I am a big fan of homemade potato salad. The store-bought kind is usually drenched in mayo with a bunch of preservatives. When you make this simple salad at home, you get to control the taste and the quality of ingredients you put inside.

Among homemade potato salads, the one made by my father-in-law, Jim, is my favorite. I try to talk him into making it every time we get to see each other. I finally asked him for the recipe for a friend’s gathering a while ago and have been making it many times ever since to go with my sandwiches and veggie burgers.

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Pregnancy craving is a strange beast. At least for me, it’s not as predictable as midnight pickles and ice cream. For example, last weekend, the first time in a long time we had some toasty weather around here, I didn’t crave a slice of cool watermelon, a veggie burger on my sunny backyard, or an icy popsicle. Instead, I wanted something oily, crispy, salty, sweet, and cute (yes, cute, I told you that pregnancy craving is strange). So on my 80 degree-day, I stood in my kitchen and fried up these little corn fritters.

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Everybody needs a stuffed mushroom recipe. Especially during the summer when we are invited to endless barbecues and birthday parties. Stuffed mushrooms are the quintessential potluck food. Think about it, how many delicious treats come in a bite-size package?

I used to make stuffed mushrooms the traditional way, with chopped mushrooms and breadcrumbs. But lately I’ve been pretty enamored with this recipe, which stuffs the mushrooms with a blend of cheeses and flavorful seasonings.

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I’ve been away for a very long time. I think you deserve an explanation, so I am just going to come out and say it. I am pregnant! Fifteen weeks to be exact. Like many pregnant women, I spent the first couple of months nauseous and tired. The worst part was that I couldn’t cook. The most benign food smell (sauteed onions, roasted vegetables) sent me straight to the bathroom in our Beijing apartment.

But I am all better now. The nausea has abated. I am back to the comforts of my own kitchen. I am still not cooking as much as I used to, and there are quite a few dietary restrictions for a pregnant lady, but I am slowly getting back into things and today we will start with something easy and comforting.

This is not a Beijing dish, but it’s something I’ve had quite a bit growing up. It’s a recipe from the Shanghai region, where my father grew up. Like most southern dishes, this one strikes a balance between salty and sweet by braising ingredients in soy sauce, sugar and a tad of vinegar. Similar flavorings can be seen in many other dishes from vegetables to meats and seafood.

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In the United States, potatoes are usually served as a starchy side dish in place of rice or bread. Think mashed potatoes, baked potatoes and hash brown. They are the perfect foods to soak up the juices of any main dish.

In China, potatoes are eaten more like a vegetable either in a stir-fry or in a stew. Growing up, my grandmother used to saute thin slices of fatty pork with potatoes and red chile. That would  be the only dish I needed to gulf down a couple bowl of rice. So delicious.

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Scrambled eggs are the simplest pleasure. Fluffy and creamy, there’s nothing like them. Unfortunately, I have had many failed scrambled eggs. Be it at roadside diners or swanky restaurants, scrambled eggs are usually dry and tough like pieces of rubber.

At first I thought something as simple as scrambled eggs don’t deserve a blog post. But it took me a while to figure out how to make them the right way. I hope you will be able to benefit from some of my experiences and make the most delicious scrambled eggs you can.

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Spring is not a very pretty season in Bejing. The temperature is still chilly—between 35 to 45 degrees F. The mornings are foggy. But the worst part is the gusty winds, which bring all kinds of dust and debris in the air. There are no green leaves on the branches or wild flowers on the hills. I was getting pretty tired of this weather when I stumbled upon the first sign of spring on my morning walk. I found a variety of great spring produce at the farmer’s market around the corner—strawberries, peas, radishes, and my favorite, fava beans. 

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We are in Beijing! Sorry for not posting in the last week.  It took us a few days to get over the jet-lag and settle into our new place. We’ve done quite a bit since we got here–learned how to use the subway, found the nearest farmer’s market and discovered the nicest foot massage parlor in our neck of the woods. (Those of you who have been to China probably know that you can get massages for about one-fifth of the price in the U.S.!)

We live in a very cosmopolitan part of town, where diplomats from the city’s many embassies reside. We have a Starbucks around the corner, a French bakery across the street, an Irish pub down the block. Our 2-story apartment is pretty big by city standard. But the kitchen, like most Chinese kitchens, is smaller than what I am used to. Between the microwave, the stove and the sink, there’s not much counter space for chopping and washing. It required some acrobatic moves to get our first meal on the table last night. I got better when I made these noodles for lunch today.

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Growing up in a Chinese household, I was used to having vegetables in stir-frys. My mother would julienne meats, seafood and vegetables and saute them in a big wok. When I was in graduate school, my roommate introduced me to a steam basket. From then on, I”d steam everything from spinach to broccoli. 

It wasn’t until I had a kitchen that’s big enough for a full-size oven that I discovered roasting vegetables. I learned that the heat caramelizes vegetables and intensifies their flavor. I love roasting carrots and can literally live off of roasted butternut squash.

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