Blog Archives

What's Cooking This Week--Squishy Food

3/23/2015

Where have I been? Not cooking or eating much for almost two weeks. Why, you ask?

I'm sorry to have inflicted this on my child.

Feeding My Ohana is now experiencing that time-honored rite of passage--orthodontia. Except I'm doing this as a middle-ager, instead of the more typical teenager.

You all know the caveats--no popcorn, caramel, hard foods, carbonated drinks, corn on the cob, nuts, apples, kaki mochi (a Very, Very Bad Idea, especially on day 3), and generally any crunchy food that gives life meaning.

On the plus side, middle-agers are of legal drinking age, and a good red is a very effective yet tasty way to manage pain.

I've decided to ROCK my two-tone Kate-Spade pink bands, rinse-n-floss, and keep on eating. So here's what's cooking this week.

Sunday Breakfast for Dinner
Todd's biscuits with sausage gravy and eggs. I ate these with butter, lilikoi jam and then the gravy. It sounds gross, but the sweet/salty thing works for me. And the combo softens the biscuits just enough.

#LeftoversRoulette Monday
The Mystery Tupperware held the last of the Chicken Tortilla Soup. Good to the last drop.

Tuesday
Japanese Chicken Curry. Warm, soft. Happy.

I've missed this. Time for a summer preview.

Wednesday is #MeatlessOneDay
Summer soba salad. One of my favorites from the summer menu.
I shall have to remember the rinse-n-floss drill after a noodles and arugula-filled dinner so I don't end up looking like Davey Jones reincarnated with a mouthful of green stringy stuff.

Thursday
Sick and wrong fish. This is a very satisfying dinner.

Friday
Ma-po Tofu
Husband is the stir-fry master and this can get cooked in 30 flat.

Extra-soft Extras
Edamame hummus with not-pita chips
Blueberry muffins
Beard Papa
Yogurt, lots of it
Yogurtland, avoiding particularly toffee and mochi add-ins
Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, avoiding Chunky Monkey
Harmless Harvest coconut water
Odwalla Strawberry C Monster, Mango Tango and Mo Berry
Matcha Love Houji-cha milkshakes

Have a good crunchy week all. Only 50 more weeks to go!

0 Comments

The Habit Burger--I Will Be Back

3/15/2015

0 Comments

Awhile back, I read an article on Corporate Intelligence called "Customer Disservice." It was about Loving Your Customers, and how quickly it could be to lose a customer. Forever. Or how really great service will cement loyalty for a customer. Also forever.

It's true, and I'm here to tell you it is alive and well at the Habit Burger in Sunnyvale. It is a burger joint, typically crowded, and full of teenagers who wanted this, no that, no this, oh yeah and for my friend over there, let me ask them...We ordered take-out, picked up and brought the order home.

Food was good and Grandma approved. Lots of non-cow options for that demographic of the household.

Then we realized that the milkshakes were not included. And at $6 (for 2 of them), it would be worth the drive back to get them. So we drive back there, with our receipt but an hour later, not knowing what to expect. We bring the receipt to the manager, explain we ate dinner at home first and then drove back to claim our shakes.

The manager apologized, and put our order at the front of the line. We were out the door, two tardy milkshakes in hand in about 3 minutes flat.

And we were very, very satisfied customers. The manager could have very easily said that we were too late, but he didn't. I don't know if every Habit Burger is this way, but we are loyal customers for good. I will gladly go back there now. And tell all my ohana about it too! Happy customers beget more happy customers.

0 Comments

What's Cooking This Week--Dinner by Costco

3/10/2015

2 Comments

Doctored ramen happiness

Beware and rejoice. There is a Costco that is very close to my new office. Never go there when you are hungry.

Since Monday, it has been dinner by Costco.

I bought a chicken, a bag of lettuce, a 4-pack of tortellini, a box of bok choy, a bag of Brussels sprouts, a dozen apples, blackberries and coconut water. Oh yeah, and a pillowcase-sized bag of Kettle Korn. Did I mention shopping when hungry? So in addition to Kettle Korn, here's what we are eating this week.

Rerun Monday
Hamachi and ahi (yes, again!) with bok choy and Marukai ramen. It was righteous!

Tuesday
Costco rotisserie chicken (still $4.99!), roasted asparagus, and romaine lettuce salad.

#LeftoversRoulette Wednesday
Plum sauce chicken wraps with some, with sliced apples on the side (which comes in a 12-pack)

#MeatlessOneDay will be Thursday
Costco Tortellini and pesto, with romaine lettuce.

With Love from Bacon Dinner Friday
Stuffing and roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon. The husband is the genius behind roasted Brussels sprouts. Toss 'em in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and (raw) diced bacon. Roast so that it is starting to get crispy. It's brilliant, and the bag of sprouts will be gone.

Bonus Saturday
Black bean sauce-stir-fried bok choy with the rest of the chicken tossed in at the end.

Spring forward we go!

2 Comments

Honors Research Thesis: Union Square Donuts

3/1/2015

0 Comments

Mahalo to my crackerjack food research team. Certain college students took the initiative to complete some comprehensive primary field research, studying more doughnuts from now-completely-frozen Boston.

Union Square Donuts is a small, fancy-shmancy doughnut shop in Somerville, MA. It is open Tuesday-Sunday, and closes at 3pm at the latest on the weekends, or when they simply run out of food.

People line up for doughnuts. Like down-the-block-in-30*F-weather-at-7AM-when-you-are-a-nocturnal-and-thin-blooded-college-student line up. They are that good.

They have a good selection of seasonal flavors, such as apple cider, and pumpkin pie, fancy flavors, like sea salted caramel, and butter roasted hazelnut, and “normal” flavors. I remind you that my team is nothing if not thorough. Like all good studies, they determined that vanilla bean was the control sample to ensure accurate comparisons to Revolution Doughnut in Atlanta.

All in the name of carbohydrate research.

Union Square donuts are a little heavier than Revolution Doughnuts and a LOT bigger. One Union Square donut is approximately the same size as a college student's face. These are meal-and-more donuts. The flavors are amazing, and there is a good ratio of frosting to pastry. The doughnut itself is not very sweet, and balanced out nicely by the frosting.

Vanilla bean was delicious, but not amazing; the real delicacies are the specialty doughnuts, such as maple bacon. So in other words, further testing is in order.

0 Comments

What's Cooking This Week--Squishy Food

The Habit Burger--I Will Be Back

What's Cooking This Week--Dinner by Costco

Honors Research Thesis: Union Square Donuts

about

categories

archives