Several years ago, I made a special lasagne. I’d just discovered lasagne made with béchemel sauce rather than pounds of gooey cheese. Mushrooms were on sale so I was inspired to create a memorable meal. Over the years, we’ve said to each other, “Remember that mushroom lasagne!” and smile fondly. But the recipe was misplaced…
This is not that recipe, but it is deliciously extravagant with mushroom delight.
A homemade fruitcake is a revelation of how delicious it is to wrap your mouth around a spicy-rich chewy-sweet delight. The pleasure is reminiscent of summer fruits though they have been transformed by sun, heat, air and time to deeper complexity.
I’ve always loved fruitcakes!
At work the other day we were looking at a “scrap-booking charm” someone had donated. My co-worker asked, “Is that a roll of toilet paper?” Yes: there in a miniature reproduction made of plastic, was a roll of toilet tissue mounted in a tiny faux ceramic holder! We wondered why anyone would want to put such a thing into an embellished to-be-remembered-forever scrap-book page. What sort of pictures would you want to commemorate with a roll of toilet paper?
Ah. but this is a food blog, so enough about TP…
In April 1984, a 115g jar of vegemite became the first product in Australia
to be electronically scanned at a checkout.
A friend in Australia sent me an amazing gift package which included a jar of Vegemite. There was some discussion on past posts here about whether I would like it or not. When or if I can find it here in the U.S. it is very expensive, but because of this lovely present I will most certainly pay the price: I love it!
Whenever we visit “Up North” Mr. Tess and I like to stop at The Big Stone Bay Fishery to stock up on fresh Great Lakes whitefish, smoked menominee, and fish sausage. He went up by himself to help close the cottage for the season. It was an early warning of the leaf-color soon to come to us in Southern Michigan. He spent a long weekend up there and came home with lots of great fish.
For the first Rosh Hashanah in our new house I wanted to make a meal which would reflect the change from summer to autumn. This soup is traditionally eaten in the hottest part of summer in Korea, the theory being that it warms the body so much as to make the outside temperature feel cooler. Yet the dates, chestnuts, and ginseng, and even the rice are fruit of fall. In any season, it is traditionally believed that sam gae tang helps to rejuvenate the body by replenishing essential nutrients while sweating out the toxins, thus promoting a long and healthy life. As we look forward to a sweet new year this soup was a flavorful meal to begin.
Icy summer soups make for easy eating when it’s too hot to cook.
The original recipe called for lettuce and spinach, but I had to try it with my latest leafy discovery: purslane—it’s not your ordinary weed!
The little Korean grocery store (Hyundai Asian Market) where I often shop, has a full aisle stocked with mysterious snacks and sweets.
My husband and his step-father took their traditional New Year’s Day walk, and J. invited him for dinner. This post is about how I served leftovers to guests. Twice! and about how I now have two legs of lamb…
—we’ve come to a point in this moving house business where some things are here, some there…
I had to go out to buy a can opener, the coffee grinder is at the wrong house, the blankets are lost, what happened to our towels?
These braised lamb shanks played their role exceeding well (a nice Christmas Eve dinner), becoming stew (for my brother and his wife), then soup (for my father-in-law), making some unexpected guests warm and happy!
Tess's Japanese Kitchen 