My Favorite Pot

lovingly used since 1996

Elizabeth of Gracefruit found a heavy cast iron pot she fell in love with and asked her readers to photograph their favorite pots and describe why they like them.

I have a few.

I like my easy going teflon frying pan that is lightweight and really easy to clean. I wish I had a 5 quart sautee pan like that. The one that I can cook anything in, though, is my Le Creuset large stock pot. My husband and I asked for Le Creuset when we were getting married. We got pots, pans and a teapot all in FLAME. Love it. It boils water faster and it cooks everything evenly. The biggest problem I have with the darn stuff is that it is heavier than a three year old and when you are trying to maneuver the thing around and your thumb gets caught in the handle while your turning it...well, it feels like it would be too easy to break my digits.

The other drag about the cast iron is that you can not leave the pots or pans soaking in the sink. They will leave a rust stain. Best thing to do is fill it on the stove and leave it there overnight to soak.

pot of water getting ready to boil and accept my bag of edamame
notice the teapot behind the pan


So what is your favorite pot?

Zucchini Muffins A La Nina

I was very constructive yesterday, which is a real feat for me on Saturdays in general, but yesterday, I made some creamy formulations for Product Body and also cooked in my kitchen with my daughter, Nina. I decided to make zucchini muffins, because A) I love zucchini bread and B) it gets actual vegetables into my family, fat and sugar and all.

I took a recipe from Smitten Kitchen to use as a base and created my own recipe from it.

They ended up r e a l l y good.

It Might Make You Fat

Tartlette's Raspberry Dreams...



Tartlette is one of my favorite foodie blogs. Helen, who makes everything and takes these amazing photographs, generously granted me permission to share her images with you. Please go visit her site to see what she's up to and tell her I say hi. Fair warning: it might make you fat.

International Green Sugar Delights

creamy korichio drink

Green Tea-ramizu (P95), a Kozui spin on the traditional Italian dessert

Click The City- (TOKYO) Everything at the cafe is made with green tea. I'd love to try that!

The Scent Of Green Bananas Blog has Tortoro matcha green tea cupcakes with pistachio cream frosting (GUAM) There are recipes on how to make them there.


Matcha Green Tea Cupcake

Food Lover's Journey blog has green tea cupcakes (AUSTRALIA)



Green tea baozi

Found this at Life Of Guangzhou -The inside is filled with a sweet taro pudding and the outside provides a wonderful clean green tea flavor

I watched a show last night with a famous chef traveling through Hong Kong and even though I had just eaten dinner, I got famished for delicious foodie delights! Yum.

Ginger Ale Pork Chops - Steps For A Great Dinner

I made this great dinner last night in hopes my family would start eating regular food again. I have been so bad. I make pasta with melted cheese for the kids, and make a hamburger or chicken cutlets and salad sometimes....nothing with flair these days. I went into my favorite cook book and went to town.



First, the ingredient list:

• 4 loin pork chops (1 inch thick)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 TB unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup ginger ale
• 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger
• 1/4 cup slivered crystallized ginger (I got this in the bulk section of my supermarket where they sell nuts and dried banana slices by the pound)
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (I left these out because I don't like walnuts)
• 1/4 cup golden raisins (I used regular raisins due to convenience)
• 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Sprinkle pork chops with ground ginger.
2. Melt butter in large skillet and brown chops over medium heat, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer chops to oven safe baking dish.
3. Add ginger ale, fresh ginger and crystallized ginger to the skillet and cook over high heat for 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour this over the chops, transfer to the oven and bake 30 minutes.
5. Then, sprinkle with walnuts (not applicable for me) and raisins and bake an additional 15 minutes.
6. Transfer the chops to a serving platter and keep warm. Add the cream to the baking pan and place over high heat. Cook, scraping up the brown bits until sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, 2 minutes. Pour sauce over chops and serve immediately.

Yields 4 portions.

crystallized ginger before cutting

ingredients, chopped ginger, crystallized ginger, ginger ale in Pyrex and raisins

sprinkled pork chops with ground ginger sautéing in my Le Creuset

sauce before reducing to a thick sweet sauce

Final Ginger Ale Pork Chops with reduction sauce and served with steamed edamame.

It was dynamite!! My whole family devoured it. I should have made much bigger chops, but I didn't think the family would like it. I am constantly eating my creations for days because no one else will touch them.

It's funny. Before I was a mother, I made gourmet meals almost everyday. But now, I am cooking challenged. What is that?