I don't live in TX anymore?!

Since my last post in this blog, in 2013, a lot of things have happened in my life! I finished my residency and I moved to San Francisco for my fellowship.  I haven't really cooked anything special in a looonngggg time.  Isn't that just like residency, to destroy all your hobbies? Ahhh, residency. I certainly abandoned my 10 recipes per week goal.

I took up running about 8 years ago.  I could start blogging about running but SF is kicking my butt with the hills so that would be embarassing.  I'm only running like 8 miles per week.  That is a far cry from 30-40 miles per week.  I could pick it back up and get in the best physical condition of my life, but the older I get, the less realistic that sounds.  I'm 30.  I can't be in peak physical condition.  It's all downhill from here.

I haven't bought any new shoes in awhile.  My priorities have changed. Comfort is paramount.  My new goal is to only wear sweatsuits.  Scrubs are just a thin cotton variation of a sweatsuit.  Clinic clothes still stand in my way of 24-7 comfort.

Well, I am supposed to blog here about things I like.  Recently I am liking peppermint Luna bars. Delicious! I also like eggs.  And lunch meat.  Candy - a classic favorite.  Chocolate, cakes, cookies.

Fitnesswise, I've been running up this hill on a 1.3 mile loop every day and a 3.5 mile loop on the weekend that I can't yet run continuously.   I'm not sure the grade but I swear it's >15%.  Because I can consistently defeat the small hill, I'm going to increase my distance starting today, or consider running the small hill twice. Last week I also announced my intention to do 2 pushups per day every day but I only was able to stick to this for two days, during which I beat my goals by 50% by doing 3 pushups.  I must have overextended myself.  

Mi Ma Hua Tang

This stuff is the bomb diggety. It's a sticky maltose/honey impregnated fried dough that comes as a little packaged dessert.  The sesame seeds and honey topping are optional but always welcome in my book.  When I google "mi ma hua tang" zero images for this come up on google, but then when i 蜜麻花 there are sixty bajillion results. I guess Americans don't eat much of this.  Also, note, they are NOT more healthy than other fried dough sugar snacks, like those mini powdered doughnuts that I love so much.

Sugary snacks

Well my dog died on 2/4/13 and it's hard to imagine that i could still like stuff, or be happy without him.  I look at his pictures a lot and remember the good old days.  I miss him very much.  A lot of things are going on in my life right now and it's been very busy.  Anyway that's enough of being a debbie downer.  Now onto more stuff that I like --

I really like being a Chinese American.  I also liked being exposed to Arabic food in Dubai, as you can see from my previous halawa post!  Today, all sorts of sugary snacks will be featured.

This Chinese honey alternative is maltose - like honey made from barley! It's thicker, stickier, and also has a malty flavor!  Delicious on cookies/candy and by itself!  YUM.

Everyone knows and loves baklava.  My favorite is when the honey sinks to the bottom and makes a honey puddle.  I also like when there is the rose syrup added.

Finally, an American classic!  This one isn't as syrupy/sticky, but I loooove Hostess powdered mini doughnuts! wow they are super unhealthy too!  I especially like the nutmeg/ginger undertone in the cake part and the sugary sprinkly outside!

And, my dog loved all these snacks too.  I know this post would have made him happy.

Other stuff that rules

I was supposed to go to an xmas party today but I was feeling lazy and my dad offered to take me shopping so I passed on the party.  My dad and I go shopping a lot because I'm a voracious consumer.  This is what we bought today:

 This yogurt is super creamy, sweet, and rich.  It's smooth in texture, with a mild and milky aftertaste.  Reg price: $0.89 per container.   It was on sale for $0.50 so I bought 20 of them!  The only thing I like more than candy is the feeling of getting a good deal.  And shoes.

MARSHMALLOWS.  Even the name sounds delicious.  I like these on hot chocolate, in mocha, in mini s'more sandwiches (2 teddy grahams, 1 mini marshmallow, 1 chocolate chip), and by themselves.  I also like how the penguins on the bag are really cute.  Also, if you eat the entire bag in 1 sitting, it's only 900 calories!  Cha-ching!   I also saw a jumbo version.  Things that come in mini and jumbo are both awesome.  The jumbo one looks like it could fill the whole mug.  Unfortunately I could only find one package at the store, and that package was looking a little roughed up, so I didn't buy it.

In conclusion, I had a great time shopping with my dad.  I like to think he had fun too, especially the part where we went to Target and he stood there watching me sample every single tester lotion and paint each of my nails a different color.

Oh, and, in other news, my yeast culture came in the mail, so all my loyal readers can look forward to bread making posts in the near future!

Old Man's Beard

When I was little my Arabic teacher Ms. Dunia would always be bringing in Arabic candy for us to class.  It is a well known fact that I am a candy fiend.  I love candy more than any other food in the whole world!  My favorite candy that she brought was something she called "old man's beard."  She always brought it in a brown paper lunch sack looking thing.  When I moved to the US, I looked everywhere for this candy but it seemed to not be available to Americans.... until 2 weeks ago!, when my mom brought home a box from the Mediterranean grocery store containing.... 

OLD MANS BEARD! also known to adults as floss halawa, or to Greek people as halva.  I had no idea this was related to another Arabic / Mediterranean candy that I love -- regular halawa!

I like the pistachio flavor.  I also like pistachio nuts.

YUM.

more stuff i like

1) slow cookers rule for busy people
2) i want an e-reader / tablet computer SO BAD
3) gyn consults has been pretty fun so far

generally, i like residency.

pelvic surgery

this website is AWESOME
www.atlasofpelvicsurgery.com

things i like about it
1) it's FREE
2) it's like learning from a comic book. how many times have i told people that large blocks of text are just not that interesting? When I see huge paragraphs, my eyes glaze over and wander to the first sentence of the next paragraph. and so and and so forth until all the pages of the book have been flipped. then when someone asks me what the book is about, i can generally only tell them what the main character's first name was, and whether or not he/she died at the end.
3) pelvic surgery is fun
4) and exciting.
5) i love ob/gyn.
6) my life is great


oh yeah, and why is te linde's like 200 dollars, that is not worth it.
and why are the prologs like 500 dollars? that is SO NOT WORTH IT.

PRK 6 months later

my eyes are practically the same now. right eye 20/15, left eye 20/30. i heard it's never getting better. i also can't wear a contact in my left eye because i only have astigmatism but only very slight so even the lowest powered contact would overwhelm my corrective needs. so. i guess that's that. too bad about the left eye.

also, after almost 20 years of wearing glasses, and then 6 months of not, i still find myself reaching over to the nightstand for my glasses to check the clock in the middle of the night.