Soy Braised Short Ribs Korean

You can look up the recipe from Food and Wine from the year 2000. Prepared the orginal way and very nice although the next time will replace the Asian pear, chestnuts and Daikon with onions and mushrooms and more carrots..served with rice...cooked in oven and sauce reduced on stovetop...used more short ribs than called for to serve 5...not a piece of meat leftover...really great recipe..reminds me of the Braised Chicken with soy and star anise that I learned to cook in China a little over 20 years ago in a four week cooking class. So, if you want a wonderful recipe that's easy to prepare try this recipe by Anya von Bremzen...I also made the diakon and carrot salad not measuring using the same ingredients..wonderful with the short ribs

And Sassy...still up to the same thing....this past week has been busy chasing those creatures around the house..not sure if they are all outside at the moment..but at least she is out..hunting, hunting...

fastfeasts, almonds, CIA, locally sourced, green almonds

Time to search out the quick way to satisfy the urge to cook...and cook...first will be the chore of cleaning out the fridge..what is there...lots of green...avocados that one must surely be past its prime...lettuce...fresh..locally...perhaps one of the things that I am soooo tired of hearing...locally sourced...perhaps if we only bought locally sourced...we could put all the farmers in other countries out of business...raspberries for that favorite desert in the winter...ummmm, no way....years ago..locally sourced meats and foul...perhaps didn't have so many cases of recalled food...we ate fresh and locally sourced for years...food wasn't brought in from countries around the world...even so, do you think we could have locally source food for the multitudes that was affordable for the masses and have the diversity that we have come to love and expect...or is it perhaps just the welloff people that would have the best and the rest of the people would be reduced to having cabbage and potatoes. Perhaps I saw more beautiful and fresh produce in the markets in some foreign lands...perhaps we don't have people to raise those foods here for people who would like to duplicate the foods of foreign peoples...we travel, we eat, we have people who come to live here from all around the world..and they like to cook foods that are familiar..or have eaten in perhaps in Thailand, China, Turkey...what about those fuzzy almonds before the outside turns hard...and you pop the whole thing in your mouth..what a wonderful taste...even I as often as I traveled didn't have them until about 15 years ago..a trip to NY..and then to the arab section of Brooklyn..and there they were..never had seen them..told to pop on in my mouth..I took them back to the CIA where I was in school..of course no one...not even the instructors of mine..had even seen them before...I did find them in Atlanta one time....not so beautiful..rather on the down side of fresh...and certainly not able to be locally sourced...

It is time to think about traveling someplace where the food is different...and somehow, many of our ethnic restaurants though celebrate their heritage...the taste is not the same as in the home country...so many things though named the same have been tailored for the 'american' clientale...and thus we must travel or cook to be able to have that original taste that we love so much...

Quan An Ngon Hanoi

somehow can't seem to get photos on the same page as the note..was going through the photos from some of the places and then remembered this restaurant. I went to the one in Hanoi..twice in two days..and loved the food. I was seated at a table with others both times which fortunately had someone who spoke a little English. It was nice to be able to ask questions as my waiter both times spoke no English although English was on the menu. What fun it was to be able to order several items each time..this crab I loved..loved...the squid was nice, but not outstanding..ordered lots of other things..just thinking of a way to go back..just to be able to eat. But, speaking of eating Vietnamese..there is on the north side of Atlanta, Jimmy Carter exit on I85 the Hong Kong Market..and on the side, inside, there are a number of food stalls..and one in particular serves the banh xeo pancake with sauce, herbs, lettuce and it such a treat. If you are in the area it would do you well to stop and have lunch or supper there. The market also is a treasure trove of fresh and otherwise ingredients for the asia market. Be sure to go there if in or near Atlanta and be sure to go to the Quan An Ngon restaurant in Hanoi if you want street food..as in all countries, street food is food that the people who live there eat..all around the world, street food is wonderful. The Hanoi restaurant just saves you lots of time by having so much available in one place.

Quan An Ngon Hanoi

Antigua Guatemala OAT travel

Back at the computer after another long absence..keeping up is hard to do. Just a note for those of you traveling. Two of us on the trip to Central America had our passports stolen in Antigua. Both of us had this happen on an evening when we were trying to find our way back to our hotel which was out of the way. This happened during a religious procession...she and her husband on one side of the street and myself and two others on the other side of the street. Her wallet and my passport case were taken from our 'fanny' packs worn in front..unzipped, removed, and rezipped...and we both thought we were careful...she was trying to get past a person standing still and I was bumped hard and knocked off the sidewalk into the street and people. Needless to say when we told our 'troop leader' both had been robbed...he found it hard to believe. The next day we were taken to the local tourist police to file a report..then taken to Guatemala City to go through the hoops in order to get an emergency passport...we were fortunate that it was able to be done in one day and that we were able to meet up with our group that evening....at Lake Atitlan...that was one really long day. The old saying that 'misery loves company' is so true. Both of us were glad for each other's company..even though the circumstances were not good. This was the first time that either of us had had a problem. We will see how it tumbles out when I get the paperwork finished for the insurance...vs. no insurance. I purchase the insurance not because of something like this but rather for the health part..incase in injury or sickness. So, other than that which turned out to be an expensive minor problem, the trip was great and the people on the trip wonderful to travel with.

vietnam

Back from a month in Thailand and Vietnam. It was different this time around in Vietnam. We went to Delat and NaTrang which we did not do last year.

Time for the girls to get together