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What's Cooking This Week--The New Normal

8/28/2013

It has fruit therefore it has become breakfast.

One less person at the dinner table is the new normal. So far, Chili Cheese Fritos and a humongous piece of red velvet cake seem to help me to get used to this.

So the new normal better happen fast.

But the new normal is also one person at the dining commons making friends, chatting about where they are from, what classes they are taking and perhaps even engrossed in a Very Serious Discussion About Very Important Ideas.

This will happen fast too.

Practically speaking, who knew one fewer teenager would mean tons more leftovers. They last two days instead of one! I even got a bite of something before it was inhaled.

Meatless Monday
Tomatoes on garlic asiago cheese bread toast with fresh basil. Summer at its finest and no stove or oven.

Tuesday
Christine's Clam Chowder. We are not in New England, but we can pretend we are.

Wednesday
Crock Pot BBQ Pork Sliders. And freezing the leftovers, almost unheard of!

Thursday
Furikake Kale Chips, a Sriracha sauce riff on Mayonnaise Chicken, and rice. How can this not be good?

Friday
Birdie in the Nest's Favorite Takeout. Amici's Milano for Birdie and Boston (oh the irony!) for me.

Aloha to all and here's to the new normal, on both coasts.

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What's Cooking This Week--Aloha Oe

8/19/2013

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Our birdie is ready to fly

This is the week you have 18 years to prepare for. And it's not enough. My moms' group concurs. We are all going to be messy, middle-aged (-ish) piles of mixed emotions.

My beloved birdie #1 is flying out. Flying 2,000+ miles, yet our birdie assures us that the distance has nothing to do with us. However, for the record, most of the schools that said birdie applied to were at least 400 miles away. And one was in another country.

We're eating birdie's choice this week. But even that won't sway the inevitable. Besides mixed-plate emotions, here's what's cooking this week.

Not Meatless Monday
Kim Chee Pork, rice and Okinawan sweet potatoes

Meatless Tuesday
Almost Alfredo Pasta. It's amazing that this uses no cream and non-fat milk.

Countdown Wednesday
Zippy's Chili (when you are far away). With rice, cheddar cheese and Fritos. No Hawaii this summer, so this is the next best thing.

Thursday
Thai Chicken Curry. All of her favorite things.

Aloha Friday.
Truly This Is It. Out to dinner at birdie's choice.

Extras--Favorites and Comfort Food
Vanilla Tapioca Pudding
Ginger Sugar Cookies
Black sesame and assorted Ben and Jerry's ice cream
Chili Cheese Fritos, which is how this mother will self-medicate.

Good luck to all the birdies who are flying off in the next month or so, and the parents who will watch them go.

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What's Cooking This Week--Whoa Wednesday!

8/14/2013

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What, Wednesday already?! As most of you know, I've taken on a Full-Time Professional Job. For which I commute to an office, five days a week. While I had been working full-time as a consultant, working as a full-time employee is Not The Same Thing.

Thankfully, the family has proven to be resilient and supportive of this opportunity, even though we are eating much later, and sometimes planning retroactively.

Leftovers transformed

Meatless Monday
Stuffed tomatoes, playing leftovers roulette. We had a bunch of tomatoes and a few basil leaves. We always have rice, so we cored out the tomatoes, cooked the rice with the tomato guts and basil, then mixed it with Parmesan cheese. Stuffed it back into the tomatoes and baked it til the rice got browned and a little crunchy.
This needs a little work, but it is definitely on the right track.

Tuesday
Crispy roast pork from the Marina Market, rice and green beans. Easy and not quite takeout.

Wednesday
Japanese Chicken Curry. Won't taste like Japan, but won't be an 8 hour plane ride that requires ordering in a foreign language either.

Leftovers Thursday
My Daddy's Killer Fried Rice using the leftover roast pork, leftover green beans from Tuesday and any leftover onions or carrots from Wednesday. Everything about fried rice makes me happy.

TGI Friday
I fully appreciate this phrase again. Panini with apricot jam, brie, turkey, strawberries and arugula. It sounds weird and almost hideous. It's going to be good.

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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Homage to Hiroshima--August 6, 1945

8/5/2013

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Hiroshima is, well, complicated for this sansei. My Japanese relatives survived Hiroshima, hiding in the hills until the black rain stopped. My Hawaii relatives were questioned by the FBI agents and witnesses to Pearl Harbor, and some of my more distant relatives were sent to internment camps. Nobody won. Everybody lost.

It was fitting that Hiroshima was the first city we visited in Japan. While everyone makes the intellectual and historical association with Hiroshima, current and past Hiroshima hits you in the gut.

Hiroshima Ground Zero. Then and now, a hospital.

At 8:15 AM on August 6, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Hiroshima.

I learned that the atomic bomb itself exploded 600m above the city. This was done to cause maximum damage with three forces: concussive, heat and radiation.

Hiroshima doesn't hide its past and the sadness is bottomless. Words really do fail to describe the enormity and severity of devastation of that day.

We walked around the Atomic Dome, the Children's Peace Monument and the various markers for elementary, middle and high schools and the hypocenter (see left), places that were simply obliterated in seconds.

But the ordinary human reminders are what connects your soul to the sheer destruction and very personal grief. At the Hiroshima Peace Museum, we saw pocket watches, burnt school uniforms, charred lunchboxes, glass bottles that melded together from the heat, and dribbles of black rain on concrete. You feel lost and loss.

Yet instead of wallowing in bitterness or seeking revenge, modern Hiroshima is a vibrant city. Of the entire trip, we had the best ramen in a little shop across from our hotel, and the people were friendliest.

The retail-therapy-oriented female segment of our little tour discovered Shu Uemura availability, Uniqlo and that sizes in Japan are *perfect* if you are a small form-factor Japanese American girl. And we all realized the ubiquity of Hello Kitty and Anpan Man.

Multi-story department store

Anpan Man with Child

Tanabata

On this day, we honor Hiroshima. We celebrate its resilience and grace. And do our small part to ensure that this is never, ever repeated.

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What's Cooking This Week--Summer Tomatoes

8/4/2013

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Celebrating Summer!

Finally, the summer tomatoes are in! Sweet 100s and the Early Girls are the most reliable, but in the Bay Area, all manner of warm, sweet tomatoes abound. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday
Sometimes, we like the comforts of "little kid" pasta. A simple meal of wagon wheels pasta with store-bought pesto, Parmesan cheese and roasted homegrown Sweet 100 cherry tomatoes.

To be eaten outside. Aaah summer, even on a Monday.

Tuesday
Vietnamese grilled pork, sliced tomatoes with a shot of balsamic vinegar, edamame and rice. Finally a new recipe from that fancy place known as the Inn Ternet.

Wednesday
Tacos with no mix. Fresh tomatoes, or fresh tomato salsa if we get our act together.

Definitely Not Kosher Thursday
BLTs and BLC&T panini sandwiches. Because there are those days when you just need bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. With sharp Cheddar cheese. At the same time.

Fish on Friday
Sick and Wrong Fish. We will miss Hawaii this summer, so Hawaii food needs to come to us.

Feels like summer. Tastes like summer. Have a great week!

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What's Cooking This Week--The New Normal

What's Cooking This Week--Aloha Oe

What's Cooking This Week--Whoa Wednesday!

Homage to Hiroshima--August 6, 1945

What's Cooking This Week--Summer Tomatoes

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