The commercials for Match.com state that today, one in five relationships begin online, and I believe it. These days, it seems like everyone knows somebody who’s found their significant other through a dating site, and as someone who never experienced online dating (and is thankful for it after some of the stories I’ve heard!), I’m amazed. Across counties, cities, and countries, people are able to meet online and eventually meet in person and get to know each other.
This is how one our good friend Ken met his fiancé, who will soon be on her way from Peru to begin her life here in Fresno, California. Though we haven’t met her yet, Jan and I are excited to welcome her here when she arrives. So when we found ourselves passing by a Peruvian restaurant during a trip to Anaheim earlier this year, it was the perfect opportunity to both taste something new, and be able to report that we had, in fact, tasted Peruvian food. Continue reading →
It all started with rum raisin ice cream. A few weeks ago, I learned that rum raisin is a popular ice cream flavor in Japan, and because I found this to be an interesting fact, I’ve been thinking about this ever since. Having never tried rum raisin ice cream before, nor seen it at the grocery store or ice cream counter, I was intrigued. I decided it was a flavor from another era, because when I did ask some folks about it, they said, “Oh yeah! Rum raisin ice cream!” like they were recalling a fond memory from long ago. If rum raisin was something familiar, and yet, something that hadn’t been around in a while, I was bringing it back. Continue reading →
Seems like I’ve been hearing about quinoa everywhere lately, so realizing I’m probably far behind the times, I decided it was finally time to give it a try. A staple food in South America, quinoa (“keen-wah”) is a grain known for its high protein content. It can be used as a side dish, where rice or pasta might ordinarily be used, or cooked as a part of the main meal.
We found a box of organic quinoa at Trader Joe’s and cooked it according to package directions. Instructions stated that it could be cooked in rice or broth, and we used chicken broth, since we figured that would give the grain a greater depth of flavor. Continue reading →
Roughly one year ago, in my inaugural post for Our Life in Meals, I wrote about visiting a Tomales Bay oyster farm for do-it-yourself oyster shucking and barbecuing (An open mind, and mouth, for oysters). Despite my reticence then to eat raw oysters, I embraced what I saw as a challenge and enjoyed myself thoroughly, vowing to return. A year later, I found myself back in the same place, with the same group (plus one), and with a whole lot of food experiences and adventures under my belt.
Last year, we planted one small artichoke plant in our backyard. A few months later, the plant produced two artichokes, but we weren’t quick enough to pick them. The artichokes turned into bright purple blooms, becoming inedible. I wasn’t going to let that happen this year, and I diligently checked on the plant to see how it was progressing.
We were right to follow advice to plant the artichoke plant away from the rest of our vegetable garden, as it continued to grow very large, resembling a giant weed. Allowed to grow unhindered, the plant now has a six-foot diameter, taking up an entire corner of our backyard garden. Continue reading →
A few years ago, when Jan and I first moved into our house from our apartment, our new kitchen seemed like a vast amount of space in which we’d never run out of room for plates, pots and pans, kitchen tools, and gadgets. Moving up from a tiny galley kitchen into a space with more than two under-counter cabinets, three wall cabinets, and two drawers, this feeling lasted for a while. But then, the inevitable happened, I began using the hall closet as our overflow pantry, storing “fancy” glassware, infrequently used roasting pans, a dutch oven, miscellaneous utensils, and a growing collection of kitchen gadgets. Then, after this space got full, a shelf in my office became dedicated to a varied collection of plates and serving dishes.
For about a year, I moved a large rotisserie oven from space to space in an effort to find a suitable location for it to be stored. Not once in this period did we use the gadget. Finally, we found a friend who was thrilled by the idea of making his own rotisserie chickens, and I was thankful I could reclaim those precious cubic feet in the closet. Continue reading →
The French dip sandwich is said to have originated at Philippe, the Original, a 100+ year old deli in downtown Los Angeles. So when Jan and I found ourselves even in the remote vicinity of the place on a recent trip to Southern California, we had a pretty big item on our to-do list: eat a French dip sandwich at Philippe’s. We had seen the restaurant featured on both the Food Network and the Travel Channel, and since both Jan and I are fans of the classic roast beef sandwich dipped in au jus, we were excited. Our friend David, who we were visiting while we were in L.A., had only sampled (and loved) the spicy mustard from Philippe’s, but had never been to the restaurant, so with three people hungry for roast beef, we hopped in the car and made our way. Continue reading →
The idea of cooking Bananas Foster had been floating around the house for a while. For some reason, I felt like I’d eaten it before, but I didn’t have a memory of it, it was just some vague dessert in my mind.
