It's All Happening Now

Well dear readers this is it . . . my 100th post. Hard to believe that a mere 6 months ago I was celebrating Blog Post Number 50. Even harder to believe how much news I have to share in this milestone post.

1. I am done with my dietetic internship!!
   As of today, I have finished the last day of my outpatient rotation. That means I am officially done with my dietetic internship and am now Registered Dietitian Eligible.


2. I am done with my graduate project!!
   I have gotten approval from all three of my committee members and the director of the department. All that's left is to print two copies of my project on cotton paper and turn them into the Cal State LA library.


3. I am moving to Virginia!!
   In case you missed it, during my rotations I finally found the area of dietetics that I really want to be involved in, Nutrition Research. After discussing my options with my preceptor from my research rotation it came to light that a lot of nutrition research is located in the Maryland, Washington DC, and Northern Virginia area. So I've decided to pack my bags and see what the east coast has to offer me. Plus by moving there I'll be closer to a lot of my pals I haven't seen much of in the past three years.


4. Next week is my last week of being a graduate student!!
   Monday I have my last final. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I have a review course for the registered dietitian exam. Then, Friday is graduation day! Words can't express how excited I am to finally be a Registered-Dietitian-Eligible-Masters-Graduate and to have my friends and family here to celebrate with me for the weekend.

**NOTE: As of tomorrow, June 1st, I will no longer have internet available at my house. There is internet available down the street at the public library which I intend to make full use of until I leave CA on the 28th of June. So if I don't post as much or don't respond as quickly to your email, at least you know why.**

Santa Barbara

Every memorial day weekend Santa Barbara hosts the i madonnari Festival at the mission. The great thing about living in LA is that it's super simple to escape to Santa Barbara for the day; especially when you have a friend who is always up for a trip to SB.

On Saturday morning, E and I hopped into Gio- her Toyota 4Runner- and made our way up to Santa Barbara. After a brief stop at the Camarillo outlets for an obligatory shopping break, our first destination was UCSB. It's amazing how much has changed on campus since we graduated in 2003. There are now parking structures where there used to be flat lots, new buildings all over campus, and graduate student housing where there used to be an open field. But the more things change the more they stay the same. From our seats at our favorite restaurant SilverGreens in Isla Vista we watched as a group of students played a lunchtime game of Flip the Cup. The drinking game even included random dancing and running around with shirts swinging in the air after the win.

After purchasing a replacement alumni surround plate for my car, we stopped by the festival at the mission on our way downtown. The afternoon was spent shopping and enjoying the beautiful Santa Barbara day. Before heading home we had dinner at Pascucci's only the best Italian restaurant on State Street. It was here that we experienced the most memorable moment of the day . . .

After a short wait the host called our name and began to lead us through the restaurant to seat us for dinner. As we walked through the restaurant I noticed we were heading towards a curtain. "Cool," I thought, "we'll be in the back room away from the front door." Little did I know that behind the curtain, was a table. A secluded table for two. E lost it as we moved to sit behind the curtain and I sarcasticly exclaimed to her, "How romantic! Had I known you were taking me on a date I would have dressed up!"

The night got better when the man selling flowers stuck them through the opening in our curtain and peered in only to realize we weren't on a date, and quickly dissapeared before we had a chance to react to his presence. This was probably for the best because our reaction was a fit of giggles.

Then, later on in the evening, I was telling E how great it was to be seated behind a curtain so that I could secretly spy and eavesdrop on the couples having dinner around us when I heard a voice from above say, "Don't think that I can't see you." I turned to find a waiter standing behind my chair entering his orders into the computer. I guess we weren't as hidden away as I thought we were.

All in all it was a lovely day with E and out of LA. I purchased quite a few things for myself, most exciting of which was my dress for graduation. I wish I could tell you what it looks like but for now it will have to remain a surprise.

Bay To Breakers

Every year I participate in a San Francisco 12k known as the Bay to Breakers. For those of you who are not from the Bay Area, the Bay to Breakers starts on the bay side of San Francisco, snakes through the city, over the Hayes Street Hill, and ends on the breakers (Ocean) side of the city. It's the kind of race that would only occur in San Francisco. Adults, children, teenagers, and grandparents run it, walk it, or get pushed through it. They run it in costume, as a team, on floats, with kegs, and even naked.

This is a race that A and I have been doing since freshman year in college. It is our once-a-year-no-matter-where-you-are-or-what-you-are-doing-with-your-life tradition. The only year we both missed it was when we were studying abroad because we felt our time was better spent visiting each other in England or France. Every year is different and every year gets better.

This year it was only A, A's boyfriend, A's sister and I who participated, but there's nothing like getting up early on a Sunday morning for a 7 mile stroll through the city. Next year we are planning on costumes . . .



. . . not bad for walking all but the last mile.

One hour and $18 later . . .

. .  I have a new licence plate number and registration sticker. During this time Melissa, my car, decided that she would also like to change her name. She has now adopted her Chinese middle name as her one and only name. What can I say? The new licence plates did not inspire us and the DMV lady wasn't very nice about letting me pick a different set of plates. I guess it's what they give you is what you get. Next on the list, screws to hold the licence plate on to my car and a replacement UCSB alumni surround plate. Good thing I was planning to go up to Santa Barbara this weekend anyway.

What's Missing?

Today was a pretty good day until I returned to my car this afternoon to find my licence plate stolen. They took the back plate, my alumni surround plate, and of course the registration sticker on the plate. This left me spending half an hour trying to track down the phone number for the police department, another half an hour making a police report over the phone, followed by another half an hour retrieving said report from the station located in the heart of the ghetto. Let's just say this really made my day.

