This weekend, Kevin and I celebrated Valentine’s Day together right after work with homemade cheese fondue and chocolate fondue. It’s been quite some time since we’ve enjoyed fondue together. When we first started dating almost a decade ago, Kevin took me to The Melting Pot for dinner. We enjoyed a pot of cheese fondue with a selection of meats, vegetables, and breads for the main course. Dessert course followed with a pot of chocolate fondue and a selection of fruits, and treats. We spent the entire dinner chatting and laughing late into the evening. Kevin walked me back to my college apartment before he headed back to his. Almost a decade later, I wanted to recreate the experience with had at The Melting Pot many years ago by setting up a cheese and chocolate fondue for two. It would be our own little fondue dinner prepared for just two people. I prepared the dippers for the cheese fondue by arranging cubed baguette, grape tomatoes, diced apple, pretzels, salami, pepperoni, broccoli and cauliflower onto serving plates. For the chocolate fondue, I arranged some pretzels, marshmallows, crispy rice treats, blueberries, and apples onto a platter. The chocolate fondue was a blend of melted semisweet chocolate with a splash of whole milk and served in a mini fondue mug I had purchased years ago. I’ve had the mug for such a long time, I was glad to finally put it to use this weekend. Kevin and I enjoyed our fondue dinner and reminisced on the Valentine’s Day dinners we’ve had over the last decade. I can’t believe after almost a decade later, we decided to have fondue again for Valentine’s Day dinner. Even before dinner was over, I already contemplated the next dish I would make the following day – crab cake sliders with lemon parsley mayo.
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Pre-Valentine's Day Dinner and Stromboli with Marinara Sauce
It’s almost Valentine’s Day. This year, Valentine’s Day landed on a Friday. It’s been a few years since Kevin and I celebrated Valentine’s Day on the actual day itself. Most years, when Valentine’s Day is a random weekday, we just have a simple dinner before heading to sleep. Some years, we may not even have dessert (depending on how tired we are after work). On the chance Valentine’s Day lands on a Friday or a weekend, I take the extra effort to create a home cooked meal from scratch. I’ve been brainstorming ideas for Valentine’s Day dinner all week. Kevin only had one request for the Valentine’s Day dinner menu this year – he wanted the meal to feature tons of meat. I prefer a meal filled with my favorite carbs instead. To make sure we both get what we want, why not marry the two and have pizza and Stromboli? This week, I’ve been craving pizza (yet again). Pizza is a dish I had with my family every Friday growing up. My dad or mom would pick up a large pie on their way home from work. The local pizzeria near my childhood home in Brooklyn had the best thin pies. No matter how many times we ordered pizza there, I just couldn’t get enough. Pizza was all I craved. Sometimes, I would also order a side of garlic knots with marinara sauce to supplement my meal. Occasionally, I would opt for another stuffed carb goodness – a Stromboli. Most versions of Stromboli I’ve had at pizzerias throughout New York City typically featured a ton of cheese and a variety of meat and vegetable fillings. When I say a ton of cheese, I mean mouthful of cheese and cheese pull with every bite. While I love cheese, I do prefer less cheese in my Stromboli. I love the swirls of cheese and meats within a Stromboli. I guess I love the Stromboli because it combines everything I love about a sandwich and a pizza. One of the first dates Kevin and I went on when we first started dating in college was to a Cottage Inn in Ann Arbor. Kevin made a reservation ahead of time, waited for me after class, and walked with me over to dinner at Cottage Inn. We were broke college students back then and only ordered a salad, pizza, and breadsticks. Yet, the meal stilled turned out absolutely amazing. Kevin and I enjoyed the meal slowly while we shared stories about our childhood. Kevin grew up in Hong Kong and shared many stories about his life in the city. I grew up in New York and filled him in on the experiences I had growing up in Brooklyn. We spent the night chatting and laughing while enjoying great food. I wanted to recreate the moment we had by preparing a large heart shaped pizza topped with pepperoni, mushrooms, fresh basil, and arugula. I prepared extra pizza dough and reserved some to make a Stromboli filled with mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, and Italian seasoning (including a side of marinara sauce to serve alongside the Stromboli).
