Weeks 27 and 28, I'm not so late!

I am actually getting this post up relatively on time! Not that that means I'm caught up with work. I don't think I will ever be caught up, but at least I feel like I can breathe a little bit now.

But my mind is so preoccupied that I missed several days this week and honestly, can't even remember if I ate some days, although I know I did. It's all just a blur. But the photos that I do remember to take will be a nice reminder of what I managed to do when I tore myself away from the computer. (Although you will see that at least 4 of these photos were taken while I was working at the computer, and there were many more meals in front of the screen this week.)

183: Made it into the city to watch some Euro cup and have a ridiculously huge plate of nachos. I was supposed to go back to work afterwards, but that didn't happen.
186a: Completely missed Monday and Tuesday as I was being paid back for taking a little break on Sunday. Luckily, having Wednesday off helped me catch up, both on work and photos. Had a protein-rich breakfast and followed that with a run, yoga, and then a swim!
186b: Big salad post-workout and the computer
186c: Plum chutney and chicken, sort of in the Independence Day spirit with the color combo.
187: Leftovers and a fantastic brew called Winterwit from Almanac
188: Friday lunch in front of the computer. A banh mi sandwich from my neighborhood Pho Garden and some boba tea.
190a: Somehow missed Saturday. I actually took a leave from the home and office and went up to Sonoma for the day. Such a welcome distraction. Sunday, I dug into my plum cake from last week, which was luckily still edible.
190b: A pork and tofu stir fry, just like my mom would make
192a: Missed Monday. I think Mondays are pretty much spent eating in front of the computer these days. Breakfast of an egg white cheese omelette with salsa is pretty much what I have most mornings.
192b: Met up with some friends for dinner at some local Japanese place. I don't think cheesecake qualifies as Japanese, but it was still tasty
193: Sushi heaven
195: Another day missed. Friday evening in front of the computer again. The Signature salad with steak from Jeffrey's and onion rings. Plus a gallon of water afterwards from the major salt overload
196a: Working on Saturday. Pork belly banh mi and a Vietnamese iced tea. (Sorry Piglet!)
196b: Called it quits and went up to the city and tried out Canela. Really tasty tapas and sangria. I had a lot of sangria, it was fantastic!

Sunday cooking

So much for enjoying the last days of summer. Clouds rolled in today along with some rain. But I am never one to not have something to do. First, I hung out with my CASA child, and we made, or rather I made, these recycled magazine paper bowls. She did not find it that exciting, so she chatted while I rolled. It all worked out lovely.

Then lunch. I had an odd array of ingredients in my fridge: pork cutlets, ginger, green onion, and lotus root. I love the crunch and earthy flavor of lotus root. And they are so pretty!

I believe they come pre-boiled and pre-sliced at Asian supermarkets, but this time of year, you can actually buy them fresh. My mother found some for me, now I had to figure out what to do with it. A quick search online, and I found this pretty dish.

As I didn't have ground pork, I switched up the recipe a bit and this is what I came up with (I am horrible at writing up recipes, so I apologize for any poor instructions):

Panko-Crusted Miso and Ginger Pork Cutlets with Lotus Root

2 tbsp. corn starch
1 tsp. grated ginger
1 tsp. mirin
1 tsp. miso paste
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
6 boneless pork cutlets
1 tbsp. cooking oil

Peeled lotus root
8 dried shitake mushrooms, reconstituted and sliced
2 green onions, sliced
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. cooking oil

1/4 cup mushroom stock (from reconstituted mushrooms)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. white wine
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp mirin

Mix the first 4 ingredients. It will make a paste, which you will then use to coat each side of the pork cutlets. Just spread out a thin layer of the paste on each side, like butter on toast. Then dredge each cutlet in the panko. Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Place the cutlets and cook 2 minutes on each side. Set aside.

Fresh lotus root kind of looks like a potato and you peel it like a potato. Then you boil the whole thing for about 5 minutes. Once cooled, slice them thinly.

Take the lotus root, green onions and mushrooms, and toss with the cornstarch. In a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients. Add the oil to the saute pan, add the lotus mixture and the sauce. Stir until the mixture thickens. If it is very thick, you can add some additional mushroom stock. Let simmer 5 minutes.

Serve pork cutlets with the lotus mixture, garnish with sliced green onion.


I'm not a food photographer, so I apologize for my photos. But the dish is actually quite delicious! I ate 3 of the cutlets (they ARE thin!).

Now that I am fueled up, and it's not raining, I'm off to rake the leaves. There is a month's worth of leaves on the grass. I was hoping they would biodegrade on their own, but it's just not happening.