Winner of Giveaway!

Thanks all for participating in our Whole Foods Giveaway. Our winner is #36 Mabel!

Mabel said:

Mabel • 3 days ago

I don't usually eat frozen prepared foods. But if I do, I always buy asian brands or from an asian supermarket. A lot cheaper and better packaging! Have you seen some of the japanese ones? frozen Yaki Udon, mashed potato and sweet corn croquettes, red bean buns and meat buns!

Congratulations Mabel! And thanks to everyone else for participating. It was really fun to hear what you all do with your freezer!

As for me, just this past summer I was sort of "forced" to clean our my freezer when I accidentally received 64 pints of ice cream in the mail (no joke!).

It all turned out OK, but it's taken me a while to rebuild inventory ever since getting all those pints!

Just for fun, I thought share what's in my freezer right now (since so many of you were willing to share what's in your freezers!).

I have tons of dried shitake mushrooms that my mom brought back from an "organic" farm in Taiwan (she even visited the farm herself!). I also have some USDA prime steak from Costco (we always keeps some on hand), bags of frozen fruit from Trader Joe's for making smoothies, frozen bagels from H&H Bagles in NYC (I already ate all the St. Viateur ones from Montreal!), and other random things, like cooked rice, fresh noodles from Chinatown, and Chinese dumplings.

Have a wonderful week!

Cambridge Common

Chicken Parmesan

There’s something that, until recently, I didn’t really appreciate about Boston.

We really holds our own when it comes to local craft beers.

From Pretty Things to Jack Abbey and my newly discovered recent darling, Blatant One, Boston has been churning out some pretty incredible beers.

At the same time, more and more craft-beer focused restaurants have been popping up in Cambridge. Lord Hobo opened in November of 2009 and focuses on many import beers. Mead Hall opened in Kendall Square in April of 2011 and boasts an impressive selection of beers.

And then there are the old standbys who have been around for ages. 

I visited Cambridge Common for the first time back in 2000. At the time I didn’t live in the area and thought that it was sort of located in an area that wasn’t super convenient. Nestled between Porter and Harvard Square on Mass Ave, Cambridge Common is a good 5-10 minute walk from both T-stop.

However, now that I live virtually across the street from the restaurant, I’ve come to appreciate it as a place that has an awesome selection of beer (31 on tap!), good solid food, very reasonable prices, and friendly service.

It’s our go-to standby when we feel like munching on some casual grub nearby without breaking the bank.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I would characterize Cambridge Common as a New England gastropub whose food is just a tad tweaked for the Cambridge audience. Of course you have your typical fish & chips, burgers, BLTs and the like. However, you also have the option of getting Italian pastas, roasted Brussels sprouts, a “soup of the day” that’s always vegetarian, and globally inspired plates such as paella or hummus and falafel.

Fried Pickles - $5.95

Not surprisingly they do fried things really well, and one of our favorites is the beer battered fried dill pickle spears, which are served with ranch dressing and spicy chipotle aioli for dipping. The tartness of the pickle balances out the spicy deep fried coating, and the appetizer is surprisingly addictive.

Sliced Sweet Potato Fries ($5.95)

Similarly, we love the sliced sweet potato fries - corrugated fried potato slices whose many ridges offer that much more surface area of “crunch.” It’s become our new go-to starter that we get every single time.

"Uncommon BLT" - $7.95

The sandwiches are excellent. I often get the Uncommon BLT, which uses apple smoked bacon and comes with avocados, baby spinach, and tomatoes. If you go during Sunday brunch, you can get a fun brunch version that not only includes avocadoes but also a fried egg.  I love the spiced curly fries that come with the sandwiches (but then I sort of have a weakness for spicy curly fries).

Paella

Dinner offerings are solid but have been a bit more underwhelming. The Chicken Parmesan (pictured up top) is hearty, bold, and generously portioned, giving us plenty of leftovers for another meal. However, the pasta texture leaves something to be desired (it's a bit mushy). The paella is pretty average, though to be fair, it costs well under $15 and therefore is limited in its ability to include higher priced seafood (it’s mostly squid and mussels).

Chicken Cous Cous Salad

They have some healthier options, such as the Chicken Cous Cous Salad, which has a nicely seasoned lemony salad (though the chicken itself is a tad dry). Bryan tried the Taco Salad recently, which he thought was slightly underwhelming.

