Roast Pork Loin with Vinegar and Sage

This recipe is for my friend Tony.
Because he L-O-V-E-S vinegar.
Not as in drinking vinegar neat from the bottle, but as in brewing his own vinegar, using more vinegar than oil in salad dressing (or, as I like to call it, the “reversed ratio” dressing), and dousing fries in vinegar like it’s going out of style.
So when I told him about my mom’s recipe for a mean roast pork loin with vinegar he was like “Duuuude, I need that recipe! Please dude please dude really dude dude dude dude dude dude duuuude!”
So I was like “Dude, chillax. I’ll give you the d*!n recipe”
And he was like “Dude for realz. I need it!”
And I was like “Dude, give me a break!”
And he was like “Yeah dude”

Almond-Poppy Crackers

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I found myself flipping through my mom’s Martha Stewart Living magazines looking for recipes.
Which is odd for me.
Not the “looking for recipes” part, I do that all the time. But the Martha Stewart Living mag part.
First off, I'm admittedly a Food & Wine Magazine guy.
I love Food & Wine magazine; I would not trade it for any other food magazine out there. It provides me with recipes and tons of inspiration.
Together with Triathlete, Kinfolk, Time and The New Yorker, Food & Wine is the only printed magazine I think it’s still worth buying.

15-Minute Caramelized Black Pepper Chicken

Who doesn’t love burpees?
Raise your hands up where I can see them.
Oh, wow, that many of you? Really?
Burpees are C-O-O-L! I don’t know why they get such a bad rep.

Thai Pork and Zoodle Salad

I was reading an article the other day about how to be successful in life. In particular, it talked about how the questions you ask yourself every day determine the kind of life you lead.
Because those questions trigger answers that lead to actions.
So if you ask yourself limiting questions, you’ll get limited results. If, instead you ask yourself forwarding questions, you set no boundaries to what you can achieve in life.
I thought about it for a moment: what questions do I most often ask myself every day?

Creamy Coconut Eggplant Curry

I love having people over for lunch, dinner, coffee, whatever, but the reality is that it’s getting increasingly challenging to invite people and have any idea what to offer them.
It seems like everyone has some sort of dietary restrictions and/or preferences these days, and finding something that everyone can eat is often fairly difficult.
It’s a serious matter too: an allergy (such as peanut or shellfish allergy) can be life threatening.
A food intolerance is usually a less serious condition - in that it doesn’t involve the immune system - but still, it should never be taken lightly.
A food preference is different though.
Some people don’t like fish. Others eat no meat, egg or dairy. I, for one, am not a big fan of gluten or refined sugars — but I don’t get sick if I eat a slice of pizza or a bagel.
These are personal choices, but they should be respected nonetheless.
I consider myself a tolerant person and what a person does in their own living-quarters has always been entirely their own business.

Chocolate Chunk Almond Butter Cookies

I respect fellow bloggers and each person's choices.
I respect fellow bloggers that keep it real and honest all the time.
I respect fellow bloggers who donate their time and talents to publish beautiful pictures, wise words, great recipes and innovative ideas.
Fellow bloggers who educate, entertain and enlighten me daily.
I’m very proud of being part of this immense community, because it allows me to do something that I thought it was not possible to do: share my passions.
But today allow me to rant a little about something that is currently happening in the food blogosphere.
I just need to get it off my chest.
What’s up with these ridiculous brownies/cookies/bars/cupcakes, that seem to appear everywhere and that are basically an amalgam of multiple desserts smushed together?
Like cupcakes stuffed with cheesecake, topped with oreos, topped with refrigerated cookie dough, with some crunched up pretzels, topped with dulce de leche and sprinkle of caramel popcorn.
I’m not sure how this trend took off, but it’s a trend, and I don’t think it’s for the greater good.

Asian Glazed Meatballs

Be honest, how good are you with chopsticks?
World Champ, pretty good, alright or a total disaster?
I myself wouldn’t say I'm an expert at using them, nor I would win any prize for artistic impression, but I’m okay at getting food into my mouth at a honest pace.
Sometimes I get impatient though, and just stab the food with the chopsticks (sashimi anyone?), or if I am eating noodles I just twirl it around.
But I’m not as bad as some of my friends, who cannot pick up a thing with them, and when they do, they always end up flinging the food over the other side of the table.
Except for Fred, he is kinda awesome at using chopsticks, but he has lived in Hong Kong for 3 years and has really stepped up his chopstick skills while he was there.

Chocolate Almond Butter

Last week I killed my food processor that I had for about 10 years. It was sad, but life goes on.
I considered hiring a ninja to replace the deceased kitchen tool.
Think about it for a moment, a ninja - in addition to mixing, chopping, blending and grating food - could be sent on missions to track down secrets, have enemies assassinated or plant misinformation. SIK.
But then I thought: wait, where would I “store” a ninja?
I couldn’t possibly leave him on the countertop or on a shelf (talking about crowding up your kitchen, right?)
Not to mention that I would need to feed him. And what does a ninja eat, say, for breakfast?
Moreover, what if he’s one of those people that wakes up super cranky in the morning. I certainly don’t want an angry ninja walking around my apt at 7am chopping my furniture.
Nah, too much of an hassle and not really a good idea after all.

Sunny-Side Up Egg with Avocado, Sriracha and Crumbled Feta

Cooking is a feel-good activity for me. I feel happy, comforted even inspired when I cook.
But just like everybody else, I’m sometimes (oh hell...let’s say “often”) too tired or don't have the time to cook.
Especially at dinner time, after a long day, when I get home all I want to do is relax.
Even I, the triathlete dude that steps into the kitchen and transforms into a culinary Bruce Lee (yup people, that’s how I see myself) waves white flag.

Easy Pad Thai Zoodles

I like it when you spot a recipe that you know is going to be fantastic and you just happen to have the ingredients on hand.
But what I like even more is when you have ingredients you want to use in a new way, and you spot a recipe that can be cut to fit what’s on hand.
There it was.
The perfect recipe.
Pad Thai Zoodles.
Exactly what I felt like eating. I wanted to jump up and high five someone.

But there was no one there. No matter. There would be by the time I finished cooking.