Having some friends over for a tri-tip dinner, we decided Bananas Foster would be the dessert, and planned accordingly, which meant buying a few more bananas than we usually do, making sure we had vanilla ice cream, and heading to the liquor store for banana liqueur (not something we regularly stock in the bar). Continue reading →
Sometimes, it’s just good to try something new. Our something new was, at the urging of our friend Kristie, Jan and I attended a raw foods class. Our friend said that eating the food at a previous class had given her so much energy, that we just had to try it. Since part of our blogging journey has been about trying new things, we couldn’t exactly say no. Besides, we didn’t know anything about the raw food diet, so it was time to learn.
The class was held in the home of the instructor, Chef Naomi Hendrix, who recently worked together with another local business to open Revive Café, an organic raw vegan restaurant in downtown Fresno. We began the class with introductions, and I started by getting things out in the open: we were here at the recommendation of our friend (who was beaming at us from across the table), and I would describe both me and Jan as being on the opposite end of the raw—cooked foods spectrum. We had, after all, just cooked over 30 pounds of corned beef the week before. But, I explained, we enjoyed trying new things, and we wanted to learn (and taste) as much as we could.
Naomi and her co-host, Rio, explained their own journey to becoming raw foodists, explaining that it wasn’t their mission to push this type of diet on anyone, only educate and tell their own story of the health benefits they’d achieved. For a raw foods diet, no ingredients are heated above 115 degrees Fahrenheit, any higher and the food begins losing its nutrients. Foods are all plant-based, meaning fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Overall, raw foodists avoid all processed foods, though some eat dairy products, keeping in mind that means unpasteurized milks and cheeses.
To begin the dinner, I wasn’t off to the best start with my first sip of Kefir water, which is a drink made from grains, providing beneficial bacteria (think probiotics), and similar to kombucha, which I have also tried but not favored. But the people that swear by these drinks do agree that they’re an acquired taste, so I just left if at that.
Appetizers and Kefir water
For appetizers we had a basil parsley cashew pesto, in which we dipped carrots and cauliflower pieces. While we snacked, Naomi used her VitaMix (an essential tool for raw foodists) to blend cashews, lemon juice, water, apple cider vinegar, salt, garlic, pepper, and dill to create raw dill ranch dip. I was surprised by the flavor, and might have thought it a “regular” ranch dip if I hadn’t known the ingredients.
As Naomi began preparing our main entrée, I began to take a closer look around. I hadn’t noticed it right away, but the kitchen, custom-designed by Naomi and Rio, did not contain a stove top, oven, or microwave. It also contained two side-by-side refrigerator/freezers. Also present were the three essential tools for raw foodists: Cuisinart food processor, VitaMix blender, and Excalibur dehydrator (a dehydrator designed for raw foodists since the heat setting could be specifically set not to go above a desired temperature).
Naomi shows us the collard leaves
I asked a lot of questions. What do you do when you travel? They take a lot of food with them, and take along their VitaMix or Bullet mini-blender. What do your pets eat? The cat eats special raw cat food containing meat and purchased from Whole Foods, and the parrot eats cooked eggs (heated on a portable hot plate), and fresh fruits and vegetables. Does the raw food diet include alcohol? No.
Enough questions from me, it was time for the main course: Caribbean tacos. The taco shells were collard greens and they were topped with a pâté made of sunflower seeds, carrots, olive oil, lime juice, salt, cumin, taco seasoning, chili flakes, and water, all combined in the Cuisinart (I was starting to see why they couldn’t live without their turbo blenders and food processors.) The pâté was topped with a pineapple-mint salsa, shredded cabbage, and the dill ranch dip. The food was bright, and the flavors were crisp (see photo at the top of this post). I was pleasantly surprised.
When it came time for dessert, Naomi used pecans, macadamia nuts, vanilla, and maple syrup to make a graham-cracker-like crust. After pressing the crust into the pie pan, Naomi showed us how to whack the coconut in the right place in order get out the milk and the meat. The pie was filled with the key lime filling, which contained lime juice, coconut milk, coconut oil, more maple syrup, and, to my surprise, avocados. The pie was chilled in the freezer for 30 minutes or overnight in the refrigerator. Luckily, there was a demonstration-version pie, and a pie that Naomi had made in advance of our class, and we didn’t have to wait long for a slice of pie.
