Domestic Goddess

MizBaggins is enjoying a tour of the exotic isles of Hawaii. Here is Mis Baggins enjoying my friend's hawaiian hospitality at her house in Maui. MizBaggins enjoyed a lau-lau platter. The bundle at the top of the platter is called lau lau. It is salted butterfish, pork, chicken and beef wrapped in taro leaves and steamed. The outer wrapper that you see in the picture is made of ti leaves. The three little piles in front of the lau lau are three different types of poke (pronounced po-kay). In hawaiian, poke means "small piece" or "cut into small pieces." The poke on the left is ahi (tuna); the poke in the middle is tako kim chee(octopus with kim chee); and the poke on the right is shrimp. Poke is served raw (although the kim chee "cooks" the tako and the shrimp) and is considered a delicacy. It is usually served as a "pupu" or appetizer at parties. Famous hawaiian chef, Sam Choy, calls poke "hawaiian soul food." MizBaggins is now on her way to the damp and cloudy skies of England.

Chris, I am so glad that this blog is still open. Like the others, we would like to thank you for such a wonderful, informative not to mention jaw-dropping blog. You have set a high standard for the next blogs and we can only strive to capture the color, clarity and composition of your pics. Thank you so much and please don't forget to mail those luscious PB&J candies to Korea.

Kim, you're on this week! Don't worry, there's a lot of us who look forward to seeing you blog. Especially after the great meals that you've been posting in the monstrous Dinner thread. I can't wait for this blog to develop. And like I said, don't wory, after half a dozen posts, you'll get a hang of it.

Sssssh! You might scare him Kerry. Then we won't get to see them covered. Oh Chris, can I PM my addy to you? You can send a batch over as soon as you're done dipping them. They are absolutely gorgeous nekkid or otherwise.

Chris, I just love this pic of you (with your BLT dinner)... You have this "I-can't-wait-to-get-a-bite" look. Adorable!

Ok, ok, I've added the link to my blog to my signature. I was going to use it for only my family and friends and then realized that others might want to read it (for the recipes and such). Now back to your regular Peter Green programming.

Goodness! I've been away for a several of days and what fabulous meals you're having Peter! Boar meat? Horse sashimi? Crispy crickets and bees? (Unfortunately, one stung me when it FLEW into my face several days ago triggering a nasty asthma attack). I'm glad I've got my revenge through you. I didn't know they had Bung-oe-pang (goldfish bread) there in Japan. That's interesting. And I had an aha! moment when you mentioned that you bought mangoes for Scud (which I had the gut feeling where dried persimmons - expensive stuff, aren't they?). Well, I do hope you're not losing steam as I am wanting more. Oh, BTW, I've succumbed to the dark side... writing a blog that is. I finally have one called a Box of Jalapenos.

They got low-cal instant ramen/noodle cups here advertised as "well-being food) (korean-english for health food). I'll try to post some pics of them.

Chris! Master of great food photography! I am truly digging this blog. The sandwiches, the funny Herwig place, action shots of you and your kitchen. Pork, bacon and chocolates... you're a man after my own heart.

A small plate of tiny Mul Mandu (korean pork and chive dumplings cooked in boiling water).

Aha! I see you Peter and boy Scud (though he may be a head taller than me) on that samurai sword pic. I keep chuckling at your incorrigible humor. Reading your writing is like eating a box of mixed nuts... sometimes you come across a nut that makes you giggle.

A cup of rice sprinkled with korean furikake and tuna flakes.

From one expat to another, thank you and I do hope you blog again soon to show us the Peking Duck.

Beautiful as always, rachel. Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing and please send the leftovers to me. :biggin:

And to think I thought you were wrapping up this travelogue for its end. But you're not... so whoopee! I can't wait to do my own travelogue in a couple of months when I go visit Manila and our son Jai for a couple of weeks. I'll show y'all what real Filipino food looks like.

Kim Shook - that deviled egg plate is so lovely. I can't help but look at it again and again. Where did you get it?

Peter, Rona - yes, it was a blip with my ISP. Now all the pics are showing up. Sorry for the interruption. Please do go on eating, picturing and posting.

These are not my food neuroses but my hubby's: *Insisting his pasta be cooked tender, almost mushy. *Ditto with carrots, it has to be so soft it practically disentegrates when the fork touches it. *ABSOLUTELY NO seafood whatsoever (he is not allergic, just refuses to eat them... this after marrying a girl who lived by the sea and comes from a long line of family of fishermen). *Eats a lot of food cold-straight-from-the-fridge (fried chicken, pork chops, pizza, spaghetti sauce sandwiches, etc.) *Hates mayo, ketchup and absolutely LOATHES mustard. (I love mustard). But our marriage has survived inspite of all of this.

Peter, why are some of your pictures not showing up?

Heidi, it was suppose to be a rose. I had a tiny scrap of dough that I rolled out and fashioned it into a rose. I suppose it could be a cute piggy tail given the nature of whats inside the pie. I love my tiny convection oven, it is so portable. Of course, my only complaint is it is tiny and I can't bake trays of food/cookies like my mom did in her regular oven.

LOL I would never have thought of it as one of Nanny Ogg's indecent delights. PS. Not to hijack this thread but I am willing to mail the latest Terry Pratchett movie (The Colour of Magic) to any eGulleeter who is also a TP fan. It came out last Easter.

Chris - you take the most amazing food pictures!

Horse is only eaten in the Philippines after tired old racehorses are "set out to pasture" after failing to win so many games. Of course, the meat is tough as leather jerky.

Chris - beautiful pasta and peas. I just wanna reach into my computer screen and twirl a fork around those lustrous noodles. For dinner tonight, I decided to make Pork Pot Pie... My friend always said, the way to a man's heart is through PORK.

Hiroyuki - I never thought about using the shredded daikon for miso soup. I always try to eat all of them and reluctantly throw out what I can no longer eat. Thanks for the tip!