I am a carnivore, and I love beef. Well, I was a lacto-ovo vegetarian for a short period of time, but it was beef that brought me back to being a carnivore once again. In fact, I can’t live without beef, especially prime rib, which is my favorite beef dish and that means Lawry’s is my favorite prime rib restaurant. I’ve celebrated several birthday dinners and special dates with Bebe Dada (who was my boyfriend at the time) at...

  This week is turning out to be a very mellow week, and it’s a nice change of pace from the past month. I just finished reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, and I was quite proud of myself as this was the second book that I’ve read in about a year and a half. (The other book I read, I am embarrassed to admit is Bree Tanner, yes, of the horrid Twilight Series – don’t ask.) Elephants was an easy read and quite...

  In a previous life, I used to bake five to eight different types of cookies before Christmas so that I could share these with friends and loved ones during the holidays. I remember working all day, then stopping at the supermarket to buy ingredients (and more ingredients), and then baking until midnight or 1 AM for at least two to three nights straight. The entire dinning table would be covered with cookies cooling on racks or cookies in...

  Goodbye 2010, hello 2011! Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu! Happy New Year! The holiday season flew by so quickly, I almost can’t believe the New Year has arrived. Yet here I am once again, asking Bebe Dada if he made any New Year’s resolutions. He told me he did, but this year he is keeping them to himself. While I wouldn’t share them on my blog even if he did tell me what they were, the nosey side of me nagged him for a good...

  Over nine months ago, on March 5, 2010, I posted my very first blog entry. I was extremely nervous before I hit the “Publish” button. It wasn’t even a recipe post, just a simple ‘hello’ to no one in particular, and it read more like a ‘to do’ list. Yet, despite the simplicity of this first post, I was anxious. The thought of having my words float around in cyberspace made me a little giddy, yet also...

I know I’ve said this quite a few times in recent weeks, but I LOVE this time of the year! Thanksgiving for us is always very busy and sometimes even just a little hectic, but it’s still one of my favorite holidays. In one day, we celebrate with both sides of our family, which means packing (lots of food and baby gear) and driving (across counties, around town, and to the supermarket for forgotten items), but what I always cherish...

Gobble – gobble – gobble! I love Thanksgiving. As I mentioned before, Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. We’ll be celebrating Bebe E’s second Thanksgiving this week and I am ecstatic because this year she’ll get to try turkey, stuffing, creamed corn, garlic mashed potatoes, sweet potato souffle, likely a few other side dishes, and of course, pumpkin pie! As a child, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my...

    I’m always willing to try shortcuts once. My Mom makes shiratama zenzai from scratch (see Homemade Zenzai recipe here) and will use store-bought fresh made mochi as a short-cut, but she’ll never use canned ogura-an and Mochiko (for instant mochi, although I believe there is also shiratamako which I have not yet come across) to make shiratama zenzai. Although Mom always knows best, I had to see for myself whether I could get...