Category:

What's Cooking This Week--Empty Nest Cadence

7/24/2017

Can you see the pickle mango?

It feels good to get back into a rhythm of cooking again, but boy, is it an adjustment. Two middle-aged adults eat significantly less than a family of four with two metabolism-busting children. But the upside is that foraging works much better and with zero parent guilt! Here's what's cooking this week.

Foraging in the Fridge Monday
The last of Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry, tomatoes, bread and some cheese.

Grilling on Tuesday
Grilled Teriyaki Chicken and Yaki Corn. Short commute and Daylight savings means weekday grilling is in play!

Fish on Wednesday
Cornmeal Fish and My Daddy's Tartar Sauce. Note to self--tartar sauce, or some kind of condiment is a requirement. Plus salad.

Thursday Night with the 'Rents
La Paloma, a nice, homey, non-chain Mexican restaurant in Santa Clara. Another note to self--exercise extreme self-restraint on free AND unlimited chips and salsa.

Pie and new dishes. So fancy!

Friday is #MeatlessOneDay
Korean Mushroom Tofu, with bean sprouts and watercress from the Korean grocery, plus some kim chee and rice.

Bonus
A peach/raspberry pie and a boysenberry crumble pie from Avila Valley Barn Bakery. A convenient stop on the way back from Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. Their sandwiches are also quite good.

Can you believe August is next week?! Have a great week all.

0 Comments

Where in the World!? Quick Post from Close to Home

8/22/2016

1 Comment

Nearly FOUR long months have passed since I last blogged.

WTH happened?!

A lot of family milestones done and upcoming—happy, sad, and bittersweet. Lot of travel for work and for fun. A little bit of cooking in between.

There is plenty to back-chronicle, but while it’s fresh—let’s get started with dinner at Din Tai Fung.

Last night, after booking a month in advance, the ohana was seated at the full-of-fanfare world-famous, Michelin-star restaurant. First off, score one for the service. Fast, clean, friendly, and helpful without being intrusive. Water and tea filled regularly and quickly, and steamer baskets streamed in and cleaned up at regular cadence.

They are are world-famous for xiao long bao, or soup dumplings. We had two orders of pork xiao long bao and one pork/crab. As a nice touch for those of us who are seriously allergic to crab, they even mark the dish with a little crab made from wonton skin.

LOVE the way they help out those with allergies!

Perfectly made, every time.

Three important pieces of advice.
#1 Put them on the spoon. There really is soup inside.

#2 Do not take a big bite. You will burn your tongue, splatter soup all over, and the rest of your table will mock you. Loudly.

#3 Nibble off the top and allow the soup to flow onto the spoon.

They do not disappoint. How they get actual soup into the dumplings is like WIlly Wonka secret stuff for dim sum.

There are six in an order. With five of us, and there was none of the usual “Let’s be good Asians and leave the last one.” We gobbled up every last one.

The other food is pretty darned good too. We had noodles with spicy sesame sauce, Shanghai rice cakes with chicken, wonton soup, sticky rice and pork shao mai. And dessert. Definitely stay for dessert. We had sweet taro xiao long bao (again six in an order, but not broth), black sesame bao (individually ordered, and we all had our own).

At tad pricey at $120 (including tax and tip), and we had absolutely no leftovers. We would definitely consider going again—food is very, very good, and the restaurant is super-duper clean right down to the bathrooms. It is ideal to go in a group of 6 because the orders come in 6s, and then you can try different things.

That said, a friend of ours has mentioned a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in the ‘burbs that has soup dumplings that we may try, but Din Tai Fung did indeed live up to the hype.

1 Comment

What’s Cooking This Week—Home Sweet Home

2/28/2016

0 Comments

Lavender and statice from the less messy yard!

After a lot of travel, I’m happy to stay close to home for the next few months! This gives us a chance to clean up our yard/garden. We were starting to look like the abandoned house where the crazy cat lady lives. No longer! Now it's only the messy house that should hire a gardener.

And as bonus, I found some flowers!

And instead of weekend binge-cooking, we're going with meals that make me happy to be at the table and in the kitchen.

Sit-down Dinner Sunday
Roast chicken and bacon/Asiago bread stuffing (swapped bacon for Portuguese sausage) and a green salad. I originally wanted to make the bacon sourdough stuffing (original link here, but I made some serious modifications) from Thanksgiving, but forgot that it needs and apple and kuri. However, stuffing, like fried rice, is very forgiving. Hard to go awry with a little cured meat, a little onion, spices, and a starch.

