mmm-yoso!!!

Summer is almost over-even in San Diego. Meals change.

mmm-yoso!!! is the food blog you are reading.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are still busy this weekend, so Cathy is continuing to blog.

Despite this crazy hot weather we've had the past few weeks, the clock tells me that days are getting shorter. Waking at 6 a.m. with darkness broken only by the light of the moon (if there is a moon) and the sun not peeking over the horizon for another half hour or so means the chill I am enjoying only for another hour now will be the norm in a few weeks. A look at the calendar reminds me that menus will be changing.  I thought I'd post about some meals and/or snacks enjoyed over some of the warm Summer days.

One June day when I was volunteering, I chose the Pesto Chicken box lunch, thinking it would merely be the least offensive choice. 
This was the most surprising, delicious flavor combination and sandwich I have had in a very long time.  Not only was the chicken a full grilled breast half, served with lettuce, tomato and a mild cheese along with the pesto, but a grilled red pepper completed the flavor points. I learned to roast peppers over an open flame at home, pop the peppers into a plastic bag to steam and easily peel off that skin and have peppers available in the fridge to satisfy cravings and use on sandwiches made at home.
Starbucks re-released their green coffee based beverages called Refreshers (originally San Diego was a test market in the Summer of 2010), the Cool Lime and Very Berry Hibiscus flavors are available in packets and cans or can be made for you in the store- fresh mint leaves compliment the lime and small berries are in the very berry flavor.  Neither has a hint of coffee flavor or bitterness, and neither is overly sweet...they are refreshing Refreshers, but I think they will again go off the menu when other seasonal beverages are back in the rotation.

Cold noodle plates, like this Hiyashi from Yakyudori Yakitori, will be leaving menus soon.  So simple, refreshing and filled with flavor.  I always wait to see the signage on the walls of Japanese restaurants announcing the return of cold noodles.  Must get one last meal of these in before they disappear.

These most creatively delightfully flavored, thick and crunchy Lays potato chips, made in Canada and given to me from caninecologne after her vacation there this past summer are but a mere memory and now on my list when I will be able to visit Canada later this year. 
This ingredient list shows you how creative the meld of flavors are to make the chips 'merely' ketchup flavor. Radish concentrate, dehydrated garlic, black current concentrate?  Who would've thought?

The small shave ice bowl at Big Joy Family Bakery is only purchased one time a year, even though it is available all the time.  The shaved ice is topped with a very good vanilla ice cream, sweetened condensed milk, small mochi and sweet bean powder, surrounded by fresh fruit (pineapple, strawberry, kiwi and banana) for less than $5 makes this an affordable treat.   

I hope everyone made it through this hot (but not not humid) weekend and Summer. Another week begins and Autumn will be here on Friday!

Using the BBQ grill day-"Mexican" Corn, Lettuce and Spatchcock Chicken

mmm-yoso!!!, the food blog is back today with Cathy blogging.  Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are researching subjects so they can blog again soon.

 Hello again.  With the crazy hot weather of late, The Mister and I have been cooking outdoors as much as we can, and keeping the inside of our home cool.  I thought I would share some easy recipes and a few techniques. 

Grilling corn in the husk is easy.  Put the whole ears on a medium heated grill. Turn the ears every five minutes, as the husk burns.  20 minutes total. 

Remove and let cool a minute and hold the 'tip' end.

Cut off the bottom/stalk.

Pul from the top and the silk comes off with the husk.

Clean, cooked corn! You can eat this as is, it's been steamed in the husk and if fresh, needs nothing added.

Or you can make Mexican corn, using cleaned corn with the above photographed ingredients: Mayonnaise or olive oil, Cotija grated cheese (it's like Parmesan- a hard cheese)(you can buy it whole and break it into small pieces) and Tajin seasoning(a chili pepper, salt, dehydrated lime juice mix). 

If you put 'cleaned' corn onto the medium heated grill, brush with a bit of olive oil first then roast it until it is lightly charred (I do this with 'older' corn) it cooks in about ten minutes.

Slather the ears of corn with mayonnaise...

You need the stickiness so you can coat liberally with the grated cheese and Tajin. This tastes like summer!

Now, back to the grill.

