Do you have a favorite neighborhood bakery that you can't pass by without looking in the window?

I do. Lily & Fig @ 727 Franklin Ave in Brooklyn is just that bakery for me. I can't pass up an opportunity to wander in, order tea and a pastry, and chat with the proprietor Lily. I'm always greeted with a smile and lively conversation.

So, join me on Sunday, June 5, 2012, from 2 - 4 PM for a dessert party. Donations will support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

This Saturday, May 5th, 2012, my favorite vegetarian-centric and vegan-friendly market in NYC is having its 17th anniversary celebration. There are so many more protein options out there other than soy. Free samples, gift bags, and discounts from 10am to 4pm.

I will be there. Will you?

Where? May Wah Vegetarian Market
213 Hester Street between Baxter and Centre
Chinatown, New York, NY 10013

When? 10am - 4pm, Saturday, May 5, 2012

My favorites: pumpkin floss (imitation pork floss), Taiwanese ”sausage”, sliced ”ham”, Hey Song sarsaparilla, Japanese textured vegetable protein, and the mushroom flavored instant thread noodles

For more information, follow them on, Facebook, Twitter, on their blog: http://maywah.blogspot.com, or at their website: http://www.vegieworld.com.

I got to spend Purim in Israel on the kibbutz where my hubby grew up. It was like Halloween in college, but every family member was there in ridiculous, not sleazy, costumes. Alcohol flowed freely, and we danced into the wee hours. If you want to know more about the reason for Purim, search for the story of Esther. You will learn about the fast and feast of Queen Esther.

Hamentaschen, or Hamen's ears, are triangular shortbread cookies filled with jams made from poppyseeds, apricots, or dried plums. This year, I went with poppyseed, plum-cherry, and apricot filings in a whole wheat and flax shortbread. I can't wait to share them!

I may be a rebel against stereotypes, but it doesn't mean I can't appreciate tradition. I love preserving recipes because with the lessening need to cook in this day and age, we are losing recipes that were commonplace just a generation or two ago. It's not like the United States of America is all that old in the grand scheme of things.

On a whim, I made a modified Thanksgiving dinner Thursday night just because we had the ingredients. I bought some carved turkey breast - no chopped, pressed turkey bits here. I had cranberry relish in the freezer, and I threw together a green bean casserole, rosemary gravy, and a quick, stovetop cranberry walnut dressing.

The big question was what to make for dessert. I flipped through my recipe notebook and apple brown betty jumped out at me. I had apples and pears that needed to be eaten, and I had a pie plate free. Perfect! I sliced and peeled like a mad woman, tossed the fruit in some fresh lemon-lime juice and cornstarch, and sprinkled the simple crumb topping over the entire thing. A quick sprinkle of cinnamon, and into the hot oven it went. All of the apple pie satisfaction without the annoying, time-consuming crust work.

I stopped buying ground beef for quite a while now, mostly because grass-fed was too expensive for my little budget. It's not a must-have around our household anyway. When I lived in Texas, I think I ate the same amount of meat in the six months that I lived there as I have in my whole life until now.

When I was little, there used to be a local grocery store called Ukrop's. It's now part of the Giant/Martin's chain, but it still runs the in-store café and premade foods. I was a sickly kid, so I saw the pediatrician a lot. After seeing the doctor, my mom would let me pick out a soup at Ukrop's. I was a strange seven year-old who watched the news and politely requested that my mother leave the beef out of her famous beef stew and add more carrots because I had heard that red meat was bad for the health, and carrots promoted eye health. I think my mom wrote me off as a nutter right then. Anyway, I did love their beef chili, all tangy and spicy, but the vegetable chili was out of this world. Flavor AND extra vegetables?!? It was this healthfoodie-in-the-making's union of perfection at the ripe age of seven.

