I once heard from a skittles commercial “good things come to those who wait.” Being that I am quite impatient, waiting more than 15 mins for a meal, or anything for that matter, is almost unbearable to me.

A few times, I’ve complained when Mc D’s takes more than 5 mins to give me my order, after all it is fast food right? Then there was that time a big boned lady over 50 was taking forever trying on clothes at Forever 21 (which, like the name implies, is mainly for girls in their 20’s, and yes now I have no business being in their either) and I had to nicely say to her, “maybe you should try Lane Bryant,” after her third outfit change and my lunch almost coming up twice. And finally, there was the time I dated my husband for close to 4 years, and he had still not proposed. (Actually now that I think about it, 4 years is a long time! I don’t think I was being impatient there, most girls would’ve peaced out in 2 years in my opinion).

Anyways, the point is that yes I am extremely impatient, but there are a few things I have learned are worth the wait. One of those things are my husband of course =) (which he ended up proposing to me at the end of the 4th year together, which is such a cute story but I’ll save it for another time). And the second thing is, waiting for my bananas to be overly ripe so that I can make Banana Bread.

In order to make the best banana bread, you really do need to wait a while so that your bananas are almost all brown and soft. It may look gross, and you would never eat a banana that looked like that, but trust me those nasty ass bananas make the BEST banana bread. I have tried using bananas that had a few brown spots on them before, and I’ve always been disappointed by the lack of banana taste, especially after spending 2 hours in the kitchen.

So anyways, I bought 6 bananas a week ago, just for this occasion, and I have been patiently waiting for them to turn brown. And today they were finally ready, and I was finally able to make my banana bread. I’ve tried many different recipes before, and even had a few catastrophes in between, but I have finally perfected my banana bread recipe.

This banana bread is moist, flavorful, and so delicious that I was even able to convert my hubby, who hates bananas, into being a being a banana bread lover. I’ve also baked this a few times for his work potlucks, and his coworkers are always asking for the recipe.

So here it is my Banana Bread recipe:

Ingredients:

I got too excited and forget to take a picture, before cutting a slice for myself!

Dry Ingredients

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Wet Ingredients

• ½ cup butter
• 1 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 3/4 cups mashed overly ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Lightly grease a 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan
3. In a big bowl combine the dry ingredients together
4. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients together by first creaming together the butter and sugar, then adding the bananas, eggs, bananas, and vanilla extract until well mixed
5. Pour in the wet ingredients, into the dry ingredients, and mix until most of the flour is mixed in with the wet ingredients (be careful not to over mix because that will cause your bread to become dry and dense. It is ok if there is still some flour not mixed in completely)
6. Pour mixture into the loaf pan and bake for 60-65 mins, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserting in the middle.
7. Let bread cool for about 10 mins, then cut and enjoy!

I was never really a big fan of salmon. I always thought it had the fishiest smell of all the cooked fishes. But for some reason, salmon is always on the menu whenever you go to high end restaurants. Maybe because its easy to make, and its relatively cheap.

Anyways I went to House of Prime Rib a while back (my husband’s and my favorite restaurant of all time. My husband likes it for the prime rib, and I love it for the house beet salad that comes with every meal). We brought my parents with us because they had never been there before, and we wanted them to experience fine dining at its best.

My mom has been a vegetarian for as long as I can remember. She says she started when my older sister, by a year, was having trouble in elementary school. She was not doing too well, and my mom got worried that she would be left behind. Anyways, my mom vowed to the Buddhist Gods that she would never eat meat again, if my sister could just make it through the school year. So my sister passed the second grade by the skin of her teeth (is that the correct phrase? I think I saw that on Wheel of Fortune once), and my poor mom never ate red meat again. (In my opinion, it wouldn’t have been a bad thing if they kept my sister another year. Then maybe the poor girl wouldn’t lose all her money playing 21, because she counts with her fingers and toes. She loses a lot of money in the winter, when she can’t wear open toed shoes)

Anyways, being that the place is called House of Prime Rib, the only other dish they have on the menu is salmon. I’m not sure how it was cooked, but it was delicious! There was no fishy smell or taste whatsoever. The salmon was soft, tasty, and moist. From that day on, I started to eat salmon. But the first few times I made it, the salmon was dry and lacked taste. I’ve been toying with a few different recipes, and finally found one I am proud of.

