Where else can we go, Lord
Where else can we go
You have the words of eternal life

"Cheap grace means justification of sin without the justification of the sinner."

-Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

Salt Lake City, UT

My start date at work got pushed back a week, so I decided to make a last minute trip to visit my friend who's in pharmacy school at the University of Utah. I was going to visit her in Vegas during the weekend anyway, so I figured it wouldn't hurt too much to extend the trip a bit. Salt Lake City is arranged in a nice grid system, so you always know where you are, unlike some other places (looking at you, Irvine).



It was nice to return to the Rocky Mountain region again, this time to the west of them, and enjoy that crisp mountain air while hiding away in a cozy cafe to enjoy some ridiculous pancakes. Too bad the air pollution can get so bad sometimes during the winter that you aren't allowed outside because the mountains trap all the nasties.

After enduring sticker shock from SF's Bart system, I was happy to buy a cheap day pass for the Trax and hop around town.

First stop: Tracy Aviary! I actually managed to get in for free for some reason (I think they were having a promotion on that day). It was nice to watch the various birds go about their business and remember how much God cares for the birds of the air. 

The aviary is located in a large park called Liberty Park.

The amazing Lucky 13 

The U (University of Utah)

Cafe Rio: a delicious alternative to Chipotle. Here's an enchilada style burrito with barbacoa in a sweet sauce.

The second day, I went snowshoeing with my friend and one of her roommates. I thought snowshoeing was just like walking, but with better traction, so I didn't really get why my friend kept telling me to eat a big meal before going. Then I found out it is indeed just like walking... walking on sand! We hiked up a trail called Donut Falls, which is supposed to be this waterfall that flows out of a giant opening in the rock formation (the "donut"). Unfortunately it was completely snowed over so all we saw was a little stream coming out of a tiny opening on the side of the mountain. Thankfully, though, the rest of the trail was pretty easy, except for an area I later dubbed "violation hill" because of... reasons.

I also don't think I've ever seen this much snow before, so please forgive me for what may seem like an excessive amount of snow pictures. The snow was all so fluffy!!!!

Before we went snowshoeing, we read that some of the trails had avalanche risks, so we thoroughly researched survival options. What do you do if you're caught in an avalanche? Jump away (like that works...), grab onto a tree, and/or cover your nose and mouth so that you have an air pocket that allows you to breathe for 30 minutes when you're covered in snow. Oh, and you can try swimming through the snow... 

I love this picture from wikihow.

Yes, I tried a cannelé because of Dominique Ansel's chapter on it. Crunchy and custardy... definitely worth the hype.  

On my last day, even though I had no intention of talking to anyone, I wandered onto Temple Square to find someplace warm, and ended up talking to two young female missionaries for an hour. They were super nice and respectful, but I was still thankful that I had Galatians fresh in my mind from last Friday. Note to self: make the Bible more readily available at all times for quick references... or memorize more verses.

City Creek Canyon

time is an ingredient

The title of this post comes from a chapter in Dominique Ansel's book where he expounds on the importance of patience in creating the perfect cannelé: the copper molds have to be seasoned with beeswax multiple times, the ingredients have be mixed slowly, the batter has to rest for 24 hours, and the molds have to be rotated every 15 minutes during baking. You can't take shortcuts.

In the same way, I have to keep reminding mind myself that God's timing is perfect.  Just as He is sovereign over what happens, He is also sovereign over when and how things happen. Not so fun for the insecure control freak in me.

But if I had my way, I would be fulfilling all of my desires right now, and not learning how to cherish the present moment and to have a thankful heart.

succulents, natural lighting, and pretty light blue walls

quiche... aka an attempt to make pie crust

There's STILL ham in my fridge left over from the holidays, even though my mom keeps using it in soup, fried rice, and sandwiches.  It just won't go away.  So I decided to make a quiche because I wanted to try making pie crust again and I figured quiche and frittata things are good "leftover dishes."  I would love to say that I used up all the ham, but I only used a slice. Sigh... I tried!

