Vietnamese Hue Soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Vietnamese Hue Beef and Pork Soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam located in the center of the country. Hue soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California located at the Northridge Mall captures imperial grandeur with first-rate, organic ingredients. (Monterey County grows organic, Asian produce as part of its 200+ vegetables and fruit offered for sale.) 

The Hue soup that I tried on a recent delivery order comes with three generous slices each of roast beef and pork roast. You place these slices of meal over cold vermicelli rice noodles in the delivery bowl provided that also contains bean sprouts, sliced lettuce, Thai basil, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and lemon wedges for squeezing over everything. 

The beef bone broth you pour over these items is already spicy, but I like to add a little sriracha for extra vitamin C. 

The meat in the Hue soup was tender and flavorful and tasted light with all the vegetables and herbs. 

Diners who like meat will probably appreciate Hue soup at Chopstix in Salinas, California for flavor, texture, and citrus flavor from the freshly squeezed lemon juice. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Enchiladas de Mole al Fogòn at Hay's Place in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget

Enchiladas de Mole al Fogón at Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

One of my family’s treat outings is an afternoon lunch at the open air cantina Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 

The food at Hay’s Place is traditional and contemporary Mexican. The last time my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went for lunch, we began with smashed guacamole and yellow and blue corn chips. The guacamole was really a salad with tomato chunks, chopped onion, and chopped cilantro smashed with avocado and mixed with lime juice. This is a delicious combination for nibbling on while great dishes come from the kitchen. 

As my main dish, I ordered Enchiladas de Mole al Fogón. For this dish, soft corn tortillas encircle chicken strips cooked with poblano chiles, corn kernals, and warm and melted Oaxacan cheese, which is like mozzarella. 

The mole sauce is a specialty of Puebla, Mexico. It is a savory chocolate sauce mixed with chile peppers and spices. The mole sauce goes of top of the enchiladas (3 of them) and around them on the heated plate from the hearth, the fogón. Toasted sesame seeds are sprinkled on everything. 

As garnishes, Hay’s Places serves mild feta-like cotija cheese on top of the enchiladas along with red pickled onion slices and avocado slices. This dishes looks and tastes very good. Cotija cheese comes from Michoacán, Mexico. 

Black beans and Spanish rice accompany this scrumptious dish. Everything seemed to go very well with the horchata, a Mexican rice and milk drink topped with cinnamon that I ordered to go with this meal. Horchata is non-alcoholic and nice for designated drivers. 

The view, ambience, and delicious Mexican food at Hay’s Place in Pebble Beach, California make it a nice place for a relaxed lunch while touring 17-Mile Drive. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Sliders and Kopi Luwak Coffee at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins in San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget

Sliders and Kopi Luwak Coffee at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget 

On a weekend trip to San Francisco (California), my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I stayed at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins hotel atop Nob Hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 

The Hopkins is famous for its bar named The Top of the Mark that has a 360-degree view over San Francisco. 

My daughter’s corner suite had a view on the Transamerica Building that was lit up in white at night with the Salesforce Tower gleaming in blue steel light next to it. 

I ordered in-room service to admire the sunset and night view under a movie star chandelier. The Top of the Mark provides room service dining on Saturday nights. 

I ordered California slider mini burgers filled with anise and apricot glazed short rib meat, cilantro, jalapeño peppers, and garlic aioli. 

The California sliders were delectable and very different from the White Castle sliders I would eat with my friends from the University of Chicago on our forays into Chicagoland suburbs to learn about where the Democratic Machine obtained some of its money. 

At breakfast the next day, I ordered the All American Breakfast with poached eggs, thick-cut bacon (much appreciated in Chicago, Illinois), pan-fried potato wedges, and whole wheat toast. 

We ordered a 5-cup pot of coffee which cost $25.

“Why is the coffee so expensive,” I asked. 

Florence said, “It’s kaya kopi luwak – about $200 for a 16-ounce bag.” 

I tried it and liked it, despite being a Joffrey, Lavazza, Acme from Monterey County, and Dallmayr fan. 

The view over the Pacific with the Transamerica and Salesforce buildings during the day was beautiful as well with many white cap waves on a gleaming blue ocean. 

I had a restful weekend full of delicious meals and loved every moment of the San Francisco overnighter, which included lunch at Café de la Presse. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Thank you Coupang Taiwan for carrying my book - Ruth Paget

Thank you Coupang Taiwan for carrying my book Eating Soup with Chopsticks.

Coupang Taiwan

Wo xie xie ni!

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Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Lemongrass Chicken at Chopstix in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Once you learn how to make Vietnamese lemongrass chicken, the hardest part is finding and storing ingredients like fish sauce and long lemongrass in the refrigerator in addition to pulling out a wok from the pantry. 

Chopstix Restaurant has lemongrass chicken down to perfection, so I leave the cooking to them I must admit. 

Chopstix has a new location in Northridge Mall in Salinas. (The original location in Seaside is still open.) It is easy to park at the Mall for diners and delivery drivers alike. 

