As my personal philosophy precludes having stable favorites, I’ll go with the fruits I had at breakfast (in no particular order): Mango, Banana, Leechee, Watermelon, and Cantaloupe.
PROMPT: Fruits
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Tag Archives: food
PROMPT: Risk
I had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall joint with a truly astounding population of flies yesterday.
The meal was delectable.
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PROMPT: Favorite Restaurant
I don’t have a favorite restaurant, but I do have a type: mom-and-pop hole-in-the-wall that only does a few things but does them all exceedingly well. I don’t care for frou-frou places, and it drives me batty when a place has a thirty-page menu and you have to play the “guess what they actually have” game. I always loved watching Monty Python’s “Cheese Shop Sketch,” but have loathed reprising the John Cleese part in so many restaurants.
Chains have their place in the travel pipeline or in a busy schedule, but I generally prefer a novel experience over a cookie cutter one.
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PROMPT: Special Dish
Daily writing prompt
Do you or your family make any special dishes for the holidays?
“To make something special, you just have to BELIEVE it’s special.” So sayeth Goose to Panda.
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BOOKS: “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” by Ying Chang Compestine
Buddha Jumps over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes: A Graphic Cookbook—26 Recipes & Stories by Ying Chang CompestineMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Site – Chronicle Books
Cookbooks don’t get more interesting than this. As the title suggests, the author selected dishes that have colorful names (and often histories or folklore to match) and presents lessons in culinary history as well as teaching the reader how to make each dish. The graphic novel format conveys these stories compactly and with a bit of added liveliness. The graphic novel approach is also used to “demonstrate” the preparation process — in lieu of photographs.
In addition to the twenty-six recipes (5 appetizers, 16 main course, and 5 desserts,) the book has five appendices and some front matter to both help readers who are entirely new to Chinese cooking as well as those who’d like a bit more depth of culinary cultural insight. (I should point out that the book looks at Chinese food broadly, including items like Chop Suey and Fortune Cookies that developed outside of China, and either don’t exist within China or have subsequently been introduced from foreign lands.)
If you are interested in learning to cook Chinese food, or are interested in Chinese culinary history and culture, I’d highly recommend this book.
View all my reviews
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DAILY PHOTO: Peanut Festival, Bangalore
PROMPT: Energy
What things give you energy?
Breath and food. But I also find movement, music, and being in a natural setting feel energizing,
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PROMPT: Recipe
I prefer to keep my cooking in the realm in which I can wing it without great a risk of disaster. Otherwise, it becomes too much like a science lab, and that’s a lot of pressure.
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PROMPT: Meal Price
What’s the most money you’ve ever spent on a meal? Was it worth it?
Probably about $50 USD.
No. Definitely not. I don’t have fancy tastebuds, so all my system can differentiate is how much pride they are taking in putting such scant portions of edible matter on the plate. I do not find pride filling.
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PROMPT: Foods
Of late, I’ve thought it would be fun to learn to make some of my Chinese favorites — e.g. Kung Pao Chicken (宫保鸡丁,) Twice-Cooked Pork (回锅肉,) and Sesame Chicken (芝麻鸡.)
Tiger Riding for Beginners 