snow days

the forecast predicted a weekend of snow...a few inches, a white weekend, yay!

the white weekend, turned into a white week as the snow kept coming.

we haven't been able to leave the neighborhood for a little over a week. we're not complaining though. except for briefly losing power twice and a day or so of no directv, we're doing just fine.

hooray for a stocked freezer and pantry!

shoyu chicken

shoyu is japanese for soy sauce.

growing up in hawaii, shoyu was right up there with ketchup when it came to our tabletop condiments. it was also a common cooking ingredient and my family had both a tabletop bottle and a gallon size bottle to serve each purpose.

i love shoyu. it's salty, it's tasty, it's probably the only reason i liked eating tofu as a child. (tofu, the perfect vehicle for shoyu!)

sadly, the geek does not love shoyu. in fact, he does not like it. he'll go for the miso ramen over the shoyu ramen because he 'really doesn't like that flavor.' when eating a piece sushi off my plate, he won't dip it in shoyu voluntarily.

so imagine my surprise when he hesitantly tried shoyu chicken for the first time and realized he really, really liked it. when shoyu is combined with mirin, brown sugar, garlic and ginger alchemy occurs and the result is a delicious flavor the geek loves.

it's now become one of his favorite meals!

the geek's favorite chili

the other day, i mistakenly opened a can of kidney beans. i mistook them for black beans as i foraged through our pantry. not wanting to waste them, i put them in the fridge and declared the next day a chili day.

for the geek, chili day is a great day. chili is one of his favorite meals and the leftovers taste great the next day.

simple chicken quesadillas

quesadillas make for a quick and easy meal. while these are in no way authentic, they are quite tasty and satisfying. this is more of a suggestion than an actual recipe, so use what you have on hand and enjoy!

serve these as appetizers or as a meal.

happy new year! happy birthday!

since the dog was adopted from an animal shelter, we don't know her actual birthday. the veterinarian lists it as january 1, 1996, so today we ring in the new year and celebrate her sweet 16!

it's hard to believe that this spunky dog is 16 years old. she still spins in circles when it's time to go for a walk and pounces after her toys like a jungle cat.

happy 2012 and happy birthday diggity dog!