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What Really Is Cooking This Week

10/22/2013

This week, we aim for homey-food, even with one eating out day, and this is only because no one in the household can resist discount days at Curry House.

Here's what is cooking at home this week. No fancy-shmancy restaurants this week.

Meatless Monday
Almost Alfredo Pasta with arugula and sun-dried tomatoes. This was a bit leftovers roulette using leftover packets of Parmesan and Gruyere cheese from quiche last week.

Kaiware spaghetti from Curry House

Discount Tuesday
Taking advantage of 20% off coupon from Curry House, and one of us extended to meatless Tuesday. Our local Curry House is also next door to Kee Wah Bakery so I had to get some sponge cake and taro buns.

Wednesday
From Scratch Pork Loin made into sandwiches. With the rest of the arugula from Monday.

Thursday
Mediterranean Lamb Stir Fry, while string beans and red peppers are still in season.

Fish on Friday
Furikake Salmon, My Very Own Namasu and Rice. All-purpose Japanese dinner. Or breakfast.

I'm looking forward to some creativity cooking and extras this weekend too, including
Furikake Chex Mix so I can lay off the potato chips and bring some snacks into work.
Sticky Rice with Mangoes, just because
I also saw a 'recipe' for sweet potato chips that I may try with Okinawan sweet potatoes.

There's no place like home! Especially the kitchen.

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What Was Not Cooking Last Week

10/20/2013

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With a full-time job comes a rare week when eating out gets stacked up. While nice to sample various restaurants and there were lots of doggie bags this week, there's no place like home! I've included the Urban Spoon ratings if you decide to check these out. Just try not to go in the same week.

Meatless Monday
Quiche was the only home cooked meal this week. Good thing we made 2.

Safeway Tuesday
Fried Chicken, a loaf of bread and a bag of salad. Sometimes dinner just has to come in a bag. I tried hard to not to include the side order of mom-guilt.

Work Dinner Wednesday

If you like meat. Or chicken hearts.

If you a serious carnivore, Pampas could be the place for you. Beef 5 ways, pork, chicken, 2 kinds of lamb, 2 varieties of sausage, 2 types of chicken, turkey, and chicken hearts!) is a little overstimulating. Take your Lipitor if you go for it with the meat.

I really liked the lamb with garlic and mint and the grilled pineapple is FAB, but much prefer their 'sidebar,' which you can also order on its own. Calamari with peppers is a good appetizer that you can pair with the sidebar for a full and decidedly less meaty meal.

What Hawaii People Want to Eat on Thursday

Here is an example of how similarly Hawaii people can think about food. On the same night, my in-laws and my sister were taken to dinner at the Olive Garden, one in CA and one in Texas. Go figure.

This was the first time our family has eaten at the Olive Garden. To clarify, you cannot just drink water and eat free bread sticks and salad. To get the 'free' bread and salad, one must order an entree.

Group Dinner Friday

Heirloom panzanella

Another work group dinner. This time Lark Creek Blue in Santana Row. Many of my co-workers had either the beef or salmon and were quite satisfied.

I opted for meatless Friday with a very nice panzanella heirloom tomato salad and a side of macaroni and cheese.

After eating like that what have I been eating this weekend?

Chazuke, yogurt with nuts and raspberries (aka squirrel food), salad, Ramune popsicles (a discovery from Japan) tea and lots of water!

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What's (Been) Cooking This Week--Relatives' Choice!

6/12/2013

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Requested by my sister

We have LOTS of relatives visiting. Like the rest of our family, they are very opinionated on what they want to eat and do when they are here. Our (mid)-weekly menu reflects this.

Monday
Any Kine Quiche, with bacon, spinach, onions, mushroom, gruyere and a smattering of very sharp cheddar, as specifically requested by my sister. Plus Furikake Kale chips.

Tuesday
Curry House. Requested by recent high school graduate. Rest of the ohana was also very happy. Un-curry dishes are also quite good.

Wednesday
Carbonara Hironaka, requested by the constantly hungry faction of the household, who can eat carbs and suffer no consequences.

Thursday
Marie Callender's, answering a request for "American Food." Marie Callender's opened and closed in Hawaii, and never gained the popularity of the longstanding Anna Miller's. Satisfied the pot pie craving.

Friday
Purist Steaks, by request of the carnivorous segment of the household. Grilled with garlic, Hawaiian salt and pepper. Those who hold cow sacred are eating elsewhere on this day.

Congratulations graduates and welcome summer!

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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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What Was (Barely) Cooking Last Week

9/17/2012

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Hmm. When last I posted, I deliriously anticipated a speedy return to cooking after a couple of days. My kids cycled through this cold after a few days, why not me too? Then the reality of a middle-aged body with bad sinuses made itself very apparent.

One week later and still sniffling.

I've never been a fan of starving a cold or anything else, so we did not starve last week, thanks to takeout and my truly awesome husband. I've chose spicing out a cold and so here's what we ate last week.

Starve a cold? Nope.

