Fridgg: What's For Dinner?

Weekly Wanderings {week 8}

The last (two) weeks in my world…

We’ve suddenly gone from being a household that is ‘meh’ about cheese, to one that always has a delicious cheese in the fridge. This week, goat cheese with fig jam and walnuts. So good!

This is real life. Rice with… stuff. This week: canned clams, random Japanese sides we bought from Mitsuwa, and furikake nori.

I was having a particularly difficult day, only to come home to find that Son had cooked dinner! He makes me so happy. And the scrambled eggs and mushrooms were freaking fantastic.

I made colcannon for the first time ever.

We be feasting!

This year was the first time we ever did the whole “traditional” St. Patrick’s Day thing. It was wonderful!

Son cooking dinner is now a weekly thing. Every Wednesday, after my ballet class, I come home to find him in the kitchen, watching TV and cooking sauteed mushrooms and scrambled eggs. ^_^

It’s ugly as all heck, but I finished crocheting a potholder! This is all very exciting. 😀

Sunday dinner last week started with caprese salad on a stick…

… and ended with (slightly burnt) angel food cake, and a rowdy game of Cards Against Humanity. Son won this week. o_0

Son’s been obsessed with the idea of natto for the longest time. This week, we actually tried it for the first time. At first, we both found it repulsive. But Son (being the frugal, refuses to throw away perfectly good food kind of guy that he is) kept trying it again and again… and by the time he got to the end of the container, he actually really enjoyed it! I still find it a little odd, but I’ve also got to admit that it’s not that bad.

We found a hummingbird nest by our front walk! I’ve been checking on it every day when I walk by… I’m hoping to see itty bitty hummingbird babies soon!

Pickles are a must with fried chicken.

When we can, we love to go exploring around LA. Our lives have been so hectic lately, so it’s a nice break – and as close as we get to a weekend off, these days.

Since we had to be in the area anyways, we got to stop by Caroline Adobo’s cake pop-up at Dripp Bar in Chino Hills, CA last weekend.

Clockwise from top left: tres leches cake, matcha almond latte cake, strawberry mango cake, three bears mocha cake. All were fantastic.

My favorite eggplant dish.

Adore this pork belly.

We’re obsessed with this steamed cod.

Have a wonderful week!

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Links I’ve loved lately:

I wish we had Daffodil Days here too!

As a female in tech, this is important.

We need more security princesses in the world.

Excellent writing.

Love the idea of these double tahini sandwich cookies. More sesame in my life is always a good thing.

I’ve got a thing for Asian desserts.

Exactly how I feel about all the negativity online these days. And also why I’m so, sooo grateful that the Fridgg community is so positive and supportive of each other.

This sounds heavenly.

I’d be all over these Matcha Cruffins.

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Weekly Wanderings posts may include affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

Friday Fridgg Favorites

{photo credit: Elizabeth Lampman}

a few of my favorite things on Fridgg this week:

must make these chocolate peanut butter muffins asap! {Girl Gone Gourmet}

adore this vietnamese salad {Blossom to Stem}

prettiest little appetizers {Oh My Dish}

i’d love these spicy turkey cutlets in a sandwich {A Boleyn}

love the lighting, love the food {La Petit Chef}

chicken and milk? sounds odd, but looks delicious! {The Redhead Baker}

my favorite photo of the week, and it sounds tasty, too {Cooks with Cocktails}

in love with this simple, rustic styling {Feed Me Dearly}

i think i need a fresh-baked loaf of bread in my life right now {All That’s Jas}

again with the peanut butter chocolate love, this time in ice cream form {Magnolia Days}

i’m a sucker for creamy dishes {Kitchen Sanctuary}

obviously, we all need these in our life {Erren’s Kitchen}

japanese curry is my comfort food {Orgasmic Chef}

these vanilla sweet buns sound perfect {Jane’s Adventures in Dinner}

have i mentioned how much i adore chocolate and peanut butter at all this week? {The Redhead Baker}

freaking adorable {Tikkido}

there is something so lovely about this (vegan!) dish {The Endless Meal}

all the puff pastry things for brunch {Jane’s Adventures in Dinner}

i’m not even really a sports person… but who wants to come over for game day?! {No Spoon Necessary}

who knew carrots could look so tasty? {Simply Called “Food”}

hot dogs for breakfast??? yes please!!! {Frugal Mom Eh!}

such a beautiful strawberry galette {The Devil Wears Parsley}

adore this styling {Cooks with Cocktails}

um, yes. {Homemade Hoopla}

i love purple sweet potatoes, and i’m obsessed with the idea of sesame brown butter {The Endless Meal}

corn bread with all the good things {What Food I Made}

my Friday Fridgg Favorites are a very small selection of the photos and recipes on Fridgg that I’ve loved in the past week. this is by no means an all-encompassing list of what’s awesome on Fridgg this week. take a look, and find your favorites!

do you have a favorite that I didn’t mention? let me know in the comments!

Miso-Glazed Eggplant

For the longest time, I would have insisted that I despised eggplant.

Oddly enough, this wasn’t due to any adverse experience on my part. My family never ate eggplant growing up, and due to the aforementioned belief on my part, I never actually tried eggplant until just a few years ago. However, I once, long before I ever met Son, dated a guy who would eat just about anything… except for eggplant. Thusly, I was convinced it was a disgusting, vile vegetable that no person in their right mind would consume by choice.

Oh, what a poor, naive, misguided girl I was.

As with any vegetable (or food, really), it’s all in the preparation. And, to my good fortune, the first time I actually ever was presented with an opportunity to try eggplant, it was at a local Japanese restaurant – and it was fantastic.

