What's one thing you can't say no to?
I'm a Taurus. There's more than one thing:
- Prosciutto
- Gelato
- Spicy Mayan chocolate from Chuao
- Iced mocha, chai latte, or a good capuccino
- An heirloom tomato. Especially with some good buffalo mozzarella.
- Yogurtworld
- The Sugar & Spice drink from Market restaurant
- Having friends over for dinner or a beach day
- My honey's puppy dog eyes
I've used this recipe from Sunset magazine a couple times (with variations), and it's been a hit. If you're looking for a super-easy, crowd-pleasing, relatively healthy dessert, try this:
Figs with Greek Yogurt
Halve or quarter some figs, and arrange in a circle on a plate. (I've also substituted nectarines & champagne grapes. Any sweet, juicy fruit will do).
Fill the middle of the plate with greek yogurt.
Drizzle honey all over the yogurt.
Pour on some chopped nuts (the original Sunset magazine recipe calls for pistachios, but I had walnuts and those worked fine).
Make some cinnamon sugar chips to serve with:
Cut whole-wheat tortillas in 6 equal pie shapes. Brush both sides with melted butter and sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mix. (About 3 parts sugar, 1 part cinammon, or whatever looks right).
Bake in a 350-degree oven for 8-10 minutes.
Delish and kind of addicting. It also photographs well.
This is a great video summary of our Tiki Oasis weekend:
I think I'm going to make this drink soon - it just sounds too good, especially for a summer sunset. I'll say it's in honor of my Brazilian honey. Courtesy of Imbibe magazine.
Coconut Batidinha
Located in the wealthy Jardins neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil a Gosto takes many liberties with traditional Brazilian recipes in the restaurant, but chef Ana Luiza Trajano doesn't mess with tradition for her traditional batida.
2 oz. premium cachaça
2 oz. fresh coconut milk
1 1/3 oz. condensed milk
Finely crushed ice
Tools: shaker
Glass: dessert wine rimmed with fresh coconut shavings (optional)
Garnish: mint leaf
Place all ingredients in shaker. Shake to blend and pour into glass. Garnish.
Ana Luiza Trajano, Brazil a Gosto, São Paulo, Brazil
Yum!
Recently I've found a couple of products that work great, so I thought I'd share them with you.
First up, the ZeroWater filter. In Cardiff by the Sea, our water tastes like fish. That's pretty much the only bad thing about living there. The Brita water pitcher couldn't take away the nasty taste, and we were forced to buy bottled water, which is completely against my eco/wallet-conscious nature. Well, we recently found the ZeroWater, which according to the company, is the only filtered water to meet the FDA standard for bottled water.
On the con side, the filter is bigger than a Brita filter, so it takes more room inside the pitcher. On the pro side, the filter doesn't leave little bits of charcoal in the top or bottom part of the filter, which the Brita always did.
Target sells the ZeroWater pitcher for $35, and a four-pack of replacement filters runs at $60.
Next up, Kinesys sunscreen. The honey has very fair skin, and gets burned within 10 minutes of being in the sun. As a surfer, he's in the sun all the time. So we've tested just about every sunscreen on the market. We found Kinesys at Tiki Oasis, and it is the best stuff money can buy. It is a little on the expensive side - $19 a bottle. Right now, you can only find it online, but soon it will be at Whole Foods.
Expensive, yes, but totally worth it. A little goes a long way - I only need 7-10 sprays to cover my entire body, and it only needs to be reapplied every 2-3 hours for very fair people, 4-5 for the rest of us.
The best part is, it feels like you don't have any sunscreen on. It smells good, and you're not slathering on as many chemicals. I have sensitive skin and I hate the oily feeling of most sunscreens. I believe Kinesys is used by the Ironman triathletes. If you try it, you'll love it.
The second best sunscreen, in terms of non-oilyness, is Aveeno for face, but that doesn't even compare to the Kinesys. I'm sold.
I'm finally getting around to blogging about the weekend before last -- i.e., TIKI OASIS 9! It was epic.
It was my third year attending, but my first year actually staying at the hotel and attending all the festivities. Definitely a good move - why didn't I do this before?
For those of you unfamiliar with Tiki Oasis, it's kinda like a big tiki geek convention. Think Comic-Con, except instead of comics, you get rum drinks, hula girls, tiki carving, pool lounging, swanky music, room crawls, and did I mention rum drinks?
The weekend kicked off with the Bali Hai opening party, where I saw the usual cast of tiki celebs - Doug Horne, Crazy Al, Otto von Stroheim, and King Kukulele. Here's me n' King Kukulele. The theme this year was "Surf City" so I was doing my best to channel my inner Gidget.