This is a new flavor point for me.  Grilled lettuce.  Cut a head of Romaine in half, brush with olive oil and sprinkle on salt and pepper (I have also done this with Italian seasoning and also salad dressing and both work, but I think each has almost too many spices for my palate).

Place the cut side onto a low to medium heated grill, maybe for a minute.

Turn over and place the other side on the grill(there will be some oil and salt/pepper on the grates because olive oil /salad dressing fell into the cracks; this side seems to be done very quickly).  A simple salad.

On to spatchcocking...

"Butterflying" is a cutting technique- you butterfly shrimp, whole fish and steaks- cutting part way down and laying the shrimp or piece of meat flat..if you do that same technique to fowl the technique is called 'spatchcock'. Basically, I cut down the back of the chicken and flatten it, pushing down and breaking the breastbone if necessary.  

This photo is a spatchcocked chicken that was placed onto an edged/jelly roll sheet pan and sprinkled with some seasoning and placed on the other/unheated side of our gas grill, using the grill like an oven. The chicken, and all fowl, cook faster using this cutting technique. This chicken was done in less than 30 minutes.

This 15 pound spatchcocked turkey was done in 90 minutes (at 325) this past Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone has a good weekend. You can grill stone fruit (nectarines, peaches, plums) and just about every vegetable, using direct or indirect heat.  Stay cool and eat well! 

The Living Room-Point Loma, after a San Diego 'vacation day' in the rain

mmm-yoso!!! has a post about food almost every day.  Kirk and ed(from Yuma) just can't post right now.  Cathy is able to post now. 

"May gray leads to June gloom" is a fairly common San Diego weather report.  We had a bit more than gray yesterday.

It was Tuesday and The Mister and I planned to take advantage of "Residents Free Tuesdays" at  the usually Admission Fee charging museums at Balboa Park.

 

As we got off the 163, it was really raining.

  

The gray clouds made the blooming flowers seem even brighter in color.  
 
The Koi at the Japanese Friendship Garden were especially friendly.
The other Museums open yesterday were the Museum of Man, Museum of Art, Art Institute and Mingei International Museum.
The Mingei has quite a few interesting shows going on right now. 
We had planned to have a light lunch at the Tea Pavilion at the Japanese Friendship Garden and making that a post.  However, there are only two inside tables and the rain was not letting up. We walked through the museums then drove toward Little Italy and somehow ended up in Point Loma and stopped here.

There are five locations of Living Room Cafe and Bistro.  This one is an entire repurposed Victorian house, on the West end of  Rosecrans.  There is seating inside (upstairs as well as downstairs) as well as on the front porch and side and back porches.  There is free wifi. Comfy couches, tables and chairs are everywhere and a simple menu:

Since it was so cold and wet and I had planned on tea, I ordered a teapot for two ($3.75)
Choosing organic green sencha, the loose tea was measured and put into two bags and brewed in the pot...(as a reference, the amount of water filled both of those giant cups almost three times)
Oh.  That "Pony" marker was to put on the table for identification when the order is brought out.
Soup, salad, fruit and bread($6.25). No photo of bread.  Nice salad, fresh fruit. (As further reference, the soup bowl is as large as the giant tea cups)
Excellent soup.  Three bean vegetarian.  Thick, hearty, wonderful flavored. Just right on this chilly day.

This was a great find for us.  Perfect on this rainy day.  I imagine it gets pretty crowded with all the seating available. There are pastries, breakfast items, cold and panini and wrapped sandwiches and apparently some pretty good coffee and cold beverages also.

Living Room Cafe and Bistro 1018 Rosecrans San Diego 92106 (619)222-6852 Open 6 am-midnight daily. Website

How To- Peel a pomegranate, Cook bacon, Make kale chips and a sweet-ish snack

mmm-yoso!!! is a blog about food.  This episode will be hosted by Cathy.  Because Kirk and ed(from Yuma) are not available to host.

