How to Win Friends and Influence Others (with just 3 ingredients!)

I went to UCSD. For the most part I enjoyed it, but I sure did get myself into stressful situations! So when times got tough, I'd run to my dear Trader Joe's arms for comfort.

<3

And he taught me a lot. He taught me that the best thing to do during the hard times is to surround yourself with what you love and share it with friends. For me, it's always been yummy food. And that I did.

I've cooked meals small and large throughout college, from comfort food to vegan fare. Simply inviting people over to eat has been a great way for me to get to know new acquaintances, celebrate with close friends, and even attract the love of my life.

Recently, I was asked to cater an event for a student organization I used to lead  and needed to come up with a semi-healthy dessert on the fly. So, for old time's sake, I headed over to my trusty friend Trader Joe's for some inspiration. I came up with what I thought was a simple, no-fuss dish; surprisingly, I received many requests for the recipe, introducing me to new friendships and the opportunity to spread what I love to others!

So, like the popular self-help book, you too can win friends and influence others with just 3 ingredients from Trader Joe's.

Vanilla Berry Crumble

Ingredients:
- 1 package Trader Joe's Ultimate Vanilla Wafers
- 1 tub (1 lb.) Trader Joe's Organic Vanilla Yogurt
- 1 package frozen Trader Joe's Fancy Berry Medley (store in refrigerator overnight or thaw for 30 minutes before preparing)

Stir together thawed berries and yogurt in a medium or large bowl. (I did this ahead of time and stored it in that container on the right because I used the same mixture for a Thanksgiving dessert)

Place vanilla wafers in a single layer on the bottom of an 8x8 square dish

The Thanksgiving Episode

Happy Thanksgiving weekend! I am thankful for always having wonderful friends and family to cook for.
I am having a delicious holiday and I hope you are too! Here are three tidbits from my Thanksgiving, including tips and recipes. Enjoy! 

[1] Cook an awesome turkey

As my rite of passage into the grown-up world, I was in charge of the turkey. 

So far, turkey successes in my family have involved either A) deep frying in peanut oil (take caution and ask for advice before you try this!) or B) brining and roasting.

I did option B yesterday. All modesty aside, it was one of the best turkeys I've ever tried. Juicy and infused with comforting aromatics! Basically, I followed almost everything Emeril told me to. Except I put my plastic trash bag of brine and turkey into another trash bag, and into a cooler full of ice. This was much easier logistically, and saved valuable refrigerator space. Find the recipe I used here!

[2] Be a thoughtful host, both for yourself and guests! 

My mom had the brilliant idea of assigning platters for each dish the night before Thanksgiving. This was to avoid scrambling and ransacking cupboards and garage cabinets 15 minutes before dinner is served, looking for that darn pie stand and gravy boat that you haven't seen since last year. This is especially important if you're hosting a potluck, because adding bustling guests in your kitchen to the equation causes high levels of stress. Also, be sure to factor in time to shower and pretty yourself up. No matter how pretty your tablescape is, you will not feel happy entertaining guests looking like a hot mess. 

Meanwhile, be prepared the array of guests with varying arrival times, ranging from those that show up early to help out, to those that came late -- causing uneasy guests and growling tummies. Be sure to have simple appetizers and snacks that won't ruin the look of your Thanksgiving spread if guests pick off of it. I did a cheese tray this year, and it was really easy to replenish the crackers throughout the night. 

The key to a good cheese tray is to mix up textures and flavors. I follow my own formula: a semi-soft mild cheese (left: fontina), a deep-flavored cheese (middle: aged cheddar with whiskey), and a bleu cheese for color (right). It's fun to change it up and try new cheeses for every occasion. I recommend buying cheese at Fresh & Easy because they have smaller portions (and this week they had a buy 3, get 10% off deal!) so you can have all the fancy fun of serving a cheese tray without breaking the bank. I used water crackers and rosemary cracks, garnished with berries and grapes leftover from other recipes, and candied walnuts (walnuts sauteed with butter and brown sugar). Remember that design always looks good in odd numbers (3 cheese, 3 bunches of grapes, etc.), and to cluster and sprinkle the walnuts free-hand for a natural, autumn look. 

