Soy Sauce Marinated Ribs

I realize I could never be a full time blogger. I get too busy and then forget to write a post. There's just been so many things going on.
***Just a heads up, this will be a long post!***

About a month ago we went out to Oregon and met with a breeder. We're excited to say we're getting a puppy! So, how did we magically decide we wanted to get a puppy? Well, we knew we were going to get a dog together sometime. Wayne grew up having a Boston Terrier while I grew up having a German Shorthaired Pointer. I would absolutely love to have another GSP but they're bigger dogs and need a backyard to play around in. I know some people keep big dogs in the city but I would feel bad not having a yard and safe area for the GSP to play in. Boston Terriers are nice dogs, but we were both drawn to corgis because they're cute as hell.

We also realized that there will never be a perfect time in life. We wanted to get a dog but then we moved to Seattle. Then both of our siblings were getting married in the same year. It was a lot and we both didn't want to bring a dog into our lives only to keep it kept in a cage while we had prior commitments. So, we decided after Wayne's sisters wedding to adopt a dog and finally bite the bullet.

I did some research on breeders and found most of the local Washington ones had a waitlist. We weren't willing to wait around so I looked outside of the state. I didn't want to have a dog shipped on a plane to us and luckily I found a breeder on the border of Oregon and Washington. I was happy when I talked to her because she was prompt in getting back to us and asked us if we'd want to see the puppies in person. I took this as a good sign because I wanted to talk to the breeder, see the momma dog's temperament and see where they grew up.

The trek out to meet the breeder took us 4 1/2 hours. Most people wouldn't do this for a dog, but we're not like most people.  :)

There were actually a lot of wine farms.

It was kind of neat to see all the farms and trees. When we pulled up to the Breeder's ranch she greeted us and showed us the first litter.

They were so tiny and adorable! We were taken aback by how cute they were! The breeder said she has been raising corgi's for 12 years and that only a few female puppies were left. The momma corgi of the first litter was a bit cautious near us. She would let us touch her puppies but she kept a watchful eye on them. I also noticed the puppies that were available weren't really responsive. The ones that were responsive were the ones that were already taken.

This little gem, was called Lexi. She was all over me when I walked in. She was very friendly and wanted to be petted. We then asked the breeder if we could see the second litter (Lexi's litter.) I was drawn to her temperament as she was very calm but friendly towards us. This is her smiling.

There were only two females available. One was the runt of the litter and the other one was the puppy we went with. I wanted to take the runt just because she was so small, but the breeder said she wasn't sure how she would be health wise. Plus, I noticed the runt wasn't really responsive. We decided it might be best to take the other female. The puppy we chose is the one with the white diamond spot on her back.

After we gave the deposit, we drove off and felt pretty good. It was nice knowing the breeder wanted to meet us and make sure the dogs were going to go to a home with nice people. She also mentioned one of the puppies was going to California and had to be shipped via air. She was a bit stressed about shipping such a small puppy. I would be too if I had to do that. The farm was nice too. She kept the dogs in the house with the air conditioning. She said she usually would keep them outside but it had been 90's and higher that past week and didn't want them to get too hot. It felt reassuring that she cared a lot about these puppies. 

Now, a year ago, Wayne and I made a bet. I wanted a female puppy while Wayne wanted a male puppy. I am a Detroit Tigers fan while he's a Chicago White Sox fan. So we made a bet whomever did better than the opposite team would get to chose the sex and the name. Wayne wanted to name the dog, "John Wayne the corgi" whereas, I wanted to name the dog, "Clementine the corgi." At the time we decided to get a dog, the Tigers were doing better than the White Sox. So we went with a female puppy. It actually worked out perfectly that the breeder had female puppies available. Once we met the puppy though, I realized that Clementine didn't fit her. If she had been caramel colored it would have worked. But since she'll be a tricolor corgi, we had to choose a new name. Wayne wanted "Diamond" but it didn't really roll off the tongue quick enough. We finally came up with "Daisy." 

In the past few weeks, we've gathered some puppy supplies. We found it hilarious to get her sheep stuff since corgis are herding dogs. 

Here's her dog collar and dog id tag.

I found this stuffed corgi on amazon and had to get it! Omg, about died laughing when I got it in the mail. It's so huge! It'll be so much bigger than Daisy! 

