I need to work on my plating so my food looks like this.
Here are some plating tips! http://www.learnfoodphotography.com/food-plating-and-food-styling-for-your-camera/ Hmm... I tried the sauce thing. It didn't work out.
The more stressed out I get, the more I'm trying to make sure I make time for things that relax me. Right now it's yoga and cooking that are keeping me sane. I wanted to blog a little about cooking (a la Kelsey) so here it goes.
I made flank steak and balsamic green beans with parmesan potatoes. The recipe is courtesy of my Cooking Light Magazine and it says it will be ready in 40 minutes. It took me about 40 minutes. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/beef-tenderloin-steaks-balsamic-50400000118569/
2 teaspoons butter, divided 1 cup vertically sliced yellow onion 1 cup vertically sliced red onion 1/4 cup sliced shallots 3 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium beef broth 2 cups green beans, trimmed 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided 4 (4-ounce) beef tenderloin steaks or 1 pound flank steak 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Cooking spray 2 cups of mashed potatoes 1/2 cup fresh parmesan cheese
The steak: The recipe uses beef tenderloin, it suggest that if you are on a budget you can substitute flank steak, so I did. The jury is still out as to whether this was a good idea. The flank steak was a little tough. Sprinkle steaks with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt and pepper. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add steaks to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve with bean mixture.
The potatoes: To 2 cups mashed potatoes, stir in 1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese. Add 1/8tsp of freshly ground black pepper. If you want, you can also toss 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions.
It was delicious the first night, and the following 3 or 4 nights I ate it!!
I've been called "cold" more times than I can count. Samantha Garvey's incredible story made my eyes get a little moist. She is completely inspirational. Take 7 minutes and watch this!
But seriously. I think I would be so happy in that profession. Ok I'm not quite there yet. I need to not to just take pictures of pretty things that turn out well but take amazing pictures of normal things.
For Sabrina's birthday, we went to Oregon for a couple of days. We visited the ocean and the aquarium! We also fit in some shopping and spa-ing. It was a relaxing girls getaway for sure!
It was so fun to be with Sabrina and her mom as they experienced new travel related things like riding public transportation! (Even though we were FREEZING!)
I <3 Portland! The scenery and people were amazing! I was quite sold on the city. And as I become more environmentally conscious, I was impressed at how "green" the city is. There were solar trash compacters at the park, the liquid/solid flushing on the toilettes was standard, everyone was using reusable bags. It was good to see.
We also went to Body Worlds. No photos allowed but it was SO weird in an eerie sort of way. That kind of thing makes me, as well as a lot of people, question their own mortality. As a biomedical scientist, it was really cool to see whole bodies, and then see the layers peeled off one by one. Note to self: learn more about Gunther von Hagens' plastination technique http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/prelude.html
Whenever there is something new and caring, of course there is controversy. Don't get me started on bioethics. I think in the field of medicine/science it really is a slippery slope.
In October 2003, a parliamentary committee in Kyrgyzstan investigated accusations that von Hagens had illegally received and plastinated several hundred corpses from prisons, psychiatric institutions and hospitals in Kyrgyzstan, some without prior notification of the families.
He said he had received nine corpses from Kyrgyzstan hospitals, none had been used for the Body Worlds exhibition, and that he was not involved with nor responsible for the notification of families.
Me thinks something sounds fishy here.... Animal rights organizations (though I don't usually give these much creedence, but still) have claimed he didn't have proper papers for animals that he has acquired.
A few years ago I remembered seeing a special about an investigation regarding bodies of Chinese prisoners possibly having been acquired without consent.
In January 2004, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported that von Hagens had acquired some corpses from executed prisoners in China; he countered that he did not know the origin of the bodies and went on to cremate several of the disputed cadavers.
Von Hagen was able to get an injunction to stop the magazine from printing it. Still... something is off. I'm fine with gaining knowledge from a display where all people were willing participants but if they didn't consent, didn't have the capacity to consent, or didn't know exactly what they were consenting to, I do not want to support that (it costs $25 to see the display). It didn't take a psychic to foresee that as soon as this got popular, issues with how the bodies were procured would arise. Considering this is an international exhibit, things get confusing because different countries have their own rules with regards to protecting the dead. I think it's really dangerous to start down this path. With every good thing, people getting to see an learn about the human body and its systems in a totally unique and cool way, there comes a costly negative- ethical issues arise. Think stem cell research. Food for thought.
-B
I believe I am taking on a new endeavor. Updates soon.
It seems like I overbook and overextend myself. I know that seems counter-intuitive given the previous statement.