Every time we have gone, we have had excellent service in a cool, no-nonsense kind of way. The servers all know beer really well and will happily recommend various beers or even let you try a small flight to decide which you like best. The last time I went, the server even let me sample a taste of the two available soups, which was really helpful.

The prices are very reasonable – most lunch items cost around $10 and most dinner entrees are in the $12-$15 range.

As I said before, the beer selection is excellent. They have thirty-one beers on tap, including many local craft beers. They offers various sort of flights or you can design your own. You can always sample a beer before trying it, which is fun.

The other day, Bryan and I didn't get home until past midnight from a late flight into Boston. We were thrilled to discover that Cambridge Common opens until 2AM (kitchen closes at 1AM).

Thanks to Cambridge Common, we didn't have to go to sleep hungry that night.

Cambridge Common
1667 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA

Brrrr - it's FREEZING out + Giveaway!

Brrrrrr! Are we cold yet?

It's times like these I wonder what possessed Bryan (who's from sunny Southern California) to leave what he calls "the happiest place on earth" to this freezing place we call home now.

It's times like this I start to really miss the sunshine. In the dead of winter, the sun sets around 4:30PM here in Boston, which means it's pretty much pitch black by the time I leave work. On a freezing cold winter's night like today, it's sooooo hard to get myself psyched up to open that door and brave the cold winds that come blasting inside. I've been listening to podcasts to distract myself so I can get lost in my thoughts, not my environment!

I find that this cold weather makes me quite lazy. I lose all motivation for spending tons of time chopping, cutting, and stir frying after a long day at work (plus a loooong cold walk home!). I yearn for warm, simple, and healthy meals.

With Chinese New Year coming up, my thoughts have turned towards dumplings. Sure, ideally I would make these from scratch, filling them with my favorite ingredients - Chinese chives and ground pork. But I must confess, frozen Chinese dumplings is one of my favorite "emergency" staples to keep in the freezer.

I think of dumplings as a complete food. They encompass virtually all the "food groups" (yes, I'm a child of the 80's pre-food pyramid days!) - a nice balance of meat, vegetables, and carbohydrates (OK, so we're missing the diary food group). This glorious little all-in-one package is easy to portion out (you just cook the number you feel like eating), and you can easily pan-fry them straight from the freezer.

I almost always have a few packages of  frozen dumplings in my freezer, usually purchased from a local dumpling restaurant or from a Chinese supermarket. I've never bought them from any Western supermarket. So when Whole Foods contacted me telling me about their new healthy frozen line of  foods (many of which were international), I was immediately dubious about the Chinese food.

Nevertheless, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try their new line. After all, frozen food comes in handy quite often during the winter, especially on those freezing nights (like today!) when you really just rather not even step foot outside.



Whole Foods gave me a $25 gift card to pick up various frozen foods from their new line. I thought Italian food would be the safest, so I picked up a couple of those. I also got some Chinese dumplings. I figured if they could make a good dumpling, I'd be completely sold.

Their dumplings come in a pack of eight for $3.99. This is a far cry from the bag of thirty that I'm used to getting in Chinatown for $2.99 or the bag of fifty frozen handmade dumplings I can get at Mulan, Golden Garden, or Qingdao for about $15.

They are pre-shaped in a way that facilitates pan-frying. I found it easy to follow the directions to get a nice, crispy bottom, just like a restaurant "gyoza."

But how did it taste?
It was . . . . OK. Frankly, I didn't love it. Sure, the skin texture was decent and the bottom fries up beautifully. I just didn't love the flavors inside. The pork + vegetable one had a very strong essence of celery inside, which I wasn't used to at all. I strongly prefer the flavor of pork + Chinese chives or maybe napa, a classic combination you'll see everywhere in Chinatown. I think this dumpling has been tweaked for the Western palate, which is not bad, but doesn't taste completely authentic.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the vegetarian one a bit more, maybe because I had less pre-conceived notions about what I was expecting. It was reasonably tasty, though quite expensive at 50 cents a pop.

We enjoyed the Italian food much more. The frozen Italian meals come with the tomato sauce frozen in coin-sized chunks. This obviously speeds up the rate at which everything melts, which makes preparation quick and easy.

