Karma

So over the weekend, I hung out with one of my friends as we had planned to try something new or at least try out a new restaurant. We agreed on trying a new place called Zapp. Zapp is a Malaysian and Thai restaurant that I have been dying to try ever since one of my sisters gave me a mini menu of the restaurant. Sadly, when we arrived there, they had closed the restaurant for the day. My heart was set on it! But oh well, I'll try again later...moving on. We ended up driving down the street, parked, and looked at our other options. There were quite a few restaurant options to choose from. Italian. Korean. Vietnamese. Chinese. And Indian. First decided on Chinese, but wasn't really craving it so we agreed on Indian.

Karma. Voted best restaurant in 2009.

Decor was lovely, inviting, and relaxing. Restaurant was packed. The smells of curry were enticing me. We sat down and ordered up.

Jessica ended up getting Samosas



And a Mixed Vegetable Soup.



I ended up getting Garlic Naan



And Fantastic Lamb Coconut Curry.



We really enjoyed the Tamarind sauce and the Green Mint and Cilantro Chutney. Actually, we LOVED them. I took the sauces home. :) The Chutney was made up of mint, cilantro, bell pepper, garlic, onion, lime juice, and yogurt.

Consider mixing the sauces together when you try these out. Brilliant!

I was curious about what they had on their dessert menu and when I looked, my eyes stopped at....

Pista Kulfi!

One of my favorite Food Network Chefs, Aarti Sequeira, made this on one of her shows and I have wanted to make this ice cream or at least try it for awhile now. It's a creamy Indian-style ice cream with pistachios. And it looks soOo good! Sadly, when I tried to order it, they said something was wrong with the freezer and they didn't have the ice cream. My heart sank. Two losses yesterday---Zapp and Pista Kulfi. Bummer. Will have to definitely check it out sometime this week. Or I've been thinking about making it so I'll probably just end up making it instead. Cheaper and more of it! :)

When it comes down to it, I'll give Karma 3 1/2 hearts: ♥♥♥1/2. It would have been more but they didn't have any Pista Kulfi. I know, it isn't their fault, but it stinks when you're craving something and can't have it! That and the lamb in my Coconut Curry was just a little bit tough. And at first, the waiters were a little pushy but once we started talking Indian with them, they opened up and became really friendly.

The waiter was telling us about growing up in India and had been thinking about opening his own restaurant soon and having his mom help out in the kitchen. I told him to do it because I WANT TO GO TO INDIA SO BAD and this would be a lovely and great restaurant in the meantime, until I make my way onto the Eastern Hemisphere. I know flavors can't exactly match what you would get in India because produce and such tastes different around the world, but I would think this could come close!

I say bring on the unAmericanized restaurants! Those are WAY better for sure.

So there you have it. I loved the restaurant and would make my way back to it someday in the future. Although these days, I'm trying to stick to going to a restaurant just once in order to continue to try new foods and places.

Happy Halloween!

Getting these cupcakes in just in time for Halloween! Can't believe that I am admitting this, but I was one of many people who wanted to sign up to bring a drink to work for our Halloween potluck party. I KNOW. But I was yelled at because "I can cook and it would be a crime for me to sign up for drinks when I can make something goOod!" Geez, I've only been thinking about my December/January travels through Central America and now Columbia! So I was pretty much banned from signing my name there and ended up signing up to bring in a dessert because I figured it is cheaper to make cupcakes from scratch then making a lunch dish.

So have fun, play in the kitchen, get messy, and experiment with different looks and designs this Halloween!

BoOoo! Happy Halloween

Shrimp and Nectarine Stir-Fry

I love taking random things that I have in the kitchen and combining them together to make a yummy stomach pleasing dish. You gotta utilize what you have sometimes and never be afraid to experiment! I didn't have peaches but did have nectarines, so I figured, why not. I eyeballed everything so make sure when you do that, try not to add too much of the hot 'n spicy seasonings cause your heart will be burning for hours! So here we have..

