The Joys of Coffee

Well, I only recently discovered why we're best friends.

Believe it or not, I only started drinking coffee this summer. I've tried in the past (all during WMACS week since those are the times I put my body to little to no rest--3 hours of sleep tops) but I didn't know how to drink it. I drank it tons of packets of sugar and it just made my fingers numb. Recently I discovered that serious lack of sleep make my fingers numb, not caffeine. This time at WMACS, I first put some ice cubes in my cup before getting the coffee, pumping a few pumps of creamer, and adding some sugar (pure ice coffee style). Now that was heaven! Since that first day, I shocked myself when I didn't even add sugar one day and couldn't notice it. Ever since then, I've appreciated coffee.


So obviously when the seasons rolled around and Starbucks debuted their pumpkin spiced latte, I had to try it. But I kept putting it off...so I ended up not having it. There's always next year!
BUT, I have tried Starbucks' peppermint mocha and caramel brulee latte. Thanks to their holiday happy hour a few weeks ago, I bought a caramel brulee and gingerbread latte for myself and my family. They all shared the gingerbread. I didn't get to try it because I was sick with a cough and didn't want to get them sick; instead I just chugged down my caramel brulee latte.

Annandale Adventures

Photo credit: Bonchon Bay Area

One of my best friends Tina came back from Taiwan for a weekend, and we went to Ulta to buy some makeup/nail polish (lots of nail polish for her but she gave me a base coat!) and then all the way to Annandale, VA for Bonchon. This is the world's (well, the East Coast's) best fried chicken. I'm all done eating American fried chicken, no it's all about the Korean fried chicken now!


The first time I had Bonchon was in Brighton-Allston (Boston) with my grad school friend Jenny. She had heard about how good it was, so we set a date to meet up and try it out. We ordered the small combo with garlic-soy sauce and some sushi, and it was perfect. The meal was nicely filling and the chicken had all the right type of crunch and none of the greasiness. Oh man. It was so good I dragged Brian there when he visited me towards the end of my stay in Boston.


Back to the present now, Tina and I met Liz and some of her lion dance group at Bonchon. They had just finished performing at a wedding (on a Friday weirdly) in VA so we met up there. After Bonchon (I literally had no time to take pictures because I was so busy chowing down) we went to Shilla Bakery (owned by Koreans, as Annandale is known for) and ordered some delicious desserts. We each got our own; I can't remember what Tina got, but Liz got a huge strawberry shaved ice, and I got this cute little chocolate cake (very chocolate-y).

Truly a gift for me!

When I discovered Indian Buffets

Ok, not only do I love lobster, but I also love Indian food. This is more of a recent revelation which I have honed while in Boston. Luckily for me, Indian food is (usually) cheaper than lobster. Especially since I found a lunch buffet just a few minutes away from my base office!! I went the first time with my friend Liz who was still on summer break from teaching 3rd graders. The second time I went was with my mentor Vickie. Both times were delicious, although they did serve different things when I went those two times.

I always start out with a samosa, and end with the butter chicken.

$7.99/lb take out

The third time I didn't really have anyone to eat with so I opted for take-out. Lunch buffet is $8.99, and take out is $7.99/lb, which really adds up since I tend to pile up my Styrofoam box of yummies. However, this box lasted me for 2 meals, so really, it all adds up and I didn't over-stuff myself either.

Trucks Full of Food

Ok, I've been gone for a long long time, but no one really reads this so it's allll good! Anyways, here are some brief updates of food that I've taken pictures of since my hiatus.

Truckeroo!

Excuse my terrible, terrible cell phone pictures. This was before I realized I had to clean the camera lens (I just bought a new phone off of Amazon) so the pictures after this day are all better, I promise.

Lobster food truck!

A little overhyped, but still delicious

TaKorean tacos!

I LOVE lobster rolls. I wish I lived in Maine just for these babies

Over the weekend, I picked up Delicae Gourmet Big Easy Jambalaya Slow Cooker Dinner in some store. I figured that it could be the bulk of my meals for the week. It required some other things to be picked up from the grocery store, so I bought some andouille sausages, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chicken broth to add to the mix.

The first time I made it, I invited Barry over to have some, and it turned out really well. The sausage was so tender...I think I'm never going to pan cook ever again! Although a lot of the "vegetables" were dehydrated in the mix, it didn't really taste too terribly. I took a crappy cell phone picture (but will soon get a new and better cell phone in a couple days, yay!!) on Monday, and today I made it again (because I realized that the mix was for a 4-5qt slow cooker and not a 2qt like I had) and took much better pictures.

The second time I included some shrimp 15 minutes before eating it

The second time was also more...liquidy (it probably wasn't split very evenly)

I'm really enjoying slow cooking my meals...too bad I'm moving back home and probably won't be cooking for myself for a while.

Federal Jack's Lobster Roll

This past weekend, I went to Kennebunk with Lauren, Nicky, Sara, and Jeff and Jeff insisted that we eat at Federal Jack's. Jeff suggested the clam chowder (but L, N, and I shared a special seafood chowder instead which was still very delicious) and I ordered the Fresh Maine Lobster Roll. You know me, I love my lobster!

The meat was kinda cold...which I was disappointed about, but other than that, it was delicious. The entree costed $16.99 (their current market price) which was decent for the size. The fries were really crispy and I traded some sweet potato fries with Jeff too.

I also ordered a beautiful watermelon-esque martini drink thing. Don't remember what it was called anymore, but it was very yummy.

Beef and Chipotle Burritos

I decided that today was a good day to try cooking with a slow cooker since I had time in the morning/early afternoon. I followed the recipe by the title name at SlowandSimple.com.

Although Nicky's slow cooker was only a 2qt, I was able to put everything in. I bought a 1lb boneless beef round steak and didn't include onions...and apparently I also forgot to add cheese in at the end. Sitting at home smelling the slow cooker's goodness was too enticing for me to add cheese I guess!

After 4 hours on high, I pulled out the beef and began to shred it

Some shredded, some still in chunks

So tender and spicy!

The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce really added the main flavor of the beef. It was so deliciously spicy!!

I included some of Lauren's leftover peppers and onions from her fajita last night, somewhat homemade guac (I used a mix), and sour cream for my burrito. Today also marks the first day I wrapped a decent (although slim) burrito roll!

I definitely plan on trying to cook more using the slow cooker in the future. Too bad I don't have many days left in Boston...maybe my mom has a slow cooker I can use!

Update
I realized, when talking to my mom on the phone, that I totally forgot to add rice (and cheese) to my burrito. Guess I truly was excited to eat that I forgot a lot of what goes in a burrito!