News Trend An Invitation To Dinner|Actual

A 'before' shot of the lasagna I made for Aqil and Brian. I tried a new recipe which met with rave reviews. Don't worry...I left out the pork.

On Saturday night, I invited two friends over to join my family for dinner.

They arrived around seven and we sat right down to the table.

We ate a lot of dinner.

We talked.

We played a card game.

We took a deep breath and then plowed into dessert.

We watched a movie.

We talked during the slow bits.

We finished and stretched and mulled over the movie and slowly shook ourselves back into the real world

Then I packed them up some leftovers

And my guests said goodnight.

Now. There are two interesting things about this evening that keep circling around in my head.

One:

This was a perfectly ordinary night. I've hosted my fair share of dinner guests over the years, and the script generally follows this same pattern. There was nothing unusual or strange or even the least bit out of the norm during this particular evening.

Two:

This was an extraordinary night. My guests were not neighbors or school buddies or a family from church but two college freshman born on the other side of the world.

Aqil is the cousin of my best Malaysian friend, and Brian is his Taiwanese/Swiss roommate. The guys met while attending an international high school in Kuala Lumpur, and share the experience of growing up in several major cities around the world before landing themselves here in Seattle at the University of Washington.

Both present themselves as articulate, interesting, and thoughtful young men. They are funny, honest, amazingly well-traveled, and super easy to get along with. My family and I find their company thoroughly enjoyable and they seem to like us too.

And on one hand, it's ridiculously clear that all of our differences really amount to nothing at all.

But on the other hand, this world is full of people screaming about differences as if there is no way on God's green earth that we can ever overcome them and find a way to get along.

Maybe the people of this world could solve all the drama by simply inviting each other to dinner more often.

The evening passed by so agreeably that I entirely forgot to take more photos until the guys had gone  home and all that was left was me and this 'after' sink full of dirty dishes.

* * * * *

More stories about my friend, Aqil:

An Invitation To Dinner

Aqil's Chicken

Chicken Drumsticks

Ready To Launch

An All-American Dinner

Moondawg For The Win

News Trend Sweet Citrus|Actual

I've found a sure-fire way to bring order, peace and digestive good health into my dull winter days.

And no, I am not talking about

Feng Shui.

Hot yoga,

Whole 30,

or a chakra alignment.

Here's my secret: go to the grocery store and buy some citrus fruit.

Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, and satsumas.

Peel them

Eat them

Let the juice run down your chin.

Fill up on their sweet and tangy goodness.

And taking a few photos always boosts the spirits too.

Trust me, you will be transformed.

* * * * *

Some other stories about beating the January blahs:

Sprouts

Plain and Simple

News Trend My Whole 30 |Actual

I'm sick and tired of obsessing over food and worrying about my weight.

After a lifetime of experimentation, I'm done with eating regimes that unreasonably restrict my meals and blithely promise to feel and look like a whole new person.

I'm looking at you, Whole 30 and your whole company of cleanses, cures and dietary crazes.

In keeping with my 2016 mindset of No Day But Today, I've decided to liberate myself once and for all from this drama. My eating plan is this:

No grains.

No sugar.

And no more regrets.

I'm doing a bit of rewiring to let go of the old cravings, and over the past few weeks, I've challenged myself to keep simple, satisfying treats around the house that will make my new habits feel natural and satisfying.

Here are thirty gratifying, go-to tidbits that make me feel happy, full and free from the roller coaster of diets.

fresh pineapple

roasted cashews

broiled salmon

cherry tomatoes

roasted pumpkin seeds

tamari roasted almonds

veggie chips

baby carrots

apple slices

pepper jack cheese

sweet potato chips

pistachios

sliced peppers

sliced pear

salami

pecans

orange slices

swiss cheese

fresh mango

chicken sausage

mixed veggie chips

cucumber

dates

sunflower seeds

hummus

sliced bananas

chicken meatballs

celery

dried cranberries

peanut butter

News Trend The Magic Of Marble|Actual

Yesterday, for my fourth-born's Golden Birthday cake, I baked her a cherry pie.

