On Saturday, Peter wanted to make some kind of dessert. I immediately suggested the Nutella salted caramel cookies but he apparently doesn't like Nutella enough to want to make those, so once again my idea was shot down. (Some day I'll convince him.) Before going to work that afternoon I perused the Sorted website on my phone. Eventually he tired of my suggestions and took my phone to look for himself. He eventually found the tropical knickerbocker glory. I vaguely remembered seeing the video for it but couldn't remember anything about it otherwise, but he looked at the ingredient list and decided it sounded yummy.
So he dropped me off at work and went to the store, grocery list in hand to get various fruits, sweetened condensed milk and all the other things he didn't already have. When he picked me up at 10:30 that night, I fully expected him to regale me with the tale of how making his dessert went. But he actually hadn't made it yet and enlisted my "help" in putting it together. ("Help" being in quotation marks because it's not like he actually needed assistance.)
He decided to forgo making the caramel, something I was actually pretty bummed about. I myself was skeptical of the recipe only because I'm not a fan of avocados. They're just not my thing; feel free to leave me nasty comments but my only response will be haters gonna hate. When you combine avocado with condensed milk you've got something pretty darn tasty, I will admit. Peter isn't super fond of raspberries so he decided to get blackberries instead, something else I got bummed about because I love raspberries. It was his dessert though so I couldn't exactly make a fuss.
Armed with a blender, and not a food processor, we got to liquefying avocado, mango and blackberries.
I was the one who dolloped, poured or dropped each layer into our glasses. Always one to give me a hard time, Peter made it abundantly clear that it didn't look like the finished product in the video. I don't doubt for a second that it tasted any less delicious though!
Showing posts with label sorted. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sorted. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Anna Does Sorted: Chicken tikka masala
It really is all curry all the time in my apartment these days. Tonight I tried my hand at chicken tikka masala and what a great plan that was. I miraculously found chicken breasts in the freezer so thank you to my past self for buying chicken a while back even though I had no plans for it. Peter invited himself over for dinner after I texted him asking if he had chicken (this was before I found any in my freezer) but that was fine because I don't like to pass up any chances of exposing him to new foods.
The Sorted recipe for chicken tikka masala also has the recipe to make raita, and I'm not sure exactly what that is, but I'm sure it's delicious so feel free to try that part and let me know what you think. I know there's aubergine in it, which is the British-English way to say eggplant, so that's fascinating.
This was Peter's second experience with a curry of sorts and I'm happy to report it turned out quite well. He did say he liked the chicken katsu curry more but I don't blame him; that was also delicious. Sadly, I started cooking before he got home from work so I actually had to cut the TWO ONIONS by myself Luckily, I found Becca's old goggles from chemistry. Wearing those helped substantially. I'll seriously be totally content with never having to cut onions ever again in my entire life. That's a good enough reason to get married, right? So someone else will have to cut onions for everything we make?
The only part of this recipe I "struggled" with was marinating the chicken in the paste long enough. It was probably just over an hour but I wish I'd looked at the recipe last night and had it marinade that whole time. I'm sure when I eat the leftovers tomorrow it'll be even tastier. Everything about this is perfectly easy, even easier than the chicken katsu curry which was already really easy. Most people probably have all the spices in their cupboards as well, except for maybe garam masala. I always borrow that from my friend Badger.
The recipe also says it serves 6 but those must be 6 pretty huge portions: Peter and I both had a big bowl and Becca and Stacy tried some as well, still leaving a significant portion to be put away until tomorrow. So that's a definite advantage of this recipe.
The Sorted recipe for chicken tikka masala also has the recipe to make raita, and I'm not sure exactly what that is, but I'm sure it's delicious so feel free to try that part and let me know what you think. I know there's aubergine in it, which is the British-English way to say eggplant, so that's fascinating.
This was Peter's second experience with a curry of sorts and I'm happy to report it turned out quite well. He did say he liked the chicken katsu curry more but I don't blame him; that was also delicious. Sadly, I started cooking before he got home from work so I actually had to cut the TWO ONIONS by myself Luckily, I found Becca's old goggles from chemistry. Wearing those helped substantially. I'll seriously be totally content with never having to cut onions ever again in my entire life. That's a good enough reason to get married, right? So someone else will have to cut onions for everything we make?
