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OK, I need your help; I'm torn. I have been avoiding blogging about projects related to our wedding. I think I was just exhausted after the wedding and needed a break. Now we that we have our wedding pictures, (aka, I finally got off my lazy ass) there are no more excuses. At the same time, it's 2012, is it worthwhile to blog about things that happened in the past 6 months? So I'll put it in your hands,

Do you want to see wedding recaps?

10 in 115: Update

Here is the update on my 10 in 115 list. I had put it together a couple of weeks after our wedding and was hoping to complete all 10 items by the end of the year.

 

1. Finish the 2 crochet projects that I have started. I start projects, but rarely do I finish them. Usually, I just mess up towards the end and then proceed to unravel the entire thing.
• DONE! Not only did I finish the two baby blankets, I also started and finished 2 pairs of super cute baby booties, 2 pairs of baby ballet slippers, a scarf, 2 hats, and a pair of wrist warmers. It’s ok, you can say it. Yes, I’m a freaken nut job. To be honest, it was kind of soothing.




I totally forgot to photograph the scarf before giving it away.
All photos by me.


2. Make a profit off a cupcake order. I lose money on most jobs. Guess its time to get serious and raise the prices.
• Done for myself and for charity.
• My one and only order for Christmas put some money in my pocket.  
• We have a bake sale at work, twice a year. I almost always bake. For the most recent sale, sold 71 Oreo cupcakes. At $2 each, that’s $142 that I contributed to charity. No one can tell me that I don’t give.
3. Clean out my closet and take out all the old clothes that I do not wear. I still have articles of clothing I bought in Hong Kong 6 years ago that I have never worn or will ever wear.
• FAIL. I’m pulling out one or two items here and there, but I haven’t spent the time to actually clean it out.
4. Cook a three course meal. I haven't cooked a good meal in a long time. And to think, I used to cook every night for my roommates during my internships. 
• Technically FAIL. I haven’t made a three course meal, but I have made 2 course meals. Friends of ours are new parents, so when we went to meet their bundle of joy, we also brought them dinner. I’ve probably made a few for us, too.
5. Throw a dinner party. Even better, a murder mystery dinner party.
• HooHA! I threw a fantastic 1920’s themed murder mystery potluck dinner party. I can totally check this one off the bucket list.

• Also, we had a NYE dinner party.
6. Clean out my car. It was looking pretty bad just before my sunroof shattered. Insurance covered the clean-up, but now that the family is gone, my car is now one large trash can. Don't believe me? There are two empty Starbucks cups in the center console storage thingy. I had to move them from the cup holders in the center console to make room for my fresh cup of coffee the other day. Yea...that's pretty bad.
• Well, it was done unintentionally. As Jake was packing up his car for the trip down to CT for Christmas, he realized that he had a flat tire. So while I was arranging things in the trunk of my car, Jake picked up all the trash in the cabin.
7. Explore Chicago with my BFF Jack. OK, so this is a gimme since we are planning to do this at the end of the month. I just need to buy my plane ticket and book the hotel.
• A trip that I will remember forever. We’re already talking about our next adventure.



The famous Chicago dog...it was just alright.
8. Redecorate our bedroom.
• FAIL. I’m going to play the “broke” and “lazy” cards here.
9. Design, create, and mail out Thank You's to our wedding guests.
• Total FAIL! I was supposed to make these and send them out in lieu of Christmas cards. We didn’t send out Christmas cards either.
10. Plan my trip home.
• Looks like I’ll be visiting home two or more times this year!
• April after our honeymoon. I’m headed to CO a few days after we get back from Bora Bora, so instead of flying back to Boston and working for those days and flying back out, I’ll fly up to Portland and hang out with my family for a few days and then head to Boulder.
• September to start and end my sabbatical travels. My current plan is to explore Australia and New Zealand (and maybe Malaysia, Singapore, and/or Japan). We’ll see what my bank account has to say about that.
• This just in, September is going to be full of west coast traveling. We have weddings to attend on 9/1 (OR) and 9/15 (WA)!

Not too shabby. This was more of a to-do list rather than a list of items to promote personal growth. I'll work on that this year.

Happy New Year!

Throwing a New Years Eve party has been a Hung/Perkowski tradition since 2008. Our celebrations have gotten smaller, become more casual, and a lot less drunk over time. Better if you ask us (and our friends). Instead of trying to make the entire dinner, we potlucked it. We supplied the prime rib and asked our friends to take care of everything else. But I still couldn't contain myself and made both the roast, lasagna, veggies, AND supplied cupcakes. How about we just let the photos do the talking?

Table dressed with our new plates and silverware!

Noisemakers to make it more festive.

Prime rib roasted with a salt crust via Pioneer Woman.

I probably should have roasted it for a tad bit longer...it was a little too rare for some.
The roast is actually bigger, the rare pieces are in the oven and not in the photo.

Note: you should scrape off the salt crust before cutting into it...I had it all over my kitchen floor.

Roasted veggies (brussel sprouts, carrots, and summer squash).

Heavenly mashed potatoes. There was bacon in it. Enough said.

Single serving turkey lasagna via Can You Stay for Dinner.

Crazy awesome salad bar.

Phil's salad before nuts and dressing.

Pecan and Dutch Apple pies.

Wedding cupcakes! No seriously, those are cupcakes from our wedding.
They sent us home with 2 dozen cupcakes that I threw into a tupperware container and then froze.

Space Attack! This board game has a sound track.
That's right, we are all drinking coffee.

Wishing you a happy, healthy, and wealthy new year! (Maybe that last part is just what Chinese people say to each other.)

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to you and yours!


Working on my bokeh.



Artsy close up of our tree.

Christmas and babies threw up on our fridge.

Everything but the Cow:Pumpkin Cream Sauce

I love pumpkin. Seriously, like LOVE it. I eat anything with pumpkin in it. In fact, there's an open bag of Laurel Hill's pumpkin seed tortilla chips on desk staring me down. Anyways, awhile back, I stumbled across pumpkin cream sauce.  

(Williams-Sonoma)

Doesn't sound dairy-free friendly does it? Also, there's no way in hell I'm paying whatever the asking price was at the time for a jar of sauce. I can make it from scratch for a whole lot cheaper. I Googled around until I found a recipe I liked. Thank you Washington Post. It was a relatively short list of ingredients, no fuss directions, and best of all, I could tweak it to make it dairy-free.





Pasta with Creamy Pumpkin Sauce (adapted from The Washington Post)
Serves 4

Ingredients:
8 to 10 ounces gemelli pasta
1 medium shallot
3 medium cloves garlic
2 sprigs sage leaves
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup soy milk
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (parmesan is a hard cheese and is considered to contain very low, next to none, levels of lactose, feel free to omit)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions (6 to 7 minutes).
Meanwhile, mince the shallot and garlic; finely chop the sage.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the shallot and garlic; cook for 3 minutes, stirring, until they have softened. Add the pumpkin puree, chicken broth, milk and half of the sage. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until the sauce is slightly thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste; keep warm on the lowest setting.
Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, then add 2 tablespoons of the cheese and mix well. Divide among individual plates and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of cheese and the remaining sage.

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