Dark meat. I love dark meat. And when it comes to chicken, my favorite dark meat on chickens are the wings. I don’t know. I feel like the closer it is to the bone, the more flavorful it is. And I’m also the type that doesn’t mind working to get to the food. Like clams that are still their shells in a linguine, or eating crab meat that’s still in the crab. I just love it!
One day, to surprise me, Nick came home with chicken wings. Uncooked chicken wings.
Nick: Hey babe! I have a surprise for you!
He gave me the plastic bag he was holding and then I looked inside. I saw some uncooked chicken wings.
Me: Uh…ok. Chicken wings.
Nick: But I thought you loved chicken wings.
Me: Yeah! The cooked ones!
Nick: Well they’re you’re favorite. I was grocery shopping and I thought I’d get them for you.
Tanya: Ohhhhkayyyy.
Nick: Come on love, I thought you’d like it.
Tanya: I do but a good surprise too is that when I get food, I don’t have to cook it.
Nick: I’m sorry love. I just thought you’d like it.
Tanya: I do like it. It’s just… it’s just that it’s the first time someone has given me uncooked food as a surprise. That’s all.
Nick: Ok. Next time I’ll remember to bring home cooked chicken wings.
I guess this is what makes my husband charming. HAHA! Yes it’s sweet that he bought me chicken wings but I think he forgot the part about who’s going to end up cooking it. Which happened to be me of course and I was happy I did.
I got the recipe from allrecipes.com and adjusted it by adding 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to balance out the flavors. I wanted something easy to make so I used that recipe.
Establishing Shot
Medium Shot
Close Up
It turned out so good, Nick ate half of what I baked in one sitting. His surprise ended up to be a good surprise for the two of us.
You’ll see that there will be more and more posts about food and eventually recipes. For now, I’m just going to take photos and tell you what I’ve been cooking and eating. Nick’s been pretty happy with all the cooking that’s been happening in this house. Especially if it’s not him that’s doing it. He gets to study and get fed at the same time. That was my life back when I lived at my parents, I guess that’s just a dream now. The good part is, Nick let’s me buy the ingredients I want, despite how challenging it is to find it. Like the dende oil that I bought for my Moqueca de Peixe (Photo NOT by me) that I made last Saturday. I assumed that oil will be available at the Brazilian store up in the U-District but when Nick got there, the cafe/store was closed. So he tried 5 other places and failed. I eventually got it from Latin Merchant at Pike Place Market. I cooked the stew for Nick’s family and unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera to the island. So I didn’t have a step by step photo process on how I made it. Next time.. I promise….next time. But to comment on how good the Moqueca was… let’s just say, “Don’t be afraid of palm oil, because you don’t know how amazing it makes a dish soooo good!”
Here’s to showing you all that I made up for my previous noodle post. That was really stupid of me to post that entry because it looked pretty disgusting and I know I have an option to delete it but I guess I wanted to show you all the improvements that I’ve made.
Noodle Craving No. 2
One of these days, I’ll take my noodle craving on another level and really make some ramen from scratch. Boiling some pork bones for hours on end. We’ll see when i’ll get there but for now, I’ll be playing with my new dutch oven first. 
I’ve had conversations with random strangers on the street, bus stop, in the bus, or even in restaurants. Something happens and someone just starts the conversation. It usually starts with the weather or how cute someone’s boots are. It’s normal like that.
The other night though, it was the sweetest words I have ever heard from a stranger.
Two nights ago, Nick was really sick. He was in the bathroom a million times, he had food coming out on both ends and it was not a pretty sight. It was the first time I ever saw him sick like this. Before I got home from work I already bought him Pepto Bismol and it didn’t seem to work. So he asked me to go to the store and get him some Sprite and saltines. Never heard about Sprite or any kind of soda to make someones stomach feel better but because Nick said that his mom made him drink pop under this circumstances and it worked, I couldn’t argue with him. (did some research and found that the carbonated water makes the stomach acids settle).
