Happy Hump Day

This is the image I saw when I looked in the mirror this morning.

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Cookies

I made these whole wheat peanut butter cookies for a work bake off, which I didn't win. But I learned that these are not the desserts you want to serve when people are looking for sweets. They are best paired with a sweet treat like ice cream. I also liked them with a sweet cup of coffee in the morning.

What to gather:

• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup not raw peanuts

How to make it:

1. In a mixing bowl or mixer, beat egg, sugars and butter until fluffy.
2. Add the peanut butter and vanilla to it and mix it in well.
3. In another bowl, mix the whole wheat, flour, salt and baking soda.
4. Stir in the flour mixture into the peanut butter batch.
5. Add the peanuts.
6. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degreees.
8. Drop small spoonfuls of the mixture on to an ungreased cookie sheet.
9. Bake 10 to 15 minutes.
10. Serve with some ice cream!

I Want My Monday That Way

This video is hilarious! This is how I want to start my Monday.

Missing New York

I really wanted to enjoy a fall walk through Central Park today.

Sometimes It's Hard to Plan

Courtesy of Shirin!

Sometimes it's hard to plan for the unforeseen things that can go wrong when you create something. At least there's always some element of humor that can be found in poor planning.

Pear & Walnut Ricotta Cake

I've been complaining for the last two weeks about the lack of homemade baked goods around the office. Actually there's been plenty, but just not enough to satisfy the over grown sweet tooth I've recently developed. Usually I am not such a sugar addict but I am experiencing some sort of holiday sugar habits. To satisfy my sweet tooth I baked a recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini one of my favorite cookbooks. I went for the Pear & Walnut Ricotta Cake because it looked like a pizza. Anything pizza cannot taste bad. Unfortunately, I didn't do my prep work and didn't have all the ingredients in the original recipe. Despite the improvisation, the cake turned out really delicious.

What to gather:

• 1 stick of unsalted butter (I ended up using salted because I didn't have unsalted)
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar ( I never figured out what the 1 extra tablespoon was for but its in the original recipe)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup whole-milk ricotta
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I ran out of vanilla (ooops!) so I used 1 tablespoon of honey instead)
• 2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (since my butter was salted, I didn't add extra salt)
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon (loosely packed) finely grated organic orange zest (my orange wasn't organic and it tasted fine)
• 2/3 cups chopped walnuts (you can use pistachio or almonds too)
• 3 fresh pears, sliced thinly (if you're not a fan of pears, use figs, apples, apricots)

How to make it:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a round pan with the butter.
2. In a food processor (or if you feel like mixing by hand just use a big bowl), combine the butter, 1 cup sugar and process til creamy. Then, add the eggs one by one while mixing. Add the ricotta, and vanilla extract (or honey if u forgot to go shopping)
3. In a medium bowl, sift the flour, salt (optional), and baking powder. Add the orange zest to it and then slowly mix it all into the egg mixture. Mix until just combined (batter should be thick). Fold in half your nuts.
4. Pour batter in the pan and spend some time smoothing the top.
5. Add the pears & the rest of the nuts evenly on top. The fruit shrink so arrange them like sardines.
6. Bake for 1 hour and then check with a knife. If the knife cut comes out clear then its cooked. Leave it out on your kitchen counter for 10 minutes before serving.

Add some vanilla ice cream for extra sugar and serve!

Keen for Quinoa

The first time I heard of quinoa was a few years ago at a dinner party. It was served with a Cuban beef stew. At first bite I found the fluffy, crunchy grain delicious even though I had no clue how to pronounce it. After the dinner party, I wanted to learn all about it, especially how do you pronounce it? I found out that it’s pronounced Keen-wah and it is not only delicious but it is really healthy. Quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed. In addition to being a good source of protein, it is also a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus. Since my discovery, I am always looking for new recipes with quinoa. Today, I tried to make the Quinoa, Bacon and Mushroom cake from Chocolate & Zucchini, one of my favorite cook books by Clotilde Dusoulier. I liked the recipe but since I wasn't in the mood for bacon I slightly changed it. Instead of bacon, I used some canned diced tomatoes. I also added some saffron for extra flavor.

What to gather: 2 cups uncooked quinoa, 6 oz canned, diced tomatoes, 1 medium yellow onion chopped, 8oz mushrooms sliced, 3 large eggs, ¼ cup heavy cream, ½ teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon pepper, ½ cup flat lead parleys chopped, and ½ teaspoon saffron water (optional).

How to make it: First, preheat your oven - 400 degrees. Start cooking the quinoa according to the package instructions. I cooked mine in chicken broth for some extra flavor. Cook it til’ its brown and crisp. Make sure all the water is gone.

While the quinoa is cooking, you can cook your chopped onions in a skillet on medium heat for 8 minutes. Once the onions are translucent, add the sliced mushrooms and cover the skillet for 5 mins. Then let the mixture cook for another 2mins without the cover so that the juices evaporate. Set it aside while you mix the eggs and cream.

