Fried Rice, Rice Baby: DONE!

Check it out, my fried rice recipe generator is finally done!

Fried Rice, Rice Baby! Part 1 Completed: The Check & List (aka "Checklist") of Ingredients

So it's been a few weeks since I started on my fried rice recipe generator on Python. While I haven't been working on it nonstop or consistently (I took a break in between to learn the basics of Git, play around with Github, and polish my knowledge on the command line), it's something that I've been slowly chipping away at.

 There's a lot of repeats in the code, such as asking the user for input on whether they have meat, veggies, or even the basic rice and eggs for their fried rice, which I'm hoping once I become more knowledgeable in Python I will be able to return to the code and point out ALL the parts that I can pare down, as it becomes quite laborious to scroll through all this code.

 Anywho, here's a screenshot of what Part 1 of Fried Rice, Rice Baby can do! First it's an ingredient check of the essentials (day-old rice, eggs), then an ingredient check of optional ingredients (meat, veggies, "flavor makers" aka garlic/onion/soy sauce).

Why do I ask for these optional ingredients? Because as you will see later on, it affects the order in which things need to be cooked. For example, if you have bacon for the meat, which takes longer to cook and releases a lot of fat, as opposed to shrimp, which cooks fairly quickly and release no fat, you will need to add bacon first above everything else in a Bacon Fried Rice dish as opposed to Shrimp Fried Rice dish.

From initial outline (which you can see in a previous blog post):

To code:

To final output of ingredient check & list (aka "checklist" hahahah)

Completed: Codecademy's Git Track

Yay! Let's Git it!

DONE: Codecademy's Learn the Command Line

Yay! Now, onto Git and the world of GitHub!

LPTHW Ex. 36 Challenge - Fried Rice, Rice Baby! pt. 1

So over a year ago when I decided to apply to Hackbright and first came across the expertise essay portion, the prompt did not yet include the "but please...no recipes!" part. I'm guessing this was later added on because recipes seem to be the easy way out for this part of the application. After all, every recipe is naturally a step-by-step process.

Anyway, I wanted to do a recipe not because it seemed like the easy way out, but because I'm a huge fan of cooking. More often than not when I cook around my friends, I end up spending 15-20min spewing the recipe to them out of excitement (which they probably just pretended to be interested in).

One thing I'm really good at cooking is fried rice. It's one of the first things I learned how to cook when I was [basically] a toddler, and after years of cooking it I can practically do it in my sleep now. I never realized there was a science/formula to it until I tried to explain it to someone. For instance, you have to scramble the egg first separately from everything else, but only 3/4 way there to being fully cooked. But wait, if there's some greasier type of meat you want to use in your fried rice like bacon, you should conserve on your oil and just use bacon oil to cook the eggs, so the order in which the ingredients go in the pan gets all reshuffled again.

Now that I'm tasked in LPTHW with creating my own mini if-else-while-for-loop game, I can now revisit what I never got to submit for my Hackbright application: How to make some fly, fried rice, rice baby! (Note: my final expertise essay was better than a recipe for fried rice, just putting that out there in case you're wondering)

In this Part I, I will outline what needs to be done in plain English.

Let's cook up some fried rice!

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#We are going to assume that you have the essentials: oil, salt, pepper

Ingredient Check:

1. Do you have day-old rice?

    a. Yes -> move to step 2

    b. No -> Go make some rice and come back to this tomorrow! break();

2. Do you have eggs?

    a. Yes -> move to step 3

    b. No -> Go to the grocery store and get some! I recommend Trader Joe's; their eggs are hella cheap!

3. Do you have meat/protein you want to add?

    a. Yes -> All right, things are gonna get beef'd up here! Is the meat on the greasier, drier or moist side (think bacon vs. chicken vs. shrimp)

        1. Greasier/high fat content (bacon/pork belly, ground beef/pork) -> meat.append(1)

        2. Drier/ med-low fat content (chicken, turkey, pork/beef strips, tofu/soy) -> meat.append(2)

        3. Moist (seafood) -> meat.append(3)

    b. No -> Keeping it simple, I like it.

4. Do you have veggies you want to add?

    a. Yes

        1. Keeping it healthy, go you! If it's something you need more than 5-7 min to cook (think: potatoes, squash), prepare beforehand

    b. No

        1. It's ok, veggies are overrated sometimes ;)

5. Additional flavor makers:

    a. green onions

    b. garlic

    c. soy sauce

#note: when we've reached this point, assuming user has bare minimum w/ essential ingredients: rice and eggs.