Hockey Night Monday
We have been big fans of Nick the Greek in downtown San Jose. Now one is closer to us!! We stood in line for free food for their soft opening last Thursday, where they get the kinks worked out on their food lines. I’m happy to pay it for real this week. Just remember that if you are lucky enough to go to an opening where there is free food, it is good manners to at least leave a tip. The entire household is happy that Nick is in the neighborhood!

Happy Meal

#Leftovers Roulette Tuesday
Leftover Kalua pig and cabbage over hot rice, and yes, there will be another egg too.

Wednesday
Dinner by oven. Mayonnaise chicken, roasted cauliflower, and a green salad.

Thursday
Oyako donburi. Full disclosure is that the husband makes this 99.9% of the time, and it is one of the few things he will make without measuring. I LOVE the simplicity of this and it tastes like happiness and home in a bowl—eggs, onions, chicken, shoyu and hot rice.

Friday is #MeatlessOneDay
Black bean burger (from Cooking Light), in pitas with Sriracha sauce, mayo and salad greens. It 'feels' burger-ey and the panko makes it crunchy without adding too much filler. Also works as a cheeseburger.

Have a good week all!

0 Comments

Bay Area Birdie's Food Faves

7/12/2015

0 Comments

Editor's Note
With even more summer travel to see our Midwest Ohana and the small mammal college mascot tour (wolverine, badger and wildcat), native-Californian Birdie #1 offers a guest post on the "Hella-good" things that a (South) Bay Area born-and-bred birdie craves.

When I come home, I like to go on The Grand California Food Tour, aka eating at all my favorite Bay Area places. Here are my neighborhood stops:

With grilled onions and fresh fries.

In-N-Out
Cheeseburgers, milkshakes, and fresh fries oh my! In-N-Out is junk food as its finest. As in watch them slice individual potatoes for fries. Their menu is simple, college-student-budget-friendly, and also includes an extensive “not-so-secret” menu, featuring a Neapolitan shake, animal style fries (fries smothered in cheese and sauce), and even grilled cheese for my anti-beef brother.

Yeah, I know this is technically a SoCal thing, but we have them in the Bay Area now, and it's what I come home for. Fast, fresh, and delicious.

Patrick Marleau and Steve Jobs = Pure Bay Area!

Ike’s Lair
Ginormous sandwiches named Go Sharks, Steve Jobs, and Matt Cain? Count me in!

Ike’s sandwiches are heavy and filling, and come with a caramel-apple lollipop for dessert. Even my perpetually hungry brother can only eat a single sandwich in one sitting, and the rest of us manage between a half and a third and call it a meal. They have plenty of meat options, and the vegan meat is AWESOME. Steve Jobs, Go Sharks and Going Home for Thanksgiving are household favorites.

Note that Ike's closes promptly at 7PM so plan ahead. It's still very much the suburbs, after all.

Serious caffeine

Philz Coffee
This is the place that started my coffee obsession. You can customize your brew based on its flavors and caffeine level. And when I say flavors, I really mean you can taste the difference between each type of coffee. The reigning household favorite is Jacob’s Wonderbar.

Be warned that Philz’s coffee is highly caffeinated, and even the least caffeinated brews have been known to give this birdie jitters. And counter-intuitively, the lighter roasts are the most most c-c-c-caffeinated.

Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria
Why would you eat at an East Coast pizzeria on the West Coast? Because it’s delicious, that’s why. Amici’s has more different kinds of toppings than at any college pizza place I know. Household favorites include: eggplant pizza (aptly named "Boston"), Manhattan clam, and the Milano.

Mama Birdie’s Kitchen
If you’re reading this blog, you know why I’ve missed eating with my Ohana. There really is no place like home.

0 Comments

What's Cooking This Week--A full and noisy house!

5/18/2015

0 Comments

May's reward for 10ft of snow in six weeks.

May is one of those months that is full of transition and possibilities.

Birthdays, Mother's Day, Proms, AP exams, graduations, Bay to Breakers, moving out, summer programs and summer-to-maybe-full-time jobs.

Our cooking has has been a little jumbled, so I've cobbled together a weekly menu based on our last few weeks of just life.

I was lucky to go back to Boston for "Finally Spring" that was complete with beautiful weather and a tennis court that was still piled to the top of its fences with "Old Snow" (Which looks like a BIG Pile of Dirt. But it's snow)

Thanks for hanging with us!