Grab a large bowl and whisk the eggs, cream, tomatoes salt and pepper. Add the parsley and a dash of saffron water. Then, spray your cooking pan with some Pam or grease it with butter. I baked mine in a cupcake pan because I like the smaller portions. If I cook it in a bread pan, I'll eat the whole thing in one seating. Once you filled your pan to the rim, then bake it for 35 mins or until top is golden.

Let it cook for 5mins when you take it out of the oven and be careful not to burn your finger like I did. Once it's cooled a bit serve with a salad!

The Dream Ice Cream Bowl

Final ceramics class project.

Social Media Revolution

Is social media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution? Welcome to the World of Socialnomics. Brought to you by Socialnomics – Social Media Blog.

Walking the SF Race for the Cure

I get frustrated when I do not know about something. I think this is partly because nosiness is an inherent family trait. It is probably a product of being born Persian. We must know all things. When I do not know something, I feel that it is my cultural duty, to figure it out. The spread of breast cancer is one of the things I don’t understand. It’s frustrating to not understand something that is prevalent in our community. There are very few people that have not personally dealt with breast cancer or know someone close to them that is or has been affected. I don’t know why breast cancer will affect one in eight women within our community but I do know that the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Race is helping to find answers. On September 27^th, I’m walking to support the San Francisco Bay Area Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The Race for the Cure plays a vital role in raising funds for research, education, prevention, advocacy and treatment. Walking is the easiest thing I can do. Really, it is. I could have done the timed run but thought that it’s best to start with baby steps. Next year maybe I will do the untimed run.

If you would like help find a solution, please visit my personal page to make a tax deductable donation. Thank you.

And... more creation!

Humor for Humanity, a refreshing concept

I was first introduced to Firoozeh Dumas’ book Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America, when I was living in D.C. My mom sent me her book as part of one of the occasional care packages she would send me filled with things like cards, pictures of my first nephew (growing up without me), nail filer and other random things. These little care packages I suspect were bait to move me back to San Francisco. Even so I always loved the packages and this one with Funny in Farsi was my favorite. Reading the book at the time while living away from home for the first time, and being thousands of miles away from the frustrating family drama inherent in Persian families, allowed me to actually appreciate the funny cultural idiosyncrasies of my family. Like her I had moved to America when I was young (6) and had grown up trying to find my place between the two very different cultures. At that time Firoozeh Dumas’ writing was a fun companion on homesick nights.

Last week I had the pleasure of actually hearing her talk at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. She was interviewed by Dr. Jaleh Daie, another very accomplished Iranian woman. Hearing her talk about family, writing, politics, culture and my favorite subject food was a lot of fun and I was happy to discover that beyond liking her writing she is a very likeable person. I’ve found sometimes that there is a disconnect between a person’s work and who they are. But in this case, I found that I enjoyed her work and her genuine humanity!

During the talk the topic turned to politics a few times. Politics is hard to avoid when it comes toIran, especially these days. One of the questions was why she doesn’t actively talk about Iranian politics and use her status to protest it. While I do think that if you read her blog posts and articles she definitely shares her opinions but her speaking engagement and book topics are focused on culture and not just politics. I liked the way Mrs. Dumas addressed these questions. She said that she tries not to solely talk about Iranian politics because it’s the only thing that Americans really know about Iranians. Instead she tries to share a cultural secret- our humor. I never realized this before but it’s true Iranians are really funny! I always thought we are funny to ourselves but her book has been embraced by many Americans because of its humor. Funny in Farsi was a finalist for Thurber Prize for American Humor, but lost to Jon Steward. Proof that Americans find her almost as funny as Jon Steward.

Her new book Laughing Without an Accent is as delicious as the first. My favorite story is the last one in which she describes the road trip she takes with one of the American hostages from the Iranian hostage crisis in 1979. In this story through humor she conveys our shared humanity, which is something that will not make the 7pm news, so you’ll have to get her book to actually learn about it.

Lost and Found

Yesterday, I found my “doodle” from a few years back that was published in the Washington City Paper. The newspaper had asked locals to submit their found art. I submitted this attempt at a self-portrait and forgot about it. Months later my mom called me from San Francisco excited because a friend of hers had seen my painting in the paper. I remember running around D.C looking for a copy of the city paper and going through the paper page by page in search of my painting. When I found it on the last page it was really funny to see my picture next to a Viagra ad. One place I never thought I see my face.

More Creation

My ceramics porfolio is slowly growing. I am finally creating more useable things. It must be because I have kept my nails short.

