More delish recipes from Bon Appetite. The recipe just looked good so I made it. I was trying to make it look as close to the picture in the magazine but failed but learned a valuable lesson. I tend to cut corners on some steps if I don't think they are necessary. You make the soup and then you add COOKED rice noodles to the broth and veggies while they're hot. I figured why dirty another pot. I'll just add the uncooked noodles to the hot soup and they will cook in the soup. Let me tell you, don't do this. Especially with rice noodles. For the first 5 minutes I had a beautiful soup that looked like the cover on Bon Appetite. Then I had a pot of noodle stew. Those damn noodles soaked up ALL THE BROTH in the process of cooking themselves. Sure the soup was edible but I was just eating soggy flavored noodles instead of slurping noodles from spicy broth. Seems like splitting hairs but I won't ever make that same mistake again and hopefully my experience will prevent you from learning the hard way the tricky ways of Asian rice noodles. I bet this was explained on the package but I have yet to teach myself Mandarin or whatever those Asian character on the package are telling me. The bright side of this dish is that it is yet another way I can transport my favorite Chili Garlic paste into my body. Stir in whatever spicy condiment you like but I can't get enough of the flavorful paste, slather it on whatever I can, just as long as I can get it into my body without eating it by the spoonful. I'm pretty sure a fire belly wouldn't feel too hot.


Spicy Pork and Mustard Greens Asian Soup
INGREDIENTS

• ½ pound ground pork
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
• ¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 bunch mustard greens, torn (about 4 cups)
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
• 8 oz. wide rice noodles

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

• Calories (kcal) 370
• Fat (g) 16
• Saturated Fat (g) 5
• Cholesterol (mg) 45
• Carbohydrates (g) 36
• Dietary Fiber (g) 3
• Total Sugars (g) 3
• Protein (g) 19
• Sodium (mg) 1370

ALSO TRY IT WITH:

• Beet greens, kale, or turnip greens
  

INSTRUCTIONS

• Mix pork, garlic, ginger, Sichuan peppercorns, red pepper flakes, and cumin in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add pork mixture; season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring and breaking up with a spoon, until browned and cooked through, 8–10 minutes.
  
• Add broth and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until flavors meld, 8–10 minutes. Add mustard greens, scallions, soy sauce, and fish sauce and cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender, 5–8 minutes; season with salt and black pepper.
  
• Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions; drain.
  
• Divide noodles among bowls and ladle soup over.
  

** This is another post I found kicking around the unpublished archives. For whatever reason I delayed posting it because I thought I might be sharing too many feelings and I avoid doing that, according to my sisters I don't talk about enough "deep stuff" in my life.  Well now that I look back on it I find it a bit amusing, I was having a real spiritual connection Miley Cyrus and felt compelled to share. *** 4/8/17

If you've met any of us Sochas, you know we have a dramatic flair. My sister Heather has this trait and often thinks that her life parallels other famous people. She was going through a Julia Child phase, read her biography and soon was telling us that her and Julia had a lot of similarities, almost parallel lives. She also made a similar statement after watching numerous episodes of New Girl and thought that her and Jess were very similar. The general response was "HEATHER! Stop pretending that you're life is like that of people in TV Shows! It's crazy, it's TV!" or something similar to that, I can't remember the exact words but it was to that effect. I think I have caught some of Heather's crazy fever. Let me further explain.

I have put a lot of miles on my car this fall driving between VT and PA and then numerous trips between PA and NC. I needed some jams to get me through the long drive. I had downloaded a couple of albums and didn't get into them for a bit. Usually listening to them on repeat for 7 hours will change my mind and soon I become obsessed with an album. This was the case with my trip home from VT during the holiday season.  Heather and *He who shall not be named, drove up to VT all the way from NC. It's a 14 hour trip, they are troopers. As Heather gets into the driver seat she sets up her tunes for the trip and starts Miley Cyrus's newest album and someone started to groan that he's on vacation. In true Heather fashion she respond "Well this is what we are listening to, if you don't like it go on vacation somewhere else". After hearing this it reminded me that I had the newest Miley Cyrus album but had yet to listen to it. If you haven't already guessed, it's all I listened to for 7 hours coming back from Vermont. Epic. I now think I'm living a parallel life with Miley Cyrus. Let me tell you why...

