Author Archives: Yvonne

3.5 bulbs of garlic, minced and frozen

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When most people think about travel prep, they think about booking logistics, creating schedules, and packing. While all of that is true and needed, what no one seems to talk about is… making sure your house is in order and that no food rots or gets wasted in your absence. Well, that was me this morning: skinning and mincing about 3.5 bulbs of garlic (I didn’t even bother counting how many cloves that was!) and about six inches of very fresh and juicy ginger.

It took ages to do. Even though I have my method, doing that much garlic and ginger in one standing takes time. It’s annoying, tedious, and makes me wonder why I rarely plan ahead enough to NOT buy too much of these aromatics before a long trip. But then I look at the bright side: when I come back in two weeks, I will have endless amounts of already minced ginger and garlic ready to go. All I will have to do is pop them out of my ice cube trays, defrost them, and throw them into a hot pan — that’s work up front for true enjoyment (and speedy meals) later!

Hidden cafes in Philly

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Yesterday, I came to Philadelphia for a quick overnight trip to have a meeting with a customer. The only real alone time I would get to walk around and explore would be early Thursday morning before my flight, so I walked around Center City and Rittenhouse Square before getting into an Uber going to the airport. In the last several weeks with the hot weather and my obsession with having cold brew / iced coffee in the morning, I was definitely in a coffee mood. So I did a quick search for places walking distance from my hotel where I could get a unique coffee drink. I found a place that was about an 8-minute walk from my hotel. It was completely nondescript; if I didn’t map it or look it up, there was little chance I would have stumbled upon it, especially since it was barely marked from the outside and was in an alley.

I walked inside the cafe, and it was huge. Even though I travel quite a bit, because I am so used to the small, cramped spaces and limited seating in New York, I still always marvel at the space inside cafes in other cities. The floor space was so wide, and the tables were large with lots of walking space between them. I ordered an iced strawberry oat milk latte plus an almond croissant from a local nearby French bakery. The oat milk was blended with pureed strawberries and infused with beet juice, and it really complemented the espresso well. I love finding unique drinks like this when traveling, even on short notice.

Oyakodon – “parent child bowl”

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Once I made my dashi this past Sunday, the first two things I could think of to make with this potent umami ingredient were miso soup and oyakodon. Oyakodon, for whatever reason, has always seemed like a deceptively simple dish. All it really is made of is chicken, egg, some kind of seasoning/broth, over a steaming hot bowl of rice. Oyakodon is one of the main comfort foods of Japan – it’s satisfying, comforting, hot, and quick to make (and eat). In Japanese, “oya” means parent and “ko” means “child.” This references the chicken (parent) and the egg (child).

Before I made dashi, I always assumed that oyakodon was complicated. Whenever I’ve had it at Japanese restaurants, it always tasted so complex yet comforting. Steaming hot chicken and egg with Japanese seasonings over rice is hard to get wrong. But with a sweet savory combination of homemade dashi, some soy sauce, a little sugar, and some scallions, chicken slices and onions get simmered and become this umami bomb of flavors. The egg is swirled in during the last minute of cooking to barely be done and look like ribbons on top of the bowl.

Now that I know how easy this is to make (as long as you have dashi, or even dashi powder), this could become a new staple to make. It’s even a one-pot dish! It’s funny how over the years, when I’ve thought things were too complicated to make, they’ve actually become quite simple once you get one or two basic ingredients or steps down.

Friends, near and far

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Most of the “friends” people make at work are friends out of convenience. You happen to be in the same place at the same time, doing similar work for a similar mission (or so you tell yourself), and so because you have to spend so much time together, you end up forming bonds. You learn each others’ senses of humor, what ticks, what tickles, and it gets comfortable. It’s no wonder so many office romances happen all the time.

But most of the time, all that “friendship” kind of ends once you stop working at the same company. You no longer are forced to spend time together, and you no longer have the same company or set of colleagues to complain and gossip about. Grievances are no longer shared. You move onto your next company and bond with your next set of colleagues in a similar way. So when you do meet friends at work who do remain your friends long after you no longer work at the same company, it’s a really nice feeling, a comforting one that is actually a real friendship.

