[Super Duper Fantastic] ISFP/INFP. 4w5. World Explorer. Super Hero. Rose-colored Glasses.

When your friend’s mom asks us to help her with the consumption of the delicious fruits from the trees in her garden, how can you refuse? We sure didn’t, and last night, we transported these pluots [along with some pears] to the kitchen in cardboard boxes and paper bags.

Once in the kitchen, I went to work, sorting and washing all the fruit.

The ones pictured above were the ones that weren’t overly ripe and squashed to smithereens. If you didn’t know already, a pluot is a hybrid fruit – a cross of a plum and apricot with more plum-like tendencies. Its counterpart, the aprium, is more of an apricot. There are multiple colors because our friend’s mom’s tree grows three of the over 20 varieties of pluots.

For the overly ripe and NOT squashed pluots, I’m turning them into a pluot puree. They will be mixed with some bubbly for a pluot fizz, which I have so lovingly deemed “a Pellini,” similar to Bellini.

Before throwing them in for steaming, I slit an “x” on the bottom of each pluot.

I don’t have a steam rack set-up for any of the pots/pans just yet, so into the rice cooker they went! I used the steaming rack that came with the rice cooker instead.

The skins came off quite easily! I’m going to have to pit them tonight because by the time my fruit sorting operation was done, it was already past my bedtime. Once pitted, they’ll go into the food processor and one step closer to becoming pureed.

That’s a lot of pluots for two people, so we are inviting our friends over to help eat/drink them. I’m going to try making pluot ice cream or sorbet. I’m not sure what other recipes to try, but we need to finish these pluots before they go bad!

Why P-pesto?! Because it’s got pistachios in it! It seemed like every recipe called for pine nuts, hazel nuts or walnuts, but I had no such nuts in the house. What I did find in the house were unsalted pistachio meats, so that is what I used instead.

The sun-dried tomatoes and shrimp were subsequently added when RV came home, but I DID make the pesto and pasta:

2 cups of fresh organic basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup unsalted pistachio meats
3 garlic cloves, peeled
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

The steps + stop to scrape down sides of food processor w/ a rubber spatula, as necessary.
1 – Combine basil and pistachio meats in a food processor, pulsing a few times.
2 – Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
3 – Slowly add some of the olive oil, pulse a bit and add some more.
4 – Add the cheese, pulse until blended.
5 – Add salt and pepper to taste.

I am slowly going from “does not cook” to “sometimes dabbles in the kitchen and doesn’t poison everyone.”

I love running down to the farmers’ market on Saturday and picking up fresh organic berries! Here’s $19 in blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries:

For the longest time, I would worry about berries. You have to eat ‘em pretty quickly, or they’ll spoil. I don’t know the $$ in berries I had to toss because I left them sitting in the fridge for a little too long and had to toss everything. :/

Well, I worry no longer. RV picked up the FoodSaver v2240 [the black version to match our kitchen] for the purpose of vacuum-sealing fish, and now we use it for packing away berries too. Since we can seal ‘em away, we can buy in bulk at the farmers’ market and have enough berries for two weeks. We defrost them by sticking them into the fridge the night before and have our smoothies in the morning!

It’s a fuzzy photo, but you get the idea! I actually took the time to sort through the berries, so the overripe ones would be eaten right away, while everything else is vacuum-sealed and thrown into the freezer in portioned pouches. It takes a little extra time, but it’s so worth not squishing the ripe berries and getting the juices all over the vacuum-sealing process!

It is hot in San Francisco today. Not an understatement, as it is just under 100 degrees! That is unusual for the area, considering it was in the 50s here just weeks ago. In this heat, my only complaint – there aren’t any frozen bananas in my freezer!

Last night, I experimented with banana soft serve! I only wish today that I had saved up those bananas for this evening. There are TONS of variations on the recipe out there, but this is what I did:

I started with 2 frozen bananas in the food processor. Once creamy, I added 1 tablespoon peanut butter, 1 tablespoon raw almond butter, 1 tablespoon chia seeds [No added flavor, just an extra source of Omega-3s and fiber!], and a splash or two of almond milk. I pressed the magic button a few more times to get it all blended and VOILA!

Yummy and refreshing. We topped it with some chocolate syrup for a peanut butter / chocolate / banana combination! :)

Before making this culinary discovery [thanks to the Healthy Living Summit], I didn’t like to eat bananas once they were out of the JUST RIPE [completely yellow with a tinge of green] phase and in the FULLY RIPE speckled state. Stina had reassured me that if I added other ingredients, the bananas would just take on those flavors, and I’m glad I tried it!

Now I’m feening for some banana soft serve!

I visited China with my family one summer. I don’t remember exactly how long ago, but it was quite some time ago.

The quickest way to get around in the city we were visiting was on the back of a motorcycle. At the time, I was not sure whether my fear was of being transported by a stranger [and potentially kidnapped and sold on the Chinese black market] or if it was just being transported on a motorcycle.

Maybe it was a little bit of both…
(more…)

So stoked to be able to cross off the following from my 101 in 1001 list:

096 – See Niagara Falls, Canadian side preferred.

I’ll have more photos and detailed recaps later! It was a jam-packed two days thus far, and now I must get some rest before day three! I will be doing a LOT of walking tomorrow. This trip has been extremely productive in terms of trying new things and seeing/doing as much as I possibly can!

