Some things I am (currently and forever) obsessed with/addicted to :

(No surprise.) Having my nails polished. I’ve said this once before. I always have nail polish on my fingernails and toenails. I either wear a color or a nail strengthener. Type of colors I mainly wear: blues, purples, nudes, sheer pinky whites, pinky-corals, greens, and grays.
I am also very picky with how my polish looks. When I do have another nail tech polish my nails, I point out spots they missed. I know it annoys them, but that just how I am. A pet peeve is when the second coat goes on and there’s like a dip (where you can see my natural nail) near the cuticle from the brush being brushed on too hard. That’s a reason why I like to wear three coats most of the time. I like my nails to be completely covered..cleanly, of course. >:)
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YouTube Videos. I’m pretty much on Youtube everyday. I mainly watch videos of people singing (people doing cover songs), dancing, artist’s live performance (to see how good they really are), video game gameplay (to cheat =X or to preview a game before I purchase), and makeup gurus. I love reading the comments too. Some people can be very ridiculous and some people are just right on.

My fav Youtubers with a video I like»

Music»
Erin Paula – Shontelle “Impossible” Cover

Erika David – Katy Perry “Thinkin’ Of You” Cover & Beyonce “EGO” Cover

Roxanne – Musiq Soulchild “Don’t Change” Cover

Jayne – Alicia Keys “Unthinkable” ft Summerbreeze Acoustic Cover. This is one of my favorite covers. I actually like this better than the original (and I hardly ever say that). Sorry Keys. :P

Marie Digby – “Feel” Live in Studio & Love with a Stranger. These songs are originals of hers. (I think mixed babies/people are so pretty. She’s half Japanese and Irish.)
All of her cover songs are great. She really makes them her own:
Britney Spears “Gimme More” Cover
Lady Gaga “Telephone” Cover

Esmee Denters – Showcase: “Admit it”, “Love Dealer”, Just Can’t Have It”, “Outta Here”. She’s a YouTube star, signed under Justin Timberlake. In this video, Jayne (mentioned above) is a back up singer. Her voice is so unique to me.

Beauty Gurus»

My favorite is Pixiwoo. Sisters, Samantha & Nicola. Both professional makeup artists with 15+ years of experience.
Pixiwoo has a personal Youtube channel as well: PixiwooMadness
Nicola:
Deep Purple New Years Party Look
Raquel Welsh makeup
Summer Evening Smokey Purple
Summer Pastel
Drag Queen Makeup

Samantha:
Dark Glossy Eyes
Modern Gothic
Beth Ditto ‘creative liner’
Ramble Ramble love this video. Watch it. I think every woman/lady/girl should watch this.
Simple Makeup really cool false lashes

Ma-chin/binosusume. Really great hair tutorials, mainly up-dos: Hair Bow

Queenie Chan. So pretty. I mainly watch her for her travelling, beauty treatments, eating, and shopping. She has some good makeup ones too. She’s just really entertaining to me, even though I don’t understand what she is saying. She has English text though. She has a lot going on: artist, beauty guru, flight attendant, model, tv presenter, beauty columnist, cookbook writer…I also like seeing her culture. I believe she lives in Hong Kong. I would love to go there…

AsianCookingMadeEasy. Learn to make Chinese & Chinese-American dishes. Fortune cookies, Har Gow (dim sum), Pork Buns, etc. I’ve tried the Honey Walnut Shrimp. I did a post about it before. Yummy!

TranCanCook. Learn to make Vietnamese dishes!! Yummy. I’m happy about this channel. I watched my dad cook all the time when I was young, but I never re-created the dishes myself. I hope they make alot of videos. Lol.
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Games. This makes me a real dork. I love playing the flash games on fb. Which ones are those? Playfish: Country Story, Hotel City, Restaurant City, and My Empire. And Zip Zap: Baking Life (a new one, which I’m loving). I can’t help it. I love the decorating/designing.

And I’m forever a gamer. Rented Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. I will have to purchase that one. I also want the Zelda: Spirit Tracks for DS. I saw on YouTube that the new Legend Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii will be coming out in 2011. I think the graphics are phony for the Wii because Zelda: Twilight Princess were amazing for Zelda. TPrincess was more dark and mysterious. SSword will be more cartoony/colorful like how Spirit Tracks and Phantom of the Hourglass (DS). I still want it though. I love Zelda.