The Gnocchi di Polenta with Peas & Kale was not bad! The gnocchi itself was unusual in that it was made of cornmeal and thus had a slightly unusual texture. The vegetables had lost their bright green color, but overall the flavors were enjoyable. I appreciated how, unlike most prepared foods, the dish was not too salty. It came off tasting balanced and healthy, which was a nice refreshing change.

The Gnocchi alla Sorrentina was Bryan's favorite out of all the frozen dishes we tried. Of course, the texture of the gnocchi is nothing like fresh gnocchi, but it's acceptable and again, the sauce was bright and flavorful yet not too salty.

We also tried a Margarita Pizza. Although it had healthier ingredients and decent toppings, it most definitely tasted like frozen pizza. I haven't had frozen pizza in years, so this really stood out as being quite different from any pizza you'd get at a restaurant.

I guess my little home oven just can't come close to producing the quality of crust that comes out of a commercial wood or brick oven!

Finally, we tried a few of their new "Six Not-So-Secret Ingredients" ice creams.  These ice creams come  in a few simple flavors (I tried vanilla and coffee), and consist of cream, sugar, milk, eggs, vanilla, and a thickening agent, carob bean gum.

The ice cream was alright but not nearly as good as other premium brands. It lacked a depth of flavor and richness associated with the most premium ice creams. Priced at $3.69, the quality is in line with the price. It's not as good as the top premium/artisanal ice creams (which can cost anywhere from $5 to $12 a pint), but it's a step up from the national brands that typically cost about $4 for a quart.

Frankly, as someone who really loves her ice cream, I'll probably stick with making ice cream at home or buying them from my favorite local ice cream shops.

Thoughts
So it was a fun experiment. It's been so long since I've bought frozen prepared foods (with the exception of my Chinese dumplings) that it was interesting to consider this third alternative to food. I'm usually either cooking completely from scratch or eating out at a restaurant, so this in-between option was interesting to me. I sometimes forget that I can eat at home without it being a huge affair.

I guess I've been food blogging for so long that this third option doesn't even enter my mind anymore.

In any event, I doubt I'll be stocking up on these particular frozen foods, mostly because it's part of my "job" on this blog to continue to cook and try out new recipes. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that Whole Foods is trying to create healthy and tasty frozen prepared foods for those that don't have that much time. It's nice not to have to worry about crazy sodium or fat levels in your "fast food."

If I were to stock up on "emergency" food from this batch, I'd probably pick the gnocchi dishes, which I found to be hearty, flavorful, and quite enjoyable to eat.


Giveaway!!
Whole Foods has kindly agreed to give one Tiny Urban Kitchen reader a $25 Whole Foods Gift Card. You're welcome to try out the frozen dishes mentioned above, or you can buy whatever you want from Whole Foods. The store carries tons of fantastic produce, which I buy all the time.

To enter the Giveaway, please comment below telling me your thoughts about frozen prepared foods and how you use them. Do you eat it often? Are there some you hate and others you love?

I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Giveaway ends this Friday, January 25th, 2013 at midnight EST. Winner will be chosen by a random generator and will be contacted via email and also announced on this blog. If I do not hear back from the winner within 24 hours, I will pick a new winner.

Good luck!

Disclaimer: The above products as well as the $25 gift card are provided by Whole Foods Market. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sushi Aoki

This is the sixth post in the series titled Tasting Tour of Tokyo detailing my recent trip to Japan. Other posts include Kikunoi Akasaka, Rokurinsha, Mikawa Zezankyo, Kaoriya, and Sushi Sawada.

Spending a week eating in Tokyo is more like a marathon than a sprint.

Usually many of the meals I enjoy are omakase in nature, which means they often have many, many courses. Near the beginning of the week I’m OK. However, by the end of the week, my stomach is crying uncle and I begin to feel like I cannot eat anymore.

It was near the end of our trip when I told Bryan, “I can’t do this anymore.” The idea of yet another omakase where a sushi chef would continue to hand me food, piece after piece after piece, terrified me.

I was all ready to just stop by a local ramen shop for a simple meal.

“But it’s our last night in Tokyo, a city known for its incredible sushi. We won’t get to eat sushi like this again for another year at least.”