---------

 #based on given ingredients, append instructions to full recipe print out

Cooking Process

1. Check meat status (skip to 2 if no meat)

meat codes: 1=greasier; 2=drier; 3=moist

if meat[0] == 1:

    a. cook meat so you can use the fat. remove meat.

    b. if lots of grease, pour some out

    c. if not much fat, add a little more oil. careful not to coat too much of the pan

if meat[0] ==2:

    a. append instructions 2-5, 7

if meat[0]==3:

    a. append instructions 1, 4-8

2. Scramble and cook the eggs. Do not fully cook the eggs! Remove eggs and set aside once they are 2/3 way cooked

3. Cook your meat, when it's cooked on the outside, go to step 4

4. Add your day-old rice into the pan, break up the grains if they're sticking together

5. Using any of the flavor makers?

   1. If yes, choose from the below

    a. Using green onion

        1. slice and separate the white & light green portions from the dark green

        2. add in the white & light green parts to the pan and saute

    d. mince the garlic and add to pan. Sautee!

    e. season with salt, pepper, (and dash of soy sauce if using)

   2. if no, skip to step 6

6. Add in your seafood and cook until color/texture has changed indicating it's cooked. move the rice to other side of pan to make room

7. Add egg back in the pan, stir around until cooked

8. Add green parts of the green onion in the pan, stir in with the rest and serve!

New Year's Resolutions for 2017

Too early for this? Nah, I don't think so.

1. Finally buy my Google Pixel phone, in the really really blue. I've been using Matt's cracked iPhone 5 for way too long. The Pokemon Go app on this phone can't even load anymore.
2. Pre-Hackbright goals: 
• Finish Learn Python the Hard Way
• Redo Codecademy's Python track as it's been way too long since I revisited it
• Redo Codecademy's Javascript track
• Complete the "More Python" series in LPTHW when released
• Learn basics of Git
• Complete Codecademy's Git track
• Git tutorial from the PyLadies Meetup
• Complete Codecademy's Command Line track Accomplished 1.22.2017!
3. Vacations to conquer
• Austin food pilgrimage
4. Get something nice for display/use at my parents' new apartment
5. See these DJs:
• Gryffin again
• See Illenium  Crush 2017--thanks boyfriend!
• See Elephante, hopefully for free as I've missed his 3 free shows in 2016 birthday present! thanks boyfriend!
6. Finish all the scarves I've had yarn for for the past few years
7. Skype my parents at least twice a month
8. Try 10 new recipes (see what I've experimented with so far!)
• 5 Min Scallion Fat Noodle: http://ladyandpups.com/2014/09/29/5-min-scallion-fat-noodle/
• Wahlie Kitchen's Sweet & Sour Chicken: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXBN4jFMqDk
• Banana Pancakes
• Creole Salmon
• Roasted Cauliflower (served with hummus!)
• Shanghai Cai Fan
9. Learn how to open a bottle of wine with a bottle opener. I've been relying on friends who can do this in 10s too much - well that was easy thanks to the Boof.
10. Run at least once per week
11. Run a 5k
12. Watch a live comedy show
13. Attend a hackathon
14. Get a new hairstyle/haircut
15. Establish a skincare routine
16. Get a job post-Hackbright in 2017!

HACKBRIGHT BOUND - APRIL 2017!

Words cannot describe how ecstatic and in disbelief I am that I got into Hackbright, merely TWO days after submitting my virtual interview.

Funny thing is, they emailed me the night of Dec. 20th, but my phone had died while I was at a National Sangria Day event at Spark Social SF, celebrating the last night before my workplace closes for the holidays and reuniting with old friends...too busy to even think to check my email until the next morning. I could have been celebrating for one more thing, but I guess this was a sign that this news warrants a separate celebration on its own!

The next morning, in a slight hungover haze, I had to do a double take at my phone screen while on my NX commute to work to make sure I read the Hackbright admissions email correctly. I was speechless for a minute and could only cling to my boyfriend, managing to utter the words, "I...got...in!"

I was trying to hold back tears of joy and shriek in the least conspicuous way from 19th Ave all the way to Bush/Montgomery. Finally I had to resort to binkying (rabbit speak, see GIF below) embarrassingly all over the streets of FiDi after getting off the bus to fully be able to express how I felt.

I still cannot believe that I have finally come to this moment--a moment I've been waiting for since discovering Hackbright back in May 2015. By the time I start the fellowship, it will have been two years since this dream first took hold of me.

AHHHH!! Best holiday gift ever, ever, ever!