I’m doing my best to focus on the positive during these days of pandemic uncertainty. Collectively, we seem to be doing a lot of panic shopping, hysteria cooking and doomsday prepping. The upshot is many of us are cooking, experimenting and trying new things in the kitchen. Hell, I’ve found more recipes for sourdough starter than I’ve seen in my lifetime.
One of my clearest adolescent food memories is my dad’s chicken adobo. I remember eating the unofficial national dish of the Philippines when I was in high school, often times every other week. After high school, I didn’t eat chicken adobo for years. I had reached my allotment.
Well hello. It’s been a minute (or five months)! With this being the first full week of the year, I conducted a 2018 postmortem; a time to reflect on the past year both personally and professionally. Continue reading twix bar, circa 2019→
For me, summertime in the Pacific NW is a time to celebrate the bounty of fruits and veggies. This is the time of year when beautiful fruit and veggies from local farms, farmers markets and our own gardens are abundant. Continue reading Summer Salad of 2018→
I recently had the wonderful experience of catering a yoga retreat. Overall it was a lot of recipe testing, shopping, prepping and of course, cooking. I’m so grateful to my friend Erin, who asked me to collaborate with her retreat. I proved to myself that I could pull it off, and in the process, I met some lovely ladies.
Soup season is in full force at my house. Lately I’ve been constantly testing, making and slurping new soups to see what will make the cut, and end up a permanent resident in my collection. Continue reading Lemon Carrot Cauliflower Soup→
It’s been awhile, to say the least. But I’m still here. I’m working and cooking and chicken parenting. The blog has been sorely neglected, but I’m back. Continue reading world peace in cookie form→
It’s stone fruit season, which means I’ve started going overboard with all things cherry. It seemed like a good idea at the time to buy a 20-pound box of cherries with my friend. Do you know what 20 pounds of cherries look like? It’s A LOT! Needless to say, I’ve been churning out a lot of cherry-based recipes in my kitchen these days.
A happy consequence of spending time with my mother-in-law is continuing to learn her recipes. During my last few visits to the Bay Area, I had zha jiang mian on my brain. It’s what I consider to be Chinese comfort food. My husband loves it, my brother-in-law makes it regularly for my nieces, who love it, we eat it at family gatherings, and everyone loves it. Zha jiang mian is universally loved in the family. Continue reading learning chinese cooking from the best: zha jiang mian→
I recently spent some time in California in my mother-in-law’s kitchen. Her kitchen is a familiar place for me. Prior to moving to Portland two years ago, I spent a lot of time in my mother-in-law’s kitchen. It’s in that kitchen that we would stand side by side and I would make sure she was measuring everything she was making so I could properly document her dishes and turn them into written recipes. It’s in that kitchen that I learned so many of my husband’s family dishes. Continue reading tsui family’s spicy vinegar sauce→
exploration in the kitchen, and restaurants near and far.
planks and sticks 