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Recipe: mu shu pork

It’s actually mu as in mu shu pork. When I was a kid, I ordered this at Chinese restaurants and my parents would exclaim, “Why do you order this? We make it at home much better!” They were right, but I loved the pancakes. I was also the one who ordered chicken strips at the seafood restaurant. My, how times have changed. I now refuse to order any Chinese dish that I can make at home. I usually go for those plates that make a fantastic mess to prepare… better their kitchen than mine.

Mom’s homemade mu shu pork (and yes, she always used pork – no chicken, no beef, no tofu, no shrimp versions) included homemade pancakes – the mu shu shells. We called them bing and I have no idea if that is the proper Mandarin word or just some nickname my parents made up. I learned that one of the terms of affection they had for me translates into “stinky egg” and not “dearest daughter” as I had assumed, so you will forgive me if I am cautious about littering the page with what I *think* is accurate Mandarin terminology.

lazy chinese girl solution: buy mu shu shells

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Welcome to 2008 everyone! Gong Xi Fa Tsai! I hope folks were able to start the new year off properly and in good spirits. I was pleased as punch this morning despite the 4F reading in the parking lot (that’s -15.5C for those living metric). I can take the frigid temps though, because everyone knows that women who tele are hot. ;) My arm is nearly normal and it didn’t bother me at all!

a little warm up

What I love about skiing our local hill is that I can be home in 15 minutes. That’s great for days like New Year’s Day when there are certain foods I have to make… Actually, it’s Chinese New Year that gets me all panicked about preparing the right foods to eat for luck, health, fortune, this, that, and the other. My grandma and mom have scared it into me! But I tend to do a watered-down version during the western new year, because they scared *that* into me as well. I suppose they figure if you hit the traditions on both of the new years, then you’ve got all of the bases covered, right?

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Recipe: grilled lobster

Remember the surf we had for Thanksgiving dinner yesterday?

it stirs the memories and some salivation

Tonight we continued the debauchery with a little bit o’ turf. I wanted to serve it with potatoes and sweet potatoes. I think it was a very good idea to postpone the beef until tonight otherwise I may have wound up in food coma or worse.

nice and standard tenderloin

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