Fei Li and Chris

Seems like the weblink to our wedding site doesn’t have the actual address on it (though our invitation does!).

For those who need it, here it is with zip codes so you can mapquest/google-earth/yahoo map it all.

3 Sanger Street
Sherborn, MA
01770

It’s a next to a big white church (which is NOT our ceremony site), and across from the Sherborn Library.

~ Fei Li

Today has not been one of my better days, sadly.  If you’ve talked to me at some point today, you’ve probably gotten some snippet as to why.  And probably by this time tomorrow, things will look up.  I truly truly understand why people have wedding planners.
We are leaving New York for Ashland, MA tomorrow in the early afternoon.  That means everything in my apartment has to be in ship shape tonight - from what we will need during the week, during the wedding and during the honeymoon.  I guess it will be a long night of packing.
I would like to do the laundry too, but with this heat wave, feel like it might be irresponsible to be using electricity-consuming things like the washer and dryer.  If you are in the northeast, especially New York City, you’ll know what I’m talking about. 110F! or 42C!

I’ve been meaning to post pictures and a short description of a surprise bridal shower/bachelorette party that my girlfriends and my sisters threw for me a few weeks ago.  It was quite a well orchestrated event to keep it a surprise.  But alas, right now I’m in no mood to do such a thing, except to say thanks to all of you who managed to come and were patient with the bride who kept thwarting your plans!

~ Fei Li

… has been updated. Check it out.

Chris

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Originally uploaded by phthallo.

Picture of me trying to squint at my chromatin prep… this is real life science - notice how there are no coloured liquids?

:)

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Originally uploaded by phthallo.

Here’s the shish taouk recipe…

Part I - the night before

1 lb Chicken breast, skinless boneless
3 cloves Garlic, crushed and minced
1/4 cup Olive Oil (I mixed 1 tbsp of extra virgin for flavor with 3 tbsps of
regular virgin olive oil)
1 whole Lemon (4 tbsp)
1 cup plain yogurt (regular fat content)(optional)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

1. Prepare marinade by mixing together all ingredients except chicken. The yogurt is optional. [It makes some difference here, but I can’t really say how much. It certainly made it easier to cover everything in marinade, but the same effect could be had by adding some additional olive oil if not using the yogurt.]
2. Cube chicken
3. Marinate chicken for 8-24 hours in fridge in glass or other non-reactive
container.

Part II - grilling

tomatoes, sliced into wedges
onions, sliced into wedges
(skewers)
(rice)
(creamy hummus)

4. After done marinating, place chicken on skewers alternating with slices of onions and tomatoes.
5. Grill/broil/etc meat until done - time depends on the size of the chunks of meat.
6. Remove grilled meat and veggies from kebob and serve over hot rice, with hummus on the side to dip the kebobs into.

For the creamy hummus, we just mixed one part commercial hummus (plain or spicy) with one part yogurt (regular fat content). You could also make the tahini from scratch using canned garbanzo beans, olive oil, tahini, salt and pepper and then mix that in with the yogurt.

Just a quick note to remind everyone that the group rate block (Kuang/Howell-Little wedding) at Best Western ends this Friday (7/28/2006). There are plenty of rooms left to choose from but after Friday, the special rate will no longer be available.

The group block at Red Roof Inn ended two weeks ago.

BTW, anyone know a Rick Gonzales? Cuz he’s booked at Best Western and I’m not sure I know who he is…

~Fei Li

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Originally uploaded by phthallo.

Last Friday, we experimented with a bunch of shish taouk recipes in an attempt to give the caterer a decent recipe. As Fei Li mentioned in an earlier post, there is a restaurant in Madison called Lulu’s that does incredible shish taouk (grilled chicken kebabs), that I just love. [And I don’t mean fast-food-style chicken shawarma… apparently in some places, notably Montreal, shish taouk refers to chicken shawarma.]

The recipe experiment was mostly a success. I made two different marinades (one yogurt based and one not) and let the chicken marinate in them just shy of 24 hours. The result was a very tender grilled chicken, with lots of lemon, garlic, olive oil flavor, served over a creamy yogurt-hummus with rice. We also put tomato wedges and onions on the skewers, since they’re so tasty when grilled. I am sure it would have been even better if our grill was not just the broiler but a real grill, but we’ll save that for another time.