 

On the bright side, at least my car didn't get broken into, my tires didn't get slashed, and my car still works. On the down side I now have to spend time at the DMV getting issued new plates and getting new registration plus I am now at higher risk for getting pulled over. Although apparently my police report would get me out of a fix-it ticket or citation. What a way to start out the week.

Vanilla Almond Biscotti

I've adapted this recipe from Modern Classica Book 2 by Donna Hay. In my opinion this is the easiest and the tastiest biscotti recipe out there. I would even be tempted to call it a no-fail biscotti recipe.



Ingredients

• 2 cups plain flour


• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


• 3/4 cup sugar


• 3/4 blanched almonds


• 3 eggs


• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract


• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 325F. Place the flour, baking powder, and sugar in a large bowl; stir to mix. Add the eggs and extract; mix well to form a dough, kneading if necessary.

Shape into a log and flatten slightly. Place on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Preheat oven to 325F. Slice log into 1/4 inch thick slices. Place back on baking tray and bake for another 10-15 minutes, flipping once if biscotti starts browning. Store in an airtight container.

Announcing My Graduation

Click on invitation for full size image.
Invitations from CB Graduation Invitations.

A Taste of Yellow

While browsing through my favorite food blogs I came across Smitten Kitchen's contribution to A Taste of Yellow Event hosted by Barbara at Winos and Foodies. Even though I am too late to submit to her roundup, I wanted to make a contribution to this event with one of my favorite soups, Chinese Corn Soup, in my favorite thermos.


Recipe here

A Taste of Yellow Event asks food bloggers from all over the globe create a yellow food to show support for Lance Armstrong’s LIVESTRONG Day, May 16. The event is a grassroots advocacy initiative to unify people affected by cancer and to raise awareness about cancer survivorship issues on a national level and in local communities across the country. Click below to find out more about LIVESTRONG Day.

Griffith Park Brush-Fire

I was sitting in the breakroom with my coworkers today, enjoying a peaceful lunch, when one of my coworkers looked out the window and exclaimed, "I think that's a fire." I turned to look out the window and sure enough there was a small puff of smoke climbing from the hills. In a matter of seconds the fire had grown and there were clouds of smoke billowing into the air. I turned to my preceptor and said, "Do we call the fire station, the police, 911?"

As we watched the fire grow and the flames rise above the ridge of the hill, my preceptor got on the phone to the fire department. The rest of the afternoon we listened to the sound of the fire trucks heading up to the hills as we checked on the progress of the fire helicopters from the window of our break room.

It's amazing to me how quickly the fire spread. At one point it appeared close to some homes but then the winds must have shifted and the fire took off over the ridge and towards the zoo. Unreal. Below are a few pictures I pulled off of some of the news websites here.




***UPDATE***
So apparently in the last couple of hours, the fire has shifted and is now no longer threatening the zoo. Instead it is back on the southern side of the hollywood hils, the side of the houses. This means there are mandatory evacuations and the possibility that homes will go up in flames. The fire is also now progressively getting closer to the Griffith Park Observatory. Ironic that my roommate and I were planning a trip there this Friday for our last roommate outing in LA. My support goes out to all the displaced families and the firefighters and pilots working to battle this blaze. Let's hope there's good news in the morning.

Warm White Bean Salad

Today was a warm day in Southern California but with the Santa Ana winds blowing there was a little chill to the air, perfect for a warm salad. This recipe is from Everyday Food (May 2005) and it includes my favorite spring-time ingredient, lemon.


bean salad minus the onions

ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil


• 1/2 small red onion, diced


• 2 medium carrots, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced


• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced


• 1 garlic clove, slivered


• 2 cups cooked cannellini beans


• 1 tsp grated lemon zest


• 2 tsps fresh lemon juice


• salt and pepper to taste

In a small saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add onion and carrots, cook for 5 minutes or until onion is browned. Add bell pepper and garlic, cook until pepper is crisp-tender.

Stir in beans, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Cook until warm and serve.

It's Over . . . For Now

It's 10am on Sunday morning and I just finished revising my master's project. Finally. When I finished writing my two hundred word abstract and put my last period on the page, I was shocked to look at the clock and see that I had already been working for two and half hours. But that's pretty much how the whole week has gone. Hours upon hours have passed by like minutes as I have been working hard to improve my master's project. The next step is giving a new copy of my master's project to my project committee and waiting for the next round of corrections. It will be nice to have my life back for a little while.

 

So what am I going to do with my now free sunday afternoon? First off I am going to work on my cover letters for the new group of jobs I found last week. My pre-job search has now turned into an official job search and as such I need the best cover letters to get me those interviews! I also have to finish the last minute organization of the luncheon I am coordinating for my program. It's a luncheon for 90 registered dietitians as a thank you for being our preceptors during our rotations throughout the year. I have to come up with my welcome speech and double check the last minute arrangements so that everything runs smoothly tomorrow. If I have any time left after these two tasks, I'm going to do some cooking. I want to make some raisin bran buns for my roommate and I, but we'll see if I get around to that or not.

Pasta with Almond-Pea Pesto

If you are looking for something different and easy for spring-time this is your recipe. The hint of tartness from the lemon is perfectly balanced with the sweetness from the peas in this fresh and light pesto which you can make ahead and store up to a week in a sealed container in the fridge.



Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat pasta (penne, spaghetti, rotini, etc.)


• 2 packages (10 oz each) frozen peas, thawed


• 1/2 cup blanched almonds


• finely grated zest and juice of 1 lemon


• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta until al dente adding 1 package of peas during the last minute of cooking time.

2. While your water is heating/pasta is cooking finely grind almonds in a food processor. Add lemon zest and juice, other package of peas, and process until combined. With motor running, gradually add oil and process until smooth.

3. Add almond-pea pesto to pasta and peas. Toss to coat. Serve.

Yields: Six servings