Staying Local: UFC and the Alameda Art and Wine Fair

It's been a few weeks since my last post but that's because Branden and I were living a completely normal and boring life. He was studying for finals and I was busy being lazy and lounging around. It was so nice to have 2 weekends home in a row.

Last weekend, since Branden's summer class was over, we kept ourselves busy. My weekend sort of started on Thursday when I got to go to the Oakland A's game with my department. They got 2 suites for the day and since I LOVE LOVE LOVE baseball I was that much more excited to watch it from a suite (too bad it wasn't the Giants). Here are a few pictures I took while I was there:

On Friday I got to leave work early and we headed down to San Jose to watch the UFC weigh-ins and try and get free tickets again. Going to watch the weigh-ins was a really cool experience! Branden always watches them on the computer and I think he loved being there in person for them. Here are some pictures we took. Sorry for the terrible quality.

 After the weigh-ins we knew we had some time before Dana would tweet out tickets (2 of the fighters didn't make weight and were supposed to get an hour to make weight), so we headed for a bar for some food and drinks. We ended up picking a great location apparently because Matt Hughes walked right by us, followed shortly after by Joe Silva (Branden had to tell me who Silva was).

Right as we finished our food we saw Dana White tweet that he would be giving away tickets soon. Branden quickly finished his beer and we went outside to be ready. We ended up being extremely close to where he gave the tickets away and sprinted to get them. The guy handing the tickets out was nice enough to give us 4!

On Saturday we drove back to San Jose and enjoyed the fights all afternoon. Here are some pictures!

On Sunday the weather was so nice! I've been wanting to ride my bike around the island and knew last weekend would be perfect. Alameda was having it's annual Art and Wine Fair so we decided to ride our bikes to park street and check it out. All the vendors had some really cool stuff and the food was amazing. Not to mention it was really great walking down the street with beers in our hands!

We wrapped up the weekend by grilling some delicious ribs and enjoying the weather from our patio. I love eating outside and I'm so grateful we live in such an amazing place!

Greek Pork/Vegetable Kabobs and Lone Star Fish Tacos

After multiple weeks of our usual dinners, I was growing tired of the same old dinners. So this week I was motivated to try several new recipes for dinner, and they were AMAZING!

The first recipe I tried out was Greek Pork and Vegetable Kabobs!

Greek Pork and Vegetable Kabobs

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. lemon juice
2 tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp. salt
4 cloves garlic, minced
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1-1/2 lbs. pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch squares
1 medium onion, cut into 1-inch squares (large outer rings only)
4 to 6 long skewers
1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano (I used dried because I'm lazy)
Pita bread, halved and lightly grilled
Tzatziki Cucumber and Garlic Dip (I used a store-bought brand)

  

Directions:

Marinate meat for at least 2 hours, but up to 2 days for even more flavor. I marinated the meat for about 10 hours.

1. Place olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, salt, garlic and pepper in a large resealable plastic bag. Squeeze bag gently to mix, then place pork in bag. Let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

2. Thread pork and vegetables onto skewers and discard marinade. Grill over medium-high heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until pork is cooked though, turning occasionally.

3. Remove pork and vegetables from skewers and sprinkle with oregano. Place in pita halves and top with tzatziki.

This recipe was super simple and both Branden and I absolutely loved it. It's definitely being added to our recipe box. If you want to add more color, add some yellow or green bell peppers as well.

The next recipe we tried was a Texas spin on tacos.

Lone Star Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Stubb's Original Bar-B-Q Sauce
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 tbsp. Stubb's Bar-B-Q Spice Rub, divided (this is a rub of sea salt, paprika, and black pepper in case you can't find it at the store)
12 taco size corn tortillas
2 cups plus 3 tbsp. canola oil, divded
1 cup beer
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 lb. cod fillets, cut into 3-by-1 inch pieces
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded lettuce
2 ears corn, silks and husks removed, kernels cut from ear (about 1 cup) (optional)
Cilantro leaves (optional)
Lime wedges (optional)

 

Directions:


1. Combine yogurt, mayonnaise, and barbecue sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Combine Parmesan cheese with 1 tbsp. spice rub in a small bowl; set aside.

2. Heat tortillas one at a time (or if you are good you can do 2 at a time) in a large skillet over medium heat, adding some of the 3 tbsp. oil as needed throughout the process. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with cheese mixture; cover with foil to keep warm.

3. Combine beer, flour, cornstarch and remaining spice rub in a medium bowl. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to thicken.  

4. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Coat each piece of fish in beer batter and fry for about 5 to 8 minutes, turning if necessary, or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towels and keep warm. To assemble tacos, place fish in bottom of tortilla and top with cabbage, lettuce, corn kernels and yogurt sauce. Garnish with cilantro leaves and lime wedges, if desired.

The ingredients sound somewhat strange, but trust me when I say they really worked well together! Branden and I didn't include the corn because it saved us time with the cooking. In addition, we just used spinach instead of cabbage and lettuce. We always have spinach on hand and would not have eaten the cabbage other then with this meal. The spinach still tasted great though. 

I highly recommend adding the cilantro and lime as well! They really added that extra flavor. If you want some extra spice, add some hot sauce. Branden added Cholula and he said it was great.

