RECIPE: Kimchi and Tofu Tacos.

When Robbie and I first started dating, my favorite thing to do was cook for him. Because of his preference for vegetarian and internationally inspired dishes, it was an opportunity for me to cook out of my comfort zone. After a few months of dating, however, I discovered that I love cooking with him so much more. He's great to bounce ideas off of and has an amazing ability to improvise.

This week we decided that we wanted something light and spicy. My first thought was tacos, but the last thing I wanted was ground beef and prepackaged spice mixes. I thought that tofu seemed like an odd choice of protein for tacos until Robbie reminded me that we used it to make nachos (with great success). We then decided we wanted to make the tacos Korean, as it gave us the opportunity to use kimchi, which neither of us had previously used.

 
Ingredients:
1 block of extra firm tofu, drained and crumbled.
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger
2 tsp sesame seeds

4 small flour tortillas

Toppings:
lime juice
kimchi
pomegranate seeds

Warm up the the canola and sesame oil in a large saute pan. Once hot add red pepper flakes, garlic, ginger and sesame seeds. Allow these ingredients to heat up until fragrant, and then add the tofu. The tofu should cook for 8-10 minutes, or until it starts to brown.

Warm up the tortillas in a pan for a minute and then assemble your tacos! Serve with a side dish of your choice. Robbie and I stir fried rice noodles with the same ingredients used to fry the tofu.

This dish was great with a She & Him album playing in the background and stories about the better points of our day.




Enjoy!

XO
Pat

The Pine Stays Green in the Winter.

On Robbie: Button Down-J. Crew Factory, Sweater-H&M, Weejuns-Bass
On Pat: Button Down + Sweater-J. Crew Factory, Jeans + Boots-J. Crew

This morning, we woke up late, made coffee and got a long bubble bath. Once we decided to be productive human beings, we took down the majority of our christmas decorations (including the tree). It was my first year in a very long time having a real tree, and I felt really sentimental about it. Something about taking care of it everyday created a bond that made it really difficult to toss it over the balcony and then drag it to the dumpster. I could have cried really. I'll never forget our first tree; picking the runt at the lot, making all of our ornaments by hand, and snuggling under the big lights watching White Christmas with Pat will stay with me for the rest of my life. Our first Christmas together was so simple and magical that even without the tree, I'll be able to carry a little piece of it with me every day.

After cleaning up the needles and moving all of the furniture back to it's original positions, Pat suggested that we head to Smithville to walk around and take pictures. I always look forward to going, we're so lucky to have such a magical little village nearby. And so we took pictures, held hands, giggled and drank coffee before heading home.

On the way, we stopped to buy pens and soup, and made friends with an old that went to Dublin once. He had the best jokes.

I couldn't have asked for a better day.

XO
Robbie

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