She's one of those people who choose fruit pies over cake any old day of the week. And so even though pie baking is far more labor-intensive and straight-up messier that whipping up a homemade cake, I always deliver to her exactly what she wants, pastry hassles and messy kitchen be damned.

But this year was different because, for the first time, I rolled out her birthday pie crust on my new kitchen counters.

The sleek slab of cool marble makes an ideal pastry work surface. Toss on a handful of flour, roll out the dough and the crust practically leaps into the pie plate of its own accord.

And the new under mount sink makes clean-up a breeze. Just grab the dishcloth and shove the whole gnarly mess into the sink with the garbage disposal. Rinse and...No, you don't even have to repeat. One solid wipe and the mess is history

I must confess, I didn't see any of this coming. I chose my counter tops strictly based on appearances. I'm not ashamed to admit that I can be totally superficial like that.

So it has been a grand and glorious surprise to discover how practical and functional my counter top choice turns out to be.

No matter what kind of counters I have, I will always bake birthday pies for my baby.

But now, with my magic marble counters, I expect to enjoy the process a whole lot more.

* * * * *

I like to write stories about pies. If you like to read stories about pies, try these :

My Love Letter To The Kelantanese

Universally Speaking

Now That's A Pizza Pie!

Heavenly Peach Pie

Sweet Success

My Thanksgiving Feast

Coal Miner's Daughter

"Tdanquot; Is For Thanksgiving

More Than Ever

Leftover Pie Dough

tiga.1415926

The Magic Of Marble

News Trend A Long-Distance Easter Basket|Actual

The Easter Bunny either doesn't know or doesn't care that my third-born is living in Vietnam again this year. Because on his special day of celebration, he filled her basket with all the usual sweet treats and hid it for her in the dining room, along with her sisters' surprises.

Sometimes, when I am staring in the face of the fact that my daughter is far across the ocean from me, a little bit of denial gets me through the day.

News Trend Spring Break|Actual

Fresh.

Sweet.

Juicy.

Unexpectedly delicious.

If there is a day that tastes just like a bowl of red, ripe strawberries, then it must be the first morning of spring break.

News Trend Sweet Danang|Actual

People ask me all the time, "What's so special about Vietnam?"

I suppose it's natural to wonder why a backwards little country on the far side of the Pacific has swallowed up my third-born daughter for the past three years.

I'll admit that at first, I didn't get it either.

But once I flew across the ocean, wiped the transcontinental sleep from my eyes, and took in the sweet city of Danang, I totally understood.

These scenes from this year's trip - my third - to my daughter's adopted hometown might help you understand too.

^ Coffee shops everywhere. A western phenomenon filtered through Asian sensibilities, these places never fail to delight me with their chic aesthetic and knack for interesting details. I downed a glass of an icy cold blended winter melon here and, between that amazing drink and these concrete and geometric tile floors, felt utterly refreshed inside and out.

^ Obviously, Vietnam does Vietnamese food well. But Danang restauranteurs have a keen sense for preparing Western food with a twist. Example: at Burger Bros, this conventionally delicious cheeseburger came with a side of eye-poppingly tangy slaw, and the combination was pure delight.

^ Is it the terra cotta tiles around the archway, the blooming vine, the ubiquitous cluster of motor bikes or even the standard blue address tile that charms the socks right off my feet? I don't know but every darling lebih jelasnya of this street scene is classic Danang.

^ Blended drinks are quite the rage here, and as a non-coffee drinker, I take advantage of the full range of options. Also, as a sun-starved Seattlite, I can't get over the fact that in Danang, you need your sunglasses every single day.

^ Sudden rainstorms blow in, just as they do in many tropical cities. But only in Danang have I tucked my rain-drenched poncho into the seat of my motor bike and taken refuge in a cozy coffee house to watch the rain pound down on the Han River while I wait out the storm.

^ It's my good fortune to visit Danang not as a tourist but as a guest of the Vietnamese people. Through my daughter, I've met many of her high-school and college-age students. They adore her and they readily embrace me too. Neither jaded against the west or overly timid around foreigners, the good people of Danang just want to be friends.

^ And that is the sweetest thing about Danang of all.

