August 2010
1 post
First Meal at the New Apartment
First Meal at the New Apartment
Because we didn’t end up eating pizza and beer after moving on Sunday (mmm… Cho Sun Ok instead), Eric and I decided to make a homemade pizza on Monday night, to break in our new kitchen.
When I came home, Eric had bought me a celebratory bouquet of flowers. Aww.
Eric and I are joking that we are “living large,” living on the top floor,...
July 2010
0 posts
April 2010
5 posts
“Well tell the people that you are there to announce the coming of a savior who...”
– Eric’s brother, on our (and then his) upcoming trip to Peru.
2 tags
This Dish is 2010 Me In Food Form
Megan was in town this week (see my last post), so I have spent a little more money than usual on food and drinks this week. So today, post spending extravaganza, I tried to go the whole day without spending a cent. This lead me to cooking tonight’s dinner with whatever was in my fridge and pantry— rice cakes, scallions, hot sauce, gochujang, spinach and dried mushrooms.
I...
3 tags
Dduk Bokki with Dduk in a new size!
Today at work, I had to fill out a little “Welcome to the Chicago Office” form. It had some fun questions, like “What would you be doing if you weren’t in PR?” and “If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would you pick?” For “What is your guilty pleasure?” I wrote: “Dining at restaurants that I really can’t...
March 2010
11 posts
3 tags
This Is Why You're Fat: Cheesecake Factory
My problem with The Cheesecake Factory isn’t that it serves cheesecake that is merely average, it’s that it serves food in ridiculously enormous portions. I’m talking portions that leave me angry because if they would only give me half of the food (the amount I’m capable of eating in one sitting), they could charge me half the price, thus leaving me just as full but with a...
“so many little kids… and too many obese people wearing a micky mouse hat”
– Eric, on staying within Disney World for a business convention
1 tag
Resume Pet Peeves: Things to Avoid when Submitting...
As one of my final tasks at my current job, I have been given the responsibility of sorting through the responses to job postings on CareerBuilder, Doostang, Craigslist, college career sites, etc. The following is a list of things I have encountered so far that really irk me. If you want a job, do not:
Request a send receipt. Seriously. Do you know how abrasive, obnoxious and completely...
2 tags
Tapas! Sangria! Cray Cray!
After reading Smitten Kitchen’s recipe “Spinach and Chick Peas,” I knew I just had to host a tapas dinner.
We all know that the first necessity for any tapas party is sangria. Extra fruity wine with ice? Yes, please. Especially on a day like yesterday, when Chicago weather resembles spring and makes everyone just want to be outside.
My classic go-to recipe for Sangria (found...
1 tag
The Census Comes to Chicago
Today on my lunch break, I walked through Daley Plaza only to discover that a giant air-Census Form was on display in the plaza. I immediately took out my camera and started taking pictures/had my coworker take a picture of me next to it.
I will note that it surprisingly looked like the census form appearing on an iPad.
I thought it would be funny to get a picture of me filling out...
5 tags
Quick, Easy and Delicious: Shanghai-ish Noodles
I know, I know, it’s been awhile since I last posted. Life has been so busy lately (my birthday week, the final steps towards a new job, friend in town, etc.) that honestly, I haven’t been doing a lot of cooking. However, there have been a few meals that I have been meaning to blog about. So here goes the first one: Shanghai-ish Noodles, a meal anyone could easily adapt from...
CorzBirthday #24!
This morning my coworker gave me a cute, small birthday cupcake figurine made by Brian Lock, a local artist that works primarily with the clay medium.
It matches my Pin Queen figurine perfectly, although I’m still questioning whether or not a 24-year-old should have such things displayed on her desk. Perhaps that will finally answer my question— I will truly feel old when I have...
The Recipe Tweaker
I cannot say it any better. Here is a paragraph from Amateur Gourmet’s latest post:
So even a bad tweak has a silver tweak lining. And that’s the point, isn’t it? The beginner cook cooks nervously, makes mistakes and follows a recipe like it’s the written word of God. The intermediate cook might make a change here or there, but does so cautiously. It’s only when...
3 tags
Epic Birthday Cake FAIL
Over the weekend, my roommate held her birthday celebration at a local bar. Since it isn’t a birthday without a birthday cake, I loaded up my shopping cart with the essentials (eggs, butter, cake flour, vanilla extract) and set out to make a plain yellow cake with chocolate whipped cream frosting.