I’m always playing a game. (I have too much free time :X). I play my fb games everyday. And when I go to bed, I’m on my phone playing puzzles. Pathetic!!
I think I have a problem.
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My skin. I don’t miss a day and night without cleansing my face. I have to wash my face every morning and night or else I’ll just feel soo dirty. I carry oil-blotting papers with me all the time during the day if I go anywhere. I hate that my t-zone areas are so oily. My skin produces excessive sebum, causing mainly my nose to be covered in comedones (learned that in school :P). Comedones is the technical term for blackheads/whiteheads. I saw a video from BeautyQQ (Youtube) where she gets hers lasered off. Queenie has gorgeous skin! When I’m back on my feet again with work, I would consider getting that done. Whiteheads are a huge and forever struggle of mine. The only way I can get rid of them is by extracting them myself after a steamy shower. I believe I will always have this problem because my face produces too much sebum/oil. *sigh. If I get the surgery, I will be sure to let ya guys know.
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Well, that’s all for now.

I need a part-time job. I’m thinking about finding a bakery to work at. ^^ Of course, being around sweets would be awesome and delicious, but I want to learn more about baking. I’m a pretty good baker, but I want to be better at creating recipes and decorating. I have friends that went to college for pastry but they’re across the country. I could learn by just doing it at home, but it would be nice seeing how a real bakery works and stuff. Ever watch Ace of Cakes on the Food Network? That would be a sweet place to work at for me. Working with gumpaste, fondant, etc.

I worked with gumpaste for the first time last week. It was alittle like working with play-doh, only it’s stickier and dries out quicker.

The grass took me forever because I didn’t have a specific decorating tip to make it easier (the one that has a bunch of holes in it). I had a tip that had two holes, but didn’t have the decorating bags. So I just used ziploc bags with a corner snipped off for piping. Yup, I piped the grass leaves one by one. Took me about 30 minutes to do a full cupcake. Lol. The ones with a gumpaste disk I only filled with grass halfway. You can tell where I began to get lazy with the grass by seeing long bent leaves. Lol. I used regular frosting from the grocery store. Vanilla with food coloring. I added more confectioners’ sugar (powdered) to the green frosting to make it a little stiffer.
The “happy” disk was sticking up but decided to fall on me. The dimples on the golfballs were achieved with my nail art dotters (sanitized of course). The black handles of the golf clubs were painted with my nail art craft brushes. The paint I used was a bit of regular vanilla frosting, food coloring, and thinned out with some milk.
The cake itself was just from a box. I knew I was going to spend alot of time decorating, so I didn’t bother making it from scratch.
Eventually I want to get real cake decorating tools.

Here’s golf cupcakes I did a few weeks before I made the ones with the gumpaste. Gumpaste looks way nicer and cleaner. These were still cute though. ^^

Cupcakes I made a little over year ago for fun. Piping is shaky, but came out pretty cute too. The Heart You is like my signature. I always do that design.

Such noob work.
I will get better!

My brother & friend got me this book for my last year birthday.

Love it! ^^ I used to take baths while reading this. Lol. Great tips and real cute designs in here.

I want a cupcake now…

A long time ago my cousin introduced me to Honey Walnut Shrimp at a Chinese restaurant [Golden Harvest, Warren, MI]. We were at an authentic Chinese restaurant so I don’t know if this is an Americianized dish, but damn it was good. It’s battered fried shrimp with sweet walnuts and sweet creamy white sauce. I didn’t know where else to get this dish besides that restaurant. Now that I moved to Florida, I can’t find it anywhere. Maybe I didn’t look hard enough. Well, my friend sent me a link to a video of an Asian women  making this dish. Turned out that she has her own channel on Youtube. I was really excited! So I decided to make this dish today.

Check out her videos: Lila’s Youtube Channel, AsianCookingmadeEasy

Honey Walnut Shrimp» click here for her video for this recipe. If not, here’s Lila’s recipe.

INGREDIENTS & STEPS: make sure you do the walnuts and sauce before the shrimp.

Sugar-coated walnuts: since I was just making this for myself, I used half of these measurements
1 cup halved walnuts
1 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp sugar

In a small saucepan, melt the butter on medium heat. Add walnuts and coat with the butter. Jack the heat up and stir constanting for like a minute. Lower the heat back to medium and add the sugar. Keep stirring until most of the sugar dissolved and coated the nuts. Set aside.

Sweet Creamy Sauce: I can eat alot of shrimp so I used full measurements here
3 Tbsp Mayonnaise [Hellmans]
1 Tbsp Honey
2 Tbsp Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice [I just squeezed half of a lemon]

Mix ingredients very well in a small bowl. Set aside.

