Labor Day we had to go for our “free” Hot Dogs at Riviera. Emma and Guillermo, A.J. Wyatt and Phoenix joined us for the buffet of Baked Beans, Coleslaw, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad and Chips and then A.J. took the boys swimming.

Dinner was an easy one of creamy Burrata, sliced Fresh Tomatoes (from Pennsylvania!) and Arugula with toasted garlic bread for dinner. We’d stopped to get tamales at our favorite tamale place in Homestead on the way home from the Keys on Monday, but alas, they were sold out. So, instead, we got Shredded Beef, fresh Corn Tortillas and salsa, which is what we ate for dinner Tuesday night. They weren’t tamales (my favorite!), but they were good. I served them with Spanish Rice and an Avocado Salad with corn and feta.

I used to belong to the Cookbook Book Club at Pinecrest Library, but it was suspended in the Pandemic, so lately they’ve been doing Virtual Events. This Thursday they had The Art of Charcuterie with Vegan author Ellen Kanner. While charcuterie is, by definition, meat, Kanner is vegan, so hers had different vegetables and a tahini dip. She also made a beautiful Foccacia, decorated with vegetables and a dessert board with S’ Mores and fruit. While I like the convenience of Virtual Events, nothing can replace in-person events. At our Cookbook Book Club we got to sample all the dishes the participants had made and talk about them. Hopefully, they will bring this fun group back into live events in the near future.

Friday I met friends at True Food Kitchen in the Falls for lunch. Since I’d already tried (and loved) the Turkey Burger, I got the seasonal soup (Butternut Squash) and the Edamame Dumplings. Both were delicious. My friends got a Chopped Salad with Shrimp and an Ancient Grain Bowl with sweet potatoes, avocado, charred onion with a pumpkin seed pesto. They both really enjoyed their dishes. The service was good and the place has a clean, fun vibe. When I return, I will definitely get the Edamame Dumplings again.

I was so excited to have my first Miami Spice of the season Friday night with friends I haven’t seen in a while at Michael’s Genuine. Alas, Foodie in Miami screwed up! Michael’s Genuine, newly remodeled and revamped, doesn’t offer Miami Spice on Fridays. Oh well- we still had a lovely night, with good conversation and food. Some of their signature dishes- Pig Ears anyone?- are still on the menu, but there are also new items. Prices, like everywhere else, have jumped, but that’s to be expected.

We ordered a bottle of Albarino wine, perfect for a hot night (and we were seated outside), which the waiter poured judiciously throughout our meal. I love when they do this, because the wine doesn’t get hot. Warm Sourdough Bread was ordered, with whipped butter and black salt, as well as Crispy Pigs Ears, which were thinly sliced and fried, for the table to share. They sound weird, but were good.

I got two appetizers- Prime Steak Tartare and Wood Roasted Octopus– for my meal. The tartare was chilled, came with an egg yolk on top and toasted bread on the side. The octopus was beautifully plated with cilantro sprigs and sliced radishes; while it wasn’t a big portion, it was delicious and perfectly cooked. We ended the night with a Sticky Toffee Pudding with Ice Cream we all shared (6 spoons please!), which was on the house because it took a while coming out. It was delicious, with refreshing, candied ginger topping the ice cream. Yum!

The next day, we went to our first U.M. game of the season. We got to go into the Black Parking Lot, that had a bunch of booths, a DJ, games to win prizes and free samples of food and drink. It was fun and then we went into an air-conditioned suite (thank the Lord) to watch U.M. beat Southern Miss. We met up with A.J. at halftime. She’d used our regular tickets to attend the game with Wyatt and Phoenix. We had to hurry home, because I had my Hy Vong pick-up at 5 p.m.

I drove over to the house where the pick-up was located, which is only a couple blocks from mine, and rang the doorbell. No answer. I called and texted the phone number. Still no answer. A van pulled up, with a woman in a headdress and a man carrying a small child. I assumed this to be the Afghan woman who is cooking with Tung and Kathy. Shortly after, the man emerged with a box filled with my order. The food came in paper boxes, which made it easy to heat up in the microwave, as per the instructions on the label. The sauces came on the side.