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Maple Almond Pudding Cups
Kevin and I just returned from our trip to visit family for lunar new year. We’ve only been back a day and a half and have been trying our best to combat jet lag. Kevin tried to stay up for as long as he can, but ended up falling asleep during the day. I managed to sleep through most of the night, but still ended up taking three naps throughout the day. Before going to bed last night, I prepared a variation of my baked rigatoni and also a few maple almond pudding cups for a light dessert the next day. My maple almond pudding cups are a simple, delicious take on pudding featuring some of my favorite flavors. I was inspired to make this simple dessert after tasting some of the best, simple, and light desserts throughout Asia. During our trip, we enjoyed some red bean soup, slightly sweet black sesame rolls, light cakes, and a variety of other simple desserts. Each dessert I ate reminded me of how delicious the simplest Asian desserts can be. My maple almond pudding cups are just slightly sweet, nutty, and has a consistency similar to dao fu fa (a tofu dessert served throughout Asia). It’s one of my favorite desserts to make using just a few items from my kitchen pantry. The pudding cups take about 20 minutes to prepare and are placed in the refrigerator to set. The next day, I drizzled some more maple syrup onto the tops of the pudding cups and topped them with whole almonds before serving. My maple almond pudding cups made for the perfect light afternoon snack. I enjoyed a maple almond pudding cup as an attempt to combat my jet lag. My thinking was if I was eating, I can’t be sleeping.
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Repurposing Leftover Roast Chicken and Curried Chicken Salad
Whenever I roast a whole chicken, I always have some pieces of leftover chicken. Most of the time, I pack away the leftover chicken for another meal during the week. Other times, I try to find creative ways to use up the leftover chicken. I love having leftovers because it forces me to find creative ways to use up or repurpose the leftovers. When I made my garlic, lemon, and rosemary roast chicken dish, Kevin and I ate all we can, but we still managed to have some leftover chicken. Most of the time, I use the leftover chicken and bones to make a hearty chicken soup. Chicken soup is the easiest way to use up leftover chicken since many of the components of the roast chicken dish can easily be combined into a soup. I usually toss in the roasted carrots and onion from the roast chicken dish directly into the soup. Other times, I use the leftover chicken to make a variation of my favorite chicken salad. I would toss in some mayo, dried and fresh fruits, and some crunchy celery and/or nuts. Those were the components of a basic chicken salad. Another variation of chicken salad I have been making is curried chicken salad. It features only a few staple ingredients, but when combined all together, the curried chicken salad is truly spectacular. The seasoned chicken and scallions lend a savory element to the dish. The apricot jam and dried cranberries add a delightful sweetness. The curry and cumin powder add a fragrant, unmistakably earthy spice to the dish. The mayo lends a creaminess to the overall dish. Other than curry powder and cumin, kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper are the only other seasonings added to deepen the flavor of the chicken salad. Despite the simplicity of the ingredients, the end result is always remarkable. I’ve experimented with versions of my curried chicken salad over the years including adding diced apples, quartered grapes, diced celery, and sometimes crushed nuts. Yet, I keep coming back to my simplest version of curried chicken salad featuring just cubed chicken, thinly sliced scallions, and dried cranberries blended with a simple curry-cumin-apricot mayo. It’s very easy to pull together and always turns out great. My favorite way to serve curried chicken salad is to toast two slices of bread, layer on some baby arugula and baby kale, and scoop large scoops of curried chicken salad directly onto the bread and greens. It’s a great option for a simple lunch or afternoon tea. Kevin prefers a chicken salad over a bed of greens rather than a sandwich. The best part about chicken salad is it gets better the longer you chill the chicken salad in the refrigerator. I usually like to chill my curried chicken salad overnight to allow all of the flavors within the chicken salad to meld together.
