Monday, October 18, 2004

As promised, we did dine on Boeuf Bourguignon this weekend, although we didn't do the cooking this time. Our foodie friends, Keith and Yvonne, made this wonderful dish with Charles Shaw Merlot (2 buck Chuck). It was delicious. Keith also made his special white bean salad, Garry's favorite dish. I was in charge of the Tarte Tatin, and I used a different recipe this time (I used Granny Smith apples). When it came out of the oven, Garry turned it over, and all the apples stuck to the bottom of the pan (it might be because i forgot to butter the sides) -- and so I had to spoon out the apples and replace them onto the crust. It was U-G-L-Y. Heh. No pictures this time. It tasted really good though, so I think this recipe is a keeper.

I haven't screwed up a dessert in a long time, but this wasn't the only one that came out sub-par this weekend. I spent the whole Saturday morning making chocolate macarons. They baked perfectly, with a smooth top and nice feet, but they were a bit too hard -- not soft and chewy in the center like it used to be... I'm still adjusting to a different oven, but I hope I'll be able to make it perfectly next time. It takes too much work -- I even slightly sprained my wrist in the process!

With my wrist hurting and the weather rainy and gloomy, I still went on to play 18 holes of golf in Cinnabar Hills, a beautiful course in San Jose. I was trying to apply the mental training techniques that I learned from class (see entry for 10/8/2004), but I think I need more practice. ;)

Posted by Karen @ 11:02 AM PST [Link]

Friday, October 15, 2004

For our software release party, my coworkers came to our house for a backyard bbq and pool party. It was 90 degrees! Talk about an Indian summer. It has been nice and warm all week. I love the Bay Area. :)

We finally achieved Beta status, but the company is quite stingy when it comes to employee rewards, so we just decided to organize our own 'pat on the back'. Almost everyone brought a bottle of red wine, each belonging to different price ranges, and we had a blind taste test of all 9 bottles. I contributed a $3 bottle of Seven Peaks Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 (the taped up bottle in the image below), which Garry bought from Trader Joe's. It didn't do so well, finishing second to the last place. One good thing about having the party at our place, we now have 9 half filled bottles of red wine. Boeuf Bourguignon, here we come! ;)

Garry grilled some skirt steak, peppers and shallots (from Saveur, Oct 2004). My coworkers brought some chicken tandoori, pasta salad, baguettes, strawberries and grapes. I surprised everyone with raspberry cream puffs for dessert.

The winner was the Murphy Goode Liar's Dice Zinfandel 2002, around $18, 6th from left.

Posted by Karen @ 12:37 PM PST [Link]

Friday, October 8, 2004

I've been taking a continuing studies class at Stanford called 'Excellence is No Accident'. It will supposedly help me think like a professional athlete so that I can overcome mental obstacles in sport and in life. I've always been into sports, and I think I have a natural ability to be good at golf or tennis, but I always find myself 'choking'. It doesn't matter if it's a friendly game or a tournament -- I just always pressure myself to do well and it almost always backfires.

Hopefully this class will help me focus on the positive and eventually allow me to have fun and play to the best of my abilities. After 8 weeks I hope I will also come out with a stronger focus on what I want to do with my career. Patisserie or no patisserie, I just want to be able to make up my mind and stick with it.

My brother was asking for a recipe for lamb stew, so I tried a recipe for Mafe, a peanut butter lamb stew from Senegal. I used lamb neck meat and served it over white rice. It turned out quite similar to kare kare, a Filipino beef oxtail stew with peanut butter, served with bagoong (shrimp paste). It was a bit too rich and heavy for me though.

This weekend I am going back to Stanford for Eday, an event organized by the Engineering department as a get together for alumni. It focuses on a different topic each year, and tomorrow we will discuss "The Power of Play" (how play-based learning can lead to innovation) with David Kelley, the founder of IDEO. It should be a very interesting day.

Posted by Karen @ 12:35 PM PST [Link]