Thursday

Tired today. Long day at work: Started my day with assignment to track down a sex offender who violated parole, but got called off it to do a peanut butter cookie dough recall story. Schools were selling the product for fundraisers. Stumbled upon a good story in the process of this story. One of the school's band students were selling the cookie dough for a trip to China. Apparently these kids are pretty good and have made several tours in China. The superintendent invited me to go with the students, to which I replied, "YEAH." Only caveat, need a sponsor, and need my work to give me paid time off. I highly doubt the latter, since during the Beijing Olympics, they didn't even move an inch when I -- and other co-workers -- suggested I file reports from Beijing.

I volunteered tonight after work. Hard night. Fridge and pantry were empty. There was chicken and some tomatoes, onions and bell peppers, so I made a healthy cacciatore-like dish. NO pasta or rice! There was a lot of macaroni, so I boiled that and tossed it with the sauce. Finished it off with parmesan and served with some bread. I was sad because the shelter ran out of fruits and salad. I normally serve salad and fruit with dinner. I hope the ladies enjoyed their dinner. I enjoyed cooking it.

Will sign off after I knock out a few chapters in my book. Current read: Jonathan Franzen's "The Corrections." Night.

An Explosion of Meat

"The Bacon Explosion is a massive torpedo-shaped amalgamation of two pounds of bacon woven through and around two pounds of sausage and it looks like this." So who's behind this meat bomb that packs a pork punch and more?

And for my friends out there...Yes, I see the irony in this post given that I've never eaten bacon before.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Xinnian kuaile, gong hay fat choy! It's the year of the ox. Wishing everyone a happy, prosperous and healthy new year. Chun Jie (or what's known in the west as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year) lasts for 15 days. We Chinese know how to have a holiday ;)

Check out this video from the History Channel; they do a good job in giving background to the holiday. I wished they talked more about the importance of food in this holiday and the symbolism behind certain dishes (fish, chicken with its head on, noodles, dumplings, etc.) Unfortunately the second video on Chinatowns has an audio glitch.

Mr. President

Newseum also has a collection of A-1's from newspapers around the world. From the folks at Gawker.

A Long Time Coming.

Ahhh...

I love running because it makes me happy and healthy. One of the best pleasures in life.

To Sum it Up...

My song at the moment

And so it is...

Need sleep more than blogging; however, I feel I should check in. Apologies for dilatory response. Been caught up at work and emotions. Good thing is, I've been able to catch all the award-nominated films. Slumdog, Wrestler, Rev Road, Reader, Doubt, Milk -- Slumdog and Wrestler are my favorites: simply brilliant. Work has been crazy, and this week -- wow.

As for myself, been trying to get my emotions in place. Dealing with a lot on my plate for past several months now. By the way, you can follow me on twitter: twitter.com/maychow I provide updates there. It's hard. Not going to lie, it's been a hard, tough couple of months. Need change.

He's Baaaack

Nice to see Jon Stewart back with new shows. It seemed like it's been months Stewart's been away. His last show was the Thursday before President Bush got shoes thrown at him. David Gregory was the guest on Monday night; and Stewart had on two braids and beads from his Caribbean trip. Hilarious. If you haven't been a Stewart fan before, make this year the first.

Michelin Stars for Cantonese Restaurant

One of the best stories I've read this week. The article does a good job talking about Cantonese cuisine. It is surprising this is the first Cantonese restaurant recognized by Michelin, seeing as how there are so many amazingly delicious restaurants in Hong Kong and Guangdong. Hopefully, Michelin will expand its palate and sample other cuisines from China.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/03/world/asia/03chef.html?ref=world