News Trend Halong Bay: Palatable|Actual

Food on the cruise was outrageous. As we plied the fine waters of Halong Bay, our meals were a symphony of dishes, varying from traditional Vietnamese fare to Asian inspiration all the way to Western fine dining. We ate:

• Oysters on the half shell as our very first dish.
• Crab cakes, an American classic, but presented with the cake stuffed back into the crab's shell.
• Japanese noodles served with mounds of steaming vegetables, all the usual Asian suspects.
• Fresh spring rolls that we made ourselves
• Platters of sweet and tangy pineapple, dragon fruit, and watermelon.
• And for our final encore, a medley of prawns and pineapple steeped in Malay-style sambal flavors.

In fact, each meal on the Victory Star was in perfect pitch.

Save one.

Before our early-morning excursion to Vung Vieng and the follow-up brunch, we had a light breakfast that caught me entirely by surprise.

Two types of pastries and bananas were provided. And cocoa krispies.

Yes. Chocolate breakfast cereal. On a Vietnamese junk on the other side of the world, I ate perhaps the most discordant of American culinary wrong notes.

My third-born explained that they are a favorite among the Vietnamese, and in that spirit, I decided to have a bowl.

They were as awful as I imagined.

But still, I'm glad I ate them. For better or for worse, my Victory Star meal plan was truly a rhapsody of international flavors and I can honestly say I tried them all.

News Trend Bouncing Back|Actual

Here's the thing. If you spend the morning in Angkor Wat, Cambodia doing a whole lot of this:

Then by mid-afternoon, I guarantee that you are going to be feeling a lot like this:

And trust me, you are going to want some refreshment and relaxation, stat.

Luckily, Cambodia has figured out how to cater to weary Westerners:

^ We did not stop here but I gazed longingly down the cool walkway and felt refreshed just by looking

^ We ate a late lunch here atBlue Pumpkin, in a luxuriously air-conditioned upstairs room where we lounged across crisp white linens and pondered the state of our heat-wracked souls.

^ My small but mighty vegetable quiche restored me to life, with a sassy little salad on the side. Ice cream for dessert and I felt myself beginning to bounce back.

^ We wandered back out into the midday sun, immediately realized more water was in order, and ducked into this coffeeshop for two extra large bottles.

* * * * *

And after an hour or two spent in the comforting embrace of Siem Reap, I predict you will be feeling rested, recharged, and quite possibly ready to rock.

More temples, anyone?

News Trend Lunch At Thuy's|Actual

One of the really lovely aspects of my trips to Vietnam is that I'm not a typical tourist.

Quite the opposite.

My third-born's friends and colleagues in Danang welcome me with open arms. Invited into normal Vietnamese homes, we share everyday meals and experience culture in ways that Yelp and TripAdvisor could never help me do. And I come to know and care for these people who so generously draw me into their lives.

Case in point: my daughter teaches English a couple evenings a week at a school run by a woman named Thuy. With the help of several high school girls from my daughter's group, Thuy whipped up this beautiful feast in our honor , complete with icy Cokes, and we spent a lovely afternoon in her home eating every delicious bite.

It's worth noting that the table was too small to hold this groaning spread and we quickly decided to move the party to the floor. Asia, you are my kind of place.

Thuy and her family live in a modern and spacious landed house with an inviting courtyard  filled with plants. After lunch, I wandered among them, enjoying every dollop of healthy green foliage soaking up the tropical sun.

And I found a pretty pastel building across the street. What an adorable neighborhood.

But of course, my favorite part about this lovely afternoon was not the neighborhood or the garden or even the spring rolls and my quang.

In the front row, Susie, Monica, Sasha and Thuy.

Behind them: the Streichers

The best part about eating lunch at Thuy's house was spending time with these lovely women and making them my friends.

News Trend Summer Love|Actual

There are endless things to love about summer.

I'm not even going to get into the grandest of summery events, like road trips and outdoor weddings and camping on the beach.

But even the simplest daily rhythms take on a magical air.

Early mornings for pruning the roses.

Brilliant afternoons for long walks with Ranger.

Long evenings to sit outside and watch twilight slowly fall.

