Teatopia

Bento Box for a Birthday Boy

Fist of all, I want to wish a happy birthday to my sweetie who is now a quarter of a century old. Happy 25th honey!

We had lunch at a neat, new Japanese place in town called Osaka. We had Bento boxes with rice, salad, miso soup, california rolls, shumai, and an entree. James chose chicken udon and I had chicken terriyaki. They were wonderul along with a nice cup of green tea. James assures me that these are just like the ones in Japan, only larger, but I'll have to take it from him. I won't know til next summer! (hopefully . . .)

New Clothes For a New Job

I received a nice, big packet of papers to fill out for my new job as a language arts teacher this coming school year. It was the final step in securing this job for me, so I'm happy to have it in writing. There are still more meetings. . . which brings me to my next point- clothes! Because I haven't worked in a professional setting long-term, I don't have that many things to wear. So, now I have an excuse to go shopping and get some cool, but professional clothes. Don't forget, I'm teaching teens and it helps when they think you're cool. (It also helps to be 23). It amazes me what some teachers wear. No denim jumpsuits for me, thank you! Here are some things I have my eye on:

- This pink skirt from Gap and light pink sandals to match from Nine West

- This gorgeous tiger lilly pretty from Nordstrom

- This lovely apricot skirt and this top

A Simple Summer Salad

I made a fresh, fruity summer salad for lunch today. It was quite simple really. I took a spring mix salad, blueberries, chopped strawberries, purple onion, and goat cheese and covered it lightly in raspberry walnut viniagrette. It was fast and delicious. You can add whatever ratios of the ingredients you'd like. It's a nice fresh salad for a summer day and best of all- it's low fat!

Good Company and Fine Food

Today was a wonderful, fun-filled day! We spent the day in Atlanta with Stef and Mike and had a great time! First, we stopped by our favorite tea shop, Tea Fusions We ate yummy chicken salad sandwiches and drank tea. Mike and Stef had iced tea, while James and I shared a pot of a Turkish green apple tea. I also left with a few new kinds of tea- ginger peach rooibos and lemon green tea. Next we went to Lenox Square Mall where Stef and I shopped around while the guys hung out in the Apple Computers store. Dinner was at a fantastic restaurant called the South Indian Cafe. It's a restaurant featuring dishes from Kerala and we all shared mutton cury, paratha, dosa, samosas, dahl, chicken coconut curry, and fish curry. We also had lovely rose water milks. Next we headed to Teaspace (pictured below). This place is awesome. They have even been featured on the Food Network. It's an asian fusion place that incorporates tea into the dishes. We all had bubble tea (lychee, milky oolong, honeydew, and passion fruit). The guys had homemade chai icecream and I had a ooey gooey brownie made with oolong tea and chocolate mint sauce, which is also pictured below.

What a great day!

Friday Photos

Ok, so technically it's really early Saturday morning, but this is the first chance I've had to post these pics because we've been grooming our poodle for the last few hours. It's always a production. Poor little guy. I'm not sure who hates it more, us or him. Anyway, here are a few pics for our Friday night.

Mushrooms in wine sauce from tonight's dinner. Yummy!

Green tea ice cream from a local Japanese sushi bar (yep, we went out just for dessert)

James had this yummy red bean ice cream

Paradise in the Making

While Stef's tropical oasis awaits her, mine is still very much in the making. I am excited though, just the planning and researching alone is great fun. It was our trip to Korea that really led to our trip next summer. James' dad has been telling us for a while now how spectacular Phuket is (they've been several times), so we decided, what the heck, let's do it! We are actually going to go with them, which will be fun. We are also going to take advantage of the proximity to other Asian countries and either visit Japan for a few days first (a LONG layover) or return to Korea for a few days and then all fly over to Thailand together. We haven't gotten that far in our planning yet.

I have wanted to go to Thailand ever since I saw "Brokedown Palace." Weird I know because that movie would scare most people, but I seriously doubt that what happened in that movie is the norm. I am thinking more along the lines of food, hot sand, beautiful beaches, spas, food, temples, shopping, food, and, did I mention. . . FOOD!

