Hold the phone, is this seriously a post for tacos? Are you trying to tell me there’s some grand secret for browning some ground beef in a skillet, adding some spices and then piling it into a crunchy store-bought shell with lettuce, cheese and salsa? Look closer, my friend. That there taco isn’t a standard issue Taco Bell remake. So what gives? It's a pre-Taco Tuesday Taste-Off.
After spending a long winter in the deep freeze, it’s about time to dust off the ol’ Zoku popsicle maker. If like me, you’re not quite ready to go blending up those beautiful strawberries for a taste of spring, there is another flavor that can put you in mind of sunshine and take you right out to the desert. Dates. And in this case, we’re talkin’ about a Banana Date Shake Zoku pop.
I’m half Japanese, so tofu has been part of my diet from the get-go. But it was walled off in savory recipes – stir fries, doused with shoyu and green onions, bobbing around in miso soup. Never in sweets. Never. When tofu ice creams came on the scene, I wrinkled my nose. I could eat dairy no problem, why would I eat tofu ice cream? Fast forward to this past November, when I went in for a blood test and came out with slightly elevated cholesterol levels. I wasn’t in the danger zone, but it sure gets you thinking about what you’re eating, especially when you thought you were doing pretty well. It’s gotten me to consider things I never would have before, like this lemon pudding with coconut oat crumble.
Vacation is usually a chance to get away from it all and let someone else do the cooking. But on Kaua’i, the Garden Isle, that’s only half true for me. If I've only got a week, I want to soak up the sunshine, slurp down some saimin and savor the sweetness of pineapple, papaya and mango.
None of that requires a kitchen, but once you’ve been to one of the farmers markets on the island, you’ll want one. For our last two escapes to sunshine, we’ve stayed in a little vacation cottage steps away from the beach with a little deck and a hammock slung between two palms. And a kitchen.