Having used Martha Stewart’s cake recipe before (see my post “Cake and Coffee...
4 tags
The Quest to Spread Tteokbokki Love (rice cakes)
While reading some Korean fusion blogs (and discovering that people are as obsessed with tteokbokki as I am), I found a link to this article, “Can tteokbokkie rescue the rice industry?”
The article is about how the Korean food ministry is trying out new shapes and new sauces to give rice cakes a broader appeal to international audiences. “Instead of [the traditional] red...
February 2010
12 posts
4 tags
Tofu with Pan Roasted Asparagus, Browned...
So after writing my last post about the rules of food blogging, I promised myself I would try to post more pictures of my food during the cooking process. Oops (I had to steal one from another foodie blog this time). This meal had too many things going on at once for me to stop and take pictures of what was happening. I was too busy trying to prevent food items from burning, so forgive me. I...
Ten Rules for Food Blogging
Today, Amateur Gourmet wrote an interesting piece (including the picture above) on The Ten Rules for Food Blogging:
1. Have a hook. That hook might be cooking your way through a cookbook, deriding disastrous cakes, or advising fellow workers on where to eat in midtown.
2. If you don’t have a hook, have a name. Like this guy or this guy, both of whom made a name for themselves in the...
Times When I Feel Like A Real Cook
When I get home and reheat last night’s meal (no microwave) and realize it needs a liquid at the bottom, so I add a little wine to the mix. Then when I taste it and it’s a little too bitter, I realize I need to add sugar to balance it out. Go me. It was just as good as last night.
5 tags
Mini Rice Cakes in Roasted Red Pepper, Caper and...
Adapted from Ode2Food’s Gnocchi in Roasted Red Pepper, Caper and Roasted Garlic Sauce
So after last week’s adventure in can opening, I went to the store, bought canned tomatoes and returned home… all while my can opener was still at Eric’s. Realizing that whole tomatoes weren’t going to squeeze out of the half-assed opened can like the tomato paste like last time, I...
4 tags
Office Appropriate Korean Food
Okay, let’s be honest. I cannot eat Korean food without 100 napkins and making a mess all over the place. It’s so bad that at the end of the meal, as Eric and I are cleaning up, his place setting is spotless while mine is riddled with sauce spots and random food particles. Essentially, when it comes to Korean food, I’m a five year old child.
Bulgogi (I haven’t yet...
4 tags
The Time I Got Eric to Cook a Korean Fusion Dish
Super Bowl Sunday. Football, friends, good commercials and… Korean food?
After Eric shot down my idea of Korean style braised short ribs, I managed to get him to take on a more extreme fusion dish: Korean tacos.
The idea was taken from the Kogi BBQ food trucks in LA. Essentially, we made traditional bulgogi for the base and then topped it with some napa cabbage slaw (soy sauce, lime...
5 tags
Quick, Easy, Delicious: Cumin Scented Stir Fry...
Saturday was a busy day. Eric and I hit up Milk & Honey for brunch, the Art Institute (free in February) and Michigan Ave to replace Eric’s hole-in-crotch jeans. With a zillion other things on our to do list, we stopped by the grocery store knowing we’d want something quick, easy and delicious…
and this stir fry dish came to mind. We’ve made it once before and will...
Corrie Presents: Ways to Open a Can without a Can...
Tonight Gayle and I made a simple pizza: tomato paste, goat cheese, garlic, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes and spinach.
Easy… come home from store, lay out the dough, add some olive oil, open the tomato paste… oh wait, my can opener was at Eric’s house!
Do you remember that Looney Tunes episode “Canned Feud” where Sylvester is left at home and desperately...
2 tags
Cooking for One: Chicken Edition
Since Eric is out of town and I have my aerobics class from 6-7, I usually cook alone on Wednesdays. Last week, after buying a package of 5 chicken breasts, I fell back on a quick seared chicken with horseradish and mustard crust over a bed of lettuce and baguette. Easy, simple, fast… but boring after 3 meals in a row.
So tonight, before heading to the grocery store, I took a quick look...
January 2010
8 posts
His Pain Is Their Gain
thejerkstore:
I will donate $10 to Haiti relief every time the Saints sack Favre. Who will match me?