I know there are a lot of Miley haters out there. I honestly feel bad for the girl. She's a young 21 girl who was going to marry and super hot guy that she was in love with for a period of time. After listening to her album and hearing about her heartache (She spells it out pretty clearly in her lyrics) I feel like that was my life when I was 21. The only difference is that I'm not a super star. I don't have people swarming me, watching my every move and blowing it up in tabloids. Broken hearts can cause you to do CRAZY THINGS. This pretty girl has chopped off all her hair, taken to booze and weed and wearing outlandish outfits. Can you blame her? Her life got flipped upside down. There was a time when I was pretty naive and foolish. I had a high school sweetheart that I thought I was going to marry. Imagine my distress when we broke up. All I can say is thank goodness I had just turned 21. This opened up the world of drinking to me which was VERY NEW. I had lots of adventures. I went a little wild. I can't tell all the stories for fear my parents might read this and have a heart attack. All I can say is it's a miracle something didn't happen to Kat and I. Also thank god Katrina was my rock during this drinking rampage that went on for a couple of years (who needs therapy? A six pack of Budlight costs less than $10) One of my favorite things to do was dance like a maniac. Fortunately it only took me 3 beers to get drunk, so I would dance out my heart ache at Metronome's 80's Night with my trusty side kick Katrina. She made sure I didn't leave with any of the scum bags at the bar, although she did lose me one night but I appeared in Biff's bed safe and sound (for context, Biff is a girl I went to high school with). Long story...too long to tell. I then upgraded to house parties with drinking games and more silly boys to interact with. In the end I learned a lot, grew up and I had great friends and family to pull me up with I was feeling out of touch with reality. I think Miley will turn things around but there's no harm in running wild for a bit to get over a lame guy. 

*** Three years later we discover what happens to Miley, so goes WILD and then eventually makes her way back to Liam and then they live happily ever after. So relatable, right? I'm just glad there was a happy ending somewhere.***

I will warn you that this post may contain some gore... (Katrina this notice is mainly for your delicate stomach)

This is a long saga. You have been warned...

It's been pretty quiet on here since I got a job... Let me tell you about the Adventures of Ashley. I had a dramatic week right before I moved down to NC. Anyone who has been broke beyond belief can feel my pain. I have been unemployed for what feels like forever. I have been living off of pricy student loan money (I promised my first child to Wells Fargo in exchange for student loans) and have been eeking by after school ended by babysitting and being as cheap as possible.  Everytime I thought I was about to run out of money and have to do the dreaded task of calling home for help an opportunity presented itself for me to make some much needed mula. I had planned things perfectly to conincide with the start of my first job and budgeted with out any wiggle room (I couldn't really find any wiggle room) I had just a few weeks left until my first paycheck would grace my bank account, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, I could almost relax. BUT NO! Disaster seems to strike when it's the least convientent time. HEre is my tale of woe. 

