On Cooking...

Ok...so after living 23 years and saying I hate cooking for many of them...it turns out that I may actually like it. I was craving some good food last week and decided to make a dish that my roommate used to make a lot in college, and I was so proud of myself when I was actually able to make it. It felt like such an accomplishment, and it was delicious to boot! So later in the week I made another pasta, and I have more recipes waiting for me to try :)

I was so excited about cooking that I made my own recipe books with an old binder, tape, and calligraphy.

So here are the recipes in case you're in the mood for delicious food. The first one is by Giada de Laurentiis of the Food Network.

Ignore the ugly, green counter

Creamy Orzo

1 pound orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, juices drained

1 1/4 cups whipping cream

1 cup frozen peas, thawed

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Bring a heavy large saucepan of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic, and saute until tender, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until they are tender, about 8 minutes. Stir in the cream and peas. Add the orzo and toss to coat. Remove the skillet from the heat. Add the Parmesan to the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Stir the pasta mixture until the sauce coats the pasta thickly, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to maintain a creamy consistency. Season the orzo with salt and pepper, and serve.

Garlic Parmesan Cream Sauce Over Pasta

1 lb pasta

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon chopped garlic (or minced)

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken broth

1 -1 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese (grated will not work well, shredded works best!)

salt and pepper

4 -5 scallions (green onions, diced with scissors)

Cook pasta according to directions.

When pasta is half way done, start with cream sauce in separate pot.

Add butter, olive oil and garlic and saute on med-low heat until butter is melted, then add red pepper flakes and saute.

Mix in flour until combined.

Add milk and chicken broth, bring to a boil, lower heat and stir until thickened.

Add parmesan and stir until melted.

Serve over pasta, and top with green onions.

Option: Add cooked, diced chicken.

On this one, I decided to not to add the scallions and added peas instead, which were delicious! I think I'll make a pea pesto pasta later in the week! And I might just have to get myself a good cookbook soon.

Happiness Project: Make More Art

Watercolor of my friend Liane and her bf in front of Mt. Fuji in Japan

My goal for this month is to paint more. Unfortunately I don't really know what to paint, but I want to find something to do at least every couple days...even if I'm painting pictures of mugs and stuff from my cupboard.

I'm learning a lot about my art style, but I'm frustrated with my lack of improvement. I want to be great already!! But the only way to truly get better is to experiment and paint, paint, paint. So this month I want to actually do it! I'm going to be painting a similar scene to this one on canvas this month for my friend Liane. I like canvas so much more than rough watercolor paper, which the one above is on. Canvas is smoother ans more forgiving. Paper won't let you blend something out or try to remove the paint if you mess up. I also have a couple large sheets of cold press watercolor paper that I need to use. That paper is also smoother than rough, but I don't want to waste it on anything trivial. I'm too poor to afford more supplies right now. I need to get out there and take some pictures, so I'll have something to paint. So I guess I'm returning to that other goal; I need to take more pictures!

Sorry if this post was rambly...I am writing it at 1:45 in the morning.

On Father's Day...

This weekend was kind of hard on me homesickness wise. Saturday was my mom's birthday, and Sunday was Father's Day.

While I couldn't be home with  my own family, I did get to have a lot of fun with James' family. Yesterday we even played softball for the second Sunday in a row!

When I was in high school, I hurt my shoulder playing softball, and it has been a really long time now since I've played, so I can't tell you how much fun it is to play again, even if it was just a little pickup game. On a sour note, I kind of hurt my groin on my first run to first base, which teaches me that I need to stretch a little better before next Sunday's game. :)

On Memorial Day Weekend...

Last weekend for Memorial Day, James and I went camping with his family at his family's campground. While it would have been more fun had it been warmer and sunny, it was a fun weekend, with rain and all. Here are a few pictures that I took during our stay. I also posted most of them on Instagram if you want to follow me there. And yes, I'm still getting used to the weather. It is storming out here in the Midwest. 

James didn't want his pic taken, but I think I look good. I call this look camp-chic.

Still playing with my photo app :)

Ditka, the family dog, came too

Camp games. James and I lost pretty bad.

James using his hand-fashioned roasting stick, made with two sticks and leaves.

On the Wonderful New A Beautiful Mess App...

A Beautiful Mess is a spectacular blog that I love, and this last week they set Instagram on fire with their new photo app. My entire feed has been full of photos enhanced by the fun app, and I completely understand why since I have been having so much fun with it myself. If you have an iPhone and love to add words or doodles to your photos, definitely check it out. Here are some of the photos I have been creating:

On Chicago...

During my disaster of a day yesterday, which served as a perfect example of Murphy's Law, I got to explore downtown Chicago and see some of its many attractions. I would have taken pictures but my phone was dead, which led to me being lost in the city for HOURS, hence the disaster.
Here's some of what I saw in pictures not taken by me of Millennium Park and the John Hopkins building where my interview was:

On Life Lately...

I'm choosing to remain mum on my whole job situation right now since there are a few things currently in the works...fingers crossed everybody!

However, if you've been wondering what I have been up to lately, my life has been pretty good. Just because you're jobless and poor doesn't mean life can't still be fabulous.

Spring has finally arrived in the Chicagoland and it has come in full force. Growing up in California kind of numbed me to everyday, natural beauty in some ways, but suffering through a Midwest winter (OK I was only here for two months. I'm a big baby.) has made me that much more grateful for spring, flowers, sun and spring clothes.

I've been spending a lot of time with James' family lately. When your own family is 2,000 miles away and you have no local friends of your own, hanging out with your future in-laws can be fun (we're not engaged...I'm just saying).

Also, I am so into all things 20s right now. I recently read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, which takes place in Paris during the 1920s (it is about Hadley Hemingway during the same period Ernest Hemingway wrote about in A Moveable Feast), and now I am reading The Diviners by Libba Bray, which combines the supernatural with New York in the 20s. This is all preparing me for, you guessed it, THE GREAT GATSBY. After my interview on Friday I am definitely seeing this movie (hopefully in celebration)*. I love Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo Dicaprio and the Great Gatsby. How can this movie go wrong?

*Sorry about all the parentheses today.