Sundae in the Park

I found this article today from the WaPo both illuminating and disturbing: The man who attacked me works in your kitchen’: Victim of serial groper took justice into her own hands. This is how hard it is to get accountability/justice/punishment EVEN when there is a confession, criminal conviction, and extremely motivated and dedicated multiple victims seeking...anything to get some of their own back. These are restaurants we frequent and love, places run by people we know and presumably respect. And yet this guy had free rein to assault many more women in and out of the industry AFTER his conviction. Don, to answer your question, I guess victims could do what Ms. Clark did - yearslong full-court presses in both the courts of law and public opinion (I am in awe of and grateful for her strength). But why on earth should be that hard to stop admitted and convicted predators? Let alone the ones that are never caught...

My husband is specifically trying to "train" our kids to like cold foods (i.e., never offering to heat up leftovers until asked) exactly to avoid the warm food at school issue!! I initially objected because I am an always warm food person, but I definitely see the convenience of having kids always willing to eat cold foods (this perhaps could be considered an offshoot of the baby wipes warmer controversy - why get your kid used to that level of luxury in the first place when it's guaranteed to bite you back in the field?). My big kid is 4, has very high-scoring fine/gross motor skills, and there is no way I'd trust him yet to work a thermos and remain more/less unsullied throughout the day. We really like noodle preparations that were originally intended to be served cold or room temperature, and he'll always eat cold pizza because...pizza. Silentbob reminded me about rousong or "pork floss" - when I was little we would often eat sticky-ish rice rolls with the rousong or the fish version inside, and they are good at room temperature, and could potentially be sushi-fied with harder/drier vegetables for more (any!) nutrition. My mom sometimes made a version of the fish floss on the stove using tuna, which would have quite a bit more nutrition/fewer preservatives than the stuff from the store. Trader Joe's has some nice sunflower seed butter. Don't forget to beware of pesto! The pine or walnuts also make it off limits for nut-free schools 🙁 Last night, while intended dinner was in the oven (bourbon chicken and roasted balsamic mushrooms, to be served with rice), I made a very quick chicken bullion broth for my sick dad. He ladled it over some rice and both kids immediately demanded their own (multiple!) portions. So they all had broth and rice for dinner, though the kids also ate apple slices. I made them both try the chicken and sauce once it was ready and am confident/hopeful that they will eat it today, since it was designed to hit their favorite flavors and the initial reception was quite enthusiastic. We'll see!

Oh that sounds delicious and now I want one! Mmmmmmm, Leigh, those pouches also look good. I usually keep the Tasty Bite madras lentils on hand (bought from Costco), and my kids sometimes eat them (mostly in the store, though). I did try to make them at home but neither kid liked my version (which I thought was pretty close). Both of my kids LOVED chana masala for a while, so we'll have to try these sometime when they're back on beans. Of the roast chicken dinner we had last night (paired with Brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, and blueberries - not all together), the Little ate some chicken, wheat thins, almond butter, and some fruit smoothie, while the Big ate a banana, a few bites of croissant, and some apple slices. While I wish they would eat what we make, I let them have most anything in the fridge or pantry that is food-like (as opposed to snack-like) and doesn't require extra cooking/making (the smoothie was a leftover from lunch).

1) Use the right, thickish, sweet potato starch noodles 2) When boiling, Do Not Overcook 3) Rinse right after draining to cool down the noodles but no need to take them all the way down to cold, medium-warm is fine 4) Cut the noodles up a bit with scissors, stir in the sauce and toss liberally, and don't skimp on the sesame oil 5) Do Not Cook It More In A Pan, no matter what that ridiculous recipe tells you. Stir-fry your other ingredients either individually or together according to your preference, stir into the noodles when done, and mix again with more sauce as needed. Boom, done! With the recipes I started with so many ages ago, I ruined a few batches because I was thinking of the dish as a stir-fried noodle dish rather than a boil, season, and mix-in other ingredients off heat dish. I can't seem to stir fry the noodles, even with a lot of oil in a good non-stick pan, without ending up with a sticky mess. So, at the suggestion of a different recipe, I just keep the noodles off heat once fully boiled and it turns out great. If anyone else has more insight, I'd welcome it, but this works for me! At present, the risk/reward differential isn't high enough for me to twice-cook the noodles anymore.

Aaaaaaand the Big won't eat (any, not just my) dumplings anymore 😭 Instead, he ate mostly fridge/pantry food yesterday - yogurt, frozen blueberries, cheese, and peanut butter, along with some noodles. While that's actually fine, I hope this dumpling-hating phase ends soon. Who doesn't like dumplings???!!!

Dumplings and jap chae. I finally figured out how to get unsticky oodles!!! The previous night we made a bunch of pizzas (red sauce cheese, red sauce pepperoni, and white sauce mushroom) using Trader Joe's dough and ate them with a bunch of roasted cauliflower and sauteed zucchini.

