the pantry

My pantry has become increasingly cluttered over the last few years. The new year was a good time to reorganize and figure out just what is...

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

A few weeks ago I was asked by Gaea if I'd be interested in reviewing some of their products. I am by no means an olive oil expert but I thought,...

Citron/Yuzu Spread

Whenever I go to Trader Joe's, I rarely walk out of there without buying at least half a dozen things that weren't on my shopping list. This...

The Chinese Pantry Part I: What You Need to Cook Your Food

Before we get into the recipes, let’s do an introduction to the Chinese pantry. What is a well stocked Chinese pantry? At first, all the ingredients...

Dried Shrimp

In Chinese, dried shrimp are called xia mi, which literally means shrimp rice, because small shrimp are sun dried resulting in even tinier pieces...

Almond Extract

Almond extract is made with the oil of bitter almonds. Bitter almonds, unlike their more common sweet almond counterparts, are very bitter...