the quantified cook Infographic

After tracking my time all semester, it was finally time for me to gather all my data in to one large infographic. I originally envisioned a large line graph with clickable pictures linking to my blog entries. But, when I went to design the chart, I had so much data it was impossible to decipher the pictures! Rather than scrap my blog, I decided to show the final infographic here...on the blog! 

I wanted the final graphic to have a homemade, vintage feel like it was torn from an old recipe book. I found a great grunge paper texture and added even more stains on top of it. I'm a very messy cook! 

I thought I would find that I tended to cook much, much less the more I study. When I ran a linear regression (and, as you might notice I mention in my blog entries), the correlation was fairly low! I  think my willingness to cook might depend on the errands I ran that day (I grocery shop on Mondays and wash laundry at the laundromat on Wednesdays. Can you tell I'm Type A?) and whether J is traveling or not. It appears that there might be a slight correlation on both fronts. 

It was extremely interesting to track my habits and see what factors do (and don't!) influence each other. 

Bi Bim Bap in West Hartford, CT

Studying Time: 0

Driving Time: 30 min

Recipe: Bi bim bap from Pick & Mix in West Hartford, CT

This delicious rice and veggie bowl was my lunch in West Hartford yesterday. I've always wanted to try bi bim bap. This surprising little place in a West Hartford strip mall was crowded during lunch time! I heard the bi bim bap was good here and that's what everyone in the place was getting. I can see why! I'm not sure how authentic this little rice bowl is, but it was certainly delicious! Brown rice, fresh steamed veggies, chicken, a little drizzle of sesame oil and teriyaki....MMMMmmmm! And it was so bright and colorful on such a cold, cold day! Just waiting for J to finish up his interview so we can head home! It's going to be quite the drive, but I'll rest easy tonight knowing that we could end up in a place that has at least two good places to eat.

Dinner in Connecticut

Studying Time: 0 
Driving Time: 5 hrs
Restaurant: Sushi California in Newington, CT

J is on the interview trail for Residency and sometimes I get to tag along with him. Today's stop? Farmington, Connecticut. I brought my laptop so I could get some studying in, but after a long drive studying just isn't happening. What did happen though was sushi. There's always time for sushi!

On the recommendation of Yelp, I checked out Sushi California. I tried the Crazy Girl roll because it was apparently the best ever. I was hoping to enjoy a five star sushi experience like my beloved Taka back on Long Island, but it wasn't to be. Was it good sushi? For sure. Was it out of this world? No. But, as you can see from the picture, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

It was about half gone before I remembered to take a picture.

Helvetica (or Cereal for Dinner)

Studying Time: Ten hours
Cooking Time: 0
Recipe: Yeah, does cereal count?

Seriously.

J worked a twelve hour shift today, so my brain basically had mild panic attacks as I mocked up web pages, watched Helvetica and worked on a semiotics project.

Downside: J is gone all day. Upside: getting a lot of work done.

I highly recommend watching Helvetica. It was a great look into the most popular font of all time. Maybe one day I'll get the hang of graphic design. All of the type designers were extremely passionate about their work.

I think the only I like that much is reading.

And eating.

Reading while eating?

There's nothing better than a great meal. Which is possibly why our registry consists almost exclusively of things for the kitchen. I can't design a home to save my life (especially 3B...it lacks any sort of straight line), but give me a good stainless steel pan and...I'm not sure what I could do. I've never used one, but I feel like my skills are now such that I could. Also, a Le Creuset because life is not complete without a dutch oven.

The Best Sushi in Oyster Bay

Studying Time: Four hours
Cooking Time: 0
Restaurant: Taka Sushi

We've been here many, many times. Each time we have been impressed by the high quality of food and the good service. I love getting the bento box because it comes with a whole lotta food. Every roll we've had has had a great taste and amazing texture. If I was asked what restaurant was a must visit in this area, I would DEFINITELY say Taka. Even though it's in the shittiest little strip mall you could ever come across. J came home from the hospital today and asked if I was feeling sushi. Hell yes, I'm feeling sushi. It made my cold feel much better. ;) 

Miller's and the Movies

Studying Time: 0
Cooking Time: 0
Driving Time: 25 minutes
Restaurant: Miller's 

Millers is not one of my favorite places, but sometimes J wants to go there. There isn't a real reason why I don't particularly like it. The food is solid and the service is always quick. I guess it's because it's another one of those restaurants on Long Island that seem like a chain even though it isn't. I got a Philly and J got cajun chicken pasta. Both were decent. I love a good Philly, but there's better to be had elsewhere. Like Vito's in Bountiful!

