Our culinary diary
Today is the first day of Lunar New Year, and we're making our (now) annual Lunar New Year dinner. The past few years, we've cooked Chinese dishes (Chinese Turnip Cake, Lion's Head meatballs, several noodle dishes), so this year I wanted to make sure we branched out from just Chinese celebratory dishes. While I was... Continue Reading →
Last year our attempt at a Chinese feast for Lunar New Year was a little bit of a flop. I made Lion's Head Meatballs and just didn't get it quite right. The meatballs were good, but the broth was very bland and the cabbage was a little unwieldy. We'll try again one day, but this... Continue Reading →
I was working on a Lunar New Year menu and browsing Woks of Life (an excellent Chinese cooking blog if you're interested!) when I came across these. Given that I already had the ingredients and that a citrus dessert sounded like a perfect winter treat, I decided to add these in with our more traditional... Continue Reading →
How many times can we say it? A year like none other... so a Christmas unlike any other we've had. As of a few weeks ago, we'd come up with a plan for the weeks prior to Christmas, so we all felt comfortable visiting with my parents and siblings on Christmas Eve. Of course, we... Continue Reading →
Last night, the world in general, and American women in particular, lost an icon. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Notorious RBG, died at the age of 87. The tiny legal legend was a champion for equal rights for women and the queen of dissent on the Supreme Court. The news of her death hit me harder... Continue Reading →
Happy Mardi Gras (Carnival, Shrove Tuesday, etc)! Here in the US, we associate Mardi Gras with New Orleans' celebrations alone. But this week I reminded myself that not everyone celebrates with beads, King Cake, Cajun food, and exposed breasts. So I looked into worldwide traditions, with the hopes of picking a different dish to make... Continue Reading →
Happy Cinco de Mayo! 🇲🇽🇲🇽 As a general rule, Americans aren't usually celebrating the correct thing when we get excited about Cinco de Mayo. Rumor has it that most Americans think this day is Mexico's Independence Day, which it is not. Instead Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Mexican victory over France at the Battle of... Continue Reading →
Happy first day of spring! Or if you're of Persian descent, Happy Nowruz! Nowruz literally translates to "new day" and is the name for the Persian new year, which occurs on the vernal (spring) equinox. The holiday has been celebrated for thousands of years and is a holy day from the Zoroastrian tradition, though it... Continue Reading →
While the rest of you are celebrating Saint Patrick's Day, I'm vacillating between the five stages of grief over UVA's loss last night. I guess this post is helping me move past the denial stage, given that I just wrote the words "UVA's loss." My very caring and loving husband, is being even nicer to... Continue Reading →
We may have mentioned it once or twice, or a million times, but Selim definitely has the sweet tooth in this family. I could eat chips & dip for the rest of my life, but Selim could easily subsist on sweets, especially chocolate! We like to joke that he has a separate dessert stomach. It's... Continue Reading →
Bon Appetit Baby! 
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