I purchased these new reusable goody bags. I find myself more and more seeing things as I waste them, so I'm trying to be a little more careful. I bring my lunch and sometimes dinner and most certainly snacks every day so I go through a lot of plastic bags. I try to use Tupperware when I can, but sometimes my lunch bag just doesn't fit ten little Tupperware containers! I will update how effective the bags are.
It's sad now that my life consists of work and buying stuff on Amazon.
I subscribe to a lot of magazines and I'm always tearing out articles, recipes, or photos of outfits I want to emulate. These items have stacked up on my desk, and I'm starting to feel like a hoarder. I have stacks of articles that I want to save for future use but no organization to them so it's rare that I'll actually go back and refer to them. So I decided to get a big binder and fill it with sheet protectors and organize my clippings. Next time I want to make a new recipe, I can just flip to that section and see if there is anything that sparks some creativity!
One of my new years resolutions: To blog more! I have found a lot of websites that I find helpful, so I'll be sharing a lot more links in case anyone is interested in the same things as me... also so my sources of information will be clear. Usually I try to be fairly neutral on subjects I post on here(in contrast to my personality where I am very opinionated) because I didn't want those thoughts to be made public, but I've started thinking, "hey this is my blog, if you don't like it, STOP READING IT!"
I have finally hit my stride here in Baltimore, and having that under control allows me to focus on one of my passions, women's rights. I have been doing a lot more reading and even catching up on politics (if you know me, you know deliberately ignore politics)where women's rights legislation is involved.
As I continually work on myself, the new year is just another opportunity to set new lifestyle goals more commonly known as new year's resolutions (NYRs). I read on jezebel.com that one reader's NYR was to give out one new Kiva loan a month. It got me thinking.... http://www.kiva.org/about/how
I had heard about this program a few years ago. As one who made such little income at that time that I wasn't even required to pay taxes, it wasn't really feasible for me. Now it is! I think for money that I would be willing to donate to a cause anyway, lending it out through this organization in order to build small businesses and therefore build infrastructure may be more helpful (to the recipients) in the long run. I will try to focus on lending to women because I think it is important for them to get their small businesses off the ground and gain some independence. See, now I've written it down here for all of the blogosphere to read so I must do it!
The one guideline I set for determining my NYRs (or goals as I like to call them) is that they are bigger than me. It's easy to get caught up in "I'm going to drop 20 pounds by... like... tomorrow" or "I will get organized" or vices you will give up, drinking, smoking, etc, all things that start with me me me. I'm trying to focus on things that will help others, the environment, or are for the greater good. I think that focusing on things like that make the "resolutions" stick.
I have some general ideas but I don't know whether it's beneficial or harmful to get too specific. For instance in my mind saying a goal is "reducing my carbon footprint" without anything more specific means I will constantly work on this in different ways. On the other hand, it could be followed by specific goals I want to meet/maintain like "eat less meat: one day a week I will be vegetarian" or "walk somewhere each week instead of drive" or "begin composting by Feb 1", but I feel like these are definite accomplished or failed and therefore harder to maintain for a year, let alone as a lifestyle. However, if "reducing my carbon footprint" is the goal, then if you have a week where you slack off on doing things to support that goal, you can say "welp, this is motivation to do better next week!" I think I will focus on big goals and switch off how I choose to accomplish these goals.
1. Give 4 Kiva loans. (Ok I really had to be specific with this one or I wouldn't do it)
2. Reduce my carbon footprint through REDUCTION, reuse, and recycling, trying to buy local, consuming less meat, carpool to work?, walk more, attempt to compost food, using less energy.
3. Treat my body better by exercising regularly which is a given but I need to include more strength training because I'm getting old!, make time to practice yoga, slow down when I'm tired I believe it's called "listening to your body", make enough time for sleep, limit alcohol consumption, minimize stress, and make healthy food choices. This will come in handy in the long run because I will be solidifying a lifestyle that I can teach to my kids and it also is the best bet for living longer and happier.
4. Really commit to a volunteer project where I am a good fit. I have tried a few while in Baltimore, and I hadn't really found one that I could see myself doing for years and becoming more and more involved in. Right now I'm thinking House of Ruth http://www.hruth.org/. It's a shelter for abused women and their children in Baltimore, but after researching it, it is so much more than just a shelter.
In talking about change in myself, I wonder how I can inspire change in others. http://thefuntheory.com/ This might be a start!
2 teaspoons butter, divided
The green beans: these were amazing! I warmed them up and ate them all week. *sidenote: after watching the Food Network: the Big Waste, I've been trying to use produce that might be slightly less than perfect. Half of my green beans were older, so they had a few brown marks, but I used them anyway!
The steak: The recipe uses beef tenderloin, it suggest that if you are on a budget you can substitute flank steak, so I did. The jury is still out as to whether this was a good idea. The flank steak was a little tough. 