Monday
Indian Pizza from Pizza Pub. Yes, we used a ValPak flyer, but it turned out pretty well. Indian pizza is more like putting the spicy Indian chicken dish of your choice (tandoori, tikka masala, paneer or butter) on a flat naan bread-like crust with onions, hot peppers and a little cheese. Not so much pizza as flatbread, with a nice differentiated crunch from both crust and veggies. Plus, it was temperature and spicy hot, just what stuffy noses needed. We will definitely try this again, and not just when we are sick.

Tuesday
Oyako donburi. Almost chicken soup and pure comfort.

The pork loin magic sauce

Wednesday
From-scratch Grilled Pork Loin. This is becoming a good go-to meal for especially hectic days. Start-to-finish in about 45 minutes, including marinating time.

Thursday
Kalua pig and Kim chee fried rice. We had leftover kalua pig, snow peas, shredded carrots and rice. Add an onion and kim chee for another meal of spicy comfort food.

Friday
Sandwiches from Ike's Lair, Cupertino. IF hockey season ever gets started, this will likely replace our beloved Togo's. Gasp, there I said it. Why? A great value, a lot of vegetarian and vegan sandwiches, and seriously amazing Dutch crunch bread. Our favorites, #19 Home for Thanksgiving: turkey with Havarti, cranberry sauce and sriacha; Steve Jobs: eggplant with pesto and provolone and #6 Hot Momma Huda: Halal chicken, Frank's Red Hot Sauce, ranch and provolone. Four sandwiches will run about $40, but you will have enough for at least two meals.

I would also like to thank the cyber-ohana for all of your kind words and cold remedy suggestions! Hearing from you all was good medicine indeed. I am on the mend!

Eat Well. Be Well.

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On Being a Lady Who Lunches

5/14/2012

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When my mother visits, she is On Vacation. She doesn't cook and gets taken places. It's a fair trade for a lifetime of cooking for at least 7 people on a near-daily basis. A vacation day consists of a morning outing, lunch and an afternoon nap. Here is where the Lady Who Lunches has eaten, so far.

Tofu House in Santa Clara
My mother is IN LOVE with this place. So much so that she has asked, every day since, when we can go back. It's charming and quirky. For starters, all of the chairs have split-open tennis balls on the bottom of their legs so that they 1) don't scratch the floor and 2) don't make noise. I know you have all seen this done with Senior-citizen walkers, and it's quite a sight when all the chairs are wearing tennis ball shoes.

Tofu House offers a variety of hot stone bowl tofu soup, plus Korean bbq and bibimbop. All can be made in a variety of spice levels (from no-spice, which Mom likes, all the way to holy stinkin' hot) and come with an assortment of kim chee, vegetables and a dish of purple rice.

It's just good homey food, served by people who are happy to be there. The manager is an infectiously happy Korean gent who hands you a stick of melon gum and thanks you personally as you leave. Since it was close to Mothers Day, he "secretly" gave my mom and her friend a whole pack of gum each, and told them how happy he was that they tried the restaurant. Is it any wonder my mother is in love?

Lunch with Rodin--Cool Cafe @ Stanford Museum
A small cafe tucked into the rarefied air of the Stanford Museum. The menu is primarily salads and sandwiches with mostly organic ingredients from local farms and dairies. A mushroom burger with Point Reyes bleu cheese was tasty and just the right size, but really, it's the ambiance of eating next to the Gates of Hell, with nary a tennis ball-clad chair in sight.

Kitsho Japanese Restaurant
The dingy exterior, plus the crinkly hand-printed sign that reads "Do not put important items in your car, such as wallets computers...windows have been broken" does not instill confidence.

But my in-laws and my mom swear by Kitsho. For more traditional Japanese fare, this is the place. Miso eggplant, fish and sushi are all excellent. My mom declared the miso soup and "shiru" (broth) for udon to be top-notch.

Oryza @ Valley Fair
Last, but definitely not least. Mom and I just had lunch at Oryza in Valley Fair. It's called "Bistro Asiana" and for our lunch it was good, mostly Thai Food. At about $8-10 each, the lunch specials are a great alternative to the Cheesecake Factory or CPK if you need to fuel up when shopping.

However, the service here is AWESOME. They gave us a wheelchair-friendly table. They were attentive and just plain kind. Mom wanted to try a curry with kabocha but wasn't sure she could tolerate a spicy curry. Without being asked, the server brought out a small sample of the pumpkin curry to her to try. It's delicious. However, she decided the pumpkin curry was too spicy, and settled on a mild yellow curry. When the chef heard this, he added kabocha to the yellow curry. Mom was thrilled and thoroughly enjoyed the entire lunch. Yellow curry (plus pumpkin) and a shared green papaya salad. I would happily go there again, simply because they were so kind.

And what do Ladies who Lunch have for dinner? Leftovers, so look for a delayed weekly menu.

Eat Well. Be Well.

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Forward>>

What Really Is Cooking This Week

What Was Not Cooking Last Week

What's (Been) Cooking This Week--Relatives' Choice!

What's Cooking This Week--America the Beautiful

What Was (Barely) Cooking Last Week

On Being a Lady Who Lunches

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