting the green light at the last intersection to get to the restaurant, we headed through the intersection. When we were almost through to the other side, I saw a car speeding towards us out of the corner of my eye. I screamed, “Oh my gawwhhh….!!” And then BAM. SMASH.

Paul and I both got the wind knocked out of us, and my entire body was in severe pain and my head was spinning. All I can really remember for the next few minutes is that our airbags had inflated and Paul had jumped out of the car to check on the other drivers and to call the police.

I finally got a hold of my thoughts when I saw those flashing blue lights.

I quickly did a mental check of all my body parts and everything seemed to be in tact. By that time, the fire truck and ambulance had arrived and the firemen and EMTs were asking me if I was okay. I finally crawled out of the car through the driver’s side door.

Turns out, a teenage girl ran the red light and T-boned us on the passenger side door, which pushed our car into the opposite turn lane and headfirst into a third car.

Paul’s car is totaled and we were both pretty shaken up, but amazingly nothing was bleeding or broken.

After we took care of the whole police report thing, we called our sweet friends who were so kind as to change their evening plans to come give us a ride home. Then finally made our way (on foot) to the restaurant where we were originally headed for dinner.

I don’t think I realized just how lucky I was.

Even after the police officer said to me, “I can’t believe you’re okay right now.”

But after seeing the car in daylight:

And seeing how bad of an accident it really was, I am so, so thankful that both Paul and I were able to walk away from the accident with a few minor bruises and cuts.

After we gathered a few belongings out of the car (ie. charger, GPS, sunglasses), Paul said his goodbyes and thanked his beloved car for keeping us safe:

All in all, we are so thankful for not getting more hurt in the accident and for having wonderful friends and family who helped and are helping us as we get back on our feet.

I guess another upside is that we get to go car shopping soon.

But in the meantime, we are celebrating with some mini doughnuts, courtesy of my new mini doughnut maker:

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We had a Friendsgiving, followed by a Thanksgiving dinner at our house, some Black Friday shopping and then another dinner at the in-laws’ house.

I’m finally starting to recuperate and catch up on work from the busyness of the long weekend, and am already looking forward to the next few weeks – full of holiday parties, restaurant events and seeing old friends again.

It’s been a whirlwind of a year, but I have lots to be thankful for this year:

Friends

Family

Our “kids”

Good food and cooking this weekend without the thought of having to write up a recipe and blog for each dish. Following recipes from other bloggers and enjoying the food with friends & family has been a nice change from the usual process of recipe development –> cooking –> styling –> photographing –> editing –> blogging

and Staying Busy

I guess I should be thankful for what I ask for (#99). I’ve been working on menu designs for a local farm-to-table restaurant, which has been fun, even though I do get super hungry while working (post on this restaurant will be up on Friday!).  And I’ve been having a great time filming videos and shooting products for Doggy Baby.

It’s been wonderful falling in love with my job all over again.

Don’t forget to go comment on this blog post! I will be picking and sending out a little gifty to someone next week!

Okay, so maybe I did actually end up blogging about a recipe. But this cheesecake is just way too yummy to keep all to myself.  And it is perfect for the holiday season:

Cranberry Goat Cheese Cheesecake (8-10 servings)
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup rolled oats
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 – 8oz packs cream cheese, room temperature
12 oz goat cheese, room temperature
zest from 1 lemon
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups fresh cranberries
zest from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/2 cup agave nectar

Let’s Bake:
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, rolled oats and butter in a mixing bowl. Press the graham cracker mixture onto the bottom of a 9″ springform pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet and bake until the crust is golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Remove the springform pan from the oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Reduce the the oven temperature to 325˚F. For the cheesecake filling, mix the cream cheese, goat cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla together using a stand mixer or electric hand mixer, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Slowly mix in the sugar until mixture is well blended. Then add the eggs, one by one, and beat until the cheesecake batter is creamy.

Pour the cheesecake batter into the springform pan, on top of the graham cracker crust. Bake in the oven until the sides of the cheesecake look set and the center is still slightly jiggly, about 50-60 minutes. The cheesecake will finish setting as it cools.

Let the cheesecake cool in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or overnight.

For the topping, combine the fresh cranberries, lemon zest, water, red wine and agave nectar in a saucepan. Mix to combine the ingredients, then bring the mixture to a boil, then cover & let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the cranberries have “popped.” Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the cranberry topping cool to room temperature.

To serve, top the cheesecake with the cranberry topping.

Things have been busy over here in my neck of the woods lately, jam packed with both fun and work and everything in between.

This past weekend started with an outing to the Starlight flea market, which was followed an all day cook and photo session with a friend.

How have I not known about this flea market? Sure, it is slightly ghetto and kind of resembles a big garage sale. But, I came home with these six photo prop pieces.

And it cost me one dollar, in total. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Then there was a photo shoot for a dear friend’s pet travel accessories company

Oh, and did I mention that Paul ran his first marathon this past Sunday? I’m so proud of him!

… it’s been tough finding time to sit down and blog, but here I am!

Part of the craziness was that I was busily working on a few important things. And I am happy to say that I can cross one thing off of my 101 in 1001 list:

#8. Finish designing and developing photography portfolio website. Check!

Instead of making two sites, one in flash and one in blog format, I decided on a website that combines the two into one. This seems like a pretty good way to have to do less with website updating and thus allowing me to spend more time taking photos.

One step closer to achieving the goals that I set for myself after our cruise back in September.

Take a look at the site and let me know what you think! If you look at the logo in the header, you may notice a familiar little winged friend.

This is about the time of year when I start realizing that the year is almost over, and I realize that I haven’t reached any of the goals that I had set for myself way back in January.

But, this year it’s okay because lots of things have changed for me in the past 10 months, the biggest one coming to the realization that it’s time for me to stop stalling, stop making other people happy and do what comes the most natural to me, yet with tasks that still challenge me. I’ve needed something to really give me that kick in the pants and to in some way force me to get started with my long term goals.

Although, I have had a 30 by 30 list for a while now, I have decided to take on the 101 in 1001 challenge. This way, I am able to break down my goals into more manageable parts and I also have about 2.75 years to complete all 101 tasks, which is allowing me to think really big.

The goals that I have in plan for myself are lofty, and scary. When I mentioned that I am ready for a change, that it is time for me to devote my energy into a career that fulfills and makes me happy. If you take a look through my list, you will see that a good portion of it is dedicated to “Business and Career.”

I’ve had a love for photography for as long as I can remember. But, photography wasn’t something that my mother encouraged when I was younger. She thought it was a waste of money to take photos, then develop the film. She pushed me towards math and science and after a long road of entering college with a declared degree of electrical engineering, graduating with a degree in industrial design, getting a job in web development and then starting and running and web design company…

I’ve finally garnered the courage to seriously pursue a career in photography. Specifically in food & product photography, and possibly also venture into some portrait photography. I’m also working on producing videos, which will allow me to revisit my love for storytelling and film, something that I loved while in school.

So, I’m publicly stating this so that you (my readers & friends) can help keep me on track and not let me waiver, because the photography field is a tough one to break into and I know that it’s going to be rough going sometimes.

Here are the details of the project, from the Day Zero website:

The Challenge:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

It took a while, but I finally finished writing up my 101 by 1001 list. And if you’re able to make it all the way through the crazy long list, there may be a fun surprise for you.

And I hope this list may inspire some of you to join me in creating your own lists. It’s going to be an exciting and fun 1001 days!