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Perfecting My Garlic, Lemon, and Rosemary Roast Chicken Over Vegetables
Many years ago, I happened upon a magazine article about engagement chicken. In the article, several women recounted stories about how they prepared a roast chicken for their boyfriends and shortly thereafter became engaged. The implied idea was this one simple dish had the power to nudge boyfriends to proposed to their girlfriends. I remember thinking the stories must be a series of coincidences. No way would a dish as simple as a roast chicken lead to dozens of engagements. The article slipped my mind until years later when I tried to make the perfect roast chicken. It was at the moment when the chicken came out beautifully roasted that I thought back to the article about engagement chicken. The idea of roasting a whole chicken from scratch for one’s partner seemed like the perfect romantic gesture. I even contemplated trying a little experiment to see if I would get an engagement out of serving Kevin a roast chicken from scratch. However, due to timing and a mixture of other factors, I did not get the chance to test out the engagement chicken on Kevin. My engagement story was very different. It involved family members not being able to keep secrets, some getting lost going to the proposal site, and a premature proposal. I’ll save the story for another time. Getting back to the roast chicken, it’s a dish I’ve made many times over the last few years. The first truly amazing roast chicken I made was a salt and pepper roast chicken over a bed of crusty bread. The recipe was inspired by a truly delightful roast chicken I had at a restaurant in Portland, Maine. The signature roast chicken dish wasn’t anything fancy. It was just a half of a whole roasted chicken served over a bed of crusty bread. The bread, having sat in the juices of the roast chicken, absorbed all of the flavor of the chicken. It became my preferred way of cooking roast chicken over time. The roast chicken turned out great every time no matter how many times I made it, so it became my go-to roast chicken recipe for years. Last weekend, I was feeling a bit adventurous and crafted a version of roast chicken featuring garlic, lemon, rosemary, olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, a whole chicken cut into parts, and vegetables.
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Breakfast Routine Changes and Sweet and Savory Pastry Pockets
We are almost halfway through the month of January and we haven’t had too many cold, snowy, or rainy days. January tends to be the toughest month when it comes to the weather, so I’m super grateful not to have to deal with snow or rain too much. The projects at work have picked up for both Kevin and I. In between fairly hectic weekdays, I still try to plan ahead for meals as much as I can to reduce the amount of cooking I need to do during weekdays. This year, one of the meals I’ve been trying to change up is breakfast. Breakfast is usually a grab and go type of meal for me. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been grabbing a banana and a vanilla almond milk yogurt to bring along with me to work. Kevin typically skips breakfast and launches right into his daily tasks when he gets to work. I’ve been trying to think of creative ways to get Kevin to actually eat something in the morning for breakfast. One of the recipes I’ve been working on is sweet and savory pastry pockets. Over the weekend, I made a version of a sweet pastry pocket loosely inspired by my favorite ice cream flavor from Graeter’s Ice Cream. The sweet pockets are filled with black raspberry jam, melted bittersweet chocolate chips, and toasted crushed almonds. My love for Graeter’s Ice Cream (specifically the black raspberry chocolate chip flavor) dates back to when I first moved to Ohio. Some of Kevin’s colleagues who have been living in Ohio for quite some time recommended for us to try Graeter’s Ice Cream, a popular ice cream chain throughout Ohio. When I first tasted the black raspberry chocolate chip flavor, I was hooked. I loved the sweetness and slight tartness of the black raspberry paired with the creamy chocolate chips. Since then, Kevin and I have been going to Graeter’s Ice Cream whenever we happen to drive by one of their shops. Lucky for us, we don’t have to drive all the way to a Graeter’s Ice Cream shop to enjoy their ice cream. We can actually find pints of their ice cream in most supermarkets throughout Ohio. To further enhance the black raspberry flavor, I even folded the jam into the frosting used to decorate the tops of the sweet pastry pockets. For the savory version (since I can’t just have sweet without savory), I filled the pastries with crispy bacon, sharp cheddar cheese, and baby kale. The smoky, salty bacon, paired nicely with the savory, sharp cheddar cheese, and crisp, almost peppery baby kale.
