Blog Archives

Serious Food Packaging

1/30/2013

I've been doing marketing and advertising for most of my professional life. So I'm a sucker for packaging, typesetting and production value. When the first of three surprises from Food Explorers Club arrived, it had me at the "Solo marroni..." perfectly typeset, matte-varnish, 300+ linescreen, interlocking package. Plus Italian words just sound and typeset better. Marrons Glaces sound so much more delicious than Italian glazed chestnuts.

According to the brochure, marrons glaces are are organic, hand-picked marrons (Italian chestnuts that are about 1.5x bigger than Japanese kuri) that are hand picked and then cooked/prepared based on a process that dates back to 1766. However, the Agrimontana company, has been at it since 1976.

Ping-pong ball sized!

All that packaging for a monster chestnut, er marron glace, that according to my child, looks like a desiccated squirrel brain. Literally, it is as big as a ping-pong ball.

To be fair, they are very sweet, very rich, very creamy and play nicely with a good strong black tea. And they are perfect indulgence gift--something I wouldn't ever think to buy but will enjoy thoroughly.

And I can't wait to see what will arrive next month!

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What's Cooking This Week--One Thing at a Time

1/28/2013

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We seem to be a society of busy--where multitasking is standard operating procedure for improved efficiency.

Hmmm...methinks that is corporate malarkey. Today, I purposefully did NOT multitask. I made a write-it-down-on-paper-God-honest list of work items and household tasks, which included this post. I turned OFF Facebook, Twitter, Skype and my email, and just concentrated on the task (singular) at hand.

Full Disclosure: I had a conference call via Skype and had to turn that on, but did not email, check Facebook, or do other things during the call.

Teriyaki Salmon. Good weekday dinner.

The work got done, and it took less time than I thought. I went food shopping for the week, armed with another list, of course. I went running. And we had full and proper family dinner. The rest of the week is looking good too.

Not-Multitasking Monday
Orange Salsa Pork Chops, green beans, Chinese chicken-less salad and rice. Yep, made it in an hour.

Tuesday
Teriyaki Salmon, musubi and the rest of the Chinese chicken-less salad. Definitely less than an hour.

Jambalaya freezes well.

Wednesday
Shrimp-less Sausage Jambalaya. I will use chicken Andouille sausage and make a double batch. Shrimp doesn't freeze very well, and this is why it will be shrimp-less.

Thursday
Loaded tuna melts. Sandwich as dinner, perhaps with Kale Chips or Parmesan Edamame from Pinterest. I might opt for the lazy version of panini: toaster + microwave.

Meatless Friday
Korean Mushroom Tofu and eggs scrambled with kimchee and green onions, based on a post from from Sandra's Easy Cooking. Because one block of tofu is not quite enough for the sky-high metabolism of the teenagers. Add Korean-style bean sprouts and purple rice to the party for another full and proper family dinner made less than an hour.

I'm not sure I'll be able to maintain the serial-process living, but it was less stressful than the here-and-there flitting about that is usually Multitasking Monday. What works for you?

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Kinda Homemade Tortilla Chips

1/24/2013

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No additional ingredients required.

Who knew this is so easy!?
No, I did not grind the corn myself or invest in a tortilla press. However, with kinda-sorta homemade chips, the taste : effort ratio definitely starts to approach infinity. Even better, get your kids to make them.

Buy fresh corn tortillas. Make sure you have an oven.

Cut them up like a pie. We went for traditional triangles, but it would be fun to use cookie cutters. For example, (Baltimore) raven or (Anaheim) duck-shaped chips to crunch away on during sporting events.

Bake at 350 'til crispy, about 30 minutes.

Will be doing this again for the Superbowl, hockey games, and just to have around for afternoon snacks.

Click here for "recipe."

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What's Cooking This Week--America the Beautiful

1/21/2013

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No matter what your politics, we should all be grateful that we live in a country where we can disagree, yet have a peaceful transfer of power. We are not ideal, but we are all united in trying to build that 'more perfect union' as best we can. And by happy coincidence, we are eating "any kine" All-American food this week.

Not so Meatless Monday
Ma Po Tofu. When my husband volunteers to cook, he can make pretty much whatever he wants. Therefore, we have meat on Monday--about 1 pound of pork split among 4 adults.

