On this door, located in the main building at Cal State East Bay, is a powerful message: SNACKS. Snacks! I wasn’t really sure what this meant, but it sure made me hungry. Would I head through it and find a tasty treat? You would think that, but the door was quite locked. I tried to open it, I jiggled it, I smelled through the door to see if snacks were hiding. But nothing. Just a locked door, an unfulfilled pavlovian response, and a mystery…
My kitchen for the past several months has seemed to take on a distinctly Asian flare inspired by the wonderful posts of one of my favorite food blog writers, Maki, of Just Hungry and Just Bento . With her influence, I have been making bento lunches almost daily, and have a large stash in my freezer of dumplings, steamed buns, and udon noodles. I have been experimenting gleefully with fish sauces, chili oil, rice vinegar, adzuki beans, and miso paste, and have found that for the most part these ingredients are actually quite simple to use, and produce tasty results (regardless of whether they are being used authentically). (more…)
To think that I almost missed out completely on the joyful possibilities of cole slaw… After years of being served the gloppy, mayo mess at summer picnics or lobster pounds, I had developed an extremely negative association with anything that called itself “slaw”. Fortunately I learned that all slaw is not the same, and there are some really fantastic versions out there with endless varieties of of crispy, crunchy vegetables dressed lightly and most importantly not swimming in jarred mayonnaise. (more…)
