Girl Crushes

I doubt I am the only one, but I have a girl crush— two in fact*. One I’ve already admitted to on my blog previously, Molly Wizenberg, and the other is Lotta Jansdotter. Both of these ladies inspire me to create and remember to make things with my hands, and I thank them for that. Featured in this photo, coconut macaroons with chocolate ganache from Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life and Lotta Jansdotter’s 2011 limited edition fabric calendar.

p.s. Ok, well maybe three— I have a growing crush on one of my yoga instructors… she inspires me not to quit!

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January 05, 2011

Pom how-to

Do you like pomegranates?

As a fruit, I love how their hard, ugly shell reveals tiny kernels of bright red sweetness. But in terms of cooking or prepping with at home, they are usually too expensive and messy to deal with. They are in season right now and they seem to be everywhere I look at the grocery stores—more than usual really—I guess we can thank all the healthy PR they get! Last week they were on sale and I decided to buy one to dress up some fruit salad and NYE champagne; I picked a nice, big heavy one that seemed worthy of my $3. When it came time to seed it, I cut right into the pomegranate without even thinking— staining my fingers and splattering my kitchen walls into a red pink mess. I realized I had no idea what I was doing— there had to be a better way to do this.

After searching online, I found the general technique is to cut the ends off and then divide the pomegranate into sections. Then in a bowl of water, peel away the seeds from the membrane and sift out the bits— this seemed still too messy, since it’s the cutting that enables the splattering. My coworker found a similar technique with minimal cutting and it works great. Check it out:

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December 31, 2010

Year in Review

For my last post of 2010, I thought I would summarize the last 6 months or so.** I’ve been MIA more than usual this past year— a lot has happened and I hope to start 2011 with more energy and time for friends, family and personal projects. Happy New Year’s all! xoxo

**I warn you now, there’s lots of scrolling here!

Home cookin’
I’ve stopped spending all my money on design books long ago, but now it seems I can’t get enough of cookbooks. Good thing, since BBFF moved in late last year and he can eat more than me! Here’s a snapshot of the cookbooks I started and ended 2010 with, many of them being gifts from friends and family.

Goodbye
Last Memorial Day, my step dad—a.k.a Uncle Nick— was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. I was lucky to spend many weeks with my family through the summer and be with Nick during his final days. A true patriot, he passed on July 4th, 2010. Thank you to all my friends and family who supported me, my brother, Kenny and my mom, Patty. We love you all very much.

Nick

Shira-Z
Last spring, Kaomora started designing a limited-edition bibliography for Chet Ross Rare Books on the Japanese explorer, Nobu Shirase, and his expedition to the South Pole. After many months, we were happy to have the final book printed at Blanchette Press in Richmond, BC. and bound at Roswell Bindery in Arizona. The book is typeset in ITC Galliard and Futura.

Guu’d
While we were in Vancouver for press checks, we took the opportunity to EAT: famed tubular meats at JAPA DOG, Japanese Izakaya at GUU and more meat and cheeses at the Salt Tasting Room in Gastown.

Show-going
I went to few shows this year, but made it out to few memorable shows with friends in 2010: Wilco, Deerhunter, and the Flaming Lips… here’s Wayne in all his glory at the Paramount show in September.

New addition
As summer closed, we finally decided to adopt! Many of you may know Wiki from a previous post. He’s pretty much taken over the Kaomora household, and it seems hard to imagine him as shy as he is in this photo we took of him at the PAWS shelter the day we first met him.

Meow
I promise no more cat photos in this entry after this, but I wanted to make special note of the original monster, Meow Meow. These pictures taken by BBFF with his GF1 over the summer for me while I was away in Chicago and missing my family in Seattle.

Cheshire Cat and friends
Finally, after five years in Seattle, I visited a REAL pumpkin patch with friends, followed by a stop at the Issaquah Brewhouse for some Rogue beer. Afterwards, we headed to the Raghary’s for some pumpkin action.

Research
Sometimes I really can’t help from wanting to do “research” while I am slow at work. A couple of fashion happy moments this year included the opening of a Madewell store at U. Village and the purchase of pair of Rachel Comey Penpal booties in grey from my favorite store Totokaelo. I live in these boots and they are perfect for running around Seattle, rain or shine— as you can tell from how worn these look already, sorry!

T-Pie, Take 2
Thanksgiving was spent on the farm again this year, and after two years I think I’ve started a tradition of bringing the apple pie. This year’s pie was decorated with leaf patterns with cookie cutters Mom gave me last Christmas. I use a modified recipe from Martha Stewart that is time intensive, but well worth it. To see last year’s pie, click here.

Southern Holiday
This year, instead of staying in cold Chicago, Mom wanted to spend the holidays away. My brother chose Hilton Head Island as our home away for a week of family time, good meals, and sightseeing in the Lowcountry— it even snowed in SC while we were there! This year was a tough year for mom, but she’s still hanging on strong and making Christmas special for us like she has year after year.

Check!
As we get closer to the end of the year, I am happy to report that I achieved one of my goals for my trip to the south for the year: Chick-Fil-A! Some of you may know that I travel to ATL quite a bit for work, and it seems I never seem to get the chance to have a Varsity Dog or a Chick-Fil-A sandwich. In North Charleston, my goal was achieved. Sadly, I’m told by pal, Regenius, that I ordered the wrong sandwich! Oh well, it was in effort to “be good”— and my grilled chicken sandwich and waffle fries were delicious… but next time I will get you, #1!

NYE
So that’s that! Last year I dropped my iPhone in the toilet right after midnight, so this year I’m skipping the parties (but if I did go to a party I would go to Jfun’s prom party) to stay in with BBFF with champagne, Annie Hall and fireworks from our patio in Queen Anne. See ya in 2011!

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December 30, 2010

FIG!

For Christmas this year, my family decided to head to Hilton Head, South Carolina. One of the highlights of our trip was a day trip to Charleston. After a sunny day of sightseeing, we ended with a meal at FIG— recommended by Regenius and the November 2010 issue of Bon Appétit. Food is Good indeed. A few highlights from our dinner:

Classic Negroni to start