I’ve decided to give my blog a new name: alia.link. Much shorter and easier to remember! All new content will be published there, and all … Read More ›

It has been a while since I have posted, so I need to get into the rhythm of posting regularly again. This post is a … Read More ›

The logging machines are gone. The searing & crashing have stopped. The beeping and loading have stopped. They have hauled away everything they legally could, … Read More ›

If you love the forest, as I do, if you own a piece of forested property, perhaps you have had this nightmare: someone is cutting … Read More ›

We were excited to hear about Alaska Airlines starting new service from Everett’s Paine Field airport. For people who live in the north Puget Sound … Read More ›

Let’s say you have a crowd to feed. An international crowd, with a potpourri of people who like spicy food. Sunset Adobo is what you … Read More ›

It’s my birthday, too, yeah… I’m not having a party — it’s just my 61st. Nothing to get all excited about, but I’m still here! … Read More ›

The key to Pakistani cooking is thoroughly frying the onions. There: I’ve given the world yet another of my culinary secrets. Not “softened”, not “transparent”. … Read More ›

British restaurateur Sally Butcher, despite her surname, wrote a wonderful vegetarian cookbook called “Veggiestan“. She and her Iranian husband have a Persian deli in southeast … Read More ›

This carrot bread recipe I found in the mid 1970s in Seventeen magazine. I don’t know if carrot bread was invented then or if it … Read More ›

Back when we started the Teahouse Kuan Yin, I objected to soup. My partner in the business was a strong believer in the power of … Read More ›

When offerings on Netflix and Prime don’t appeal, or the eternal-infernal roundy-roundy of low bandwidth buffering frustrates, there are always DVDs from the public library. … Read More ›

About a year ago, we ran out of people to impose Kebab our Corgi upon while we travel. Family and friends had all done their … Read More ›

It’s the Chinese Year of the Pig this year, which reminded me of a pig surprise we had on the Stanley side of Hong Kong … Read More ›

“Are the mushrooms white?”, asked Bill, logically. Well, no, they’re brown, I explained, but it is a “white” lasagna in that it has a white … Read More ›

I have come to the conclusion that there just is no ethical way to eat shrimp. (Calling them prawns won’t change that either.) Harvested by … Read More ›

I had just been reading about the French custom of celebrating Epiphany (January 6) with a special pastry called a Galette des Rois, or Pastry … Read More ›

We had planned on visiting Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park on Christmas Eve this year, as we have done in the past. However, … Read More ›

This is another handy sauce from Amy Wong’s Savoury Sauces: Favourite Cooking Hacks, which I bought in Penang a few years ago. But there are … Read More ›