When we lost our beloved curmudgeon early last summer, we thought we would wait at least a year before bringing another dog home. But in late February, a series of unforeseen, serendipitous events culminated in us bringing home Barclay de Tolley. He’s a breeder rescue dog, which I had never heard of before, but a friend alerted us to this wonderful purebred rescue organization located in a town just about 20 miles north of here. Barclay (née Buddy) is only 2.5 years old. Typically, breeder dogs are released to this rescue organization when they’re quite a bit older and have aged out of serving their “purpose” *ahem, cough cough.* Good ol’ Barclay here refused to copulate and so there he was, patiently waiting for new owners! Never having raised a breeder rescue dog, it has been an interesting learning curve. He is whipsmart and is eager to please, and when outdoors, seems to just be a normal dog. But inside the house, he’s Barclay 2.0. He doesn’t really “get” what a house (or people IN a house) are about. Gradually he is willing to leave his safe spot for some time spent in the kitchen if it’s quiet, or by the living room couch on rare occasions. But for the most part, he is content to spend his time curled up in his little quiet nook, snoring like a mofo. Outside he is a pouncing, bouncing, wagging epitome of golden retriever joy-fulness. It has been fun watching him learn how to be more like a dog.

Min always encourages me to try new recipes and has been requesting Moroccan for awhile. I kept putting it off, thinking it would take too much time, but the other night, I went for it, and it was easy and delicious. Beef tagine with dates and chickpeas over pearl couscous. Min whipped up a Moroccan coffee to go with it that involved fresh grated nutmeg, lots of ginger, and a healthy dose of cinnamon and sugar. I used a Jamie Oliver recipe that Min deemed “inauthentic,” according to the YouTube cognescenti. But for my first try, I was happy with it. Maybe a tad on the sweet side. Next time I’d reduce the amount of dates and tomatoes and up the spices.

Great bourbon list at a new spot in Kalamazoo, Brick and Brine! Unbeknownst to us, it was restaurant week, so we got to try their fried chicken sandwich for a mere $10 and it was sublime. Hope it stays on the menu! Great bartender there who really knows her stuff and collected a fun, diverse assortment of bottles to try. We didn’t get any of the cocktails on this first go-round, but watching them go out, they looked right up my alley: complex flavors with a bitter/tart edge and not overly sweet. Looking forward to future visits!

I was unfamiliar with Joanne Lee Molinaro’s work but the jjajjangmyun pictured on the front cover is one of my very favorite Korean-Chinese dishes and so I knew we’d be Seoul-mates (sorry, couldn’t resist). Very much like with Hetty McKinnon’s To Asia With Love, I felt connected to Joanne’s stories and her bifurcated love of foods both Korean and Western. Despite feeling like as a Korean woman, I should naturally be good at both golf and making kimchi, neither has proven to be true. Over the years I have tried, and failed, many a time to make my own kimchi. My mom is both puzzled and amused by this. She will carefully write out her directions, and I will just as carefully follow them. But every single time: complete failure. My favorite past attempt was trying to make these Korean pickles called oiji that she makes to perfection and that I adore. A few days into their fermentation process, I heard an explosion coming from the kitchen and found the pickle jar shattered. Those pickles jumped ship!

Reading Molinaro’s book, I was inspired anew to give it another shot. This time around I purposefully picked the easiest (so I thought) recipe for a water-based kimchi. Through no fault of the recipe, the entire production turned out slimy. As I read up on possible reasons why, I think my mistake was doing the initial fermentation on the counter. It was probably too warm and, ironically given how little sunshine we have had, too sunny (we had a succession of really cold but very sunny days right after I made this batch). I also think my sugar-to-salt ratio got out of whack somehow. Knowing what I know now, I’ll give it another try at some point. At least the jars didn’t shatter this time. And regardless, I am really loving both of these cookbooks!