We started with the Papaya Salad. It was a huge portion, with jullienned green papayas, carrots, cilantro and peanuts. Next, the Barbeque Pork with Vermicelli Rice Noodles. It made me so happy to eat this! Besides being delicious, with complex flavors, it reminded me of eating at Hy Vong. Lastly, we sampled the Mantoo– Afghan Meat Dumplings. The meat in question was lamb and it came with garbanzo beans, a tomato sauce and fresh mint leaves. Very interesting and the dumpling skin was the most delicate I’ve ever tasted. We finished everything off but the salad, which I ate the next day for lunch. I will definitely order Hy Vong pick-up again. Zeke was already asking when the next pick-up date would be.

On Sunday, I had my Mom over for a Belated Birthday Dinner. She was in Steamboat Springs, Colorado for her actual (undisclosed) birthday. I set the table with my wedding china and the flatware setting of Newport Scroll my Mom has gifted me over the years. I got flowers at Trader Joes- daisies because that’s what my mom carried in her wedding bouquet- and put out a framed photo of her as a toddler in cowboy boots. Our first course was lobster-topped deviled eggs. We’d had them at a restaurant in Maui (it was their signature dish) and since I had two lobster tails in the freezer, I thought- why not? Surf-N-Turf Dinner.

Zeke helped me broil the lobster, which I chopped up and chilled. I made my Mom’s Deviled Egg recipe, topped them with lobster chunks and sprinkled them with Old Bay. An easy, yet impressive, appetizer. Since the U.S. Open Men’s Final Tennis Tournament was on, we went into the Family Room to watch it, bringing the Deviled Eggs with us. Zeke grilled the New York Strip Steaks (a tad too much) and I assembled the first course- a Romaine Salad with grapefruit wedges, avocado slices, feta cheese and a Dijon Viniagrette. It was a recipe from a catering company in L.A. and is one of their signature dishes. It was very good- a summery salad with delicious creamy avocado, refreshing grapefruit, some salty feta and. a punch of Dijon.

Dinner was New York Strip Steaks with Ina’s Coffee Rub, Baked Potatoes with butter, chives and sour cream and Cheesy Stuffed Mushrooms. For dessert I served Lemon Delice, a pound cake frosted with Lemon Buttercream, and Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream. It was the perfect combo!

You’ve made this before.

My Mom said about the cake.

Yes, I had, more than thirty years ago for another Birthday Dinner for her. It’s a dessert that looks pretty, isn’t too sweet but is easy to put together because you use a store-bought pound cake. My Mother loved her Birthday Dinner. I think cooking for someone is an act of love and spending time with them, the best gift, for all involved. So Happy Birthday Mom! And many more…

Up Next: Lemon Delice

My gateway into Asian cuisine was like most of us, through Chinese food. When we think of Chinese food, it’s typically Cantonese or Szechuan. My family, growing up, didn’t dine out that much (there were 6 of us!) but when we did it was typically Black Angus (my Mom’s favorite), Italian (Sorrentos) or Chinese Food at Canton.

At Canton, I loved the round tables, crunchy noodles and endless cups of tea, which we drank with lots of sugar added. Egg rolls, Spareribs and Won Ton or Egg Drop soup to start and then onto covered plates of Honey Chicken, Beef with Broccoli, Almond Duck and maybe a Seafood Dish, served with hot white and Pork Fried Rice followed. The eating was communal, as we shared all the dishes and you could have a little of this, a little of that, which is my favorite way to eat. And then, to end, the hard-as-a-rock Fortune Cookies for dessert. Which, by the way, aren’t Chinese, but an American creation started in California.

In the 80’s I discovered Japanese Cuisine in the form of sushi, sake, tempura and miso soup. It was all the rage back then and my favorite was (and still is) the California Roll, which come to think of it, doesn’t sound Japanese at all. I did venture out to try sashimi, hand rolls, salmon, spicy tuna and even uni (sea urchin) eventually, which has a very unique taste and texture. Sushi is one food I crave on a regular basis.

Thai Food– with its fresh ingredients, unique tastes and five flavor profile- spicy, sweet, salty, bitter and umami- is one of my favorite Asian cuisines. I remember going to the Thai restaurant on US-1 (which is now Diced) which was run by Atchana’s family. Atchana was a friend of my sister Elise, so when we dined there, we would begin with crunchy, sticky and sweet Mee Krob, sent over to the table, complimentary if Atchana was there. Pad Thai would follow, possibly with Chicken Satay or a Curry Dish (red, yellow or green) and we would end with Hot Thai Donuts, served with sweetened condensed milk, also on the house.