The only part of this recipe I "struggled" with was marinating the chicken in the paste long enough. It was probably just over an hour but I wish I'd looked at the recipe last night and had it marinade that whole time. I'm sure when I eat the leftovers tomorrow it'll be even tastier. Everything about this is perfectly easy, even easier than the chicken katsu curry which was already really easy. Most people probably have all the spices in their cupboards as well, except for maybe garam masala. I always borrow that from my friend Badger.
The recipe also says it serves 6 but those must be 6 pretty huge portions: Peter and I both had a big bowl and Becca and Stacy tried some as well, still leaving a significant portion to be put away until tomorrow. So that's a definite advantage of this recipe.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Anna Does Sorted: Chicken katsu curry
These days it seems like I'm constantly craving curry, so tonight when Peter asked if I wanted to make dinner together (again), I jumped on the opportunity to make some kind of curry. I searched through Sorted's curry category and eventually found chicken katsu curry. I chose this one because I already had almost all the ingredients and it had pretty short prep and cook times.
Peter never really tried curry before, of any variety, so I really wanted this dish to turn out well. I feel like someone's first curry experience affects all future curry experiences. I'd never tried this recipe either so I was kind of worried it wouldn't be his thing; after all, even I didn't know if I would like the particular flavors. But curry has become a huge thing in my life so if my best friend doesn't like . . . Well, that could be an issue.
The most difficult, or perhaps more accurately most annoying, part of this recipe, besides finding the panko at the grocery store, was cooking the chicken all the way through. One of our chicken breasts was surprisingly thick, even after cutting it in half and opening it like a book. So that was more so just unlucky and like I said before totally annoying. I probably would have said that cutting the onions was the most difficult part but I made Peter do that instead. So once we got over the hurdle of cooking the chicken longer than we thought it needed to be cooked for, the actual finished product was lovely. The panko was golden brown and the chicken was moist as ever.
The curry itself was so tasty! I think it had the perfect amount of spiciness and was so flavorful. I wish I had a stick blender so I could've made it smooth but I still managed to enjoy it even though the onions were just chopped up. Though the recipe says it makes 2 servings and Peter and I both ate a decent amount, there's still probably enough left for at least one more meal; I always love having leftovers. And I have plenty of panko left for the next time I want to make chicken katsu curry, or some other chicken-covered dish.
I'm thinking my next Sorted recipe will be something suitable for Super Bowl Sunday eating. Peter jokingly said I had to bake a dessert from scratch because he knows how much I dislike baking. But it's highly unlikely that will come to fruition.
Last YouTube video I watched: JacksGap for Math Nerds
The most difficult, or perhaps more accurately most annoying, part of this recipe, besides finding the panko at the grocery store, was cooking the chicken all the way through. One of our chicken breasts was surprisingly thick, even after cutting it in half and opening it like a book. So that was more so just unlucky and like I said before totally annoying. I probably would have said that cutting the onions was the most difficult part but I made Peter do that instead. So once we got over the hurdle of cooking the chicken longer than we thought it needed to be cooked for, the actual finished product was lovely. The panko was golden brown and the chicken was moist as ever.
The curry itself was so tasty! I think it had the perfect amount of spiciness and was so flavorful. I wish I had a stick blender so I could've made it smooth but I still managed to enjoy it even though the onions were just chopped up. Though the recipe says it makes 2 servings and Peter and I both ate a decent amount, there's still probably enough left for at least one more meal; I always love having leftovers. And I have plenty of panko left for the next time I want to make chicken katsu curry, or some other chicken-covered dish.
I'm thinking my next Sorted recipe will be something suitable for Super Bowl Sunday eating. Peter jokingly said I had to bake a dessert from scratch because he knows how much I dislike baking. But it's highly unlikely that will come to fruition.
