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The Internet and Graduation

10 May

What do you do now that you have graduated?

This is the question I am asked the most often. My typical answer is nothing. Followed by a chuckle, then an explanation that I have been on the job hunt, applying to positions in Advertising, Branding, and Marketing while trying to embrace my entrepreneurial spirit on the side. In actuality, in the past few months, I have been applying on the side and trying to start projects while really just living life. The internet provides a tremendous opportunity to be able to create movements that can be propagated to a vast audience with very very little overhead. In essence, you can touch people, and all you have to do is click. I feel liberated because as much as I do nothing, I do quite a bit. I peruse the internet, through a laundry list of social media avenues, collecting ideas and inspiration from all the cool shit thats going on here and there. All of which effects the way I think, act, and live. I am truly connected. In my cover letters, I explain that “I don’t just like social media, I grew up in it and I live it daily.” This is pure truth. As I sit in a house in Atl, in the midst of what many would describe as a crazy trip, I am still able to do all the things that I do when I am home, the things that I feel are key to my daily feeling of accomplishment. Sometime thats just seeing something amazing on the internet, like the NYC Dining Car or blogging about it, or checking on my friends on fb. Being away from home has allowed me to feel how connected I am really am in SF. all the friends that hit me up on weekends to know where they should party or monday afternoon txts about where we are going to play some ball. I appreciate the power of knowledge and then sharing what you know.

Who are you?

I guess asking what I do with myself is asking in part who I am. I could answer that question with blogger. Maybe. Social activist. Maybe. Good party aficionado. :) . I am one to look at the world critically and set out to change it for the best, just a little bit. That could be giving Hamburgers to the Homeless or trying to convince someone to go out without being scared of the consequences. I have looked around at the things that I do, the things that other ppl do and tried to find what makes me happy and what doesnt. Then I fight, tooth and nail to do much much more of the first and much less of the second. I love a good drink, the company of other ppl, an intriguing woman, sport, fashion, a good laugh and a satisfying meal no matter what time it is, just to name a few. If I can inspire one person, then I can die happy. I am tha Giant, looking at the world from the Clouds, with a bird’s eye view, a comb and a magnifying glass.

Now step right up to the edge of the cliff, and ….

TAKE THE LEAP with me.

Cravings…

7 Oct

Since a young age, I have been a fan of two fairly simple but hard to articulate dishes, Ceasar Salad and Fettuccine Alfredo. Though these two staples are fairly simple in terms of elements, they can easily go astray in execution. In my time living in San Francisco, I have, admittedly, only come across one italian place that I found to not only be good but also be good to…. your wallet, that place is Gypsy’s on Durant in Berkeley. That joint is delicious and like 6 bucks. Crazy. But back to the task at hand.

I set out to attack Fettuccine Alfredo myself, since I havent really been able to find it the way I like it out there in the world or at least close to me (I concede that il fornio has a quasi alfredo dish that i love and Pasta y Basta in Amherst has a real good one too). Here is what I did.

12 oz dried egg fettuccine (cooked)
1 stick (1/2 cup) plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (4 oz) plus additional for sprinkling
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Melt 3/4 stick of the butter n melt it into a large enough pan to toss the pasta in it. I used a wok. Toss the al dente pasta in the melted butter on low heat. Then add the heavy cream and cheese and .25 cup of left over pasta water and salt n peppa to taste. Then add the rest of the butter in thin slices.

Before I got all the pasta poppin, I steamed some broccoli and I cooked up some chicken like i did in Simplies but Goodies

I threw these in with the alfredo. It was great and took less then 15 mins. Cheap delicioius and easy. Add the boss and you have everything you could want in life. Bon Apetit.

Late Night Special

24 Aug

Yes, yes. We all get ‘em, the late night munchies, especially after a night of drinking. If you don’t know y, I’ll put you on game, but if you do, ignore this section. Anyway, alcoholic beverages are mostly sugars and simple carbs (which turn into sugars nearly instantaneously within the digestive process), especially those cute fruity drinks n those frothy brews. Once you start drinking, these sugars cause an immediate spike in blood sugar. Once this spike is through, no matter how full you might have been before, the subsequent low will cause your body to think it needs sustanance, I.e. The late night hunger.