Hi again.  The Mister and I eat and cook at home, we don't always go out.  I thought I would show you a few ways we work around the kitchen. 
The humble pomegranate.  In season now.  You can purchase for about a dollar everywhere.  It has a thick  shell-like skin, membranes inside, which host a maze of juicy, flavorful seeds, called arils. The fruit/its juice is said to be a powerful antioxidant. However, the juice directly from the fruit stains clothes, furniture and your hands. To prevent this from happening, 
get a large bowl or pot and fill it with water at least 3/4 of the way. So that you can put your hands in the water with the fruit and water won't overflow. Start to break the shell underwater(you can score it with a knife).  Break the fruit up, without disturbing the arils/seeds. Start to peel the membrane away from the seeds, keeping the fruit-and your hands-    
underwater the whole time.  The seeds fall to the bottom. The membrane floats. It's physics. Remove shell/skin and membranes, drain and you have perfect pomegranate seeds! You eat the arils raw this way or make juice and strain the seed pulp out.  Straining the fine seeds is much more work, and why you pay dearly for pomegranate juice items. 

 

Bacon seems to be difficult for some people to cook. Really, it is simple and not messy.  Line a cookie sheet-the kind with all sides raised- with a piece of foil and place pieces of raw bacon, not touching, on the foil. Bake in a 350° oven.  If the bacon is thick, turn it after 20 minutes and bake about ten minutes more.  If it is thin bacon, bake without turning for about 25 minutes.

You can see the bacon shrinks, but there is no spatter in the oven (or even onto the cookie sheet).  Easy cleanup.  (It is this foamy when you first take it out of the hot oven. Our parents told us that's how you know it is done cooking.) (These are the same pieces, which have been turned during cooking, in both photos)

The Farmer's Market Bag from Specialty Produce a few weeks ago was interesting.  That yellow thing in the second photo is a citron, commonly called a Buddha's Hand. Yes, the bottom right corner of the second photo are purple potatoes.  Everything in this bag was something we liked and could use to supplement our meals at home.  Except it had been really hot and the kale (at the top in the 2nd photo) which I would normally use in a soup, was not going to happen, since we had had three days of temperatures hitting 100° out here.  Kale is said to be an antioxidant and highly nutritious also, like the pomegranate.  I decided to make kale chips.  
 

I tore the kale into bite size pieces and placed in a bowl, topping it with olive oil,salt and pepper and tossing until all the kale was coated (that bunch in the photo made two batches- both for the bowl and for the cookie sheet). Place the pieces not touching on the cookie sheet.
 
I baked at 350° for 15-20 minutes, checking that the kale is crispy before removing.

I hope everyone is having a good day. 

 Oh.  The Buddha's Hand was sliced (you can eat the pith and there is no juicy center) in about 1/4 inch pieces and boiled, on low heat,  in 2 cups of water with 2 cups of sugar for about 2 hours until the liquid was almost gone.  The pieces placed in a pan of sugar, coating on both sides and placed in the refrigerator. A tart and sweet snack treat! 

I hope everyone is having a non-hectic month!

Crepe World-on Convoy, dessert crepes after a quick meal at Chopstix

mmm-yoso!!! is a food blog and today Cathy is blogging.  Because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) are eating.

Hi.  The other day, The Mister and I went to Chopstix and got large bowls of soup, because at 96°, with 18% humidity, it just wasn't warm enough for us.     The top one is the miso ramen and the bottom one is the dumpling ramen.  Each about $6.50, huge, tasty, warm.  When we were done, we walked out and wanted dessert.  We thought about Yogurt World and Tapioca Heaven, but this new building is closer when you walk across the street.  Crepe World.  (The Nice Young Lady who waited on us was wearing a Yogurt World t-shirt; I did not ask if they were owned by the same people)It is right on Convoy, so you don't have to encounter what I like to call the 'parking lot from Hell'.  It was not crowded.  As in, we were the only people there, our order number was 13 and it was 6:41 in the evening...I think this was the second day of it opening.  A large area, lots of tables and chairs and some park benches for seating...a rather extensive menu of savory (takoyaki, various 'sandwich crepes') and sweet crepes and waffles.  There is a website on the business card, but it is not set up yet.   We ordered and each crepe was served up in pink paper cones. (click to see full photo)(Typepad is acting strange again)  I chose the #20, red beans with custard and bananas ($4.58).  It was huge and filled with all the ingredients.  The crepe was light and crispy on the edges.  The custard was light and eggy tasting, the red beans were sweet and tasty.   The Mister chose the #15- a fruit crepe stuffed with Nutella­® and fresh strawberries ($3.68).  The same delightful crepe, filled with nutty, chocolate-y Nutella­® and sliced juicy, flavorful strawberries.