My new job is going well. So far, I like the people and my boss is really nice. It's a bit stressful since things are as structured. The HR Business Partner's want me to help with a lot of things on their side while my boss wants me to help her with compensation/benefits stuff. We're kind of waiting till the Director of HR comes back from vacation to align us so hopefully it will be a bit smoother. 

 Last weekend we went to Chicago for Wayne's sisters wedding. Right when we got off the plane, we had maybe 30 minutes to relax in the hotel and then were whisked away to go to the rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was held at Medieval times. I never heard of it. But apparently, it's the cool thing to do in Illinois... It pretty much is a big tacky white castle in the middle of the suburbs. You go in and have a meal and watch a jousting performance. The meal was chicken legs, corn, tomato soup etc. while the entertainment was  like...think WWE jousting style. It was okay, but it was kind of felt like it was made for middle school kids. But his little sister and fiancé looked really happy - which is all that mattered.

The next day after the rehearsal dinner, we then had to go to a family luncheon. Then Saturday was the wedding at 10am and lasted till about 5:30pm. Wayne has a huge family, so I mainly hung out with his cousins and Wayne's older brother. I was kind of nervous we would get put under the gun about when we were going to get married. But luckily only a few family members asked! I guess to them it's weird for a couple to be together for 4 years without being engaged.

One good thing is my parents got invited. I got to see them a little which was nice. I wish I could have hung out with them more, but they'll be coming to visit Seattle in September. The wedding ended around 5:30pm and then, after the wedding they had a big family bbq. It was nice to hang out with his cousins. They're really chill people and fun. So in short, the trip was long and exhausting but it was a nice time overall.
**Phew! Almost there I swear!** 

Then yesterday, we went hiking on Bandera Mountain. We left pretty early the sun was slowly rising. This was a pretty rough hike. We both felt pretty out of shape and weren't mentally prepared for it. We ate a lot of food during the weekend of the wedding.

He looks like a gangster-wannabe that secretly enjoys hiking. LOLS!

All ready to go!

Pink mountain heather flowers - thanks to my mom for helping me figure out what these were.

I think this is a Scarlet Paintbrush Flower. 

After our hike we relaxed a bit and made ribs for dinner.  I grabbed the recipe from Sauver magazine.  They are Hawaiian-style pork ribs and are like a sweeter version of kalbi. 

Here are the ingredients:

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar

1 cup soy sauce

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1/4 tsp red chili flakes

4 cloves garlic

1 2" piece of ginger

3lbs pork baby back ribs

3 scallions

The baby back ribs were huge. So we had to cut them in half. 

We then mixed all the ingredients together and marinated the meat for a while. After they soaked a bit we baked them in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Then, I boiled the leftover marinate and basted the ribs. After, I basted the ribs we then baked them for another 15 minutes. 

Photo of the ribs just out of the oven. They looked delicious and were yummy.

Ta-da! The finished product. I also added some rice, and steamed broccoli with blue cheese dressing. You can find the recipe here. Stay tuned for more adventures and the arrival of Miss Daisy!

Emma

Black Pepper and Lime Baked Salmon with a Snap Pea Slaw

Yesterday, I made Black Pepper and Lime Baked Salmon with a Snap Pea Slaw. I needed to de-stress and decided to do it through cooking. I nabbed the recipes from What's Cooking Good Looking blog. I came across this blog from Saveur's Blog Awards list. I really liked Jodi's photography style. Plus after browsing, many of her recipes seemed simple yet tasty. This was the one that caught my eye. I liked how simple yet beautiful it was as a dish.

Also, I have good news, I got a new job! I'll be working as a HR Coordinator and focus employee relations, benefits and compensation. I've been working from home since we moved out here and I've disliked it. I think people tend to over-romanticize working from home. I get it, if you have a family it is nice to work from home. And I will admit some days it is nice. I can roll out of bed on a Monday morning and not worry about how I look or what I need to pack for my lunch.

But as a semi-new resident of this city- it has totally sucked. I'm not meeting a ton of people and felt more stressed than usual. One of things I've missed working in an office is the aspect of walking away from work. When you work from home, the work computer is sitting there taunting you that there is more work that could be done. While when you work at an office, you can leave your computer or phone there and get back to it later. With supporting recruiters, the work never ends and you can't get everything wrapped up in a day.