The other night, I found myself in a similar situation. And I found a solution. Sauteed onions and, in lieu of bacon, pepperoni. Get the peps nice n crisp, then throw the onions in until they are almost clear.
Set that aside n grab 3 eggs, no milk. Scramble with a fork until a little bit of air bubbles get into the mix.
Then to the pan. Nonstick only. Throw a lil oil n set the flame on low. This will allow your whole omlette to cook without having to flip, the result, restaurant style omlettes.
Throw the eggs in, rotating the pan to get an even layer of egg. Depending how runni or not you like your eggs ( if your like me you loathe runny eggs), throw your insides in once the eggs look cooked to your liking. I went with cheddar, the aforementioned onions and pepperoni and avocado. Once the cheese is melted, flip half the omlette over onto the other. Then put your plate facedown on the pan and flip both so your eggs land on the plate. If that doesnt satisfy your latr night, you might b more of a jack en el carton type and I can’t help you. If not Bon Appetit.

Went to Sleep in Paris, Woke up in Philly?

1 Jun

Before i even start, i will apologize to those who happen upon this blog who are from philly and truly appreciate the art of the original Philly CheeseSteak sandwich, a sandwich that i have never had in philly but the closest i have found is the CheeseSteak Shop on DIVISe in the city. With that being said, since i dont even eat steak, “real” phillies and I could never b close friends. First flag comes from the chicken alternative to steak. Second flag comes from the fact that i like the teriyaki philly that OBW puts out anyways. to my knowledge, but correct me if im wrong, a “real” philly consists of thinly sliced steak, a traditional roll and cheese, or CheeseWiz. I way far from that when i desire a philly. I like peppers, onions provolone and chicken, pos with a teriyaki glaze. As i counted down the daze (pun intended, the daze is the reason y i havent been posting) till i returned to the land of my maturation, i figured i would bring a couple of ppl in on my craving for the OBW philly. Marinated the chicken with the salt n the pepper n a lil cayenne for spice and the soy vay teriyaki i imported from AMERIKA. let that sit for at least 30, allow the juices to soak in. get you a nice french bread. I have realized over the course of my sandwich eating years that the bread really does make the sandwich, mikes sourdough out in san Rafael, for example. The Amoroso’s Baking Company bread that is typically used in Philly is the key to the sandwich in my mind. Either way, sautee some green bells and some onions. Sautee the chicken too, and then throw you queso of choice on the top. This is the key, melt the cheese, then place the bread right up there. this way as u flip the bread w. the chicken and the veggies it will be eat ready. and there u go… ur in tha Giant’s version of philly… ha.

PS: add a lil dandelion right as you eat and u will really b cookin ;)

Almost Cinco

4 May

In anticipation of cinco de mayo…. recipes for beans from last week. Since the best i can do is red beans, havent seen or eaten one black one since i been here, i ran with that. Red beans… in a cast iron pot, though clay is preferable because it lends to a better flavor. Throw the beans in the pot, then cover them with water. More water the better cause not only will you end up with a nice lil bean soupy mixture that is great for dipping tortillas in, but if u let the water get lower then the beans you will burn then. I did that the first time and it didnt taste too good. Beans in the pot, water in the pot, half an onion in the pot and a couple cloves of garlic. Salt salt salt. Then let it boil/simmer for as many hrs as it takes until the beans are soft. Always make sure the beans are covered with water. I made some of the famous fajitas to go with the beans. Delicioso. et Bon Apetit.


