morsels & sauces

Friends, there are so many kinds of kimchi, it's almost overwhelming.   Here are just a few:  10 different kinds of kimchi   and   7 more kinds .   And, people, that's just the tip of the cabbage--there are about 200 more kinds (at least according to   Lucky Peach ). This strong, briny, and  somewhat fizzy amalgamation of veggies is steeped in ginger and g ochugaru (red pepper flakes) for a few days or a few months. And it is so tasty. In all its forms. It should come as so surprise that I have never turned from any banchan (those delectable little side dishes served at Korean restaurants)--fermented, salted, fresh, fried, or otherwise.  Given my proclivities for morsels and sauces, you can imagine that banchan is my favorite part of a Korean meal. And kimchi is always well represented--in its many forms--among banchan . And in my attempts to be a better educated kimchi eater, I can pass on this much about kimchi (with so...

I am a smoothie drinker. Almost every morning for breakfast. While one might imagine I do it for all the health benefits that smoothies provide (It's salad! In a jar!), my predilection for blended fruits and vegetables is deeply rooted in laziness.  You see, I like to sleep. I like to sleep a lot. I particularly like to sleep in the mornings. Which means I do everything I can to eek out another 10 minutes in bed.  Enter the blender. The night before, I gather up all of my ingredients and put them in a leftover plastic bag from the grocery store or into a bowl (sometimes I need to do two of these--one for frozen goodies and the other for refregerated ones). And then the next morning, at the last possible moment, I blend up those veggies, and pour them in a recycled jar, cap it, and take my breakfast on the go to be consumed sometime mid-morning while sitting at my desk.  It is not glamorous. It does not smack of health consciousness (or the ...

One of the simple French pleasures is to pair radishes with butter. The snap of the radish is cooled by the butter and tempered by the pinch of salt: the end result is a simple appetizer fit for any coast of Northern France. Sure, you can spruce it up with heirloom radishes (which if you can get your hands on White Icicle radishes to pair with the more easily found French Breakfast, your plate will be all the more spectacular). You can also trot out some fleur de sel (sea salt), traditionally hand-harvested off the coast of Brittany: it is the caviar of the salts. And you should definitely use the best butter you have on hand. However, the simple red globes (usually Cherry Belle ) found at the local supermarket with some butter and table salt will do you just fine. I promise. As for the anchovies, the husband says they are optional, which technically is true, but their addition here punches up the saltiness of the butter and ensures that I am the only one who gets to eat...

What a strange week this has already been.  On Monday night around 2 am, we felt a jolt to the whole house. Ever my father's daughter, I went downstairs in the dark to grab my iPad to figure out just how strong that short but solid temblor was. I checked earthquaketrack  and usgs . Neither showed our quake. I kept refreshing the webpages, but still nothing. First I convinced myself that it must have been a minor earthquake, like a 1.0 or 2.0 and the epicenter just so happened to be under our house. Then I convinced myself that I had dreamed it (hey, by then it was 3 am), but I was certain that the husband, who had fallen back to sleep, had felt it too. Confused, I fell back to sleep. At 7:30, I woke to find this in the backyard.   So I guess they aren't kidding when they say that earthquakes feel like a truck hitting your house.  Or a tree, in this case. Thankfully, no one was hurt (although a branch did go crashing through the neighbor's window, which co...

So I have to make this post somewhat quick, as I am about to run 6.6 miles this morning. You see, I am ridiculously running a 10k in three weeks as part of the Big River Run in Mendocino , and, well, I am absolutely unprepared and so thusly terrified. I think that the last time I ran 6.6 miles was two years ago. So this morning, I am giving it my best shot as a woman newly entered into her forties. But before I do, let me tell you about last night's dinner. Up here in Fort Bragg, I stopped by an absolutely delightful store, Astoria Home Store , that has been open only a month. I am in love with the owner's collection of Depression-era glass plates and her pretty combinations and platters. So, I swooped in and snapped up the lovely plates in the photos here. Aren't they gorgeous? And what plates they were for this delightful, exceptionally simple, and remarkably tasty chile dish. The recipe is renowned cookbook author and Mexican cooking expert  Diana Ke...