Thank you for sharing your thoughts and insights on Jehovah Witness.  I appreciate your comments and PM.  I know I’m going to be late responding to your comments but I wanted to let you know I’ve read them all.  Thank you.

Sometimes good times are just simple times.  J and I enjoyed a late snack on one of those lazy summer days.  This was a good spot for people watching and reading too.

Our snack…

Dinner was pizza and it was spicy. The ad said medium spicy.  I thought “medium” referred to the level of spiciness.  It was the size.  I even changed the order to large because we were both hungry.  My mouth was tingling and kinda numb.  I washed everything down with cold beer.  Even the dessert that followed couldn’t cool my mouth down.

J called me the next day to see if I had gone to the washroom yet. I said yeah – why?  “It must have felt hot on the way out.”  Yes it did.  Hot going in and hot going out.  Now I remember why I can’t eat spicy foods. 

Food – I miss my mom’s cooking a lot.  I wish I learned a lot more of the complex dishes she used to cook.  Some of the dishes she made was duck stuffed with sticky rice, chinese dried sausages, dried shrimps, mushrooms and I think chestnuts.  She also deboned the duck too.  I never could figure out how she did that.  I visited the cemetery this weekend and left some flowers for her.  It was busy in there with about half a dozen cars in the small cemetery.  I’m the only one of the siblings that like to cook Chinese food.  My brother and his wife will attempt it from time to time.  My sister just steers clear of it.  She thinks it’s too complex.  I just shake my head sometimes. 

This is one of the dishes I make for my dad.  It’s minced beef.  I guess you could use ground beef but I use mostly flank steak and slice / chop it into fine texture.  I add a bit of soy sauce, sesame seed oil, pepper, a touch of oyster sauce and egg white (not too much).  I also chopped up some preserved salted vegetables.  To add a bit more flavor – I added some finely chopped ginger.  I was trying to get more veggies into my dad’s diet so I added some thinly sliced carrots.  You can also add some chives or green onions too at the end.  I didn’t have any on hand. I simply tossed this into the rice cooker while the rice was about half cooked and still bubbling away.  You need to have some water to generate enough steam to cook the beef.  It’s perfect for winter.  I drizzled some oyster sauce (optional) at the end. 

I have no idea if this is a traditional dish or not.  I think it’s something my mom made up based on what she had as a child.

Pork chow mein – noodles and rice are comfort food for me.  I made this last week after a rough week at work.  I had about 3 servings before I realized how hungry and stressed out I was.  I tend to just eat when I’m stressed.  The pork is from “port butt shoulder” and was marinated with soy sauce, corn starch, pepper, sesame seed oil and a couple of drops of fish sauce.  I added some Shanghai bak choy and green onions.  The sauce is based on chicken stock so it’s a bit clear. 

Beef stew – another dish for I made for dad today.  It’s packed with veggies and some have dissolved already into the sauce.  The beef is organic (dad doesn’t really care one way or another but I do). He can’t eat veggies unless they are soft so this is perfect for him.  But I like it too. 

Ok – I’m off to bed.  Maybe I can dream of mom’s cooking. 

p.s. pardon the previous silly entry… I can’t write serious stuff all the time. 

One of my most memorable meal was a very simple meal.  It was simply romaine lettuce that was blanched in boiling water and drizzled with oyster sauce.  I had this meal many years ago and the memories are still very powerful.  Our family had sat down for dinner when I noticed the dish of lettuce.  It was still steaming hot with oyster sauce on the top.  My brother had also noticed it as well.  We both looked at each other but didn’t say anything.  At that time, my brother was working in a restaurant.  Sometimes he would bring back kitchen scraps so that mom can use it for her compost pile.  My brother and I knew the lettuce was from the bag that my brother brought home.   My mom saw us and gave us a stern lecture.  She told us the lettuce leaves were still in good condition and are perfectly fine for eating.  They have been washed thoroughly and we shouldn’t be wasting food.  “I wouldn’t serve it if I thought the leaves were spoiled!”

We both knew mom was fastidious about cleaning vegetables and fruits.  I was embarrassed because I knew money was very tight in our family at that time. Our parents always made a point since we were young not to waste food.  We were told about the hardships the farmers went through to grow food.  This would be followed by how hard dad worked to put food on our table so we had enough to eat.   That night, I didn’t dare say a word and ate the lettuce along with everything else.  I think we all made a point of not leaving any food in our plates that night.  