Last YouTube video I watched: JacksGap for Math Nerds
Monday, January 27, 2014
Anna Does Sorted: Swedish meatballs
I actually made the Swedish meatballs before Christmas break/graduation. Whoops. But I wanted to give them a post of their own because it'd just be unfair otherwise.
I made these for a work Christmas party, the theme of which was "Christmas Around the World," and people brought food from places they've lived or their family's heritage. You're probably thinking that my family is Swedish so that's why I made these. On the contrary, my family is not Swedish. But my family is YouTube, so I felt it plenty appropriate.
I cheated a little bit in that I didn't actually make the meatballs from scratch, mostly because of time/money constraints. I promise next time I will though because the whole process really isn't that labor intensive otherwise. I also didn't make any potatoes for a small side, mostly because we'd have so much food at the party it would almost be overkill. The sauce for these meatballs is absolutely amazing and nothing about it is tricky either. It might not be the "most traditional" Swedish meatballs recipe ever but it certainly is plenty tasty so if you're some kind of Swedish meatball purist I still hope you'll give this one a chance. You won't be disappointed.
Everyone at my work party loved the dish and asked all about the recipe. I'm glad I could direct them to the Sorted website and/or YouTube channel. Because if anyone deserves all the viewers in the world it's the Sorted crew.
Last YouTube video I watched: Hulu Plus (Means you plus me)
I made these for a work Christmas party, the theme of which was "Christmas Around the World," and people brought food from places they've lived or their family's heritage. You're probably thinking that my family is Swedish so that's why I made these. On the contrary, my family is not Swedish. But my family is YouTube, so I felt it plenty appropriate.
I cheated a little bit in that I didn't actually make the meatballs from scratch, mostly because of time/money constraints. I promise next time I will though because the whole process really isn't that labor intensive otherwise. I also didn't make any potatoes for a small side, mostly because we'd have so much food at the party it would almost be overkill. The sauce for these meatballs is absolutely amazing and nothing about it is tricky either. It might not be the "most traditional" Swedish meatballs recipe ever but it certainly is plenty tasty so if you're some kind of Swedish meatball purist I still hope you'll give this one a chance. You won't be disappointed.
Everyone at my work party loved the dish and asked all about the recipe. I'm glad I could direct them to the Sorted website and/or YouTube channel. Because if anyone deserves all the viewers in the world it's the Sorted crew.
Last YouTube video I watched: Hulu Plus (Means you plus me)
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Anna Does Sorted: Banoffee cupcakes
On Wednesday night Peter came over and asked me a question I've always wished someone would ask me, "Can we look at your YouTube playlist of cooking stuff and see what desserts there are?" At first I suggested we make the Nutella and salted caramel cookies but he shot that down so he opted instead for the banoffee cupcakes. I mean, we couldn't exactly go wrong with any of the Sorted Food choices but those cupcakes are DIVINE.
This was another recipe that's been around for some time that I never got around to making so even though I wanted those chocolate caramel cookies so bad I was actually pretty pleased that Peter wanted these instead. So off we went, Peter, Kelly and I, to the store to buy the ingredients. (Kelly came over so I could give her the poster I made for her Christmas present and got wrangled in to baking as well!)
As always, there was some conversion improv involved in making the cupcakes. The mix turned out quite thick so I was worried I'd messed up how much flour, brown sugar, etc. needed to be added. Kelly and Peter both put on faces of, "I don't know. I don't use the oven or bake," so I added a little water to maybe help with the consistency and hoped for the best. Turns out we did everything right, or some version of "right," and the cupcakes looked an awesome golden color on top when we took them out of the oven.
My favorite part of the banoffee cupcakes is the icing. Those who know me well know that I absolutely love frosting/icing. I always take corner pieces of cake, I lick all utensils used for frosting anything and I gladly eat chocolate frosting out of the can. The icing for these cupcakes was perhaps some of the greatest I've ever had. Using brown sugar as well as powdered sugar is definitely key.
Normally I hate baking but I've come to the conclusion that I like baking when I'm doing it with friends. Kelly and Peter made it totally bearable and infinitely more fun than if I'd done it alone. It definitely embodied what Sorted is all about: good food with good friends.
