I know how to start my week off...

By getting the plague.

It's the bi-annual tradition my body has of getting sick when I have time off. This cough is pretty chesty. Time to layer up.

Fortunately, I had been grocery shopping a few days before I got sick and had everything I needed to avoid going outside for a few days. I decided to celebrate by making something I've been craving for a while: a caesar chicken salad.

I found a great recipe for fake fried chicken on the Kitchn website, and did one or two modifications to create some really tasty, crispy chicken bites for my salad. The main thing was change the amount of certain ingredients since they seemed a little ridiculous. The recipe divides in half really well, and refrigerates in a sealed container for a few days as well! The end result was awesome, but my picture taking capabilities were not... every picture I took of the finished salad were pretty fuzzy, so there's no "end result" photo for this recipe. 

Fake Fried Chicken
Serves 4-6

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs (about 8 whole thighs)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oregano
3 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 teaspoons salt (this was waaaaay too much so far as I was concerned. I put a few grinds of our salt grinder in the bowl, that seemed enough)
1/2 teaspoon pepper (Again, a good, solid grind of the pepper grinder seemed to be enough. I'm not a huge fan of large amounts of pepper since it can overpower a dish very easily)
splash of milk or buttermilk
splash of hot sauce (optional)
1 cup panko crumbs
Honey or ketchup for serving

Heat the oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack over a baking sheet. (Tin foil on a pizza pan works)

Remove the thighs from their packaging. If desired, cut into "nugget" bite-sized pieces. Pat dry with a paper towel.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, oregano, dijon, salt, and pepper. Add a splash of milk to loosen it a little. Pour the panko crumbs in another small bowl.

Dip each chicken thigh in the egg mixture and gently shake off the extra. Roll the thigh in the panko and set it on the wire rack over the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken thighs.

 Before..

Bake for 35-40 minutes for whole thighs or 15-20 minutes for bites. When the thighs are finished, the tops should just be starting to turn golden, juices from the thigh should run clear, and the internal temperature should register at least 165°F. 

After! Mmmmmm... crispy.

And the blurry salad.

A survey

 Helloooooo curried egg salad sandwich with unseen spinach and sliced mushrooms, with mushrooms and Heluva french onion good dip on the side to make it unhealthy. Curried Egg salad post to follow. Mostly when I make it again and remember to take pictures.

Too much research makes me a bored girl. I found this survey of questions on the Fatshionista Penguin tumblr, thought I'd ignore photographic history for a while.

