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Recipe: chinese pork belly zong zi

I’m looking forward to going home. There are few if any trips that I’ve taken where I felt that I wasn’t ready to go home to be with my guy and my pup, in my familiar surrounds, getting back to my routine. A creature of habit. That’s me. When I booked my travel I was asked to identify this as business, personal, or both. I checked both. The primary reason was to shoot.

me and my gazillion new friends

With the forecast calling for snow (and lots of it), we packed our skis because there’s a ski resort in Yosemite. Little did we know that unlike ANY OTHER SKI RESORT IN THE WORLD, Badger Pass CLOSES when it gets snow. It has to do with plowing the roads and such, but I was simultaneously dismayed and astounded and then dismayed some more. The storms cleared just in time for us to drive back to the coast so Jeremy could catch a flight home while I spent an extra couple of days visiting with my grandma.

mandatory activity: the eating of the chinese food

Even though I used to live in Southern California, it still blows my mind that flowering trees are starting to bloom here in the San Francisco bay area… in February. February. I suppose that is why Grandma likes it here so much. That and all of the awesome Chinese food.

plum blossoms

Whenever I visit, I always drive Grandma to whatever stores she needs to go to. We get her (my) sewing machine in for maintenance, go to the fabric store so she can pick up materials for some projects, go to the Asian markets for groceries… Years ago, I purchased a package of bamboo leaves while visiting Grandma and flew home with them. They sat in my pantry for about three or four years. These are an essential component for making zong zi – Chinese rice dumplings (more like Chinese rice tamales). I *finally* got around to making these a few weeks ago and now that I know how to make them… I need more bamboo leaves – to make more! I have two bags of them packed in my luggage as I type.

fried shallots, dried shrimp, bamboo leaves, pearl rice (sticky rice)

bamboo leaves, rice, pork belly, mushrooms, fried shallots, dried shrimp

My grandma used to make zong zi from scratch when I was a little kid. Back in the day, these sorts of Chinese treats were hard to come by in southern Virginia, but if you had a Chinese grandma in your house, you were in luck! I have strong visual memories of the foods my grandmother made for us when I was growing up. It’s the only reason I knew which rice to buy (fortunately for me, their label hasn’t changed in over 30 years!). I have seen some recipes use other kinds of rice (long grain, short grain), but I like the texture of the pearl or sweet rice, as it is sometimes called.

slicing up the pork belly

soaking the rice

boiling the bamboo leaves

I checked my local Asian grocery store for bamboo leaves to give to a friend (who also wanted to make zong zi), but they only had frozen banana leaves. I’m glad I didn’t substitute because after cooking with the bamboo leaves, I think they are essential to the zong zi. The leaves impart a mellow tea flavor to the rice.

marinate the pork belly with soy sauce, shallots, cooking wine, sugar, and pepper

mix the shrimp and rice together

simmer the pork and mushrooms

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Recipe: pistachio crème brûlée

little love letter #1
I remember in the early days when we were backpacking the Olympics of Washington and it started to rain. You thought it would get better. You really believed it would because you grew up in New Mexico where it’s sunny almost every day. After 24 hours of non-stop rain I declared we were packing up and moving on, in the rain. We discovered that a journey can be magical, rain or shine or horizontal snow. And that is how we choose to live our life together to this day. Throughout the years there have been so many great moments along with a few very hard times. I’m glad that you are my eternal traveling companion – then and now, rain or shine, laughter or tears, but always love.

little love letter #2
There is no way for you to ever know how much you broke my heart the day you left. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss you. I often find myself chuckling over something silly that I know you’d appreciate or discovering a little knick knack you had given me: the little moon doggie, the office supply cube, a newspaper clipping. I still have your number in my address book, have all of your letters squirreled away someplace safe, hear your voice in my head. I don’t cry as much anymore, but it still catches me by surprise now and again. I think of the plans we had – to grow old together, to take care of Mom and Dad together, to watch your children grow up, to be best friends and sisters into old age. I still keep you in my heart.

little love letter #3
Can you tell how much I love you even though I don’t know how to say it? Some of my earliest memories include walking with you on a sunny afternoon around the neighborhood. I always felt safe and secure with you near. You were the calming presence. You never yelled, you were never mean, your eyes danced like sparkling stars when you smiled. You held my hand when I walked up the stairs as a toddler. Now, I offer you my arm or my hand when we walk together. I don’t understand everything you say to me and I’m pretty sure you don’t understand everything I say to you in my mangled Mandarin, but it doesn’t matter. Your eyes still dance when you smile and I know what you mean when you squeeze my hand.

littler love letters
Thank you for letting me be me. Thank you for getting who I am. Thank you for being you.