Last YouTube video I watched: Cuddling Koalas
This was another recipe that's been around for some time that I never got around to making so even though I wanted those chocolate caramel cookies so bad I was actually pretty pleased that Peter wanted these instead. So off we went, Peter, Kelly and I, to the store to buy the ingredients. (Kelly came over so I could give her the poster I made for her Christmas present and got wrangled in to baking as well!)
As always, there was some conversion improv involved in making the cupcakes. The mix turned out quite thick so I was worried I'd messed up how much flour, brown sugar, etc. needed to be added. Kelly and Peter both put on faces of, "I don't know. I don't use the oven or bake," so I added a little water to maybe help with the consistency and hoped for the best. Turns out we did everything right, or some version of "right," and the cupcakes looked an awesome golden color on top when we took them out of the oven.
My favorite part of the banoffee cupcakes is the icing. Those who know me well know that I absolutely love frosting/icing. I always take corner pieces of cake, I lick all utensils used for frosting anything and I gladly eat chocolate frosting out of the can. The icing for these cupcakes was perhaps some of the greatest I've ever had. Using brown sugar as well as powdered sugar is definitely key.
Normally I hate baking but I've come to the conclusion that I like baking when I'm doing it with friends. Kelly and Peter made it totally bearable and infinitely more fun than if I'd done it alone. It definitely embodied what Sorted is all about: good food with good friends.
Last YouTube video I watched: Cuddling Koalas
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Re-commitment
Now that I have been home from New York for a few days, I've started my life over in some ways. I've explained it to people recently as getting back to my "real life" but really it is starting over. I decided to recommit myself to living a certain way. And it's not that I was living a bad life or that I was unhappy. On the contrary, the two months I spent in New York were quite happy and fulfilling and though last semester was full of tough classes and the like, generally speaking I was still doing pretty well.
But it was time for a change and I'm completely stoked about it.
For one thing, I'm abiding by my Four-Fold Mission more than I ever have before. For those who haven't heard me spout off these four points before, I'll give them to you now:
1) Happiness is a choice.
2) Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing.
3) The secrets of life are hidden behind the word cliche.
4) Don't forget to be awesome.
Very recently, Eli McCann, who writes the It Just Gets Stranger blog, had this to say of choices and happiness:
So after reading that I was 100% certain that Eli is a total genius. (His blog has become one of my absolute favorite reads because of both his incredible sense of humor and knack for profundity.)
Beyond my re-commitment to those four points, I'm also taking on a new fitness regimen. Phrasing it like that sounds totally pretentious so let's just say I'll be working out a lot more. And by "a lot more" I mean every day but Sunday. This is where the second point of my four-fold mission really comes in. It's not painful to be who I am right now but changing physically is something I really want to do. I've written countless times about ShayCarl and his weight loss and how he's made an incredible life for himself. It's not that Shay wasn't happy before but once he really started losing weight, the change in his attitude toward life was astounding. I can run a couple miles and be fine but I'm capable of more than that. I know I am. I have little to no upper body strength. But I know I'm capable of more than that.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I'm running. Just two days ago I started the Couch-to-5K running plan. Like I said already, I can run two miles, but I figure I might as well give myself a strict schedule to follow to work up to something more. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I'm doing push-ups. Remember the time I started working toward doing 100 push-ups consecutively? I'm starting that plan again and this time I'll finish it. Last night I was talking to my friend Trent (of the Egg) about all this stuff I'm doing with my life and he brought up a good point about strength. He said it's not so important that I'm physically strong but that I feel strong. He's totally right. What I love about taking control of my life in this way is that I get to be both physically strong and, I guess, mentally strong.
The second to last thing I'm focusing on is cooking. This isn't really a thing I'm committing to again but rather something I'm just going to do again since I didn't get to cook at all in New York. Tonight I'll probably make a master list of ingredients I need to buy so I can start cooking all the Sorted Food recipes I put in a playlist.
