Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. The recipe below is all that was written on both sides of my mother’s 3 x 5 card. When my siblings got together to combine all of the recipes we saved, one of my sisters had a different variation our mother uses of this iconic 1950’s American staple.
Note: I have not made this dish this way in years, so I do not have any pictures of it. Continue reading
Filed under Beef, Main Dishes
When I was leaving home as a youth, this is one of the first recipes I copied out of my mother’s card file. When Dad returned from Japan in the early ‘50s, he brought back a love of all things Japanese and several Japanese recipes. My mother was making chicken teriyaki when it was still an exotic foreign food in California.
Karl’s Chicken Teriyaki
(Claudia’s style)
Filed under Chicken, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. This is one of the dishes that Dad brought back from Japan in the ‘50s. When most American families were getting hamburgers and hotdogs, we were getting chicken teriyaki and rice once a week. When Jan and I were living in China I received great praise for my ability to eat with chopsticks. Because of dad’s love of things Japanese, I had been using chopsticks from the time I could hold them.
Karl’s Chicken Teriyaki
(Claudia’s style)
Filed under Chicken, Main Dishes, Sauces and Spices
While we lived in China—1988-1990—we would occasionally be invited to a family meal by our Chinese friends. One Chinese New Year, Mrs. Wong made us lion’s head meatballs—with her own family’s recipe. Lion’s head meatball is one of the good luck dishes of Chinese New Year’s. The big round meatball is meant to represents the lion guardian spirit that will protect you through the next year.
Karl’s Lion’s Head Meatballs with Baby Bok Choi
(Shanghai Meatballs)
Filed under Main Dishes, Pork
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. About twice a month, my mother would make tacos—in those days, that meant beef tacos. While I have very fond memories of these grease bombs, they were neither very healthy nor really Mexican cuisine. Continue reading
Filed under Beef, California Fusion, Main Dishes
Jan is making chocolate mousse to go with my 65th birthday dinner. For me Claudia’s Chocolate Mousse is the mousse by which all others are judged. It is however, not a health food. It has replaced cakes as the birthday treat in our house.
Jan’s Cinnamon Chocolate Mousse
Filed under California Fusion, Desserts & Treats, Treats
Jan’s family Christmas Eve traditional meal was Grandpa Von Hausen’s goulash. This was a Depression era dish of bacon, hamburger, onions, a whole bottle of ketchup, garlic, paprika, and cans of peas, kidney beans, and pork & beans. The idea was that this dish would sustain the family throughout the days of Christmas—without anyone needing to stop and cook.
Karl’s Depression Era Goulash
Filed under Beans, Beef, California Fusion, Holidays, Main Dishes, Stews
I posted the recipe for my mother Claudia’s French toast a while ago. For a few people it is a treat, but it is a bit finicky in that you have to soak the bread slices and then cook them two at a time. If you are having a crowd at the table, this leaves some people hungry while they wait for the next batch. My memory is that she made this when we had breakfast company.
Claudia’s French Toast Casserole
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Main Dishes
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. These were all written to fit on a 3×5 card and written simply to remind her about how to make the dish. As a result, they are often hard for anyone else to “unpack” the sometimes cryptic instructions. I am adapting this recipe for my Japanese feast this Sunday, so I thought to post it for reference. Continue reading
Filed under California Fusion, Rice, Side Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian
Before I left home for the first time, I sat down with my mother’s recipe box and wrote down my favorite dishes. These were all written to fit on a 3×5 card, written to remind her about how to make the dish. As a result, they are often hard for anyone else to “unpack” the sometimes cryptic instructions. Continue reading
Filed under bread, Breakfast, Desserts & Treats, Treats
karllueck
Miriam
Jabberwocky Stew 