Category Archives: Uncategorized

Overnight Yeasted Pancakes

I like to think of myself as a modern woman. I work full-time in a career chosen because of a personal passion and interest, travel as much as the bank account and schedule will allow, keep up-to-date on news and various happenings in the world, have cocktail time with girlfriends as well as dates with J (my husband) and am extremely self-reliant and independent. I mean, I may not have the shoe collection of Carrie Bradshaw or be a high powered attorney like Julia Braverman-Graham (Parenthood- just watch it, it is soooo good!), but I’d consider myself to be progressive and liberal woman.

I’m not sure if it is in spite of this or because of it that I also have a desire to be The Perfect Wife. Some of you may recognize or relate to this hypothetical scenario: wake up looking refreshed, have a hot breakfast prepared for you and hubby, have a productive and creatively rewarding day at work, return looking as dazzling as the moment you left the house and then cook a gourmet meal which you and the husband enjoy (with a nice bottle of wine) as the day winds down. Am I particularly proud to say I have this desire? Not really…it’s actually giving me an odd sense of guilt even typing this out, and you don’t even need to remind me that women with children- a group to which I do not belong- may struggle with the same wishes while juggling about a million times more responsibilities and pressures. Continue reading

Recipe: Simple, Humble Italian Stuffed Peppers

Oh Italy, why must you break my heart? We spent the loveliest of two weeks together- drinking wine, taking boat rides to Capri, feeding each other lemon profiterols and slurping linguine while gazing at the deep blue sea. Now that I’m back to the cold, harsh reality of, well, reality (because Italy is too perfect to be anything but a dream), our sun-kissed days in Rome, Tuscany and Praiano seem a lifetime away. As my friend Matt said, “Italy has that affect on you.” Indeed.

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Vegan Week: Quinoa Muffins, Spelt Bread and Veggies

Vegan, gluten-free quinoa corn muffins with cumin, chili powder, garlic, green onions and cilantro.

As readers of this blog know, J and I love our veggies. A meal just doesn’t feel complete without some sort of salad, and most of our meals have at least two, sometimes even three, vegetarian components. However, I’ve never really gone vegan- after all, what’s a girl without her cheese but a raging, freaking lunatic, right? Continue reading

The Best Lasagna Ever

I’m sure you’re shaking your head at the notion that any dish could be the “best ever” of its kind. But trust me. This is The Best Lasagna Ever. At least I personally think so, and judging by the “oooohs” and “aaahs” coming from my dinner guests’ (dad, J, mom) mouths as they ate, I’d say they agreed. Continue reading

San Francisco Pt. 2: Bar Crudo, Chez Panisse, La Boulange

Here’s the second and final part of our 10 year anniversary trip to San Francisco. We spent the better part of 3.5 days eating our way through the city (and beyond- yes, I know Chez Panisse is in Berkeley!) and had an absolute blast. I covered half of our San Francisco culinary adventures in the last post; here is the rest. Continue reading

Anniversary Trip: San Francisco, Pt. 1- Ferry Building, Farmer’s Market, Nopalito

The Post-Vacation Blues. Yup, that’s what I have right now, thanks to the most amazing, relaxing and all around wonderful trip that J and I took to San Francisco to celebrate our 10th (!) wedding anniversary. Every minute was so magical that I literally stopped several times during the trip to try and soak in as much as possible. Continue reading

Healthy Asian Plate: Salmon, Vegetables and Forbidden Rice


I suppose it seems strange that something so healthy contains something that is forbidden. Apparently, this black, whole-grain rice (it’s more purple in color, actually) was eaten exclusively by the Emperors of China back in the day (like, waaaay back in the day) so it was dubbed “forbidden” to lowly farmers or pretty much anyone ranked below royalty. Hm, maybe we can rename it “1 Percent Rice?” Wait, I guess that would lead people to think it contains only 1% rice. Ah well. Continue reading

Chewy Oatmeal, Blueberry, White Chocolate & Salted Cashew Cookies

Yes, that is a mouthful. I was in Trader Joe’s when I suddenly got struck by an idea to make this cookie. I have a surplus of oats in my pantry and was thinking of ways to use it up, and this cookie just sort of came to me.

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Quick Bites: Father’s Day Brunch

Wowza- it’s been a crazy few weeks. I had guests in from Japan which was awesome, J left for tour, and it seems I’m caught in a tornado of freelance work which is great, but very busy! Who would have thought that working from home would be such a whirlwind of activity after years of doing the 40+ hour a week office gig? I’m very lucky and blessed to have many opportunities and I’m not takin’ it for granted- it’s just that between my to-do lists for work, home and blog, the blog seems to get pushed to the bottom. I’m also trying to master Quickbooks (trying being the key word…I think I talk to their customer support more than my husband!) which is taking more time than I thought. Poor lil’ Tuna Toast!

So here’s a post, but I have to keep it short because another project (er, DINNER!) calls. There are a couple of dishes in this meal that I’d blogged about recently so I’ll just exclude the recipes since you can find them in my archives.

J’s parents came to visit us over Father’s Day weekend, so we had the rare and amazing chance to get both dads (and moms) together for a nice, Sunday brunch at our place. Since we’d pretty much gorged ourselves on my dad’s famous ribs the night before, I wanted to keep it relatively fresh, clean and light. Here’s what we had:

Fruit salad with a touch of buckwheat honey:

This is MY kind of fruit salad. As you can see, there are no cantaloupe or melon in here- I’m not a fan of either and feel kind of ripped off when I get a fruit salad that made up of just those two, which happens ALL THE TIME in restaurants. This is a summer fruit salad made up of strawberries, cherries, white peaches and nectarines so every bite is a money bite;).

Croissants: I can’t take credit- my dad was nice enough to pick these up on the way to our place. They were HUGE so I cut each in half.

The sausage-stuffed sweet peppers appear yet again! Since this was for brunch, I used a turkey breakfast sausage and they were a hit as always. This dish is the perfect example of how something so simple can be so delicious.

Green salad with champagne vinaigrette. No meal at our house is complete without a salad.

Green veggie frittata with pesto: a great way to make eggs for a crowd. I pile a baking dish with roasted and sauteed veggies and potatoes, cover it with egg, then dot it all over with freshly made pesto. Bake, and you’ve got a healthy and tasty dish.

I know it’s a bit late, but Happy Father’s Day to both dads- you guys are the best and we’re so glad we could all be together on such a special day!

Fairplex 2011 FUN Decanted Event


Having spent the majority of my ___ years here in Southern California, I suppose it seems strange that I’ve never attended the Pomona Fair. I’ve never been to the Orange County Fair either, nor any other fair, for that matter. I do recall attending carnivals and similar events as a kid but I don’t think my family ever made the short trip to Pomona for the yearly fiesta. Just think of all the fried Kool-Aid I’ve missed out on over the years! Continue reading