April 2010
10 posts
5 tags
Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
It took a few days, but I think I am finally back on East Coast time and into my normal working schedule. It was rough at first; I could barely suppress the yawns and inclinations for narcoleptic episodes between 2-5 pm every afternoon (which would be 3-6 am Japan-time). AND there were a few nights that I woke up between 3-5 am, completely unable to go back to sleep, though I suppose I was...
4 tags
Green Tea Cookies
One of the souvenirs that I brought home for myself from Japan was matcha- green tea leaves, finely ground into a powder. Matcha has recently grown in popularity here in the U.S., perhaps due in part to green tea ice cream and lattes, but matcha has been integral to Japanese culture since the 12th century in traditional tea ceremonies. It was brought over from China (yeah!) by Zen Buddhist...
4 tags
(Not-so) Thick, Chewy Granola Bars
Sometimes you want things just the way you want them. There are a MILLION different varieties and flavor combinations of granola bars out there… but I have yet to stumble across one that has EVERYTHING I want in it. More often than not they are too sweet for me, and sometimes I want oats, pecans, almonds, flax seeds, coconut, peanut butter, dried cranberries, cacao nibs, AND honey. Is that...
4 tags
Cashew Chicken
I have specific foods to remedy certain ailments or conditions that pop up in life: a cold = saltines and peanut butter with honey lemon tea, a hangover = greasy diner breakfast food (emPHAsis on the GREASEy, believe me… and I’ve always been too afraid to try alcohol to remedy the hangover), a tough day in lab = LARGE glass of wine… or two and trashy reality television.
The...
2 tags
Hello Hack....
MIT is world renowned for its engineering and science programs and research, however its unique tradition of “hacks” is perhaps less widely known. These hacks are inventive pranks or practical jokes constructed anonymously by MIT students (or alumni/ae) and are often great feats of engineering (i.e.placing a campus police car on the top of the MIT Dome) that reference or poke fun at...
7 tags
Baked Eggs
Though my family is not religious, we did participate in the tradition of dyeing and decorating eggs for Easter. When we were younger, my mom would boil dozens of eggs as an instant child-proofing measure for the activity, thereby minimizing the mess and collateral damage to the kitchen. When we got older, we adopted a more sophisticated method of poking small holes in the top and bottom of the...
4 tags
Roasted Fish with Mediterranean Tomato Sauce
Boston weather between the months of March and June is really one big emotional roller coaster. Within the same week it goes from pleasant and spring-y with warm sunshine (love), sometimes even crossing that thin line to summertime heat (joy!), to cold and wet with either rain that pours down for days without pause (depression) or freak snow flurries (heartbreak!)… and then right back to...
3 tags
The Buttermilk Biscuit Experiment
My love for biscuits began with those blessedly buttery arterial cloggers from KFC. I liked them best drizzled with a bit of honey (does anyone know if it was even real honey?) from those plastic condiment packets (like ketchup). For asian people, my family loves them some fried chicken. My 92 year old grandpa STILL asks for KFC once in awhile! When I was in middle and high school, we ate KFC...
