affordable healthy eating

Today I went to Russo's with my mother-in-law and father-in-law. This place has now became our favorite store! After introducing it to my father-in-law, he now goes once a week.

Russo's is not like any other grocery store that I have seen, especially on the East Coast. It's produce is fresh and inexpensive. And more important, they have a great variety of fruits and vegetables, including a whole lot of Southeast Asian stuff like sadao (a bitter leafy vegetable), banana blossoms, guava fruits, and green papaya. It also has an awesome selection of cheeses and breads, and the pre-made dishes look yummy, but we haven't tried them because every time we go, we get excited to go home and cook!



Oh, and the Asian produce is not in some separate special "exotic" section like Stop & Shop does "Food of the World." At the mainstream supermarkets, you see people go into the ethnic section and get like a mango and ignore everything else. Those store don't know anything about tropical fruits, I change the prices on Asian fruits like cherimoya to be cheaper since I know the cashier won't know what the heck it is. At Russo's, the Asian produce is just all throughout the store, it's weaved into every section.

Another thing I like about them is that they are a family-owned business, and their staff is very diverse. There are a lot of people of color working there, especially Asian and Latino immigrants, and they are not just stocking the shelves, but they are in management positions too. They are pretty helpful and friendly, and if that's the case, they are probably treated well. At the big supermarkets, staff don't care if you die in the aisle.

There's also a lot of locally grown produce, and that's good for freshness and not using too much gas to transport them. But it also must mean they have good relationships with a lot of local Asian farmers who are growing all these Asian vegetables!

It's good to see that good food is affordable. Lately I feel like only the rich have a right to be healthy. Tv and magazines show a lot of products you can buy to stay healthy, but they all cost so much money, that nobody can really afford them. But the people who shop at Russo's aren't just hipsters, but include immigrants of all colors, mothers with their babies, old Asian ladies, really all people.

www.russos.com

Wine Review: Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux

This is my first wine review for my blog, and you can expect many more of them in the future. Me and G usually buy and try new bottles of wine 1-3 times a week. I'll post reviews when I remember to.

Tonight's wine:
Les Caves Joseph Bordeaux (2006)
$5.99 at Trader Joe's

For me, one of the best things about drinking wine isn't the first taste of it, but the taste after it leaves your mouth. Sometimes a wine could taste good, but after you swallow it could leave a strong tannin taste. And I would like it less, so it's not just taste in the front, but the whole sip that is important.

After I swirled it for 30 seconds, I took a sip. It has a sharp taste...very tart. And it leaves a strong bitter aftertaste. But the smell doesn't exist after you drink it, almost like you never took a sip in the first place.

It also left no legs on the glass, and it makes me think it is too light.

The smell is a little oaky and alcoholy. Those things can be good for whiskey, but I don't think it's good for wine.

There's nothing spectacular about this wine at all. This is one of the worst wines we've ever drank. Maybe it's better to use it to marinade meat.

Rating: 2 (of 10)

(G's review: Tastes surprisingly damp. Would be best paired with like meat pizza or something with a lot of oil and strong smells. Rating: 2+)

Rock'n tacos

Over the weekend we went to our friends-Dr. Khem and T Fresh's house for Rock'n Tacos. Giles aka Liziest dressed up as his ex favorite rapper-Common, and I aka Tek-niq was dressed up as Lady Kier of dee-lite. Before heading to the dinner party, we stopped by our neighborhood liquor store to pick up Dos equis and Modela Especial de Mexico to go with the theme of the night.

Rock'n taco night started with tacos and the rock'n came later. Sophea and Theresa made the best tacos i've ever had. The host threw both soft and hardshell on the table. Some choices were seared tuna, fried tilapia, ground beef, and steak.

While every thing was delicious, I thought the steak was bananas- it was done to perfection-rare and juicy the way I like it. At the end of dinner, sophea busted out his mom's tuk prahok: a pungent fermented fish sauce with lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and a splash of lime. Cambodians eat this sauce with steak and veggies. Prahok is used to determine if you are Khmer. If you don't like Prahok-you ain't Khmer. If you are not Khmer and you like Prahok-you're an ally. Hahaha! He should't have taken it out because we killed the sauce and steak. The cutest person sitting at the table was Tae. She concentrated really hard making cheese taco.

