Things I've learned

Before I move on to the next recipe I'm behind on, I'd just though I would share a few things to you about life after college.
I have mentioned it many, many, many, times on this blog that I was ending my academic career and was terrified to no end that my youthful life would soon come to an end and my adult life would begin.
I was so not ready to be an adult and start my adult life. It's been over a month since I have ended my academic career and I'm still not ready. Yes, I have a job that pays which helps me save my money and get me out of the house. I contribute to gas as I am now driving my mom's car and occasionally pay for dinner when we go out and pay for coffee, but I'm still not ready.
I'm not sure if other adults are ready to and they are out there pretending they're ready to look professional and fine but deep down, they're not ready.
Is anyone ever ready to be an adult?
I've yet to find out.
In the meantime, during the month and a half that I was unemployed and then employed here are the things that I have learned as a pre-adult:

Pre-Adult Lesson #1
 You have time to read. Like read for fun. You can read all sorts of books and not feel guilty that you should be ready your Communications reader because you have a quiz the next day. You can actually read books that YOU want to read, not your professor and it's a book that is interesting and doesn't have you falling asleep halfway in.
LIKE A FREE FOR ALL BOOK.
But let's hold for a second and let me explain what I mean by books. When I say books, I mean like actual books, like the olden times when one came in hardcover or paperback and the pages were made out of paper and you had to turn the pages to find out more about the plot and characters giving you hand a semi-workout. A book like you open a page and could smell the dust and experience the sensation of "new book smell" like a new car smell but better and older.
LIKE A REAL FRICKIN BOOK. None of this Kindle/nook/ebook shit. A real book, kids a real book.
I didn't realize this obsession when I went to Target to look for a birthday gift for my two-year-old cousin. I saw Lena Dunham's book Not that Kind of Girl and realized I had to have that book now, because I didn't read it and had incredible FOMO.
I bought it and the woman at target said I looked like Lena Dunham herself, I was honored.
That was book #1.
Book #2 and #3 happened in Barnes & Noble when my mom was looking for a book for my cousin and told me I could roam around. I went straight to the autobiography section, climbed up on the stool and grabbed the last copy of Yes, Please by Amy Poehler, because like Dunham, I was having bad FOMO of not reading it. On the way to buying it, I saw a copy of Bossypants by Tina Fey and realized that my original copy was lost during my year abroad and I needed another one to complete my collection. I NEEDED a copy of Bossypants, it was necessary.
Total number of books Friday night: 3
I finished Amy Poehler's book in a day and then the next day finished Dunham's book in a day as well. I have read Fey's book when I had my original copy, like 20 times but if I read it again, I could finish it in a day. I pretty much binge read books like I binge watch Netflix. It's pretty bad but good at the same time.
Then came Tuesday when I was on Amazon, looking for a portable charger for my iPhone. I was only supposed to get a portable charger but then ended up getting two more books, Born Standing Up by Steve Martin and Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman.
In my defense, the Steve Martin book was $10 and Sarah Silverman's book was $7 so it came down to less than $20 for both books...so yeah it was a pretty good deal.
Books #4 and #5 were bought and ordered but won't come in until July 8th.
I can't wait until July 8th, I needed to read more. I needed more books. I WANT TO BUY ALL THE BOOKS.
And then came Wednesday. I had left work and was on my way to pick up my mom, and took a short cut to prevent hitting traffic, and by traffic I mean all the slow drivers that go 15 at a 25 mph road.
I took the turn to pass by downtown on my way to my mom's work and somehow SOMEHOW I ended up parking right in front of the used book store, SOMEHOW. I don't remember how or why I did but I did. I had no control over my driving....okay well I did, but I still SOMEHOW managed to go to the bookstore and not to my mom's work.
I walked in and bought two more books under $20 of course
Live from New York it's Saturday Night a 500 page book consisting of mini-memoirs from the creators, writers, producers and cast members of SNL.
I like You By Amy Sedaris, Hospitality under the influence- This woman is a comedic genius and skimming through, it's filled with laughter and food, both my passions in one book.
If trying to be like Julia Child doesn't work out, I could be Amy Sedaris but with brown hair.
I left the store, put my books in my large purse and headed to my mom's work with ten minutes to spare. I began ready the book and the moment my mom came to the car, I jumped threw my book on the ground and ran to the passenger seat before she could see the new book.
It was like I was hiding drugs from my mother, but instead of drugs, it was books.
I am a literal definition of a nerd.
My mother saw, I told her, she laughed and said that was enough, but it secretly wasn't.
I still want more books and I will continue to get more books and there is nothing she can do about it because what will she do? Get mad at me for wanting to read?
I don't think so.
For the time that I have where I don't have to pay rent, utilities, bills etc, I will buy as many books as I want with no embarrassment and also because I can and actually have the time to do so. Also I just found out that the Barnes & Nobles in my hometown is closing on January 2016 and so as a challenge, I will buy as many books there as possible. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED.