Bryan wanted sushi. And I wanted control over what I ate.
So I asked the concierge at our hotel. Although most high-end sushi places only serve omakase, there are a few exceptions that still serve excellent sushi. The most famous one is Kyubey, which we’ve visited several times in the past. Kyubey not only offers a really reasonable lunch for around 5000 yen, it also offers various types of lower priced set menus, as well as a la carte. Our concierge also recommended Sushi Aoki, a 1-star Michelin family-owned sushi restaurant that has expanded to three locations. Similarly, it offers lower priced set lunches (3000-4000 yen) as well as a la carte options.

Mostly because we’d already been to Kyubey several times, we opted to try Sushi Aoki.
Clean and sparse, the ambiance of this location was similar to many other sushi places we had visited. Blond wood, bare walls, and serious sushi chefs focused on their craft in the middle of the sushi bar.

There was a bit of confusion at first as I tried to order a la carte for myself but omakase for Bryan. We got it clarified at the end, but in the beginning Bryan didn’t get the true omakase experience because the sushi chef was also giving him the a la carte stuff that I was ordering.

Oops!
We began with a gorgeous starter of bonito sashimi with chives, which was fresh, flavorful, and a perfect way to begin the meal. I tasted hints of ginger, likely from the sauce in which the fish sat.

Off to the side, one of the chefs began grinding fresh wasabi from a root. Fresh wasabi is less pungent compared to the "imitation" horseradish variety of wasabi that we get in the States. It has a deeper and more intense flavor, even though it has less "sting."

And then, sashimi began to appear, starting with three slices of the delicate white fish hirame (fluke).

Next, we sampled various "grades" of tuna, from chutoro (medium fatty tuna) to otoro (fatty tuna). It was quite good, though I could easily tell that the quality and precision of these cuts were not quite up to par as the best sushi places in Tokyo (namely Mizutani and Jiro).

As part of my self-designed "a la carte" menu, I ordered ika (squid) because I was still dreaming about the luxuriously soft squid nigiri that I had enjoyed at Sukiyabashi Jiro (post coming soon!) earlier that week. Alas, even though this ika was still very fresh and tasty, the texture of it was much tougher, noticeably inferior to those served at Sukiyabashi Jiro or Sushi Sawada (places I had tried earlier that week).

We had another tasting of tuna, this time in nigiri form. From left to right: otoro (super fatty tuna), chutoro (medium fatty tuna), and akami (tuna).

The Rest of Bryan's Omakase
At this point I was quite full and decided to stop, but Bryan wanted to keep on going. Here is the rest of Bryan's omakase.

Kohada, or gizzard shad, is in the herring family and is a rich, fattier fish.

Saba, or mackerel, was softer than kohada and came as three slices on top of the rice.

Next was Scallop and Akagai (Red Clam) which were both very good. The scallop was fresh and sweet and the red clam had that interesting, characteristic "bouncy"and almost crunchy texture which we both love.

Ikura, or salmon roe, came served sort of as an "upside down" nigiri with the rice and wasabi on top of the eggs. You use the spoon to mix everything together, which tastes divine.

Out of all the sushi places we visited, Sushi Aoki was the only places to give us a sampling of uni from different regions. The lighter one pictured at left is from Kyushuu while the darker orange one on the right is from Hokkaido.  Though both were delicious, Bryan preferred the Hokkaido one better, which was creamier.

Ebi (or prawn), was juicy and sweet. Anago (saltwater eel) [not pictured] was super soft and tender.

Next was hamaguri (clam), which came brushed with just a tad of sauce on top.

Finally we ended the meal with one of my favorite pieces, the tamago (egg omelet). This one was sweet and spongy with a lovely browned top. Perfect.

The Facts
In Tokyo, there are two locations of Sushi Aoki: the original one in Ginza and a newer one in Azabu-juban. There’s also a third one in London, interestingly enough. The one at Ginza was very hard to find! Signs are not written with English characters, so it's important to know the kanji (Chinese) characters. Even with our GPS-enabled phones, we still had trouble locating the entrance. We ended up searching for the restaurant's kanji characters on the web and comparing it with the sign shown below to confirm we were at the right place!

