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Random Thoughts Thursday

15. August 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Archives, Raleigh, North Carolina, Thought of the Day · Tags: , , , ,

I’ve dubbed today Random Thoughts Thursday. You’ve seen several disjointed random musings posts lately because conversations with friends, family, coworkers, and “tweeple” (Twitter people) have spawned some interesting trains of thought. Here’s more of what’s been on my mind lately:

  • Bungee jumping vs skydiving: Specifically, what is the rate of accidents for one vs the other?
  • Percy the cat: This is such a hilarious story from 2009. Apparently a cat named Percy would jump on a train every day, take it to a nearby marine life center, and watch the penguins all day!
  • Unroll.me: I have carefully created filters on my Gmail account for incoming emails, but for those with less patience, there’s Unroll.me. It links to your email account and sends you a once-daily roundup of all your subscription emails (think LivingSocial). Another victory for email efficiency!
  • Windows Live Writer: I read Peanut Butter Fingers’ post on Everyday Blogging Tools and was inspired to test-drive Windows Live Writer, which apparently saves tons of time when blogging. Unfortunately, it is only available on Windows, but luckily I have a PC! The program allows you to compose blog posts in a format similar to Microsoft Word, which makes it more user-friendly than the WordPress format.
  • If This Then That: Also known as IFTTT, it is an online service that allows you to use commands to create an automatic chain of events. Example: IF someone mentions you on a tweet, THEN send a tweet back thanking them or IF a photo pops up on Instagram, THEN save it to Dropbox. The list of “recipes” is extensive- check it out!
  • Ethiopian food: On Saturday, I spontaneously suggested to a friend that we try out Abyssinia, a local Ethiopian restaurant. Our conversation: “We should go.” “Cool, when?” “Tonight?” And soon we had eight adventurous eaters ready for a hands-free African eating experience. The verdict: casual hole-in-the-wall; friendly service complete with hugs; decent prices ($22 per person including tip and drinks); and delicious food.
  • Grass Is greener: Do not stop reading after the next sentence. Promise? A line from a Justin Bieber song got stuck in my head (I didn’t realize it was him until after it was planted there) because it rang true to me. “The grass isn’t greener on the other side // it’s greener where you water it.” Trite but true! #lessonslearnedfrombiebersongs wlEmoticon smile Random Thoughts Thursday
  • One red paperclip: I have no idea what caused me to remember this story, but I somehow thought about a guy I’d heard of who took items and traded them for slightly better items off the course of the year. After Googling it, I got the whole story: a guy took a red paperclip and eventually ended up with a house! Pretty insane the power of bartering, huh? A teen did a similar thing and ended up with a Porsche will still in high school.
  • Resubscribe to my blog: My sister reminded me to tell you all that when I switched web hosting, all of the subscriptions to my blog were cancelled. Apologies for the inconvenience, especially if you thought I wasn’t posting these days! You can resubscribe using the Subscribe to Blog by Email widget on my right sidebar.
  • Spize Café: My sister and I grabbed lunch at Spize Café on Fayetteville St in downtown Raleigh the other day and remembered our old obsession with the place. The food is absolutely incredible; the service and owners are great; the interior is stylish; and the prices are very good (about $9 for an entrée that gives you leftovers). It’s one of my top 5 favorite restaurants in Raleigh.

And my favorite Instagram picture of the week so far:

2012 08 14 14 50 39 990 thumb1 Random Thoughts Thursday
What random thoughts are on your mind?

The Week in Review + Weekend Reading

27. July 2012 · Write a comment · Categories: Life Updates & Recaps, Link Love · Tags: , , , , , , ,

This is a pre-scheduled post. Right about now, I’m in the car halfway to DC. I’ll be popping into my company’s office; seeing two of my best friends; and visiting my boyfriend. Can’t wait to be back in one of my favorite cities icon smile The Week in Review + Weekend Reading

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Three great firsts this week:

Batting cage

The Week in Review + Weekend Reading

I went to a batting cage for the first time and hit softballs. My batting is a work in progress but it was a fun adventure icon smile The Week in Review + Weekend Reading My arm is still sore from batting!

Mami Nora’s

The Week in Review + Weekend Reading

It was my first time checking out this Peruvian chicken joint, which is housed in a colorful building on Wake Forest Rd. Every time I pass it, I want to try it, but reading a blog post on EatRaleigh about it reinspired me. The chicken was tender (make sure to try the yellow sauce), the chicken soup was to die for, the prices were low (about $6.50 for a 1/4 chicken with two sides), and the service was friendly.

