Christmas planning is going full-speed ahead. This weekend, we got our pictures taken, ordered Christmas cards, went Christmas shopping and now I'm prepping boxes to ship out to Hawaii. I also attempted to cash in on an online calendar sale, but sadly, that sale and along with the last of my Christmas mojo expired like Cinderella at midnight last night.

However, we still need to eat, and planning the weekly menu always reminds me to settle down and pay attention to the most basic of things--feeding my ohana. Here is what we're having this week.

Meatless Monday
Rat-Pa-Tooty, stew-style. It's too late for tomatoes, but red peppers and eggplants were looking fabulous at the grocery store. Lucky to have temperate California weather.

Tuesday
Winter-style Panini, using the technique from Turkey/Summer Panini. I made a huge batch of Homemade Pork Sausage for Thanksgiving and froze half of it into patties. The winter version is pork sausage, arugula, pears and either Havarti or brie. Or both.

Wednesday
My Grandma's Meat and Macaroni, with ground turkey. There is nothing fancy about this meal, but everyone loves it.

Nearly Meatless Thursday
My Mom's Watercress Soup. Like shabu shabu, watercress soup is great for cold days and not heavy. Watercress is apparently the new "it" food, so Mom really does know best.

Friday--Dinner and the Movies
Chicken Shawarma and Baba Ghanouj. The featured flick is The Avengners, which we will watch for about the 14th time. Each family member has their own favorite character: Black Widow, Iron Man, Pepper Potts and Captain America.

Remember, this time of the season is supposed to be fun. 


Eat Well. Be Well.

After the Great Tofu Disaster, it was back to cookbook research for another creative endeavor. This time, I started with a Russell Siu recipe from By Request by Betty Shimabukuro. Some context: Russell Siu is one of the founders of 3660 on the Rise, my mom's favorite restaurant and Betty Shimabukuro is the Food Editor for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, but not my cousin.

The ingredient list below, logically arranged in Venn diagram form, and indulging my inner geek. For reasons that should be intuitively obvious (NOT!) I've deemed the recipe Italianese Chicken Pasta. 

Part Japanese, Part Chinese, Part Italian. 100% American.

This dish starts out classically Mediterranean with browning chicken and then tossing in the eggplant, sundried tomatoes and mushrooms. While I used Japanese eggplant and shiitake mushrooms as per the original recipe, you could substitute Italian or Chinese eggplant and portabello mushrooms.

Then you think, "OK, stir-fry" and add hoisin, sriracha and shoyu. The "ai-yah!" moment comes when you pour in that carton of  half-n-half. Do not panic, even though this combination will feel very wrong. Chef Russell Siu will not steer your awry.

But it worked! Click here for the recipe and click here for Venn diagram intricacies.

Eat Well. Be Well.