Sushi Aoki is open for lunch as well as dinner, and you can order either omakase or a la carte. It holds one Michelin star and often shows up on "Best sushi in Tokyo" lists. It's well known in Tokyo, and boasts quite a pedigree of "graduates", including the well revered Sawada-san. Everyone who works there is polite and pleasant, which makes a visit less intimidating for a foreigner (compared to Mizutani, who can be a bit distant, or Jiro, who stresses you out with the speed by which he doles out the sushi).

I was sort of biased when I visited Sushi Aoki because I had just tasted Sushi Sawada and Sukiyabashi Jiro right before, both arguably among the top 3-4 sushi restaurants in the world. Compared to those world class establishments, I definitely noticed some minor "misses" and differences in quality. I'm sure if I had visited any other time of the year, I would have raved much more highly about this place.

It's just that -  Sawada and Jiro are pretty much impossible acts to follow.

So rest assured that this place is excellent and serves very high quality sushi. What I like best is that you can get excellent sushi in a very accessible location with friendly staff who are happy to let you choose your meal, if you so wish.  No sushi nazis here.

Of course, if I'd had the stomach space, I would have still let them design the omakase. After all, chef seems to always knows best, and I confess that Bryan's meal seemed to have much better theme and flow compared to the haphazard toro-focused mish-mash that I created.

Live and learn.

Sushi Aoki, 2F Takahashi Building, 6-7-4 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo; + 81 3 3289 1044

11th Annual S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition - New England Regionals

This is my third year covering the New England Regionals competition for the S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition [check out the past two competitions from 2011 and 2012 here!].

For the past 10 years, San Pellegrino has hosted the Almost Famous Chef competition. Top students from culinary schools around the nation compete against each other - Top Chef style - for a chance to represent their region at Nationals in Napa Valley. The grand prize winner takes home $10,000 as well as a one-year internship with one of the chef judges at nationals.

I've always been impressed by the dedication, skills, and pure determination of these students. They work really really hard preparing for this competition, practicing their dishes countless times together with their chef mentors. I was thrilled to have the honor to see what they would bring. Unlike last year (where I was one of the media judge), this year I sat as a dining guest - sampling the dishes, taking tons of photos, and watching the "show" from the other side of the stage.

For the first time, the competition was held at Le Cordon Bleu Boston (located in in my home city of Cambridge right next to Boston). In the gorgeous space of Technique, Le Cordon Bleu's student-run restaurant, we sampled the contestants' creations while sipping on unlimited amounts of San Pellegrino sparkling water and Aqua Panna still water (along with a nice variety of Italian wines).


The judge lineup was impressive. From left to right: Leah Mennies of Boston Magazine, Nicholas Calias of Brasserie Jo, Steve Aveson of New England Cable News, Raymond Ost of Sandrine's Bistro,  Jonathan Soroff of Improper Bostonian, Chris Damian of Legendary Restaurant Group, Naomi Kooker, Food and Wine Journalist and Zagat Editor, and Chris Coombs of Deuxave and Dbar.

Leah Mennies of Boston Magazine and Naomi Kooker, Food and Wine Journalist and Zagat Editor.

For the competition, the culinary students cooked in Le Cordon Bleu's gleaming kitchen. Contestants had exactly two hours to complete ten servings of their "Signature Dish" for the ten judges.

While they prepped and cooked, kitchen judges (instructors from the various culinary schools), watched their techniques and scored them accordingly.

Meanwhile, at the side kitchen, culinary students from Le Cordon Bleu (aka the Cordon Bleu catering team) followed the contestants' recipes to make smaller portions to feed all the guests (like me!). Unlike  last year  where as a judge I tasted the exact dishes made by the contestants, this year I ate the catering staff's interpretation of the contestants' recipe.

Kris Yang from The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts was the first contestant to present her dish (exactly at 6PM). Kris, who just moved to the US from Korea last year, made Korean Braised Short Ribs and Bibimbap, inspired from her mother's kitchen but tweaked with "upgraded" adaptions. The judges loved her endearing personality and praised the quality of her dish, especially the flavorful and tender shortribs (made in a pressure cooker to save time).

Anthony Glieco from Johnson & Wales University in Providence made Pan Seared Saddle of Lamb. The perfectly cooked lamb came alongside gnocchi made with pâté choux over parsnip puree. Judges praised his gorgeous plating ("reminiscent of Eleven Madison Park) but emphasized that the plate had to be hot. The judges also did not like his use of mustard seeds, which they said were undercooked and bitter.