Tonight, a former colleague and friend from my last company came over to see Kaia and have dinner with us. The last time I had seen her was when I was about eight months pregnant. Since then, she has since moved to Dallas for work, and so our times overlapping in the New York/New Jersey area have been almost zero since her Texas move. We talked like we had never really been apart, and it still felt good and comfortable, almost like we’d been friends our whole lives. Nothing felt awkward or forced. We’d had a few text and Zoom conversations since her move, but no in person time. I caught her up on all of Kaia’s developmental milestones and personality quirks. We shared about our dysfunctional relationships with my parents and her dad. We talked about letting go of expectations for people we can’t control. Even though she’s almost eight years younger than me, I’ve always felt like she was wise beyond her years. I’m sure it has to do with the fact that given her dad abandoned her family, as the oldest, she felt like she had to be the second mom/caregiver of the family amongst her brothers and younger sister. Everyone has their own story to share about how they got to be the way they are.

My friend even came with a gift for Kaia. My sweet baby Pookster has no idea exactly how lucky she is to have so many aunties who love her and oogle over her, near and far.

“I did it!”

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One of the most enjoyable parts of child rearing a younger child is when they achieve things they’ve been working on or striving to master. In Kaia’s 2.5 years, it’s been everything from watching her move a ball from one hand to another (as a very young baby) to crawling, to walking, to now riding a scooter and identifying the right objects in a book when we do “search and find” activities. In the last several weeks, when she identifies the right object I ask her to, or she does something that she’s been working on and finally does it successfully, she loves to laugh, squeal, and then yell out, “I DID IT!” or, “Kaia did it!” It’s been so fun to watch and always makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

Sometimes, she gets a little too excited and distracted by identifying something correctly the first time around, and she will just keep yelling, “I DID IT!” anywhere from five to ten times, which then distracts her from identifying the next object. Initially, I would get a little annoyed because we were’t moving on with the activity, but then I realized… this is all for her learning and enjoyment, anyway. So if she wants to bask in the glow of achieving something for another minute or two, there’s no harm in that. I should let her enjoy, laugh, and squeal, and just sit in the moment… Because it is always good to let your kids feel good about themselves.

Taiyo Foods in Sunnyside, Queens – The inspiration for dashi making time

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During our Saturday outing yesterday (which was HOT – it was over 90 degrees F outside here in New York City!), we went to Sunnyside, Queens. We had some Bolivian and Mexican food, along with some interesting pastries and coffee. One new place we went to was Taiyo Foods, which was actually a staple of the Sunnyside area. A few years ago, their original location had to close due to a fire, but luckily enough, with the support of a Kickstarter and a lot of loyal customers, they were able to reopen and renovate at a new spot just a few blocks away. I got reminded while perusing the aisles here that one thing I did want to do this year was to finally make my own dashi with dried kombu seaweed and bonito flakes. For the longest time, I researched quality of kombu and bonito and felt very confused, as I wasn’t sure how to judge quality and why the price points where so high vs. low. But while at Taiyo, I figured I would just buy the basic, seemingly affordable versions of both and see how they turned out.

The process of making dashi is quite simple, assuming you are not growing/harvesting your own kombu seaweed or drying and shaving your own bonito fish. In a nutshell, this how to make dashi, the basis of all Japanese cooking: you take a pot of water (about two liters) with 30 grams of kombu (wiped, not rinsed!), and bring both to a near simmer — you want to see bubbles appear in the water. Then, you immediately shut the heat off and add 30 grams of bonito flakes. Cover the pot and let the bonito flakes steep for five minutes. Then, strain the liquid, and there you have it: your own fresh, homemade dashi! This would be called ichiban dashi because it is “first brew” dashi. You can choose to do another steep with the same process, same amount of new water, and the same kombu piece and bonito flakes; this will yield niban dashi, or second brew dashi. It will be weaker than the first brew, but still tasty in dishes where a strong dashi is not the first flavor you get.

