What’s the deal with ditzy New York journalists who spend a lot of money on expensive clothing and then get rescued by very rich men?
This is not my life AT ALL. Except for the part about debt. I got one of those.
Archive for November, 2009
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Dinner: Oden
Thursday, November 19th, 2009I guess I’m into winter mode: tonight I made oden, which is a traditional winter food. It’s like a stew, sort of. Or a soup. Kinda. In any case, it’s delicious and warms the belly.
The broth is made from soy sauce, dashi, and a sploosh of sake. Then boil some carrots, daikon, fish cake, konnyaku, kombu, taro, and hard-boiled eggs (peeled) into it. That is it. There are other things you can add, like various kinds of tofu. My mom used to put the spongy kind of tofu, but truthfully I always hated it so you’ll never get that in my version of oden.
It makes a huge amount of food, so this means I’m eating this day and night for the next few days. Not that I’m complaining. It’s delicious.
Anyone have any tips on how to get photos up here? I wish I could show you how nice it looks.
Are you a fan of Henry?
Thursday, November 19th, 2009Dinner: Gyoza
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009Some days call for comfort food from my childhood. Today was one such day. Gyoza, to the rescue! It’s basically a pork dumpling. And it’s pretty simple; my mom had us making them since I was quite young, assembly-line style.
The pork was from the farmer’s market, just under a pound of it. I added to it a bunch of chopped green onions, a tablespoon each of soy sauce and sesame oil, and some finely chopped garlic and ginger. Then I stuffed a little into a round wonton wrapper, making little pleats like my mom used to do. When I worked at Kobe, I made hundreds of them in a night, so I can make ‘em pretty fast now. I cooked half of them and froze the rest.
Then you pan fry them in a little oil to brown the bottom, then add a little water to steam the rest of it through. Served with a little vinegar soy sauce and rice– comforting!
Oh, I’ve basically given up on taking photos for a while. Sorry.
Dinner: Spaghetti
Saturday, November 14th, 2009I love spaghetti. It’s pretty much the best thing ever.
For last night’s dinner, I sauteed some mushrooms, garlic and onions, browned some sausage meat (Italian sausages, squeezed out of their casings), and added a bottle of tomato puree. A little salt, pepper, dried basil and a bay leaf, and the sauce was done. It’s so easy and simple. I just don’t understand why people buy pre-made sauces. This is so much better!
Thank you, Amy Poehler
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009For what she said at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards:
“Girls, if boys say something that’s not funny, you don’t have to laugh.”
Aaand, debate about gender and humour in 3…2…1…
Dinner Project: Perogies!
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009That’s right. I went straight into it, on my own, no Baba supervision. And you know what? It’s time consuming, but really very easy. The dough is made from 2 cups of flour, a teaspoon of salt, a half cup of sour cream, an egg, and a quarter cup of softened butter, cut up in pieces. I massaged it all together, then let the dough rest in the fridge for a bit.
The filling? I kinda just eyeballed it. Peeled and boiled a bunch of potatoes, then mashed then and added grated cheese to it until it tasted right. Then I rolled out the dough (I was at my sister’s place, so I had to use a wine bottle) and cut out rounds using a glass, then tucked in a ball of potato and pinched the edges together. On the advice of my friend Marek I also used a fork to really seal the edges. It looks pretty, too. You know the rest: throw ‘em in boiling water ’til they float, drain, fry in butter, serve with butter-fried caramelized onions, sour cream and bacon. Brilliant!
Sorry, still no photos. WordPress, why do you fail me? Take my word for it, though: they look like heaven. Pillowy good heaven.