Vietnamese Cuisine follows the same five flavor profiles as Thai and also uses fresh ingredients with aromatics like lemongrass, ginger, mint, Thai Chile and lime, as well as fresh herbs and vegetables. Fish sauce is more popular than soy and one of my favorite sandwiches- the Bahn Mi– originates from Vietnam. The first time I ate Vietnamese food was at the iconic Hy Vong restaurant on 8th street.

I went there with my Mom and sisters and I remember getting the Whole Fried Fish. On other visits I got the Pumpkin Soup, Spring Rolls (served with fresh mint, lettuce and a dipping sauce) and the Pork Rolling Cakes, possibly my favorite appetizer of all time. I recently read the story of Hy Vong’s creation in a book called Mangos and Peppercorns. It was fascinating and filled with recipes I want to try, but not the Pork Rolling Cakes- it’s way too complicated.

I tend to eat Asian food at restaurants, but, a couple weeks ago I decided to try some recipes at home. One was a Spicy Ramen Soup with Pork Meatballs, from Parade magazine. Although I don’t know anything about Korean cuisine, this recipe called for an ingredient- gochujang chile paste– which is Korean. I also needed baby bok choy, and fresh ramen noodles, so made a trek down to Kimchi Mart on 153rd Street.

While it calls itself an Asian Mart, this store is actually Korean. It’s clean and bright and I love looking at all the interesting products and vegetables you can’t find at Publix. The baby bok choy were adorable little things and the fresh ramen noodles tasted so much better than the dried ones you get in the package. The recipe for the Ramen Soup was a little complicated, but I made the Pork Meatballs one day and the rest of the soup the next. It was delicious (A.J. loved it!) and I made it last for days, by continuing to add chicken broth to it.

And the gochujang sauce, which I think is trending because I’ve heard about it lately, was a revelation. Like hot sauce, but darker, thicker, with an umami, sweet and spicy flavor. While I used it on the soup, it also would be great on scrambled eggs, vegetables, sandwiches- anyplace that you want a a bold heat and complexity. It has a thick texture which is derived from brown rice, and is typically served over Bibimbap, the yummy Korean rice bowl dish. Best of all, the Chung Jung One brand I bought can be found at Publix. This would also make an awesome and different Chicken Wing sauce! Move over Frank’s Hot Sauce.

The second dish I made, for Sticky Hawaiian Drumsticks, was less successful. It was a relatively easy recipe (also from Parade) with teriyaki sauce, ketchup, crushed pineapple, ginger and garlic which the drumsticks were brushed with and then grilled. I couldn’t bare to put in the whole cup of honey it called for, which might be why it didn’t turn out quite as “sticky” as promised. I served it with jasmine rice and stir fried bok choy, Japanese Eggplant and mushrooms. I concluded (and Zeke agreed) I’m not a big chicken drumstick fan. I would much rather eat chicken thighs and not deal with the tendons, lack of meat, etc… in drumsticks. But I do love teriyaki.

My Dad and I didn’t have much in in common, but we both loved teriyaki and I remember eating Teriyaki steak on our family trip to Hawaii. When we returned from Hawaii, I was so enamored of the islands, I ordered a How To Cook a Luau book, as well as How to Speak Hawaiian and the Mrs. Hawaii Cook Book. The first dish I ever remember making for my family growing up was the Walnut Chicken recipe from that cook book. I wrote next to it “O.K.”

Although Asian Fusion is a a popular concept now, it’s been a thing for a while in Hawaii, where cuisines from China, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Portugal, have been melded into a distinct blend of cuisine known as “local food”. At one point, twelve chefs came together to create a Hawaiian Cuisine style typified by local ingredients and a fusion of ethnic culinary influences.

I’m very excited to return to Hawaii this summer. Zeke and I went to Maui on our honeymoon 19 years ago, but this time we’re going to hit the other islands- Hawaii, Oahu and Kauai- as well. While this article only touched on some Asian cuisines, obviously there are a lot more out there to explore. I would love one day travel to Asia, try the local cuisine and even take a couple cooking classes.

But first… Hawaii.

Up Next: Foodie in Miami’s Favorite Asian Restaurants