Throw some salsa and its the dannon… almost like home… almost

Dinner Impossible©: TwentiFirst

21 Apr

MRinternational hit 21 a couple weeks ago. Since we are in Europe, it would normally be a pretty regular night. In order to avoid this regularity and normalness, Yim and I decided to put together a real nice dinner party Chez Madame Linyer. In order to complete the Dinner Impossible, ala Robert Irvine, I had to first create a Menu. I was thinking of something good, hearty and filling. Being the fanatic of hearty homemade meals that i am, I turned to the trusty Chicken Parm with homemade Marinara. Once i had decided on this delicacy, meaning once i imagined it in my head and then was forced to make it because my vivid imagination would make me crave that dish until i ate it, i realized that the frying might be slightly time consuming, and might thusly slow down my dinner. The solution. Light Bulbs. There it was, my famous Minestrone Soup. It comes from a recipe I adapted out of a Williams-Sonoma kids cookbook i received for xmas many years back. Chicken Minestrone with
6 cups chicken stock
6 medium garlic cloves, each cut in 1/2 lengthwise
2 cups finely chopped yellow onions (2 small onions)
1 cup small-diced green bell peppers 1good sized pepper
1 cup small-diced carrots (2 to 3 medium carrots)
1 tablespoon finely chopped rosemary
1 (14-ounce) can kidney beans in a can unflavored
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 Box ridged small pasta of choice
1 lb chicken breast.
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
and 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan. Through the Parms on top of some pasta and make a lil salad to start and u have a menu. I then needed to go shopping. Then problem. First, my recipe i had written down was in cups and pounds, but europe does not get down with cups or pounds. Solution, call me English friend from Amherst for conversions. Then, problem two, No Breadcrumbs at the store. Solution, toast bread and make them urself. This being the first time i was cooking dinner for 30ppl, i was slightly unaware yet aware of how long it was going to take to shop, but after a 200euro+ bill, an hr15 in the Carrefour and a stolen shopping cart to push the food home, i was ready to cook. Well, I was ready to prepare. Armed with some amateur sous chefs, I began the cutting. And the cutting. AND the cutting. There were the peppers, carrots, onions and garlic for the soup and then the salad fixins. Not to mention the heap of chicken i had to cut and pound out for the soup n the parms. Meanwhile, I had someone crumbing the bread i was broiling in the oven and some other ppl cutting various things. Once i got the Marinara sauce up, which consisted of
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons dried oregano seasonings
7 cups whole, peeled, canned tomatoes in puree (about 2 (28-ounce cans), roughly chopped
1 tablespoon kosher salt
and Freshly ground black pepper,
I moved to the soup. First, season and cook 1lb of chicken breast cubes in the bottom of a large large pot with the onions and peppers. Once the chicken is white on all sides add the tomatoes, chicken stock and everything else. Then cook for 40 mins. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Once that was going i started to smell a slight burn. I was wondering what it was, thinking something was on the bottom of pot or something. As the order became stronger and stronger, i realized that the burning was the oven, still filled with bread, and on fire. I opened the oven, smoke filled the room, and put out the fire. Luckily, we had enough breadcrumbs to still cook the chicken. O yea, and the house didnt burn down, thats good too. Then to the chicken. Dip it low in some eggs, then dredge in a mixture of breadcrumbs salt pepper dried oregano and thyme. Then to the frying pan, filled halfway wit some veggie oil. Fry fry, flip, fry. By then, the salad had been served by a sous chef and the soup was already coming out the kitchen. As soon as the chicken were ready, things started to move like clockwork. Spagetti on bottom, topped with chicken, topped with sauce, topped with mozarella. Delicious. Wait, i forgot to mention that at this point it was 23:30. And the party started at 21:00. This meant that people were drinking, socializing, and partying, all the while i am in the kitchen, solo by this point since my sous get distracted by some hot french boys n left, still smelling terrible from playing basketball earlier and in my hoop clothes.
In the end, the party was great, the food better, and i successfully cooked the largest meal of my life. It was a great time and i received rave reviews from a tough (as usual) french crowd, as well as some appreciative and hungry Americans. Once again happy Birfday tim and Bon Apetit to you all.

SO much for aprons…

Dont get it {Twisted}… welcome to the DubUNO club

{Everybody} wants GUAC

16 Apr

I have spent a good portion of my time in Paree, looking, searching, digging for a hot pepper. Habanero, jalapeno, something. No go. So, me being the mover and the shaker that I am, i set out to hotify some peppers on my own. The best pepper i could find was a pasilla chili pepper, which isnt even hot enough to have a rating in scoville heat units but no need to fear, the capsaicin will b added manually. I, first, chopped the peppers up as i would have had i had some jalapenos, in small bits, akin to the size when dicing a clove of garlic. I then placed those bits in a bowl, drown them in a mixture of Tabasco, Louisiana Cayenne Pepper Sauce, dried Cayenne pepper and crushed red chili flakes. I let the mixture sit for a good twenty, to allow the hot to seep into the hot so hot peppers. Meanwhile, i made the rest of the guac real mexi style, as the mexicans i live with in sf taught me (Yea, yo vivo en la casa de locos, wit the mexicans) real chucky. Take 4 avocados, a tomato, some salt, a hint of garlic and a hint hint of water and some cilantro. Since i despise cilantro (though my gag reflex likes it), i left it out of the recipe. Dice the tomtoms dice the avocados and then mush them up a lil with a fork. By that time the peppers were manually spiced. Add them and mix together with the said fork and voila, BONapetit.