A nice ending on another hot, but not humid, day in San Diego.

Crepe World 4646 Convoy #102 San Diego 92111 858-268-8388 Website (listed on business card)

Saturday Stuffs: Seafood Island coming soon, and our "Thanksgiving leftover" dish.

Coming Soon - Seafood Island:

Many thanks to the half dozen folks who emailed me about this, including FOY, Tanya and CandiceW. I passed by yesterday, and there is still a bunch of construction going on.

 

Looks like a very nice restaurant, in a bit of a strange location. You can check out the website here. The menu is humongous, enough to give you "Vietnamese menu overload." The cuisine is described as "authentic" Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean (??!??) cuisine. Regardless, it sure does look like a seafood lover's dream.

I have one question though. And this kinda bothers me a bit, check out the "testimonials" written on the contact page. This place isn't even open yet, how can you have testimonials? I'm kinda slow, so help me out with this one.....

Seafood Island
7580 Miramar Road
San Diego, CA 92126

Our Thanksgiving leftover dish - Oden:

I like to think we're pretty good at minimizing food waste. The Missus and I love leftovers, and try not to waste. Unfortunately, there's always the case of making a dish, and having stuff left over. And sometimes we do end up throwing things out.  We're trying to be a bit better, and not waste. One of the dishes that is heaven sent when it comes to having leftovers from making various Japanese dishes is Oden. I had thought we'd be eating pretty simple this Thanksgiving....... until the Missus decided She wanted, "something good for a change". One of the "somethings" was Gomoku Gohan a mixed rice dish. And in addition to the leftover dashi, I had a bunch of other stuff left-over from the variety of ingredients the Missus wanted in Her rice.

 

Having a variety of fishcake in the freezer, purchased during sales are heaven sent.

There are several standard Oden items the Missus doen't like in Her Oden; Kamaboko and Chikuwa, two types of fishcake...which ironically, are two of my favorite things! The item the Missus requires in Her Oden are hard boiled eggs and Konnyaku.

If you're not up to making your own shiro, there are many types of Tsuyu (instant soup base) available, and you just have to add water. If you use them, make sure you're not sensitive to MSG.

So here my Thanksgiving leftovers version of Oden:

  

Hope you're having a great weekend!

Lazy lazy chili

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food.  Today it is Cathy's turn to write about her $5 for two meal...

Hi.  It is October and it gets darker earlier and is kind of chilly in the evenings(despite being in the 90's during the day) and sometimes The Mister and I come home late from work and want something quick yet tasty to eat.

I sort of "invented" this recipe a few years ago when the power was out in the neighborhood.  We still have our propane fueled grill outside and were trying to use up things from the fridge and freezer.  It is simple and does not require you to go scavenging through the house for spices in the dark, yet is tasty and filling. 

Brown 1/2 lb of ground beef in a pan. 

Drain the grease.

You can brown things on a gas grill in any regular pan, just like on the stove.

Always have these ingredients in your cupboard (buy when on sale)- Diced tomatoes with green chilies; Chili beans in sauce and canned corn.  I got this MexiCorn when it was on sale. It is just corn with red and green peppers. 

Drain the corn and put into the pan with the ground beef.  Use the whole can of tomatoes and the whole can of chili beans.

Heat through.

Really, you don't need to add any spices.

If you want to, serve with some shredded cheese on top, and some crackers.

I only have oyster crackers.  It makes things festive. Especially if you have no electricity. Whoo hoo!

Cathy's Lazy Chili

1/2 lb gound beef- browned and drained

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 can (15 oz) chili beans in sauce

1 small (7 oz) can corn (or corn with green and red peppers), drained.

Heat through and serve

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It's what's on sale this week.

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food, written by a bunch of friends.  Cathy is taking her turn blogging today, because Kirk and ed (from Yuma) have lives...

HI.  Back again with another easy meal for two for $5 or less...buying ingredients which are on sale this week. 

Let's just get this out in the open- I have *never* made the same meatloaf twice in my life.  Never.  I don't expect you to, either.  Instead, I am giving you some general instructions so you can make meatloaf in your own way, to your own taste.  The one I am showing you is *very* basic and tasty, without any added spices...