Pre-adult lesson #2
Everyone around me I know is getting engaged: A memoir of the single lonely life 
By Estibaliz Romeo
The title says it all. Everyone I know is getting engaged, married, and/or pregnant. It's a cycle that never ends and will always continue until I'm old and no one around me is getting engaged, married or pregnant unless a miracle baby happens or someone decides to re-married.
Anyway it won't be as common as it is now. It started sophomore year of college when I saw all the "surprise engagements", "pregnancy miracles" and upcoming photos of weddings and cake testings.
Everyone was getting engaged, married, and/or pregnant and I was sitting on my couch eating a sandwich.*
*It has been known to my friends that when I eat a sandwich, someone we know or someone they know has gotten engaged or married. It's a curse that will haunt me forever and until I get engaged and in this case, I will have had eaten a sandwich on that day or be proposed to with a sandwich (<-- if this is the case, then the sandwich better be damn good...oh and the ring too).
No matter the sandwich or what I'm eating, someone is getting engaged/married sometime and I will still be single and semi-ready to mingle, with a sandwich in hand, watching Netflix, on my bed, in my home. That's how I'll mingle.
Some people accomplish commitment by the time they are 22, what have I done since being 22? Waited three weeks to finally eat a doughnut, I think I'm doing pretty good so far.
I've been told that as I get older it will get worse and worse, so to prevent that, I will be eating less and less sandwiches or foods that come close to sandwiches (hamburgers, wraps, etc) so that people around me will not get engaged/married/ pregnant, unless they are my closest closest closest friends or until I get engaged, but my future husband will have to go through many obstacles in order to get there.

Pre-adult lesson #3
Since graduating college, social media has become less and less appealing, minus Instagram and Twitter but only because I use them to follow famous people and news. NEWS. Like I follow The New York Times, ABC, Huffington Post and close friends on Twitter and that's it.
I even downloaded the CNN app and let the notifications pop up despite wasting my battery, I now care more about what is going on in government then my own phone battery.
And as for everything else, I pretty much scroll through people's lives and like the photos of my friends and relatives.
Going back to lesson #2, everyone getting engaged/married/pregnant is blowing up my news feed and semi-ruining sandwiches for me (key word "semi" nothing will ever ruin sandwiches for me). I just go on Facebook to go on and then just leave it there on a tab but never do anything, it just sits there as I watch Netflix and look up recipes.
As of five minutes ago, I deleted by Facebook and Facebook messenger app on my iPhone because I realized I only use it when I'm waiting or bored, which is against its purpose of being "social" on a "social media" site. If I was 18 years old, fresh in college and someone would tell me that when I graduated, I would delete my Facebook app and get bored of it, I would be like "Nah! You're weird"
Actually, I think someone did tell me that, but then I ignored them thinking they were weird.
Oops.

Pre-adult lesson #4
Wearing jeans only on Fridays is not as hard as you think.
During college, leggings, MC hammer pants and jeans were the basis of my bottom wear, also sometimes sweats during that one time I had a 7:30 a.m. class freshman year of college. I could wear anything I wanted on my legs to cover them and not have to worry whether or not I was following the dress code. It felt rebellious to do so after having 13 years of being told what to wear and given uniforms with strict guidelines. I felt freedom wearing leggings and not having to run away from the deans. Skirts could be worn above the knee and I could show my shoulders. MY SHOULDERS.
Yes, my catholic school days did not allow us to show our shoulders even during the hot days...something about being inappropriate or giving off a sexual vibe to the boys across the street or something. I don't know. Whatever the reason may be, I could wear strapless dresses and not care. Also, no boys drooled over my shoulders, figuratively or literally, so there.
But now with a job where I am the first one that is seen, my bottom wear is limited and showing my shoulders isn't a thing, not for inappropriate reasons, but for professional reasons. When my mother informed me that it is good practice to wear jeans on Fridays, I freaked out. What the hell am I supposed to wear on my bottoms? I didn't think I could do it but it worked. I'm able to mix and match my wardrobe with pants, leggings and maxi skirts and be okay. I get excited for Fridays because I can wear jeans and be semi-casual. It's kind of a thrill. I wear light scarves, apply red lipstick to my lips and put my hair in a tight not-sloppy bun and wa-lah! professionalism at it's best right there.
The only person who compliments me on my looks is my mother, however, as I work with all men and fashion taste/choice isn't their top priority and complimenting my looks would just be an awkward interaction, especially because my cousin is my boss.

