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Recipe: cucumber shrimp rolls

My dearest Barbara,

We’ve never met. But we are friends. I checked Google Maps and they say you are a 13,804-mile trip from my house in Colorado. But you really aren’t so far from me.

Did you know that while my house sits at 8500 feet above sea-level and you live on the waterfront, I still look up to you?

In Google’s directions to your place, I have three segments of kayaking several thousand miles across the Pacific Ocean. And every stroke would be worth it.

spring clover in california

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Recipe: beef tenderloin wraps

It’s December and I am officially in what I call “shit pants” mode because there is an overwhelming amount of stuff to get done. I’ve been spending a lot of time in the kitchen and so far I’ve burned my hands twice in two days. I am on a roll, baby!

there’s the beef: tenderloin (salted)

Well, party season is here whether you like it or not. Hard for me to say if I like parties or sit down dinners better. I guess I like the intimacy of a sit down dinner because you can have a nice conversation with a few people versus the social butterfly flitting from one guest to the next – getting only 15 minutes tops with each guest. That said, I like parties because it’s a great excuse to make tons of little foods.

grilled rare

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Recipe: not so special roll

When Jeremy and I moved in together after I graduated from college, I cooked a lot… but I didn’t cook. There wasn’t much need to because we lived within spitting distance of more authentic ethnic dining establishments than I could shake a stick at. We were spoiled rotten. And all of the ethnic grocery stores in LA made it just as easy to get some of the homestyle goodies to take home and heat up. Very nice.

sushi rice

special nori from japan, courtesy of joyce

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