Seoul Garden

The Week in Review + Weekend Reading

Somebody landed on my blog through my post on bibimbap, which got me thinking about finding a great hole-in-the-wall Korean place. Seoul Garden on Atlantic Avenue had great reviews on Yelp, so I headed there with my boyfriend for authentic ethnic food. I loved the beef dolsot bibimbap (dolsot = served in a hot stone pot, which makes the rice crispy!), especially after I doctored it up with plenty of sriracha, soy sauce, vinegar. The meal was $13, but you are almost guaranteed to have leftovers. The eight or so mini side dishes and miso soup they bring out for free help ward off hunger as you wait for the main dishes.

Photo credits: 1, 2, 3

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Since I’ve switched over to my own hosting, I’ve discovered the wonderful world of WordPress plugins. A new one that I love is the Google Reader plugin, which allows posts that I tag in my Google Reader to show up on a widget on my  sidebar {see “What I’m Reading” to the right}. Now you can get weekend reading all week long! That’s not to say I won’t still be doing weekend reading posts every once in awhile, but for now, here are a few posts I found interesting this week:

The Entrepreneurial Generation {sent to me by my friend Kathleen}

Don’t Hate Instagram Because It’s Disrupting Another Profession

Give Your Boss What She Needs, Not Just What She Requests

a pho-nomenal competition

28. May 2012 · 1 comment · Categories: Food & Drink, Raleigh, North Carolina · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

I have a confession. I currently have 70 {yes, 70!} half-written blog post sitting in my draft folder. Yikes. One that I’ve been meaning to write since last July was where to find the best hole-in-the-wall ethnic food in Raleigh.

My buddy and I made plans to get take-out Pho {Vietnamese soup} the other night. As we were driving up Capital Blvd and deciding which Pho restaurant to go to, we decided to get a dish from each place and pit them against each other in a super-intense food competition. Yes, this is what I do with my time. Haha! I knew it was a blog post in the making.

The competitors {drum roll, please}:

Pho Cali: 3310 Capital Blvd  a pho nomenal competition
Pho Far East: 4011 Capital Blvd

a pho nomenal competition

We carefully devised a system to rank the restaurants.

  • Atmosphere: Pho Cali was perfectly nice but very simple; Pho Far East felt much more cozy because of the decor and lights.
    • Winner: Pho Far East 
  • Popularity {extra points were awarded if the customers were Vietnamese because we all know that matters}: Pho Cali gained two customers while we were there, but Pho Far East had about eight people eating dinner there. It was a tie for percentage of Vietnamese diners. 
    • Winner: Pho Far East
  • Price: $8.99 for a big portion of pho at both places.
    • Tie
  • Quantity: The presentation made it slightly hard to judge, but I think the servings were comparable.
    • Tie
  • Hours: Pho Cali is open for an extra hour at the morning, but I am realistically going to drive up Capital for pho at 9am? Gonna call it a:
    •  Tie
  • Presentation: The overall presentation of Pho Far East’s was more elegant and appetizing.
    • Winner: Pho Far East
  • Service: The service at both places was fantastic. Everyone was friendly and welcoming and even let us practice our Vietnamese pronunciation. But the winner by a slight margin was Pho Cali.
    • Winner: Pho Cali
  • Location: Pho Cali is closer to downtown; Pho Far East is further up Capital {which is one of the worst streets in Raleigh}.
    • Winner: Pho Cali
  • Quality: Arguably the most important of the categories! Alone, each bowl of pho was delicious. But side-by-side, Pho Far East was the clear winner. The broth was much more flavorful, the meat looked more fresh, and they included sriracha, which is critical to the enjoyment of a bowl of Pho.
    • Winner: Pho Far East 
Pho Far East was a pretty clear winner in the pho-off {reviews on Yelp say the same thing}. I look forward to patronizing the restaurant again in the near future icon smile a pho nomenal competition  

P.S. Cheesy joke time: what country has the best food? Viet-nom nom nom icon smile a pho nomenal competition

lunchbox meal: healthy chicken masala

16. November 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cooking, Gluten-Free · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Here is a slightly different {and gluten-free} version of this Indian-inspired lunchbox meal.

I made this super easy dish for lunch today by combining a seemingly random assortment of items.

1) Prepare mung beans {boil 1 1/2 cups of water, add 1/2 cup of beans, turn to low, simmer for 35-50 minutes or until the water is absorbed and beans are tender}

2) Prepare TJ’s Multigrain Pilaf according to package Unfortunately, rice pilaf is not gluten-free, so I’ve started using rice in this recipe instead. The rice gets a nice hint of flavor if you boil it in chicken broth and add a dash each of salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.

3) Pull several large pieces of chicken off a store-bought rotisserie chicken. At about $5-$7 each, these are a great deal and can last for several meals. Best of all, you can adapt them easily with different sauces!