After stuffing our face with tacos, we went on to playing rockband. Some lead singers were Delia, Eugene, Theresa, Giles and Sophea. Tae and I took turn playing the bass. Victor and Hsindy showed up towards the end of the night. They made it just in time for Sophea's homemade Flan.

Thanks Theresa and Sophea for a fun night. That was our 2nd SUPPER CLUB meeting. Delia and Tae are next!

Thoughts on décor

I love home design. I work for a non-profit working to end violence against women in communities of color. Work is so serious therefore I like to spend time on things that are not that serious, such as home design. I often daydream about my wants and needs for our little nest. I am not really interested in defining my style…it’s not consistent nor can it be categorized…it just is what it is. My style is not unique but it’s special to me. Sometimes I feel that people try so hard to be unique that it only becomes all about that.

I visit apartmenttherapy.com on a daily basis. I find it inspirational to see real people’s home and how they actually live. One of the reasons why I am an avid reader of apartmenttherapy is because people’s homes are not perfect-it’s not something you see in a catalogue. But I can’t stand many people’s attitude. When people start to emphasize the importance of “live in” it get’s so annoying. On apartmentthrapy, people will send photos of their homes for feedback from other readers. When a home especially looks neat and clean, many readers will complain that the home does not look “lived in” or that it’s “predictable.” A design snob’s mentality. Sorry, but I actually think that thrift store finds and Anthropologie is a fad. Yeah, I shop at those places, and I realize that enough people shop there that it does not make me unique or special.

My man and I drew a tree in our living room. It’s a project that we wanted to do together. We did it not because it’s so stylish or the artwork is so dope. We did it because we get to spend time together, support each other’s work. Some people like to present themselves based on the artwork they have on the walls, but we wanted to present ourselves through the artwork we created. It’s not about creating the best art, it’s about having fun, and doing what pleases us. It’s not about the presentation but the process that we get to engage in when creating art together. For me, that is what home décor is about. Do things that I find beautiful, practical, whatever it is that makes me comfortable. It's not about breaking new ground or proving a point. IT AIN’T THAT DEEP… oh btw, guess which bird is me?

grown up party

Wow!! I can't believe it took me two months to put up my 2nd post. I hope to be better at updating this blog so please come visit me again.

Well, we transitioned from winter to spring into high fashion. Last month me and my boo hosted a swanky soiree with 20 of our closest friends.

Of course a soiree is not only about food but elegance and ambiance. We changed our lights to 25 watt, lit candles played music to set the tone for a cozy romantic atmosphere. Our friends indulged in an evening of fancy food, drinks and good conversation. After dinner, G surprised me with a strawberry grand marnier birthday cake from Konditer Meister..the best bakery in boston...probably one of the best in the country (that's what i heard). After dinner, we proceeded on to ROCKBAND and poker! we finished the night with an orgy..(j/k).

I've always wanted to host a midtown cocktail party of attractive people in their elegant clothes sipping on martinis...you know the kind of shit you see when you flip through a bo concept catalogue. But instead of yuppies in their late twenties... with our friends who are much more attractive and cool. Though the party had a swanky feel...those that know us know that were not pretentious but ganstalicious...that's just how we roll.

Here are some photos and the night's menu.


Amuse Bouche
government cheese & fancy crackers
hummus & dipping things
dragon & elephant platter

Aperitif
upper cut punch
bitter lady

Appetizer
salmon tartare

Soup
abalone soup

Intermezzo
clementine sorbet

Main Course
basil eggplant seafood

duck confit curry

star anise roasted pork

vegetarian Burmese noodles

my 1st post

Hi this is my first blog post. This blog is devoted to being a home engineer. Some of the topics i will talk about are home decorating, party planning, crocheting, and other fun things in my life.