1:	Do you sleep with your closet doors open or closed? Open, it doesn't really close at the moment.
2:	Do you take the shampoos and conditioner bottles from hotel? Always. Shower Caps and soap too.
3:	Do you sleep with your sheets tucked in or out? At the bottom of the bed, yes, not really elsewhere.
4:	Have you ever stolen a street sign before? Yep. It was already on the ground, completely detached from the pole and had been bent out of shape. Still have it in the living room now actually.
5:	Do you like to use post-it notes? Yep, I use them quite a lot, except on archival stuff.
6:	Do you cut out coupons but then never use them? I try not too, but it happens.
7:	Would you rather be attacked by a big bear or a swarm of a bees? Bear.
8:	Do you have freckles? Yes.
9:	Do you always smile for pictures? Depends on the situation.
10:	What is your biggest pet peeve? People who don't use common courtesies in life, people who shake or vibrate their legs while sitting down and cause the entire row of theatre sitting to vibrate because of it. Chewing with your mouth open in restaurants.
11:	Do you ever count your steps when you walk? Sometimes on stairs.
12:	Have you ever peed in the woods? Yep.
13:	What about pooped in the woods? That too.
14:	Do you ever dance even if there's no music playing? I have.
15:	Do you chew your pens and pencils? Mostly no. I do hold them in my mouth and teeth quite a lot though.
16:	How many people have you slept with this week? It's only Monday! None..
17:	What size is your bed? Double.
18:	What is your Song of the week? Miss France by Helmut Fritz. I've listened to it at least half a dozen times on Youtube since this time last week.
19:	Is it okay for guys to wear pink? Depends on the shade, but generally it looks a bit silly.
20:	Do you still watch cartoons? of Course!
21:	Whats your least favorite movie? Most chick flicks, horror movies and Titanic.
22:	Where would you bury hidden treasure if you had some? Probably not, although I do have a GIC, which is kind of the same thing.
23:	What do you drink with dinner? At home=water, out and about=mixed drink and water.
24:	What do you dip a chicken nugget in? BBQ sauce? Maybe?
25:	What is your favorite food? Depends on the day..
26:	What movies could you watch over and over and still love? Most comedies and weird things like Cleopatra Jones.
27:	Last person you kissed/kissed you? Buddy of mine on his way home, about 6 hours ago.
28:	Were you ever a boy/girl scout? Yep, Girl guide for about 12 years.
29:	Would you ever strip or pose nude in a magazine? Possibly, depends on the context.
30:	When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? Earlier today, to my parents and an anti-Valentine's to my sister.
31:	Can you change the oil on a car? No.
32:	Ever gotten a speeding ticket? No.
33:	Ever ran out of gas? No.
34:	Favorite kind of sandwich? Grilled, ideally with a lot of cheese, sometimes eggs and bacon with avocado.
35:	Best thing to eat for breakfast? Diner breakfasts, big and greasy with a lot of hashbrowns.
36:	What is your usual bedtime? Ideally around 12:30, some nights however, like tonight it'll be closer to 4:30, 5am.
37:	Are you lazy? Remarkably
38:	When you were a kid, what did you dress up as for Halloween? My mom made awesome costumes year after year, I had several gypsy, renaissance ladies along with Ozzy Osbourne in highschool.
39:	What is your Chinese astrological sign? Dragon!
40:	How many languages can you speak? Two/Three, English, French and Franglais. I'm an expert in that last one.
41:	Do you have any magazine subscriptions? I have some yearly publications from institutions like Canadian Conservation Institute, do they count?
42:	Which are better legos or lincoln logs? Lego. Period.
43:	Are you stubborn? Very.
44:	Who is better...Leno or Letterman? Jeremy Clarkson?
45:	Ever watch soap operas? Not if I can help it.
46:	Are you afraid of heights? Not really.
47:	Do you sing in the car? Yep.
48:	Do you sing in the shower? Yep.
49:	Do you dance in the car? Yep.
50:	Ever used a gun? A real one, no.
51:	Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? First year of graduate school when I sat for a professor doing a demonstration of a historical technique.
52:	Do you think musicals are cheesy? Some are, some are awesome.
53:	Is Christmas stressful? Depends, mostly no.
54:	Ever eat a pierogi? Yep.
55:	Favorite type of fruit pie? Peach.
56:	Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid?  Vet, briefly at one point, artist, photographer, actor.
57:	Do you believe in ghosts? Yep.
58:	Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? Frequently.
59:	Take a vitamin daily? Two or them actually.
60:	Wear slippers? Do flip flops count?
61:	Wear a bath robe? Yep.
62:	What do you wear to bed? Nothing if I can help it. As much as I like pyjama pants for lounging, I really like sleeping naked.
63:	First concert? Susan Aglukark, just after "This Child" came out.
64:	Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? .. Zellers..
65:	Nike or Adidas? I've been wearing Newbalance or Oasics lately...
66:	Cheetos Or Fritos? How about cornchips?
67:	Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? Peanuts!! They're one of the only nuts I eat willingly!
68:	Ever hear of the group Tres Bien? Who?
69:	Ever take dance lessons? Once for girl guides.
70:	Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? Employment is good....
71:	Can you curl your tongue? Yep.
72:	Ever won a spelling bee? No, my spelling is pretty horrific at the best of times.
73:	Have you ever cried because you were so happy? Yep.
74:	Own any record albums? Yep.
75:	Own a record player? Yep.
76:	Regularly burn incense? Nope.
77:	Ever been in love? More or less.
78:	Who would you like to see in concert? Ok Go... I'd imagine it would be one giant music video of theirs on stage and live.
79:	What was the last concert you saw? Weird Al Yankovic. He does an amazing show.
80:	Hot tea or cold tea? Hot Tea, always.
81:	Tea or coffee? TEA. I HATE COFFEE.
82:	Sugar or snickerdoodles? Sugar... seeing as I have no idea what a snickerdoodle is.
83:	Can you swim well? Very.
84:	Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? Yep.
85:	Are you patient? Sometimes.
86:	DJ or band, at a wedding? Nope.
87:	Ever won a contest? If draws count, than yes.
88:	Ever have plastic surgery? Nope.
89:	Which are better black or green olives? Tough call, black for pizza, green for sandwiches and hotdogs.
90:	Can you knit or crochet? Neither.
91:	Best room for a fireplace? Living.
92:	Do you want to get married? Ideally yes.
93:	If married, how long have you been married? N/a
94:	Who was your HS crush? Several people, depended on the year.
95:	Do you cry and throw a fit until you get your own way? God no.
96:	Do you have kids? Nope.
97:	Do you want kids? Nope.
98:	Whats your favorite color? Blue usually.
99:	Do you miss anyone right now? Probably.