Great dim sum! I'm not sure if you can order dim sum all day, every day (all food is ordered off the picture/word menu; no carts) but dim sum are an integral part of the menu and it's open every day in the morning so it looks promising. The place is newish, clean, and very busy, with English-speaking, efficient team service. We tried a bunch of noodle rolls, har gow, XLB, chicken buns, pan-fried pork buns, deep-fried minced pork buns, and everything was solid-great, appropriately crunchy, slippery, fluffy, juicy, chewy, etc. Dishes are priced by flat rate ($ listed on the front page of the menu) as small, medium, large, or as marked. It's loud and bustling so safe to take kids, and the dishes come out quickly even when the dining room is full. They have the same ticket system as Din Tai Fung, where your list of orders is placed on your table and each is marked off as they come. It's a stand-alone restaurant with parking and takes credit cards, so easy to get in and out without any fuss. While none of the individual dishes we tried were life-changing, each was properly prepared, tasty, and pretty, and overall we had an excellent and stress-free dim sum experience.

Tried this eggplant with garlic sauce America's Test Kitchen recipe that seemed to be everywhere on the internet this week. I liked that it uses regular eggplants and basil, since I can't reliably get (good/cheap) Asian eggplants or Thai basil (at all), and I love Thai-style eggplant-basil dishes. There is a lot of lime in this dish, which is great, but has to grow on you if, like me, you aren't used to your brown sauces tasting so bright. The more I eat the more I like it. I think it's a keeper for our house. Did I ever mention that I used to hate eggplant and red peppers? Now they are among my favorite foods.

All hail Jose Andres...again...for helping out and continuing to spark the conversation. This is an emergency’: José Andrés to open relief kitchen for federal workers during shutdown

We've taken to roasting our tri-tips instead of grilling them, as it requires far less meat-sitting. There's 100% less thrilling flame flare-ups but a lot more pan juices. We buy the untrimmed roasts and trim them lightly, which works out great for self-basting while grilling, but is less useful for roasting in a pan, so we've been trimming more carefully. The meat is much more tender but lacks the charred exterior - not a bad trade off, but we will still grill on occasion. We made the last one a few nights ago with mashed potatoes, sauteed zucchini, and mushroom cream sauce, and are just now finishing it up as sandwiches. Two nights ago we made chicken pot pie soup, because I wanted a pot pie but didn't feel like messing with pastry. And then I went and finally tried the no-knead bread recipe that I've been eyeing for years. That bread recipe is very forgiving and we were happy with the results. I couldn't believe that I made pretty bread! Last night was pad se ew with chicken, because we were out of beef and had fresh, soft noodles that couldn't wait. Beef > chicken in this dish but we managed to get a decent bit of wok hei charring on the noodles.

This is sounding like a really delicious party!!! Since others have suggested eggs, you could also do deviled eggs, though they are stinkier. Our party go-tos that always get devoured are the deviled eggs and pesto chicken or pizza rolls.

So they didn't have to quite shut down as feared, though some areas were briefly inaccessible, but all parts of the park are back open today. Unfortunately, is sounds like some parts of the park were and are being damaged, mostly because some people can't help being jerks (off-roading, cutting down Joshua trees, trash and 💩 everywhere). Good for local businesses (for now), but concerning for the health of the park as the shutdown continues.

Is it a meal or just a cocktail party? Even though they are not necessarily individually substantial, adding nuts (glazed or spicy), olives, fruits, and dark chocolate would round out a nice list of one-handed snacky options. Maybe add another dip or two with bread/baguette slices, and/or a satay? It might also depend on the wine theme. For a real meal you could lean towards more dinner dish-type options like casseroles, sandwiches/sliders, or meat/bread rolls.

Blessing and good luck to all the furloughed workers, workers without pay, and most of all, the contractors who almost certainly won't get paid. We've all been cranky and picky coming off various illnesses, but we got a family hit yesterday with chicken tikka masala curry and rice. Everybody ate (at least some of) the same thing, so we're taking that as a big win.

Hahahahaha Rasika got name-checked (or actually, probably a product placement, but that's kind of weird) on Season 2, Episode 1 of Designated Survivor!! Apparently it's where President Kiefer gets his takeout chicken korma? LOL, that doesn't even sound like something they would have on their menu (I checked, it's not there now). Note that the episode aired in late September 2017, which is possibly interesting or completely unrelated to the Michelin announcements in October 2017? What can I say, I've been bingeing on the show and now have conspiracy theories on the brain 😉

Yep, squash has been soupified, and we're hoping it will be enough to see us through to the end of my sickness. I cubed it, tossed with oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted it with chunks of onion until caramelized. Threw it all into a pot with some dried sage, veg stock, and some sherry; whizzed with the stick blender; and stirred in some cream and lots of salt at the end. It's thick and rich tastes like the holidays come again. I think the rest of the family is having chicken tenders tonight while I have more soup.