I went to the grocery store, picked up the pop and saltines then walked to the cashier to pay for my stuff. A lady was paying for her groceries when I got to the express line. I noticed that she probably just came from work with the clothes she was wearing and rode her bike home since she was wearing biking shoes, then just picked up some things before going home.
I placed the pop and saltines down, she took a quick glance at them and smiled. I smiled back then looked away because I wasn’t really in the mood to have a small conversation about how cold it was that night. And I was too worried about Nick to even stay an extra minute just to talk. She probably even saw my not so happy face.
But as she was putting her receipt in her wallet, she looked at the pop and saltines, then at me and said, ”You know what? I look at these and just want to say, I hope you feel better.” It took my by surprise. I was surprised at her thoughtfulness and kindness. My attitude suddenly changed. I said,”Awwww thank you! that’s so sweet of you! It’s for my husband though. He’s really sick right now.” She replied and said,”Awwww I hope he feels better. I just know how he feels. I’ve gone through what he’s going through a million times, and it is horrible. I also always take pop and saltines when my stomach is not feeling well. Please give my love to your husband. I know you both don’t know me but please tell him, someone hopes that he feels better soon.”
Wow.
I went home and told Nick about the lady at the store. He said that that was such a sweet thing for a stranger to say. I thought the same. He drank the pop, ate some saltines and was better in just 10 minutes. I know the stuff I got at the store made Nick feel better but the kind words of the lady made Nick feeling better extra special.
She made me think of how often I say kind words to another person. To my officemates, friends, husband or even the person sitting next to me on the bus. I may have done it a couple of times but I feel like I don’t do it often enough. Sometimes we don’t feel like it because we had a bad day. I look back now and remember the lady actually looked pretty tired, she was sweaty and seemed to be in a hurry too. I was even right about her riding her bike home since I saw her cycle away from the store when she left. I don’t think I get to say kind words to another person when I’m tired. But with that quick conversation that I had, I think we should always be ready with kind words. With just a few, it opens up something in us. There’s a feeling of relief in knowing that we are not alone through our struggles.
I’m going to do what she did to me. I could be tired, sweaty and in a hurry like she was, but I will try. You think you can do it too?
Catching up on my posts and I didn’t want you guys to miss a few photos of what Nick and I have been doing.
My husband is a tiny bit Irish, I’m saying tiny because when I asked him how Irish he was this is what I got:
Me: ”Babe, is your grandfather full Irish?”
Nick: “Emmm… mostly.”
I’m guessing most Americans are the same way. A tiny bit Irish, tiny bit German, tiny bit English… yeah pretty much tiny bit of everything. Nick I’m guessing has a lot more Italian then German, then English.. then whatever European immigrant decided to live in America back in the day.
Back to what we did during St. Paddy’s. On the day itself, it was a Wednesday. So Nick and I decided it was best we just make our Irish corned beef and cabbage at home. Have a Guinness and then call it a night. We already celebrated a big St. Paddy’s/birthday at an Irish pub the night before so it was best we just rested.
Nick ready to attack the corned beef
Corned Beef and Cabbage w/ Potato Fingerlings
For the weekend we just went over to a friend’s house to see how Italian’s celebrated St. Paddy’s. I’m not sure if there’s a big clash of the cultures but hey, they’re an amazing Italian family who loves to celebrate anything!
Nick and Lowell
My friend Rebecca and her Dad
Rebecca's Stuffed Cabbage
Lowell's Meat Pie
I love Rebacca.. + the boy who wanted a photo then changed his mind
So I got a Facebook tag from my cousin and he tagged me to share applegirl002′s video. I am not a musician, I don’t play any instrument or even use an iPhone but I am definitely impressed with this girl’s singing ability. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous but she can sing! I couldn’t help but laugh at all my guy cousins and brothers’ comments on the video on Facebook. They’re all drooling and wishing they know her. She is gorgeous! We can’t doubt that.
