aireese's pieces' pieces

As per usual, I was reading through a few of the awesome food blogs from my blog roll, and somehow it got me to go back on my blog archive. I started to read my first few posts, and boy my blogging "style" has gone off lately. I read this one, this, and this and I had to think 'whoa, did I really write that?'
 
I think I took my affection for photo-heavy posts a little bit too seriously. And granted I have flippin' 10 posts for this month, but which ones actually count for having quality content? Okay, don't answer that. It's a rhetorical question. haha
 
One of the reasons for my short and sweet, photo-heavy posts could be the fact that I feel like I need to be a posts-pumping machine and try to squeeze in any posts I can without delay. So what was I going to do when I'm going to be overloaded with work starting next week? Just post pictures? Hmmmm...
 
I need to take some time and make sure I put out the good stuff. In the meantime, back tracking through the blogs led me also to this post which will be my inspiration for the next cooking extravaganza. :)

Kudos to my BB :)

I've been going to Smoke (the modern barbecue) a lot. First, it's right by my place and second, the prices are right up my alley, and lastly the food is deeeelish. I went to another ladies' brunch and had this humongo plate of pulled pork salad. Can you see the crunchy fried okra bits?

Then a side of their famous macaroni and cheese...

Then a few nights after the brunch, I went for dinner where I had a giant plate of barbecue (brisket and chicken), and we shared the nightly special mac n cheese, chicken and mushroom Tuesday. I didn't care so much about the side mac n cheese, but this special mac n cheese was absolutely out. of. this. world. YUM.

All these photos are taken by my good ol' Blackberry Tour. Didn't it do a good job? Oh, and check this Mr. Scruff after sniffing through the snow:

Speaking of snow...we are expected to get about a foot of snow from Sun-Wed! Two of our mountains open up Thanksgiving Day, the town is slowly waking up from the dreadful off-season! Aaaand another reason to be more excited? We have our food tasting for the new menu items at work today, yippeedadoo!

Me, myself, and my kitchenette

Last night, my friend Christine and her boyfriend Jay treated me out to a fried chicken dinner over at 689 in Carbondale.

For 20 buckaroos you get a salad, a big plate of fried chicken served alongside mashed potatoes & gravy, braised greens, biscuits, and a fruit crisp! What a deal,  no?

I LOVED the mashed potatoes and the unique coating on the chicken.

I also moved into my “home” for the next six months last night. I love the cozy little place that is the perfect size for me…but if I could present a teeny problem, it’d be the kitchenette.

It seems perfectly feasible for any single gal or guy out here in Colorado for the ski season, who would probably spend most of his or her time out on the slopes, but for this gal who likes to spend a good chunk o’ time in the kitchen… Hmm yea, a bit problematic.
 
But fear not, I have not give up hope! When I imagined myself cooking in this kitchenette, it immediately reminded me of Linguini’s apartment in the movie Ratatouille.

See? Nothing’s impossible! Instead of the Eiffel Tower, I simply have a view of trees changing color and mountains in the backdrop.
 
There will definitely need to be a change in my cooking style or even potential menu items. It’s actually sort of exciting to think what I might be able to cook up in this kitchenette!

Back to "cooking"

First week in CO, I made a simple salad made with red and yellow bell peppers, roma tomato, baby spinach, red onion, and avocado. I went a little veggie crazy at the grocery store and got SIX bell peppers. Oh what to do, what to do…

So this salad easily turned itself into a tomato/pepper chicken stew without the avocado…

Then when I had more bell peppers left, I made a veggie pasta dish simply with diced up bell peppers and yellow onion, the leftover baby spinach and a dab of butter! Talk about multi-tasking ingredients!

To celebrate my last couple of days before work, my friend Christine and I also went over to White House Pizza in Carbondale. We shared the spinart (can you guess what’s in it? ;) ) dip, 

 and I had the arugula and clam pizza!

 Both so delicious!

Tomorrow, I’m moving into a tiny little place that I can call my own. Considering that I left pretty much ALL of my kitchen supplies back in WI (sad!), I don’t know what cooking in the studio might turn into. Moreover, it’s got a kitchenette with two little burners, tiny convention toaster oven, and a mini fridge! This is definitely going to be a challenge/adventure!

As for exploring the beautiful hiking trails, I have been kept busy nursing a sick puppy (healthy now!) so hopefully by the next post I can really put up exciting photos! Since it’s the off-season out here in the Aspen area, things are definitely quiet…and it makes me miss home so much more! 

In the meantime, check out this awesome view outside the patio at my work (the peak of Mt. Daly in the far center!):

Countdown to CO: 4 Days & Questions to self.