 I've realized I need to have some type of gap between work life and my own life. Also, there is an unsaid expectation that because you work from home - working an extra hour or two  is no big deal. It's hard-everyone else is logged off for the day and you're still working away to fix things.

Let's get started! First, I pre-heated the oven and chopped up some limes. Then I lined a baking sheet with parchment paper and placed the limes on top.

Itty bitty limes. 

Then I placed wild salmon on top of the limes. 

Then drizzled olive oil, salt, pepper and lime slices on top.

Next, I wrapped them up into little boats. While the salmon was baking in the oven, I made the coleslaw. It pretty much was chopped up cabbage, snap peas, green onions and basil. Then I made the sauce to go with the meal.

Ta-da! Finished product. The coleslaw added a nice crunch to the fish. I can see myself eating the coleslaw for lunch. The salmon was also really tasty. I think I should have cooked my piece a bit longer, the middle wasn't as done as I would have liked. But fish is tricky. So cooking with fish has been a learning process. Nonetheless, still yummy!

Jodi's Black Pepper, Lime Baked Salmon and Snap Pea Slaw recipe can be found here.

Stay tuned for more.

Emma 

Ratatoullie

Yesterday, we went hiking at Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls.  

One of my friends recommended this hike.  So we were pretty excited. We left pretty early in the morning which was a good thing because the parking lot was packed after we got done hiking. The hike is 8.2 miles round trip with a gain of 2000 feet. So, it was quite a challenging hike for us since we've done shorter ones that don't incline as drastically. 

There were quite a few bridges and stairways. It took us around 1.7 miles that lead upwards to Bridal Veil Falls. It was steep stairs but it was nice when we got to the falls. The mist from the falls was refreshing. 

Wayne - being Mr. Explorer

Bridal Veil Falls

After Bridal Falls, the trail went on for 2 miles gaining about 1,300 feet. Oh man, my legs were feeling it. We saw a lot of hikers with poles and definitely could see how useful they would have been. 

The terrain got really rocky and steep with stairs. It was funny. Wayne was like, "Why are we hiking upwards to a lake?"

Although the hike up was tough, the views were worth it. 

I sometimes have to pinch myself that I live in the Pacific Northwest. It's so breathtaking.

When we finally got to Lake Serene, we could see why it was a popular hike. The view of the lake was gorgeous. 

A lot of people were at the lake with their dogs and eating their lunches. It was like a lovely hidden oasis.  It was funny when we climbed up though. We realized that there are like different groups of hikers. The early birds/serious hikers that are out at 4am or 5am. The low key hikers and crazy runners around 7am. Then afterwards come the tourists, athletic girls in lululemon gear, the fraternity bros, and the families. We like gong out around 7am when it is still chilly out and less people out on the trail. The crazy runners were insane though. There was one guy that was running up the rocks as fast as he could go. There's no way I would trail run. I'd probably break my leg doing so! 

Although we were tired afterwards, this was one of of the best hikes we've done so far. My legs were shaking but it was definitely a worthwhile accomplishment of the day.

Today, I was nursing my legs. 

I'm excited because summer has the best produce and I love making one of my favorite summer dishes, ratatouille. I love how versatile this recipe is. You can eat it warm or cold.  My mom's recipe is a bit different than the one I made today, but nonetheless, it conjures up good memories - making this dish together with my mom, or coming home from college to have a steaming hot bowl waiting for me. 

Let's get started!

First, I pretty much chopped up the eggplant and let it sit with some salt. 

Then I cooked the eggplant till lightly browned. 

Next, I chopped up some onion, garlic, basil, red & yellow peppers.

 

So colorful!

Then I added some chopped up summer squash and zucchini and then added the eggplant and tomatoes. The recipe called for fresh tomatoes, but I was 

Ta-da! Finished product. The recipe called for a lot more garlic than I normally add. Which was fine by me, because I love garlic. But it wasn't as good as my moms. :)

I know I've probably mentioned this a lot, but Food52 is probably one of my favorite websites. I love how it is a collaborative site where cooks of all degrees can share their recipes. I recently bought Food 52's recipe cookbook. This was one of the recipes in it.  

You can find Alice Water's Rataouille recipe here. 

Stay tuned for more adventures and food.

Emma