Miso-glazed dishes are called Dengaku in Japanese. This classic Japanese side dish, Nasu(eggplant) Dengaku is very popular especially this time of year since eggplant is seen as a tasty autumn delicacy in Japan. The juicy eggplant and rich miso flavor really go well with each other!

You've probably tried matcha at least once - as matcha latte, matcha ice cream, but how about in it's pure form as hot tea? It's really not that difficult to make tasty matcha tea at home!

I love the peanut butter so much that I decided to make a healthier version, as tasty as the normal one.
I love the natural flavors of the food without oils, sugar and added dressing and this simple recipe was a discovery for me.
Peanuts, like all the trail mix, have their own natural oil and it doesn't need to add anything to get a creamy and delicious result :)
And if that's not enough, the greediest palates can always add a little maple syrup and a pinch of salt... et voilà, a creamy appetite to everybody!

My Fave Memory! For holidays, my mom always makes dill dip to put out with cut up veggies like carrots, celery and broccoli. I was never a fan of broccoli then, but dipping the florets for a generous helping of the dip endeared them to me because I thought they looked like trees with snow on top. It was one of the only ways I would voluntarily eat broccoli!

Fave Memory. Snow Ice Cream! My granny lived with us when I was growing up in Ohio and we would have snow days, she'd say go get me some snow and I'll make ice cream. So I'd fill up a big bowl and she'd whip it up. I'm not exactly sure what was in it- maybe vanilla, milk, perhaps an egg, chocolate sauce on top. It was cheap and good and I remember if fondly. Hoping for a snowy winter here in Portland this year!

FAVE MEMORY: For as long as i can remember my mom has made this absolute classic for every family celebration we have - it would not be a party if there wasn't a pavlova!! She has offered to make other things - she makes a mean trifle and is an excellent baker - but my sister and I insist on the pavlova, and our kids love it too now. It's completely delicious, surprisingly simple to make and looks really impressive on the table. Crisp meringue, with a gooey centre, lashings of cream and a mountain of fresh fruit - it's an absolute stunner. It has to be the Delia Smith recipe as mom swears by it and even the book itself holds so many memories for me.

Fave Memory
For years, my family made graham cracker holiday houses. It started when my 3rd child was born. By the time there were 5 kids, it turned into a big party. Cousins and friends all came bringing extra candy to decorate the houses. Children and adults all had a great time making the houses. When my oldest kids were in college, it got hard to get everyone together. The event stopped. Now with grandchildren, it is time to create new graham cracker holiday house memories!

Fave Memory Design Challenge: When I think back to childhood days at the beach I can almost taste the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches mixed with a bit of salty sea and a lot of wind blown sand. My dad would sit in his beach chair on the shore while my brother and I splashed in the waves for hours and hours. We joked that he was guarding our lunch, packed by mom, which almost always consisted of PB&J and orange juice in a thermos. We added the sand ourselves.

#Fave Memory

BBQ is always my favorite. It's not just a kind of food, but also a life style, when you are quite relaxed outside with friends and family, cooking and eating delicious BBQ with laughs.That is the best thing in the life.

In my memory, summer BBQ party is like the food symphony. All kinds of food with different taste together play a lovely symphony.

the barbecue is a matter of five senses: you listen to the meat on the fire and you can't bear seeing it. When you watch the meat turn from red to gray, that scene can scratch your heart and go straight into your chest. When you smell it, you can't help to reach out your hand to the fire and grab the grilled string. Baked, sprinkled, and served on the table, and the sound of rustling. At this moment, you are eager to have a bottle of ice beer, the wine is poured into the glass, and the foamy snow rushes out. Before the taste is gone, the sense of smell, hearing and vision are telling you how wonderful this thing is.

In the human gene, there is a deep love for barbecue. Therefore, eating barbecue, that is what our ancestors had, the most primitive instinct of human beings!

BBQ is always my favorite. It's not just a kind of food, but also a life style, when you are quite relaxed outside with friends and family, cooking and eating delicious BBQ with laughs.That is the best thing in the life.

In my memory, summer BBQ party is like the food symphony. All kinds of food with different taste together play a lovely symphony.

the barbecue is a matter of five senses: you listen to the meat on the fire and you can't bear seeing it. When you watch the meat turn from red to gray, that scene can scratch your heart and go straight into your chest. When you smell it, you can't help to reach out your hand to the fire and grab the grilled string. Baked, sprinkled, and served on the table, and the sound of rustling. At this moment, you are eager to have a bottle of ice beer, the wine is poured into the glass, and the foamy snow rushes out. Before the taste is gone, the sense of smell, hearing and vision are telling you how wonderful this thing is.

In the human gene, there is a deep love for barbecue. Therefore, eating barbecue, that is what our ancestors had, the most primitive instinct of human beings!

Fave Memory: My Dad – an excellent cook – did most of the cooking in our house, and this was a favourite hearty lunch or dinner with some nice crusty bread and cheese. He rarely followed a recipe, though – just went by instinct and experience. We lost him earlier this year and I still can't believe I can't just call him up and confirm the ingredients or instructions – so this is to the best of our recollection. He loved everything to do with the sea and I can't think of another dish that reminds me more of my Dad.

Fave Memory: Sundays were never complete without pancakes growing up in my house. These lazy mornings would start off with careful measuring of ingredients and usually end with batter covering my mom’s normally immaculate kitchen countertops. The end result was always worth it though: sweet, sticky, syrup-covered pancakes. But the best of the best Sundays were the ones after my mom and I would go blueberry picking. Fresh blueberries in fluffy, golden pancakes were (and still are) the best way to wake up on a Sunday.

When I was home sick as a kid, I usually spent the day at my grandparents. I have fond memories of my grandma serving Campbell’s tomato soup, and grilled cheese—Velveta and white bread of course😝—and The Price Is Right (Bob Barker thank you) on tv mid-morning. Tomato soup and grilled cheese remains one of my favorite comfort foods, but I prefer homemade soup and gourmet cheese and bread these days!

Fave Memory : One of my favorite memories of food as a kid was spending Saturday afternoons around the kitchen table with my mom, my sisters and my brother making wontons. There is some skill to wrapping wontons perfectly the way my mom did and we all attempted but it we never quite matched it. What we loved was being creative with the wrapping - making egg roll shaped wontons, special delivery envelope wontons and anything else we could think of. The best part was when my mom would take a batch and make wonton soup as we finished up wrapping. I still gather around the kitchen table with my sisters to wrap wontons with my nieces and nephews wrapping wontons in creative ways.

Here's one of the ways we enjoyed our first trip to Tokyo: food and lots of it. What an amazing experience! Can't wait to go again.