Tuesday
(Leftover) homemade chili nachos with semi-homemade corn chips. On Sunday, we had an all-day Mavericks Surfing/49ers/San Jose Sharks at-home tailgate, with a ton of appetizers and a big pot of chili. So we'll have nachos with the leftover chili, salsa and corn chips. Adding an avocado, sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and non-fat sour cream. Just in time for another hockey-watching night. Go Sharks and are we ever glad we aren't in Edmonton. My girlfriend from Calgary says, "Oh it's only a little cold there." To an ex-pat Hawaii girl, the HIGH temperature of 10 degrees F makes Edmonton pretty much the North Pole.

Wednesday
Five-Star Falafel Turkish food, as requested for a household birthday dinner. For each member's birthday, s/he chooses their takeout dinner. Past choices included Banana Leaf (Malaysian), Amici's Pizza, and sushi.

Meatless Thursday
Almost Alfredo Pasta. This time, I'll use broccoli or chard instead of spinach, just for a change of pace. And probably mushrooms because I like to add those whenever I can too.

Friday
Clam and Cannellini Bean Soup. I want to try out San Marzano tomatoes to see if they are really worth the extra cost. Any opinions on relative worth of the vaunted San Marzanos? Post them all!

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Fun with Fish and Kochojang

1/20/2013

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You can eat like this on a Wednesday

The whole gestalt of dinner is essential to me. We sit down at a dinner table that is not in front of our TV and eat together at least 3-4 times a week, the way I did as a kid in Hawaii. Main protein, rice, some vegetable, and time and mindshare for the family. Nourishing indeed.

Sometimes this is easy. Sometimes it requires takeout. The "at the dinner table" part will start to happen a little less often now that hockey is finally back.

But sometimes you can make "Wow! This is like Korean food in Hawaii" kind of dinners. Fish Jun with Kochojang Sauce is just such a meal. It can be made from scratch in less than an hour. As noted before, the marinade and process are very similar to Korean Egg Meat, but it is much faster.

As a bonus, the kochojang dipping sauce is awesome with Kale Chips, green beans or scrambled eggs. You can buy kochojang sauce at Korean grocery stores. Store it in the fridge like miso.

Click here to make this your next weekday dinner.

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Anarchy-laden Stuffed Kabocha

1/18/2013

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It's love and no leftovers

Everyone LOVED this and I cannot wait to make another variation on a theme.

Literally, I decided to make it on a whim at 5:30 pm. My boss emails the NPR link. Had it for dinner with a salad. I looked for lunch leftovers and there were NONE!? Darned those teenagers, their sky-high metabolism and weird preference for home lunch!

The original recipe had me at "almost no rules" which I promptly took to heart, substituting like a hellion.

Click here for what I did as well as the original NPR recipe, but there are so many variations I can already imagine!

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What's Cooking This Week--Gratitude

1/14/2013

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Tomato Tart--Good for winter tomatoes

Experiments 1 and 2 from last week went pretty well.

Tofu with Snap Peas and Mushrooms and Pretty Much My Mother-in-Law's Corn Chowder were both unanimously approved.

Greek Tuna Pasta Salad and the Tomato Tart also worked out pretty well, and I'll post those later this week.

And then...there was...paint. When I posted the mystery item to FB and Twitter, guesses ranged from:

Guava lime orange glaze. No. No. No.

Tomato bisque
Carrot ginger soup
Persimmon sauce
Red pepper-something
Campbell's tomato soup
Braised essence of tangerine goop
and my favorite, from my cousin (of course) paint!

It was supposed to be a citrus glaze for chicken, but nothing was even remotely workable--taste, smell, color. It got scrapped and I made a stir-fry style Sweet and Sour Chicken instead.

This week, I've manage to meatless twice again. And to give my poor family a break, just one experiment.

Meatless Monday
Simple Tomato Spaghetti Sauce. It was a very hard Monday, so I needed something simple and sustaining.

Fishy Tuesday
Fish Jun with kochojang dipping sauce. So much quicker and lighter than the traditional meat jun. Will also try to post this one too.

Wednesday
Chicken Marsala, an old favorite.

Experimental Thursday
Baked kabocha, stuffed with with Homemade Pork Sausage, cubed asiago cheese bread (from Safeway) and onions, an experiment from my boss. He made this for Thanksgiving and I've been meaning to try it.

Meatless Friday
Mom's Miso Soup with green onions and egg dropped in. Plus rice and kim chee. Again, simple sustenance for a long week.

This particularly difficult and hectic Monday that has given me pause to be extremely grateful for my ohana. Appreciate every minute with yours.

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Results from New Recipes Week

1/10/2013

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Tofu with Snow Peas and Mushrooms
Much better this time. Yet another meal that is meatless, uses one dish and can be made in 30 minutes. I tend to overcook stir-fry dishes, but since this has no meat, it's easy (and safe) to take a very light touch.