And all the delicious foods that taste best in summer:

Cold pasta salad

Grilled steaks

Potato salad

Shish kebab

Cheeseburgers

And best of all, Lord have mercy, fresh fruit.

News Trend Five Stars|Actual

Here's my go-to salad for these hot Seattle summer days.

A bed of mixed greens

sliced strawberries

blueberries

a sprinkle of toasted sunflower seeds and a dollop o poppyseed dressing.

No matter what else the meal holds, as long as I eat this salad, I feel healthy, nutritious, and full of delicious summer.

I highly recommend.

News Trend Backyard Herbs|Actual

I used to set my potted herbs directly on the top step out the back door. But Ranger loves an easy sasaran, so we built this bench to get the edibles up out of his range, if you get my drift.

I've got great news. Summer can officially start now. Because I finally got my herb garden whipped into shape.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm way behind in tackling this annual project. Let's blame it on the Asian flu.

As I pass in and out of my back door somewhere around ten thousand times per sunny day, I often pause right here to admire the happy green faces of my herb dudes.

But let's be honest. If these fresh green leaves growing from the terra cotta pots nestled together on my green wooden bench look familiar, there's a good reason for that.

I do this every year.

Thyme has sweet purple blooms and I love it for that reason alone.

However, this season, I have a major twist to this familiar plot.

I plan to actually use these babes in my kitchen.

Quite a few years back, I acquired a rosemary plant entwined around this wire heart. Thus a tradition was born.

Oh sure. I tell myself that every year. My head swims with visions of me snipping here and there, tucking tiny fragrant sprigs of greenery into the pockets of my flowing apron, then breezing into the kitchen where I whip up fabulous homemade pastas and hand-turned pizzas bursting with the flavors of my backyard herbs.

To be honest, that never happens.

Clockwise: chive, mint, thyme.

This time around, I've scaled back my fantasies considerably.

Clockwise: cilantro, oregano, rosemary.

For the past couple weeks, as I'm tossing together the evening meal, I challenge myself to use one of my herbs - just one - in whatever I'm preparing.

Skip the flowing apron.

Forget the dainty sprigs.

And sigh,

Let go of the rustic Italian hidangan.

A few years back, my fourth-born created name tags for all the herbs. She's amazing.

Though my new approach may be less romantic, it takes me no time at all to toss a handful of mint leaves into an ordinary fruit salad,

And only a few extra steps to fetch some fresh oregano for my everyday spaghetti sauce, instead of hauling the dried version out of the pantry,

Not to mention the easy snap and sizzle that a handful of chopped chive adds to the top of my tried-and-true potato salad.

And if those are not reasons enough to encourage me to make that five-step trip out to the herb bench, here is one more incentive:

Cedric the Protector guards the herbs.

My three cats love to nap in the cool shade underneath, and almost always greet me with a special hello when I come to harvest some backyard herbs.

News Trend My Homemade Quiche|Actual

Crate

knife | Chicago Cutlery c. 1984

baking dish | Crate & Barrel c. 1982

my mother-in-law's legendary spatula | c. 1960

quiche lorraine | last night

Back in the days of the dinosaurs, when my husband and I were dating, we quite decadently made a habit of eating out on Friday and Saturday nights. But Sundays were set aside for home cooking and we often made quiche.

I know. Real men don't eat quiche.

Or so the saying went at the time.

But eggs, bacon, Swiss cheese, onions and mushrooms have never threatened my husband's masculinity so this dish has stood the test of time for us.

For practical reasons, I rarely served quiche as a family meal during my daughters' growing up years. One quiche is not enough to serve a hungry party of six, and I was not about to wrangle two pie crusts into existence for a single dinner. And honestly, my kids never really took to quiche all that well anyway.

My authentic 1982 Crate & Barrel quiche plate spent quite a few years pushed to the back of the baking cupboard.

But these days, when my husband and I are having a rare Sunday evening dinner alone, such as we did yesterday, I bust out my rolling pin and egg beater, and whip us up an old school quiche.

* * * * *

Our favorite recipe comes straight from the pages of The New York Times Cookbook . Penned by the urbane Craig Claiborne, renowned food editor and restaurant critic of the Tines for decades, this cookbook was all the rage among us yuppie foodies back in the day and we used ours as a go-to for years.

