Author: ajeanneinthekitchen

Hello Everyone. I’m back. We arrived home yesterday morning. We had a good time and the diving was great. I will be back into my normal routine again soon. First, I am still doing laundry, and house cleaning and going through all my pictures. I am about half way done. We came home and hit the ground running. We are already hosting as big party for our friend Bryan on Sunday, so I am getting prepped for that too. 🙂

Our Barbados dive team. We dived with everyone all week. We all left on Saturday too. Thank you Roger and Shanikah (on the ends) for all the great diving. 🙂

We are off once again. This time we are Barbados bound, for of course, more diving. we are leaving tonight and will be gone, and off the grid for about 10 days. So, be good, or at least have fun, while I’m away. I’ll see you soon. 🙂

This is us diving in Cabo, our last dive adventure, in January.

The lakes are pretty quiet these days. There were no birds, or ducks or geese, which is very unusual. But I did see some dragonflies. There was even a caterpillar that someone found. He let me take pictures of his find too.

This is on its way to becoming a beautiful butterfly.

Often times the little things are better than the big things. You have to look harder to see them, which makes you appreciate them even more. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Sago, known as sabudana in India, is a starch that derives from the pith of sago palm trees, has been used by people for thousands of years. The root is cleaned and crushed to release milk, which is then rested, drained, and shaped into small globules. The globules are then roasted, dried, or polished to achieve their milky white color. Sago holds cultural significance in many communities where it is cultivated, serving as a symbol of abundance and hospitality. In some cultures, sago plays a role in traditional ceremonies and celebrations, further highlighting its importance beyond the realm of cuisine. It is very similar to tapioca. Tapioca is a starch that comes from the South American cassava plant.

Sago soup is a Cantonese dessert made of tapioca pearls (sago) and coconut milk and can include toppings such as mango or taro. I had peaches, so I made it with peaches instead. Besides, I like peaches better than I like mangoes. 🙂

Noah and I were going to make this as well, but since our cooking classes ended, and I already had everything, I made it instead.

Peach Sago

6 cups water

1/3 cup tapioca pearls

1 can coconut milk

3 TBSP honey

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

3 peaches, peeled and diced

whipped cream

1/4 cup toasted coconut

Bring the water to a rapid boil, then add the tapioca or sago pearls. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Drain and run under cold water to separate the pearls.

Combine the coconut milk, honey, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Mix in the tapioca.

Peel and dice the peaches and fold in about 2/3 with the tapioca mixture.

Divide the mixture into 6-8 small glasses or ramekins equally.

Top with whipped cream, the remainder of the peaches, and some toasted coconut. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

This cool refreshing dessert is a perfect treat for a hot summer’s day. It’s just sweet enough, to tickle your taste buds without being too sweet.

Noah missed out. I think he would have loved this sweet treat. I know you will too. If you don’t like peaches, try it with something else. Be creative. Play with your food. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Summer is turning into fall, and that means we will be seeing fewer and fewer flowers from now on. But, there are still some bright, beautiful flowers around, so I appreciate them while I still can.

Color your world beautiful, today and everyday.

I thought I had one last cooking session with Noah, but apparently, I made a mistake, and my last session with him was last week, not yesterday. But I had already purchased everything and had it all ready, so I still made everything that he and were going to make, and it was dinner for Larry and I.

One of the things I made to go with the sushi was some pork and vegetable wontons with a spicy dipping sauce. I also made a quick tomato and cucumber salad. Janet and Bob had quite a banner crop this year and gave me a ton of tomatoes. I traded some wontons for my tomatoes. This is just half of what they gave me. I gave the other half to Lauren and Mike, but I digress.

Back to the wontons.

Pork Wontons with Spicy Dipping Sauce

We had some pulled pork in the freezer that I used, then added some shredded Napa cabbage, red bell pepper, jalapeno, ginger, garlic, black garlic and ginger oil, pickled onions and cilantro. I didn’t measure anything. I just diced everything into small pieces and added small bits of each and mixed it all up as my filling for my wontons.

As usual, I have quite a bit left over, so I am sure I will turn it into something else that is equally delicious at some point. Into the freezer it goes until I decide what else to make . 🙂

I added about 1 tsp of filling to each wonton wrapper. Before folding them, I coated the edges with some water to help seal the wonton wrappers, and then pinched them together. I may have filled them a little too full, so some of them didn’t want to stay sealed. 🙂

Once I had enough made, I put them in the fridge before deep frying them.

Spicy Dipping Sauce

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1-2 TBSP black garlic and ginger oil, optional

1 tsp crunchy garlic shilies in sauce

1 TBSP chili crisp or sambal sauce,chopped fine

Mix everything together well and set aside until ready to use.

