Pad Siew, aka the best Thai Dish EVER!

Ingredients: 

1 Crown of broccoli

1 Package of rice noodles (I got the wide flat triangular shapped ones from Asia Market 99 in the North End of Burlington)

1 Tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce - also purchased at Asia Market 99

2 Tablespoons Lite soy sauce (normal soy sauce)

2 Cloves of garlic - minced

2 Tablespoons of sugar

1/2 Cup of thinly sliced pork

1 Egg

Boil a pot of water, once boiling pour the water and uncooked rice noodles into a large bowl, let sit while you prep everything else. Drain before adding to the meal. 

Cut the broccoli into small pieces, the pieces in the photo are too large and didn't quite cook enough for my liking.

Heat a large pot-pan to medium heat then add 2 tablespoons of oil, the minced garlic and the pork. When pork is almost done add the rice noodles and stir to break them up a bit. Then add dark soy sauce, lite soy sauce and sugar. Stir to coat the rice noodles with sauce.

Make a hole in the center of your noodles and break you egg into the empty space. Scramble the egg in the area until it is cooked through. Once the egg is cooked, stir the entire pot-pan to mix everything together. 

Add the broccoli and mix well. Cover to help the broccoli cook through. Once the broccoli is cooked, remove your pot-pan from the heat and serve immediately. 

I have to say that this was one of the most delicious and easy recipes that I have ever made at home, and I can't believe how much it looked exactly liked and tasted exactly like Tiny Thai!

Happy cooking! 

Couches by Jess

Today was a marvelous day, because I finished the couch. Actually reflecting back it was a huge pain in the butt to complete this project. I thought it would be easy to finish the cording and to put the bottom fabric back on, but of course I was incorrect. I made the cording, which is a pretty simple process. Then I had to attach the cording to the entire bottom of the couch. Unfortunately the staple gun was having a rough time. I think there were so many layers of stuff that the staples had to penetrate that it just wasn't working. About 1 out of every 12 times I pulled the trigger a staple would actually come out. I got really frustrated and dug out my upholstery tacks, which are essentially tiny nails with very sharp ends and flat heads. I started tacking the welting cord on but realized that I had to conserve my tacks because I only had about 30, which was not going to be enough for the cord and the bottom fabric. After a while I decided to give my staple gun another shot. With a lot of effort pushing the staple gun into the couch and a little bit of hoping, wishing and praying I was able to get both the cording and the bottom attached. I used all my tacks and got enough staples in so that I am willing to proclaim the couch a finished masterpiece. 

Completed bottom of the couch

Reflecting back on this whole adventure I can't believe I actually did this! This couch is a wonderful place to sit, study, nap etc, but it is also a piece of art and a huge source of pride for me. :) I feel very accomplished. There is also something very appealing to me about being able to do all of these things that are no longer being done. The "old arts" if you will. I think my grandmother would be very proud of me. :)

The finished product

Close up of the cording I added today

Childs Park

Across the street from my house is a park called Childs Park. All I can see from my house is a row of HUGE pine trees, maybe 30 - 50 feet tall. I always knew that the park was big, but I guess I assumed it was just a big park full of pine trees. Needless to say I was so wrong. The park is absolutely amazing. There are flower gardens, including a rose garden, ponds paved and un-paved trails, pine trees...yes, but there are also countless other types of trees. The best part of the park is that there is a huge meadow on the side by my house and for the most part it always seems to be empty. People are usually on the other side of the park. I guess this is going to be my personal section of the park. :) 

I'm totally thrilled that I live where I do, even if I take the bus for an hour each day. 

Almost Done Upholstering The Couch

Before

After!

Back of the couch - DONE!!

So today after I studied statistics forever I decided to take a break and finish upholstering the sides and the back of the couch. See above, I finished the second outside arm and then did the back. The outside arms were pretty easy to do, but the back was surprisingly difficult. The curves on the top, outside of the back were almost impossible. I improvised and decided that it didn't really matter if I got them exactly right because that part of the couch is against the wall anyway.  Another big landmark today, I have officially used 1000 staples in the reupholstery project, AND I'm not even done yet. I still have to put the cording on the bottom and put the gauze type stuff (which by the way is the official name) on the bottom. I think there is about 1 hour of work left to finish this project.

Right now this is what the couch looks like.

I'll keep you all posted with a final picture once I get up the motivation to complete the upholstery at long last! :)