Bird Nest of Toasts and Eggs

The first time I saw this dish made was in the really good movie called V for Vendetta.  It's basically buttered toast and a fried egg, together.  It's that perfect breakfast food for a lazy Saturday morning and extra perfect for me because I LOVE bread and EGGS <3.

2 pieces of bread

2 eggs

butter

Lightly butter both sides of a slices of bread. Cut or tear out a hole in the middle of each slice. Heat non-stick skillet or griddle on medium. Place bread on grill, crack egg into a dish (to make sure its good) and put it in the hole. Cook round piece off to the side until golden brown on both sides. Fry until egg looks half done. Carefully flip egg and toast and cook until done.

I also bought some nice plums so I ate it with my plum.  

Birthday - the last of the 20s

I had a great birthday this year.  I had recieved a lot of nice emails, text messages, and phone calls (especially ones from India =o).  I felt really special, thank you! Friday, I had cake with co-workers at work.  Later that night, we met up with friends to eat pizza and fried chicken while playing Scattergories and Taboo.  I managed to win at Scattorgories with things like "Nicholas the dalmation and hydrolic gears".  When we played Taboo, I was part of the Girls Team and we were really good.  We managed to beat the three guys.  Saturday, Hubby took me to Ruth's Chris steakhouse again but at a different location.  This time, I was dissapointed with the food but the ambience at this location was better.  I thought that the food needed a little bit of salt (compare to the last time that we were there where everything was perfectly seasoned).  Our potato au gratin side dish was a little bit undercooked.  I did not like their french onion soup.  The best thing was the chocolate cake which was really good.  I can't be bother to go into details about the food since it was OK!  Sunday, we went to lunch with my parents at California Pizza Kitchen.  I love their Waldorf Chicken Salad and Scicilian Pizza.  We ended the lunch with a nice slice of cheese cake.

Basil and Chillies

Now that I have started cooking more regularly, I wanted to have easy access to fresh ingredients, something on the line of going to the backyard and picking my own vegetables and herbs.  Unfortunately, the house does not have a real backyard but we have a small courtyard.  That was by choice because when we first looked at houses, we wanted something extremely low maintenance and we did not want a backyard.  Now, I would really like a garden, nothing big but enough spaces to plant a few things.  For now, this courtyard is enough to house my new basil and chilli plants!  I secured them from my dad who has a green thumb so they are currently in good health.  Everyday after work, I immediately go outside to water them.  I am hoping that I can keep these two plants alive. 

Addicted to Cookbooks...

Although I have moved into my husband's house for 3+ months now, I have not fully unpacked everything yet.  The house was a little bit messy so we decided to slowly organize/clean/decorate each room slowly.  The first room we tackled was our living room.  were boxes, books that were piled up in towers leaning against the wall.  It felt very, college-dorm-ish.  SO, a few weeks ago, we went to the local store and bought 2 bookcases for our books.  After spending 2 hours trying to decipher the "simple" all pictures instructions, we managed to put together our two bookcases.  I was very proud of us!  So now we have a his/her bookcases that stand side by side. I thought it was interesting that I have so many cookbooks---and notice that they're all different cusines.  I ADORE cookbooks with pictures and can't help but browse through a few every time that I go to the bookstores.  I love trying different types of food and would get bored if I am forced to eat the same type of food everyday...

Moving on now to some food...I was looking for an easy and delicious chicken dish to make for dinner.  Lo and behold look at what I've found --- May I introduce you to the best chicken dish ever?...ever?? BOURBON CHICKEN (but actually needed no bourbon to make.) This dish is ridiculously easy!!! DELISH!!! Fabulous with rice. I will divulge this fantastic recipe below. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1-2 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup apple juice

1/3 cup light brown sugar

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon cider vinegar

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup soy sauce

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet.

2. Add chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned.

3. Remove chicken.

4. Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium Heat until well mixed and dissolved.

5. Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.

6. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

7. Serve over hot rice and ENJOY.