recipes

Apr 2015 11

How I Met My Dinner: Passover

2015 Articles, Alicia Lieu, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

I have been sporadically watching the new hit sitcom Fresh off the Boat which is about a Chinese American family with immigrant parents. It never fails to make me laugh and the latest episode introduced a Chinese boy who was adopted by Jewish parents. It really illustrated differences and similarities between two cultures in a gut-busting hilarious way. Fresh off the Boat is set in Orlando, but one of the wonderful things about living in New York City is the incredible diversity that you encounter every day.

Feb 2015 21

Blackberry Pie Murder & Double Fudge Brownie Murder By Joanne Fluke

2015 Articles, Food Fun, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sandra Murphy

by Sandra Murphy

Readers of the Hannah Swensen mystery series have been frustrated with the long running love triangle between Hannah, Norman and Mike. Norman is sweet, thoughtful and slightly boring. Mike is sexy but not as trustworthy. Two years ago, both of them proposed; Hannah hasn’t made up her mind.

Jan 2014 11

How I Met My Dinner: Progressive Chinese Dinners in NYC

2014 Articles, Alicia Lieu, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

This year I will have the good fortune of being with my family around Chinese New Year, which is celebrated for up to two weeks after the lunar New Year. Naturally, a whole lot of food is involved with this. Traditionally, the big New Year’s dinner has to happen on the eve of the New Year. I will miss this part with my family, but my mother will send me pictures of the family dinner, I’m sure. There will be plentiful dishes of dumplings, rice, noodles, meats, seafood, tofu, and vegetables, making sure to have food left over to signify abundance in the coming year. With a small circle of friends that represent family to me in New York, I have come up with a way to maximize the food, friends, and family.

Nov 2013 9

How I Met My Dinner: Thanksgiving According to Ex-Pats

2013 Articles, Alicia Lieu, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

With the holidays coming, I became increasingly nostalgic for Thanksgiving with my family. It is just not feasible to fly cross country for a few days, even if I can get the days off of work. Because I happen to be holding down a retail job, holidays are the busiest time of year and difficult to request off. Not to mention that airfare the week of Thanksgiving is noticeably higher than the rest of the year. At least in New York, however, I’m still in my home country.

Oct 2013 12

How I Met My Dinner: October Means Pumpkins!

2013 Articles, Alicia Lieu, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

Pumpkin has become synonymous with October. Besides being a term of endearment, pumpkin can morph into a pastry or a pie, sweet or savory entrees, a drink or a dessert. It seems like any eating establishment that wants to stay up to date is offering a pumpkin treat of some sort. Even my local Vietnamese sandwich shop is offering a seasonal Pumpkin Spice café au lait!

Jul 2013 13

The Diva Frosts a Cupcake: A Domestic Diva Mystery By Krista Davis: Review/Giveaway

2013 Articles, Cynthia Chow, Mysteryrat's Maze

by Cynthia Chow

It's cupcake wars for real during the Cupcakes and Pupcakes fundraiser to benefit animal shelters in Old Town, Virginia. The former business partners of Sugar Baby Cupcakes have disbanded, with Joy Bickford setting up her store, Sugar Mama, directly across from Renee Gatewood's bakery.

Mar 2013 16

Food, Tea, Cats & Kitchen Collectibles Mysteries For Your Reading Pleasure: Reviews/Giveaways

2013 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Sandra Murphy

by Sandra Murphy

This week we have yet another group of new fun mystery novels to share and to give away. We have reviews of A Fete Worse than Death by Claudia Bishop, Agony of the Leaves by Laura Childs, Assaulted Pretzel by Laura Bradford, Cat Trick by Sofie Kelly, Bowled Over by Victoria Hamilton, and Buried in a Bog by Sheila Connolly. These books include a lot of recipes, teas, cats, Amish and kitchen collectibles. Details on how to win a copy of all of these books at the end of this post.

Feb 2013 23

Cookers & Kibitzers: Celebrating The Chinese New Year With Food

2013 Articles, Food Fun, Irene Morse

by Irene Morse

Happy Year of the Snake. Be sure to decorate your doors with poems written on red paper scrolls, light your torches and set off fire crackers all night long to scare away the cruel and ferocious beast, Nian. The Cookers and Kibitzers didn’t go that far but we did celebrate Chinese New Year when we got together in February.

Feb 2013 16

Chinese New Year Food Traditions

2013 Articles, Alicia Lieu, Food Fun, How I Met My Dinner

by Alicia Lieu

Chinese New Year has a few different names. It is also known as Lunar new year, since many Asian cultures celebrate the new year according to the lunar calendar, and it is also called Spring Festival in China. It is not a single day and evening event like we celebrate according to the Gregorian calendar. Chinese New Year is a national holiday that mandates that Chinese citizens have seven days off.

Jan 2013 26

The Cookers & Kibtitzers: Reinventing Food We “Think” We Don’t Like

2013 Articles, Food Fun, Irene Morse

by Irene Morse

Our January menu was preposterous. Who cooks a meal based on food we don’t like? Well, the Cookers and Kibitzers decided that maybe food we didn’t like was the result of unimaginative preparation and not the food itself so we began compiling a list of food each of us didn’t like.