When I was growing up, my mom was nice enough to make a separate meal for the kids on some occaisions. I was not a very picky eater but remember there were some “adult foods” that we were not served. One of those meals was Chicken Curry. Whenever my mom served it, my brother and I knew what we were getting…. a bowl of doctored up, sweet rice.

I remember feeling so lucky to face only a bowl of cinnamon-y, warm rice for dinner. The flavors are the same as rice pudding but the mixture of rice and milk, more like cereal. I don’t make it often these days but I find that when I am sick or feeling forlorn, it hits the spot (probably due in large part to the serving of childhood nostalgia it comes with). When I do enjoy this treat, it is often for breakfast made with leftover rice. Give it a try next time you have leftover Asian food.

Cinnamon Rice Cereal
White Rice
Butter
Brown Sugar
Cinnamon
Milk

Put a piece of butter, and few spoons of brown sugar over rice in a bowl. Cover with milk. Microwave until very warm. Sprinkle with cinnamon and eat.

Brown Sugar Tip: Perhaps you all know this trick but it is one of my favorite kitchen tips. A small little slice of apple in your brown sugar will keep the whole thing from getting hard for months. Just pop a little apple sliver in the bag or in a tupperware.

Just this morning, I noticed a pattern. I write about a travel adventure filled with food and drink excitement and hedonistic consuming and then the posts with dinner salad recipes come forth. Yes, I am of that age where just a few cupcakes and bites of rice pudding along with a sip of kumquat mojito and cucumber martini can put on 2-3 pounds in a few short days.

Growing up, I hated salads. I still do not like raw tomatoes or iceberg lettuce and I seem to remember that was what a salad was back in the day. Spring mixes and frisse weren’t exactly in the forefront of produce sections in the 1980’s in the Midwest. As a food-loving adult who wants to enjoy everything but not gain too much weight, I have forced myself onto salads. And the truth is… I am starting to like them.

Asian salads are my favorite filled with the fresh flavors of napa cabbage, watercress, cilantro and often colored with carrots and red cabbage. This Thai Steak Salad is so freshing, packed with fresh herbs and still with enough protein to fill you up. The salad ingredients are quite flexible. I use the recipe as a guide and mix and match whatever I have on hand.

(That lime photo makes me smile every time I look at it. I keep imagining a conversation between them about how they all ran out of hair gel and just can’t manage their unruly strands.)

Thai Beef Salad
from Cooking Light

To prepare salad, combine watercress and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with remaining dressing and toss well. Divide salad evenly on 4-6 plates and arrange steak over top. Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of chopped peanuts.

I am writing tonight from New York City to let you know that I have crossed two very important Food Must-Try-Before-I-Dies off my list! Although I have spent much of my time here inside working, I managed to sneak out in the evenings to a few special places.

Last night, I waited around the corner at the famed Magnolia Bakery for cupcakes. The snaking line was slow-moving and ripe with anticipation as we patiently plodded forward a foot per minute engulfed in a perfume of fresh baked cake and raw New York. Through the window, you can see greedy hands grabbing self-serve cupcakes and filling their boxes before waiting in another line to settle up.

By the time I got my turn inside, my hoarding mentality fueled by the grabby-paws around me, pushed me to fill my box with four cupcakes. At the counter, I battled a sassy New Yorker for the last piece of Red Velvet cake and finally topped off my purchase with a t-shirt that reads “Cupcakes make people happy.” We headed across the street to park benches and dove in to our bakery boxes.

Those cupcakes were pretty, fluffy, sugary and famous. And, I can’t wait to wear my new t-shirt. As for the cakes being the most delicious ever, well… some things are just worth the experience.

Tonight, I made my pilgrimage to Rice to Riches, a place that sells only rice pudding in a variety flavors with toppings. For years, I have been dying to try this place. I adore rice pudding and I am tickled that one can make enough money to afford NYC rent only selling rice pudding.

I ordered a double flavor dish with Banana Coconut Rice Pudding topped with Pound Cake Croutons and Traditional Rice Pudding topped with Sour Cherries. The flavors were unexpected, the experience was fun and the taste was satisfying. I couldn’t eat it all so I was given a cute snap-on lid and as I write, the remainder is next to me in my hotel ice bucket keeping cool and waiting for breakfast.

Sweet dreams.

My first herb exploration brought me to two local Asian grocers where I picked up Thai Basil, cilantro and mint as well as all the other necessary ingredients to make spring rolls. Inspired by a cocktail I usually order at a local restaurant, I also bought a can of lychee fruit in heavy syrup to concoct a Lychee Martini recipe.

