boloboh's Xanga

Yay for myelofibrosis patients!

Sat, 19 Nov 2011 03:30:53 GMT

A compound I've been working on received FDA approval this week. The imaging data was one of the primary endpoints. Super excited that my first experience as a project manager came out to be a huge success. /pat self on back.

Cooking with Boloboh: Pad Thai

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:45:02 GMT

Boloboh Style Pad Thai

Pad thai is so delicious. I have such fond memories of getting crispy chicken pad thai from Rod Dee in the Fenway (RIP). Unfortunately, Mike does not like Thai food, so it is fairly infrequent I get to go to one of the tasty Thai places in Arlington Center. I came up with this recipe one night when I was too cheap to get take-out but really wanted peanuty noodle goodness. Shockingly, Mike actually likes my version.

Ingredients and Where to Buy
Wide Rice Vermicelli: You can find the skinny version in almost any supermarket with an Asian foods section, but I have found the wide versions a harder find. Whole Foods in Fresh Pond, but sells out frequently. H-mart and Hong Kong Supermarket carry this in abundance.
Soy Vay Island Teriyaki: I have only found at Whole Foods. Trader Joe's has their own label (and $1 cheaper than WF), but the quality has not yet been tested.
Crunchy Peanut Butter (or Creamy with fresh chopped peanuts): Any grocery store, also convenience stores and gas stations.
Sugar Snap Peas fresh provides a nice crunch to this dish, but frozen is cheaper and just as tasty
Bean Sprouts (optional): fresh only
Chicken (optional): white meat, cut into bite size cubes
Chopped peanuts (optional)

Prepare the Noodles. The rice noodles will need 10-15 minutes to soak in boiling hot water. I start this first while preparing the rest of the dish. I'll also heat up the sugar snap peas in the same boil and refresh the hot water as it cools down.
Heat up the sauce. Heat 1/2 cup of Soy Vay Island Teriaki with 1 tablespoon of peanut butter in a medium sautee pan. This should cover 2 servings of noodle. I have found the sauce varies from batch to batch - add peanut butter to taste if too sour. If adding chicken, stir fry the chicken in the sauce.
Stir Fry it up. Add the noodles and sauce to a sautee pan. Be sure to really drain the noodles, too much water will water down your sauce. Combine until sauce coats all the noodles. If not enough to coat, add Soy Vay as needed. Cook until heated through.
Garnish and eat. Garnish with optional bean sprout and chopped peanuts. Yum yum!!

Excellent appetizer dish are pot stickers, but that's another post!

Cooking with Boloboh: Chi-Fan

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:27:08 GMT

Shanghainese Chi Fan

Chi fan are basically Chinese rice sandwiches. Kind of like Japanese onigiri, except without the weird raw fish and seaweed wrapping. The absolute best chi fan I have ever eaten was back in 1996 at a Shanghainese restaurant in Markham Place, Toronto. The idea is pretty simple, so I decided to replicate it for my home kitchen.

Ingredients and Where to Buy
Glutinous (sticky) rice: Whole Foods in Fresh Pond definitely sells this, but you can also find it in a Shaws or Stop N Shop where they have a larger Asian section of groceries
Fried Crullers ('you tiao'): I got mine at Hong Kong Supermarket (once known as Super88) in the refridgerator section. Decent quality.
Preserved (pickled) vegetables: You could make your own, but H-mart has a fabulous selection of pickled vegetables.
Dry Preserved Pork String: I got a huge box of this from H-mart, but if you want a smaller supply, Hong Kong Supermarket sells it in smaller tubs.

Cook the rice. I prefer a rice cooker, but follow the packaging for stove-top instruction. I typically like a 1 cup of rice to 1.25 cup water ratio, then adding water as the rice dries out, to get the right consistency. But if you're lazy, add all the water at the beginning. Let the rice cool to the touch.
Lay the foundantion. Take a large piece of cellophane wrap and lay it down. On the cellophane, spread out rice until you have a 6 inch x 3 inch squarish layer, approximately 0.5 inch thick.
Fill it up! Put a 5 inch double cruller (I made the mistake of dividing my cruller in half lengthwise, don't do this!) onto the rice (shorten cruller as necessary). Along or on top of the cruller, put some pickled vegetable and pork string.
Wrap and twist. Using the cellophane, wrap the rice around the cruller filling into a burrito looking thing. Twist the ends to close.

Let it cool. Best if cooled and reheated slightly in the microwave. Yum yum.

This pic totally stolen off the interweb:

Konnichiwa Japan!

