Last week Mr. N took us to Indiana for our mid-week stateside adventure. This week it was Miss A’s turn and she went for a more exotic destination – Hawaii! 
She’s been quite fascinated with the state after learning that mom, dad and Mr. N were there before she was born and that we’re trying to plan for a trip there again next year (fingers crossed!). The first choices for our dinner were obvious – a Tropical Fruit Salad and the nonalcoholic version of the Lava Flow. Mr. N and I indulged quite frequently in this delicious little drink on our last trip to the Big Island, and he was very excited to try them at home. As for our main course, after a little digging through internet recipes we decided to try the Manapua. Coincidentally the manapua recipe was brought to the Hawaiian Islands by the Chinese – so it’s a good fit for our international theme this week too. Continue reading
Category: Stateside Cuisine
Back Home Again in Indiana
We had such a great time cooking a Californian meal last week, that we thought we’d continue our tour of the states and make it our mid-week meal plan. Tonight Mr. N is taking us to Indiana. While we’ve never really called Indiana home, most of my dad’s family hails from the Hoosier state. So on tonight’s menu – The Hoosier Pork Tenderloin Sandwich. (So much for not deep-frying again anytime soon!)
We began the meal with a little hammering. It seems we don’t own a meat mallet, so we used the next best thing – a hammer wrapped with plastic wrap. While mom and dad were a little embarrassed to post the pictures of our “meat mallet”, Mr. N and Miss A sure thought it was fun to use Dad’s hammer on food! First we butterflied the pork loin chops, then we beat them until they were about a quarter-inch thick. Meanwhile we were heating the olive oil in a skillet. Once the oil was ready we dipped the pork into milk and then into the breading mixture of flour, corn meal, salt and pepper. Continue reading
California Dreaming on a Winter’s Day
Earlier this week Dad left for a conference in sunny California. It’s the first time in quite sometime that we’ve been apart – and the kiddos sure are missing him. And while I’m enjoying hogging an entire bed, I miss him too. So tonight we decided to break with protocol a bit and cook-up a weeknight meal straight out of California. The recipe idea was given to us by a good friend Beth – a great cook and former New Englander, turned Californian (even though she’s now mostly in FL). Beth threw out a few meal options and the kids liked the idea of Breakfast Burritos. Thanks Beth! So here’s to you Dad. We hope you’re enjoying CA and can’t wait to see you! Continue reading
Eat, Play, Love 