The texture of the pie was smooth, and the combination of the filling and the crust delicious. While I enjoyed trying all the dishes on the menu, the pie was my favorite, and something I could see myself making at home. After all the raw food, Jan and I were stuffed—both with food and information.
When the meal was over, Rio brought out the Green-Winged Macaw, Buzzy, to greet all the guestsBuzzy enjoys his dinner
I was happy we went to the class, and I was pleasantly surprised by the food, as it was tastier than I expected. Then again, I had left my mind open with few expectations or assumptions prior to attending the class. What filled that was a new knowledge and appreciation for a different way of eating. I thanked both Naomi and Rio for being such great hosts and providing an open environment where everyone was free to ask questions. Even though Jan and I won’t be converting into raw foodists, we were able to learn from what they do, and who knows, maybe we’ll even incorporate some of their ideas in our own preparation of fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
So much tiling, so much corned beef! Phew! Last week was exhausting! With so much going on, Jan and I needed some delicious, quick, and easy-to-prepare food.
Enter the tostada dinner, an amazing meal that requires minimal time and effort. When Jan brought home tostada shells (shortcut #1), we took a few more shortcuts to cook up a batch of tostadas in a matter of minutes. It was such a surprisingly tasty dinner that we ate the same meal twice in the same week.
I started by sautéing some onions in a little bit of oil in a pan. Once the onions started to become translucent, I added ground beef (didn’t grind our own this time, so shortcut #2) and spices to make my own blend of taco seasoning. The blend included garlic powder, California chili powder (it’s not too spicy, but gives you that great reddish-brown color usually only achieved by pre-mixed taco seasoning), cumin, oregano, chili flakes, and salt. I combined the meat with the spices, added a few tablespoons of water, and cooked over medium heat.
While the meat was cooking, I began heating up the beans (shortcut #3 is canned beans. Jan prefers the refried beans while I prefer black beans, so we compromise by alternating which one we choose.)
This is also the time to start getting all the toppings ready, so we finely chopped lettuce or green cabbage (we usually stick with iceberg lettuce for beef tostadas or tacos, but use green cabbage on occasion, and definitely when making fish tacos). We also got out sour cream and salsa from the refrigerator to add to our tostada-assembling station. We shredded some Colby Jack cheese and made guacamole from a fresh avocado (there’s room for another shortcut here if you use the pre-made guacamole, I recommend both the Trader Joe’s and Costco varieties). The last piece was the Tapatio.
Ingredients prepped, tostadas ready to assemble
Once the meat was done and beans were heated, it was time to assemble the tostadas. Atop the shell, I started with the beans, then added the meat, then the lettuce and the rest of the toppings. Inevitably, my tostadas were overloaded, and I had to break out my fork. Then I enjoyed my tostadas and debated when I should tell Jan about his sour cream mustache (think milk mustache, but thicker). In the meantime, we reflected on a successful corned beef and cabbage celebration.
Our first guest to arrive found a four-leaf clover in our front yard walking up to the front door (unfortunately I didn’t capture a picture of our good luck charm, but thanks to a lovely thank-you note from my friend Sarah, I have an image that looks pretty close to the original).
Jan cooked the massive amount of corned beef in a 15 gallon pot outdoors, and it was enough to fill one 2-foot by 1-foot wide chafing dish. Our other full-size chafing dish was filled with green cabbage and potatoes. I was amazed that everything was eaten pretty quickly—either everyone was starving, or the food was pretty good!
Despite both the orange of my carrot cake cupcakes not being the orange I desired, nor the green cream cheese frosting (I was going for the orange and green of the Irish flag but instead got the two unappetizing colors of rust orange and Easter egg green), those all got eaten too. And lastly, for those dying to see what all the fuss over the tiled floors was about (see last week’s Prepping for St. Patrick’s Day), a picture of the newly installed tile.
For the moment, we’re taking at least a month’s break from tiling and large-scale entertaining. We’re going to be lazy for a while. Good thing we discovered the perfect lazy-night dinner. I have a feeling we’re going to be eating a lot of tostadas.
Our Life in Meals 