For over a month now, the ongoing debate in our home has been whether egg foo young is a Chinese dish or a Japanese dish. I asked my Chinese-American husband if he grew-up eating egg foo young, to which he replied, “No, I’ve never eaten that. I don’t believe that’s a Chinese dish.” I was quite surprised by this, to which I said, “REALLY? Your parents never made egg foo young? Or ordered it at a Chinese...
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Of all the foods my Mom makes, the more I think about it, the more I’m certain that gyoza, or potstickers, are hands down my favorite dish. Sometimes my Mom would set aside a few gyoza for lunch the next day which she would simply boil in a hot pot of water. It only takes a few minutes for the sui-gyoza to cook, which are quickly drained and then served with a simple sauce of ponzu (citrus – soy dressing) and spiced with Japanese...
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Today, I picked up Bebe from school and afterwards as we walked to the library, she held my hand and simply said to me in that sweet voice of hers, “I love you Mommy very much”, to which I responded, “I love you too.” An older woman happened to be walking nearby and overheard Bebe, and commented to me on how precious these moments are. I wholeheartedly agree. I look back at our year and realize we have much to be...
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There’s nothing like a plain ol’ log of fresh mozzarella cheese to liven up an old favorite recipe for Halloween! Given it finally seems like Fall and the weather has turned “cooler” in only a way that it can in SoCal, I’ve been having more cravings for heartier and richer foods. My craving for lasagna was a good opportunity to add a little Halloween spookiness to our meal. Fortunately for me, it seems as...
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The pumpkin patches are open, the leaves are changing colors, and we’re working on Halloween crafts to decorate our home. The only issue is that in Southern Cali the weather’s been in the mid to upper 80’s. Not surprising for us, but it’s certainly wrecking havoc on our Fall allergies. Bebe probably has the worst of the allergies but we’ve enjoyed the pumpkin patch on better days, as well as the park and a few...
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There’s really no great English translation for “hiyashi chyuka” that would embody the true deliciousness of one of my favorite summer-time Japanese dishes. The dish is essentially cold aldente ramen noodles served on a plate and garnished with fresh vegetables and proteins. It might be difficult not to conjure up an image in one’s head of instant ramen noodles served cold on a plate. The noodles are not similar to that...
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Have you ever gone grocery shopping and lost a bag of groceries? If not, welcome to my world! I can laugh about it now, but there was a moment of confusion (sadly this confusion struck three hours after I returned from the market and not as I was putting groceries away) when I couldn’t find the cantaloupe that Bebe picked out for us. I thought that it might have rolled out of the bag in the trunk of our car… but alas that...
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I can’t remember when my love affair with tomato basil soup began, but it’s been a long one at that. I’ve always had a soft spot for tomato basil soup, but it wasn’t until I tried the version at Nordstrom’s Cafe did I find “THE ONE”. Nordie’s tomato basil soup is creamy, tangy, savory, thick, and OH-so yummilicious! If you’ve never tried their tomato basil soup, you must drive over to a...
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