One good thing about making salmon is that it is fast, easy, and there is no clean up. You just marinade it on a piece of foil, put the fish in the oven wrapped in the foil, and throw away the foil when done. It’s so easy, not to mention cheap and nutritious! I’ve made this a few times for potlucks, and it is always one of the first dishes to go.

So here it is, my Rosemary Lemon and Garlic Salmon Recipe!

Ingredients:

• 1lb fresh salmon

Salmon with a side of zucchini and squash

Marinade:

• 2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary (or 2 teaspoons dried Rosemary)
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• juice from half a small lemon
• zest from a half a lemon
• one teaspoon salt
• one teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon olive oil

Directions:

1. Rinse the salmon under cold water, and pat dry with towel.
2. Combine all the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl.
3. Rub the marinade all over the meaty part of the salmon, cut some lemon slices to place on top of the salmon, and let sit for at least 15 mins .
4. Wrap the salmon in foil so that the salmon is enclosed in the foil loosely.
5. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 12 mins, or until the salmon is no longer pink in the thickest part.

It’s been raining for weeks now in San Francisco, and this weather can really bring you down. It’s times like this that you want to just curl up on the couch with a good book, a soft blanket, and some comfort food.

Being Chinese, my comfort food of choice is of course, PORRIDGE. My mom always made porridge for me as a kid. When I was sick, I got porridge. When I was feeling down, I got porridge. When I flunked gym class, I got porridge. Making me porridge was like my Mom’s way of saying, everything will be ok. Porridge can cleanse your system, it’s easy to eat and digest, and it is nutritious too!

So if your boyfriend just dumped you for that whore he calls his secretary, or you got fired from work for making copies of your butt afterhours, or you just caught a glimpse of what’s left of your retirement funds, then make yourself some porridge and you’ll feel better.

I added some green onions for presentation...

So here it is, my mom’s porridge recipe:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup rice
• 3-4 cups water (may use chicken/beef/veggie broth)
• 2 pieces boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut to thin slices (you may also use beef or pork)
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 dash white pepper (according to your taste)
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. First wash the rice, like you normally would before cooking it. If you don’t normally wash rice, don’t worry – it’s simple. You just put it into a big bowl (a medium-sized pot will do), then use water to rinse it 3 times. Rub it with your hands, and drain out most of the water.
2. Then leave it in a bowl soaking in 1 cup of water with 1 teaspoon of oil, and 1 teaspoon of salt. (I usually let this sit for at least an hour, because it helps the rice cook faster, but if you are in a hurry, then by all means, go at it.)
3. Marinate the cut up meat with the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, white pepper, and oyster sauce.
4. Boil 3 cups of water on the stove, and add in the meat and the rice once the water is boiling. Once boiling, turn to medium, and leave the lid ajar so it doesn’t boil over. (I find the easiest clean up method is to use a non stick pot that only fills up at most halfway with all the ingredients inside)
5. Stir contents occasionally to make sure everything is uniform in the pot. If your porridge looks to thick for your liking, then just add some boiling water to the pot. When the porridge is consistent and you can no longer make out the individual rice grains, then the porridge is done (usually about an hour at medium heat).
6. You may serve plain, with green onions, white pepper, Chinese donut, or anything else you may find that meshes well with rice.

This is a very basic and simple recipe. Once you have mastered the simple porridge, you can start adding more things to your porridge like preserved eggs, mushrooms, and whatever else you fancy. I find that you can’t go wrong with this recipe. (Well, except this one time my Granny used the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving to make porridge, and let’s just say it did not comfort me).

Enjoy!

_Stella_

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup crushed saltine crackers
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 cup chopped green onion with tops
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Combine cracker crumbs and melted butter.   Put crumbs in the muffin cups, make sure to put nonstick cooking spryin. Saute onion for 10 minutes in 2 tablespoons butter.  Divided evenly on top of cracker crumbs.  Beat eggs; add milk, salt, pepper, and Swiss cheese. Pour by spoonfuls on top of onions in tins. Do not fill to top.  Bake until set, about 15 to 20 minutes, do not over bake.