4) Layer the mung beans, rice, and chicken with TJ’s Masala Simmer Sauce and enjoy!

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This Day Last Year: Spicy Sweet Potato Fries and Life Updates {I mention reach out to a group-buying site, which actually wasn’t LivingSocial! I also mention reaching out to my network for help with job searching. For more on that, click here.}

korean pickled cucumbers

14. November 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cooking, Food & Drink, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian · Tags: , , , , , , , ,
korean pickled cucumbers korean pickled cucumbers

Via Flickr user chiotsrun

Korean Pickled Cucumbers

My recent obsession with Korean food and home pickling in Mason jars has led me to try homemade Korean pickled cucumbers, which have a similar flavor to kimchi.

Cut a cucumber (I used an English cucumber, seeds and skin intact) into long, thin strips. Place in a bowl with water and salt for several hours. Remove from water and place in a Mason jar with the following: several dashes of rice vinegar; a teaspoon or so of minced garlic; a touch of grated ginger; some chopped onion; a sprinkling of paprika {for color}; and a pinch of cayenne pepper (the amount depends on your preference for spiciness). Fill the jar to the top with water, shake, and refrigerate for at least several hours. Eat within 2-3 days.

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P.S. Unsure about photo copyright laws? Err on the safe side and use Flickr’s Creative Commons photos. This copyright allows owners to determine which rights they want to maintain over their photos; most users using Creative Commons allow you to use their work as long as you attribute it to them. Simply go to Flickr.com, click Advanced Search, and select the checkbox for “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.” Thank you to Mital Patel and other members of The Raleigh Forum for teaching me this! The photo above was found on Flickr.

Recipe: Prasoryzo (Rice with Leeks)

08. November 2011 · 1 comment · Categories: Cooking, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian · Tags: , , , , , , ,

Back from an unintentional blogging hiatus with a new recipe!

Recipe: Prasoryzo (Rice with Leeks)
So easy, a time-pressed recent college graduate can do it. In a skillet, saute onions and leeks with olive oil and a touch of butter. Pop Minute Rice (I used the chicken kind) into the microwave. When leeks and onions are tender, combine with heated rice. Add a dash of lemon juice, a generous sprinkling of dill, some salt and pepper, and a handful of sun-dried tomatoes.

This is fantastic as a side dish, but I bet it would be good with shredded chicken as a main entree. Serve it with other Greek-inspired dishes!

 

keepin’ it accountable

27. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Life Updates & Recaps, Personal Development · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday I ate lunch at Sitti with a coworker from The Raleigh Forum and one of our Raleigh friends. The food was delicious (albeit more than I normally pay for lunch) and we had fantastic service. I tweeted the restaurant as we were crossing the street and by the time we had sat down, the manager came over and mentioned that he saw my tweet and recognized my face. He then brought us some extra little treats (Feta Cheese Dip and an interesting marinated hard cheese thing, which I couldn’t find on the menu!). I will definitely go back as soon as possible. Follow them on Twitter to help them reach their goal of 1000 followers!

Anyway, my lunchmates and I got to talking about some of our personal flaws and bad habits and ended up deciding to give each other week-long self-improvement challenges. $10 is on the line, and we’re adhering to the Honor System.

Me: Write up 3 things every day that I’m grateful for (Though I love and appreciate my life, I have a tendency to take things for granted sometimes). I also have to ride my bike to work at least 2 times during the week (it currently sits in the bike rack at my apartment. I want to ride it more often for health and environmental reasons, not to mention as a way to save money on gas!)

Friend #1: He’s the reason we started this challenge. He mentioned in passing that he doesn’t wear his seat belt, which prompted shocked looks and a barrage of questions from me and Friend #2. For the whole week, he has to wear his seat belt every time that he’s in a moving car.

Friend #2: He finds himself eating out most days of the week, so his challenge is to bring his lunch to work all week. I offered to help by setting up a menu plan and sending him recipes! We also decided to have a mini-pot luck one day next week!

Wish me luck!

homemade bibimbap

26. October 2011 · 2 comments · Categories: Cooking, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian · Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
313337757 uMAIf1nd c homemade bibimbap

Source: unknown

“Bibim-what?” You may be asking. My friend Lindsay introduced me to bibimbap, a Korean dish that means “mixed with rice,” at Mandu in DC. Another friend and I ended up finding Rice Bar, which, in the words of one Yelp reviewer, is like “Chipotle or Subway, except with bibimbap.” For a decent price (a base price of $6.49 but it quickly adds up), you get a Design Your Own Bibimbap Bowl. I went to town- wild rice, seaweed, kimchi, the works…

Since bibimbap is apparently a very easily adaptable dish, I decided to try it at home- just like my other rice and quinoa bowls. And it’s naturally gluten-free and easily vegetarian or vegan too!

