The Sweet Life

I learned how to make egg rolls from my father's friend's wife, Edna, who is from the Philippines. She taught me this secret many years ago, and it is one of a few things I'm glad that I can make. I made the filling a couple of days ago, and started filling and rolling them today. And, as usual, I made more filling than I need, so I have to buy more wrappers and give as many of these bad boys away as I can. I love Asian cuisine, that is, the vegetables and seafood. My friend Tina teaches me a lot about Chinese cooking and exposes me to more authentic Chinese cuisine than what is found in restaurants. I own and have proudly seasoned a wok; the ones my mom and I own are in Texas and are, sadly, rusting away, I'm sure. But making these egg rolls for the second time in a wok, this time, I finally got it. I got the heat right, the right amount of oil, even the whole stir-fry philosophy. I do believe, that I achieved "wok hay" and I could taste it. I was so ...

I had grand plans for this day, my first day off. I was going to go to the post office, then to Whole Foods, where I would purchase exotic items as well as my usual staples. I would say hello to friends, and then move on, maybe stopping at Barnes & Noble to browse. I would meet my friend at the Chinese food restaurant I wanted to try out last week, before window shopping around the city. I thought maybe I would even go north and visit my favorite store (one of them, anyway), Cost Plus World Market. But alas, I was stuck at home because my stomach wasn't, well, cooperating with me. So, stuck at home, leafing through my collection of food magazine pages, I ate the salmon and veggies I brought home from work. Then, the baking bug bit me. That, coupled with the craving for chocolate got me in the kitchen. Cleaning out my cabinets a few weeks ago, I found a lot of bittersweet chocolate, more than I thought I could hoard. A bag full of chopped chocolate, and a couple of bloc...

I've been craving Grammy's Chocolate Cookies from Martha Stewart's Special Issue Holiday Cookies 2001. I didn't feel like searching in my Rubbermaid tubs at the back of the closet for that particular issue, so I searched the internet for the recipe. Lo and behold I found several so I copied one down (they were all the same) and proceeded to make the dough yesterday afternoon. The smell of the chocolate cookie dough was intoxicating. I was excited to eat some. I baked a sheet, using my half sheet pan. Popped them into the oven and patiently waited 8 minutes. What did I get? Instead of crunchy wafers whose sugary crust gave way to fudgy goodness, I got flat blobs that ran into each other. They were very moist in the middle as though they weren't fully cooked. What happened? What could have gone wrong? I mean, I made these successfully years in a row for Christmas packages to friends and family. My mom called and chatted while I half listened, still trying...

Today, I woke up, still tired from six days of working, with private parties on top of the restaurant guests and room delivery. I didn't get out of bed until after 3:00. I was tired enough to be content to lie around all day, but I was on a mission. I have been wanting to-no, yearning to-make Danish dough and need cardamom, so I went to one of the best places on earth: The Spice House . The chefs at school told us about it, but I didn't go for a long time. When I finally did go, I could have kicked myself for not going sooner. Located in Chicago's Old Town, the exterior has an old world charm. The wood floors and brick walls make it feel as though it's been there forever, waiting patiently for you to discover it. When you walk in you smell exotic spices, peppers, herbs. Forget about shopping at the grocery store for spices, now that I've found this place, I won't disgrace my spice cabinet with that other stuff. I mean, why pay $5 for stale spices that...