One Good Thing

I was recently gifted a jar of strawberry jam.  Not your ordinary jar of jam.  INNA jam (get, it?  what a cute name) is the brain child of Dafna Kory.  The jam is her one good thing that has turned into a jam making empire.  Based in Berkeley, she makes deliveries on her bike (cool!). 

I am carrying the jar of seascape strawberry jam around with me...in case I want to eat it.  It is that good.  Just today, I had a bagel and an English muffin.  I don't know when I have equally dreaded and looked forward the end of something good. 

Made with simple, whole ingredients.  Organic, local, and made with love, you can taste it.

What is your one good thing?

Date Night

Now that the girls are older, I am more intent on squeezing in time with the Mr.  Recently, my youngest sister took the girls (yay for eemos!) and we got some much needed alone time.


It was late but we headed over to The Camp and walked into Ecco.

Very okay fried calamari with spicy tomato sauce.

Cherry Italian Soda - it was bubbly, creamy and had a nice cherry flavor - without reminding me of cough syrup.  Try replicating it at home.


3 tablespoon of Torani syrup
1/2 cup of milk, half and half or cream
club soda


In a large glass, add syrup and cream.  Mix.  Then top the cup with club soda.  Add lots of ice. Enjoy!

Dinner a la Sandra Lee

Frank Bruni wrote a really insightful op-ed piece in the nytimes today.  Look, I love Anthony Bourdain but every full time working mom knows that we need night off or at the least a night of semi-homemade cooking.  Here is one I learned from Trader Joes.

The goods from TJs.  You will also need salt, pepper, lemon juice and basil.


In a bowl, combine bruschetta, tuna (with olive oil), salt, pepper, lemon juice and chopped up basil.  Let it hang out...

Cook pasta and add to mixture.  Tada...

Knock yourself out!

Five Ingredients

Did you know there are thirty-eight ingredients in a Chicken McNugget?!?  So, don't do it!  Chicken nuggets/strips/tenders are so simple to make.  I make it about twice a month.  A good chicken tender recipe should really have no more than five ingredients and that is including the chicken! 


organic chicken tenders (buy them at trader joes)
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/2 C grated parmesan cheese
flour
eggs
(salt and pepper)


1.  Rinse your chicken.  Pat the pieces dry.
2.  Make your dredging station.  Pour some flour on to a plate, add salt and pepper.  Beat two eggs in a bowl, add salt.  Make a mixture of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese.  The secret to this dish is the cheese - it gives the chicken a tasty golden crust.  
3.  Dredge the chicken into the flour, dip it in the egg and coat the piece with the bread crumb mixture.
4.  Heat a frying pan and add olive oil.  Cook three minutes on one side; two minutes on the other.

I cool my chicken pieces on a cookie rack.  It keeps them nice and crunchy.

Mr. Yosemite

On our first date (at a McDonalds on the way to LAX - long story), John talked about his love for Yosemite.  I talked about my family's long history of going to Yosemite every year...year after year.  I was not a Yosemite enthusiast.  Little did I know, I was on the cusp of a life long partnership with Mr. Yosemite himself.

So, this is our second Yosemite trip this year.  This time around, we went with the entire family (save my youngest sister).  We rented a house at Bass Lake and drove into Yosemite.  I cannot remember the last time we saw Yosemite in its glorious and expansive entirety.  Tenaya Lake, Glacier Point, Olmsted Point, Mirror Lake, Yosemite Village, Yosemite Falls.  I felt very lucky to be there and I hope my kids learn to love it as "Our National Park."  

Lapoki at the foot of El Capitan. 

We have our Curry Village reservations for next Spring Break.  See you in April!

Pass It On - Yum

Simple, whole foods.  This is what I crave and Bubbies sauerkraut delivers!  Which is why the jar is more than half empty.  It has only three ingredients:  cabbage, artesian well water and salt.  It is vinegary (without the vinegar), slightly sweet (without the sugar) and crunchy.  It's a jar of wonder!  Plus, it is less offensive than kimchee and I can bring it to work.  I usually mix it in my brown fried rice bowl.

I buy mine at Whole Foods.  

Mid Summer Days

With the parents in town, we've been taking lots of little trips and exploring SoCal like tourists.

