May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs. ~ ‘Twas The Night of Thanksgiving’, C.J. Beaman There is a collective gentle sigh as we see the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers. Despite our best intentions to limit our portion sizes, the intentions remained just that – intentions. Folks generally go all out with the food for this […]
Under 30 minutes
Egg-free, Butter-free Honey Walnut Cookies
“A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.” -Barbara Johnson Pumpkin season is here. Can’t miss it. Decorating nearly every store, restaurant, office, door stoop are the bulbous orange fruit. It’s one of my favourite sights for it means the holiday season is just around the corner. Try our Honey Walnut cookies for a change this […]
Cold Tofu with Bonito Flakes
“If turkey vultures think it’s too warm to hunt, who am I to disagree?” Tofu ranks high on my list of pantry staples. There are always 2 or 3 packages in my cart on every grocery run. The best parts (my grammar teacher may remind me that the superlative of good describes a singular noun but hear me out) are how versatile it […]
Easy Water Spinach 空心菜 (Kangkung)
All things are difficult before they are easy. ~ Thomas Fuller Here is recipe that starts easy and stays easy. It will make a cook out of anyone. It’s that easy. Water spinach is more closely related to the sweet potato than to spinach as we know it in western countries. It is also called water morning glory, water […]
Chinese Green Bean Dessert Soup 绿豆汤
The wonder, The hunger, And the sound of distant thunder. ~ “Indian Summer”, Brooks & Dunn (released 2009) Warm, hazy, windless weather prevailed all last week following a few weeks of a cooling trend. This kind of tank-top-and-shorts weather right around Halloween means it’s Indian summer for us living in California. Soon after it will be time for […]
Honey Walnut Pine Nut Shrimp
“What’s more luscious than cheesecake, roses in bloom and freshly washed hair? Let me count…,” she said to Mr. Goat. ~ DIM SUM SERIES ~ What is about mayonnaise that makes it taste sooo good? The satisfying ‘mouthfeel’ that food companies strive to imbue in their products, the same reason why crispy chicken, ice cream, chocolate, pecan pie and of course, […]
Taiwanese Ground Pork Rice 卤肉饭
If you’re going to eat pork, eat it till your mouth drips. ~ Yiddish proverb ~ TAIWAN STREET FOOD SERIES – Part 2 ~ The last time we married east and west over a bucket of Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken amidst the drama of English aristocracy. Today we continue bringing the tastes of Taiwan street food into our homes in California. […]
Pan-Fried Tofu with Egg
“Silky golden nuggets with a spicy surprise!” Don’t you just love it when a wrong turn ends up being right, when a mistake turns into an unexpected success, when a kitchen misadventure cooks up a new favorite? That’s what happened the other night – an attempt to save a blooper turned up a surprising appetizer that barely made it […]
Stone Fruit Pancakes
“Like sweet starbursts waiting to explode.” Sometimes it’s not always about how made-from-scratch a dish is. Sometimes it’s just about enjoying simplicity. In other words, sometimes it’s perfectly OK to cheat. How does that work? Ask 5 persons how they would make a pancake and you’ll get 6 answers. (See how that’s cheating? That was a spin-off […]
“Dragon’s Eye” Cabbage and Eggplant
Let your imagination soar with this unique visual treat. Never give up and good luck will find you. ~ Falkor, ‘The Neverending Story’ My love for fantasy began early. As a child, one of my favourite movies was ‘The Neverending Story’. It was a fantasy within a fantasy. My favourite character was Falkor, the luckdragon. […]