A Little Thai

My new goal for 2011 is to try at least one new recipe every week, hopefuly recreate a favorite recipe from a local restaurant.  I'm assuming I will be able to find a little time for cooking in between work and school!  I wanted to get started before the new year just to test it out.

Have you ever had the Cranberry Wontons at Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen (formerly Azia)?  They are like crack.  Hot, sweet, spicy, fried perfect little portions of deliciousness.  Addicting.  I was craving them tonight but didn't want to walk back downtown or fork over $10 for an app.  So I thought how hard could it be?

- Cream cheese (I used about 3 tbsp)
- Scallions (I used 1 green onion, roughly chopped not the greens)
- Dried cranberries (I used about 1/4 c, roughly chopped)
- Diced jalepeno (I cheated and used the canned kind because I forgot to buy a fresh one, prob used equivalent of 1/2 jalepeno)
This should be enough to make 10+ wontons

Mix it up good, put about a tsp in a wonton wrapper, seal with beaten egg white. Fry for about 3 min on each side in veg oil.

The result was a little different than Thom Pham's version but I really liked it! I enjoyed the texture of the cranberries, as opposed to Azia, the mixture is much smoother. Next time I will try a little garlic or shallot in there as well.

I served these with a Tofu Pad Thai.  That recipe was not my favorite, so next week I will tackle the perfect pad thai dish...

Try again

I'm feeling like it's time to attempt to blog again, we'll see how it goes this time!

Here's what I've been up to this week:
1.  Restaurant week in Minneapolis - had a fantastic $10 lunch at Vincent.  Check out the participating restaurants and menu's here, there are still a few days left of this fabulous promotion.
2.  Loving the new Avett Brothers Album - I and Love and You.
3.  Rockin cute new fall boots!  Don't miss the flip flops at all!

And here's something to make you laugh, from The Book of Bunny Suicides, by Andy Riley:

Hope to check in again sooner rather than later...

MAGHOUND

Today I learned about a great new subscription service called MAGHOUND. It's an monthly service that allows you to pick and choose your magazine subscriptions and change them at any time. For example, I signed up for 5 monthly subscriptions for $7.95/month. I can go online and update my list of magazines at any time!



So COOL!!! I always get bored of my magazine subscriptions or find myself buying extra magazines at the grocery store. I wish I had thought of this...darn Time, Inc.



Anyway, check it out, they are offering one month free. With pool season just around the corner, it's time to stock up on summer reading materials!!



Click here to go to the site: MAGHOUND



Happy reading!

Remember when..

Murphy was just a little puppy? Here she is at 4 weeks old:

Now she is a big girl! Here she is playing and getting very muddy with her friend Marley, a Bernese Mountain Dog:

And last night playing with her best friend Sherman:

Proof that even Vizsla's need a nap...once in awhile!!!

Great Hair Product!

I was in Sephora last week looking for a dry shampoo. I'm trying to be kind to my hair this year, and I've heard great things about this type of product. I've been using it for a week now and I really would recommend it to anyone that is looking for a solution for in between washes. It has a mild scent and I haven't had any problems with cloggin, which I think it pretty commoon among other brands. Check it out: Naturia Dry Shampoo

Comfort Food

After a dinner at Al Vento where we ordered the most amazing short ribs, I've been searching for a recipe that will come close to what we had. For those of you who like beef short ribs, here are two new recipes to try:

A more hands-on recipe (but well worth the time!) from Simply Recipes:
Braised Beef Short Ribs

A quicker, easier version from epicurious.com:
Super Short Ribs

Enjoy!

Quick Rant

I know it's been a long time since I've posted and I have plenty to say...but I'll save that for another, longer blog post.

Here is my quick rant...why do people talk on cell phones while in the bathroom stalls? I've been noticing it happening more and more and it seriously grosses me out. And I'm not talking about someone standing at the sink, talking on the phone. I'm saying that someone is sitting on the toilet, and flushing while on the cell phone. Ewww!

That being said, I'm trying to be less judgemental of people. I have a long way to go!