As soon as my girlfriend came over, we shook up some of those martinis and I proceeded to show her how to make spring rolls… which brings us to the above photograph. She became a spring roll machine! I couldn’t get her to stop making them even once the rest of the meal was on the table and we were ready to eat. My last attempt to thwart her spring roll wrapping resulted in a slight tussle, a broken martini glass and a nervous barefoot dance by both of us to avoid cutting our feet.

My unfocused spring roll photo is a result of potentially blurred vision from our delectable Lychee Martinis, the mere speed of her quick and agile spring roll wrapping hands or a combination of both. I can promise you that although it is not pictured well, the spring rolls were delicous and a refreshing use of the fragrant herbs.

Lychee Martinis
1 can lychee fruit in syrup
vodka

Drain the fruit reserving the syrup. Pour 1/3 cup syrup and 1 cup vodka into a martini shaker with ice. Shake it up until is nice and cold then pour over a few lychee fruits in a martini glass.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls with Dipping Sauce
adapted from Cooking Light

These also taste great with a peanut sate sauce.

Fresh herbs are one of my favorite inclusions in summer cooking. For a number of years, I have grown potted herbs on my deck. Each fall, I try to bring them in and keep them alive through the winter but inevitably, they get too dry and die. When spring comes around again, I am counting down the days until planting.

During the past few weeks, I have been pondering what to plant and have found myself wavering. Of course, I could buy more pots and plants and put dozens in but that is too much to manage and plus, this process of selection is fun. Which will make it… which will be denied… what plants will hold the precious windowsill spot… what new herb may lead me to the best new recipes?

With these difficult decisions to make, I have decided to do some Research & Development. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for many recipes featuring fresh herbs (store bought) to help guide the final planting process to take place after Memorial Day.

The Front Runners: Basil (always a winner), Thyme, Rosemary, Chives

Up for Consideration: Thai Basil, Cilantro , Mint, Tarragon, Sage, Dill, Lemongrass

Out of the Running: Parsley (ick, don’t like it fresh) & Oregano (planted it last year and never used it fresh as I always turn to my dried Greek oregano)

Herb growers come forth… have I missed a winner from my list of contestants? Nominations welcome.

After returning from my March visit to Mexico, I posted about the food experiences I enjoyed for weeks afterwards. But, it isn’t until now that I share with you my favorite discovery.

Every morning, we enjoyed an enormous breakfast buffet. Some mornings, I spooned up a delicious bowl of oatmeal. Other days, my plate was piled high with fried plantains, eggs and refried black beans. But, EVERY morning I drank strong cafe con leche and ate 1-2 pieces of sweet bread that I later learned was called Panque. Each day, there was a different variety of flavors of this dense, spongy bread from walnut to lemon to pistachio.

I was dying to know what made the bread so delectable and wanted to ensure I could make it when I returned home. So, I befriended the dining room manager and asked him for the recipe. Day after day, I reminded my new friend, Manuel, (with a friendly pushiness) how much I wanted that recipe! On the last day, when the restaurant was closing and my flight was hours from departure, I stopped in one last time to request the Panque recipe. Manuel scurried back into the kitchen saying he had it for me and would meet me by the pool. To my surprise, he DID show up at the pool clutching a handwritten recipe. It was in Spanish and a bit messy but it held the key to my precious breakfast addiction.

Looking down at the recipe, I read the first line…. “45 huevos.” A quick scan of the paper revealed that not only was it in Spanish and in metric measurements but it was a recipe for enough bread to feed the entire hotel. For all these reasons, the recipe stayed crumpled in my kitchen for months, waiting to be translated.

At the end of last week, I finally took pencil to paper and turned the Panque recipe into something I could follow. A sharpened pencil, a fancy calculator, this wonderful conversion chart, a kitchen scale and even some last minute long division brought the first Panque out of my oven.

I must admit, it was not as delicious as I remembered. Due to ingredients and the convoluted and converted path this recipe took from their kitchen to mine, it was bound to be a bit different. Never the less, it is a tasty cake-like bread that goes well with fresh berries, coffee or tea. If you are familiar with this bread (or pound cake which is what it really is - I just feel better about the caloric intake when I call it bread), please send me your recipe!

When the recipe was delivered to me, it was a bit scrawly and didn’t have many instructions with the ingredients. The only thing I could tell was the order to add each thing and surprisingly, the oil gets mixed in last.

Panque
5 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
Optional add-ins:
lemon zest, pecans, raisins, pistachios, walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the sugar and eggs. Add the milk and vanilla. Blend the flour with the baking soda separately and add to the mixture. Once mixed, blend in the oil until incorporated. Stir in either zest of 2 lemons, or nuts and/or raisins. Pour batter into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Inspired by a new, thoughtful comment to an old Would You Rather… I decided it was time for a fresh debate.

Would you rather give up all desserts for the rest of your life OR eat only plain rice, water and vitamins for one year?