On Da Desk

 It was birthday cards this week!  

Dd's Sticky Asian Short Ribs

 This looks like it fits the title well!  Good with rice.

STICKY ASIAN SHORT RIBS

 

2 #  short ribs, slice in half between ribs

Salt, black pepper

1 tsp. cornstarch, mixed with 1 TB water

Marinade:

1/4 c. soy sauce

1 1/2 TB rice wine vinegar

1 1/2 TB agave nectar

1TB sake

1 TB mirin

1 ½ tsp. siracha sauce

2 pieces ginger, sliced, crushed

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp. sesame seed oil

Garnish: chopped green onion

 

Season ribs lightly with salt and pepper. In a shallow container large enough for short ribs combine marinade ingredients well.  Coat ribs well; marinate at least 1 hour. 

In a saucepan over medium heat brown short ribs in oil. If necessary, brown in batches. 

Return short ribs to saucepan along with marinade. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Allow to simmer 45 minutes turning ribs as needed. Stir in cornstarch slurry and cook until “sticky” and glossy.

Garnish with green onions. Serves 3-4.

Zippy's August Special

 $10.99.  Thanks for the scoops, Cy and De!

Swap Meet - 08/02/2026

Here are my scores from the swap meet yesterday.  It was a good day with good finds.

But that's not what this blog post is really about.  It's about losing my car key a couple months ago.  It was on June 7th.  

It was a regular swap meet day, except that when it came time to leave I didn't have my car key.  No matter how hard I (and Sweetie) looked, I just didn't have it.

I reported the loss to the Lost and Found people and left my phone number.  Landon came with my spare key.  

I called the Stadium during the week to see if anybody had turned it in.  No luck.  It bothered me a lot, mostly because losing the key made me feel old and incompetent. 

It woulda cost over $200 to replace it so I never did.  Instead, every time we went to the swap meet after that I would always go first to Lost and Found to see if maybe the key was somehow there and to check and see if they still had the scrap piece of paper with my phone number on it in its place on the side of the desk.

Yesterday, for the first time I decided not to check.  A few months had already passed after all. 

Right away we ran into Len, a regular shopper who's there every Sunday (and Saturday too).  I jokingly asked him if he found my key yet.  He laughed and said no. 

We walked our regular route.  We saw the regular vendors.  

I decided to get some cucumbers from one of our fave veggie vendors.  There were just a few bags left.  As I was inspecting one of the bags, something familiar caught my eye. 

There on the counter right above the cucumbers, nestled in a shallow plastic container lay my car key.

I was stunned.  I almost cried.  I might've created a commotion.  I'm not sure. 

The vendor said that he had found it on the ground months ago and didn't know what else to do except to put it in a container on his counter and hope that the rightful owner would someday come to claim it. 

After awhile, I grabbed a bunch of vegetables to buy and thanked him profusely.  I gave him two of my mom's crocheted kitchen towels which I happened to have with me.

Maybe I'll bake him something for next time.  

I'm still stunned.

 

Beef Sukiyaki

Here's another imprecise recipe of mine that came out good so I'm blogging for the record.

 

Sorry to be lazy, but here's the recipe.  It's a combination of three different recipes. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

 

I bought this from Safeway 'cause I felt insecure about the flavor turning out okay.  Didn't really need it, but I added it in anyway.  It was $5.

  

Cy's Breakfast

 Zippy's Mini Chili/Chicken ($11.90)

Miso Soup with Fried Eggplant

This recipe is not precise, but I wanted to share (and keep a record) 'cause came out good.  We had leftover won bok so I just added that in.

Thinly slice and fry an eggplant after salting and soaking in water (to remove bitterness, supposedly).  Set aside.

Add a pack of dashi and a pack of bonito flakes (in teabag) to 5 cups of water set on medium heat. Remove and discard the packs after 10 minutes or so.  Add 1/2 cup of sake, a few dried shrimp, little bit of dried wakame, thinly sliced daikon, cubed tofu and the fried eggplant.

Just before turning off the heat put 5 tablespoons of miso into a strainer and strain the miso into the soup.

Aunty Sally's Biscuit

Wendell made the biscuit.  The crunchy parts!!  So gooooood!!

Dd's Aunty Sally's Morning Biscuits

Aunty Sally is my mom's sister and this is her recipe.  Back in the day my mom used to make this biscuit all the time.

Didi says:   SOOO easy……  SOOO …FYI-I make ½ recipe … in a loaf pan…..love love all da more crispy edges…..  I consider myself a biscuit FAN (obsessed)….. this is my fave fave of all times….  Probably because I can smell it from the late 60’s …..

 

MORNING BISCUITS (Sally Tellio) from Dd’s Table Talk Cookbook

(1/2 recipe)

2 TB                1/4 c. butter, softened

¼ c.                 1/2 c. sugar

1 c.                  2 c. all purpose flour

1 ½ tsp.           1 TB baking powder

¼ tsp.              1/2 tsp. salt

¼ c.                 1/2 c. cream

¼ c.                 1/2 c. water

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees; lightly grease an 8-inch baking pan. In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in cream and water. Spread into prepared pan; bake 15 minutes. Serves 6.

Ama's Gua Bao

It took about 20 minutes for our Curry Guru stuff to be ready, so while I was waiting I ordered a couple of baos from Ama's Gua Bao which was nearby. 

This is the Pork Belly Bao ($8).  Tender with a sweet peanut topping.

 

Minced Pork Bao ($8).  Kinda spicy with the same sweet peanut topping.

    

I woulda liked to have tried the chicken or beef too, but $8 each for a tiny bao is a bit steep.