Halloumi Egg Sandwich

details of sandwich with halloumi, egg, tomato, cucumber

When you have only 30 minutes for lunch, can’t order take-out and have to make do with what is left in the refrigerator…. There really isn’t much of by way of recipe. It is just a sandwich after all! But if you ever find yourself faced with a couple of inches of halloumi and several […]

Hearty Pork Stew

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These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb. ~ Najwa Zebian A few weeks ago, winter officially set in with snow drifts and cold snaps across most of the Northern hemisphere. Here, hovering by the equator, I was trying to shed the pounds that has lovingly stuck onto me – stubborn […]

Tomato Pie

Tomato Pie

A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins. ~ Laurie Colwin, ‘Home Cooking’ Today I attended my first trunk show. I had never been to one before, so when a friend asked whether I was interested and assured me there would be no pressure to buy anything, I agreed. Fast forward a couple of […]

Spinach Linguine in 15 Minutes

Spinach Linguine Pasta 20161208

Life is a combination of magic and pasta. ~ Federico Fellini Around here, great Italian restaurants abound featuring cuisine from every region in Italy.  While I do not imagine to come close to the superb standards from these establishments, I do enjoy a simple pasta in the comfort of home. I have perused dozens of recipes, tried […]

Fried Tang Hoon 炒粉丝 (glass noodles)

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Updated from original post on May 26, 2016 Tang hoon, also called vermicelli, glass noodles, 冬粉 (dong fen, meaning winter noodles), is a light version of bee hoon, typically made from some kind of starch. Most commonly found are ones made of mung bean starch, often referred to as ‘mung bean thread’. Compared to bee hoon, which is made […]

Italian Sausage and Kale Stew

Italian Sausage Kale stew

It’s okay to play with your food. ~ Emeril Lagasse How many of us indulged over holidays? We told ourselves it was only an extra drumstick with “only a few tiny” drizzles of dressing, one more slice of pie (a la mode, of course, why stop at pie), one more helping of noodles (to represent ‘healthy […]

Sunday Morning Tomato Basil Frittata

Sunday Morning Tomato Basil Frittata

“A journey into a new year begins with a Sunday Morning frittata served around a warm hearth.” As I was preparing to write this week’s post, I hesitated over which story to share. The Gregorian calendar stands poised at the cusp of a transition and Earth is about to embark on another orbit around the Sun. Past and […]

Healthy Meat Sauce and Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Whole Wheat Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Spaghetti can be eaten most successfully if you inhale it like a vacuum cleaner.  ~ Sophia Loren These days, the mornings are misty, the chill is nippy, and here in California, Uggs® are making their annual appearance. It is not so bone-shatteringly cold as it is in the northeast, though fear not, west-coasters have their own […]

Taiwanese Ground Pork Rice 卤肉饭

Taiwan Ground Pork Rice image

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. […]

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 […]