And here's my friend Todd, borrowing Doug Horne's glasses -
My tiki crew, which consisted of the honey, and Todd & Eliot, were encouraging people this year to bring/buy their own mugs in lieu of using disposable cups. So we made shirts for ourselves & handed out stickers to people with their own mugs. Special thanks to Nick at Tiki Magazine for giving us an ad for free. And Otto said that next year he'd help us advertise the effort some more. Next year, we'll be applying tattoos. :)
The weekend was full of pool lounging, and listening to swingin' 50s exotica music. Shag was there, making a rare appearance with his band the Hungtington Cads. (He usually just sticks to his art).
My favorite part of this year was the room crawls. Generous tiki-philes host room parties, with free rum drinks and usually music. There are enough parties to go to from 5pm till the wee hours of the morning. The first party we attended was Friday night in Queen Kamehameha's (Amy & Ray's). Here's what the line looked like:
We were handed souvenier tiki shot glasses with Limoncello 151 (hello!) upon entering. There were 3 additional yummy drink selections, food, and a band - the Martini Kings, with a stand-up bass and vibraphone! They were great.
I mean, where else could you find room crawls? Awesome. Our Saturday night room crawl was a pajama party.
Here's the elevator crowd - we're all traveling to room parties :) --
As you can see, the event was pretty big:
Here's me asking Shag to autograph my inner tube. (I had just visited the rum symposium, which may explain this situation):
Some tiki carving:
Why do you love your body?
Sponsored by Body by Victoria®from Victoria's Secret.
What a funny question. "I love my body because...."
No, but seriously, when I was young, I spent a lot of time focusing on what I don't have (boobs, a cute pointy nose, height, etc.). But I've reached a few realizations between the age of 12 and 30:
1 - The way people react to you is based more on how you view your own attractiveness, then on how perfect you look. When you're feeling confident, you feel good in your own skin, you stand up straight and smile, you give off an aura of good-lookingness. You can be tall, short, fat, thin, brunette, blonde -- there's a Janie for every Johnnie and a Johnnie for every Janie as my friend would say. Even after coming to this logical realization, it took me years before I could really emotionally believe this and put it into practice. But as I grew up, I slowly built up my confidence. And now I can walk down the street giving off the "hot mammajamma" vibe.
2 - I like looking different. Some of the things that I didn't like about myself as a kid are the things that set me apart. I'm Asian and I have freckles... that's pretty cool, right? (However, I will admit to plucking my Irish unibrow.. I'm not altogether un-vain).
3 - When it really comes down to it, I'm healthy. And that makes all the other stuff a heck of a lot less important. You get to realizing this when you or someone you love has some kind of major illness.
This week I've gone into battle. My weapons are the phone, claim forms, and pleading. My enemy, Cigna.
A couple years ago, my dentist told me that my jawbone was disintegrating. This happens sometimes with people who have bridges and who've had trauma there. He told me that if I didn't get dental implants to replace my bridge, that the bone would continue to resorb, and eventually I'd continue losing teeth until nothing was left. That's no good.
I saw several periodontists and oral surgeons, and many of them said, "your bone loss is too difficult for me to fix," and referred me to my current surgeon, who's basically a real expert on this stuff. He's expensive, and he doesn't bill the insurance company for you (geez, thanks). I guess it's just too time-consuming.
My dentist's receptionist, however, offered to complete the forms for me. Yay, I thought. Well, unfortunately, she filled them out all wrong. So I'm trying to do them myself, because I can't even get in touch with her. The insurance company won't give me the procedure codes I need to complete the forms, so I begged my oral surgeon's assistant to do some research to figure them out for me (she's not trained in this area).
So, I am submitting the claim form for the 3rd time. (Last time it took them 6 months to send me the denial letter). Praying that I can get some of my oodles of money back. I may also need to get a letter of medical necessity from my oral surgeon and my medical doctor, in the hopes that that will sway my insurance company somewhat. All this is driving me a little batty, because it's likely that I will just get denied, since my insurance company won't cover dental implants because they're considered cosmetic. Argh. But I feel like I should try since it's so much $$$.
Now, if, like when I was younger, was living a little more hand-to-mouth, there's no way I could afford this. I'd either go into serious credit card debt, postpone my treatment, or not have it at all, which would result in the insurance company having to pay a LOT more for tooth extractions, dentures for the rest of my life, and possibly other conditions resulting from not having teeth. And if the insurance company pays a lot, it's really all of us consumers paying a lot, because they just keep raising their premiums.
Here are a couple interesting, relevant facts about our healthcare system:
- More than half of our spending on healthcare -- $1.2 trillion of $2.2 in total spending -- is a waste. Top areas of waste are defensive medicine, inefficient claims processing and care spent on preventable conditions. (Link to Price Waterhouse Coopers study)
- 23% of people surveyed by Consumer Reports in March put off a doctor's visit to curb expenses, while 18% delayed a medical procedure. (Link)
From the design to the features, what should the perfect kid-friendly laptop include? What would you leave out?