My Morning Guilty Pleasure

I have daily morning Gilt and it just got worst. No that’s not a misspelling. I am actually talking about Gilt.com but it does come with some guilt too. Gilt sells designer stuff on sale everyday and it's addictive. Every morning right before 9am they send an email announcing the daily sales. This is EVERY morning. You don’t even get the weekend to rest. Part of the excitement is the designer apparel and accessories are really discounted. Like these J Brand jeans were over 30% off. I have to confess that the main reason for my addiction is the way you have to shop. There are limited supplies on everything so you have to be the first to get the item your cart. For example, you may spend 20 minutes refreshing and clicking on an item until it's available. Sometimes I find I buy things just because I was able to get it in my cart. On August 12th my addiction got worst. Gilt launched Gilt Fuse that sells up and coming labels. There's now two times the daily temptation to shop. Sometimes I try to avoid opening the email. I ration with myself if I didn’t know what designers are on sale this week I wont know what I am missing in my cart. This hardly works. The good news is I can share the guilt. If you are interested, you are invited!

Cheers to Happiness Day!

It has recently come to my attention that we have a variety of National Days. I stumbled upon this fact on an ordinary Wednesday, August 5th to be exact. On this particular date my officemate nonchalantly informed me that it was National Underwear Day. Well, I had no clue that we have a whole day dedicated to just the underwear. Hmm how worthy. I was curious and a bit hesitant to learn what exactly one must do to partake in National Underwear Day. It turns out that celebrating National Underwear Day is not as racy as I thought. It’s a day dedicated to wearing fresh underwear and being open about your undies.

National Underwear Day was started in 2003 by Freshpair.com, an underwear company, to get people to celebrate their underwear. According to the site, Freshpair President, Michael Kleinmann, believes that "underwear should no longer be merely the first thing you put on and the last thing you take off, but the most important thing you wear all day." Discovering National Underwear Day, got me curious about other random but endearing National Days.

I started searching for National Days and found that there are a lot of unofficial days that get started by either corporation or interest groups. One of my favorite findings was National Ice Cream Day which was started by the International Ice Cream Association (IICA). I was disappointed to find out that I missed the scoop on this one as it was July 19th. National Ice Cream Day was designated in 1984 by Ronald Reagan. If I was President I would designate every Friday night after 2am as National Pizza Night but my obsession with pizza is another story. So after some drifting through the internet, I found some sites that list National Days. Most of these events are not official "national days." An official day is bit complicated as you have to go through Congress. While I recognize that a lot of these days are created to promote things, I also find it endearing that there are national days that make you appreciate and celebrate the little things in life. If seeing pictures of hot men in their undies puts a smile on your face, it did on mine, or getting a free ice scream scoop makes your day, then I am all for it. Especially today as it is Happiness Happens Day and you are not suppose to rain on other's parade. I am happy to designate this post to Happiness Happens Day. This day was started by the Secret Society of Happy People to recognize and express happiness and don't rain on other people's parades. Here's how you can celebrate!

And finally creation

The first thing people ask me when I tell them I am taking a ceramics class is if my work on the wheel is like Debbie Moore's in Ghost. This really upsets me. I instantly start whining that the movie sets really bad expectations for new potters. It makes the whole wheel process look so easy.

I signed up for ceramics classes because I thought it would be relaxing. A nice creative outlet after a busy work day. I was wrong. Manipulating clay on a spinning disc is not as easy as one may think or watch in Ghost. I wasn't always jaded. I was hopeful the first 8 classes. At the begining of every class I would eagerly kneed several balls of clay anticipating that this would be the day that I make something on the wheel. By the end of the class I would be very frustrated when I saw all the other ladies make bowls and cynlinders and all I had to show for my 2 hour effort was clay all over my wheel, clothes and hair. When I whined to my officemate about the injustice, he wisely said "well maybe all the other girls have their gohst boyfriends helping them shape their clay!" For a second the idea apeased me but then I became not only jealous of their bowls but their hot gost boyfriends too! I decided not to quit and take another beginingers class. At the first class in the new round of begining classes, the teacher said "hey I think your nails may be too long and that's your problem." I joked well if it is is easy as that I would have cut my nails 3 months ago. After all that's easier than finding a ghost boyfriend and that was the only other solution that had been offered to me so far. So the next class, I cut my nails right before class and it was a miracle. Every piece of clay I sculpted on the wheel magically formed into a cylinder! I got so good that I got cocky and threw a couple of way and made one (the last one in the picture) deformed just for fun. Who knew that the trick was to just cut my nails.

Got lucky with red!

Finding the perfect red dress is like finding the perfect man. There are a lot of choices but only a one can really just fit and make you feel spectacular at the same time. Luckily, I found a fabulous designer, Azadeh. She designed an amazing red dress for my childhood friend’s wedding. This date looked good all night (even after several shots), and was easy to dance with. Oh! And not mention it had a great back. If only finding the perfect designer, was as easy as finding the right matchmaker.

Priceless & Timeless

$220 for ceramics class, $15 for tools, 16 hours of class time, 2 hours of glazing, creating something that I can use priceless & timeless.

A Day at S.F Zoo

Baby Gorilla Hasani, Lioness, bear fights, and pink flamingos are some of my favorite things at the SF Zoo.

Barnett Vineyards

Low key, hidden Napa winery.