I was looking over some Chinese recipes the other day… not to cook from them but in evaluating the ebook they were in. It got me thinking about how much my own cooking is derived from Chinese methods.

One of my favorite things to cook is a big stir-fry with brown rice:

I put on the brown rice, using about 1 cup of rice and 2 1/4 cups of water. I cook it on a very low temperature for about 35 or 40 minutes and then without opening the lid and letting the steam out, I turn it off and let it sit for  another 10  to 20 minutes. Actually, that method of letting it continue to cook is something I learned in France. It saves energy and makes it less likely your rice will be stuck to the bottom of the pan. I also sometimes put a small dollop of olive oil in the pot to help avoid sticking. (Any leftover rice finds many uses.) Read the rest >>>

Yesterday, I wandered over to my husband Kelly’s bookshelf in search of something to read. I came away with Climate Change in Prehistory: The End of the Reign of Chaos by William J. Burroughs. In the pages I have read so far, Read the rest >>>