Sponsored by WePC.You dream it. ASUS builds it. Intel Inside®The perfect kid laptop would probably be way more sophisticated than the adult laptops, because we all know that kids would be able to figure it out a lot faster. Maybe it would come with software to create your own cartoons, edit movies, create music mash-ups, and make multimedia art, so that kids would be motivated to become power-users while using programs they enjoy.
I'm currently experiencing writer's block, so I've decided to do the Proust Questionnaire, which I've wanted to do anyway. Inspired by Cori on the front page of today's Vox. (I may have done this before, but the answers change sometimes).
The Proust Questionnaire has its origins in a parlor game popularized (though not devised) by Marcel Proust, the French essayist and novelist, who believed that, in answering these questions, an individual reveals his or her true nature. Here is the basic Proust Questionnaire.
1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Philosophically, having a deep sense of objective truth -- that is, being able to see "the big picture," rather than getting caught up in mundane worries. Practically, having a family, health, good, healthy food, financial security, and the freedom to travel.
2. What is your greatest fear?
I'm not sure that I have an ultimate greatest fear, but two things that occur to me are: dealing with a debilitating/chronic illness in the family or infidelity. As for physical fears, I am pretty cautious since I was in so many accidents as a kid.
3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Generally, I like to think that I work pretty hard at improving myself continually. However, when I forget myself, I can be too controlling, interrupt people, and perhaps too self-critical.
4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
A sense of entitlement.
5. Which living person do you most admire?
There are several: Oprah, President Obama, Michelle Obama, Michael Pollan. If I thought about this longer, the list would grow. I can't really put one at the top.
6. What is your greatest extravagance?
Food - I enjoy fine dining experiences, and I value locally grown food. If I were to pick a more fussy extravagance, I'd say high-quality stationery, nice soap, or shoes. Hey, I'm a Taurus, what can I say...
7. What is your current state of mind?
Calm and content. Thankful.
8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Unchallenged virtue. It's easy not to sin if you haven't gone through tough times.
9. On what occasion do you lie?
("White lies" mind you) - I suppose when I am afraid of being judged or when I feel the other person won't understand me.
10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
Right now, my four missing front teeth. Generally, I like looking unique and not cookie-cutter perfect.
11. Which living person do you most despise?
I have no idea. There are political figures whom I have no respect for, but I don't know them personally so I can't really despise them. I don't despise anyone I know.
12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Thoughtfulness.
13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Self-possession.
14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
I'm not sure, otherwise I'd try to fix it. Feel free to tell me, I can take it! Maybe something like "cool" or "okie dokie".
15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My honey. We've been going 4 years strong, my longest relationship, and it still feels easy.
16. When and where were you happiest?
I'd say right now. I also have wonderful memories of hanging out with my dad at the beach when I was three.... I don't know if anything could beat that simple, innocent bliss.
17. Which talent would you most like to have?
Fearlessness, so that I could be more athletic (especially for skiing and surfing).
18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would question myself and my decisions less.
19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Being a good friend, advancing in my career, doing fieldwork in Watts for my undergrad thesis.
20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A muppet. They always have a great time!
21. Where would you most like to live?
Where I live now, in Cardiff by the Sea. However, I would love to also try out Saigon, Vietnam; Vermont; and San Francisco.
22. What is your most treasured possession?
My dresser - it was my first (only) piece of real, non-Ikea furniture. It's a beautiful solid quarter-sawn oak piece made by Amish people. It has dovetailed, self-closing drawers. Best of all, it was way cheaper than the stuff you find at Pottery Barn, etc. onelineamishfurniture.com if you're interested.
23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Not having any freedom. Besides the obvious lack of freedom imposed by political regimes, there's also self-imposed lack of freedom. I think this can come from being so caught up in ultimately unimportant things -- money, looks, work, sex, etc. -- that you are not free to confront your problems, make a future for yourself, or enjoy the things and people that surround you.
24. What is your favorite occupation?
I don't know - maybe design-centric jobs, or entrepreneurial jobs.
25. What is your most marked characteristic?
Physically, my mixed ethnicity gives me an interesting look - Asian with freckles.
26. What do you most value in your friends?
Willingness to try new things.
27. Who are your favorite writers?
James Baldwin, Vladimir Nabokov, William Faulkner
28. Who is your hero of fiction?
The men and women struggling in Baldwin's stories are very real and heroic at the same time.
29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?
I've never identified with a specific historical figure. Perhaps the pioneer women of the 1800s; there are times in my life that I've felt a fierce determination to do something no matter what people said or how hard it was.
30. Who are your heroes in real life?
My dad, my grandma.