Aventures en Thailande

27 Feb

Living in the Bay, in San Francisco, we are spoiled as fuck. We got all kinds of top notch food. And if u couldnt tell by now, i LOVE food. But yea, we got the latino, the asian, european, everything. I imagine its from being a port town in the beginning. Either way, there is some real solid thai out in the sco. So, my homesick and adventurous ass decided to say fuck it and make some curry myself. The recipe was simple enough.. i added some personal touches (shout out to Osha) added some red bells and some onions. Started things off by sautéeing some curry paste and throwing in the coconut cream. Apparently, if u keep ur coco milk cold, it will separate and the thick part will surface, which is the cream. Then add the chicken, get the flavor going. Then is the gastronomical transfer, move the chicken and the sauce over to a pot with the rest of the milk and alotta salt. Thats wear i went for the pre boiled potatoes and the onions or shallots. I added the peppers just before the dish was done so that they were still a lil crispy. Served it with some jasmine rice. I also made a lil cucumber salad on side, real easy. Boil some white vinegar with some salt and a decent amount of sugar and then cool. throw that on the chopped cucs and some thinly sliced onions. The whole thing turned out pretty good and made for some fun cookin, but if anyone has any suggestions on bettering the recipe, please comment them. Bon Apetit!

currycutting.jpg

currycookin.jpg

curryfinal.jpg

Uno, Dos, Tres… back at home

7 Feb

By definition, home cooked meals should make you feel at home. But, especially when your not at your home when you eat said meal, be it at some restaurant or at some one else’s house, sometimes the result of a home cooked meal is making you feel like your at home, just not at YOUR home. I was fortunate enough to be able to bring my little corner kitchen at my Place de Clichy apt back to San Francisco’s Mission district where my latino roommates at my mother’s house and my father’s West Indian influence intersect. Fajitas and fried plantains, sometimes it really gets no better. Moreover, meal came together naturally but end up being a true representation of myself that i only realized in hindsight. We have got the melange of the time my mother spent inefficiently cooking dinner, because i had to help and we all know that kids slow EVERYTHING down, and the Latino atmosphere of my Mission district residence and the Guyanese influence in the choice of the side dish. This one will def be a hit because it pretty much covers all bases. Its simple enough to cook but still complicated enough that people will be impressed when you tell them what your making, and to top those two things off its got some real authenticity and comfort to it. Plus anything you can eat with your hands is a plus in my book.

Anyways, to the recipe. I always start with the seasoning. SPPCG (SaltPepperPaprikaCayenneGarlic dry rub, like my pops taught me). While the chicken sits, seasoned, just cut up some plantains and and fry them in some veggie oil. Then cut up some red and yellow peppers, white and yellow onions and throw them in bowl. Chicken in the pan… and ur a cookin and ur a cookin {can’t help the eddie murphy raw references} throw in first the onions till they are clear and then the peppers just for an instant so they are still a lil crispy. Then to some salsa. Since im in France and i do not have access to most Latino cuisine items, i figured id just spice up some store bought salsa. Chop up fresh tomtoms and a lil white onion and mix it in with that salsa, then ur ready to go. You have no idea how much of a difference it makes till you try it. Then heat up some tortillas on the stove [makes a huge difference] cut up some avocados and its chomping time. Bon Apetit.

PanningOUT

49ers

fajitas.jpg

GRUBaDUBdub
Even got matt feeling at home :)

Simplies… but Goodies

27 Jan

So, on the cooking tip i figured i would share my love for homemade food with you guys along with my love for eating out. Here is the first installment in the cheffin section: Mini Penne con Pollo e Broccoli. Simple enough, chicken cut into bite-sized pieces, seasoned with some SPPCG (SaltPepperPaprikaCayenneGarlic, my usually mix of seasonings, all dry) and some fresh Garlic, steamed and then sauteed Broccoli and the Mini Penne. I throw the penne in the saute pan after the chicken so there was a lil flavoring left over and browned some of the pasta in sense. Made for some good flavor and texture. Then throw everything in a bowl and you look like an iron chef… almost. Top wit fresh Parm. Bon Apetit.

PenneFinito

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