Summer Tomato

so Marco tells me that women talks to their flowers/plants a lot more than men and apparently it grows better, according to NPR(?). Well, I don't really talk to my tomato plant, but I try to water it every day from a 4" high to a 24" tall tomato plant :-) I do have to say it must of been my silent prayers! these pictures were taken last month and you can see I only had ONE to-mato and today I have total of 3!!! so excited!!! It's still very green and I can't wait to harvest it!

here are some more updated pictures of our tomato ... 8/2009

and i think all the talking and water helped ;-) they were yummy!

Restaurants are closing

due to this bad economy many small stores, cafe, business, and restaurants are closing... and before i can say 'but I've always wanted to go there'- IT'S GONE!!! I always have forgotten about Public in SF and my friend David have told me about it 8 years ago and now it's closed... too late for me. I decided to make a list, not a to-do paper list that can be tossed, but a list that's on this blog page so i will remember to visit before it's too late.

Jeremy's

ok so here's my big shoe shopping secret... i love Jeremy's in Berkeley, when this place goes on sale it's additional 50% and you can get shoes from JCREW down to $12 (Italy made) so i walked out with one too many pairs "how am i gonna tell Marco i'm gonna take more of his shoe spaces for my new shoes...!" (i didn't tell him this other pair i bought..oops- soon you'll find me hiding my shoes in my car trunk-hahhaha). i just love this place to buy shoes, it's really quality and great style too. i have to say most of their clothing there are from JCrew, which i don't care much for but they also got some other really cute clothings.

Fresh Corn Pancakes

I love reading the Gourmet magazine, the pictures just look so good you could just taste it. It makes you want to read more about it and try it for yourself. I came across this Corn Pancakes yesterday in the magazine and thought this was really easy to make and I even got corn in the fridge ready to go. It turned out so very good and we served the pancakes with a dry rub steak for dinner. I just might make this again for next weekend's brunch party.

Serves4 (Makes about 12 pancakes)

• Active time:25 min
• Start to finish:25 min

Gourmet July 2009

Ready your griddle. These pancakes capture the golden sweetness of corn cut from the cob. Drizzle warm maple syrup on them for breakfast or serve them as a side dish with salsa and sour cream.

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 to 4 ears corn
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled

• Accompaniment:

  pure maple syrup, or salsa and sour cream

• Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a medium bowl.
• Cut enough kernels from cobs to measure 2 cups. Using back of a knife, scrape pulp from cobs and transfer to a blender with milk and 1/2 cup corn. Purée until smooth, then strain through a sieve into another medium bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids. Whisk in eggs, oil, and butter.
• Add to flour mixture with remaining 1 1/2 cups corn and whisk until just combined.
• Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat until hot, then lightly brush with oil. Working in batches, pour 1/3 cup batter per pancake onto griddle and cook until bubbles appear on surface and undersides are golden-brown, about 2 minutes. Flip with a spatula and cook until undersides are golden-brown, about 1 minute more. (Reduce heat if pancakes brown too quickly.) Lightly oil griddle between batches if necessary.