Shrimp and Nectarine Stir-Fry

Ingredients



40-60 count of medium-sized Shrimp, peeled and deveined
Salt, to taste
1 t. Onion powder
1 Nectarine, peeled and sliced into slightly thick chunks
1 small lime
3 cloves of Garlic (or less) :), mince or use grater
1 t. dried Red Pepper Flakes
1/8-1/4 t. Ginger, freshly grated
Pepper, to taste

1. Sauté shrimp in vegetable oil over medium-high heat and season with salt and onion powder.
2. Then add the grated peel of the lime, the juice, garlic, red pepper flakes, ginger, and pepper. Combine and heat through.
3. Add in the nectarine at the last minute or two just to quickly heat through and remove from the stove.
4. Serve and enjoy.

Long Beach Bike Marathon

Long Beach Bike Marathon

Sunday, October 17, 2010 6:00am



I completed my first bike marathon. And it was so worth waking up at 2am for! An amazing experience. And has completely changed my mind on quite a few things. First, just because you are riding a bike for 26.2 miles doesn't mean that it is easy. Trust me. I honestly thought that just because I was on a bike, that it would be easy to do and a breeze. So wrong. It does take time. I also realized that I am content with whatever I do and I don't think I need to run a marathon. :-P I'm fine with doing the long distances on the bike! haha Doesn't all the 5k running I've done in my life add up to that and worth it as is?! I've clocked in 50+ 5ks which = 155 miles. And I'm still young!

I really truly give props to those who have done huge races in their lives. It is not easy, adds pressure to ones body, but the positive emotional feelings are so worth it in the end. It is a huge accomplishment for anyone to even participate in any type of race so really praise the people in your life who choose to set these types of goals and accomplish them. Seriously. I would definitely do another bike marathon again and would even consider doing more than the 26.2 miles.

Baby Shower Cake

Here is the cake that I made for the surprise baby shower that I threw for a teacher at work last week:



I'll be honest and say that the cake did not end up looking the way I wanted it to and I realized that making a cake like this takes more work! Of course everyone said it was beautiful and they loved it as is. I have decided to just stick to cupcakes, regular 2-3 layer cakes, fun design cakes, and if I do decide to make a certain # tier cake, it'll be separated, not put together.

I made 3 different flavor cakes. The top layer was chocolate, then lemon, then white cake with sprinkles, and another layer of chocolate. I was going to make buttercream but the weather wasn't too cool that day and didn't want the frosting to melt, so I just stuck to making regular frosting. I dyed the frosting pink since the shower was for a baby girl, decorated each layer with white frosting decorations, and topped the cake with a baby rattle, two pacifiers, and pink sugar sprinkles.

The cake---was a success. Everyone loved it. The cake was perfectly moist, the frosting, just fantastic, and every plate I saw was pretty much clean. In fact, the first thing I overheard when I walked through the doors at work the next day were a couple of coworkers talking about the cake and how much they loved it. No lie! That is a compliment.

I guess maybe I am too much into food and they just like eating whatever they see. A foodie I am. :)

***Sadly we got the news a few days after the party that the adoption fell through. She would have adopted the baby next week. Very sad but she is still hopeful for a positive future and I believe luck will be on her side. She is a great mom. :)

Sunday FUNday!

So I know I'm really behind with my posts but I'm slowly trying to get there!

I have had a busy Sunday and pretty much the last few weeks, but I'm trying to work on that and post more than just once a week.

Fun updates for the moment:

***I'm baking/decorating a 4-tier mini cake for a surprise baby shower I'm hosting for another teacher at work. She's adopting a baby girl towards the end of this month and I'm taking over for her while she is on maternity leave. I finished baking a few hours ago and now just waiting to decorate it***

***After done baking the cakes, I had an interview for a cupcake place (!!!!!) for part time work, aside from my current job. That would be a dream come true to have for the moment***

***Because it would be nice to save up more money for future travels, moving, and such, you know!***

***Have an adventure planned from mid-December to part of January! Heading to Bermuda, Panama, and Costa Rica! A dream! And considering adding in Honduras as well, or Bolivia, depending on plane ticket prices. I plan on 'bus'ing it the whole way. Considered Mexico but I don't want to do that touristy, resort stuff, so I'm holding off and will do that later in the future***

***Last but not least, a bike marathon next weekend. Just want to do it now. I did something with my right foot and it's pretty painful so trying to just walk it oFF! Or at least take care of it after my travels. Hopefully, but if it gets worse, just got to go with it and get it checked out. This is happening to the wrong person. Can't sit still!***

I'll update within a day or two and post up the cake picture.