Despite my usual cooking style of elaboration and substitution, I have always prepared this recipe exactly as written with zero regrets. Mr. Claiborne set down a sure-fire winner with his Quiche Lorraine and I present his grand creation here just as he wrote it so many years ago..

• Ingredients:
• + For pastry to line one nine-inch pie:
• 1 cup flour
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 2-4 tablespoons water
• Tabasco sauce to taste

+ For custard:

4 strips bacon

1 onion, thinly sliced

1 cup Gruyere or Swiss cheese, cubed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

4 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups heavy cream or 1 cup each milk and cream

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. 2. Line a nine-inch pie plate with the pastry. By all means build a rim with the pastry and flute it. This is essential for the amount of custard indicated in this recipe.
3. 3. Cover the bottom of the pastry with a round of parchment paper and add enough dried beans or peas to partly fill the shell. Bake 10 minutes.
4. 4. Reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Remove and discard the beans and parchment paper and set the pastry-lined pie plate aside.
5. 5. Cook the bacon until crisp and remove it from skillet. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat remaining in the skillet. Cook the onion in the remaining fat until the onion is transparent.
6. 6. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle the bacon, onion and cheeses over the inside of the partly baked pastry.
7. 7. Combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce to taste. Strain the mixture over the onion-cheese mixture. Slide the pie onto a baking sheet.
8. 8. Bake the pie until a knife inserted one inch from the pastry edge comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Let stand five or 10 minutes before serving.

Served with a simple salad and fresh fruit, my homemade quiche satisfies both the stomach and the soul.

And as far as I can tell, it has not yet turned my husband into a sissy.

* * * * *

Ready for more stories about my most dearly beloved, tried-and-true homemade meals?

My Homemade Lasagna

My Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

My Homemade Spaghetti and Meatballs

My Homemade Grilled Cheese Sandwich

My Homemade Cold Tuna Noodle

My Homemade Beef Stir Fry

My Homemade Beef Stew

My Homemade Parmesan Chicken Nuggets

My Homemade Enchiladas

My Homemade Chicken Salad

My Homemade Cranberry Apple Crisp

My Homemade Pasta Primavera

My Homemade Pad Thai

My Homemade Quiche

My Homemade Potato Salad

My Homemade Cobb Salad

My Homemade French Toast

News Trend Saturday Night Sauté|Actual

You know, I'm not usually one for prepackaged meals or fancy bagged food kits.

Ninety nine times out of one hundred, I'd rather buy simple, fresh ingredients and cook them up at home, seasoned mostly with onions and garlic, olive oil and pepper.

But then again, I have cooked up and served about a billion dinners in my lifetime, and I am always looking for something new and different to try.

Enter this new product from Trader Joe's.

While wandering around the internet last week, I came across a complimentary review of these veggie-based sauté kits, and asked my husband to grab one on his next Saturday morning trip to TJs.

I do all the regular grocery shopping, but my husband loves his monthly trip to Trader Joe's.

So that evening, along with a gorgeous fillet of lemon and dill baked salmon, I whipped up the Brussels Sprouts Sauté Kit.

What I found inside the main bag was a lot of loose Brussels sprout leaves and a few slices of the actual heads with the leaves still connected, if that makes sense. There were also smaller packets of hazel nuts for roasting, lemon vinagrette for dressing, and lovely Parmesan flakes for melting. The ingredients were fresh and generously portioned; the directions were simple and clear.

The salmon baked for ten minutes, and the veggies were even faster. Honestly, the most time-consuming step for the entire meal was ripping off a properly sized piece of parchment paper to fit the baking dish for the fish.

A bowl of fresh red raspberries rounded out the quick, easy, and visually appealing meal.

The verdict was unanimous. My husband, my fourth-born daughter and I agree that the Trader Joe's Brussels Sprouts Sauté Kit was every delicious thing it was touted to be, and I have no snobbish regrets about using a kit.

In fact, I've authorized my husband to make an unscheduled visit to TJ's this Saturday to pick up the green bean version.