The only problem is that Fei Li and I didn’t really decide which way of making it was better. Or maybe we just didn’t agree. Fei Li liked the yogurt one better, I thought the non-yogurt one was just as good. But it looks like we’ll need to do another round anyway, since the recipe really should have been made with chicken breast and not chicken thighs (thighs aren’t easy to make into even-sized units on the skewer). The one real surprise was the hummus… I couldn’t figure out how Lulu’s made a really creamy hummus, and so I just threw some yogurt in some store-bought hummus and it was quite good.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the recipe here with me, so we’ll have to post that later, if there’s interest.

Chris

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Originally uploaded by phthallo.

Fei Li’s lily finally bloomed! I think it’s the first really pretty thing that has grown in the garden, none of the other flowers really made it, but some of the bulbs may get their chance next spring. Unfortunately, last week’s yucky weather made it difficult to enjoy.

As you can see, this photo was taken at the end of a rainy day - which finally brought some temporary relief from the muggy heat. The heat, on the other hand did cause our cilantro to go flower-crazy a few weeks ago, and the result is a whole lot of coriander! I pulled out the cilantro and snipped of the coriander seeds, and we’ll see if I have the skill to actually dry them properly in our studio apartment without driving Fei Li crazy.

Anyway, this photo is an attempt to make the lily enjoyable despite weather complications. I think it succeeds at that. Plus, there is the added benefit of it being much more accessible to all of you who are not able to actually visit the garden plot.

Chris

We weren’t really planning on taking a honeymoon, but as it turns out we’ll be spending a week and half in London, after the wedding and before school starts. (Thanks Mom and Dad!!)

Fei Li, in talking with other people and mentioning that we’ll be going to London, has been asked “Why London?” by several different people. This seems like a strange question to me. Why not London? What makes London different from honeymoons in Greece, Mexico, the Caribbean, Paris, Disneyworld, Niagara Falls and wherever else is popular? I suppose the key is the idea of a romantic place, and perhaps London just doesn’t qualify as romantic to some people. Since neither Fei Li nor I has been there, I suppose we don’t really know what it’ll be like… but we’re both excited to go find out. Plus, isn’t it strange that only some places qualify as romantic/fun/relaxing? Shouldn’t those things depend on the people’s personalities, since we talking about subjective qualities?

So, the lead up to the trip, we’ve been watching A History of Britain and In Search of Shakespeare via Netflix. Fei Li is pretty hooked on the Bard, by the way, and with good reason, since he did invent plenty of great phrases (”Salad days,” “One fell swoop,” “Wild goose chase,” “Foregone conclusion,” “Foul play,” “It was greek to me,” “Rhyme and reason,” “Too much of a good thing,” and more). I wasn’t sure if A History of Britain was going to be very good, since some of the online reviews said that the first several disks were really dull, but the first set of episodes were quite good. Lots of intrigue… although the music can be too much sometimes.

So, for all you who have visited London, is there anything you would suggest we see? Delightful places that might otherwise be missed?

And for those who have not seen London, is there any place that you’ve always wanted to visit?

We’re looking for ideas for the trip, so please leave us some comments!

Chris

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Entree

Choice of

Grilled Fresh Salmon Fillet with Dill Butter & Lemon Wedge

Shish Taouk - a slightly Middle Eastern dish - chicken breast pieces marinated in yogurt and spices, grilled as kebobs, and served with a creamy hummus dip
[This was Chris’ request and is a special recipe to be adapted from a dish in a restaurant that he really liked in Madison, WI]

Pork Medallions wrapped in Bacon with Jalapeno Butter

Grilled Portobello Mushroom Stuffed with summer vegetables and St. Andree’s Cheese

[St. Andree’s Cheese is a mild, soft cheese that is kind of like camembert or brie but not nearly as fatty. This dish can be made without the cheese for a vegan entree]

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First off, I’m really pleased that many of the RSVP cards have come in. Not only do they tell us the great news that you’re coming to our wedding… yay! …. but also it really helps us get the right numbers for meals to the caterer.

This is especially important because our venue is a historic site and not a regular restaurant. So whatever numbers I give the caterer, that is the number of meals for each type she brings to grill at our site. If the real numbers end up being very different (lots and lots of people suddenly want pork medallions), that would be somewhat problematic.

So please give some thought of what you want, and if you want to change your mind (after reading the actual menu that I just posted), please tell us as soon as you know. If you wait until the day of, it will be much more difficult. We want everyone to end up with the entree they would like eat, but we can only do that with everyone’s coordination.

:)

~ Fei Li