I couldn’t help but do a little bit of research and sadly only found one other video of her that was not uploaded from her own YouTube account. I feel like a stalker. But I am really curious. I wonder if she’s already a big pop star in Korea. And it’s only now that the rest of the world is finding out about her because of her amazing musical iPhone skills. She tweets but even if the whole page is translated in English, I still can’t make of what she’s all about. I could get deeper in my research but I’m not going there. HAHA! I could wait a few days and someone will get the info we all need.
For now, all I can do is wait for her to post more videos.
I’m supposed to be in bed now but I couldn’t resist talking about today. Nothing major happened. I just wanted to document how thankful I am that the sun is out and on our shoulders. The flowers are definitely blooming and my allergies are acting up in full force. Not happy about the allergies but I will take it any day as long as the sun is shining on me.
Nick and I woke up this morning with stuffy noses and deep sexy sick bedroom voices. haha! We had our coffee and lunch (yes we slept in) and headed out the door. We were going to the Seattle Asian Art Museum but decided that the day was too nice to be indoors. So we decided to just walk around Volunteer Park and enjoy the day.
Driving to the park, we had the windows rolled down. It was actually the first time this year that we were able to do that. It was that warm. Dude 64F is major! We loved it!
We arrived at the park, we saw the cherry trees all beautiful and blooming. The people were out in the field laying on their picnic blankets, reading books, throwing frisbees, walking their dogs, riding their bikes and also people with their cameras taking photos of the flowers. It was spring and Nick and I loved it!
We walked around the conservatory and the park and then sat by the black sun, to enjoy the warmth and the view of the Space Needle.
It was one of those days when I thanked God that I live in Seattle. I am sure that this is just the beginning of the many sunny days we’re going to have here. I can’t wait for the late sunsets, bbq with friends, after-work swimming in the lake and throwing frisbees at Alki. Camping trips will then come, hiking in the mountains and lots of play time in the sun.
Sun, shine on me. I can’t wait to spend more time with you. (Don’t worry peeps, I suncreen like crazy)
This will be my first post using my Blackberry. Let’s see how it goes.
Nick’s going crazy with the paper that he has to submit on Friday. So there isn’t much husband and wife time together. So to lessen the stress and make him happy, I made some really good linguini with white clam sauce.
It was soooo good. The wine, I’m sure, was the one that made it that good. The sad thing now is that after buying that bottle of white wine, and using only a spoonfulls of it, it just might go to waste since there are no white wine drinkers in this house. So tomorrow I have to figure out what else I can make with white wine before it turns into vinegar. If you have any suggestions I would much appreciate that.
I guess I’ll try and look something up online and see if there are anything else I can make with white wine. For now, all I can do is wait ’til Nick gets done with his homework and maybe we could sneak in a little quality time together.
It’s usually around this time when I start getting very restless because of the weather. I’ve been checking flights to Mexico, Puerto Rico and even Spain (even if the weather is pretty much the same here and there).
It’s always around this time when I feel that I need to leave and just take a break from Seattle. To fly far, far far away from here. I love the city yeah, but I am made to be in the sun. On the beach, reading a book with my toes in the sand. I need it so bad.
This is also the time when Nick gets really annoyed with me because of all the links I send him regarding travel, beach, and just plain “Let’s get the hell out of here.” He’s a very patient one I tell you.
I will be going to San Francisco on the first weekend of March to get my passport renewed. It’s pretty stupid that there’s no way I could get it renewed here. I have to fly down there, show my face and then get my passport. In a way, it’s a good reason to get a trip out of here. See mi familia, eat some Filipino food, and have a fun time with my good friend Liza, since she’s travelling with me.
Nick and I are still discussing where we should go this year. I just want to see places I have never seen before. There’s more to this world than just Seattle. I can’t stand the cloudy skies! I need me some Vitamin D!
Where are you off to this year?