[3] Be creative with your leftovers

Whether you are feeding ravenous Black Friday shoppers, or decided to stay in your PJs all day, here are some easy ideas to serve leftovers while changing up the fridge-to-microwave routine. 

Mashed Potato Stuffing Fritters

Ingredients:

- 2 cups mashed potatoes

- 3/4 cup stuffing
- 1 tablespoon of gravy

- 2 teaspoons of leftover herbs (I used parsley from the Turkey garnish) 

- 2-3 plain crackers (perhaps from your cheese tray), crushed (you can also substitute 3 tbsp of bread crumbs) 

- 1 egg

- Freshly ground pepper to taste

- light oil

Instructions

- Heat 4-5 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet on medium high heat
- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
- Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup sized scoops into the pan, and flatten a bit with a spatula. 

- Cook evenly until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes each side.  
- Serve alone, or drizzle with gravy for your bad self! ;)

Grilled Turkey & Cheese Tray Sandwiches (left)

Create an hearty, upscale grilled cheese with leftover Turkey, cranberry sauce, and a semi-soft mild cheese (I used fontina)! This was the first thing I thought of (and ate) this morning.

Leftover Dessert CrepesThis is a great option if you have overnight guests hungry for brunch and you want to keep up your reputation of creating beautiful dishes. Find your favorite sweet crepe recipe, and fill with any leftover dessert/ingredients!

Top: Pumpkin Pie crepes (crust included!)
Bottom: berry + vanilla yogurt cream (leftover from making fruit tarts. Find the berry-yogurt mixture here, and the tart recipe here)

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I wish you all many blessings to be thankful for all year long. Enjoy the rest of your Thanksgiving weekend!

With love,

Tiffany R.

Dining at Tiffany's

Unprocessed: Sweet Potato Rosemary Sauce recipe (vegan!)

I really must stop procrastinating, but I created this recipe for my pledge to October #unprocessed 2011 with Eating Rules! Or maybe I'm just doing this late to encourage everyone to choose unprocessed foods beyond October! :) 

Pasta w/ Sweet Potato Rosemary Sauce 

A cozy, comforting meal to ring in the autumn weather and use in-season produce! 

INGREDIENTS

- 2 Sweet potatoes (washed)
- 2 tsp finely chopped rosemary

- 1/4 cup coconut milk (your new, vegan best friend! refrigerate it in an airtight container to use as a milk substitute for other sauces) 1 tbsp of olive oil 

- 1/4 cup water

- dash of cinnamon

- dash of coriander (can also use cumin or any spicy crushed herb like curry powder) 

- dash of cayenne pepper

- garlic salt (or a 1/2 a clove of finely minced and sauteed garlic. prep the garlic beforehand!)

salt & pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

i. Boil water if you're making pasta! 

1. Poke sweet potatoes with a fork 4-5 times to vent. Place sweet potatoes on top of a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate (place a paper towel on top as well if you're paranoid of potato explosions).

2. Microwave for 5 minutes. Flip potatoes over (be careful, they're hot!), and microwave for another 5 minutes.

3. Remove from microwave. Cut a slit in each potato, scoop out the sweet potato (discard the skin). 

4. Use a blender or food processor to mix together the sweet potato and coconut milk/water. Alternate to ensure that the mixture is moist enough to blend. Add olive oil whenever you feel like it (or omit it, I don't know if this really made a difference)

5. Once you've blended about half of it, add rosemary gradually (Also, add sauteed garlic now if you're using it). Add more water or coconut milk if the mixture becomes too dry. 

6. Blend until the mixture is completely smooth (and beautifully glistening! okay, maybe that's what the olive oil is for!) 

7. Transfer to a small saucepan and heat on medium. Stir in spices gradually (including garlic salt if you didn't use sauteed garlic). Stir for about 5 minutes or until you feel the flavors are well-incorporated.