PS – While I’m crossing things off, I also completed 097 – Renew my passport (It expires July 2009). The fee increase and the trip to Canada kicked my butt into action, a year later…

Reminder: I’m selecting a winner for my giveaway tonight, most likely while I’m up in the air!

I am heading to Toronto, Canada this evening courtesy of Virgin America and Klout. I renewed my passport for this trip since it expired last year. I actually haven’t been out of the country in three years. The last time was Spain! That’s a long time for me, so I’m super excited to hop onto a plane and magically appear across the country in a matter of hours. It will be hot, so I have to dig out the summer clothes! It’s been the opposite of summer here in San Francisco. Record lows, ugh.

It will be my first time there, and I will be staying with a friend I’ve known for more than seven years through blogging but will not have met until tomorrow morning [taking a red-eye]. Seven years! That is longer than I’ve known most of my friends… I must admit that I am a little nervous and a little excited. On the one hand, I feel like we know each other quite well and would be comfortable around each other, but on the other hand, there is still so much about a person you just don’t get without having met them. There’s chemistry, even if it’s just between two friends. I know I’m overthinking it, so I’m going to stop now and just have fun.

Having fun – that’s the easy part. I have to figure out all the stuff I want to squeeze into three days! We’re definitely going to “Little India” for a food crawl, driving to Niagara Falls [part of my 101 in 1001!], and doing some bikram yoga [first time!]. Hopefully I don’t pass out!

Cameras are charging, and I am thinking about all the packing I have ahead of me! I’ve always been a last-minute packing kind of girl, and that will likely never change.

For a friend’s Spanish-themed party of sangria and tapas, I decided to try my hand at making deviled eggs. They’re bite-sized if you open up your mouth wide in a not-so-mannerly way! Also, because I don’t really follow directions very well when it comes to cooking, there’s not an official recipe yet.

Being a little on the green side, if one did not know that there were avocados involved, it might gross you out a little bit. But yes, instead of using mayonnaise, I used avocados to hold the gloopy insides together! So these are HEALTHY deviled eggs!

While the eggs were boiling, I was avocado-mashing. To prevent the green mess from turning brown, I threw in some lemon juice. For about two dozen eggs, I used four avocados and one lemon. I also added a hint of honey [which really didn't do much else] to offset the lemon.

With a sharp knife, I cut the peeled eggs in half and squeezed their yolks out. At first, I didn’t know any better, and I was trying to scoop ‘em out with a spoon. Thanks to the internet, I found the easier method! Once the eggs were all de-yolked, I mashed them in with the avocado, lemon, honey, PLUS salt, chives, Sriracha, a little bit of garlic. I tasted as I mashed to determine how much more of each flavor to add. The sister brought over some Old Bay Seasoning, so I sprinkled a little on top.

They turned out quite nicely, and it wasn’t all that hard. Just lots of steps. In terms of flavor, they were tasty and most definitely eaten up at the party. I definitely could have kicked it up a few notches with the Sriracha though. They could have been spicier, but I didn’t want to go overboard on the first try! Since I didn’t want the avocado to overpower the eggs, the ratio was about one wonderfully ripe avocado for every half dozen eggs. If I were making them for myself, I’d just sit there with a bowl of guacamole… I am an avocado fiend! :P

Since this time didn’t turn out a complete mess, I will likely try making them again, perhaps even coming up with an actual recipe for them.

I love long weekends, especially the sunny ones. My nose and lips are sunburned though. I hope they heal soon because I have a passport photo to take soon. The fees are going up next week, and I’m heading to Toronto in August courtesy of Klout and Virgin America. In the meantime, I’m vigorously applying the aloe!

Saturday: It was a day of BBQing in the East Bay.

For BBQ #1 in Walnut Creek, I prepared a white wine pineapple sangria and a rum-filled watermelon. It was my first time making both, and they turned out pretty tasty. The sangria was red, white, and blue with the addition of apples and blueberries! The not-so-secret ingredients : fresh pineapples and peach sparkling wine. They made all the difference.

In the evening, we headed to the Richmond marina for BBQ #2. I had prepared burger patties [again, first time!] for the grill, and again, success! The onions, garlic, chives, and feta I’d mixed in made the burgers extra tasty. We also combined the sangria and rum-infused watermelon remaining from the first BBQ for the second one.

There was a small fireworks show over the water after the sun had set too.

Sunday: Because it was a license-free fishing day, I agreed to go ocean fishing with RV and Victor. The water was choppier than usual, but we were still able to catch a few fish. We didn’t catch the limit like our previous fishing trips, but we came out with better fish.

My prize fish was a 3.5-lb. Vermillion Rockfish, which is probably the largest rockfish that either of us has caught. RV finally caught a Lingcod that he could keep. It was 5.5 pounds! It was Victor’s first time out there, so he was still learning the ropes. He was able to catch two for the day, so that was pretty good, considering how bad the conditions were.

Monday: We drove up to Tomales Bay Oyster Company for oysters and another day of BBQ goodness with the sister and RV’s coworker + his girlfriend. There were a lot of people who had the same idea, so it was a good thing we arrived earlier in the day [before noon!]. We ordered a bag of 50, eating some raw and grilling the rest.

I didn’t shuck any oysters, so I’m very glad I went with a few people who were willing to take over the shucking duties. We also brought other goodies to grill! So tasty and so fun!

Totally crossing this one off my 101 in 1001 list:

094 – Do a National Parks road trip.

We drove through Yosemite and spent time in Bryce Canyon and Zion.

That counts, yes?