Category Archives: Recipes

Chinese Beef Stew with Tendon

Stewed beef tendon has hearty flavor with a wonderful mouthfeel.

Chinese Beef and Tendon Stew

Well, I’ve been working for two weeks now and I’m beginning to feel a bit better although I’m still overwhelmed by the amount of work I have to do every week. The hardest part has been coming home to cook after a long day at work. Some days, it’s really rough trying to get into cooking mode when all I want to do is lie down and veg! I have a new respect for all you working moms out there. If you have any tips for me on how to cope, I sure could use them.

Anyway, because of that, my weekends are now my major cooking days. Or at least one of the days, I try to make into a cooking day. The other day (usually Saturday), I put my foot down and insist on some rest—which means no cooking!

Yesterday, I decided I was going to make Chinese Beef Stew. It is something I’ve not made before but I remember distinctly having it at a friend’s house. She had used oxtail so it had a lovely beefy flavor along with the wonderful fragrance of cinnamon and star anise in the broth. She also told me that it was quite easy to make.

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Chocolate Haupia Pie Recipe

You deserve a ∏ (Pi) today. So how about a Chocolate Haupia Pie?

chocolate haupia pie slice

Today is March 14: 3.14. If you remember your Geometry, 3.14 is a very significant number. ∏, or “Pi” is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Science and Math geeks like to celebrate the number on March 14. And since it sounds like the word “pie”, Science and Math geeks who bake will make pies on that day as well!

Last year, we threw a big, Hawaiian-themed party at our house. Our Ultimate Hawaiian Backyard Lu’au featured many popular Hawaiian dishes as well as desserts. Our friend Melissa, who is a great baker, prepared this Chocolate Haupia pie for us. (“Haupia”, by the way, is a Hawaiian-style, coconut milk-based pudding.) It was the best!

Thankfully, Melissa and her husband Pat had photographed the pie-making process in their kitchen, and had emailed us their pics. We hadn’t posted the recipe before, so I figured Pi Day would be the perfect time to do it.

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Announcing “Grow Your Own” #40

Thank you to all the participants in last month’s “Grow Your Own” roundup. Let’s do it again!

GYO 39

Spring is officially in swing in the Northern Hemisphere. There are those of you whose gardens are not yet ready for planting, but you are still using up food stored from last year’s harvest. Some of you may be harvesting Winter crops like citrus or greens. A few outdoorsy-types are even foraging for mushrooms, ramps or nettles.

Then there are those of you who live in tropical climates with year-round growing seasons. And let’s not forget those who are in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is the peak of the Summer growing season, and all that it entails. I’ve even noticed that a lot of you are growing sprouts these days – you’re all welcome to participate.

Show off

What are you cooking with all this stuff you’ve grown / harvested / foraged? Here’s your chance to show it off! The rules are simple:

  • Make a dish that uses at least one item from your very own garden or farm and post about it. If you hunted or foraged, those items are also eligible. You can also use something that was given to you, but the giver must have personally grown or raised the item. If you paid for it, then it doesn’t count.
  • Anything edible that you have grown or raised qualifies, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, sprouts, edible flowers, nuts, grains, legumes, dairy products, eggs, livestock, and anything else I might have forgotten. Produce from both indoor and outdoor gardens are welcome! Different regions will have different things available, so feel free to feature things unique to your area. (Rambutan trees, anyone?) We are all about celebrating variety!
  • Please make sure your dish is posted during the month of the event because we like to celebrate seasonal items. One post per blog, please.
  • As a courtesy, please include a link to this announcement in your blog post, and then update later with a link to the round-up.  A sample link would be like:

This post was entered into the “Grow Your Own” roundup, created by Andrea’s Recipes and hosted this month by House of Annie.

Ready to participate? Because I and lots of other people would LOVE to see what you’re cooking! To enter, just fill out the fields in this form:

http://www.emailmeform.com/fid.php?formid=532860

And make sure to include a pic (no wider than 300 pixels) of your food as well! The deadline for the February GYO roundup is March 31.

Aloha, Nate

Previous March GYO roundups:

March 2008
March 2009

“Grow Your Own” roundup #39

With over 40 entries from 8 different countries around the world, this month’s “Grow Your Own” roundup has a lot to offer! Many of the US entries are about using up foods harvested the previous Summer, but some entries celebrate foods available right now in Winter, such as carrots, kale, or even foraged truffles.

You’ll notice a lot of lemon and tomato entries – two crops people grow a lot of at home. There are also entries featuring some unusual crops, such as hops and kefir. So without further ado, here are this month’s GYO entries, listed by ingredient.

Bananas and Papayas

Tropical Upside Down Cake with Banana-Cooking in Mexico

Tropical Upside-Down Cake by Kathleen of Cooking in Mexico in La Cruz, Nayarit, Mexico

Continue reading “Grow Your Own” roundup #39