Month: April 2018

Three Reasons to Play Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City

Three Reasons to Play Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City

Playing Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City from top angle near end of game

Armed only with your trusty die and a dream, you must grow Machi Koro into the largest city in the region. You will need to collect income from developments, build public works, and steal from your neighbors’ coffers. Just make sure they aren’t doing the same to you!

I love trying new games, so when my friends suggested playing Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City at a recent game night, I was all in. The game did not disappoint. I had a fun time learning it (and winning gloriously).

Machi Koro is a city-building card and dice game for 2-4 players and it was a Spiel des Jares Nominee in 2015.

Note, since we’ve only played the base game so far, all my opinions that follow relate to the base game only.

Here are three reasons you might want to give Machi Koro: Bright Lights, Big City a closer look:
Read More

Marjoram Pea Pesto (Vegan)

Marjoram Pea Pesto (Vegan)

Vegan Marjoram Pea Pesto garnished with Marjoram from angle

Growing up, pesto was my favorite sauce. I asked for pesto on everything: pasta, bread, a spoon…

This week, my childhood desire for pesto returned. After rooting around my kitchen, I realized I had none of the essentials: fresh basil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts.

Though as someone who enjoys a good challenge, a few missing ingredients were not going to stop me and I decided to make a few substitutions. The end result was a delicious, Marjoram Pea Pesto! It also happened to only take 5 minutes and be vegan.

Read More

Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pancakes

Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pancakes

Trader Joe's Multigrain Pancake Mix stacks with butter and maple syrup up close

Finally, with these Trader Joe’s Multigrain Pancakes I have an excuse to try out my Lodge Cast Iron Reversible Griddle/Grill! I’ve been sitting on a new Lodge Griddle for far too long, and these pancakes were the perfect reason to inaugurate a new kitchen appliance.

Pancakes are quite the crowd-pleaser for breakfast. When I make pancakes for a group, however, I just want them to be quick and easy.

My answer? Pancake mix and a griddle. I find that a griddle offers large, evenly-heated surface area to maximize cooking space and with a mix, pancake batter can be whipped up in just a few minutes.

Read More

Instant Pot Hot Pot

Instant Pot Hot Pot

Instant Pot Hot Pot with Vegetables, Tofu, and Ramen Noodles

Eating Hot Pot with friends is my happy place. I love sitting around a table of boiling soup and chatting with good company. In fact, vegetarian Hot Pot reminds me fondly of my time living in Beijing. At first, I was unsure of how vegetarian-friendly Hot Pot really was, but once my Beijing friends introduced me to how amenable Hot Pot can be for vegetarians and vegans, I was hooked.

Every business trip to Taiwan afterward, I always made time for a visit to my favorite all-you-can-eat Hot Pot restaurant, Mo-Mo-Paradise. In recent years, I’ve stopped traveling to Asia for work and I’ve really been missing Hot Pot.

So, it is no surprise that when I looked in the kitchen for what to eat for dinner and only found spinach, tofu, mushrooms, red onions, and an acorn squash, the first thought to that came to mind was vegetarian Hot Pot! In my Instant Pot!

Read More