Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spicy Shrimp and Corn on the Grill

The one nice thing I can say about Tucson is that the weather is great for grilling. I've never really been much of a grilling person till I moved here and Andy and I got a grill of our own.

We've been eatting lots of steaks for dinner lately and it's been great! I decided to change it up a bit because we have lots of meats in the freezer and I really didn't want them to go bad. I pulled out the raw shrimp and found a recipe that I wanted to try.

I did not have cayenne pepper in my pantry so I tried it with chili powder instead and it turned out really good. It was a little on the salty side so I definitely will try with less next time. The original recipe is from allrecipes.com, but here's my modified version:


Ingredients

* 1 large clove garlic
* 1/2 tablespoon or less coarse salt
* 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 2 teaspoons lemon juice
* 1 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1. Preheat grill for medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, crush the garlic with the salt. Mix in cayenne pepper and paprika, and then stir in olive oil and lemon juice to form a paste. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with garlic paste until evenly coated.
3. Lightly oil grill grate. Cook shrimp for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until opaque.

I think the shrimp would taste really good on a sandwich with some lettuce and tomatoes. The flavor really reminded me kind of like the South, maybe I'm just a little inexperienced. :)

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Mini Cheesecake Bites

I've made these mini-cheesecake bites before.  It started out with being just for me.  Then I made them once for a Halloween party.  This is the 2nd time I've made them for the public.  I attended a wine tasting event with Andy and had to bring a dish.  I really didn't know what to bring because I never really did my research.  I just made something I was comfortable with.  These mini-cheesecake bites are the best for a party.  They're perfectly small and I don't feel as guilty eatting one of these as I do a slice of cheesecake.  :-)   I do have to say they aren't an ideal replacement for cheesecake, but they're perfect for parties!

This recipe is from Bakerella and it is so simple!   You can get the recipe here: Mini Cheesecake Bites.

The ingredients for the cheesecake bites are lemon juice, vanilla, sugar, eggs, and cream cheese. 


The crust of the cheesecake is actually vanilla wafers.  I didn't have the right size for the vanilla wafers, so I had to do a slight bit of modification with a cookie cutter.  The crust turned out much cuter:

They also fit so much better in the little cupcake liners:


Here is the finished product:



The shapes came out a bit wonky, but that was because I didn't let them cool long enough.  To cover it up a little bit, I added a piece of fruit on top of each bite.  Truthfully, I think the cheesecake tasted much better with the fruit.  It also made them look more presentable.  Comments welcomed!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

My New Dress Form


My New Dress Form
Originally uploaded by carmenkchan19
I've always wanted to make my own clothes. I think it has to do with the fact that I've always had to alter my clothes due to my shortness. :-P

I've bought a few books on how to make clothes. I just need to find the time now. I love watching project runway and hope that will inspire me as I try out this new craft journey.

I will definitely post any creations I come up with. :)

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Steak! It's What's for Dinner!

My new year's resolution this year was to lose weight. For a while, I was just trying to eat healthier by drinking more water and eatting more vegetables. This helped me lose weight for a while and then I sort of hit a plateau. I also went on lots of vacation and the weight just didn't drop anymore.

Since coming back from my last vacation, I've started calorie counting. I'm using livestrong.com as a way to track my weight and calories. It's been tough, but I think it's been working. i'm allowed to eat almost every kind of food including steaks and ice cream! :D I'm learning how to eat smaller/healthier portions.  

Andy is working on perfecting his grilling techniques and I am still able to enjoy them, but just in smaller portions. The picture just shows one of the yummy ribeyes that I've been enjoying these past couple of days. I am looking forward to the rest of the week of more steak!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

New Garden at Home

Last year Andy and I bought three plants: tomatoes, green pepper, and jalapeno.  We kept the plants in three pots and just tried to water them daily.  The tomato did very well, but for some reason the jalapeno and the green pepper never seemed to bear any fruits.  The three plants ultimately died when we went on our cruise and they were not watered.  :-(

This year, we started a new garden.  Instead of having them in pots, we made a raised garden in our empty backyard.
There's a lot more plants than last year.  Andy and I are making sure these plants gets lots of water so they don't die.  Some of the plants already has some vegetables on it.  I just hope they grow more!  I am excited when I can just make salsa whenever I want to.  :-)

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I Love Receiving Packages!

I love receiving packages in the mail!  Today I received my package from the Loaded Charm Bracelet Swap 2 in Craftster.  I was very envious of the people in the first round that I just had to join the 2nd one.  I really didn't have a specific theme in mind.  I picked out a few bracelets that I really liked and my partner, Pixiefirefly - Michelle, totally made me the pPerfect one.  She included some really wonderful frame charms in it and I can't wait to insert some special pictures.  :-)

Michelle also included these beautiful earrings in the swap package.  The requirement was just one loaded charm bracelet.  It was so nice of her to do this.  I can't wait to wear these earrings and my bracelet tomorrow.  :-) 

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Memories in Michigan

I went back to Ann Arbor this weekend to see my Alma Mater and also see my friends that I hadn't seen in over a year.  Andy and I had talked about going there together, but I just couldn't pass up this opportunity with my friends so I decided to go alone, not to mention, I was getting the chance to see President Obama at graduation.

 Angel Hall was probably one of the buildings that I visited more often than anything on Central campus.  I had to take some non-engineering classes so my choice was Latin.  I probably should have chosen something easier but I really enjoyed it in high school and it was really easy for me.  The first 2 classes I took was really simple.  The third class was a bit harder.  I think this was due to the fact that I just had too much engineering classes going on.


Graduation was held at the Big House (a.k.a the football stadium).  Although I didn't graduate in the Big House, being there brought back the fun times I had at the football games.  Michigan was an awesome team when I was there.  They currently aren't doing so well but I do think they'll bounce back.  Maybe with a new coach and/or new players, Michigan will definitely bounce back.  Go Blue!



 I did visit North Campus where I spent most of my education time.  We went there in the dark so I didn't take any interesting pictures.  I do have to say that the improvements they made to the EECE building was very nice.  I am envious of the new computer lab with all the equipment.  I'm also very jealous of the nice lounging area.




 Food was great during the 3 days I was there.  We ate at Seoul Korea, Pizza House, Stucci's and Momo Tea.  I'm definitely going to look into Korean food here in Tucson.  I believe this was the 2nd time I ever really had it and I really enjoyed it.  Pizza House was great.  I think I'm going to blame this on Andy because he has gotten me addicted to pizza.  Lastly, Stucci's and Momo Tea were great dessert places.  I really wish that we had better bubble tea places here in Tucson. 


Michigan brought back lots of great memories and created some wonderful new ones. Although I did have a great time this weekend, I've changed a lot since I left.  Next time I go back, it will definitely have to be with Andy.  I missed him way too much on this trip.