Happy Lunar New Year/ Black History Month/ Valentine’s Day!

Whew! It’s been a whirlwind. First let me wish you a happy lunar new year and sweet and spicy Valentine’s Day! 祝你 新年快樂,課 課 拿 “A”, 辣味情人節! Lots of things happened to (fortuitously) fall on this month. The lunar new year and Valentine’s Day converges on the same day. It’s Black History Month. A dear friend of mine got into the graduate program of her choice. February 19th is the day I make the journey to the motherland (Shanghai, China). With so many reasons to share meals and conversations with loved ones, its been a crazy–crazy beautiful–month.

(From left to right) 1. Tomato and eggs, a traditional and simple Cantonese dish that my Grandma used to make often when I was littler. My sister/roomie just learned how to it make this last week when she went on a short vacation with my Grandma. She made this for the both of us on a quiet weekday evening. 2. Spicy chocolate cookies from a newly discovered food blog, Mitch in the Kitchen. Mitch is short for Michelle, and I found her blog impressive, delicious and fun enough to put on my list of food blogs to stalk. She made these cookies for a December holiday party, but they are perfect for Valentine’s Day since they are chocolate-y sweet and spicy hot! (The recipe calls for cayenne peppers.)  I’m mailing them out to my most beloved ones, my girlfriends who have been with me through thick and thin. The least I can do is bake them cookies. 3. Fruit Kimchi. I made this with the bf on his last visit, except he did not get to enjoy it while he was here since it was still fermenting–takes about a week. The recipe was taken from Sandor Katz’s Wild Fermentation, and it was a crowd-pleaser at a recent potluck. 4. Green tea, vegan-friendly muffins. I make these a lot because they are– I swear–so easy and so delicious.  I have a lunch date today with my sweet and lovely friend, and kick-butt social justice activist and environmentalist Rachel. For those that I have reverence for, I bake muffins.  5. Alex pleasantly surprised me with flowers today. Pretty, no? 6. Nian gao, a traditional dessert for Chinese New Year. I attempted to make it for the first time this year. The product was…eh…lets just say my kneading skills could use some work. Texture was not totally there, but the  taste was there; can’t go wrong with brown sugar and sweet rice flour.  7. Flowers from my mommy. She wanted to make sure I have something pretty in red/pink in my house for the new year.  8. Quinoa corn soup, the result of teamwork between me and my new love affair, my sexy slow cooker. I made this soup for another one of those quiet weekday evenings with my sister slash roomie. 9. Flowers to me from me!

辣味