8. Salt and pepper to taste and mix with pasta. 

I would recommend whole wheat fusilli, or any other pasta that grabs on to sauce well! Also, the rosemary is raw, which can be a little bitter, so make sure to blend the mixture until the rosemary only appears as little, green specks. Enjoy!

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With love,

Tiffany

Dining at Tiffany's

Phood and Filanthropy!

As an advocate of good food and philanthropy, I love this!

For the month of August, several food trucks and distinguished restaurants are donating a dollar to the Food 4 Kids Backpack program if you order one of their 'Food 4 Kids' dishes!

Notable selections are:
- Any lunch pizza from Cucina Urbana
- Cap'n Crunch Crab Cakes from the Two For the Road food truck
- Chocolate Pot Du Creme from Whisk n'ladle

Personally, I will participate by getting a 6-pack from Corner Cupcakes! Their food truck once had a stop outside of my apartment. The past tense of that last sentence makes me sad and I've been craving their delicious (and practically life-changing) cupcakes ever since they drove away. It was like having my very own college version of an ice cream truck come to the neighborhood every week!  Sprinkles (also participating with their Cinnamon Sugar flavor) moving in nearby was merely a band-aid solution for my loss, but I've seriously been thinking about Corner Cupcakes for months. So, I will finally venture out to find their truck in San Diego -- for the children (Greek reference, anyone?)!

Speaking of the children, here is an excerpt from the SD Food Bank website:

"Of the 3.1 million residents in San Diego County over 483,000 people live at or near the federal poverty level and face the threat of hunger. 273,000 are children. Hunger or "food insecurity" means households face times when they do not know if they will have enough food, or do not know how they will get their next meal."

Whenever we think of hunger and poverty, there is a tendency to conjure images of poor, developing countries in Africa, Latin America, or Asia. But the reality is that there are people in our local communities that suffer from hunger everyday, sometimes having to choose between paying for bills over food for their families. Some children in districts around San Diego come to school on Monday having eaten little to nothing since their school-subsidized lunch on Friday.

The Food 4 Kids Backpack program works with schools around the district to provide children suffering from hunger issues with a bag of food to discretely tuck into their backpacks for the weekend, with enough to last until they return to school.

In a country of supposed abundance, I think it's such an injustice for anyone to go hungry, so I fully support this cause!

So, help yourself to some delicious food in San Diego to help feed hungry children in your community.
For more info and a list of participating food vendors, visit:  http://sandiegofoodbank.org/events/DollarADish/.
Let me know if you participate!


With love,
Tiffany
Tidbits at Tiffany's

Salvaging Tomatoes

Stop!! Don't you dare throw out those shriveling tomatoes! Sure they're not quite fresh enough to make a respectable tomato sauce or be the star of your salad, but that doesn't mean they don't deserve a little love.

So here's a little culinary tidbit from my evening.. A recipe for a simple side or vegetarian dish to give your tomatoes their last hurrah.

Tomato Egg Saute 

Ingredients (1 serving):

+ 1 tsp light oil 

+ 1 clove of garlic (or 1 tsp garlic powder) crushed and roughly chopped

+ 3/4 to 1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half (or into 1 inch chunks if you're using larger tomatoes)

+ 1 egg 

+ salt & pepper to taste 

Directions:

1. Turn on stove to medium heat and add oil. Saute the garlic until light brown. (Or in my case, add the garlic powder into the oil as it heats.)

2. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt to draw out the water. Saute until very soft and dissolved. 

3. (Forgot to take a photo) Crack egg directly into pan and stir until completely cooked. Add salt & pepper as needed. 

*Tidbit: Contrary to popular belief, it's much neater to crack an egg on a flat surface as opposed to an edge, like the side of a bowl. A paper towel on your counter, or a plate works perfectly. This reduces runny raw egg everywhere and salmonella risk (eek.)!

4. Serve as a side dish for a simple meat or fish entree, or simply over rice for a delicious vegetarian meal! 

Enjoy and let me know how it goes! 

Do you have any tomato-salvaging ideas? Share below!

With love, 

Tiffany

Tidbits at Tiffany's

Tiffany's Résumé Guide!