We found a semi private beach in Laguna.  It was quite a trek to get there but totally worth it.


How do you know you are old (read: ajuma)?  The first thing you do when you get to the beach is put up a big tent.

We spent the afternoon napping, playing in the sand, eating and reading.  On a related note, not a good idea to bring your kindle to the beach.  Fine grains of sand + Kindle = Trouble.

My mom painstakingly installing stairs in Kelly's sandcastle. 


La Jolla on a Monday.  

Lunch at George's at the Cove.

Halibut ceviche.  Tender pieces of fish with cubes of crunchy vegetables and creamy slices of avocado.  Perfect balance of texture and flavor.

Shrimp with couscous.  My dad's choice.

Spaghetti with clams.  My mom is a sucker for pasta.  Pasta cooked with a bit of bite left and fresh cooked clams.  

Sea bass wrapped in bacon with heirloom tomato and grilled corn.  It's wrapped in bacon.  Need I say more?


Love summer...

12 Years & Counting

The Mr. and I celebrated our 12th anniversary and in style.

In case it's too blurry, that's a $11.59 tab.  And in case you were wondering, it was my idea.

Off to the movies...

Reader, it was a good movie.  

I cannot remember the last time I could say that about a movie.  And can I just say two words:  Ryan Gosling.

Then I went home with my honey.  All in all, a very good anniversary indeed.

Summer Eats (Part III)

I love the nytimes food section.  Mark Bittman is the best!  His recipes incorporate whole foods, simple instructions and room to improvise.  


Arugula Pasta (adapted from The Minimalist) - Feeds 4
1/2 pound of spaghetti
1 bag of arugula 
2 cloves of garlic for sardines 
2 cloves of garlic for tomatoes
1 can of olive oil packed boneless sardines (trader joes sells these - for those of you who think you don't like sardines, try it.  they are really tasty.)
1 pint of cherry tomatoes (or the like)


1.  Set a pot of salted water to boil.
2.  Pour some olive oil into a small non-stick pan.  Add sliced garlic.  Add halved tomatoes.  Reduce heat and let it alone.  
3.  Pour in about 1/3 cup of olive oil in a large non-stick pan.  Add sliced garlic and let it sizzle.  Add sardines and saute with salt and crushed peppers.
4.  Cook pasta according to directions minus one minute of cooking time.  Add cooked pasta directly from the pot to the pan of garlic and sardines (reserving the pasta water).  If the pasta appears dry, add some reserved pasta water to the pan.
5.  Once the tomatoes have cooked down and thickened, pour mixture on top of the pasta.
6.  Lay down the arugula in a large serving dish.  Dump the pasta on top and mix.

When we eat a non-Korean meal like this, I am always tempted to bring out the kimchee.  But it just doesn't seem right.  So I settle for cornichons or dill pickles.  I recently made pickled moo.  This is a good compromise.  In Korea, this moo is traditionally served with fried chicken.  


Pickled Moo (adapted from a week of menus)
*a word of warning:  moo is stinky once it is pickled.  You have been warned.
1 medium sized Korean daikon or moo (korean daikon is different from japanese daikon - it is usually sold in Korean markets)
1 cup of white vinegar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of sugar
2 teaspoons of salt


1.  Cut up the moo into small cubes.
2.  Mix the vinegar, water, sugar and salt.  Make sure that the sugar is completely dissolved.
3.  Put the moo into a glass jar and pour the vinegar mixture over the moo.
4.  Wait 5-7 days and enjoy!

Summer Eats (Part II)

Here is an easy and yummy summer pasta recipe.  I got it from The Wednesday Chef (isn't that the best blog name ever?).


tomatoes
fresh mozzarella
garlic cloves
basil
1 pound of pasta
salt and pepper to taste


Boil water for pasta.  Cook pasta.


Get a large bowl.  Add olive oil and sliced up garlic.  Toss in some basil.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Let it sit for a bit.  


Add tomatoes - as many or as little as you like.  I know this is not an exact recipe but this is how I cook.  Which is also why I don't bake very often. 

Drain a pound of pasta but do not rinse.  Add it over the tomato mixture.  Chop of some fresh mozzarella and add it over the hot pasta.  The mozzarella will melt into the pasta.  Who doesn't like melted cheese!

Now, toss!  Enjoy!