#LeftoversRoulette is Monday
My Very Own Chili. One of the things we can still depend on is Freezer Mondays. Thank goodness.

Kim Chee Pork Happiness

Tuesday
Kim Chee Pork. We finally figured this out and have a picture to boot. In this particular incarnation, I also added a little it of spinach since we had some leftovers.

Wednesday is #MeatlessOneDay
Panini. Roasted tomatoes with early eggplant, cheese, pesto, red peppers with provolone and chipotle gouda.

Thursday
15-minute fish for volleyball and with a better picture.

Friday is also #LeftoversRoulette
We have had Mother's Day and a Birthday, so we can pick between Curry House and Bourbon Steak at Levi's Stadium.

Life is good. Have a good week all!

0 Comments

The Next Big Thing Is Not a Phone

6/27/2014

1 Comment

EDITORIAL NOTE: Baby Birdie tried this out and converted us!

Don't eat the yellow snow.

First it was Asian-style sweet-tart frozen yogurt. Then pearl (eyeball) drinks, with mochi ice cream and fancy-shmancy macarons trending around as well.

The Current Big Thing taking the Bay Area by (snow)storm: Shaved snow from SnoZen.

I was skeptical when I first heard about this. After all, how can anything top shave ice? But try a coconut snow with mochi balls and black sesame condensed milk. You might not be converted, but you can definitely make room in your icy heart for it.

Shaved snow is the creamier cousin of shave ice, and is made by shaving flavored frozen milk. It is richer than shave ice, but much lighter than ice cream. It’s almost like someone took milk tea, froze it, and shaved it into frozen ribbons.

There are a wide variety of flavors, ranging from the tried and true, like vanilla and chocolate, to the more adventurous, such as Vietnamese Coffee or Thai Tea. But the flavors are just half the fun.

You can also get standard frozen yogurt mix-ins--fresh fruit, mochi balls, or brownie bits, as well as drizzle, such as chocolate syrup or condensed milk. Unlike shave ice, which I prefer purist--ice and syrup only, accessorizing is half the fun of shaved snow.

Baby Birdie maxxed out on snow all winter, but we all will definitely keep eating shaved snow this summer. The favorite store so far is SnoZen, although Snowflake Tea House looks good Yelp and Ohana-er AC recommends Red Hot Wok as well.

Ohana--tell me your favorites!

Taro snow with mochi balls and strawberries

Chocolate snow with strawberries and mochi balls

Taro snow with black sesame condensed milk and coconut jelly. LOVE!

1 Comment

Weekend Holo-Holo

6/1/2014

1 Comment

Telling all my friends!

Caveat--this is the suburbs, so exciting is relative.

Beside the new Safeway selling tilapia poke, I finally got around to trying Philz Coffee to find out what all the blah-blah-blah is about.

$3 bucks for an individually brewed cup of coffee exactly how you like it. But how do you know what you like? I asked (much to my child's embarrassment), "What do I do?" The very well-trained human coffee-maker explained that there are dark, medium, light and decaf roasts and to pick the flavor that sounded best.

There are about 20 different flavors and I eliminated the ones that promoted themselves as earthy, smoky, charcoal and woody. I also learned that counter-intuitively, the darker roasts have the least amount of caffeine.

I chose the dark roast Jacob's Wonderbar which boasts "chocolate and nuts with no acid or bitterness" Am I dating or ordering coffee?!

My child, who is of legal and more importantly, parental-approved coffee-ordering age, had a dark roast Turkish, which is brewed with cardamon seeds and comes with a sprig of mint.

OK. This is a seriously, seriously good cup of coffee. The best $3 I've spent on coffee. Go to Philz Coffee.

What is the allure of 85 degrees C?

I'm not sure.

It is nice to have fresh warm bread, which comes out at a steady cadence along with a enthusiastic holler of "ferrr-esh bread!" It is a pretty typical Asian-style bakery. Based on that alone, I prefer Kee Wah Bakery or Satura Cakes.

85 degrees C is so named not for the bakery, but because it is the optimal temperature at which to serve coffee. So I could be missing out on the strength of the place. Some very reliable food-friend sources have told me that the guava smoothies are quite good and they have an assortment or fancy Asian-style coffee and tea drinks.

What say you Ohana-ers?