I still cringe whenever I have to throw away food in my fridge that has been spoiled.  I try to make sure that doesn’t happen too often.  Sometimes it’s just difficult to buy food for one (especially vegetables that have been bundled or packaged for families).  But I know I can get better manage that by doing a bit more planning and freezing what I can’t eat immediately.  I’ve had many other meals that were fancier, more expensive, more exotic and tastier.  But this simple dish still ranks up there as one of my most memorable meal.

photo credit:  http://www.sochina.net/Chinese-Food/Cantonese-Cuisine/Romaine-lettuce-of-oyster-sauce_565.html

After decades of reading Chris’ entries on home made pizza, I decided to try it out for myself.  I defrosted the bag of pizza dough one day.   As luck would have it, I remembered about the defrosted pizza dough on Friday night.  I looked around in the fridge for some ingredients and found some oyster mushrooms (those big ones), a jar of tomato sauce and some mozzarella cheese. 

I sauteed the mushrooms with some onions and added some garlic.  With the tomato sauce it looked a bit watery so I heated it up to reduce it a bit and also added some dried oregano, basil, parsley and pepper.   The dough was interesting.  I’ve helped my mom baked a few times but I couldn’t figure out how to flatten the dough to fit the cookie sheet.  I pressed and pulled and cursed.   Some spots were thin and the edges were thick.  It ended up with this odd shaped.  I didn’t have any basil so I got some chives from my pot and threw it on.  It was already close to 10PM so I was getting pretty hungry. 

before:

after cooking:

The dough was just a shade under done in the thicker sections along the edge.  The cheese could
have been grated.  I could have used a bit more tomato sauce, perhaps some olive oil and
some meats would be good too.  

I just read Chris’s entry – even his friend’s kids made better pizza.   

I made muffins on the weekend.  I didn’t have my organic whole wheat flour anymore.  But I remember having a bag of flour from ages ago.  I know flour will get stale but this still looked ok.  I sifted it though to make sure there wasn’t any extra “protein” in there.  I threw in my usual riped (almost black) bananas and hoped for the best.  It looked really dry when I mixed it up so I added a bit more soy milk and a bit more oil. 

It came out of the oven smelling nicely.  I closed my eyes, inhaled the glorious smell of freshly baked goods and made some tea.  When the tea was ready, I started to salivate and took my first bite.  The muffin was so dry I almost gagged.  It pretty well absorbed every molecule of saliva in my mouth.  I had to sip some water so I could swallow it.  Now I know what it’s like to eat paper towel. 

I brought 2 to work for lunch the next day.  I needed a large cup of coffee to swallow it.  I didn’t want to waste the rest.  So every day, I make muffin toast.  I cut it in half and toast it – sort of like an English muffin. 

I just had the one above.   It’s dry and I needed a glass of water with it.
I even thought of just feeding it to the birds in the park.  But I don’t know where
they will get water.  I figured as they fly, they’ll be choking on these things and drop
out of the sky.   So I’m eating them.  Maybe I should send them to Chris so he can try it.
Perhaps he will be able to tell me why it’s so dry.  I think he needs to try about 4 of them
to be absolutely sure. 

This is just a few food pics.  I was going to say “nothing special” but that wouldn’t be right.  Food should be treated with respect even if it’s a simple dish.  There are so many that go hungry every day. 

I had Vietnamese food the other night, thin rice vermicelli with spring rolls
and grill meats. 
 

I got some fish from The Healthy Butcher.  Yes, they do sell fish.
Now I can’t remember what fish this is but I think this is rainbow
trout?  I did a quick pan fry and served it over red rice.  I’m just
experimenting with different types of rice.                                  

This is pickerel that I poached in a chicken stock along with
carrots and a bit of ginger.  I served it over soba (buckwheat) noodles
with the chicken stock. 

It was actually quite good.  The stock was something I made
when I poached some chicken in a stock of celery, onions and ginger.
After the chicken was cooked, I deboned the chicken, threw the bones
back into the poaching liquid, simmered again and got some chicken
stock for a couple of meals.                                                        

It’s been awhile since I’ve played with my camera.  I’m glad I still remember how to turn it on!  Some of these photos were taken about 4 to 6 weeks ago. 

The first 2 pictures are from Fort York.  I was walking to the lake and made a detour.  They were closing but I got a couple of pictures.  This is from one of the doors.  I like the graininess of the wood and the rusted metal. 
 

Same door – just a close up.
 

Someone left these mitts behind.  They looked kinda lonely.

Spring flowers:

I saw her hop on the fence and started to walk on it like a squirrel. 

And finally, some food pics.  I’ve been trying to get some more healthy food in me. 
This is whole wheat pasta, with tomato sauce, shrimp and basil.  I had some left over spinach
so I tossed them in too.

I’ve also been eating quinoa lately to replace rice.  It’s not the same but there is a satisfying
feel to it.  I sauteed some shrimp along with onions, a left over yellow pepper, green onions,
celery and tomatoes.   I added the quinoa and tossed them gently.

 

In my second helping, I had some leftover tomato paste so I added that too. 
Ok – back to my “homework”.