As usual, we dined on our beloved deck, surrounded by the nature in our own backyard. 🙂

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I hear today is International Dog Day. In our house, everyday is a dog day, and of course cat day too. We love our fur babies. Let’s hear it for the dogs, and the cats.

Dorrie and Juneau napping on the couch.

They’re on guard.

And honorable mention for Otis and Nicodemus (Nicky) too.

Today is my last cooking class with Noah. He and his family are moving. It will be a bittersweet day. We will certainly have fun, like we always do, but it will be a little sad too.

I asked Noah what he wanted to make today, and he said sushi. I know how to make sushi, but why make it when I can buy it for less and it will be better. So I told Noah I would buy us some sushi and we would prepare some other things to go with it. Deal. He said he likes salmon sushi. I will eat anything, but one of my favorites is ahi tuna. I got something both of us will enjoy.

The first thing to realise is that “sushi” doesn’t mean “raw fish”. It actually refers to a dish of vinegared rice served with various fillings and toppings, which may include raw fish. Sushi was originally invented as a means of preservation, when fermented rice was used to store fish for anything up to a year. This was known as narezushi, and in fact the rice was thrown away and only the fish consumed. A later variant called namanarezushi, invented in the 16th century, introduced the idea of using vinegared rice, which was consumed instead of being thrown away, and this is still enjoyed today, particularly in Japan’s ancient capital, Kyoto. Find out more from sushi veteran Masayoshi Kazato.

Sushi is said to have originated in China between the 5th and the 3rd centuries BC, as a means of preserving fish in salt. Narezushi, the original form of sushi, has been made in South East Asia for centuries, and nowadays, there are still traces of it in some parts. Narezushi appeared in Japan in the 8th century, and still survives today in the form of foods such as carp sushi.

Sushi was introduced to the west during the early 1900’s, and was reintroduced after WWII. Today, sushi is popular all over the world. It comes in many different varieties and is always evolving and changing, like so so many different foods do. The type of sushi most popular, at least in the western world, is nigiri-zushi, a type of sushi most known today, in which seafood is placed on hand-pressed vinegared rice, invented in 1824. It was the fast food of the Edo period. Originally, sushi was fermented fish with rice preserved in salt, and this was a staple dish in Japan for a thousand years until the Edo Period (1603 to 1868) when contemporary sushi was developed. The word “sushi” means “it’s sour,” which reflects back to sushi’s origins of being preserved in salt.

Sushi is made with just about any type of fish, as well as vegetables, eel, and sometimes chicken. It is very versatile. The sushi chefs use ONLY A grade fish, and traditionally it takes years to master the art of sushi making.

Sushi, no matter how it is made is always beautifully presented. It always looks like edible art. All of these look amazing! They almost look too pretty to eat. ALMOST! I would enjoy any and all of these at anytime.

So even though we are not making our sushi, we will be making some other delicious things to accompany our sushi.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

This year has been a banner year for all kinds of dragonflies and other winged creatures. I can’t recall another time where I have seen so many. Most of the time they are flying so fast, it is hard to catch them. But every now and then they slow down long enough for me to get a few good shots. I was zoomed to the max for these shots, as they were pretty far away. But they still came out fairly well.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

We took a little trip down to Castle Rock yesterday to celebrate my friend Neil’s birthday. Castle Rock is only about an hour south of us. Neil had his party at a cute little place called The Hideaway Bar & Grill, located at 600 Jerry Street, Castle Rock, CO.

The Hideaway is a cute little place featuring burgers, sandwiches and fish & chips. I had a burger and Larry ordered fish & chips. Both were very good.

They have a nice outside patio, but the party was inside, in the music room.

I LOVE all things guitar, so of course I took pictures of the 2 guitars hanging on the wall.

There were also a lot of old, retro video games all around too and some billiard tables in another room. The Hideaway is all about having fun and enjoying yourself with friends, and that we did too.

AND it is Bronco territory as well.

But we weren’t there for any of that. We were there to celebrate Neil. Neil and I go way back to our high school years. Both of us are from Pasadena, California, now living in the opposite ends of the Denver Metro area, here in Colorado.

Neil and his wife Tamura.

The birthday boy was thoroughly enjoying himself.

Here he is holding up the present I gave him, a Jeanne original. I asked him what kind of birds he liked and he said his favorite birds were the Herons. So I captured one for him.

But I think this is the gift he really wanted. We all did. Maybe next year. 🙂

I was the one behind the camera, where I much prefer to be, so unfortunately no pictures of the two of us together this time.

Happy Birthday Neil. Hope you have a fabulous birthday. Welcome to the club. We are officially old now, though still very young at heart. 🙂