And the final thing I'm working on is reading a bunch of typography and graphic design books. This is another thing that isn't a re-commitment but rather just a thing I can finally do now that I have the whole library at my disposal once again. I've already checked out four books on the aforementioned topics and read parts of two of them. It's the most interesting summer reading I've done in a long time. Typography is the coolest subject ever. I already love words so I figure it's a good idea to understand why people choose to make them look like they do.
Living life like I am now is very empowering, more so than I thought it would be. It's gearing up to be an absolutely fantastic summer. The weekends will be full of boating, camping, frisbee, reading, cooking, eating, movie-going and all sorts of other good stuff. Every night I've been back has been spent with my amazing friends and I know the rest of my summer nights will be just the same. From the first night I was back and Ben coming over at midnight to last night doing Taco Tuesday and seeing Monsters University with Badger & others, it's been wonderful. Tonight I'm supposed to see Phillip (also of the Egg) and get ice cream with Ben, and then tomorrow I'm getting dinner w/ Trent. Reuniting with all my friends makes me feel so alive.
But it was time for a change and I'm completely stoked about it.
For one thing, I'm abiding by my Four-Fold Mission more than I ever have before. For those who haven't heard me spout off these four points before, I'll give them to you now:
1) Happiness is a choice.
2) Change happens when the pain of staying the same is greater than the pain of changing.
3) The secrets of life are hidden behind the word cliche.
4) Don't forget to be awesome.
Very recently, Eli McCann, who writes the It Just Gets Stranger blog, had this to say of choices and happiness:
"There is so much more joy in this life to be had if we decide to be happy rather than let our happiness depend upon the decisions of other people."
So after reading that I was 100% certain that Eli is a total genius. (His blog has become one of my absolute favorite reads because of both his incredible sense of humor and knack for profundity.)
Beyond my re-commitment to those four points, I'm also taking on a new fitness regimen. Phrasing it like that sounds totally pretentious so let's just say I'll be working out a lot more. And by "a lot more" I mean every day but Sunday. This is where the second point of my four-fold mission really comes in. It's not painful to be who I am right now but changing physically is something I really want to do. I've written countless times about ShayCarl and his weight loss and how he's made an incredible life for himself. It's not that Shay wasn't happy before but once he really started losing weight, the change in his attitude toward life was astounding. I can run a couple miles and be fine but I'm capable of more than that. I know I am. I have little to no upper body strength. But I know I'm capable of more than that.
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays I'm running. Just two days ago I started the Couch-to-5K running plan. Like I said already, I can run two miles, but I figure I might as well give myself a strict schedule to follow to work up to something more. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays I'm doing push-ups. Remember the time I started working toward doing 100 push-ups consecutively? I'm starting that plan again and this time I'll finish it. Last night I was talking to my friend Trent (of the Egg) about all this stuff I'm doing with my life and he brought up a good point about strength. He said it's not so important that I'm physically strong but that I feel strong. He's totally right. What I love about taking control of my life in this way is that I get to be both physically strong and, I guess, mentally strong.
The second to last thing I'm focusing on is cooking. This isn't really a thing I'm committing to again but rather something I'm just going to do again since I didn't get to cook at all in New York. Tonight I'll probably make a master list of ingredients I need to buy so I can start cooking all the Sorted Food recipes I put in a playlist.
And the final thing I'm working on is reading a bunch of typography and graphic design books. This is another thing that isn't a re-commitment but rather just a thing I can finally do now that I have the whole library at my disposal once again. I've already checked out four books on the aforementioned topics and read parts of two of them. It's the most interesting summer reading I've done in a long time. Typography is the coolest subject ever. I already love words so I figure it's a good idea to understand why people choose to make them look like they do.
Living life like I am now is very empowering, more so than I thought it would be. It's gearing up to be an absolutely fantastic summer. The weekends will be full of boating, camping, frisbee, reading, cooking, eating, movie-going and all sorts of other good stuff. Every night I've been back has been spent with my amazing friends and I know the rest of my summer nights will be just the same. From the first night I was back and Ben coming over at midnight to last night doing Taco Tuesday and seeing Monsters University with Badger & others, it's been wonderful. Tonight I'm supposed to see Phillip (also of the Egg) and get ice cream with Ben, and then tomorrow I'm getting dinner w/ Trent. Reuniting with all my friends makes me feel so alive.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Anna Does Sorted: Teriyaki Ramen Noodles
This was my dinner tonight and I highly recommend it. The homemade teriyaki sauce was quite delicious.