I’ve been baking quite a bit of whole wheat muffins lately.  I found a recipe from the New York Times.  I had a bag of whole wheat flour sitting in the fridge since the fall.  The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of buttermilk.  The first carton of buttermilk I got was full of lumps.  I’ve only tried buttermilk once when I was a kid and didn’t like it.  I substituted regular milk and in later variations – soy milk.  It also calls for melted butter.  I used that for the first batch but substituted canola oil for the subsequent batches.

Carrot muffins
  

Pumpkin and walnut muffins

Blueberry and walnuts

It also works well with banana and walnuts.  I also toss in a bit of yogurt and vanilla extract.  I’m not crazy about the sugar.  It calls for 3/4 cup to 1 cup.  I’ve been keeping it at just a bit below 3/4 cup. 

My bf made congee for me one day.  I topped it with fried onions,
parsley, green onions and lots of fried dough (yeow tew).

Beef stew – this is relatively easy to make and I don’t have to babysit it.

I made this simple dish from chicken, mushrooms, Chinese sausage and ginger. 
The chicken was marinated in corn starch, sesame seed oil, pepper and soy sauce.
I partially cooked the chicken in a pan, added the mushrooms and sausage.   It finished
cooking in the rice cooker.  I added finely diced ginger.  The water from the mushroom
was used to cook the rice as well (strain it first though).  I steamed some baby bak choi as
a side dish.  Top with green onions and oyster sauce.  It’s relatively simple
and fast on a work night. 

I’ve been using a recipe from this House of Annie to make
Pork Riblets with Fermented Red Bean Curd.   Fermented red bean curd
has a unique flavour.  It is an acquired taste and I’m not sure how to best
describe the flavour.   I can’t find good riblets at the Chinese supermarket.
They are usually a bit to fatty for my liking.  I also don’t want my dad to
accidentally choke on the cartilage or the bones.  I decided to
modify the recipe for pork butt shoulder.  I cut the pork into fairly
large cubes and marinated it in soy sauce, sesame seed oil, corn
 starch and pepper.  

I also chopped up some ginger, scallions, garlic and some onions (larger pieces). 

I had one of those stainless steel pots which holds the heat quite well.  I heated
it up, added some oil, waited for the oil to heat up and then added some of the ginger,
scallions and garlic.  Stir them around a bit and add the cubes of pork in to brown. 
Looking back, I should have used bigger chunks of garlic and scallions otherwise they will
burn.  Perhaps a better alternative would be to use them later in the cooking. 

I used this method as it was similar to making beef stew.  I figured the
brown bits from the pork would give this a bit more flavour. 

Use the remaining garlic, ginger, scallions and onions to deglaze the pan.
I was making a pork stock at the same time so I used that as the liquid.

If you don’t have pork stock, chicken stock works.  I wasn’t sure how
much red bean curd to add but I took out a couple of cubes.

Toss the pork back into the pot and add the red bean curd. 

Add enough stock to just cover the meat and simmer slowly for
a couple of hours (I think mine was closer to 3).  I added some potatoes
near the end.  The potatoes were a bit too soft.  So next time I’ll add
them closer to the end.   Adjust the taste (add salt, pepper, a bit of sugar,
soy sauce or more fermented red bean curd to your preference. 
The pork should be tender and easily pulled apart when it’s done. 

My aunt tells me I can substitute chicken.  So I think some chicken thighs
with bone would work well here. 

When I have nothing to write about – there’s always food!

These are actually from the summer.  I had some extra vegetables at the end of the week.  There was about 3/4 of a cauliflower, some onions, carrots, garlic and potatoes.  I roasted them with some garlic, olive oil and salt / pepper. 

I rummaged through my freezer the previous night and found a skirt steak.  I just left it in
the fridge to defrost and then marinated it with soy sauce, garlic and pepper. 

I actually started to cut it into strips and then changed my mind.  I simply put it in a hot pan
(the one with ridges), let it sear (the smoke and smell stayed in my condo for a couple of days)
and then let it rest.  I just sort of poked at it to determine the wellness.  Some of the parts near
the end were medium while the thicker parts were medium rare. 

It’s a relatively simple meal, the roasted cauliflower was good.  The garlic in the supermarket
always comes in a package of three.  So I just roast them when I know I can’t finish all of it. 
I think the whole thing took about an hour.  But there was lots to clean up.
Another meal that is quite simple to make is simply a pasta salad with veggies.  I didn’t have
macaroni so I used noodles.  I blanched broccoli, carrots and also poached some shrimp.  I added a red pepper as well.  For the dressing (not pictured here), I just used a simple lemon juice, olive oil,
mustard, salt / pepper.   I guess it would be healthier with whole wheat pasta. 

Simple meals for a week night when you don’t have time to cook.