Jeremy Bergeron from Newbury College made a dish he called "Double the Trouble": Root Beer and Guinness Short Ribs with Popcorn Polenta. The judges were critical of the temperature and seasoning of the food on his plate, arguing that several of the components were cold or undersalted. One judge even came out and bluntly said "overall the concept just didn't really work."

Ethan Altom from New England Culinary Institute made Venison. The poor guy cut his finger about twenty minutes into his two-hour time block. As a result he lost a good chunk of time bandaging up the wound and was forced to be creative about how to adapt his recipe in view of the emergency. For example, he had originally planned on serving the cabbage as a wedge but decided that it would be too hard to assemble with just one hand, so he ended up just chopping all the cabbage instead.

The judges acknowledged his ability to improvise under difficult circumstances, but still had issue with his interpretation of a classic recipe. They thought his sauce was under-seasoned and they disagreed with his decision to remove wine from the original recipe. Similarly to the last several contestants, they were unhappy that the plate was cold.

Ismael Tavares from Southern New Hampshire University made Moroccan spiced lamb. Although his lamb was perfectly cooked, judges felt that the lively exterior seasoning did not penetrate the meat. One judge remarked that the vegetables were overcooked (the fava beans were a tad mushy), and another judge felt that the chanterelles were underseasoned and out of season. Again, judges lamented the fact that the food was served on cold plates.Audrey Carlson from Southern Maine Community College made Pan Fried Lamb Lollipops with a spiced parsnip puree and mango-pineapple yellow curry.  She was inspired by Thai flavors and wanted to incorporate the cuisine into her dish. The judges loved her energy and vivacious personality but all agreed that her lamb was undercooked, rendering "rare, chewy" meat whose fat was not rendered. One judge thought that the flavor combination was odd, while another judge thought that the curry overpowered the flavors of the lamb.Kristen Thibeault from Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts Boston (the hosting school!) made Porcini Crusted Vegan “Sweetbreads”. Kristen became a vegan after being diagnosed with (and overcoming!) double cancer in 2008.  Her "sweetbreads" are actually made from seitan (wheat gluten), which surprisingly has a texture that really does resemble sweetbreads.

The chefs praised her for how she properly cooked vegetables (something they said they hadn't seem much of that evening), and also commended her for serving the food on a hot plate. They praised her for her use of interesting textures (e.g., fried onion strings, crunchy nuts, raw vegetables), as well as the excellent balance of flavors in her dish.

One chef even told her she had served him something he'd never eaten before, something he would have never expected from being a judge at this contest.

And then it was time to wait.

Host Jake Hanover explained all the rules to the audience, telling us that scores are a combination of points from the kitchen judges, media judges, and chef judges.  Kitchen judges look especially at the contestants' cooking and safety techniques as they are making their dishes during those first two hours. Media judges focus on the presence and persona of the contestants, and chef judges hone in on the actual execution of the dishes.

Jake introduced each of the media and chef judges (standing behind him in the picture above).

Jake then thanked and acknowledged the kitchen judges, faculty from each of the participating schools.

And then they asked each of the contestants to come on stage.

This year, for the first time, they added a "People's Choice Award." Diners would vote on their favorite contestant based on "whatever criteria they wanted". This was a category that had existed at Nationals for years, but this was the first time they were awarding it at Regionals.

The winner of the People's Choice Award is . . .

Kristen Thibeault from Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts Boston (left)!

Though it's gratifying to win People's Choice, the contestants are most keen about finding out the actual FINAL winner, who gets to compete at Nationals in Napa Valley.

And the winner is . . .

Kristen Thibeault from Le Cordon Blue College of Culinary Arts Boston AGAIN!!

Congratulations Kristen!

I had a chance to catch up with Kristen briefly after the contest. She is quite the amazing woman, I must say. She runs her own vegan catering company as well as raises four kids at home (one of whom was just adopted from foster care less than four weeks ago). The timing of the adoption couldn't have come at a crazier time for Kristen, but somehow, she was able to make it work.

Kristen clearly has a ton of determination, drive, and stamina.

I'm thrilled to see how she'll wow the judges at Nationals!

Congrats Kristen, and best of luck at Nationals!