I think I have tried to recapture that perfect flavor with every pot of veggie chili I make. The succulent lentils, the plump, dark red, kidney beans, the perfectly cooked black beans, the sauteed onions and green peppers, the tangy tomato, and sweet corn of the Ukrop's veggie chili will always be embedded in my memory. Tonight, I am enjoying my version with cute, little whole wheat cornbread bites, fat free sour cream (I also love fat free Fage on it, too), my homemade pickled jalapeños, light shredded cheese, and plenty of sriracha chili sauce. Aww, man, the cornbread at Ukrop's was like cake - it was so good!

Everyone should show their loved ones how much they care every single day. St. Valentine would roll his eyes if he could see what stress we Americans put ourselves under to impress for one night.

Well, I have never enjoyed Valentine's Day, not even in elementary school when I would get loads of candy. I always preferred to wear black and acknowledge the massacres that occurred on Valentine's Day.  I've been a geek my entire life, I guess.

The hubby and I traditionally watch a blood and gore movie and stay in, away from the train wrecks and awkward gestures.  However, for the office, I baked red velvet cupcakes using a beet puree to get that rich, blood red color. Thanks to Sophistimom for experimenting! The cupcakes were moist and luscious, and ever so red velvety.

I did it! I managed to make my Hakka grandmother's savory rice ball soup! Tang yuan, or 湯圓, are normally served in a sweet and sometimes lightly gingered soup in most of the Chinese diaspora I around the world. Many eat them in celebration of Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. Others have them to celebrate the last day of the lunar new year celebrations, the first full moon of the new year.

I never liked the sweet version myself. Growing up, we had them in chicken stock with lots of Chinese chives and shitake mushrooms, spending Saturday and Sunday mornings massaging those little pieces of dough into perfect round balls of chewy goodness. My Hokkien mother, grandmother, and I would have contests to see how many rice balls one could shape in one's palm at a time. At my peak, I think I managed to get five rice balls formed adequately in between my hands. The best I could do this time was two at a time. Lame! Must practice more!

Whenever I would visit my family in Taiwan, my Hakka grandmother would make the savory version to welcome me home - never fail. To make sure the art of the tang yuan isn't lost, I made them for some friends during this lunar new year holiday. The soup was a hit! I made a vegetarian and a non-vegetarian version just to push the envelope. Everything worked out so amazingly well.

Let me know if you want the general recipe. I didn't measure anything, so I'm not sure of proportions.

As the year of the dragon comes around again, it is another holiday to be celebrated with food! Tonight, I started prepping the apartment for the new year by dusting and sweeping out the bad luck out of our home. No sweeping or dusting during the 15-day celebration, or you just might sweep out all of the good luck the new year will bring.

The hubby and I haven't bought our new clothes for LNY, yet, but maybe I can pick up something on sale on LNY eve. I pulsed a lot of ginger and garlic tonight. Shallots, green onions, yellow onions, and cilantro are waiting to be assigned their dishes.

Tonight, though, I focused on perfecting my mochi, 麻糬, môa-chî in Hokkien or máshu in Mandarin. My mother and I would make it when I was younger, streaming pan after pan of it over the course of a weekend. I found a microwave recipe that works just as well with less scalding. The secret to filling the mochi is to handle the cooked dough with wet hands. I like using a filling of black sesame powder, vegetable shortening, and sugar. They turned out pretty tasty AND cute!

There is no better way to spend my 3-day weekend thanks to the honorable Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. than to drive to the former capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia, a mere 6-
hour drive south on Interstate 95. That's RVA to YOU, sir!

The husband and I visited old friends and had a lovely time catching up, but as always, the best part is enjoying food with those old friends. There is nothing like having a bite and discussing our new favorite British television obsession. We have a lot of favorite spots for brunch, sushi, pizza (but not NY style pizza), barbecue, and paella in the RVA, but alas, the weekend was far too short to visit them all. Here are a few places for you to enjoy next time you find yourself in Virginia's capital, home to the University of Richmond, Virginia Commonwealth University (that's right, it is still a commonwealth), Virginia State University, and Monument Avenue.