The most terrifying part of making quiche from scratch is making the dough. But really, it's just flour, fat, and a tiny bit of water. If you want a flaky crust, you've got to use a solid fat. I was reading Dominique Ansel's new baking book and his ham and cheese croissant (Ibérico and Mahón, to be exact) has pork fat in the dough, so the whole thing kind of has the essence of ham thing going on.  I also took a pie making class a year ago and the instructor said that you can add a tablespoon of vodka because it evaporates in the oven, so the dough is pliable while you're working with it, but the final baked product is still tender because it's not drenched in liquid.

Alas, I didn't use anything like animal fat or alcohol in my pie crust. I just cut up a stick of cold butter and mixed in 1.5 cups of flour and about 4 tablespoons of water, using a combination of a knife, a fork, and my hands, because I don't have a pastry blender.  Then I tossed in some ham, tomatoes, and cheese, filled up each shell with an egg/milk mixture, and popped them in the oven for half an hour at around 400 F until the crust was lightly browned.

Result: looks good, tastes good, but the crust was a little tough (still flaky though). I honestly wasn't very careful with the dough making process, because everything is supposed to be really cold and you aren't supposed to handle it too much. Next time I will make sure to use ice cold water and a pastry blender so I don't overwork the dough. Now I want to make egg tarts!

associations

All I wanted to do today was make stuffed french toast, but I ended up remembering a bunch of fun memories from the past. It's funny how these food associations work. 

For instance, the last time I had french toast was over a year ago when I was stranded in norcal and my friend graciously let me stay the night at her place. My thankfulness for her hospitality only grew when I woke up in the morning and found her making french toast and juicing apples and carrots for me! 

As for the ham and cheese one, I made it because I have an unusually strong inclination towards sweet and savory things so I wanted to make a mock Monte Cristo without having to drive all the way to Studio Diner for a deep fried one. The last time I was at Studio Diner was for a small group outing in 2009! But I do recall when I tried going there for the first time (after one of my photographer friends hyped it up for me), it was closed for a once in a blue moon cleaning, even though it's usually open 24/7. Good timing on my end, eh? 

Later, I found a cucumber in my fridge that I had intended to put in sandwiches but never got around to using. So I decided to make cucumber salad. This then reminded me of a refreshing cucumber salad I had in Budapest last summer after a long and dehydrated day at the thermal baths, in an attempt to eat vegetables. There's also something very therapeutic about cutting vegetables into small pieces... I guess that's why I used to julienne carrots when I was really bored in high school. Actually, I was so into cooking back then, I got to ditch school for a day so I could shadow a pastry chef at the Prado!

Fun stuff - hopefully there will be many more culinary creations in the near future.

cheater mac

Mac and cheese is a dish that sounds easy to make, but it's kind of not. I remember watching an Alton Brown episode where he said that literal macaroni and cheese doesn't work because you also need to make a "glue" to ensure that the cheese smoothly coats the noodles. And the idea of making a roux and adding a sufficient amount of milk (to avoid soupiness) before stirring in another well portioned amount of cheese just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. 

Then one of my friends (who made mac and cheese quite often for potlucks in college) told me her secret: noodles, cream of mushroom, cheese. 

What?? 

Thank you, cream of mushroom soup, for handling all that roux-milk business for me. My ratio of 1 box (8 oz) pasta + 2 cans of cream of mushroom + 4 cups (16 oz) shredded cheese worked perfectly. It was also nice that the bag of shredded cheese cost the same as the block, so even less work was required! 

7 reasons not to worry

I like to think of myself as a pretty easy going anxiety-free person, especially in comparison to my parents, who can be insanely paranoid. How's my life? It's great, thanks for asking. It's alllll good. Of course, it just occurred to me right now that I've been stressing out all week over how I'm going to budget my income for life, taxes, retirement, insurance, travel, loans, family, savings, and church, and whether or not I will be able to buy a plane ticket a few days before I potentially leave because I still have no idea when I'm starting work.  Ah! Denial can be sneaky like that. The real truth is I am a fallen selfish sinner prone to practical atheism.

So here's a fantastic article I found recently about worrying. I was going to quote a line or two, but I think it's better enjoyed in it's entirety.

Donut Bar

Finally woke up early enough to go here. Well... it was more like a combination of setting my alarm across the room and having my sister yell at me to get up. But it worked! 

These donuts are so big that I think I've reached my quota for a while. 

What a friend we have in Jesus
All our sins and griefs to bear
What a privilege to carry
Everything to God in prayer