My elementary school gal pals and I have a holiday gifting tradition of “hand-made” only. This was prior to Pinterest so we must’ve been poor high school students. I’ve stitched hearts onto fleece blankets, made mason jars full of mulled wine ingredients, boxes of matcha chocolate chip cookies with peppermint bark etc.
This year, I made fudge and cupakes.
Are you feeling sluggish and overwhelmed by holiday treats? Do you feel like it’s a never ending calendar filled with food dates? Me too.
I had a slight aversion to meat yesterday, after the family consumed a Christmas Eve feast and hot pot for Christmas day. Today I tried out a recipe I’ve had pinned for a while: Red Curry Noodle Soup.
My dad has always been extremely cautious about food safety, chemical additives, preservatives etc. When we were kids, we were scolded for having anything that had artificial colouring in it. The delicate thousand year old egg dishes, whether with smooth tofu as a side dish or diced up in congee, Anderson never ordered. “Too much lead,” he said.
This year, I spent Thanksgiving in Toronto. Like clockwork, the weather was amazing. The bluest of skies and fluffiest of clouds. This was my contribution to dinner.
Granted homemade baked chips are time consuming, but you don’t feel as bad eating them as you would store bought ones. (Still had a handful of pomegranate seeds after…)
Am I the only one that gets anxiety when I know my greens are slowly dying a dehydrated death in my fridge? This is usually when I make a MEGA SALAD, by throwing in all the veggies I’ve neglected in the past week.
A mega salad in my opinion is just whatever you have in your fridge and whatever you feel like eating. There’s no need for a recipe, just be a good fridge forager.
The few days before I went home to visit my parents for Thanksgiving weekend, I wanted Zha Jiang Mien. The last time I had it was ages ago. Knowing my own version would never be as good as Mother&Co.’s I asked if she could make it for me when I was at home.
(Our Thanksgiving meal deserves its own post entirely so…be hungry for it. #GloriousGlutton.)
Anyway, these noodles were hand pulled and individual portions were cooked by Mama in a double broiler type of pot. On top of the noodle, to add a different texture, Mom blanched bean sprouts. I personally added lots of cilantro (that was left over from Thanksgiving) and it was an excellent choice since it cut through the saltiness of the meat sauce and added another dimension of flavour.
The meat sauce is basically ground pork, tian mian jiang (aka sweet soy bean paste) and cooking wine.
I made a sandwich because I really wanted to eat Doritos.
Roasted chicken, turkey, havarti, red onion, sliced tomatos, romaine hearts, honey mustard, olive oil. On a toasted multi grain cibatta.
Sandwiches must be one of the first things I learned how to make as a kid. No knife or sharp objects needed. Void of the stove or any other dangerous appliances. Bread and whatever you want in the middle — pb&j, cream cheese, pb&honey, pb&banana or the assortment of meat. You know, kid flavours that didn’t involve the can opener. We used a butter spreader, rounded and kid safe, too.
Cooking and cleaning (and bringing feminism back 50 years) are things that put my mind on autopilot and help me focus on the task at hand. The dirtier the stove, the more enjoyment I get out of conquering that grease stain. Type As, ya get me?
Trying to catch the tail end of summer, I decided to make two simple dishes that just scream warm weather. You can have these alone or on the side. That night we had them with fish tacos.