Capital Ale House - with two convenient locations in the West End and downtown, they house the most beers on tap in the city including cask-conditioned ales. The sliders and frites with four kinds of dipping mayo are staples on their late night menu, but this weekend, we tried their three onion macaroni and cheese with chicken and were pleasantly surprised. One doesn't usually expect a Thanks, Amy and Chad, for sharing your delicious dish! Capital Ale House, however, will never replace Legend Brewing Company's brew pub in my heart, though. The patio view overlooking the James River, the local beers, and the Old and New World pub fare menu standards are always comforting.

McLean's Restaurant is the poster child for Southern diners. This establishment used to only be open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week, but their hours have expanded to stay open all night Friday and Saturday nights as well as the venue. Now located near the CBS affiliate station, there is a private dining room and two entrances. The simple, bare décor is the same, keeping up the movie posters from yesteryear of Elvis and Marilyn and the ramshackle collection of folding tables and wooden booths . . . like you walked into the dining room of someone's recreational vehicle, only much, much larger. You are not here for a fine dining experience. You are here for large portions of expertly-made, comfort food at low prices. They give you super thick slices of ham on your Eggs Benedict smothered in a bright, yellow Hollandaise sauce. The yolks of the delicately poached eggs are rich with color . . . must have been some really happy chickens. Grits come with every breakfast order, but don't worry; you can choose whether to go sweet or savory. I'm a fan of buttery grits and lots of black pepper and maybe a dash or two of hot sauce. You can choose the type of gravy you get with your biscuits, sausage or chipped beef. You can't go wrong with either. You can also go off the beaten path with an order of salt herring and corn cakes. Herring for breakfast is typically Scandinavian, but breaded with cornmeal and shallow-fried with corn flapjacks is probably not something you would find at Ikea, but it certainly delighted the taste buds.

Kitchen 64 is just off the Boulevard exit on the Interstate 64 highway, hence the name. The building has seen many owners come and go, but now having been under the management of the same people who own Sidewalk Café, 3 Monkeys, Stella, and Kuba Kuba, Kitchen 64 has prospered and even expanded over the last several years. Every time we go, we try something completely different. The dishes are all named for streets, neighborhoods, and locations throughout the river city. If you are in need of large quantities of succulent, thinly sliced beef, try the Scott's Addition. If you are feeling particularly Southern, have a go at the fried green tomatoes on a roll with a side of sweet potato fries and some lemonade.

Richmond will surprise you when looking for places to make your taste buds stand at attention, but luckily, not your wallet.

Saturdays are usually for sleeping in, but today, we needed to get a few things done.  First stop, Union Square.  The husband and I split up errands and took all of the recyclables and composting to their respective drop off locations.  I took the #5 plastics to Whole Foods.  The compost and textiles went to the Greenmarket.  After a few more items were checked off the list, I treated us to an impromptu picnic in the middle of 9th Avenue at West 14th Street.

We stopped in Chelsea Market and headed towards Buon Italia to pick up some amaretti cookies for a fancy tiramisu later.  I normally go to Chelsea Market on a weeknight . . . after seeing the droves of hungry humans through the halls of the old Nabisco factory, never again will I set foot in Chelsea Market on the weekend - weeknights only for this gal.

What did we order? Let's see, the husband ordered the a panino parmigiano @ $6.50 each, a lovely, crusty Italian sandwish with a delicately breaded chicken breast, a slice of eggplant, a slice of fresh mozzarella, and basted with marinara.  All of these ingredients simply melt into the warm, crusty bread delighting the senses.

I ordered the frittata di pasta, or pasta pie, @ $2.50 and a side of scarole stufate, escarole sauteed with toasted pine nuts and kalamata olives.  I only remembered to snap a pic after having devoured most of it.

As a treat for the hubby, I picked up a healthy-sized tub of mixed olives for just @ $3.50.  Oh, how I love going to Buon Italia!

With every seat in Chelsea Market filled, we headed out to the median where there were a few tables and chairs.  Fifty plus degrees outdoors in New York at the beginning of January - of course we were going to have an impromptu picnic on the median in Chelsea.