Below is what I put in my bowl but use these sites for inspiration: Serious Eats. I Really Like Food. Globetrotter Diaries. For a whole array of amazing pictures, visit TasteSpotting.

359849885 u1m7WZvW c homemade bibimbap

Source: unknown

My ingredients:

  • Bite-sized kale pieces, sauteed with olive oil and a dash of sesame oil
  • Pre-cooked sliced steak, drizzled with soy sauce and Annie Chun’s Korean Barbecue Sauce
  • Thinly sliced cucumber marinated in rice vinegar with a dash of dried red pepper
  • Bean sprouts leftover from my Vietnamese excursion to Pho Cali over the weekend
  • Minute Rice (I know, I know, definitely not the same as sticky rice!)
  • Kimchi
  • A drizzling of sesame oil, soy sauce, and Sriracha (the closest I could get to the hot pepper paste normally used, called gochujang)
369313310 7UO6WGyN c homemade bibimbap

This was an easily packable lunch for work: I combined the cucumber, kale, bean sprouts, and kimchee in one Tupperware; the steak in another small one; and the dressing in a third. At 12pm (I’m always famished by then!), I heated the Minute Rice and combined it with the other ingredients. The heat from the rice heated everything else! I realized after I finished that I had forgotten an egg though icon sad homemade bibimbap

This meal is probably easier for me than most people because my fridge is fully stocked with a bunch of Asian sauces and oils- I have peanut oil, Korean barbecue sauce, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sesame seeds, etc. For the recipes I make, they’re all good investments! The other problem is that MSG is hiding in one of them, so I got an odd headache-y feeling after eating the bibimbap today.

fall festivities

10. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cooking, Coworking, Gluten-Free, Life Updates & Recaps, Raleigh, North Carolina · Tags: , , , , , , , ,

chair fall festivities

After a splendid last week and a marvelous weekend, I’m ready to take on Monday!

  • Lunch with two girls from Compass Partners. It was really interesting to be sitting in a snazzy conference room with two other girls my age discussing collaboration for our businesses and organizations. I love seeing other young individuals so involved!
  • Several meetings with individuals reserving The Raleigh Forum for events (including one woman who saw our flyer, walked over, and signed a contract!)
  • The Mayoral forum, where I gained a better sense of each candidate’s platform. We also met them in person after the event, which solidified my opinions
  • Welcoming new members to The Raleigh Forum
  • A hectic and awesome Friday- the kind where you almost wish it wasn’t the weekend because you have so much to do!
  • Friday@5 happy hour at Flying Saucer
  • A fashion show at Spy Raleigh
  • Volunteering at the Autism Society of NC’s annual walk/run, followed by bagels and mimosas at The Raleigh Forum. I met a lot of cool people!
  • Mid-day napping!
  • A random Saturday with a friend, which included going to the park with the dogs to watch a volleyball tournament (may or may not have packed a few beers), Chinese food, and lots of time outside
  • My first time at Mirage (can’t wait to go back and use my LivingSocial deal!)
  • SPCA event at Seaboard Station- dogs everywhere!
  • Draft house for dinner and drinks
  • A long phone call with one of my best friends
  • Butternut squash chili, gluten-free pumpkin pancakes, and several varieties of homemade gluten-free granola bars
My week was intense, which I find much more enthralling then a slow, monotonous week. And the weekend was a perfect balance of activity and relaxation- the kind where you feel chill but not guilty for being lazy.
The week to come:
  • Tennis with a new partner
  • Hopefully tennis with my usual partner- are you reading this, Harry?
  • Shabbat dinner at my place
  • Visit from an out-of-town friend, which will include a football game, a trip to the state fair, and LOTS of Taboo!
  • Lunch at Manta, the new downtown Indian restaurant
  • Welcoming visitors to The Raleigh Forum!
  • Signing those Raleigh Forum contracts icon smile fall festivities

another gluten-free week

06. October 2011 · Write a comment · Categories: Cooking, Coworking, Food & Drink, Gluten-Free, Life Updates & Recaps, Raleigh, North Carolina, Vegetarian · Tags: , , , , , ,

This week was a delectable assortment of gluten-free meals. Yet another week of taking a proactive approach to my health!

Proving that gluten-free eating can be full of flavor icon smile another gluten free week

I think one of my biggest challenges eating limited gluten will be modifying ethnic foods, because gluten is often such an intrinsic part of the recipes. For example, we are taking a coworking field trip to Mantra, Raleigh’s new Indian restaurant, on Tuesday. How am I supposed to have Indian food without naan?! Something to ponder…
pixel another gluten free week
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+Cristina Roman