This is home cooking at its finest.
Click here for my homemade gyoza recipe. The following is a lemon ginger sauce I made.
Ingredients:
Juice of 1/2 lemon
a few tablespoons of Ponzu (orange-infused soy sauce)
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
a couple of teaspoons of rice wine vinegar
2 scallions, chopped finely
several dashes of chili sesame oil
Comine all the ingredients. Serve alongside gyoza. SO GOOD. Here is a picture of Stephen full of gyoza:
This is a modified recipe from this month’s Bon Appetit magazine.
Serves 2 really hungry people
Ingredients:
2 thick pork chops
3 Tbs. honey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon orange juice
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
Herbes de Provence (or thyme and rosemary)
1 cup dried whole wheat Israeli cous cous
2.5 cups chicken stock
1 tbs. Wondra flour (or regular flour)
Directions:
In a pie pan, combine the honey, OJ and garlic. Add the chops to pan and flip over a couple of times till they are coated. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chops, cover, and marinate for at least one hour.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat an ovenproof frying pan with olive oil and turn to medium-high heat. Add the chops (reserve the marinade) and brown on both sides, about 4 minutes total. Move pan to the oven and cook for 20 minutes, flipping chops once halfway through.
When 10 minutes remain, heat 2 cups of chicken stock in a small saucepan till boiling. Add 1 Tbs. olive oil to another small saucepan and place over med-high heat. Add the cous cous and stir for two minutes. Add the boiling chicken stock, turn heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.
Steam the green beans.
When chops are done, remove them from the pan and add the flour to the juices over medium heat. Stir and cook for one minute, then add the rest of the chicken stock, herbes de Provence and the white wine. Stir till sauce is thickened.
Top the chops, cous cous and green beans with the sauce. Serve with the bottle of white wine.
This was really easy and totally satisfying.
Ingredients:
1 lemon, halved
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2-3/4 pounds of raw unpeeled shrimp
1 bay leaf
1 cup dry white wine (I used Chateau Ste. Michelle dry riesling)
2 cups water
salt and pepper
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 green onion, chopped finely
1 tablespoon horseradish sauce
Directions:
Combine water, wine, 1/2 lemon, bay leaf and a pinch of salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Meanwhile fill a medium bowl with ice water. When water is boiling, add the shrimp and immediately turn heat to low and poach for 4 minutes. With a slotted spoon, transfer shrimp to ice water. To the poaching liquid, add the juice of the other half of lemon and bring to a roaring boil. Boil for about 20 minutes till there’s only a couple of tablespoons of liquid left. Meanwhile, peel the shrimp leaving the tails intact. Set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, horseradish, salt and pepper, zest, green onion and 1 tablespoon of the shrimp reduction. Hang the shrimp on the edge of the bowl and serve.
I’m a knitter, not a sewer. Sewing frustrates me. Bobbins, pins, cutting, cutting, cutting….sigh. I wanted a two-piece bathing suit for Mexico, but I don’t have the right proportions for the cute bikinis at Target and Old Navy. It’s frustrating. So I decided to sew myself a swimsuit. Finding a good pattern wasn’t easy. Jo-Anne’s only had three patterns in all of their books. Two were triangle tops, not supportive enough, so I went with the third — a conservative two-piece with a built-in shelf bra.
I only had one meltdown, thanks to my patient husband.
The pattern is Butterick #B4526. I haven’t sewn from a pattern in years, so I forgot sizing is wonky with patterns. I bought the smaller size, but I didn’t want to drive back to the store so I just went for it. It turned out really well:
It was a good six hours of football today. Both Packers and Steelers fans had a good day. Good thing we had provisions!
Speedy Guacamole
Ingredients:
Two ripe avocados, smashed
Two small tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup salsa
dash of white wine vinegar or a squeeze of lime
salt and pepper
a couple of dashes of hot sauce
Toss together all of the ingredients. Serve with corn chips
Gotta-have-it Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
1/2 block of velveeta
1/2 cup salsa
1 small can of diced green chiles
2 tbs chopped jalapeños (from the jar)
a few dashes of hot sauce
1/2 lb. ground pork
smoked paprika
chili powder
salt and pepper
Season the pork with a couple of shakes of paprika and chili powder. Add salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. Brown the meat and break into small pieces. Add pork and all the other ingredients to a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat till the cheese is melted. Serve with corn chips.
Another hat made with my favorite Universal Yarn, Classic Shades. This hat brings out her green eyes like I’ve never seen. Made using my time-tested Ear Flap Hat
I’m a little excited because this morning, I checked out my favorite craft Web site, craftster.org to see what new knitting projects were posted. As I scrolled down, I noticed my Braided Winter Headband was near the top of the list, meaning someone must have commented on it. When I opened it up, I found this little picture:
I’ve been a member of this site for seven years and few people have even commented on my crafts. Thanks to the girl in Seward for letting me spy on her headband. I wouldn’t have won this award without her.
My husband’s mom, I recently discovered, knits left-handed like I do. She knows how to make scarves and blankets, but she wanted to learn something new. Since I don’t spend much time up in Fairbanks, AK (I like things to be above -33 degrees), I decided to make a video tutorial. iMovie rocks!
This is one of my loveliest hats to date. It’s based closely on the From Norway With Love pattern from www.pickles.no.
Ingredients:
1 can black beans, drained but not rinsed
1/4 block of extra firm tofu, cubed
1/2 roasted red pepper, diced
1/4 cup feta
1-2 green onions, chopped
3 Tbs cilantro, chopped
1-2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
juice of 1/2 lime
dash cayenne powder
salt and pepper
dash Cholula
Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together. Eat right away or refridgerate (that way the salad will marinate a little more and get tastier).
Alaska Knit Nat 