Paradise in a Can

We brought home some of these fantastic drinks from Korea. Needless to say, our suitcases were quite heavy. Luckily though, I found these drinks at our local Korean grocery. They don't carry all the flavors in Korea, but they have a decent selection. These drinks are fabulous-- and the best part is the fruit floating throughout the drink. The grape is probably my favorite. I love the juicy, delicious, green grapes floating around. Yummy. James loves the peach. These are definitely cooler than canned American juices. If you have an asian grocery near you, see if you can't find these Haitai brand drinks. They are amazing and the pieces of fruit in each sip is a nice surprise. :-)

The Last Few Days

Well, I had a brief but wonderful trip back home to Washington, D.C. Here are some noteworthy things about my trip besides my cousin's wedding:

Lunch at Tara Thai, a beautiful "under the sea" themed restaurant

A new bubble tea kit for bubble tea at home from the "Tea Neck Court" near my old house

Heading Home

I am looking forward to my trip home to Washington, D.C. for a few days. I am leaving in the morning and heading to Atlanta for my flight. I'm going because my cousin is getting married, but I'll get to see one of my best friends while I'm there who I haven't seen since my wedding. I'll also see family I haven't seen in years as and hopefully get to visit a few favorite hangouts. Unfortunately, James isn't coming with me because he just used a lot of leave for Florida and Korea and also someone has to watch our 2 dogs. It's ok though. He doesn't consider it home the way I do because he only lived there a couple years.

Willy Woka and the Curry Factory

So you probably think I'm a little goofy based on the title of this post, but I have been cooking up a storm lately with the help of my two kitchen companions: Willy Woka (my wok) and Ajuma the rice cooker (pictured above). In case you are wondering, "Ajuma" literally translates to mean "aunt" in Korean, but it's generaly used to refer to an old woman). Anyway, I have a habit of naming things, so when I started calling my new wok "Willy" (he was pictured last week), James joked that our house had become Willy Woka's curry factory, and indeed it has. :-)

I have to admit, when James first bought me my rice cooker, I wasn't quite sure how to use it. I wasted a lot of rice before I figured out ratios that worked for me, and now that I have it right, it's become my best friend in the kitchen. Alhtough, as James often reminds me, rice has a lot of carbs, so I don't make it as much as I'd like.

Smoothies

Last night I made James and I banana smoothies in these cute cups we picked up in Korea at the coolest Smoothie King ever. My sister works at Smoothie King here in Georgia and we brought her back a cup too. She said those cups aren't available here in the states. In Korea, they serve their smoothies in these and we just had to have 'em!

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

We just returned from dinner and a movie. Dinner? Pad Thai and Massaman Chicken at a local Thai restaurant. The movie? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban of course. I've been dying to see this movie, but I compared everything to the book. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was clever and the dark mood certainly follows the changing tones of the novel, but there is just no comparison to a good book. I see any book as the ultimate authority over the movie and as I watched today, I couldn't help but compare every scene and word to what I read. I think the director did a fabulous job visually because every image I imagined in the book looked as I thought it would on screen. But if I had to decide between going to the theater for Harry Potter or curling up with one of the books James ordered for me for Christmas from the UK, well, I think you know what I'd choose. :-)

Yoga

I used to take Yoga a few years ago and really enjoyed it. Back then, I was a vegetarian and really enjoyed the healthy nutritional side of yoga in addition to the actual positions. I've been wanting to resume classes but really haven't found a good place here to take it. I was spoiled by a wonderful teacher in the Washington, D.C. area who had actually been to India several times and studied under wonderful teachers. Here, it's hard to find someone who really lives the lifestyle. I checked out a few places, but they just seemed different for some reason. I learned more from my teacher than just yoga positions. I learned to appreciate candles and new age music, as well as the benefits of meditation. My teacher even made me an eye pillow out of beautiful fabric from a sari she brought back from India. I also became more interested in organic food. I now eat some meat, but you don't have to be a vegetarian to appreciate the benefits of yoga. :-)

At Bath & Body Works' semi-annual sale, I picked up a yoga DVD and pretty blue yoga mat. This will be a good way for me to get back into it and then I think I will try again to find a yoga teacher.

