speaking of sour...

this story by sara dickerman, on the cookbook Memories of Philippine Kitchens. 

read the first comment about how the food isn't all that because the flavors aren't strong. maybe your co-workers thought you couldn't handle the funk?  maybe they childhood memories of being made fun of for weird lunches came back to haunt them.

can one find the necessary ingredients in this country? outside of a major city? can we give people a break because, like many asian nations, their cuisine is the result of a colonized people just being resourceful and making delicious food with what they have.

  Pan Asian Peanut Sauce (adapted from)Cendrillon's Recipe 1 cup peanuts 1 lemongrass, minced 3 shallots, minced 2 inch ginger, minced 1T peanut oil 1 cup coconut milk 1T chili sauce 2T soy sauce (or 1T soy and 1T nam pla) 1T mirin 1t chili flakes, or to taste Hard toast peanuts in oven. Buzz in food processor until coarsely chopped. Reserve 2 tablespoons. Lightly brown the lemongrass, shallots, and ginger in a small pot with peanut oil. Add the peanuts and coconut milk. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with the chili sauce, soy sauce and mirin. Let cool to room temp. Pulse in the blender until smooth. Fold in reserved peanuts. i love this with brown rice and pan-fried tempeh (don't forget to splash on some patchouli and change into your PETA shirt). it's good on lumpia, vietnamese summer rolls and your finger. Cendrillon's website p.s. The photos in the book are by Mika's papa, Mr. Neal Oshima. Mika did Cendrillon's website, by the by.

pour a jug on the ground...

for fallen homie, ernest gallo. he died today, so we will imbibe a jug in honor of the man who created an empire from a library pamphlet recipe for wine. one out of every four bottles that americans drink is a fine gallo blend. my parents were fans of peach-y riunite. riunite on ice, that's nice! i poured myself a big ol' mug of the stuff in eighth grade. this was off the hook, it tasted like peach ne-hi and made you feel all warm and fuzzy. julie l's wiccan, hippy mom was a fan of the gallo jug. we'd sneak some when we were working on wax voodoo dolls, apple switch magic wands and love potions, which was a lovely combo of old kitchen spices (ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice), vials of my mom's sample perfumes (chanel no.5, giorgio, poison) and julie's mom's sandalwood and patchouli oils. 

is "witch nerd" a common social phenomenon among pre-pubescent teens? check out ernest's arch enemy's web site to create an homage to the master.