Given that I haven’t been cooking anything new to post lately, I thought I would start sharing some of the crafts that we do at home. One of Bebe’s favorite indoor activities to do at home is, you guessed it, crafts. Playing make-believe probably comes second, followed by homemade activity boxes which I will explain further in another post. Last month, we had her cousins over for a swim, but I planned a non-water craft that I left...

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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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It’s no secret that I’ve been having a difficult time creating regular posts for my blog. I’d like to blame my absence on a recent heat wave in our neck of the woods which completely turned me off from cooking and going anywhere near the stove. Unfortunately, I can’t get away with eating out every night for two weeks straight so I’ve resorted to what I refer to as lazy cooking. I mainly rely on cooking somen...

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Yesterday was the first day in a very long time where Bebe and I didn’t have plans and we quietly enjoyed our solitude at home. After a very busy weekend and another broken household item, the slower pace was welcoming. Unfortunately, I’ve been on a bad luck streak and I’ve broken several things over the last week, including today. Has this ever happened to you? I first broke our vacuum cleaner. Usually hubs is the one who...

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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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As promised in my last post, this is the second of two desserts from Bebe’s little pool party with her cousins. Along with the “fish-outta-water” jello cups, Bebe and Nene had fun making these little “clams” with pearl cookies. I saw a number of different cookies used to create the “clam shells” but I chose Nilla Waffers since they’re a favorite of Bebe’s. The “pearls” are yogurt...

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During my brief absence from my blog, I’ve become a Pinterest-addict and it has resulted in much time spent either on my iPhone Pinterest app or glued to my laptop as I scan dozens (hundreds?) of “pinned” ideas. It turns out that what I call, Fish-Outta-Water Jello treats, can be found widespread across the internet, and I can easily see why they’re popular: 1. Jello is super easy and inexpensive to make. 2. Moms (at...

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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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