Home Remedy: Unclogging a Drain

I found this  online and thought I would give it a try. Our apartment bath tub is majorly clogged, probably from hair and the problem seems to be gradually getting worst. So if this works, it definitely beats calling maintenance to bring over the claw to and clean it out. (I don't want to see what's in there...ewww!)

The article calls for:

1/2 C Baking Soda

1/2 C Vinegar ( I used the good stuff because I didn't have the Hentz one around the house)

1 Warm Damp Towel

Instruction:

- Pour Baking Soda down the Drain

- Next add the Vinegar (You'll get a foaming reaction but that's okay)

- Then cover the drain with the warm damp towel for 5 min

-  Uncover the drain and then flush out with hot water

I'm not sure if it really helped much, but we shall see tonight. :)

Also, for other cleaning ideas check out the article: http://www.realsimple.com/new-uses-for-old-things/new-uses-cleaning/print-index.html

Cleaning Suede Heels

As you may know, I have an insane obsession with shoes but this does not always mean I take care of them well. An example would be my go to pair of nude suede heels by by BCBGeneration. I love these shoes and use them almost every electric event and or clubbing/ dancing night. The downfall however is that suede picks up everything from dirt, water and alcohol.

After tearing up the dance floor for about 7 months, I decided to give them a good clean. I searched on google and found this site: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-clean-suede-shoes It tells you situational solutions to cleaning suede with simple solutions such as erasers, nail brushes, and simply water to reverse the damage. Note: what I think is very key is to buy that protection spray for your shoes to reduce damage in the long run.

So here I took a couple of pictures of the process. The very top picture is my end result, not too bad considering how they were to begin with.

 

I should be ashamed to show you this picture, my shoes look soo nasty but its because I really do dance my ass off when I hit the floor.

You can't really tell but the suede was lifting from the heel because I probably cut the fabric with my other heel. You might think that's weird but anything is possible. My solution to this was to get some tacky glue to stop further lifting. It doesn't look pretty or seamless but it definitely got the job done.

After the glue had dried, I took the nail brush and gently brushed off most of the dirt. To my dismay the shoes were still dirty so I took some water along with the brush and went back and gently soaked the surface of the shoes.

To speed up the drying the process, I used the heater in my apartment bathroom, it worked like a charm.

A Chemical Obsession

As you may or may not know, I am a chemist and I see chemistry everywhere and in everything we do on a daily basis. Because if you think about it, chemistry is the basic building blocks of life, this also explains my love for cooking...its an elaborate science experiment that you can eat! :)

Anyway, as I was trying to pass the time at work, I decided to look up some molecules and draw pictures I felt associated with them. Here are a few of the drawings I've done. I'm going to color, frame, and put them up in my apartment. My favorite is the rose. Tell me what you think, I would love to get some feed back. 

Side Note: I think I will revamp this page in a few weeks and start up my Esty store, but that all depends on how lazy I am in the coming weeks. So be patient. 

Tofu FOREVER

I love tofu, and its probably because I'm Asian, but that's alright with me. Anyway, I tend to play with different ingredients when I get bored. This is probably an actual dish out there but here goes nothing.

INGREDIENTS

Firm Tofu

Mushrooms

Yellow Onion

Tomatoes

Ketchup - weird I know but TRUST ME!!!

Fish Sauce

RECIPE:

- Lightly brown the sides of the sliced tofu in a pan with oil

- Add chopped onion and diced tomatoes and continue to sautee until onions are translucent

- Add sliced mushrooms (there should be a sauce developing from the dices tomatoes and oil)

- Add a little bit to ketchup and fish sauce to taste

I know its weird to have ketchup and fish sauce in one recipe but ketchup is like a tomato paste and sugar substitute all in one. 

