Ethnic food, a thank you, and a serious matter

First I will start with the serious matter. Following is an excerpt from a statement by Al Gore, which I received in an e-mail notification from www.algore.com:

"On March 21st, I will testify before Congress on the immediate action that needs to be taken to end the climate crisis. At the hearing, I will deliver the 294,374 messages you signed, demonstrating that hundreds of thousands of people share my sense of urgency.

"If an additional 55,626 people sign our message, it will be as though 350,000 of us are there at the hearing expressing our determination to convince Congress to act. Having served in the House and Senate, I can tell you that members of these committees would find this to be a meaningful and impressive show of support.

"There are only 5 days left before the hearings begin, so please do not pass up this opportunity to join in showing the broad public support we need in order to solve the climate crisis."

If you want to sign, just follow this link. I don't know how much it will help, but it certainly can't hurt, right?

On to the food:


Just a simple hummus wrap made with a simple hummus. I used my standard hummus ingredients (tahini, lemon juice, garlic, etc.) but this time I added about 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin for an extra kick. For the wrap, I found that I like using my vegetable peeler to cut long, broad shavings of carrot--it's better than dicing it up. I don't like big chunks of raw carrot.

Bob has a friend named Sean who is a Korean exchange student, whom Bob meets with on a regular basis as sort of an American "mentor." Recently Sean said he has really been missing Korean food--but he lives in the dorms and is on the meal plan and doesn't really have much opportunity to cook. So Bob invited him over for a somewhat Korean meal. I say somewhat, because Bob and I know zero about Korean cuisine. With the help of a fellow blogger who has had some recent success with Korean cooking, we came up with a few ideas. The problem when Sean came over last night, though, was that Bob and I had just gotten home from Atlanta on an errand, and we were pressed for time. So we made a couple of simple things. Sean will be here again on Sunday, and we'll pull together something a little more elaborate then.


We started with just a bowl of steamed rice and some nori strips. You just take the nori strip and pinch a bit of rice with it, almost like ad hoc sushi rolls.


This is kamja bokum, fried red pepper potatoes. Unfortunately we didn't have a red bell pepper, so in the interest of time we subbed a green one. But the spices included red pepper, soy sauce, and sesame seeds, and it came together really nicely and really quickly. Sean said that it was very similar to the way his mother makes it, which Bob and I gladly accepted as a compliment since we really had no idea what it should taste like. It was very tasty, and it's always rewarding to cook something new. The plan for Sunday's meal is really exciting, and it involves Napa cabbage. So stay tuned!

Today we had a double date lunch scheduled with two of our dearest friends. There is a restaurant in town called Thai of Athens, which we have been hoping to try for quite some time, so we met there for lunch.


Bob and I each ordered a green tea; that's mine that you see in the foreground, in the pretty pot. In the background are some fried chips, which we dipped in a hot mustard and a sweet sauce.


Vegan tofu soup came with our vegetarian entrées.


Bob ordered the House Thai with sueyu. It had a sweet, tangy sauce and was quite delicious, with broccoli and snow peas and water chestnuts.


I ordered the Green Curry with tofu. It consisted of green beans, peppers, and other veggies in a sauce of green curry paste and coconut milk. Very, very spicy, but delicious.

This is not ethnic food, but it's cool. Our blender has been nearing the end of its life ever since we got it, second-hand. It just doesn't have much power anymore, and occasionally it doesn't work at all. Well, Bob's grandmother took me completely by surprise with a late birthday gift of some cash, so I used it to replace our old blender with a Magic Bullet blender! We've been playing with it nonstop over the past several days--it's amazing how it just whips together a smoothie in no time. It makes a really great frozen coffee drink too.



Finally, my thank you. When I named my blog Eden in the Kitchen, I did not anticipate a representative of Eden Foods stumbling across it and contacting me. But that's what happened. She offered me a spare copy of one of her favorite cookbooks, The Splendid Grain by Rebecca Wood. I gladly accepted--and today it arrived, along with an array of Eden Organics goodies! So, thank you Sue of Eden Foods--your very kind gesture certainly made my day.


Dried wakame, apple-flavored dried cranberries, and three boxes of whole grain pasta: udon noodles, kamut elbows, and spelt ziti rigati. And not only the whole grains cookbook, but a copy of The New Soy Cookbook by Lorna Sass. Not to mention a booklet of recipes and coupons for Eden products. It certainly made my last day of spring break (not counting the weekend, of course) a good one.