Cute Streak

Uber-cute, portion-controlled lunch. bacon and stir-fried Taiwanese bitter greens. looks great. feels hungry. 

Organic tart frozen yogurt on a giant bed of shaved ice. strawberries, kiwi, mandarin oranges, and mochi bits. BLUSH - Original Shaved Ice (Choice of four toppings included).

Cute may not be the right word, but it was free and delicious. RED RIBBON BAKESHOP - Pandan Macapuno Chiffon Cake.

Reflection: Cooking for the church crowd

My first and only consistent experience cooking for large crowds has been for church luncheons. It's an example of service that I'm very glad to perform; after all, bringing smiles and full bellies to folks can give anyone the warm and fuzzies.

Nevertheless, it's an offering which always makes me a bit bashful. So many of the other seasoned "church moms" are so talented and well-practiced, that the kitchen standards they set seem impossibly high.

When I lived in Boston, the congregation was so small that I often times could prep and cook on my own. [Especially with the help of a miracle dishwasher.] Or at the very least, I could clearly see myself as the director of controlled chaos.

Since returning to the bay, I've gained the help of my mom as the other half of my cooking team. Mom is great. She's uber-conscientious about menu planning and prep work - This is especially useful since our congregation meets in a temporary space that lacks its own kitchen. She's always thinking twelve steps ahead about everything from ingredient shopping to the logistics of how to load the minivan to minimize the unloading time at the curb. Yes. My mom rocks.

However, I still struggle to gracefully accept the help of such a proactive and opinionated partner. e.g. "Do we ALWAYS have to serve a soup, Ma?!?"

Mom-daughter drama at my age? Sadly, yes. Pray for me; I'm still growing =/

So, when a sister called me up for one of my church recipes this week... a recipe way back from my first year of church cooking, I knew I could easily find a copy of exactly what I prepared. Why? In my mother's infinite wisdom, she used to make me write down exactly what I would prepare BEFORE our Sabbath meal.

Let that be a nice reminder to all of us: if your mommy is helpful - let her be helpful.

The original inspiration recipe from our local newspaper long ago



My handwritten Chicken Cacciatore recipe circa '03-ish

Double Down

 

Oddly enough, I learned of the KFC Double Down from an ex-pat alum's Google away message. He lamented about not being able to try it for himself and posted a link from the BBC.

Luckily for me, one of my co-workers was just as curious as I was to try it. We picked a day during the breadless sandwich's debut week at the KFC at the end of the street. Since I was trying to stick to an everything-in-moderation lifestyle (and still doing so), I knew I wouldn't allow myself to polish off the whole thing in one sitting. I pre-packed some rice w/ quinoa and petite peas to off-set eating only half the Double Down.

It wasn't bad. It wasn't great. I was pleasantly surprised at how moist the chicken breast fillet was... but I was just as underwhelmed at the lack of flavor in the sauce. The bacon couldn't even save the disappointment of the "plastic" fast-food cheese slice!

The fact that I had other accouterments on my plate is what saved this experience from being a disappointing fail, and instead somewhat enjoyable.

What can I say? I'm not a no-carb kind of gal.

SPAM for Lunch

I wasn't sure if I'd be called for afternoon round of jury duty, so my limbo lunch plans made today the perfect day to use some left over nori sheets, leftover quinoa-laced rice, and my emergency SPAM Singles Lite pack.

From SPAM LUNCH

While my family tends to keep a can of SPAM® LOW SODIUM as a pantry item, the slice o' SPAM was purcased on a whim when I found it at a 99¢ Only Store. This humble slice has been patiently waiting for me to rescue it from my desk and take it to the kitchenette where it could fulfill its destiny as -- SPAM Onigiri.



I would probably not have enjoyed myself as much if it weren't for the awesome Onigiri wrap sheets I found at a Fremont 99 Ranch.



The wraps are so glam-looking and come with a set of bright orange stickers to "seal" your creation. But the most fantastic element is the built in tear-line. It allows you to remove only half of the wrap, thus exposing only a first-half to your mouth.