Good Earth sweet and spicy tea is my new obsession and a great weapon when the cravings for a sweet drink hit. I've only tried the orange caffeine-free kind so far (it has a Rooibos base), though there are a few flavors in this line. I have no idea how the blend does it but, much like a perfectly balanced long island iced tea, this stuff alchemizes into a genuinely sweet taste to the tongue without any artificial flavors or calories, so doesn't need any additional sweetening. I'm not quite sure how they do it, but here is the ingredient list: organic Rooibos, organic chicory root, organic cinnamon, organic rosehip, organic honeybush, natural flavor, organic lemongrass, organic chamomile, organic peppermint, organic ginger root, organic orange oil, organic orange peel Other than the "natural flavors," I can't see anything suspicious in there. A HuffPo blogger looked into the natural flavors thing a few years ago, but the report back from the company doesn't seem too damning to me. I got some for my diabetic grandma, as she was greatly impressed by the naturally sweet and warming flavor (and she is usually only into expensive Chinese teas). It tastes amazing hot, warm, or cold. I really hope it doesn't turn out to be bad for me!!! I can get it pretty much anywhere - Vons (Safeway), Sprouts, and I actually first tried it while it was on demo at Costco, though I haven't seen it there since.

For a short trip in winter why go far or cold? Miami, Nashville, or Charleston should do the trick, staying in the same time zone, and all work with or without kids. A little further afield Mexico City is interesting and delicious. San Diego is lovely but blander than the rest of these ideas.

One advantage JJ has over other bakeries is that the DTF wait (among other attractions) keeps business moving briskly, so the items are are constantly being refreshed (there are at least two more bakeries on the same block with little/no visible foot traffic while walking down the block, as compared to the constantly swinging door at JJ). The downside, however, is that they are sometimes out of the things you want - no curry pastries were available during this visit We missed them but got some lovely pork buns, a few cake slices, and some fluffy raisin rolls instead. A long line here also moves quite quickly, as they have several registers.

So, the hoopla about plastic straws is based on a bunk metric, BUT the opener it provides in the conversation about plastic pollution has been amazing. Vox has a good summary of the plastics problem and every little step that each person takes can help. I've never really used plastic straws but there are lots of other places in my life I can work on reducing/eliminating single-used plastics, especially in the arenas of takeout meals and bulk groceries. We've used cloth bags for groceries for years, but lately I've gotten lazy about using those tiny produce bags that can't even be reused for garbage, so it's a good time to buckle down again, with the new year as a fresh start. Let's be better together!!

The beef rolls at the Arcadia location are just as wonderful as I remember from the Alhambra location! We ordered one for there and one to go, and now that the extra roll is gone we wish we had ordered a couple more. We also got the pan-fried lamb dumplings and the non-spicy beef noodle soup. The dumplings were plump, rich, and so juicy they were practically soup dumplings! They also sell dumplings frozen to take home and next time I think we'll do just that. The noodle soup had pleasantly chewy hand-torn noodles and good, beefy flavor. The Arcadia location is just about across the street from the original Din Tai Fung plaza in a kind of dumpy strip mall, and I think we'll be eating here from now on. There was quite the lunch rush a bit after noon on a holiday-ish weekday, and they are cash only so plan accordingly.

We're having soup to beat the Sick for the next few days. A brothy chicken soup and lentil soup as well. If they're not enough to do the job, I have a big butternut squash that will be roasted and pureed into more soup. Die germs, die!

Sure, this story on the Bar Keeper's Friend website is a promotional entry, but it is still hilarious/awesome and that is the same pan I just bought, looking so very shiny and new after a good scrub! So...I think I'll be getting some. Well played.

We made a lot of cookies for the holidays over a few weeks and stored most in our freezer, to be pulled out as needed (a saving grace for unexpected last-minute gifts!): 3 batches of almond joy cookies (a winner of a new recipe this year) 1 batch of chocolate, mint-chip cookies 1 batch of chocolate, peanut butter-chip cookies 1 batch of gluten-free, salted peanut butter cookies 1 batch of sugar cookies from a tube 2 batches of cranberry-orange cream scones (another winner of a new recipe and great for using up excess cream) 1 batch of molasses cookies 2 batches of nut-horns 1 batch of paciencia meringues Given that we also received dozens of cookies and other baked gifts, we are SO bakery-ed out!

Christmas Eve for us since we became officially Southern Californian has been beef and pork tamales with assorted salsas and guacamole, adobo black beans, salad, and a Christmas cookie assortment. For Christmas Day, we meant to put on a few more dishes, but sick kids only allowed us to make the beef tenderloin with bourbon mushroom sauce, roasted Brussels sprouts, potatoes, and carrots, cranberry slaw, rolls, and more cookies, which was still tons of food.