I am bidding adieu to my "home" here in the Midwest, and venturing out westward to the beautiful land of Colorado in just FOUR days! So how do I feel about this? Excited. Scared. Happy. Nervous. Stressed. Optimistic. ?!?!?!?!

I have been filling the weekdays with running around at work, getting things organized for the newcomer who will be replacing me. During the weeknights and weekends, I’ve been going through clothes, kitchenware, and more miscellaneous items to toss and to keep.

At first, I had a cold which gave me horrible body fatigue. That was combined with a gloomy series of rain which didn’t uplift my sickly body at all. Not to mention the fact that I can’t remember the last time I visited the gym! Ugh, the stress of relocation… but on a positive note, I know it will ALL be worth it this time next week when I will be looking at the Colorado mountains. :D And for the past few days, the sun has been shining here in the Midwest…it’s been giving me an extra jolt of energy and positivity about everything!

Despite the craze that is all around, a girl’s gotta eat, right? Since I will be most likely having major Korean food withdrawals (with guesstimated lack of it out there), I’ve been cooking with a lot with my motherland’s ingredients.

Last week I whipped up my signature Ddeock Bok-ki (Rice cakes simmered in chili-paste sauce), then I also made an impromptu Korean style tuna salad with miso and chili paste to top my peppery arugula babies.

Matt brought home some good quality steak meat, so we’ve been indulging while my iron skillet has been getting a ton of lovin’.

 

The "Man" plate.

 My healthier version :)

He doused his with A1...

And I had leftovers for lunch the next day! 

 

 

    
But all this cooking aside, what am I doing with this blog and where does it fit in?

These two questions have been wandering in my head for days, hence the “questions” part of this post’s title. 

I've been reading a lot of FANTASTIC food blogs where the vision and the message is clear. The focused theme makes for relevance and readability...whereas compared to those, I feel that mine is a little lost.

I suppose I’m having a bit of a blogger-identity-crisis. I really need to give this some more time and let all these thoughts marinate before I bring out what truly could be a great blog.

I think by the time this move is complete, the thought process might be finsihed! Hopefully as the outcome of all this thinking, I can really start devoting my time and effort to create something relevant, relatable, informative, and fun all at the same time.

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to shoot me an email: aireesespieces@gmail.com :)

Can we talk flats for a minute?

Since freshman year in college where I walked the numerous streets of NY on a daily basis, flats have been my go-to shoes in the months of October through April/May.

I don’t know if it’s just my feet, but I don’t tend to fall in love with any type of flats the instant we meet. I would say it takes a couple of months until they are almost molded to the shape of my feet as they start to make me feel as though I’m walking barefooted.

Therefore when it becomes time for any of my flats to retire, I get a tiny bit…uh...emotional…?

My, once favorite, $16.99 flats before retirement in NYC. :(

And here comes the confession. The emotional attachment always only happens with the super inexpensive, badly beaten, hole-bearing pairs.

Since I want to save my nicer flats for “special” occasions, I tend to walk out of the house always with my cheapies hence the stronger attachment to those pairs. I guess as long as I’m living in the same budget category, I don’t feel comfortable “trashing” any pairs that cost more than a few Andrew Jacksons, if ya know what I mean.

As temperature keeps dropping, my poor feet are shivering in my flip-flops, longing for my flats. I grabbed my cute cheapie leopard print flats that I bought from Target last year until a few days ago I found a rip on the sole causing the rain to get all my toes completely soaked. UGH! It was so sad when I tossed them in the garbage. SO SAD!

my $29.99 AE flats that I've grown to LOVE over the past year. :( 

Now the only pair I have that is up to the same comfort level are these moccasin looking ones that were also super inexpensive and badly beaten, but luckily no holes yet. But like a mommy before sending her first child to his or her first day of school, I know that these will also have to go soon. Letting go is TOO hard!

 The Target $12.99 cheapies! 
 

So I’m headed to Target to buy me another cheapie flats that will become best friends with my feet for the next few months. I need to find a versatile color, but something tells me that I will walk out with the same leopard pair (still the same price too, only $12.99!).

I don’t know if I’m the only one with such an odd story or opinion about flats, but I just had to put it out there…somewhere!

And now that the flats talk is over, my favorite twitpics via my BB tour:

 Top (Left to Right):

- fluffy challah french toast, cheeseless caprese, scruffy puppy Yoshi, perfect bite of smoked salmon.

Bottom (Left to Right):

- favorite carbonated drink, Korean buffet (need I say more?), sweetest kiwi evah!, first time with my iron skillet.