Pickles and Tea Blog

Last week, as I tenderly  bundled my baby up–all 300-some pages of it–and pushed it gently into a USPS Priority Mail envelope, I was overcome by a mix of emotions.  I felt like weeping with both joy and sadness: joy and relief that these pages, my final edits, marked the end of a long and arduous process; and sadness and longing because I was almost at the end of this amazing journey of discovery, learning and sharing.

It’s not the end, however. Far from it, in fact. I hope to grow this blog into a forum for us to share family recipes, ask questions, give each other tips, and keep traditional Asian recipes alive.  Another bit of good news is that I’ll have more time to post stories as well as devote to other projects.

I admit, my blog posts have slowed down to an embarrassing trickle 🙁 and I do apologize. My blog isn’t the only project that has languished while I’ve been working on my cookboook manuscript. It’s been an amazing opportunity but I haven’t been able to pitch and write many stories either.

On the other hand, word spread about my project and I was interviewed for a few articles including this Pacific Northwest Magazine article last fall, Eating the Asian Way, by Matthew Amster-Burton. We discussed oxtails (yum!) and how the traditional Asian diet may be the answer to a sustainable yet omnivorous lifestyle. Matthew also gives his adaptation of nikujaga, a dish that will be featured in The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook.

Jennifer Bagalawis-Simes and I also chatted about sustainable seafood and the Asian American community for her story “Sustainable Seafood Consumption: Will Asian Americans take the bait? ” published in the latest issue of  Hyphen Magazine. Hyphen is a hip Asian American publication that explores culture, the arts and politics amidst the modern multicultural world we live in.

Pick up Issue 16 of Hyphen magazine at your local newsstand or subscribe on their web site: hyphenmagazine.com

And last but not least, find out more about cooking whole fish in my NPR Kitchen Window story entitled  Taking on the Whole Fish.   There’s a tasty Korean roasted fish recipe on the Web site as well.

Date stuffed trout

I hope you’ll enjoy reading some of these stories and I’ll be back with more soon.

As grandma always says, please share !