Start out with meat.  You don't have to, but I mix 3/4 ground beef with 1/4 something else- in this case, ground pork.  The 80/20 ground beef is $1.69/lb at Vons this week, the ground pork is always $1.69/lb at 99Ranch.  I ask for one of my size handfuls of pork when I go to the butcher counter.

Then you need fillers and binders.  Today, I used an egg, raw mushrooms,  stewed tomatoes and panko breadcrumbs.

Take the juice from the stewed tomatoes and soak the breadcrumbs in it. Stewed tomatoes have garlic, onion , celery and green pepper in it.  No need to add any more flavor.

Mix all the ingredients together-lightly. I mix the meat, with my hands, first, then incorporate the wet breadcrumbs, the stewed tomatoes and sliced mushrooms.  Form into loaf shapes and place on a cookie sheet with edges (a jelly roll pan). Bake at 350° until internal temp is 170° if you are cooking ground pork, 160° if you are using ground beef only.  About 45 minutes for 1 pound total meat.edit: You don't really have to hit 170° these days, but I cook until the thermometer hits 155° and then let it rest and it continues cooking and it should be fine.  Well, I'm not dead yet anyhow...

Get an instant read thermometer.  That, along with good knives are the kitchen tools you will need and use regularly.  The rest of the things for your kitchen should all be multi-use items.

While the meatloaf is baking, assemble the following: potatoes-red skinned, Yukon golds and new potatoes have thin skins that don't have to be peeled.  Unsalted butter, salt and white pepper are all else you will need.  Nothing fancy.  Potatoes are good.

Cut the eyes from the potatoes, then chop into relatively small similar sized chinks, so they will cook at the same time.

Immerse potatoes into cold water-they were grown underground. (You put vegetables grown above ground into already boiling water).     

Turn heat on low, let potatoes boil until fork tender. Turn off water and drain-Do Not Rinse!

Put the potatoes back into the pot, add the stick of butter, some white pepper and some salt (you can add more after you have a taste).  Mash.

Taste and see if you need more salt or pepper. 

I use white pepper so you don't see black specks, plus it tastes kind of nutmeg-gy...you can buy white pepper in any Asian grocery store.

When the meatloaf is done, take it out of the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes.  The juices will stay in that way and the cold leftovers will be wonderful in a sandwich tomorrow.

If you want to splurge and really enjoy your meal, (the regular price of this is about $1.49), get this can of Dawn Fresh by Giorgio mushroom steak sauce.  SO worth it...just open and heat.

Slice the meatloaf, cover with potatoes and gravy.  A meal.

OK, that was a very general recipe.  You can fancy up the meatloaf with all sorts of things, you can fancy up the mashed potatoes, or you can do it this way and not have to think about anything. All the flavors work and you don't even have to add salt.

Cathy's Meatloaf

Meat: 3 parts ground beef to one part ground pork or ground turkey

Binder: breadcrumbs, soaked in some sort of liquid; egg

Flavor: stewed tomatoes, spices, garlic, sauteed mushrooms, chili sauce, Worcestershire, capers, olives-open up that pantry

Stretchers: fresh vegetables, including shredded potatoes and/or carrots, ground nuts, dry cereal, wheat germ, sunflower seeds, bulgur

Cook at 350° until internal temperature of 160°is reached.  Take out of oven to rest, it will continue cooking.

Cathy's mashed potatoes

One handful of raw potatoes per person,  one stick of butter, salt and white pepper. If for some reason there is not enough butter, add some milk sparingly to help mash.

This is how I cook.  Really.

Las Vegas Road Trip...Green Valley Ranch Resort breakfasts and National Finals Rodeo

mmm-yoso!!! is the blog about food...and stuff.  I get to follow the soon to be infamous delightfully titled (and photographed) post by ed from Yuma.  Here is more of a "stuff" post, with some food thrown in.