Defending the Slowness of Football
So apparently football games only have 11 minutes of action. I’d like to see an analysis on how many minutes (or pages) of any form of entertainment truly advance the plot. How many pages are “filler” and build characters up or give descriptions of the setting (like side line shots of the players or shots of the crowd do in NFL productions). Perhaps, if you are going to...
Being Related to Ben Leech
Over winter break, I went to see Ben play in a home basketball game— my old high school. When I realized my friend was conducting the band, I went over to say hi. A few freshman flute players asked who I was, so I said “Oh, I’m Ben Leech’s sister.” Then proceeded to tell them that I used to be the drum major back in the day. I have told the story several times, as...
“Interviewer: “But even the world’s finest scientists say we’re...”
– from “A brief interview with the devil” by Mark Morford of the SFGate, one of my new favorite columnists.
Christmas Eve at the Leech House
I love Wisconsin, don’t get me wrong, but some days I just crave certain types of food. The Wednesday before Christmas was one of those days— I was dying for some indian food. I even got the whole family on board and the game plan was Taste of India in Brookfield around 7pm.
Too bad the weather didn’t cooperate with our plans. Mah! Snow turning to icy rain turning to snow...
Office Humor: Lottery Winner
A husband says to his wife, “What would you do if I won the Lottery?”
She says, “I’d take half, then leave you.”
“Excellent,” he replies, “I won 12 bucks, here’s $6, now get the f*&^ out.
December 2009
11 posts
1 tag
My Thoughts On Christmas Cards
Now that I have sent my Christmas cards out, I can sit back and judge all the ones that come in. I love to see pictures of people (why send out a family card without one?) and enjoy seeing how people’s personalities come through (Grannie always chooses a Snoopy card, my mom does something uber religious, etc)
My only gripe with Christmas cards is the braggy Christmas card that details all...
Yes Virginia, Gift Cards Do Suck...
My coworker and I were discussing gift cards the other day. As a Christmas shopper who LOVES finding the perfect gift for someone (or at least finding the gift that you thought was perfect for someone), gift cards are a cop out. My problem with them is that Christmas has gotten so big, so commercialized, that people feel obligated to BUY something. Some of the best gifts are for those...
'Tamale Guy' an icon at bars where kitchens close... →
I love Claudio! This is so funny. Seriously, look up @tamaletracker on twitter—- gotta love Tamale Man!
2 tags
I Attempt Indian Food Again: Channa Marsala
Instead of trying my Tempeh Curry again (because I wasn’t sure if the crappy Jewel by my house even carries tempeh), I decided to go for channa marsala, knowing I had rice to accompany it already waiting at home.
Stolen from Serious Eats, who apapted a version from Recipezaar.
Channa Masala
- serves 2 (really hungry people)
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter 1/2 onion, chopped 1 garlic...
Unemployment Rates by County
Watch as the whole country slowly goes to black… this is scary.
http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html
2 tags
Baking Win: Cookies!
I finally made cookies that turned out! (See my earlier post: Cookie Fail).
I guess I subconsciously realized that Friday (Dec. 4th) was National Cookie Day, because I came home feeling the need to turn up the Christmas music, make a boozy peppermint mocha and bake cookies.
Challenge #1: Ever since my mixer died while making cheesecake, I am minus an electronic mixer. The recipe had to be...
“Being a virgin in this day and age is something to be proud of. You’re...”
– Best quote from Community… ever.
Group of NU Students Demolish Tradition
http://www.northbynorthwestern.com/2009/12/61306/chipping-away-tradition/
Best quote from the comments: “Oh, wait, you just destroyed history. Your art history professors should fail you.”
This (like my friend Gayle said) makes me irrationally angry. But c’mon NU. Really?
Had I been on campus I would have mobilized my friends and protested.
2 tags
Christmas Time at Muffin Top!
I figured today was the perfect day to bust out my Christmas decorations (I bought the lights at CVS and the rest was left over from El Dorado) and listen to my first Christmas songs of the season as I hung said decorations. Behold! The results:
My living room.
A shot of the front door.
Stockings over the door…
The Kitchen.
I’m mad at myself for forgetting my fiber optic...
November 2009
28 posts
Eric and Me in Tim Burton form
Last week, Eric hit up the Tim Burton exhibit at the MoMA while touring NYC/visiting his brother.
Yesterday, when I came home he had a present waiting for me: Corrie and Eric in Tim Burton’s world. :o)
“Brie Boy” and “Staring Girl” figurines.
My desk is really really starting to look like a 5th grader works here…