Foods from My Childhood

One of my favorite dishes as a child was Lettuce Wraps. My mom used to make these before it started showing up on restaurant menus. I really liked this dish so after I got married, it was one I recipe I made sure I learned from her.
Her version is quite simple, garlic, ginger, ground beef, celery and bamboo shoots, seasoned with sake, soy sauce, and sesame oil. I'm so used to the original version that I didn't even think twice about variations, but as I cooked it today, I thought water chestnuts and cilantro might be good.
Served with some steamed asparagus, chikuwa (fish cakes) with cucumber, and rice.

It's one dish that you can really eat a lot of lettuce. The kids and I almost went through an entire head. A good way to get in some veggies.

Emi the Walrus!
Abby just wanting some of the attention too, she's such a whack job.

Then Abby wanted to take pictures. Here's a picture I got tempted to delete it, but it made them laugh so much I couldn't do it. And David says I never put up dorky pics of myself, so here you go.