As long as you have kombu and bonito flakes (plus a pot, access to clean water, and a stovetop), you can have homemade dashi in the time it takes to (nearly) boil water, plus five additional minutes (to steep the bonito). After making ichiban dashi and niban dashi, I was really blown away by how quick and easy the entire process was, plus how fresh and sea-like the stock tasted. This afternoon, I used part of it to make homemade miso soup, and will be using the rest to make oyakodon and freezing some cubes for future cooking. It’s funny how doing something so quick and easy can make you feel so accomplished. I got so many comments on these Instagram Stories I did on this about how impressive it was that I did this, but it was really easy, and not that expensive, either!

When I originally thought about making dashi from scratch, and regularly, about a year ago, it was really for Kaia’s sake because she’s definitely a soup baby. Since her very first soup experience when she was about 8-9 months old (it was a Cuban black bean soup!), she’s always loved her liquidy soups and her thicker bean-based soups. Dashi would be an easy base for soups for her. And she definitely gobbled up all this miso soup today, much to my delight. She happily ate all the wakame seaweed I added, which was no surprise since she adores seaweed. Plus, for the very first time since she was a baby, Pookster even devoured all the silken tofu cubes and kept asking for more. As a toddler, she’s been rejecting soft tofu in favor of firm or extra firm tofu. Tonight, she ended up having three generous helpings of tofu and seaweed miso soup. I had to add more silken tofu to the soup just to appease her and her belly!

Well, that does it: dashi is going to be on rotation in our household now. And I’ll also need to find some other creative ways to incorporate dashi into our diet.

A Time to Celebrate: Resisting treats and… pastries?

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The first time we visited Australia with Kaia, we did a side trip to Byron Bay, and there, we saw this book by Lonely Planet called A Time to Celebrate: Explore Festivals from Around the World. We’ve been drawn to children’s books that are multicultural for obvious reasons for her, and this one was especially fun because it has little flaps you can lift up that reveal more images and words. Even though there are a lot of long descriptions and sentences, Kaia had enjoyed this book since she was about 1.5 years old. Oftentimes, this is one of the books she will request to read at bedtime. This book highlights these global celebrations:

  • The Garma Festival, Arnhem Land region, Australia
  • Chinese New Year, Beijing, China
  • Rio Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
  • Ramadan in Morocco, Africa
  • Day of the Dead, Oaxaca, Mexico
  • Diwali, Mumbai or Jaipur, India
  • Tu Bi’Shivat Festival, New York, USA 
  • Christmas in Frankfurt, Germany

For Carnival in Brazil, there’s a line in the book that goes like this: “Lent is the time when Christians traditionally resist treats and temptations. During Carnival, they can feast and enjoy themselves one last time before Lent begins!” Kaia loves to finish sentences of books we read often (and she thus knows) — it always seems like she is reading, but in reality, we know it’s because she’s simply memorized the lines. So when I paused before “…when Christians traditionally resist….” Instead of saying “treats and temptations,” last night, she actually said, “treats and pastries!”

This cracked me up so much because for Kaia, her kryptonite is most definitely pastries. Any time she sees Chris or me carrying anything in a small brown paper bag, she yells, “I want it! I want it! I want some! WANT SOME!” It could easily be coal or dog poo, but she will insist, “I WANT IT!” It’s a weekend treat for all of us, and she most definitely always, always wants in on the goodies. Last weekend when we went to Laurel Bakery near Brooklyn Bridge Park, it was just the two of us, and I got one (very small… 🙁 ) plain croissant and one canele. She probably ate more than half of that croissant and a quarter of the canele. We don’t get them every day obviously, but pastries are most definitely beloved by everyone in our whole family. She has definitely assimilated in this way.

