I think Polly and I came up with this idea back when I visited her family in Edinburgh last fall—to do a ramen tasting. Polly loves her some ramyeon (the Korean pronunciation of ramen, which is the Japanese pronunciation of la mien, Chinese soup noodles). Since it’s ESC, though, we had to try to makeContinue reading “Bonus ESC: Korean Night (Ramen/Ramyeon Edition)”
Category Archives: blackbird
ESC #50: Golden Jubilee
I can’t believe we’ve done 50 of these dinners! We started ESC in early fall 2023, so that means it’s been 2.5 years with an average of a dinner every 3 weeks. Pretty cool. To celebrate we decided to rent a house in the Russian River valley for the weekend, near Guerneville, and enjoy hangingContinue reading “ESC #50: Golden Jubilee”
ESC #49 and Truffle Hunting!
So one of the very first recipes in my To Try file (the OG version, in an actual filing cabinet on actual paper), was a French fish dish. Not terribly chef-y EXCEPT for the fact it called for fresh white summer truffles. Yeah…. So, it sat in the old To Try file, and then migratedContinue reading “ESC #49 and Truffle Hunting!”
Strawberry Matcha Latte
I’m not a matcha latte kinda girl. I don’t like bitter matcha at all (I’m a super-taster, so bitter tastes are really cranked up to 11 for me), so I tend to buy really expensive matcha when I do buy it—which means I’m not going to turn around and dump it into a latte…. ButContinue reading “Strawberry Matcha Latte”
Tiny Homes: One in a Greenhouse and One on a Tokyo Train Line
I have a thing for tiny homes, and I think it started way back when I was a kid and persuaded my dad to build my sister and me a “cottage” in our backyard: it wasn’t just insulated, it was 2 stories with a pigeon loft in the back and a porch on the front.Continue reading “Tiny Homes: One in a Greenhouse and One on a Tokyo Train Line”
How to Whisk Matcha and Pronounce Scottish Whisky Names Correctly!
A couple of useful tutorials for drink connoisseurs:
ESC #48: Valentine’s Day
Gotta do Italian for Valentine’s Day, of course.
ESC #47: Crawfish!
This one had a roughly Southern theme. Highlights were the Japanese fried chicken wings and the toasted pecan cake!
ESC #46: Birthday Edition
Featuring not one but two birthday cakes because that’s how your girl likes to roll. My sister popped into town over the weekend for a surprise visit, so naturally we had to bake something. That was cake #1, the Apple Rose Cake. On paper and in photos it looked great: pistachios, grated apples, olive oil,Continue reading “ESC #46: Birthday Edition”
ESC #45: Cabin Weekend Edition
My friends Tim & Gina graciously loaned me their cabin for a weekend again, and my friends Steph and Megan joined me for paddling, hiking, birdwatching, etc. We spotted some sandhill cranes, and I found some Alpine Waxy Cap mushrooms, which we didn’t eat because the squirrels had gotten to them first. No problem: IContinue reading “ESC #45: Cabin Weekend Edition”
The Rookery 