Wonton dumpling and some homemade chilli flakes

It's been a very busy two weeks. Entirely academically based, I assure you, with the odd hint of going out with classmates to retain our sanity. We're curating and mounting our own exhibition, along with our theses, so we're a little busy/stressed out. Time for some food and cooking to retain my sanity!

Before the cooking, my roommate's pepper plant decided to die recently (mostly from her not watering it, and I being $4 in Chinatown), so I decided to harvest the dried pepper and chop them up to make my own chilli pepper flakes. We had concerns that they wouldn't be any good, since when she ate the peppers, they had no heat at all. I was convinced, for reasons I'm not 100% sure about, that when they were dried and chopped, they would gain some heat. Fortunately, I was right! As soon as I opened the spice grinder, I started sneezing from the powder in the air, and when she tasted it, it had gotten a bit spicier! She's from the Bahamas, so what's spicy to her is downright suicidal to most people. We have a hilarious time at One of a Kind every year tasting spicy sauces and having her reaction to almost all of them being "meh, not bad."

 I guess there really isn't a recipe for this, more so steps.
1. Have your roommate buy a $4 Chinatown pepper plant and let it die over the course of a month or two. Harvest the dried peppers from the plant, taking care to sweep up the resulting piles of dried leaves and branches that will then surround the plant.

2. Cut the green tops from the peppers, and place the peppers in a spice grinder. I think this is actually a coffee grinder, but since neither of us drink coffee, it has become a spice grinder.

Before...

After!

3. Grind away. Don't shake the grinder to get the chunkier bits near the blades... this released some of the powder into the air, starting a chain of sneezing that is worsened by opening the grinder. Store in spice jar or ziplock bag.

One of my adventures in cooking this past week was pork wonton dumplings! I've never made them before, so they looked really weird and uneven, but they tasted fantastic. Canadian Living for the win, again! All 28 of these got devoured pretty quickly.

Pork Wonton Dumplings

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) minced gingerroot (the frozen stuff I made the ginger, lemongrass cookies out of made an appearance here)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame oil
• 1 tbsp (15 mL) soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper
• 12 oz (340 g) lean ground pork
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) grated carrots
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) finely chopped fresh coriander (I used a healthy sprinkling of parsley and coriander powder)
• 28 wonton wrappers
• 28 coriander leaves (very much optional, so far as I'm concerned)
• Dipping sauce
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) soy sauce

Preparation

In large bowl, whisk together egg white, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Add pork, carrot, green onions and coriander; mix together with hands until well combined.

Mmmmmm... Porky goodness.

Place 4 wonton wrappers on work surface, keeping remainder covered with damp cloth to prevent drying out; brush lightly with water. Place scant 1 tbsp (15 mL) pork mixture in centre of each; gather edges of wrapper and fold up like flower petals around filling, leaving 1-inch (2.5 cm) opening at top. Holding dumpling just under opening, tap on counter to flatten bottom. Repeat with remaining wrappers. (Make-ahead: Cover and refrigerate for up to 4 hours.) [This is where my lack of wonton construction knowledge didn't help me. I'm not sure what they meant by these instructions, so what I ended up doing was pulling all four corners towards the centre, and folding over the subsequently made folds and pinching them shut. That seemed to work pretty well.]

In wok or steamer, bring 2 inches (5 cm) water to boil. Line steamer tray with waxed paper; arrange dumplings, without touching, on paper. Place over wok; cover and steam, adding more water as necessary, until dumplings are firm, about 5 minutes. Repeat with any remaining dumplings. Place coriander leaf on top of each.

Dipping Sauce: In small bowl, mix vinegar with soy sauce; serve with dumplings.

Tip: If making dumplings ahead of time, use thick wonton wrappers available in supermarkets. For dumplings with less wrapper, choose thin wonton wrappers, found in most Oriental markets.