I've learned some helpful tidbits from participating in several selection/hiring committees (and securing a pretty sweet job, woohoo!), so I hope you'll enjoy this series I'm creating for my anyone seeking a new career opportunity! 

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Your Résumé: 

How to make your résumé shine! 

+ Create it, don't just write it: 

- Start outlining your experience into the usual categories (Objective, Skills/Qualifications, Work Experience, Additional Experience, etc.), but don't stop there. Be sure to spend a significant amount of time on formatting as this is the first thing the reader will notice. There are plenty of formatting templates online, so choose one that appeals to you and follow it!  

- Alternate your use of bold, underline, bullets, and spacing to make it look clean & organized

- Formatting a résumé is similar to designing a magazine article or a marketing flyer, which are created with the reader in mind. It should be aesthetically pleasing and easy to follow. 

* Many of you are claiming "Proficiency in Microsoft Suite" as a skill, so this is a great time to showcase your advanced word processing abilities!

+ Watch your language, kiddo! 

- ALWAYS write in third person (do NOT use: I, you, we, my, me, etc.). This keeps it nice and professional. Your personality, (though lovely, I'm sure) should not make an entrance until your cover letter and interview.  

- Be as clear and concise as possible, keeping each bullet to one sentence. You'll have an opportunity to elaborate about your awesome self during your interview and in your cover letter 

- Write in the correct tense! Use past tense when writing about former positions and present for current positions.

- Be sure to have your favorite grammar-fiend (yes, this includes me) read over your résumé to ensure perfection!

+ Make it count!

- Quantify your accomplishments. Saying that you "Raised $1,000 in one week" is much more impressive than "Served on a fundraising committee." Other numbers to include are budgets you've managed, members you've led, phone numbers you've scored (lol jk), etc. In general, content in your  résumé should not mirror the job description. It should list your accomplishments as opposed to your required duties. 

- Always use specific examples of your work. For example, If you were an assistant, talk about the specific projects and tasks you assigned. Almost everyone these days has all those "clerical" and "organizational" skills that are listed on résumé-building guides, so describe yours to stand out. 
- *If you are entry-level/ a student, !!!your résumé should NOT exceed 1 page!!!, so make every word count! 

+ Back it up (in two ways)!

- Each of the skills you list MUST be proven by your experience descriptions. For example, if you claim that you are detail-oriented, be sure to include any tasks and projects that require meticulousness (designing flyers, event planning, etc.). If you claim leadership skills, make sure to list and/or describe positions you've held. 

- Save your résumé in several locations -- especially accessible online. You never know when you'll need it! 

+ Be a sweetheart

- Employers probably read more résumés than they'd prefer, so try to make this a pleasant experience for them. Spare their time by omitting any fluff or extra words. 

- Unless otherwise specified, convert to PDF to ensure that your formatting stays consistent and readable. (Free PDF converter here!  http://www.primopdf.com/index.aspx)

- Tailor your résumé to the employer. 

>> If you're strapped for time, at least tailor your Objective and the File Name. 

Objective: "To apply __________ skills to serve as a *desired position* with *company*" or something like that. I always save my résumés as Tiffany N Rivera - Resume - *Company*.pdf. I like to think it makes them feel special and makes them subconsciously associate my name with their company. :P 

>> If you have a lot of time on your hands,  it would be in your best interest to make sure that every line on your resume is related in some way to the job description or organization. Have the job description handy when creating your résumé. 

*Employers use résumés to find applicants with the qualifications that fit the position. Your hobbies/athletic abilities/interests do not belong in your résumé. These will come in handy later when you're trying to fit in with your new colleagues or impress your boss for a promotion! 

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I hope you found my first post useful! Feel free to email me your résumé to review after following my guide and I'll gladly provide my input. Please comment below with any questions, additional tips, or general salutations! I'm sure you will all find a position that's right for you! :) 

With love,

Tiffany

Tidbits at Tiffany's

PS: Here a link to my résumé (PDF  + .docx if you'd like to see it. Please email me with any constructive critiques!