In honor of the turning of seasons I have been experimenting with making warm beverages since there are not hot cocoa packets lying around. As you can see I’m really accurate with measurements.
Mint Cocoa
1 spoon unsweetened cocoa
2-3 spoons sugar
1/4 spoon mint extract
Rich Cocoa
2 Tablespoon cocoa powder
4 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups milk
dash of salt
One of my favorite, worth waiting for, recipes is this gem that I found to make Oyako Donburi. What exactly is oyako donburi? It literally means parent and child, because it includes the chicken and the egg. This savory dish is perfect for cold rainy days while sitting next to the fireplace.
(I have put in parenthesis ingredients I don’t generally use, or care for, but the recipe does call for it. Shiitake mushrooms are pretty strong so sometimes I just substitute them for button mushrooms.)
Ingredients
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute chicken strips and onion until the chicken is cooked through, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the chicken broth, and simmer for 2 minutes. Add the (mushrooms and) carrot, and let simmer for a few minutes before stirring in the sugar, soy sauce and salt. Simmer for 3 more minutes. (Sprinkle in half of the green onions, stirring gently.) Pour beaten eggs over the chicken mixture, and simmer until the eggs are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Serve over Japanese sticky rice.
It’s been a while since I have written anything for Aloha Fridays (suggestions, anyone?) so I decided it was time to start sharing some of my favorite songs and talk about them!
One of the songs that I have always viewed as quintessentially “Hawai’i” was the Moloka’i Slide.
I like the sand spreading out to the sea, I like the tropical moon and the lazy palm trees
I like to listen to my heart, there’s no place I’d rather be
I like the people, I like the way they smile, I like the feeling of you on this paradise isle
I like the cool island gecko, man this is where I wanna be
Chorus:
Take me back. Back to da kine. Take me back. Back to da kine
All over, mo` betta, Moloka`i I will return
(Repeat)
I like the gecko singin’ in the night, I like to do the dance they do to the Moloka`i Slide
When the sun comes up shining, always mo` betta da kine
I like to hula, I think it’s really good, woman I don’t understand the words, but in time
I think I could, if I just had the time, oh if I just had the time
I say a won’t you come along, we’ll have a lu`au by the sea
We’ll cook a little pig and all the coconuts are free
And what you see is what you get. In a little grass shack
I know you’re gonna like it and I hope that you come back
I like the fishes swimming round in the sea, I like to hop `um on the grill,
and cook `um up for me, with a big pan of butter, man it can’t get better than this
I like the chicken, we hop `um on the grill, man it hurts to eat the raw fish
and eat up all the spills. Oh well, oh yeah. It’s just a luau by the sea.
All over. Mo` betta, Moloka`i I will return
The entire sentiment is a longing for the place that is familiar, and these are all too familiar for me. I may not have grown up on Molokai, but who doesn’t love the swaying of the palm trees in the tradewinds? Who isn’t lulled by the beach and the ocean-to-table lifestyle?
For me I also see the annoyances – geckos. I think they’re vile creatures scurrying across my walls and clicking into the night. Still, it is a place we return to, if not by actually travelling there then in our memories.
I have been toying around with recipes that involve tossing freshly cooked noodles with anything and everything I can find. My most recent concoction is a spicy chicken variant. This recipe works best with a one pound box of whole wheat linguine noodles and regular spaghetti noodles. Any thinner noodles and the toppings get lost, any thicker noodles means that the sauce gets lost.
SO! Make the chicken, cook the noodles, make noodle sauce, chop the chicken and any other vegetables you are going to add into small chunks, and then toss it all together.
Modified Chicken Bulgogi recipe from Savory Sweet Life:
Instructions
Whisk all the ingredients together in a medium bowl except chicken and onions. When most of the sugar has dissolved, add the chicken and onion slices to the bowl and massage the chicken with the marinade using your hands. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. To pan fry, place a few slices of chicken in single layers and completely flat on a hot oiled frying pan/wok and fry each side until cooked.
Noodle Sauce
Other things to consider mixing in: roasted broccoli and cauliflower, shredded carrots, a teaspoon of cilantro, peanuts, corn, and tofu.
There’s been a lot on my mind and no place to put it, and this blog has been lacking content for a while anyway… So let’s begin the nonsense!
October 1, 2013
I’ve lost my spark, I’ve lost my joy.
I don’t know how to pray anymore.
I feel like a failure.
I want to serve with my hands.
—–
Even when I’m wandering and feeling astray, feeling like my prayers are breathed into the wind, his Spirit is carrying me. I have kindred heart-siblings swirling around and reassuring me:
- teaching me how to pray anew
- loving me in their thoughts and words
- guiding and correcting my wrongdoings
- picking up the pieces of my murderous heart
—–
and most of all reminding me that the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE deserves the glory, honor, and praise that I’m neglecting to give him because I would rather wallow in my own sorrows.
—–
sometimes when i see his paws upon the windowsill i wonder if his pose is in submission to god who is prodding the heart of a daughter gone astray.