Batter for Shrimp:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup water
2-3 cups Peanut oil [I didn't have it, so I used Canola oil]
1 lb of cleaned, deshelled, de-veined, de-tailed shrimp [I got a bag of 16-20 per pound. I used ten shrimps instead of a whole pound since they were pretty big]

Mix together flour, salt, sugar, and water.
Line a big bowl/plate with paper towels to lay the shrimp in.
In a big pan, heat oil for frying. Medium-high to high heat. [In the video she used a wok. Mine was dirty and I was lazy to clean it. So I used a medium saucepan with about a cup and a half of oil.]
Put shrimp in batter and completely coat them.
When frying the shrimp, I found it easier to use a fork to stab & pick the shrimp up, letting excess batter drop off, and I slowly drop the shrimp in the oil, using my chopsticks to slide it off the fork. Don’t crowd the pan, shrimp will stick together.
Since I was using a smaller pan, I fried three to four at a time.
Shrimp takes like a minute or two to cook. Batter should be golden brown, shrimp pink.
Transfer cooked shrimp to lined bowl. Remove paper towel from underneath the shrimp. Add sauce & walnuts overtop while shrimp is still warm/hot. Toss together.
Best served with cooked rice. ^_^

I love shrimp. I ate like ten pieces with rice! I’m such a fatass. Lol.

Thank Lila for this recipe! =)

This year’s Thanksgiving dinner was simplier, tastier, and juicier than last year. :] Thanks to a couple of different recipes I found on the Foodnetwork site [Ina Garten, I love her] and from random sites I searched on google. I studied the recipes and took things I liked and left out stuff I didn’t think was necessary.
Last year, the BF and I were accompanied by two dogs: Our yorkie/silky terrier, Cooper and my BF’s family vizsla/greyhound, Chloe. Since we moved to Florida, its just me, the BF, and Cooper [miss you Chloe xoxo]. Instead of roasting a whole turkey, I decided to just get a turkey breast with the bone in. I’m so glad that I did. It came out really juicy, cooked faster, and it was the perfect amount. Shoot…I would make this again on a non-holiday day!

Recipe»

turkey breast
fresh thyme leaves [about 3 tbsp]
butter [softened, about 4-6 tbsp]
all-purpose flour [2 tbsp]
dijon mustard [about 1 tbsp]
olive oil [about 1 tbsp]
salt & pepper [about 1/4 tsp each]
cayenne pepper [about 1/4 tsp]
garlic paste [chopped up 2  cloves garlic, sprinkled some salt over it, flattened it w/ the side of chef knife]
mrs. dash garlic and herb [a few dashes, I use this a lot in cooking. :P]
chicken stock [two cups]
onion [one medium size, yellow]

I got about a 4.5 pound frozen turkey breast with the bone-in. The night before…still in the package wrapping, I thawed it in a clean sink filled with cold water [you don't want to use hot/warm water, you would cook it a little]. I left it in there for 30 mins per pound. I played Assassin’s Creed 2 for two hours, then I popped it back in the refrigerator for tomorrow.

Next Day. Since I didn’t have a wire rack nor did I buy a bunch of vegetables to place the turkey on,  I grabbed some foil and made a coil out of it. I unrolled about 3 feet of foil. Rolled it up length-wise. Then rolled it in a loose spiral. Clever, clever. Got that from a random blog site.

Preheated the oven to 375°F. I removed my turkey from the frig and its packaging. I took a paper towel to dry the whole thing. Then I placed the turkey on the foil, breast side up. Then I used my fingers to separate the skin from the breast, but not completely off. Just enough to make pockets for some herbs.

For the rub, I mixed together chopped thyme leaves, garlic paste, cayenne pepper, mrs. dash, salt, pepper, 4 tbsp butter, and olive oil in a small bowl. Then I rubbed the herb mix underneath the skin, and over the entire breast. Then I cut an onion in half, then quartered the halves. Threw them in the pan surrounding the breast. Then I poured the chicken stock in.

I popped the pan in the oven. Set the timer to 90 mins. At 375°F, your bird needs to cook about 20 mins/lbs. 350°F, 30 mins/lbs. When the timer was up, I stuck my meat thermometer in the thicken part of the breast [don't touch the bone] to check internal temp. 165°F and up is good. Mine reached 180°F. Leave the thermometer in there! Don’t want the juices to run out! I transfer the bird in a huge bowl, and placed foil over it to keep it warm.

I removed the onions and poured the chicken stock with dripping in a medium sauce pan. Brought it to a bubble at medium-high, then reduced the heat to medium-low to simmer. In a small bowl, I mixed 2 tbsp of butter and flour together with a fork. I poured a little [1/4 cup] of the drippings-stock in the small bowl. Mixed very well. Then whisked [used a plastic whisk 'cause I was using a nonstick pan] in the flour mixture into the rest of the dripping-stock. Seasoned with salt and pepper. Poof…yummy gravy.