Pre-adult lesson #5
10 p.m. has become my new bedtime and when staying up past that, I get exhausted and dream of my bed.
Instead of the late nights with Netflix until 2 a.m. and the regretting it the next day, I sleep at 10 p.m. to Netflix and I'm out and wake up not regretting it. My friend will agree. We were out in San Francisco and when we headed to BART at 10:30PM, most of us were ready to fall asleep, on BART, standing up with no shame.
10 p.m. is my new bedtime, and yes I realize I might be a grandma but I don't care, sleep is sleep and it's the most ignored and least utilized in a college student's life.

Pre-adult lesson #6
I know longer order frappacino's at Starbucks, it's all about the soy lattes and regular coffees. No more grande caramel frapp with whip or a Samoa frapp with extra coconut flakes. Nope. Just a grande soy latte or a coffee with room for soy milk. Simple, easy, and wwwwaaaaayyyyy less calories than a frapp.

Pre-adult lesson #7
Dairy isn't as digest-able as it used to be. I can't have dairy without a stomachache or worse. I literally only drink dairy when I have a "screw it" moment and push through it or TMI when I'm sick and need things to move inside. Lactose-free milk and soy milk are now my friends and cheese and ice cream are not....sadly.

Pre-adult lesson #8
No matter what you are doing, how fantastic you are or how on point your outfit is, people will not stop asking about your love-life. This is the biggest lesson of all. Seeing that this generation is becoming more independent, more people, I know and hang out with, are single, only few are in relationships. As for us single people, it means more wine and food for us. I swear, the next person to ask about my love-life and if I am ever going to get a boyfriend or tries to set me up, I'm going ask about their bowel movements. That'll get them.


Those are my pre-adult lesson words of wisdom I have thus far, if anything else comes up, I will share them. If you have any, please feel free to share.
Thank you and have a pleasant tomorrow.

male parental day

Father's Day. The day of dads, crazy ties, beer, bacon and everything unique about Dad.
Past years, Father's Day has always been about going out to dinner or staying in for dinner, eating Dad's favorite food and making him unique breakfast/desserts to celebrate.
Last Father's Day, I had returned from Sweden and hadn't celebrated my 21st in the United States, and the weekend I came back was the weekend of Father's Day, perfect planning right there on my part.
This year's Father's Day I graduated from college a month before, not so perfect planning and my sister and I took my dad our for dinner in the city- perfect planning. A lot of chorizo and other meats were involved along with churros and a major wine spill.
Also this bacon bread with bacon jam that I made the Sunday of.
Happy Father's Day


Bacon Cheese Bread
3 cups of flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 cup of shredded cheese (flavor of cheese to your liking)
4 slices of bacon-cooked and chopped
2 tablespoons of butter

Preheat oven to 400 and prepare the bacon.
Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place bacon slices on it. Drizzle olive oil if desired or leave it plain (I left it plain).
Cook bacon for 7-12 minutes until cooked.
While bacon is cooking, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and whisk.
Once bacon is cooked, let cool and chop into pieces. Sprinkle into the mixture along with the cheese and butter and mix until all incorporated.
Pour into a loaf pan or mini-loaf pans. Bake at 50 minutes if using a 9x5 loaf pan or 20-25 minutes for mini loaf pans.

While bacon bread is baking and rising....


MAKE THE BACON JAM!
Backstory: I had discovered the invention of bacon jam when I was hungover after a night at the bars along with my sister and her boyfriend. They had taken me to a small San Francisco chain called Bacon, Bacon. My sister raved about this place when she discovered it one day and wanted to take me there before I ventured off to Sweden. The place, however, was closed due to a lawsuit the business was going through. The reason for the lawsuit, the business made a lot of bacon (hence the name Bacon, Bacon) and the smell of bacon would fill the neighborhood, heavenly yes?
Until few people complained about it. Why people would complain about the smell of bacon in their neighborhood? I don't know. I really don't know.
Luckily the business won and running well with two locations and a food truck.
And it was then, on that hungover day in July, I was introduced to bacon jam on my bacon breakfast sandwich. It was a magical experience. Tangy jam, with a little bit of sweetness to awake my mouth senses, mixed in with the greasiness of the egg and bacon and then the warmth of the bread.
It was the perfect hangover food and it still is the perfect hangover food.
I told myself, I had to make this bacon jam, IT HAD TO BE DONE!
But then I was assigned to work in a room with now kitchen and bacon jam had to be done in a kitchen, so I had to put it on hold.
Until Father's Day when it was the perfect time to do it.

