Category: Hosting

  • Gluten-Free Pot Sticker Wrappers

    Gluten-Free Pot Sticker Wrappers

    What’s more Chinese than wheat-filled porky pot stickers? Being a good host who makes all your guests feel welcome, that’s what. In 1980s Minnesota, growing up a first generation American-born child of Chinese immigrants, Asian produce and processed goods were not readily available at the grocery stores on University Ave in Saint Paul. For special…

  • Need an Easy Dinner Next Monday? Food-related blog news.

    Need an Easy Dinner Next Monday?
    Food-related blog news.

    Dear Reader, I am sharing a bit of exciting news — as of today, my good friend Sarah Yee​ and I are starting a little food business! As you all know, we both love to cook. Now, we’ll be channeling this passion and skills into cooking for our community through Josephine. What’s Josephine? Josephine is…

  • I tried this meal kit and it did not change my world view

    I tried this meal kit and it did not change my world view

    Happy Friendly Friday, Folks! It’s Fall, and the start of a new school year for many. What do you do to keep everyone fed and full of healthy energy to get things done? I explore one option here, with ready-to-cook meals from Amazon.

  • Friendly Friday: Instant Pot – Virtually Instant, Really!

    Friendly Friday:
    Instant Pot – Virtually Instant, Really!

    Recently, I had a chance to visit my fellow Minnesotan friend Tanya, her spouse Justin, and their daughter Mabel in Portland. They graciously had me over for dinner, and I got to see a demo of the Instant Pot. Apparently she was so excited about it she bought a second one when it was on…

  • Pro-Tip Tuesday: Make Creme Fraiche on the Road!

    Pro-Tip Tuesday: Make Creme Fraiche on the Road!

    Looking for a dessert you can bring on the road to impress your friends? Here’s one I made in an AirBnB over a visit to my home state. It takes very few ingredients, little predictability in equipment, and you can bring it with some fruit for a dinner party:

  • Mountain Monday: Snowshoe On Mount Rainier

    Mountain Monday: Snowshoe On Mount Rainier

    Happy Lunar New Year! Any additional comments on lunar new year from me will be in some other post. I spent all my energy cleaning the house and hosting hot pot Saturday for it, no more juice left for an obligatory entry here for now. Instead, here’s one that started as a video and grew into…

  • Chef Kyle Wisner’s Lunch Break Demo @the Book Larder

    Chef Kyle Wisner’s Lunch Break Demo @the Book Larder

    One overcast Monday morning, I ventured over to the Book Larder, a community cookbook store on Fremont Ave of Seattle. I’ve ridden past there many a time by bike and by bus, and always meant to go. Finally, I found time and managed to sign up for classes a few days ahead. Note: if you…

  • Bank Your DIY Holiday Gift Game with..
    Beeswax Coconut Candles

    One of these days I will finally sort through my reflections from hiking Sahale Arm and seeing a glacier up close, or adventures in the Catskill Mountains of New York, but in the mean time, this: The days are getting shorter, the weather’s getting crisper early in the morning. School supply ads reign supreme on…

  • Run Away and Nurse Your Broken Heart in the Woods with a Hot Toddy

    Run Away and Nurse Your Broken Heart in the Woods with a Hot Toddy

    Sometimes, don’t you just want to set the world on fire? No? Well, maybe at least shake it around a little to tell it to behave itself better? Doesn’t the state of it just break your heart some days? Let’s go back to setting things on fire. I extra-think plenty on the things that are hugely…

  • Artichoke Dip – the travel potluck dish

    Artichoke Dip – the travel potluck dish

    Have you flown thousands of miles for the holidays and unwittingly still found yourself signed up to bring a dish for the family potluck? Have all the gifts been arranged and wrapped by your helpful partner (or recent Past Self) , patiently helping you bear the crush of expectation to somehow visit 50+ people in…