Mediterranean Pizza

Tonight we made a mediterranean pizza on the grill. It was from a recipe I found in this month's Bon Apetit under easy dinners for the grill. First we grilled the pita bread after brushing it with olive oil, then we piled on a mixture of tomato, purple onion, olives, feta, mint, evoo, and salt & pepper. Then we closed the grill cover for 2 mins and viola! Simple and delicious! :-)

Yellow Beef Curry

Tonight I made a yellow beef curry for dinner. I'm getting to the point where I rarely follow any directions when cooking (except for baking of course). James is always worried I won't be able to make the dish again, but I always seem to know what I did before. Tonight I tried something a little different. I cooked beef for an hour and then added 1 potato, 2 carrots, 1/2 an onion, 1 tin coconut milk, 1 cup water, and 1 tin yellow curry paste and cooked it for another hour. At the end, I added spinach leaves (I'm trying to incorporate more iron into our diet). We ate it over Jasmine rice and we drank iced sencha with jasmine (Stef's recommendation).

BTW: James has requested that I make this dish next time we get together with Stef and Mike. He asked, "why did you make quesadillas last time when you can make this good stuff?" It wasn't meant as an insult to my quesadillas, he just really loves my curries. (He tends to complain about the amount of carbs in the rice though) :-)

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I'm so silly-- I arranged everything nicely for the picture :-)

Oh No!

I just learned that Bath and Body Works is discontinuing the White Tea & Ginger scent. That is my favorite! Luckily, I was able to stock up for the next year for a great price, but I will surely miss my White Tea & Ginger.

New Toy

Before meeting me at home for lunch today, James had to stop by Cracker Barrel to buy canned Jelly Bellies because he ate someone else's at work. (My husband is always owing food to someone) While he was there, he decided to pick up a new toy for the dogs-- this little weazel that is attached to a ball. When you put in the batteries, it rolls around the floor by itself. The dogs went nuts, especially our feisty, little poodle. He played with it all through lunch and wore himself out. Our rat terrier, Gracie, played some, but mostly watched from afar as you can see.

Banana Coconut Muffins

I found this recipe in last month's travel edition of Gourmet Magazine. It's acutally becoming a new favorite of mine. I used to pretty much stick to Bon Apetit. This is the first recipe I've tried and I sure picked a good one. I made banana cake a few days ago (recipe in yesterday's post), but I still had some bananas needing to be used, so I thought I'd try these banana coconut muffins. Banana and coconut is actually a really nice combination. I always order banana coconut smoothies when we go to Smoothie King. These muffins are sure to please.

You can find the recipe by clicking below.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 stick butter (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut

- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin cups with liners.

- Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together bananas, butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and 1/2 cup coconut in another bowl until combined well, then fold in flour mixture until flour is just moistened.

-Divide batter among lined muffin cups and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup coconut. Bake until muffins are puffed and golden, about 25 mins. Transfer muffins to a rack and cool slightly.

A Cartoon Me

I found a website where you can design a picture of yourself on Bethanie's blog. This sorta looks like me I suppose. My hair is more of a medium blond, but this was the closest I could find. It was kinda fun and you can choose from quite a few features. It's hard to see, but there's a Mayan pyramid in the background called Chichen-Itza. We honeymooned in Mexico and had the chance to climb this big baby!

If you want to try to design a cartoon you, just click here and have fun!

Banana Cake

I baked some banana cake Friday afternoon (I meant to post this earlier) and I ate a piece with some nice Darjeeling tea on Saturday morning. I use my grandma's recipe because it'e easy and really yummy. Sometimes I add walnuts to it.

