food for thought

so one of the produce stands in chinatown that i go to (they sell the best papayas...) is apparently a haven for miniature vegetables. they had miniature mangos smaller than my palm, minature bittermelon, miniature 節瓜 ... the only other place i've ever seen that specialized, if you may, in miniature vegetables was a pavilions supermarket in LA, so i'm pretty impressed at this chinatown stand cum specialty foods nook. and as for food, i went to this place called shanghai bistro on friday & rather liked it. apparently i know the owner too...the mom of one of my former punahou and kilohana (my preschool! good gosh!) classmates. they have really fantastic 小龍包 ... and we met chef chang, who kept running out to give me cool treats, like his new green tea custard filled pikachus, and his yet-to-debut mini manapua. they were so absolutely adorable.

i'm on my last strawberry pie of the summer...i made three last weekend, gave one to harry&millie (our elderly neighbors across the street) and now there's one left. sigh. i really can't complain about harvard dining hall food, but sigh. :) i learned to make creme fraiche today too...three cups cream and two tablespoons buttermilk shaken, then set cool overnight, and refrigerated. creme fraiche is awesome because it'll never curdle when you whip it up or boil it in a recipe. and as you can guess from all the fat, it's delish.