BACON JAM
 5 slices of bacon- cooked and cut into pieces
1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 dash of cayenne pepper
1/3 cup of sherry vinegar
1/3 cup of maple syrup
1 teaspoon of balsamic vinaigrette
1 teaspoon of olive oil

Cook bacon over the stove on medium- heat until fully cooked. Remove the bacon and let soak on paper towel or napkin.
Add in chopped onions to the bacon grease and cook until onions are brown and soft about 10 minutes. Add in the brown sugar and stir. Cook for 5 more minutes until onions are sticky and brown. Add in the garlic and cayenne pepper and mix well. Cook 5 more minutes until garlic is soft. Ad in sherry vinegar, maple syrup and mix, the the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to low and stir until mixture is thick to prevent burning.
Add in balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil until fully mixed in.
Taste test the jam, if it is to salty add in more maple syrup or brown sugar, you want the first taste to be tangy but not sour and the after taste to be sweet with a little bit of tang to it, but not a lot to make your face pucker.
Once the jam is thick and all ingredients are mixed well, transfer to a bowl and let cool in the fridge for an hour. Spread on bacon bread and enjoy the bacon, on bacon, on bacon, on bacon.

Bacon, bacon fo'facon, fee fi fo bacon

BACON!

enough all bready

I'm getting creative with my bread puns just like I'm getting creative with my bread recipes.
As weeks go by and my dad eats the bread I make him, the ideas start to wither away and I start to blank out. What will I make? What can I make? What else can you put in bread other that is edible and won't make the bread taste weird?
Every week I go through this, and every week somehow, I manage to make two different kinds of bread and make my father happy.
Like the below breads that I made within two weeks:
Lemon Poppyseed Bread
Apple Cinnamon Bread
Almond Walnut Bread

Lemon Poppyseed Bread
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of lemon extract
2 1/2 tablespoons of poppy seeds
3/4 cup of butter at room temperature
3/4 cup of white sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt, and poppy seeds.
In another bowl with a whisk or electric beater, beat butter until soft. Add the sugar and mix well. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg addition. Add in the vanilla extract and beat mixture again. As the mixer is going, add in the flour mixture, in small additions and the milk in small additions alternating from flour to milk until both ingredients run out. Mix all ingredients well until all combined.
Place in a loaf pan or mini-loaves.
Loaf pan bake for 50-60 minutes and for mini-loaves bake for 25-30.
Once set, let cool and eat (well..at least for my dad).

My mom said the placement of these loaves looked weird but it was the only way I could position them without making them look even more weird.
Also the bit off part on the bottom left bread is not from me, it got stuck to the pan....I swear.

Apple Cinnamon Bread

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter,softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 large apple, peeled and chopped (Fuji or red as it has less flavor than a granny smith, but if you like tartness than granny smith will do)

Preheat oven to 350.

Begin peeling the apple and chopping into pieces. Place apple pieces into bowl. 

In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, white sugar and butter and mix with a beater until smooth.

Add in eggs and vanilla and continue to beat until mixture is smooth.

Add flour, baking powder,and cinnamon and mix well.

Add in milk.

Mix in chopped apples and give it one last mix-in with a spatula.

Pour in prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes if with 9x5 loaf pan or 20-25 minutes if with small loaf pans.

Almond Walnut Bread

1/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

2 teaspoons of almond extract

1/2 teaspoons of baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.

Chop walnuts and leave in small bowl.

In medium bowl, mix both sugars and butter until smooth.

Add in eggs and almond extract and continue to beat until mixture is smooth.

Add flour, and baking powder and mix well.

Add in the milk.

Mix in chopped walnuts and give the mixture one last stir with a spatula.

Pour in prepared pan, and bake for 50 minutes if you have a regular loaf pan or 20-25 minutes with a small loaf pan.

The cakes are monstrous, like the Elephant banana bread, I know. I swear I don't put steroids in my bread to make them rise like this, I really don't. All my breads are made steroid-free.