Blender Banana Cake

Preheat your oven to 350

-Grease a 9x9x2 pan.

-Whirl 3 fully ripe bananas, 1 cup of veg. oil, and 2 eggs in the blender.

-In another bowl, sift 1 1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, and a 1/2 tsp of salt.

-Pour banana mixture over dry ingredients and mix.

-Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 45 mins.

International Radio Stations

Lately, I've been listening to radio stations via the internet from countries such as Japan, England, and especially South Africa. When I lived in Washington, D.C., I was never without good music, but now that I'm in Columbus, GA, I can't find much here worth listening too. We don't even have jazz! Anyway, listening to radio stations from other countries is interesting to me because I love to see what music is out there. Really, what got me started was a search for a station in South Africa.

I have always wanted to visit South Africa. There is something about the mix of British, Dutch, and Afrian cultures that interests me. Many people there speak English and look like any average caucasion, yet they are living in Africa, a place of wonder any mystery to me. There are few places where you find big, modern, English-speaking cities that have tribal people living in close proximity. How fascinating!

If you are interested in hearing music from somewhere else in the world, you can find it here.

Shrek 2

Tonight we went to see Shrek 2 with our friends Nichole and David. I wasn't quite sure what to expect because some have said it's much better and others have disagreed. In my opinion, this one was much funnier than the first. There were quite a few parts that had me laughing out loud. Here were some of the highpoints of this movie:

-"Farbucks" and the fact that there were 2 right across from eachother. Can we say New York City? :-)

- Pinocchio aka Michael Jackson

- And my favorite: the white bronco on the run from the law. Funny-- I just watched an interview with OJ today.

I want to know . . .

I got this from Stef who got it from Mlle A who got it from someone else and I thought it was neat.

1. Who are you?
2. Have we ever met?
3. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
4. Describe me in one word.
5. What reminds you of me?
6. If you could give me anything, what would it be?
7. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
8. Are you going to put this on your weblog and see what i say about you?
9. What do you love, like a fat kid loves cake?
10. What makes you come back here?

New Treasures

Finally! The time has come! I am at last posting pictures of the new apothecary. I am so thrilled to have one and my patience was well worth the wait. There were so many times I'd see some plain storage thingy and consider buying it for my tea. What was I thinking? This apothecary is something I will treasure always. It's special to me for a few reasons: 1) It's my graduation gift from my hubby, 2) I bought it in Korea, and 3) It holds something special to me- tea! James didn't like many of the apothecaries we looked at in Korea, but he seemed to really like this one. Once we found it, the search was over. This one matches our living room furntiture, and even though it's in the dining room, you can see the living room from there. Also, James didn't want an antique, so this was pretty and new but with a somewhat classic, asian theme. It's not a replica per se, but it certainly is based on the apothecaries of old.

My second treasure is a new wok from a Korean store here in Columbus. It was an unexpected buy, but I'm pleased with it and I broke it in tonight with a pork curry. I took my mom to the Korean store today because she wanted to buy some of the yummy fruit drinks I brought home from Korea and also some of the popsicles I picked up yesterday. Anyway, we ended up looking around and I ended up with a wok. :-)

My third treasure is something I posted about a few weeks back. I was wanting a bodum teapot and had been eyeing the sin cha model. My other graduation gift from James was indeed a sin cha. It's very attractive, but I'm so scared I'll break it. The plastic model might've been safer, but I'm in love with this one. :-)

Jet Lag

It's been hard for me to get back on my feet since we've returned. I can't believe James has gone back to the normal routine with few problems. I am off (I go back to work Thursday) and I feel terrible. Last night was the earliest I've gone to bed since we left Korea- 11:30. But, then we both woke up about 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep until about 5:30. I took one of those simply sleep pills and it really helped, although I really hate taking stuff like that. However, if you have occasional trouble sleeping, I highly recommend them.

I promise to post the remainder of my pics and also show everyone the new apothecary (my baby). Hopefully we'll get around to it tonight. I'm just so lazy.