My ethnic background is so mixed and confusing, that I tend to associate myself with Asian cultures since that’s what I grew up in.  But I know I’ve got some Scottish and English blood running through my veins, and I think I’m part Irish as well.  I’ve always felt a longing to visit Ireland, Guinness was the first beer I actually liked, and my iPod is full of Celtic tunes (a lot of which were played at our wedding).  One of my favorite ways to get in touch with my Irish roots, is the best beef stew on the planet. Read more

I had some ground beef to use up the other day, but wanted a light lunch that wouldn’t make us feel stuffed.  I decided to make lettuce cups, a treat my friend’s mother used to make for us when I’d come over.  My friend’s mom is Thai, Filipino, and Chinese, so I wasn’t sure what culture the lettuce cup recipe comes from.  I tried doing some research but found similar recipes for both Thai lettuce cups and Chinese lettuce cups.  I decided that, like most foods in Hawaii, it’s the result of a myriad of cultures living and eating together.  So I’m calling them Asian Lettuce Cups. Read more

I haven’t decided yet if it should be crockpot or crock pot.  I’ve seen both spellings in different online dictionaries, but my spellchecker doesn’t like crockpot, so I think I’ll go with crock pot, what do you think?  Anyway, this crock pot stew recipe is so simple to make and pretty tasty.  It’s a Greek stew that uses the chopped butternut squash from Wednesday’s tutorial.  My favorite part of the recipe was left out of the photo above, and it’s the feta sprinkled over the top at the end.  Whoops! Read more

I’ve been on a baking kick lately, which is rather surprising since I consider myself a cook, not a baker.  But I’ve had the flavors of vanilla and orange kicking around in the back of my mind for weeks, and decided that the best way to play with that was to start with the simple buttery goodness of shortbread cookies.  Eric said these were “kinda dainty” (which led to him making his own oatmeal cranberry cookies!), but I thought that made them perfect to pair with tea or coffee! Read more

Spring is here!  Okay maybe not really, but we’ve been getting some unseasonably nice weather in Washington, while so many of my friends in other states are getting the crazy weather we usually have.  So I thought I’d share a drink that’s sure to make anyone in any location feel like spring is on the way.  Fresh cucumber juice is so simple to make, and it’s a beautiful fancy drink that’s perfect for parties.  Plus it’s alcohol free!

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