In Sacramento, it’s early springtime, as evidenced by the blooms and the explosion of seasonal pollen. It even hit 70 degrees the other day, though you wouldn’t guess with the 25 mph winds. The tree below overlooks our yard, and my mother-in-law dubbed it free hanami (flower viewing).
Writing | In Progress
Lately my creative energy has been occupied with co-curating a charity food zine to combat the most recent surge of hate crimes against AAPIs. If you or anyone else you know would be interested in contributing writing or art (or both!), kindly share our submission call:
Calling all self-identified Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for visual and written submissions for a new charity zine to benefit San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center, which is operating the Feed + Fuel Chinatown initiative to support Chinatown restaurants and SRO residents. Lunchbox Moments Zine seeks your nonfiction stories (up to 700 words) and visual art about a time when you were othered by someone because of your cultural foods. More info at https://lunchboxmoments.com.
Kitchen Kernels
I’ve made these muffins several times over the course of the last year, though not yet in the calendar year 2021. The photo is a little bit of false advertising because this was a test batch with ube halaya and hasn't been completely foolproof tested. In any case, the original recipe below will still fulfill your butter-ish mochi craving.
Vegan and Gluten Free “Butter” Mochi Muffins
adapted from Snixy Kitchen
Yields 6 standard sized muffins or 12 mini muffins
WET
-1 oz (about 2 tablespoons) melted coconut oil, cooled
-6.75 oz coconut milk (about 1/2 of a 13.5 oz can - make sure to shake the can well first)
-1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 1/2 tablespoons water) OR 1 egg if not vegan
-3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1/2 teaspoon molasses
DRY
-160g mochiko (about 1 cup sweet rice flour - Koda Farms)
-100g brown sugar (about 1/2 cup)
-1 teaspoon baking powder
-1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
GARNISH:
-3/4 tablespoon toasted regular sesame
-3/4 tablespoon black sesame
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray down muffin tin with pan spray. Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl. Add dry ingredients, and whisk. Fill muffin tins to the rims, then sprinkle tops with the sesame seeds.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 20-25 (for the minis) or 40-45 minutes if the regular sized muffins - note that these times are not exact and depend on your oven. You can poke a toothpick to see if it comes out clean at 20 minutes. It’s okay if there’s a crumb or two sticking to the toothpick. Visually, the cake will have risen in the oven but will collapse a bit once it cools down. Texturally, the center should be set but will feel a bit gummier than a cake with gluten.
Remove from oven and cool in the muffin tins for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from tins and cool down on a rack.
Kitty Kernels
Nezu is a perpetual “Monday mood” cat. In spite of her grumpy faces at times, she is a gentle and lovable cat - just not nearly as affectionate as her brother. Maybe she’s a little salty because she’s more than aware how all the humans fawn over the dogs that show up in massive Zoom group calls. When will even the moody cats get some love?
PS: she is also actually a cat, not a lawyer.
How to Actually Survive…
Attending (hopefully some of these)
Beyond Headlines: Protecting Asian Americans During Violent Times | Thursday, March 6 @ 2pm PST: Again, regarding the recent hate crimes against AAPIs, a panel on Asian and Black solidarity and improving community public safety.
Shared Soul: A Culinary Journey With Michael Twitty | Wednesday, March 3 and 10 @ 4pm PST: Late to share, but two more sessions if you’re interested in having “a richer appreciation of the culinary contributions of Africa and her Diaspora and a fuller understanding of American food.”
Celebrating Indigenous Women Chefs | select Tuesdays @ 10am PST (recording available after the live): A new webinar series with live cooking demos celebrating the culinary expertise of Indigenous women chefs.
Running + Wellness
Animal Run: Not too late to sign up for this year’s *virtual* event! Benefitting Happily Ever Esther's Farm Sanctuary. PS: Check out Esther The Wonder Pig’s TED story here.
Meditations with Healing Without Hierarchy | Weekdays @ 9:15-9:30am : Donation-based meditations on IG Live!
Reading
What if Instead of Calling People Out, We Called Them In? | The New York Times: I read this some time ago, but an interesting take on cancel culture and an alternative.