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Recipe Testing for Lunar New Year and Asian Popcorn Chicken
Lunar New Year is almost here, and I’ve been hard at work testing out recipes in anticipation for the holiday. This year, Kevin and I will be celebrating Lunar New Year with his family. We are excited to be able to actually celebrate Lunar New Year with family this year. Kevin and I had a very packed December filled with tons of festivities, parties, and gatherings. We finally had some time this month to just chill out and make time for ourselves. Kevin’s idea of recuperating from the holidays is filling up his free time with video games. My idea of recuperating is to test out more recipes in the kitchen. I wanted to shift away from complicated recipes and focus more on simpler, but equally tasty recipes (like my Asian popcorn chicken, which I’ll get into). The month of January is also a good time to reset and restart the new year on a positive note. Typically, I like to set concrete resolutions for the new year (as I did last year). Last year, I focused on learning as much as possible to improve my baking skills. In the spirt of learning and self-improvement, I also completed a leadership certificate program and a plant-based nutrition certificate program. I’m hoping to take some classes on project management throughout the year. In the realm of food and eating, I focused my resolutions on snacking healthier. Instead of snacking on cheese crackers or chips, I opted for fruits and veggies when I needed a mid-morning or afternoon snack. So far, I’ve been consistent with snacking on an apple in between meals. With Lunar New Year around the corner, I’ve been testing out new recipes to serve to family. One dish I make whenever cravings set in is popcorn chicken. I’ve made versions of popcorn chicken over the years and the Asian popcorn chicken tends to be Kevin’s favorite. It has a great flavor from the blend of Asian spices and the perfect crunch from the crispy coating.
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Lunar New Year Preparations and Asian Vegetable Salad with Sesame Ginger Dressing
It’s the new year! I still can’t believe we entered a new decade. Kevin has been recovering from a mild case of post-holiday blues. I’ve been busy setting new professional and personal goals while menu planning for Lunar New Year. Lunar New Year is in just a few short weeks, which means it is almost time for the mad dash to clean the home in preparation for the holiday. Growing up, mom was super particular about making sure the home was as clean as possible in the days leading up to new year. Her definition of clean meant each and every surface of each and every furniture had to be free from dust. Dad was usually in charge of the decorations. He would pick out the most eye catching red and gold décor to plaster all over the home. The brighter the colors, the more auspicious it seems in their eyes. My brothers would look forward to collecting the red envelopes filled with cash. They always seemed more excited in anticipation of Lunar New Year than any other holidays throughout the year. I would always look forward to the tables filled with the widest selection of foods. It always amazes me how bountiful the meals are during the days leading up to and after the holiday. Lunar New Year meant longevity noodles, prosperous fish, fortune cupcakes, tons of lucky fruit and candy, and endless assortment of cooked meats. It’s also a day about togetherness and joining of families. On the eve before new year, I always loved gathering around the table with family to enjoy a bountiful meal before New Year’s Day. We always spent countless hours chatting and laughing into the late evening. Since moving to the Midwest, I haven’t been able to celebrate Lunar New Year with my family as much as I would like to. First, the lunar calendar doesn’t quite align with the western calendar, which means Lunar New Year can fall on any day of the week. Second, it is not yet a holiday observed across the entire United States. This makes it difficult for me to take off time to celebrate Lunar New Year with family. In the more recent years, Kevin and I have been celebrating the holiday with a variety of auspicious foods. Last year, we celebrated with a menu featuring sweet and sour pork, chicken and cashew lettuce wraps, spicy boiled fish, almond cookies, and orange milkshakes. In preparation for Lunar New Year this year, I’ve been testing a few recipes featuring some of my favorite foods. This year, I’ve included a twist on sweet and sour chicken by making chicken skewers with a sweet and sour dip. To round out the meal, I also whipped up an Asian vegetable salad with sesame ginger dressing, and a brown sugar bubble tea (inspired by the brown sugar bubble tea I had at Tiger Sugar over the holidays). My Asian vegetable salad with sesame ginger dressing is one of my favorite (and super easy) dishes to whip together when I want a light, crunchy salad packed with flavor.