Look how juicy! I believe this is the best turkey I ever had.

I didn’t bother making fancy sides. It’s just the two of us and Cooper only get turkey. We just got scalloped potatoes and Stove Top chicken stuffing. To the stuffing, I did mix in saute some leeks and onions. I love stuffing.

Man, this year is going by so fast! I’m going to be in beauty school soon. Can’t wait to start!
Next blogs to come…
Holiday nails, my favorite products, and of course…my dream wishlist [for fun].

Ever since I watched the movie Julie & Julia, I’ve been wanting to cook some to the dishes shown in the movie. There was this one scene where Julie and her husband are sitting down at home eating dinner, talking about what she could do with her life besides the depressing job she has. I couldn’t help but just stare at the bruschetta they were eating. They looked like they were having such a great time eating it! I thought to myself, ‘I have got to make that for me and the boyfriend!’

Also…one of my favorite restaurants is Brio Tuscan Grille. My favorite appetizer from there is the Brio’s Brushetta Quattro. That app came with two of the following: Roasted Red Pepper & Fresh Mozzarella Bruschetta, Shrimp Bruschetta, Sliced Steak Brushetta, and Seasonal Bruschetta (at the time, it was an Italian Sausage one). So frickin good!

So I decided to make me some. I didn’t feel like going from store to store searching for the best ingredients, so I just went to Walmart. Cheap and everything is there. =P Except for Nutella! Errr. I was looking all over for it, and they ran out. Was gonna use that for my brownies for dessert.
Anyways…

INGREDIENTS:
Italian Bread. Good size, I could wrap both hands around it.
Fresh Mozzarella.
Kraft Light Balsamic Vinaigrette.
Balsamic Vinegar.
Dijon Mustard.
Fresh Tomatoes.
Sweet Bell Peppers. They’re like mini bell peppers.
Spinach.
Arugula.
Ribeye Steak. I got a small one beside I only wanted a slice per each slice of bread.
Shallots.
Fresh Basil leaves.
Garlic Powder.
Olive Oil.
Salt-n-pepper

I didn’t measure anything. I never really do when it comes to cooking; it’s all about my own taste. Little of this. Little of that. Baking on the other hand, no can do…gotta be exact.

THE easy COOKING.
Started by placing the bell peppers in the toaster oven (mini-oven) directing on the rack at 400F until they charred a little (like 5-6 minutes, turning halfway).
Preheated the big oven at 425F.
Meanwhile, I diced the tomatoes (cubes). Sliced shallots and basil thinly. Slice mozzarella on the thick side.
After peppers were done, I cut the tops off and diced those up too.
In a mixing bowl, I put in the tomatoes, peppers, shallots, basil, a little olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, dijon mustard and pepper. (Already salt in the vinaigrette)
Mix ingredients well and refrigerate/or set aside. Let the flavors marry. =)
Cut the bread up on a bias (diagonal). Placed on a baking sheet and toasted.
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder both sides of the steak. Seared both sides on a high-heated skillet.
Finished in the oven. I had a thick slice. I like it medium rare, but I wanted to prepare it how my man would like it. ^_^ I don’t remember how long I left it in there. I poke it twice with a meat thermometer. I say no more than 10-12 minutes.
In a skillet (skillet is faster than a saucepan for reductions because of the surface space), pour quite a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Always use like 3-4 tablespoons more than you need. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium to simmer (still bubbling). Stir occasionally. This is the balsamic reduction. It’s done when you can coat the back of a spoon. Put aside.
Pull out the steak and let it rest a little.
Placed mozzarella slices on bread. Enough to cover most of it.
Turn the broiler on (top burner of the oven). Broil bread and cheese until cheese is completely melted/charred a little. Be sure to keep an eye on it by leaving the oven door open; It can burn real quick.
Slice steak on a bias as well.

THE SET UP. From bottom up.
Bread w/ mozz.
A few spinach and arugula leaves.
Slice of steak.
Drizzle of the balsamic reduction. (Image One)
Tomato, Bell, Basil mixture.

YUMMY!!!!!
I don’t cook steak alot, so I had a few tender parts and a few tough parts. Could have been my cut of beef, the way I cut the beef, or my cooking technique. But it was still good. Honestly, the steak didn’t need to be there. The tomato mixture itself was really good. Probably would be good with pasta too.