Hello, again. So...last weekend, Ms. T and I drove to Las Vegas and (again) stayed at Green Valley Ranch in Henderson, just Southeast of the Strip. It is my annual "Two days away from home when I get to take a bath and watch rodeo cowboy athletes"-seriously. That tub is wonderfully huge and the room is luxurious.  The bed has high thread count sheets and a down duvet
topped and bottomed with sheets, creating a wonderfully warm thermal effect...and the room is solid, safe and silent, and, this time, had a view of  not only the "beach" and pool areas, but also the sunrise against the hills to the West of town. (Click onto the smaller photo, look at top left- the edge of the pool is a gradual entrance of sand)

Since Ms. T drove the whole way there, she was very tired the first night and stayed in her room to wind down and I was on my own, so just walked over to "The District" next to the Hotel and looked at the Christmas decorations, window shopped and then went back to the casino and gambled a bit .
When I went to my room, I was hungry, having only eaten breakfast with The Mister before we left and then the snacks I had packed for the drive over...but it would be time for breakfast soon enough and Ms. T. and I had no plans to meet until 9 a.m., so I ordered Room Service to be delivered at 6 a.m.
"The European Breakfast, for one"...The top left napkin had a wonderful fresh, light, buttery, crispy croissant inside of it...There were assorted dried meats (roast beef, salami and Prosciutto) two large chunks of Brie, Greek olives, assorted fresh fruits (melon, grapefruit, blueberries, strawberries) the pot of coffee (that ended up being four cups) with real cream, fresh grapefruit juice, the butter pats in the bottom left corner and grape jam and strawberry preserves. It was wonderful and with a room service charge and non-optional 20% gratuity, set me back $33. There was a lot of food I saved for my later afternoon snack...a lot. This was a tray for one. It was way more than enough.
So, Ms. T and I went shopping at the Cowboy Christmas and then to lunch and then back to the hotel and met later to drive to the Rodeo.
The opening ceremonies, where all the participants, line up and 'salute' the audience with a tip of their hats is always a good memory.  The National Finals Rodeo is a ten day event, and the participants are the top 15 of each competition from the past year.  The competitions (Bareback riding, cattle roping, saddle broncs, team roping,  women's barrel racing and bull riding) are held between those top 15 people daily and on the tenth day, after the cumulative scores are counted, then "Best of the Best" are  awarded the National Championship (and a corresponding large belt buckle).

All in all, a very nice Day 5 of the NFR .

The next morning, we heard it was raining in San Diego and did not want to drive too early, to avoid any possible "black ice" on the road in the Cajon Pass, so we went to the Breakfast Buffet at "Feast" inside the Green Valley Ranch Resort Casino Hotel.
Ms. T. got an assortment of the exotic offerings- a breakfast burrito and quesedilla, eggs, chorizo and stew.

And I was still in that "European" mode and chose an onion bagel, cream cheese, smoked fish, smoked salmon, onions, tomatoes, some assorted cheese slices, pickles...oh, and that pear.
Then I went back for more "traditional" stuff- scrambled eggs (with my selection of toppings from the salad and salsa bar), bacon, sausage, ham, and a biscuit with sausage gravy.
Ms. T. went back and tried a blintz, a crepe and a slice of cheesecake.
All of the food here is excellent and fresh. The all you can eat breakfast is $7 and includes beverage.

Then we started our drive back to San Diego, stopping in Baker...
But, not here...
I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Oh, I did eat when we were at the Rodeo, just a snack of chicken fingers(nice and crispy and slightly spicy crust not needing the dip, but the hot sauce was nice after a while) and garlic fries ($6) (Fried potato-not quite crispy enough- with a dollop of fresh garlic and parsley on top....needed to be dipped in the ranch dressing)and this horrible $6 glass of Budweiser...

yoso-lazy: Sometimes, it's Just Tofu for Dis' Fu

The last heat wave really put a damper on my appetite. All I really wanted to eat was Hiya Yakko (cold) Tofu.

So utterly simple, yet refreshing. All I do is add some shoyu and green onions, and maybe some Asazuke Kyuri (pickled cucumbers).  This is comfort food of the highest level to me. The only problem was finding a brand of tofu here on the Mainland that I enjoyed.

I was looking for a nice balanced, beany taste, like my beloved Aloha Tofu back home. I've finally settled on Nijiya Organic Tofu($1.49). It has the right balance of beaniness, along with the firmer texture I enjoy. The one thing I don't get is how this tofu lasts so long - back home tofu would expire in a couple of days, makes me a bit worried when I see that tofu will last for more than a month!

I ended up having a whole block of cold tofu 4 times last week. And enjoyed it each time. Here's to simple cold tofu! Comfort food of the highest order.