The weather was bloody hot last week and it made me lose my appetite a little bit. So, my husband and I agreed to make something light and refreshing. Chicken salad sounds good, but mayonnaise  might be a little heavy for this heat. We stuck with chicken and added other refreshing accessories such as cucumber, cherry tomato, shallot, dill, lemon zest and juice and seasoned it with salt and pepper. We had this with golden baked pita bread. Simple, delicious and super easy!

yea…this is not a yellow trend or anything. It’s just because I’m Asian and I like to eat a lot. Today, I found last batch of everything Italian; pasta, prosciutto, salami in the pantry, but seriously I wasn’t in the mood for Italian. I migrated all of them to Asia by adding chilli, sesame oil, fish sauce, rice vinegar and lemon juice. This looks like a mixed child

I crave this dish once in a while since living in New York because not every Thai restaurant has it on the menu. So, the inspiration for making this dish came from a conversation that I had with my dad over the phone. He always seems to know how to cook really well. He explained like an expert of how to make Kha-Moo ( slow cook pork leg), but he’s never made one himself. This is a true experiment from my dad’s imagination and my memories. I didn’t even know how it was going to turn out since I started making it. I waited for almost 5 hours to taste it and I think it was close enough and looked good for a first attempt. I know my dad will criticize how badly I chopped this piggy, but all I know is this is worth my time and effort.

why taco filling in pita?…The truth is we got a whole pack of pita bread after ordering falafel for a picnic this past Monday and I didn’t want to waste useful leftovers. So, I made a filling real quick after hubby got home. We have quick quick taco pockets for dinner.

My first successful frittatas from leftover pasta last night. I’ve checked many recipes for frittatas and tried to make it few times. Last night, all these little guys came out soft and fluffy inside. I feel lucky to be stubborn for cooking even though I’ve failed many times.

Why am I so excited about homemade bread crumbs? It’s my first time, that’s why. I made challah bread 3 days ago and have half of it left over. So, here it is. I got the inspiration for this by watching Food Network all day. I have to give credit to Giada de Laurentiis because she bakes her cherry tomatoes, capers and bread crumbs and then she mixes them with cooked pasta. This seems perfect for my bread crumb attempt. I used 2 medium zucchini, 2 teaspoons of capers, minced garlic, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. I mixed everything together and then topped it with 3/4 cups of my homemade bread crumbs (leftover challah, 1 clove of garlic and a bunch of parsley). I drizzled it with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 mins. I served with pan fried pork chops that I also coated with the same bread crumbs. We absolutely fell in love with fresh bread crumbs. So tasty and there will be a second attempt for sure.

I feel like trying to make everything that I like to eat, but I’m not a professional cook. I just like to eat good food and challenge myself to make new things. I read this recipe 6 months ago and can’t let go because the way the picture looks and how chezpim described it on her blog makes me drool.  So, here I am. The actual recipe called for tomato, apple & rosemary jam, but I don’t have awesome tomato. I used basic jam ingredients- friendly, strawberry substitute tomato for my first attempt. I’ll hunt down tomato for this jam next time.

My husband and I have been talking french toast for our Saturday homey breakfast that I enjoy making every week. Challah bread seems to be our favourite for this. I have to admit that I have used many recipes from smittenkitchen (my favourite blogger). I actually studied this recipe from last year, but I didn’t have guts to try it. Finally, my husband’s encouragement won me over. The braiding process is really confusing. I spent roughly 20 minutes going back and forth with directions and dough. I finally got it done. I’ve already used part of it for our weekday fast breakfast and the rest will become our homey weekend breakfast. It’s so yummy…Cheers for Deb @ smittenkitchen. You are my role model!

Potato Chips with Herbs Salt

This doesn’t look so healthy, but I gotta do something easy and quick with these potatoes before they transform to potato plants for another cycle. Today is good to have snacks around anyway because our bear family will have Chuck and 24 lined up to watch at night. huuhuu..excited

Hubby’s favourite (Pancake)

I’ve found pancake recipe from smittenkitchen.com, my favourite food blog. So far I have tried many recipes from this awesome food blog. The texture of the pancake is really soft and perfect portion for two. I made berry syrup and toasted walnuts to go with it. I feel like saying thank you to Deb (from smittenkitchen) for sharing many good recipes.