Click here for the recipe.

Pretty Much My Mother-in-Law's Corn Chowder
I glommed together a recipe from the trifecta of Mother-in-Law, Tyler Florence and the Barefoot Contessa. I need to make this again because we were all had multiple servings and there were no leftovers. Hence, is no picture. This is a very good sign.

Click here for this one.

Much better outcomes than the infamous Tofu Loaf. Tomato tart and Chicken with lime/guava glaze are on deck.

Always looking for new ideas, so don't be shy about sending in suggestions!

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Weekly Menu--New Year & New Recipes

1/7/2013

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Cleaned out the recipe/market research drawer

Most of us have been eating pretty heavy over the holidays. So I've made dinners for the first full week of back to work/school purposefully lighter and included new recipes from the New Year's magazine purge.

Here's what we are eating this week. As a bonus, we are meatless TWICE. Not a lot of links yet, but will be posting the new recipes later this week.

Meatless Monday
Tofu Stir Fry.
I tried it awhile ago with mixed results (see link and ugly photo). The original recipe is a beef stir-fry. However, over our recent vacation, we drove through Coalinga, CA, location of the endless field of Definitely-NOT-Free-Range-and-Not-Very-Likely-Grass-Fed cows. Thus, we are eating tofu.

Almost Meatless Tuesday
Corn Chowder, Take 3. This time using the combination of my mother-in-law's, Tyler Florence and the Barefoot Contessa, all people with serious cooking chops.

Wednesday
Chicken with onions, red peppers and maybe the rest of the snap peas from Monday. With a guava-lime glaze, from a Bon Appetit magazine, circa 2000. The original recipe is for kebabs, but it's winter, so it'll be baked. Complemented by My Very Own Namasu and rice.

Thursday
Greek Tuna Pasta Salad. Pasta tossed with cukes, red peppers, red onions, feta cheese, tuna, kalamata olives, and a little red wine vinegar. Genius! I should have thought of this years ago.

Definitely Meatless Friday
Tomato Tart, using puff pastry and fresh tomatoes. Blah-blah winter tomatoes go rah-rah when roasted with their friends garlic, onions and parmesan cheese. This should be good.

Happy New Year. Looking forward a great year. Any good resolutions for 2013?

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Fun Finds for a Happy New Year

1/2/2013

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Absolutely addicting

We have been eating all manner of yummy stuff, and finding some mighty interesting non-food items as well. Some new, some old favorites. Here is a sampling of notable items for the year of the Snake!

Li Hing Kettle Korn
A friend saw this at a craft fair and gave it to us. My children and I fought over it. The package was gone in an afternoon. My birthday is coming up and this would make a fabulous gift. Based in Alameda, California. Click here for their website.

Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Pretzels.
Another sweet/salty/crunchy snack. Available at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but only during the holidays.

My Aunty's Snowballs
Buttery sugary melt-in-your mouth cookies. We are lucky enough to get these every year. Perfect with coconut-flavored coffee. Or any coffee.

Its It
Santa left me an empty Its It box in my stocking. At first I thought that I was definitely on the not-nice list. However, I discovered three new-in-package Its Its as I was searching for some chicken to thaw. Back on the nice list!

Mantra for 2013

Moleskine Star Wars Planner 2013
I am old-school, write-it-in-pen-on-paper for keeping my life in order. I usually get a feng shui datebook from my husband or other very kind business-traveling friends at the Shanghai Tang store in the Hong Kong airport. This definitely falls into the "very difficult to find" category.

So for 2013, it's Moleskine Star Wars version. 20% off at the local Kinokuniya bookstore too! Click here for locations in the US. Be advised that the US Kinokuniya site still uses a lot of Japanese.

New Year's Chopsticks
This was a gift from a colleague who was on a business trip to Japan. Highlights each of the four seasons.

Not to eat with, but just to look pretty, and to remind you of the change of seasons.

Zodiac Animal New Year's Mochi
Japanese tradition celebrates the calendar New Year, not the lunar New Year. We will, of course, celebrate Lunar New Year next month on February 10th.

But for this week--Happy New Year of the Snake to all!

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Serious Food Packaging

What's Cooking This Week--One Thing at a Time

Kinda Homemade Tortilla Chips

What's Cooking This Week--America the Beautiful

Fun with Fish and Kochojang

Anarchy-laden Stuffed Kabocha

What's Cooking This Week--Gratitude

Results from New Recipes Week

Weekly Menu--New Year & New Recipes

Fun Finds for a Happy New Year

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