I honestly don’t think Moses said, “Word up, my people…” but I like the way you tell the story.

The way you think and the way you treat others challenge me to think differently, to do better, to be better. I love that about you.

We make a GREAT team. It’s a joy to work with you.

It meant so much to me that you were there when I needed you most, and I didn’t even have to ask.

Your stories make me laugh. Your curiosity helps me learn. Your enthusiasm is infectious.

Watching you raise your children makes me so proud to be your friend.

Of all the random paths we have taken in this world, I’m glad our two random paths have crossed and that you are a part of my life.

If I had a tail, I’d wag it whenever I am with you.

That good heart of yours makes this world a better place.

“I sure do love you.”

dinner: pan-seared, dry-aged beef tenderloin on polenta with chanterelles and port reduction

dessert: pistachio crème brûlée

I am a fan of love. I am not a fan of Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day isn’t love, it’s a gimmick. For me, love is a kiss and sweet words each morning. Love is that warm hug in the kitchen just because you’re there. Love is running through the house squeaking the dog toy – chasing one another and laughing hysterically. Love is poring over maps together to plan the next backpacking trip. Love is calling to the other to go outside and admire the moon one fine evening. Love is curling up under the covers and whispering plans to one another for the next day.

And in the House of Butter, love is also about making a great meal to enjoy and share.

easy: eggs, cream, sugar, pistachios

after removing the skins

sugar and pistachios

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Recipe: quinoa with sautéed mushrooms and kale

Planning my schedules is easy. Planning my schedules around other people’s schedules is where I start wanting to tear my hair out. Last week it got to the point of maximum chaos trying to coordinate several travel shoots. I even thought I was going to have to dig around for someone to come with me to Hawai’i! But just as things seemed impossible to nail down, I did manage to get it all settled in time for the weekend.

it was a snowy weekend

There is a lot going on around here and this past weekend was no exception. For example, there was PodCamp Boulder 3 – the Unconference. I attended PCB2 last year and it was tremendous. There is a lot of knowledge in this community – a lot of sharing, discussion, creativity, laughter, networking, and good people. I love that. I came away with some new friends and more ideas to mull over in my head.

levar and terry lead a session

bryan and jason discuss social development in children

And because Kathya was at PodCamp too, we ventured into downtown Boulder to try out a new eatery for lunch. I went on my friend Denise‘s recommendation. Pizzeria Locale had been open for just over a week and it sounded fabulous. I’ll be writing more about them soon.

the perfect arugula salad

Since last week was Chinese New Year, I kinda loaded the Chinese recipes (or Chinese-related posts) on you. We’re back to mixing things up here, which brings me to quinoa. Jeremy and I are quite fond of quinoa, but I haven’t cooked with it all that much. Mostly, we have had it in restaurants. I was reminded of how much I enjoy it when Danny whipped up some lovely quinoa with chanterelles, summer corn, and peppers for breakfast one morning when I was visiting with him, Shauna, and Lu.

dried quinoa (tiny!)

local oyster mushrooms

kale, oyster mushrooms, diced onion, cod filets

I purchase my organic quinoa in bulk from Whole Foods. There is also a red quinoa that I wanted to try, but the bin was EMPTY. I settled for white quinoa. I’ve heard people say that you can treat quinoa like you would rice. It’s lighter than rice and the texture is more springy. There is a nutty flavor to the quinoa which works beautifully with vegetables. I chose to cook it with some kale, onions, and mushrooms.

fluffy cooked quinoa

sautéed mushrooms

chopped kale

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