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:40:29 GMT

Vacation time has been approved and the Japan trip has been booked for April!!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Boccefest 2009

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:09:26 GMT

It was that time of year again! Boccefest 2009!!! After a solid year of not practicing, ArrivéBocce! managed our best tournament record ever! (mainly due to our awesome shirts, yup yup)

Mike and I started off with a point by point game against the Bocce Bikers. Sadly, we had a rough round where we gave up 4 points, and after that we just couldn't recover. Honestly, I think this was a good strategy because we then rocked the "Loser's Bracket" for four games straight, taking down Crab Balls, Drunken Debocchery, and Mingo Tossers (and one more but I'm not sure their name - suffice it to say it is some witty wordplay on bocce, pallinos or balls). We've never played more than 4 games in a row so by our 6th game against Marebocce Band I was pretty tired and the dessert table was singing my name. I had to get me some Butterfinger trifle!

The weather was cooperative, though a little humid. There was a misting station this year, 10 full sized lanes, along with the catered BBQ lunch (still my fave!), beer station and more tents than ever. Kudos to Aimee for the registration process - this year each team got their pictures taken and put up on the team board. We didn't go to the beach (/sadface) but will make it up with a trip to San Diego in October.

So our lifetime record is now 8-6, which has put us #9 in the standings. GO GO TOP TEN!!!

Thanks Dad for the support

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:04:16 GMT

Movin on up

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:49:00 GMT

I got a promotion. Way ahead of schedule but I'll take it. Toot Toot.

Craigie On Main

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:40:04 GMT

Marie, Ilka and I had dinner at Craigie On Main to celebrate Marie's recent new job acquisition and my promotion (comon Ilka get on board with the rest of us). It was a decent affair though rather pricey, but all in all a good time. What really made the place stand out is what happened afterwards. We reserved our table through Opentable.com. I've used the site many times before and never really payed attention to the survey they send you afterwards. Marie had made the reservation so she put in rather lengthy comments regarding the disapointment over the different menu between bar and dining room and the inadequacy of the veal. I'm not sure if they paid attention to us due to the amount of money we spent that night (those damn drinks add up!) or her comments, but the owner actually wrote back and told her to come back with a printout of the email and we would get a complimentary entree!

I'm filling out those surveys a little more carefully from now on...

Doctor Visit Smalltalk

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:27:25 GMT

I was at my doctor's office the other day for my usual yearly check up when I noticed she had two covers of Entertainment Weekly and one of the Improper Bostonian framed on her wall. All three featured Office ditz girl, Kelly Kapoor. I thought to myself, huh, either this woman is a obsessive fan or they are related. I eyed my doctor closely as she rambled through her usual questions ("How much coffee do you drink a day? Do you smoke? Do you drink?"). The resemblance was surely there. It could be. Maybe. I was about to ask when she quickly gave me a paper smock to change into and ushered me into an examination room. The moment was lost to blood draws and ahem, other specimen withdrawals. But then, as always, the subject turned to kids and I hate having that conversation with her because she gets onto her soapbox about how family is so important and no one will take care of you when you're old except your children when suddenly she started talking about how her son is in a MBA program now and her daughter lives in LA and is a head writer for a tv show.

"Have you ever heard of it? The Office? She is the head writer and stars on the show too."

I was like holy shit really? And while she went on and on about how great it is that she has two kids who she knows will take care of her in her old age, I kept thinking "I need to call Mike and tell him this one" (and also I was freezing - the AC was on high and I was still only in a paper smock!). At work I kept wanting to tell people but most of my team doesn't watch the Office, so the story was lost on them. So I guess I'll just settle with blogging about it to internetspace.

Lazypalooza Take 2

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:02:46 GMT

Two weekends ago my flight to Lazypalooza was cancelled. That sucked. Huggles and Lazy insisted I come down for the Moore's housewarming party this past weekend instead.. While there, we hung out with the usual Maryland crowd, ate some tasty hamburgers and played a couple of rounds of RoboRalley. I won one, for once, and I never fell off the board. Afterwards Mike and I headed over to the Cubbages for a Dominion tutorial and a game of Tomb.

Tomb was an interesting game. It involved party making, creature killing and loot finding. I didn't fare too well, but at least I had some points (ahem, Cory).

On Sunday before heading back we headed to DC to see a few exhibits at the Smithsonian. I had never gone into the Museum of American History before, and after leafing through the map, I wanted to see more. Unfortunately we were tight on time.

But at least I got to pose with Julia. :)