Re-writing my thesis proposal. Again. Lovely.

Grilled Cheese? Yes, please.

It's not a new recipe, but it's still a good one. It's also the first recipe I ever posted on here. How things circle around again.

Even has a salad to go with it! It's covered in some amazing dressing, but it's still a salad!

And, more writing. And looking forward to James May's Birthday on Monday.

A new year is upon us.

In other news, Happy Birthday Mark Lamarr!

 

(Picture lovingly stolen from The Guardian.)

...want...

 Portrait by Trevor Leighton, donated by the artist to the National Portrait Gallery. This is a double whammy of interest for me since it's dead sexy and a bromide print. I am such a dork.

I stole this from somebody's tumblr... and I genuinely don't remember which, and I can't find it via google. My bad.

Moving on. Food.

I decided to celebrate the New Year by making a pie. I also had a 1/2 pound of lard in the fridge, so I figured I might as well used it for pie. I used the same recipe for the peach pie I made back in the fall here, but using apples instead. I think it turned out quite well.

While I was home for Christmas, my mom was clearing out her old Canadian Living magazines. She held on to them so I could rip out any recipes I wanted before she actually recycled then. Thanks mom! One of the recipes I got was for Chicken with noodles, shiitake mushrooms and snow peas, and it looked pretty easy. It became one of my first lunches that I took back to work in the New Year. I'll definitely be making it again, it was really easy, super fast and really delicious.

Chicken with Noodles, Shiitake Mushrooms and Snow Peas
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 lb (454 g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, thinly sliced
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 cups stemmed shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sambal oelek or hot sauce (I actually forgot to put this fine, but it tasted fine without it!)
• 4 pkg (7 oz/200 g each) fresh Udon noodles
• 1 cup snow peas, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Preparation

In wok or large skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat; stir-fry chicken, garlic and ginger until chicken is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add mushrooms; stir-fry until beginning to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in water, hoisin sauce, oyster sauce and sambal oelek; bring to simmer.

Add noodles and toss to combine; simmer until sauce is thickened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add snow peas and sesame oil; cook for 1 minute.

Happy New Year!!

I'm sitting in a pair of towels at the moment, waiting to dry off and then start rummaging through my closet for tonight's outfit. Kinky, I know. We're going to a house party this year instead of a bar or club. It'll be cheaper, which I can't complain about being unemployed and slightly poor lately.

For the time being, a Toronto Star photo album about New Year's celebrations, here.

Thinking ahead to the new year, I am actually planning to make some resolutions of sorts. I'm thinking of them as more of a lifestyle change than a resolutions.

I need to eat better. Losing weight will be a nice bonus, but generally, I need to eat healthier than I do. The first year of grad school threw me a bit and I ate quite poorly, much to my detriment. I will still eat the odd frozen, instant or fast meal, just not regularly during the week.

I need to get outside more. I spend waaaaaay to much time in front of my computer. Thesis work being the exception, since it needs to be done, but I really should get out more. I used to be such an outdoorsy person, and as the years have passed I don't go camping or wandering nearly as much as I used too. Time to change that.

I need to take a little more care about what I wear. I've been reading too many plus fashion blogs lately, and they've really inspired me to be a little more fashion conscious. I'm also going to be doing a bit more schmoozing in the upcoming months for possible employment post-graduation, so looking a bit more business would be good. I can do that very well, especially while I was employed at an art gallery a while back, but since I've gone fully into student mode recently, the T-shirts are out in force.

I need to clean, purge and finish. I have come to a point in my degree and life in general that I need to seriously consider moving for work. I love Toronto dearly, but the market is a bit saturated in my general field, so either looking at options in other cities is now something to really consider. I don't drive (distinct lack of a license take's care of that), so my options are limited to cities that have really good public transit systems. I do speak French quite well, so government gigs and anything in Montreal are good options. With all this in mind, I need to take stock of the material possessions in my life and get rid of a lot of them. Moving is a right pain, and the less stuff the better. I have packed and moved an entire two-bedroom apartment almost entirely by myself, so if I can reduce the box count, that would be great.
I also just need to keep my place cleaner at any given time, this apartment is a mess.

There. They are out in the open, for all to see. Let's see what happens.

Time to go dancing. Catch you in the new year.