Ai Loves...

1.08.2012

365 + 1, Week one done!

To all those who keep wishing you had an extra day, well this year you do! Yippee!

So, on January 1, I started my own "366 days of" project on Instagram. I decided on taking a photo of something yummy. Then I decided if I was going to be eating, I needed to counter the eating with some activity.

Now I didn't want to call it exercise, since I think that word can have a negative connotation. "Ugh, I have to exercise today." I didn't want my activity to feel like an obligation. I wanted it to make me feel good. I am lucky to be healthy, to have my two legs and two arms, to have healthy lungs and a healthy heart. "Cherish" was my word I chose for 2012, and I want to cherish being alive. Cherish my heart beating and my lungs working, my legs moving, my arms swinging.

So I'm taking advantage of what I have and I'm being active.

Here's this past week's 366.

1.07.2012

Pork and Piggy

This past week has been crazy, but I'm feeling so energetic. I'm sure it's a "bring it on 2012!" attitude, where I look to conquer everything, but I'm optimistic I'll keep the momentum throughout the year.

I've been playing with a whole bunch of creativity/photography projects, including my 366 days of food and 366 days of activity on Instagram.

Then I saw this Art Journal e-course and am thinking of joining. But trying to fit in activity and food, plus work, plus the everyday usual takes up so much time! Can I fit in another project? I still have to finish renovating my craft room! I actually need a different name for that soon-to-be room, as "craft room" seems so blah.

Anyhow, photo-journaling my eats has motivated me to cook more. Which gets me to the point of this post. Pork! I love it! I bought a whole bunch of boneless spare ribs the other day. (This seems like an oxymoron, as a rib is a bone, so how can you have a boneless bone? I guess technically, it's boneless spare rib meat. So should you just remove the oxymoron and call it spare meat?)

Whoa, where was I? Oh yes, so I had some pork. I also had a lovely little kabocha squash from my grandparent's ranch.

My mom makes this wonderful spare rib and squash dish, where she simply marinates the pork in soy sauce and some garlic. I wanted to up the ante a bit, and remembered this recipe for Galbi Jim from spoon fork bacon. And so my Kabocha Squash, Sweet Potatoes and Spare Ribs dish was born.

Kabocha Squash, Sweet Potatoes and Spare Ribs
Serves 6
(Adapted from spoon fork bacon)

4 lbs boneless spare rib meat, cut into bite-sized cubes
1 cup low sodium soy sauce
½ cup sugar
1 apple, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp mirin (rice wine)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 medium-sized kabocha squash
2 medium-sized sweet potatoes

1. Place spare ribs in a large pot and fill with water until ribs are just covered. Place pot over stove and bring to a boil. Boil ribs for 20 minutes.
2. Once ribs are done, drain water from pot and rinse excess fat.
3. Place ribs back into the pot along with soy sauce, sugar, apple, garlic, mirin, sesame oil, black pepper, and 2 ½ cups water.
4. Cover pot and bring to a boil. Boil for 20 minutes.
5. While meat is cooking, prepare squash and potatoes. Cut squash in half. Scrape out seeds. Peel the squash and cube the flesh.
6. Peel sweet potatoes and cut into bite-sized pieces.

7. Add the squash and sweet potatoes to the ribs. Cook, covered over low heat, for 45 minutes to an hour, when potatoes are fork-tender.

Spare ribs with kabocha squash and sweet potatoes

If you want to serve your dish in the squash, get another guy, lather him up in some oil and roast in the oven for 20 minutes at 375°. Remove from oven and let cool. Then cut a large circle out of the top. Scoop out the seeds. Voila! A serving bowl.

On a random side note, I was super excited to happen across a stuffed Pig when I was window shopping in the Mission on New Year's Day. I couldn't resist buying him, since he's my favorite! And just so you know, Pig loves to eat bacon.

Looks like he has a thing for spare ribs too.

1.01.2012

One word

Today at Shutter Sisters, Tracey Clark asked, "What word do YOU choose to begin 2012?" My word is cherish.

Cherish: ˈcher-ish, ˈche-rish
1: to hold dear, feel or show affection for
2: to keep or cultivate with care and affection, nurture
3: to entertain or harbor in the mind deeply and resolutely

I looked at my post from yesterday and it was a word I used a few times. I think about how photography allows me to cherish so many moments in my life. I cherish living.

So as a way to commemorate this word and the beauty of living, I've decided to try a few 365 photo projects. The first will be 365 days of food and the second, 365 days of activity (to counter all the food!)

I don't plan on posting daily, but I will be snapping away daily (hopefully)!

Here are my first shots:
The first breakfast of 2012. I haven't made pancakes in a while so I went all out with pumpkin chocolate chip ones. I cherish the mornings that I can make a home cooked breakfast and fill the house with wonderful aromas.

After stuffing myself on pancakes, I took out the bike for a ride. I probably haven't ridden my bike for as long as I haven't made pancakes. It was tough, but as I pushed through those 20 miles, my legs and back aching, the crisp cold air blowing in my face, I felt alive. That is a feeling I cherish.

12.31.2011

A new year

2012 is almost here. I write this on my front steps, feeling the warmth of the sun as it begins to set, and I reflect on 2011. I had so many wonderful experiences. I've traveled near and far, from camping by the California coast to wandering through the streets of China.

June 2011

I competed in my first cooking competition (I didn't win, but it was such a fun adventure) and watched one of my best friends get married.

May 2011

I went to countless concerts, singing and grooving, feeling the beat deep down in my heart.

November 2011

I hiked, biked, ran, and swam. I SUPed, climbed, camped and danced.

December 2011

It was a wonderful year, but I was knocked down in the middle of it. I was surprised at how much it crumbled my resolve and made me question what I wanted in life. I felt very alone and realized how much this loneliness made me unhappy. I realized how much I relied on certain people to make me feel fulfilled.

Over the past few months, I have been rebuilding and rediscovering myself. I have been learning how to feel fulfilled on my own. While I know that sharing experiences with someone special can be wonderful, at the same time, in the end, it's just you. I remembering when Steve Jobs died, the news would play over one of his interviews, and one statement caught my attention.

"You're born alone, you're gonna die alone... what is it exactly... that you have to lose?"

Then, a few days later, I was watching an old episode of Mad Men, and a similar quote from Don Draper caught my ear.

"You're born alone and you die alone... I'm living like there's no tomorrow."

These quotes all struck me as the truth. Being alone is a fact, there is nothing you can do about it. But how you fill those moments when you are alone is what matters. My goal for 2012 is to find peace in my time alone. To enjoy it as solitude rather than loneliness. And that's not to say I'm going to hole myself up in my house and become a loner. But for those moments that I do find myself alone, whether it's at a dinner or while I'm traveling, or when I go to bed at night, I'm going to cherish those moments as much as I cherish the ones when I am with someone.

I'll have this guy to watch my back too, to remind me of my strength and beauty.