The expenses of being a building’s fitness center general manager/trainer

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When we first moved into this building about seven years ago, while we had all the machines, mats, and weights, I didn’t notice a lot of extra equipment like TRX bands, leg bands, kettle bells, stretch bands, and balance balls. But over time, I noticed that new extra workout accessories were being added, and I thought, wow, this is great! It’s almost like someone’s personal collection of workout accessories, but in a public setting for everyone in the gym to enjoy. I’ve always liked to foam roll, and so I regularly use the foam rollers at the gym after my workouts and during the day when I get a break and feel the need to roll out my muscles.

Chris recently mentioned he was interested in using a version of a foam roller that’s called a rumble roller – it’s basically like a foam roller, but it’s got these interesting textured “spikes” that stick out of it all around. It’s very good for massage and taking out “toxins” that are concentrated in sites of pain in your muscle. I wondered if it might be something that could be added to the building gym, so I messaged our building trainer (who I occasionally chat with and text) to ask if it might be a possibility. And I was shocked: the trainer told me that the management company didn’t pay for any of the extra equipment: he himself had paid for all of those accessories out of his OWN pocket! He said he needed these things for training his clients, so he just bought them himself.

That confused and infuriated me to no end. Why would he not even ask the management company if they could comp him for it given they were for the benefit of a working and operating gym for the use of residents…? It just didn’t make any sense at all.

“Magic” coffee

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There’s always a lot of debate about the best way to brew coffee: French press, Aero Press, or Chemex? Pour-over vs. drip? Espresso machine? So many options exist, and so many opinions exist. Since I’m a daily tea drinker, coffee is always like a “treat” drink to me, one that I would enjoy with the occasional coffee break with a colleague while at the office, or out and about on a Saturday with Chris. It’s also a “treat” drink to me because it doesn’t seem to matter how much tea I drink, but I rarely get a buzz from it; then, I’ll have one latte late morning and feel a bit wired all the way until dinner time. It’s an interesting feeling, but not one that I necessarily want every day.

When summer time comes around, while I do think about different versions of iced tea, I also look forward to more iced coffee drinks and all the delicious variations of it, with flavor additions and all. And I was excited to see some articles talking about “magic coffee,” which is essentially cold brew coffee, steeped overnight with two magic ingredients: your choice of a sweet spice like ground cinnamon or cardamom (of course, cardamom for me!), and a bit of brown sugar. I halved the amount of sugar (3 Tbsp down to 1.5 Tbsp) but used the recommended one teaspoon of cardamom for 2/3 cup coarsely ground coffee to three cups of water, and once the coffee is strained, poured over ice cubes, and topped with a quick pour of oat milk, it really did taste like magic. Cold brew is delicious, but with these two additional ingredients, this iced coffee really was like magic. I could get used to this all summer long.

Fire truck, ambulance, garbage truck, and siren obsessions

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Since Chris’s parents were in town with us, Kaia has been absolutely obsessed with sirens. She likes to listen for the sirens outside our window and while outside. When she hears the sounds, she will immediately go to the window to see if she can see where the sound is coming from. She likes to identify the lights and call out what colors they are; she also likes to name whether it’s a fire truck vs. an ambulance. It’s been really adorable to see her obsession.

The other day, she suddenly yelled out, “I want fire truck! I want fire truck!” She went to her toy corner in the living room and grabbed a few of her larger Hot Wheels cars. But I reminded her that while those were all cars and trucks, they actually were not fire trucks. She does have another truck that’s a real fire truck (and transformer!), I reminded her. I pulled it out from her car box and gave it to her. It was as though she was seeing this fire truck for the very first time, as her face had this look of surprise and excitement. A few seconds later, while holding the fire truck and admiring it, she exclaimed, “Wowowow, FIRE TRUCK! MY FIRE TRUCK!” The next few nights, she’d have to have it in bed with her before she could fall asleep. And randomly throughout the night, she would wake up screaming or crying, asking for her fire truck. So I always had to make sure it was within reach to calm her down.

I love seeing her little toddler obsessions and loves. I know one day she will lose this innocence, but I will soak it up as much as I can, for as long as I can, because it’s just too precious. And another thing she isn’t aware of: Suma and Topa have a very large fire truck, complete with a siren sound, waiting for her in Melbourne when we go back later this year!