(Also highly recommended, Chinese braised eggplant. This shall be my next eggplant project.)

Ever since then, I’ve wanted to replicate it at home. But I always get a little nervous when venturing into new recipes, with new ingredients I have no experience with. So… I procrastinated. For… er… almost exactly three years.

Quite often, a little push from an external source is the best way to get me to stop procrastinating on something. Such was the case here. As mentioned before, the newest addition to our family gatherings is my brother’s girlfriend, who is vegan – which has been an excellent excuse to expand my repertoire of delicious vegan dishes!

However, please promise me that you won’t procrastinate on making this for as long as I did! Because my goodness, this dish is so easy to make, and so delicious, it’s just plain embarrassing to admit that I was intimidated by it for so long. From start to finish it took less than half an hour to prepare, and it was such a success that there’s no doubt I’ll be cooking it again very soon.

Recipe slightly adapted from Daisy’s World.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp mirin
• 2 tbsp sake
• 1/4 cup shiro miso
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 4 Japanese eggplants, stemmed and split in half lengthwise
• vegetable oil, as needed to coat eggplant
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• green onions, sliced

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat broiler to high heat.
2. Combine mirin, sake, miso, sugar, and sesame oil in a small bowl and mix until well-combined. Taste to adjust seasoning. Set aside.
3. Score eggplant slices in a cross-hatch pattern. If desired, cut each eggplant slice into two or three smaller pieces, for easier serving. Brush each piece with vegetable oil until lightly coated all-over. Broil eggplant, cut-side down, for about 5 minutes. Turn over and continue to cook until almost tender, about 3–4 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and brush the miso glaze on the cut surface of the eggplant, then place on a broiler pan, cut-side up. Broil until completely cooked and the glaze has caramelized. This could take anywhere from 3-10 minutes (mine took closer to 10 minutes), so keep an eye on it so it browns nicely but doesn’t burn.
5. Garnish with sesame seeds and green onions.
6. Enjoy!

Friday Fridgg Favorites

{photo credit: Chez Us}

a few of my favorite things on Fridgg this week:

no way to go wrong with chipotle popcorn chicken {The Endless Meal}

ramen noodles from scratch – a must-try for this ramen-lover!!! {Chez Us}

love this stuffed avocado idea {No Spoon Necessary}

the oatmeal of my dreams {Cookies to Kale}

i want this in my life {Sugar N’ Stuff}

bacon + cheese + potatoes = all the yesses (yeses? yess?) {Mimi Avocado}

hello there, beautiful brownies {Simply Stacie}

i am totally into the idea of this kinako latte {Otaku Food}

this bundt cake. i want it. {Noshing with the Nolands}

love the rustic styling (and the food sounds tasty, too) {Feed Me Dearly}

i am pro-ice cream in my coffee {Kokani Food Recipes}

these cupcakes are super cute! {The Simple Sweet Life}

love the colors of this grasshopper pie {SugarHero!}

pork belly is always a yes, especially when it looks like that! {Kitchen Sanctuary}

everything about this burger sounds amazing. (pork! bacon! chorizo! chipotle aioli!) {The Hedge Combers}

can we make tea time a thing in the US, so i have an excuse to make these sandwiches? {All That’s Jas}

again with the pork belly. again with the YES. {Olivia Cooks in Holland}

pms brownies. the name says it all. 😀 {Love Bakes Good Cakes}

on my “must make asap” list, this eggplant {Selma’s Table}

my dream life right now consists of one of these cod sandwiches, somewhere overlooking the ocean {Tikkido}

these meatball shooters are a fun party idea {Mantitlement}

i adore sunomono. especially with pork belly! {No Spoon Necessary}

the prettiest macarons {What Charlotte Baked}

i have decided i want to be a brunch person, so i can make these crepes {Cooking and Beer}

it’s been quite warm in LA, so this orange sherbet sounds most amazing right now {Vanilla and Bean}

this may just be my favorite doughnut that i’ve never tasted {SugarHero!}

my Friday Fridgg Favorites are a very small selection of the photos and recipes on Fridgg that I’ve loved in the past week. this is by no means an all-encompassing list of what’s awesome on Fridgg this week. take a look, and find your favorites!

do you have a favorite that I didn’t mention? let me know in the comments!

Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Kale

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

I know you might be wondering… who abducted Allison and replaced her with someone who posts regular, timely blog posts?!?!

Well, if it makes you feel any better, I made this recipe, oh… about a year and a half ago. And it’s been sitting in my “to blog” backlog ever since then.

It may not have even occurred to me to blog about it this week, except that my family has randomly decided to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day (for possibly the first time ever). I’ve been tasked with bringing a side dish that our vegan guest can eat, so I’m making this (without the bacon and butter, of course)!

If you’re not vegan, this dish is also fantastic with the addition of bacon and butter. 😀

Recipe from Tastespotting.

Ingredients

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes, scrubbed, chopped into large chunks
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 large bunch of kale, ribs removed, sliced into thin ribbons
• butter, for serving (optional)
• bacon, cooked, crumbled (optional)

Cooking Directions

1. Put sweet potatoes in large pot, and fill with enough cold water to cover them by about 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.
2. Reserve about 1/2 cup of cooking water, then drain the sweet potatoes. Remove skins.
3. In another pot, boil the sliced kale until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and reserve.
4. Mash the sweet potatoes with olive oil, adding cooking water to get the desired consistency. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper, to taste.
5. Stir in cooked kale.
6. For non-vegan guests, you can stir in butter, and/or top with cooked, crumbled bacon.
7. Enjoy!