I'm not sure if I'm the only person who does this but when my Tire Pressure Sensor goes off I usually ignore it and hope it's just the cold weather affecting the uber sensitive sensor. If that annoying light is still on after a couple of days I'll look at the tires and usually stick the air hose on them until the light goes off. Being the frugal Socha that I am, I refuse to pay for air and always go to Mobil gas stations where air is free (WHY PAY FOR AIR?) But Mobil isn't really a popular gas station in the PA area. So if you haven't guessed already my light went off on a Monday. By Tuesday night it was still on so I looked at all the tires but they "looked" fine to me, which was good enough. Thursday night I was babysitting in the city and was let go early due to the impending winter blizzard that was going to hit Philadelphia. The family offered to let me stay the night but I said, like a true Vermonter " A couple of inches of snow? Pshhhh, I can drive in just about anything, I will be fine!" This is where I will admit I should have listened to my Dad and Anthony and put my snowtires on while I was home for Christmas but thought I wouldn't need them, it was only a couple of inches of snow... I"M A ROAD WARRIOR (or an ice warrior depending on the precipitation) Driving home on summer tires in 3-5 inches of snow was like driving on butter. Plus everyone around me had no clue how to drive in the snow so the interstate was a mess. People were fish tailing, cars were off the roads, you couldn't even see the lanes. It was every man for himself. Either people were flying like the roads were dry or people were going 10 mph. It was a white knuckle drive and I was relieved to get home. I almost thought I was going to get stuck a couple of times. 

The next morning is when things started to go downhill fast... I woke up and realized I needed to get to the bank ASAP to deposit some funds before my car payment was due. This happened to be the morning it was 5 degrees outside, so I bundled up and headed out into the snowy tundra. I must have picked the WORST spot in the parking lot. The plow truck dumped all the snow right next to my car. I couldn't even open my door. Luckily I have a compact shovel in the trunk for emergency purposes. So I had to sweep off my car and shovel a path to get into it. Underneath my car was a sheet of ice. Luckily there was someone nice in the parking lot who helped push me out after several attempts to free myself from the parking space.  As I head up the hill to the bank I am sliding all over the place, I know I just need to keep the momentum going until I get to the top of the hill but I am twarted, there is a big ole tractor trailer stuck at the top of the hill. WHY ME!?!?!?! So I turn around, park the car and walk 1/2 mile to the bank and back. By the time I get home my legs are burning from cold. 

I spent the rest of the day bundled up in the house but had to leave to babysit for one of my favorite families. I trudged into the city and had to find street parking which was a mess because the all the side streets were sloppy, I don't know how they would fit a plow through most of the one ways. I eventually found a spot that I wouldn't get stuck trying to get in or out and hoped out into the bitter cold. My tire pressure sensor was still on and this is when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my rear driver side tire was basically flat. CRAPOLA! I would have to go to the gas station and fix this after babysitting and hope that it was still open. As I powerwalk against the bitter breeze I arrive at my destination only to discover that there was a miscommunication. I wasn't needed for babysitting afterall. I was happy to go home but I still had to deal with my tire. So I power walked BACK to my car and prayed that i would make it to the Sunoco. It's my worst nightmare to change a flat tire in the bitter cold. I was living the nightmare. 

As I pull up to the gas station there is someone already using the airpump. SCORE! Maybe I can jump on after them and not have to pay for air! WRONG! This guy must have been reading my mind, once he was done filling his tires he dilly dallyed for a bit and then left. I ran after the hose and the second I put it up to my tire the meter ran out. Just my luck. I grabbed my handful of change only to discover I needed 4 quarters for the meter. I had 3 quarters and a TON of dimes. So I had to go into the station to get change. I filled my tire and practically got frost burn from holding the snowy/ice metal air pump in the below zero air. Then I went home to tell Nate my tell of despair.

The my horror the next day my tire was flat again. Being the nice guy that he is, Nate helped me to pump up my dead tire and checked all the other tires. One of the other tires was a bit low but it seemed to be holding air so I wasn't concerned and made an appointment to have the flat tire patched. The car shop informed me that I couldn't patch the tire because I drove around too long on the flat. So I had to buy a new tire, rubber isn't cheap. Luckily I could squeeze this into the tight budget. With my reparied tire I felt much relief. I went to work and came home. 2 days later as I was leaving for my last babysitting jobs and my final payday I noticed the tire pressure sensor went off. I wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. I stopped immediatly and pulled out Nate's airpump that he so kindly loaned to me. I popped it on the tirestem but something seemed off. The seal wasn't good, I tried to take the hose off to readjust and WHOOOOSH! I snapped something off the tire valve (This happened to me once before) I quickly put the cap on before all the air escaped. 