Little Mexico

Studying Time: Four hours
Cooking Time: 0
Driving Time: 20 minutes
Restaurant: Little Mexico 

We've searched and searched for decent Mexican food on Long Island. Little Mexico in Westbury is the closest thing we have found. And for $2, the tacos al pastor and ground beef tacos are preeeeetty delicious. 

Engagement Pictures {and sushi!}

Studying Time: 0
Cooking Time: 0
Driving Time: 50 minutes
Restaurant: Sushi Gallery Brooklyn

J and I went over to Brooklyn to have our engagements pictures taken. Our photographer was really nice and kept us laughing. Afterwards, we were starving (I took four hours getting ready and skipped lunch. I know.) so we stopped by a small sushi place. Sushi makes me so happy. Just thinking about it is enough to make me hungry! There are so many varieties and combinations that vary from place to place, but our favorite is always a roll with eel on it. This particular place had a delicious dragon roll with spicy mayo and eel. I don't know how authentic that is, but it sure is good. This place wasn't as good as our favorite Long Island sushi joint (Taka), nor was it as good as our favorite Lake Elsinore sushi joint (Hana), but it was good and definitely hit the spot after a long day! 

Beets and Bourbon

It’s been a busy week around apartment 3B. I have a presentation coming up and worked tirelessly this week on analyzing country music for gender and racial bias. I’m also planning our wedding and designing the invitations etc. which is pretty time consuming! Despite all the business, since B has the week off from his medical school rotations, we squeezed in some fun. We traveled through so pretty heavy traffic to Brooklyn so we could scout around DUMBO for some good locations for our engagement pictures and also (mainly), to eat at Smorgasburg. My recorded time for studying that day? A big fat zero. Driving time? About four hours round trip. But, the end result? So worth it. I love Smorgasburg.

I should point out that Smorgasburg is a food flea market and it is quite possibly one of my favorite things in the entire state of New York.

We try to eat something new each time we go. The schnitzel from Schnitz on a pretzel bun sang out a sweet siren song of deliciousness. I was too focused on stuffing my face with amazingness to take a picture, but Schnitz’s website, luckily, had a great picture of the Sweet Onion. This beautiful thing is a chicken schnitzel with pickled red cabbage and beets. The texture? Perfectly fried. The flavor? Out of this world.



Butter and Scotch was our next stop because they were serving maple bacon cupcakes and toffee trifle with bourbon whipped cream. I’ve had good cupcakes, but these things were out of this world. Again, I was too busy eating to take a picture. The perfect combination of salt sweet maple bacon goodness was too overwhelming. And the trifle was most excellent as well.

We finished our remarkable lunch with a most unremarkable dinner, so I won’t spend any more time talking about it.

Last night, since we were on a bourbon and beets kick, B made bourbon rib eye steaks and I made roasted Parmesan and garlic potatoes and a beet and feta salad topped with blood orange and black currant vinaigrette. Deliciousness all around! I wish we could have cooked the steaks on an outdoor grill, but we don’t have one. Yet. We used the trusty Foreman grill and they came out great.

Bourbon Street Rib Eye (adapted from Allrecipes.com)
serves two

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 (6 ounce) beef rib-eye steaks

Directions

1. Whisk together the water, bourbon whiskey, soy sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and lemon juice in a bowl, and pour into a plastic zipper bag. Add the rib-eye steaks, coat with the marinade, squeeze out excess air, and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
2. Preheat George Foreman grill.
3. Remove the rib-eye steaks from the marinade, and shake off excess. Discard the remaining marinade. Grill the steaks for approximately eight minutes.

I’m thinking of playing around with a What’s on the Menu Monday feature so it will force me to meal plan and prep and stick to it!