Yummy, Quick, Asian-inspired meal
When I want to whip up a quick meal, I first set the stage by assembling my ingredients, and I get the measuring and cutting/chopping out of the way. Sometimes I do this prep-work an hour (or half-a-day) ahead of cooking time. Then, when I go back into the kitchen, I can cook a tasty meal in 20 minutes. Here are the recipes for my Asian lunch inspired by the good cooks at Lotus Pepper Food Truck. To whip this up in a flash, first gather all your ingredients… 6-8 ounces Vermicelli rice noodles (available at Asian markets) 1/4 cup rice wine …
6 reasons why Francis Malbone House is one of the best places to stay in Newport
So you do want to go to Newport. Now, where to stay? There are an overwhelming number of options and the best places are pricy. That makes it really disappointing and really frustrating when your accommodations turn out to be mediocre or inconveniently located. I’m not saying there is only one decent place to stay in Newport. What I am saying is, There are 6 good reasons why Francis Malbone House is my favorite place to stay. Location, location, location. This Inn is exactly where I want my sweet comforting inn to be. It’s close enough to return to, from …
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More than a dozen reasons why I Love Newport, Rhode Island
Normally, I’m not overly fond of the popular tourist hangouts. I usually think they’re too crowded, over-hyped, and ridiculously expensive. But I love Newport, Rhode Island. Yes, it can be expensive –but it can also be affordable if you know where to go and what to avoid. And yes, it has hype galore. Good Morning America calls Newport, “The most beautiful place in America.” That’s as superlative as it gets (but it may actually be true!) And yes, it’s crowded, in summer. But in Newport, I actually like the crowd. It’s a beautiful crowd, vibrant and happy! Summertime Newport is like the hoity-toityest carnival in the world. …
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Lotus Pepper food truck in Providence inspires my sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw
We stumbled upon the Lotus Pepper Food Truck at the Providence Flea Market a few weeks ago, which has inspired another of my frequent and various improvisations, this time on a noodle-salad theme. Today’s creation was a sweet-hot-salty-sour slaw (recipe below) with chilled vermicelli (follow the package directions), and satay-seasoned chicken breast with peanut dipping sauce (recipe here). You won’t find this on the Lotus Pepper menu. There you’ll find authentic Vietnamese food (including dishes with vermicelli). The eats are cheap, fast, fun and tasty. To locate Lotus Pepper, (they’re a food truck; they move around!) check their facebook page for daily …
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How to Make the Very Best Blue-Cheese Dip, Ever!
This recipe should serve a sizable crowd, but it won’t. Some mild-mannered silent type (your son’s song-writer friend Jacob, for example) will keep asking for the dip to be passed back to his end of the table and while you’re conversing he’ll gobble up what should have been at least six servings and then he’ll lick the bowl clean. Count on it. He’ll ask for the recipe even though he never, ever cooks, EVER, and this is the only recipe he has ever requested, the only one he ever will in his entire life request. And he’ll actually make it …
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Thinking about changing my mind (about categories); help me decide
I ditched my categories a while back, to give myself freedom to blog about whatever I wanted to blog about. It worked. Blogging stopped feeling like a classroom “assignment” and became a spontaneous overflowing of whatever was on my mind. And my readers weren’t freaked out when I went eclectic–instead, their feedback was that they, too, thought it liberated my writing and made my posts more interesting. But I’ve been thinking, if Billy Ray Cyrus can change his style, his sound, his haircut with every new album, I’m going to feel free to also sing along: Lately I’ve been thinking and I’m …
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If you missed the Quahog Festival, here's how to make Stuffies at home
I’m sorry–you missed the Warren Quahog Festival this past weekend and you didn’t get to try the stuffies. But don’t feel terrible that you missed the great jazz combo, the juried art show, the sea breeze, all the lovely people in festival mood, and all those seafood vendors. You can make stuffies at home and actually, these are the best Stuffies ever. More clam, less bread crumb. Translation and helpful notes for non Rhode-Islanders (pronounced Roe-DYE-Lunders): A quahog (pronounced KO-hog) is a clam. Stuffies are clam casseroles served in large clam shells. Large clams are cheaper per pound (sometimes, like …
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Tracy Lee Karner: 2011 Forster Kirchenstück Riesling inspires happiness
My guest post for The Winegetter — thank you to Oliver for inviting me to his blog party (a guest blogger wine series with the theme “Somewhere Beyond the Sea.”)
When you're smiling the whole world smiles with you
Some people might think she’s a little scary, the eccentric woman who rides the bus, always carrying a backpack and a few bags like a rag-picker. Whenever I see her, I hear the Beatles’ Eleanor Rigby song playing in the back of my head. Ah, look at all the lonely people… And I wonder, what’s her story? Sometimes she mutters to herself, sometimes angrily. “Sometimes her meds work,” a man on the bus said one day when the bus stopped to pick her up, “sometimes they don’t.” He had seen it before, and had a premonition about what was going to happen. Instead …
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Honey, I shrunk our ecological footprint
We humans effect and alter the natural systems that sustains us. That’s bad news, and good news. The bad news is we humans are naturally complacent. Even when we know that we’re harming the environment, we rarely change our behavior unless pain (from disaster, from punishment) forces us to alter our ways. In 2008, the bad news about the economy forced us to consider our excesses. The good news is that we actually did shrink our expenditures, our consumption and our ecological footprint. Little change by little change, our lifestyle becomes increasingly sustainable. And it doesn’t hurt. Instead, it’s making …