This is where I proceeded to have a mini meltdown. I called the family I was suppose to babysit for and cancled. Luckily they were understanding. I needed a plan. I was suppose to leave for NC in 3 days, I had no money for another repair and I still needed to account for gas money for the first 3 weeks of work where I would be driving 140miles per day. I had to make the call I had been avoiding for months. I called home. The second I heard Mom's familiar voice on the phone I started blubbering incoherntly " mmmwekjlasdjirje Tire Pressurel akjeoiruaoeiwj Wheel klajdo;iureoi NO MONEYl kja;ejrioa I CAN'T kaldjfoaieu" I'm sure Mom must have been alarmed but she couldn't decifer what I was trying to say. Luckily I was able to eek out a couple of words and she calmed me down and told me to call Dad. I thought I had it all together but the second I hear the familir voice of Dad it was the same things all over again "mmmwekjlasdjirje Tire Pressurel akjeoiruaoeiwj Wheel klajdo;iureoi NO MONEYl kja;ejrioa I CAN'T kaldjfoaieu" In true Dad fashion he says very calmly " Ashley, I can't understand you, take a chill pill, what's wrong"  Lucky for me Mom and Dad came to the rescue.

 I just had to get my car to the shop...

I have been blessed with the knowledge of how to change a spare tire. Really everyone should know how to do this but many people have no idea. When I was dating I would always ask my future suitor if he knew how to change a flat. If he didn't that was essentially the kiss of death. C'MON!

I had a ton of junk in the trunk (That's not a reference to my booty, it's a real statement) I dug the spare and jack out of the trunk and proceeded to pump up my car. As I'm rolling around on the pavement some weirdo stop by my car and says "You look like you're a long way from home, do you need any help?" IF I wasn't so hardened by city living I would have been relieved to have some help but I have watched enough episodes of Law & Order SVU to know that this guy could kidnap me and make me into skin puppet/sex slave/dog chow. "NO, I'm fine, I actually live here" and then I proceeded to stumble with the first couple of cranks of the jack and this guys says "Do you even know how use that thing?" In a shrill half cry/scream I say " YES! I JUST NEED TO PUT MY SPARE TIRE ON!" That got rid of him quick. I finally get the car jacked up and get ready to take the lug nuts off. This is when I try to crank them off but lack the strength to do it. Here comes meltdown #2 where I throw myself a pity party. MY CAR IS BROKEN, I'M BROKE, I SCRAPPED MY HANDS, I CAN"T EVEN CHANGE A TIRE, I CAN"T DO ANYTHING BY MYSELF. I stormed up to my apartment and cried and cleaned until Nate got home. He must have know something was up. "Is everything okay?" Yep....Yep....Yep.....In comes the bear hug. NO!!!!!! Meltdown #3. 

Nate pointed out the silver lining to this whole disaster which was that it happened in my apartment building where I could get help and not on my way to work or in the middle of nowhere. I am fortunate enough to have family and friends to bail me out when I'm in a pinch and Nate showed me surefire way to get the lug nuts off all by myself. 

Now I just need the car to last me until I get my first paycheck (FINGERS CROSSED)

Don't worry Mom and Dad, I'm still alive. I know I have been pretty absent on here but I have tons of future posts on the way. I have been relishing my last few weeks in Philly and soaking up my family over the holiday season in frigid Vermont. I have snapped photos along the way, collected and tried new recipes and countless laughs with friends and family. I was more focused on living in the moment instead of breaking away from all the fun to document it. My memory is impecable sp? (Melissa you totally made the first move!)I will be making my trek down to NC on Sunday morning in preparation for my new job on Monday morning. ::Cross my fingers:: I don't kill anyone or bring home C.Dif to my new roomies (The gracious Heather and Anthony...oh and Stormin Norman) This should be an exciting new adventure. I can't wait for Nathan to join me which will hopefully be soon.  I will leave you with some of my memorable moments from my trip in Vermont.