Mine didn't look quite that fancy since I didn't have prawns and coriander and such but I did have onions and other vegetables. I'm definitely going to be messing around more with Ramen noodles in the future, making up new sauces and such. I probably should have taken some pictures of the deliciousness but I was too hungry to stop and document.
I highly recommend Sorted Food for more great and simple recipes; they have a recipe for anything you could ever want. The next thing I want to try is the homemade doughnut/donut recipe. I'm quite fond of donuts, yet somehow I missed getting a donut even though yesterday was National Donut Day. I'll make sure to get one next year.
But this makes two awesome meals in the last two weeks. The Monday before I left for California I made baked manicotti, which is by far one of my favorite dishes both to make and to eat. That recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. ATK recipes are a bit more in depth but well-worth all the trouble.
Well, I basically just wanted to brag about my awesome dinner. I'll get back to telling the epic story of the final day of the fake spring break road trip next time.
And to finally get back to a tradition I've been neglecting while documenting the trip to California:
Last YouTube video I watched: Adorable Squirrel and Table Topics
Mine didn't look quite that fancy since I didn't have prawns and coriander and such but I did have onions and other vegetables. I'm definitely going to be messing around more with Ramen noodles in the future, making up new sauces and such. I probably should have taken some pictures of the deliciousness but I was too hungry to stop and document.
I highly recommend Sorted Food for more great and simple recipes; they have a recipe for anything you could ever want. The next thing I want to try is the homemade doughnut/donut recipe. I'm quite fond of donuts, yet somehow I missed getting a donut even though yesterday was National Donut Day. I'll make sure to get one next year.
But this makes two awesome meals in the last two weeks. The Monday before I left for California I made baked manicotti, which is by far one of my favorite dishes both to make and to eat. That recipe is from America's Test Kitchen. ATK recipes are a bit more in depth but well-worth all the trouble.
Well, I basically just wanted to brag about my awesome dinner. I'll get back to telling the epic story of the final day of the fake spring break road trip next time.
And to finally get back to a tradition I've been neglecting while documenting the trip to California:
Last YouTube video I watched: Adorable Squirrel and Table Topics
Friday, August 19, 2011
Last Day in Wisconsin
Tomorrow I leave for Utah! You may think that means I am completely packed. My response to that: Um, sort of? All of my clothes are packed. All of my movies are picked out. Most of my books have been chosen. (Is it completely delusional to want all of my Harry Potter books? Possibly. Will that stop me? Probably not.) All of my photos for my photo wall have been chosen; I just have to pick up my new ones from Walgreens.
Here's a list of things I have yet to pack:
-My three pairs of safety glasses that will turn into racquetball goggles.
-The backpack of entertaining stuff I'll use in the car.
-Checkbook.
-Bedding, including but not limited to sheets, pillows, blankets, and the occasional stuffed animal. (I'm thinking about bringing my Spongebob and Nemo stuffed animals. Thoughts?)
-The binder protector insert dealio that holds all of my letters from missionaries.
-Various toiletries, mostly hair stuff and things for my contacts, possibly some make-up.
So as you can tell, I'm not quite prepared. I've got all day to sort everything out though. I'm not worried. But on account of this road trip, there may not be posts on Saturday and Sunday since I could possibly be in places without internets.
And I must mention this small point of anxiety before I leave you for the day: I've yet to get any letters in the last week or so. You can all guess at what that means but just so you know, it means that I will be freaking out that a letter will arrive tomorrow morning after I leave, at which point I will have to wait until probably Tuesday or Wednesday to get it forwarded to me. So we'll see how this goes.
Last YouTube video I watched: VidCon 2011 Get SORTED Part II (SORTED is a great YouTube cooking show. I highly recommend it.)
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