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Holidays in New York and Holiday Bark
Kevin and I just got back from spending some time during the holidays with our family in New York. We arrived in New York on Christmas Day, and returned back to Ohio today. Christmas time with my family is always a huge production organized by my parents. They would start preparing food early in the morning, continue making more as needed throughout the day, and then rally everyone together to enjoy the fruits of their labor in the evening. There is no set time for when dinner begins. Our family and friends arrive throughout the day starting at noon and ending late into the evening. There are constantly dishes of wings, spareribs, fresh fruit, vegetables, snacks, cookies, and holiday treats placed on a buffet style layout for family and friends to enjoy whenever they please. Each year, on Christmas morning, I would prepare the dough to make a pumpkin spice gingerbread house, chill the dough, cut out the shapes, and bake the components before preparing the royal icing, and assembling the house. This year, I was short on time, and did not get a chance to continue the pumpkin spice gingerbread house tradition. Instead, I was tasked with making tons of chocolate chip cookies and holiday bark. You can read more about my holiday adventures in New York here. Holiday bark is a treat I started making last year after my colleague brought in some simple white chocolate and pretzel bark to share with our office. Her version featured pieces of crunchy pretzels sprinkled throughout the melted white chocolate. I loved the idea and made my first batch for family during the holidays in New York last year. This year, I made holiday bark again featuring dried cranberries, pistachios, and crunchy pretzels. I saved half of the batch to serve during our holiday party and reserved the rest to gift to family and friends during home visits throughout the week. I brought some over during my visit to see Xin and her baby, gifted some to Ada and Colleen when we had our get together, and saved a few pieces for my dad to share with his colleagues. Holiday bark makes for a great simple homemade gift to give to others during the holiday season. Better yet, it can be packaged and given to guests as a take home treat at the end of the evening.
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Holiday Preparations, and Cabbage and Potato Latkes with Everything Sour Cream and Homemade Apple Sauce
Holiday cheer is in the air. In a few short days, Christmas will finally be here. In between longer work days, more professional development classes, and holiday preparations, I was able to take a break to attend my work holiday party on Friday. Decembers at work are my favorite time for inspiration. My colleagues would bring in a wide range of holiday treats unique to their family in the weeks leading up to Christmas and share it with the office. Last year, one of my colleagues brought in some holiday bark to share with our office. Her version of holiday bark featured just white chocolate and pretzels. The bark was very simple, but made for a tasty treat. After tasting her version of holiday bark, I was inspired to make my own version of holiday bark featuring crunchy pretzels, salty pistachios, tart cranberries, and creamy white chocolate to gift to my family over the holidays last year. This year, one of my colleagues led a hot chocolate kit sale. Each kit was filled with a hot chocolate mix, a candy cane, marshmallows, and chocolate candies. I purchased some kits, attached some holiday cards, and sent a kit with a card to each of my colleagues. I made a mental note of the idea for my own holiday celebrations. There were also endless gatherings and celebrations happening throughout the building over the last few weeks. Just last week, my office had a luncheon. This week, our center had another holiday luncheon. For both gatherings, I brought my crunchy vegetable pasta to share with others. It’s one of the easiest sides to pull together and is definitely a crowd favorite. When Friday night rolled around, I headed to my work holiday party for a couple hours. The party was held at a beautiful performing arts space and featured comforting food, music, and prizes. There was even a photo booth set up in the corner of the event space. My colleagues and I squeezed into the photo booth and took a couple photos towards the end of the night. By 9:00 p.m., I was ready to retire back home for the evening. My work holiday party was the last holiday party celebrating with others before my family’s holiday party on Christmas day. Thankfully, I started my Christmas shopping early this year and only had a few more items to pick up to finish up all of my gift shopping. Kevin and I spent this weekend finishing up our holiday preparations before the holiday rush next week. In between the cleaning and prepping, I made some cabbage and potato latkes with a side of everything sour cream and homemade apple sauce.
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