Thai Dish - Pad Kra Phrao

 I think its called Pad Kra Phrao, but don't hold it against me if I'm wrong. I learned how to make this dish from David's Mom, her recipe called for lemon leaves, but the ones online don't. Also, when serving with rice, it is a must that you add soy sauce for an added twist to your palette (at least according to David's Grandma who scolded me for not doing so years ago)

Also, I know I HATE writing recipe, but I'll write a broad one, so you can play with it as you please. I would love to hear how your's come out. OH, and the hardest part about this recipe is to find the lime leaves. Its not what you think of, they are not leaves from a tree that produces yellow fruit. Its a Thai spice that is rare is valuable.

INGREDIENT:
Ground Chicken  - The recipe called for Pork instead, but this is healthier
Lime leaves - Kaffir Leaves
Green Beans
Red Bell Peppers
Jalopenos
Thai Basil Leaves
Vietnamese or Thai Fish Sauce ( I can have an entire entry devoted to the differences)
Garlic Cloves

RECIPE:
- Crush Garlic and sautee with oil in pan until translucent and then cook the ground meat until done
- add fish sauce with the burner still on
- add all minced ingredients except the basil leaves
- add more fish sauce or water to steam/ cook the veggies
- stop cooking when the green beans start to get kinda soft - don't want them to mush up
- lastly add in the basil leaves

Serve with rice and fried egg. <3

EDIT: My fake cousin, Oak, corrected me that I have to use Thai Hot Basil in the recipe.

Mexican Rice

My friend, Angelica, showed me how to make this a few months ago but I thought I would share the recipe and technique…the technique being the key component. When I was back in college, I failed at making this soo many times but I learned it was because I lacked patience which unfortunately is still a work in progress.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

2 cup fresh chicken broth (you can substitute with a cube of chicken bouillon and 2 c of water)

5 diced Roma Tomatos

½ chopped yellow onions (or red onions)

5 cloves of diced garlic

3 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1.       In a pot pour the olive oil and heat it up until it becomes viscous then add the garlic and onions at medium heat. Cook the onions until it becomes translucent.

2.       Add the dry rice into the pot and allow the oil to cook the grains – remember to stir or they will stick to the bottom.

3.       Add the 2 cups of the fresh chicken broth along with the diced tomatoes. Turn up the heat and let the stock start to boil with bubbles.

4.       Place the lid on top and reduce the heat to low

5.       Let the pot sit on low for about 20 min and then it’s done.

The Journey of Stein

I know it’s been forever since I’ve written a post on my crafts. I’ve honestly been too lazy. Sometime between my last entry I learned how to Spanish potato tortilla that you find at tapas bar, turn an ordinary birthday card to something extraordinary, made a few Halloween costumes, and this. I will try to sit still and do some back blogging but there are no promises because I’m too antsy to sit still for that long.

Anyways, back to the entry I’m trying to write. Last week I was thinking about what to make my friend, Collin, for his birthday and all I had was…monkies, his touchiness about his hair, and Stein (an inside joke or bonding word that I still don’t understand its origins) In any case, I thought Stein was my best bet. So I asked a friend what type of image came to his mind when I said “Stein.” For awhile my friend kinda chuckled at the ridiculousness of the question but he proceeded to describe a diamond formed by hands. I took that idea and incorporated the Japanese rising sun because 1) Collin is white washed Japanese and I’m racist like that lol and 2) the rising sun has an importance in terms of graffiti art it would be blasphemy not to include it.

I created the logo at work in between my experiments and paperwork and then scanned it so I could have a digital copy to tweak. I have to say…I could have used a graphic tablet really badly because I spent about 6 hours after to make the image as clean as possible with my mouse.

Lets fast forward a bit….I went to Office Depot to buy iron paper and saw Steve Carrell with his daughter…went to Staples to buy a printer because iron paper is special and cannot be printed on at Kinkos (as explained to me when the dude at the one off Ventura Blvd looked at me with a DUH expression)

I finished the shirts…10 of them. Put 8 in a box with a monkey drawing on top holding a football and gave it to Collin on Monday night – unfortunately, I think I was more excited than he was. Key thing to doing this was to follow the instructions on the back to the T… I thought I could do my own thing and my first shirt was rather unsuccessful.