Matt Cooking Stuff, Fall, Food

PUMPKIN SPICE MEATLOAF

Pumpkin spice. You either love it, or you hate it. Or maybe you liked it, but you’re totally sick of everything being pumpkin spice. I mean, you can get pumpkin spice Cheerios, Twinkies, cream cheese, and even candy corn. Really? Candy corn. There is nothing that can enhance candy corn to make it more appealing. And not only are the packaged foods over-saturated with pumpkin spice, you can also buy pumpkin spice, soap, lotion, household cleaners, and even beard oil. With that said, I am one of those people that used to love pumpkin spice. My love for pumpkin spice came at a time when you had to make it yourself. You didn’t buy tons of pumpkin products, you bought tons of canned pumpkin and hit the kitchen making pumpkin spice pancakes, cookies, breads, and cakes. And that’s when I created pumpkin meatloaf.

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Matt Cooking, Cooking Stuff, Food, Japanese

JAPANESE CREPE CAKE

You know those food videos that people share on Facebook or Instragram? The ones from Tasty or Buzzfeed. The ones that have the simple relaxing music that take you step-by-step of a very involved recipe in 30 seconds and make it look super easy. So easy that you share it on social media and think, “this looks super simple, I’m going to post this and make it later!” Only you never make it later. It ends up in the food video graveyard on your Facebook wall. So yes, “those” food videos. Well, I actually made one of those!

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Matt Cooking, Cooking Stuff, Family, Friends, Japanese, Travel

HULA’S KITCHEN: PART 1

Every time we visit Japan, we always visit Aya’s friend Kio. They met way back in the fifth grade and have kept in contact all these years. She was even one of Aya’s bridesmaids in our wedding. I find that quite impressive considering the long distance between. It would have been very easy for them to lose touch with each other. Through their friendship I met Kio’s mom, Izumi, at our wedding party in Japan. And with the power of Facebook, her mom and I are now “friends.” She doesn’t speak very much English and I don’t speak Japanese, but we both understand the same language; FOOD.

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Matt Cooking, Cooking Stuff, Food, Holidays, Japanese, Recipes, Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING KOROKKE

One Japanese food that’s always good to eat is korokke (croquette). Korokkes are a mashed potato patty with a filling coated in panko and then deep fried. Fillings can vary. Meat, cheese, vegetables, and all the combinations. While it’s fun to eat, it’s not super fun to make because they are very labor intensive. That’s why I usually only make them once a year and make enough to keep in the freezer. And with a mountain of leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving dinner, it’s the perfect time to make them.

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Matt Cooking, Cooking Stuff, Holidays, Recipes, Thanksgiving

LEFT-OVER TURKEY RAMEN

Every year my wife “vulture-izes” (as my mom calls it) the turkey carcass. Every little bit of meat is scraped clean and either eaten during this process or saved aside for future use. With these scavenged bones, wings and legs, I make a hearty homemade turkey broth. This broth makes the perfect base to make turkey ramen! (Now, when I say ramen, I’m not talking about authentic Japanese ramen. So all you ramen purists out there, keep that in mind.)

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