playing.it.by.ear

Sometimes the souschefs go to Alaska and pretend to be outdoorsy with a high PSR.

Spotify responds to Taylor Swift's decision to remove all of her music from their streaming service. Daniel Ek is well spoken and classy in his defense of the service, pointing out that they have paid over $2 Billion in royalties to artists. We live in a generation where it is more common to pirate music than to buy it; what will the future look like? I hope to see the music industry continue to be disrupted with more technologies that put compensation in the hands of the content creators. 

"Today we have more than 50M active users of whom 12.5M are subscribers each paying $120/year. That's 3x more than the avg. paying music consumer spent in the past.....But here's the key fact: more than 80% of our subscribers started as free users. If you take away one thing, it should be this: No free, no paid, no two billion dollars." - Daniel Ek

A Case for Dreaming | Ep. 1 | The Future Starts Here

Well as you can tell, I have been busy doing things other than post to my blog. Have no fear, more posts are near!

This post is dedicated to my very first DIY project! My bedroom looked like something out of the early 2000's and it really needed a facelift. I was using a dresser I assembled sophomore year in SB, a tube TV that had a VCR/DVD combo, and an old entertainment shelving unit that was basically a storage container. Let's just say, it was not pretty.

Enter, NEW DRESSER! This was the heart of my project. I searched craigslist for a solid wood dresser that I could refinish and make my own but everything was on the pricey end for a project piece. My go-to bargain shopper, Sara, tracked this puppy down for $70. A quick little negotiation down to $60, zipcar van rental, muscle help (Dom) and I was loading the mis-matched dresser into our garage.

The first step was a trip to Home Depot to pick up supplies (Sand Wedge, Primer, Wood Filler, Paint, Finish, Paint Brush, Roller, etc). All-in-all the cost came to about $100. I followed the steps I found in a blog and long story short repaired damage, sanded, primed, painted (3 coats), finished (3 coats), and re-installed the hardware on this bad boy. 

I am obsessed! I love the way it turned out and can't believe it started out as a dented two toned homeless chest of drawers. It fits my clothes nicely and I was able to move some items that had previously been hanging up into drawers.

The rest of the project involved replacing my TV which was easy especially because my good friend happened to be upgrading to a larger one so she sold me hers for $150. I threw out the old entertainment center and moved things that needed to be stored into storage containers from Home Depot. The containers fit nicely into my freshly cleaned out closet :) 

I already had most of the decorative pieces pictured though I did purchase the black & white checkered box and grey & black bowl. They make great storage for my chargers and extra keys to help manage clutter.

Yummy food coma photos from the past few months - enjoy!

- Turkey Burger over lettuce with cilantro jalapeño hummus, avocado and tomatillo salsa.

- Fruit salad prepared for the Wylie/Scotto BBQ. Fresh strawberries from an amazing stand in Livermore mixed with fresh berries, banana, kiwi, grapes, and pineapple.

- Steak dinner with an avocado lime topping, Quinoa and mixed greens. Dom flexed his grilling skills while I prepared the side dishes for our rewarding dinner after a productive day.

- Poke Salad made with fresh ahi, cucumbers, avocado, green onion, and a homemade spicy sauce (sesame oil/seeds, soy sauce, honey, garlic, Sriracha, and seasonings).

- Chicken Milanese (made by Dom) with peas and my first batch of Quinoa.

Emily Dellas First Class Cooking Classes: Taste of India 

Lentil Dahl w/ Spinach & Coconut

Mango Chutney

Cucumber Raita

Chicken Tikka Masala

Cardamom Pudding w/ Mango

Such a fun cooking class! Emily was very knowledgable in the kitchen and had some interesting insights to share. I would highly recommend checking out one of her classes - don't forget to bring wine with you!

<3 Mama's on Washington Square <3 

The food here is always a treat and I would recommend all SF'ers give it a try. Most mornings you can find a line wrapping down the block while locals and tourists alike wait 2+ hours.

Get in line early, go in on a weekday if you can, and take turns leaving the line to grab coffee nearby while you wait. I had the Crab Benedict and tried the Carrot & Crumble Cake. While I am not a big fan of cake or sweets for any meal, the Carrot Cake stole the show. It was amazing and the frosting was the best I have ever had (still thinking about it). The crab was fresh and I was surprised the hollandaise sauce didn't take away from how flavorful each ingredient was. All-in-all it was another successful Mama's morning and I can't wait to go back. 

Wine tasting in Napa!

"Love sought it good, but given unsought is better" - Will

"It was the best Christmas ever!" - Kei & Lei 2012

I must say, I have to agree with my sisters on this one...we really did have one of our best Christmases yet. 2012 was a year we were happy to put behind us and I think we all made the best of the time we spent together in ways we typically take for granted.

Per usual, even with all of the fam time, movies, cray shopping crowds, trips to visit family, skiing in Tahoe, etc. my mind was on the meals. Even just putting this recap together has me scheming my next culinary snack attack. And off we go.

Dreamy Hot Italian Sausage-Stuffed Mushrooms...

You can put anything in a mushroom and bake it and I would probably love it. I went with some spicy italian sausage, cream cheese, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and some other secret special ingredients I can't mention, then topped with more cheese and finished with a dash of paprika. These mushies only take about 25 mins in the oven and once they are out you will keep popping them in your mouth until you find yourself fighting over the last one with your siblings. Seriously...

  They don't even resemble the little fungi you pick out of your Mom's cooking. They did come out a little on the spicy side, which was perfect for me but you can always add more cream cheese to cool down the spice if you aren't big on sweating while you eat. Speaking of spicy...

Bacon-Wrapped Cream Cheese-Stuffed Jalapeños & Bacon-Wrapped Dates

These little guys left my hands on fire for a good hour. Lesson learned = wear gloves or use utensils when emptying the seeds from your peppers. You get the point from the photos...spread cream cheese on the inside of the pepper, wrap in bacon, and use a tooth pick to hold it all together. Bake until the bacon is cooked.

The dates were a big hit with my Mom, she really liked the salty sweet combo where as I was in too much pain from the peppers to really care either way. Seriously, wear gloves. The Jalapeños turned out to be pretty messy to eat and very spicy but were still irresistible. Next time I plan on doing the peppers a little differently so they are easier to eat. Stay tuned to find out how that goes.