Daniel Tosh & More Giants

If you haven't guessed by now, I love the San Francisco Giants. Last season, I'm pretty sure my good friend, Katie, and I went to about 20 games. We both decided this year we needed to tone it down and save some money, but that doesn't mean I can't go to games still!

Last weekend Tomas got 4 tickets to the game through his company and invited us to go! Brenda joined us and we had a fun-filled Saturday.

It started off with going to the Giants game. I know most people hate being in the last row of a stadium, but I love love love being in Row 18 at Giants games (as long as we are not in Sections 327 - 334). You seriously have some of the most amazing view from the last row, not to mention you can get up and stretch whenever you want.

Unfortunately I'm on a losing streak when going to games lately, but we still enjoyed ourselves at the game!

 Sorry for the terrible lighting! I figured you can see our faces enough though :-)

After the game we all headed back to our place in Alameda and got ready to see DANIEL TOSH! Branden and I love watching Tosh.O and when we discovered he was coming to do stand-up in San Francisco we knew we had to go.

We left a little later then we wanted and had to scratch our dinner plans. We wanted to try a restaurant called Ricky Bobby but we didn't have time to wait to be seated. We ended up at this Chinese restaurant in Lower Haight called Wonderland and it ended up being delicious!

After dinner we headed to the Nourse Theater to watch Daniel. He was HILARIOUS! If love his show then you will love his stand-up even more. His opener was great and Daniel performed for almost 2 hours. You could tell his set wasn't memorized and he was coming up with a lot on the fly. It made it so much better.

I highly recommend going if he ever comes to your area! And it is 100% worth the ticket price.

Here are a few pictures from the evening.

My 4th of July Recipes

If you saw my last post from camping, I mentioned I made a 4th of July Firecracker Cake and some patriotic Jello shots. Both of them tasted amazing and I figured I'd share the recipes.

Firecracker Cake

Ingredients:

- 1 box Betty Crocker SuperMoist white cake mix
- Water (called for on cake mix box)
- Vegetable oil (called for on cake mix box)
3 egg whites (called for on cake mix box, I used liquid egg whites because I'm lazy)
- Red food color
- Blue food color
- 1 container (12 oz) Betty Crocker Whipped fluffy white frosting

Here is a picture of the ingredients I used. You can also see one of our awesome wedding gifts above the oven.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325^oF. Generously grease 12-cup fluted tube cake pan. Make cake batter as directed on box, using water, oil, and egg whites.

2. Pour 1 cup of the batter into a small bowl; stir in red food color until well mixed (I used about 30 drops of food coloring, but looking back I wish I used more). Pour another cup of the batter into a separate bowl; stir in blue food color until well mixed (again I used about 30 drops of food coloring but wish I had used more).

3. Pour red cake batter into bottom of pan. Carefully pour remaining white batter over red batter in pan. Carefully pour blue batter over white batter (blue batter does not need to cover white batter completely; it looks better if it just forms a ring in the center of the white batter).

4. Bake as directed on box or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cook cake 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place cooling rack over cookie sheet. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack. Cool cake completely, about 30 minutes.

5. When cake is cool, divide frosting evenly into 3 microwavable bowls. Microwave 1 bowl of frosting uncovered on high a few seconds (I microwaved for 10 seconds, mixed, and put it back in for 5 more seconds) until smooth enough to drizzle over cake. With spoon, drizzle all of white frosting back and forth around cake in a striping pattern.

6. Repeat microwaving second bowl of frosting until smooth. Stir in a few drops blue food coloring until well blended. Drizzle over cake, scattering frosting back and forth.

7. Repeat with remaining bowl of frosting and red food color, making sure red, white, and blue frosting can be seen on cake. Let cake stand at room temperature until frosting is set before serving.

Everyone said the cake tasted delicious and I loved how it turned out once we cut into it as well :-)

Jello Shots

Ingredients:

- 1 cup boiling water, divided

- 1 package (3 oz.) JELL-O Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin

- 1 package (3 oz.) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin

- 1 envelope KNOX Unflavored Gelatin

- 1 cup milk, divided

- 3 Tbsp. sugar

- 1/2 tsp. vanilla

- 1/2 cup Vodka, divided (we used whipped cream vodka)

Directions:

1. Add 1/2 cup boiling water and 1/4 cup vodka to berry gelatin mix in small bowl; stir 2 min until completely dissolved. Repeat with strawberry gelatin mix. Cool.
2. Meanwhile, sprinkle unflavored gelatin over 1/4 cup milk in medium bowl; let stand 5 min. Bring remaining milk to a boil in saucepan (be careful because milk can burn easily).
3. Remove from heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Add to plain gelatin mixture; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved. Cool 10 min.
4. Spoon berry gelatin into 20 (1-oz or 2-oz) plastic shot glasses sprayed lightly with cooking spray, adding about 2 tsp. to each. Refrigerate 15 min. or until set but not firm.
5. Top with unflavored gelatin mixture, adding about 2 tsp. to each cup. Refrigerate 10 min.
6. Cover with strawberry gelatin, adding about 2 tsp. to each cup. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.

This was our finished product! I accidentally bought 4-oz shot glasses at the store because I wasn't paying enough attention, but I know they would look much better in the proper size!

And there you have it! Both of these recipes were fairly simple and are both adorable for the 4th of July of any other patriotic holiday. I can't wait to tackle my next holiday-themed recipe.