Never mind that we just experienced one of the hottest weekends in Southern California and it was 93º today and currently 80º at 9:30 PM. My sore throat from last week disappeared mid-week, only to return on Friday and nag me throughout the weekend. I’m not exactly feeling sick, but I just can’t get rid of this sore throat and this morning I woke up with just a slight scratchiness in my throat, which is a significant improvement,...

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My husband makes three types of Chinese soup when any of us are sick. One of them is Chinese Winter Melon Soup or tung qwa soup, which I’ve shared in the past, the second is Moqua Soup or Fuzzy Melon Soup (post forthcoming), and the third, which is my absolute favorite, is Wonton Soup. While it seems seasonally inappropriate to share a hot soup recipe amidst our warmer and sunny Southern California weather, last week when I was feeling...

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  We’ve been experiencing bipolar weather in Southern California. One day it’s warm and sunny, with hints of summer just around the corner. The next day it’s cloudy and cold with Spring showers and hail. A mere 40-mile drive also makes a big difference in our weather. When I left Orange County this past weekend, it was warm and sunny, but when I arrived in Santa Monica, it was overcast, I needed a sweater and the next morning...

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  We’re sick again. At the beginning of last week I felt as though I was coming down with a cold. My throat was feeling slightly uncomfortable and my body felt heavy. After three days of eating chicken soup and taking it easy, I felt that I succeeded in fending off a full-blown cold. Yesterday morning I was nuzzling Bebe E when I noticed her neck was just a little warmer than normal. A quick check of her temperature indicated only a...

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Not too long ago we had rainy weather in Southern California which is unusual, yet very much welcomed. Bebe E has really blossomed over the past three to six months and over the rainy weekend she and I were hanging out at home alone while nursing her little cold, when she came over to me, grabbed my hand and said, “come with me mommy” as she tried to pull me off the sofa, she repeated, “come mommy”. She walked with me...

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  Recipe Updated May 8, 2017 Soup Soup Soup Soup is something I make quite often during the fall and winter months, but this likely would be hard to guess about me given I don’t post about soup very often. The last soup I shared was pumpkin soup, and that was easy to associate with our Halloween and Thanksgiving traditions, but the truth is, I think I’ve avoided posting about soup because there’s a significant reason why I...

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  This year, our Halloween celebration was a bit impromptu, resulting in a quick lunch at Wahoo’s for Aya-chan, Bebe E and I and trick-or-treating on-the-fly at a few retailers at the mall before nap-time. It wasn’t the typical Halloween celebration I enjoyed as a child, but Bebe E had a blast and it was fun to watch her enjoy herself so much. Our plans to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood at dusk were foiled by an exhausted and...

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  Sumashijiru is a clear Japanese soup and can be made with a number of different ingredients, limited only by the creativity of the chef. Growing up, my Mom often made sumashijiru to accompany our dinners. One of my childhood favorites is a minimalist soup my mom often prepares with nori (seaweed) and tamago (egg) or nori tamago sumashijiru.  She often serves this with her homemade gyoza.  My mom’s gyoza and nori tamago sumashijiru...

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