1 Comment

What's Cooking This Week--Finding My Inner Ohm

4/8/2014

0 Comments

From the terra cotta army

Yes, I'm working for a technology company, but my inner Ohm has nothing to do with v = i*r (voltage = current * resistance). It has do to with trying to be purposeful in a chaotic, everything-is-important-and-urgent-and-business-critical. This 2,000+ year old set of mindful hands reminds me to pause and Ohm.

Meatless Monday
Business lunch leftovers from Dish Dash, specifically the Sambusak Vegetarian, which is a mix of spinach, mushrooms, almonds and feta baked into filo dough with a spicy tahini sauce.

A good value at $11.95 for 3 big tart-like things. Hummus and babghanouge (their spelling) are also quite good.

Hot Tuesday
Even though it is supposed to be 90 degrees out, My Own Chili will be nice to come home to. We've had vegetarian and faux-Zippy's for the past few times, but I'm in the mood for this one.

Wednesday
Chicken Salad Sandwiches using Costco Chicken. Because there are days when you have six meetings in one day. Ohm boy.

Thursday
Chicken Divan, with the leftover chicken from the day before.

Fish on Aloha Friday
Ex-pat ahi poke. A few of my friends are vacationing in Maui this week. This is as close as we can get for now.

Have a good week all. We'll see how far my inner Ohm can go.

0 Comments

Shopping on a Lazy Sunday

3/30/2014

4 Comments

We took a little food shopping jaunt. Love the variety of three grocery stores within three miles of each other. So we can eat pretty much whatever we want.

Sticky rice, potstickers and siu mai.

Ranch 99 Dim Sum. Jut remember to say "char siu bao." Note to Hawaii ex-pats: if you ask for manapua, pork hash or gau gee, you will get you funny looks. At 3 pieces for $2.40 it's a bargain.

Whole Foods for granola components. This time, coconut, almond and dried raspberries. Plus some vivaloe drinks for good measure and some fresh green onion bread.

Marukai for curry, yakisoba and Japanese soda. And a goggle at the daily sashimi. Ahi and hamachi looked good. Tilapia, not so much.

Finally a bonus trip to Satura cakes. This may be my new favorite foo-foo bakery. So far we've had soleil, which is a kind of chocolate cake that even I will eat, Earl Greay tea cake, matcha cake, verrine sesame, and red velvet cake.

Enjoy the weekend!

"Tilapia" and "Sashimi" should not be used in the same sentence. Ever.

Granola fixin's and aloe juice. Check.

Ume soda. Plus apple, orange and yuzu.

This is a great new discovery!!

Red velvet, matcha, Soleil and Earl Grey.

4 Comments

What's Cooking This Week--Birdie Food

3/16/2014

0 Comments

Blue skies and temperate Bay Area spring weather bring birdies back for the spring. At least this time. We are enjoying all birdies back in the nest this week.

And we are eating their favorites.

Bonus Sunday
Curry House, which is having a promotion and one of entire household's go-to places. Our favorites include 1) Super Hot Katsu Curry 2) Deluxe Katsu Curry 3) Kinoko and Kaiware pasta, which has no curry 4) Also-curry-less Chili Shrimp and Spinach 5) Keema Curry with a soft-boiled egg and 6) Chicken and Ginger curry. Yes, there are fewer than six people in our family. But we like this place. A Lot.

Meatless Monday
Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. No char siu, no kamaboko, but yes on the scrambled eggs

Oyako donburi. Simple. Homemade.

Tuesday
Oyako Donburi. There is nothing fancy about this meal. It's just happy comfort food.

Wednesday
Zippy's Chili, for when you are far away. One of the birdies did not get to go to Hawaii this time, so we bring Hawaii here.

Thursday
Ramen with Japanese char siu, green onions, kamaboko and kim chee. For this, I just buy the refrigerated noodles and then doctor the shiru base. Or Orenchi if we can get there early enough.

This is not dorm food. But it should be!

Fish on Friday
Fish Jun with Kochojang Sauce. University Food Services, please take note: tilapia is not really a fish.

We will enjoy this week because it will go fast.

Aloha all!

0 Comments

<<Previous

What's Cooking This Week--Empty Nest Cadence

Where in the World!? Quick Post from Close to Home

What’s Cooking This Week—Home Sweet Home

Bay Area Birdie's Food Faves

What's Cooking This Week--A full and noisy house!

The Next Big Thing Is Not a Phone

Weekend Holo-Holo

What's Cooking This Week--Finding My Inner Ohm

Shopping on a Lazy Sunday

What's Cooking This Week--Birdie Food

about

categories

archives