Basically for lemongrass chicken, you marinate the chicken pieces overnight with several chopped ingredients including:  

-lime juice 

-fish sauce 

-brown sugar 

-soy sauce (I like dark soy sauce) 

-garlic 

-shallot 

-chopped, citrusy lemongrass from the very center of the stalks 

Once the chicken pieces are marinated, you stir-fry them in a neutral oil like peanut oil. At Chopstix, they top the lemongrass chicken with freshly cut green onion and add sides of rice and salad with a tomato slice and cucumber slice. 

After I ate the lemongrass chicken and rice, I mixed the salad into the lemongrass chicken oil and soy sauce seasoning as a dressing. 

This lunch was filling and refreshing with ample portions for chicken, rice, and salad alike.

I thoroughly enjoyed the lemongrass chicken meal prepared by Chopstix at the Northridge Mall in Salinas, California and think it is good introduction to Vietnamese food for people who like Chinese food. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Croque Monsieur Grilled Sandwich at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget

Croque Monsieur Grilled Sandwich at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget 

On a weekend trip to San Francisco, my husband Laurent, daughter Florence Paget, and I went to Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California for Parisian bistro lunch. 

Laurent and Florence ordered a classic French lunch combination of French onion soup with cheese melted and browned on top of the soup followed by steak frites (steak with fries). 

I was going to order another bistro classic combination of French onion soup with a croque monsieur, a grilled ham and cheese sandwich with salad on the side. 

Instead of soup, I ate a daily special of warm goat cheese salad before my main dish. The salad came with a large ball of fresh chèvre goat cheese on top that been warmed and sat on top of baby greens with a vinaigrette. 

I mashed down the ball of chèvre and liked to think the cheese had arrived from an artisanal creamery in Sonoma County along with freshly picked greens in the wee hours of the morning. 

For my main dish, I ate a grilled croquet monsieur sandwich made with béchamel sauce, a cooked creamy sauce made with flour, butter, and milk, that is spread on two thick slices of bread. Then, you add sliced ham and gruyère cheese, place the slices together, sprinkle Parmesan and gruyère on top of the top bread slice, and run the sandwich under the broiler until the cheese is toasted and bubbly. 

This salty, delicious treat came with more baby greens on the side. I loved the crunchy melted cheese on the sandwich that was lightened up with bites of the baby greens. 

For bigger appetites, you can add an over-easy egg on top of the sandwich, which would make it a croquet madame. This is a classic bistro dish as well. 

There are two garages close to Café de la Presse. One is across the street on the corner of Grant Avenue and Bush Street. The other garage is about three blocks up the street on Powell Street. 

Whether you come for a weekend trip or for a day, Café de la Presse offers French fare comparable to what you would eat in Paris, France at the gates of Chinatown, which is ideal for strolling and shopping after an espresso. Our family takes I-280 to Highway 101, which comes out near Tully Road south of Gilroy Outlet Malls on 101 back to Salinas, California. 

There is always something good to eat at Café de la Presse in San Francisco, California, which is easier to get to than you would think. 

Bon appétit! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Spicy Tuna Poké Bowl at Sushi Hut in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget

Spicy Tuna Poké Bowl at Sushi Hut in Salinas, California by Ruth Paget 

Sushi Hut in Salinas, California has been hailed as one of the top 50 sushi spots in the United States by YELP and Salinas sushi lovers alike. 

The restaurant also has delicious Hawaiian poké bowls. I ate one recently and am happy with the progress I am making with poké bowl composition thanks to Door Dash Delivery app ordering. 

My poké bowl dinner had the following items in it: 

-base carbohydrate: white rice (brown rice is available) 

-proteins: raw spicy tuna and California crab roll filling 

-vegetables: cherry tomatoes (for vitamin c), carrot sticks (for vitamin A), and avocado slices (for vitamins K,C, and E) 

-fruit: fresh pineapple chunks (for vitamin c) 

-sauces: yuzu citrus juice and spicy sriracha mayonnaise 

-seasonings: lemon wedge for juice and a dab of wasabi horseradish sauce 

All of these ingredients blend into a delicious, tropical dish that congers up Hawaiian sunsets with swaying palm trees. 

For a taste of Hawaii before traveling there, Sushi Hut has poké bowls and snack items that are like the items you would eat there. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Princeton Review’s AP English Literature Reading List posted by Ruth Paget

Princeton Review has the following suggested works listed for preparing the Advanced Placement Examination in English:

Princeton Review AP English Reading List

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Skyline Dining at the InterContinental San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget

Skyline Dining at the InterContinental San Francisco, California by Ruth Paget 

On a weekend trip to San Francisco (West Bay), my family stayed at the InterContinental San Francisco, an IHG hotel, at 888 Howard Street. 

It is important to know the number 888 as it is the name of the hotel’s Bistro 888 that provides room service as well. 

The floor-to-ceiling glass windows in this luxury spa hotel made me want to eat in the room and admire the sunset and twinkling building lights as I ate like I did when I was younger and lived in Marina City in Chicago (Illinois) on floor 22. 

I ordered a very American meal with flair for dinner – an 888 Burger. This is really a cheeseburger made with an 8-ounce cheese patty that comes with a thick slice of melted aged white cheddar cheese, house-made pickles, lettuce, tomato, and Parmesan cheese “secret” sauce instead of mayonnaise on a large brioche bun. 

I asked for medium cooking on the burger, and it was slightly pink the way I like it in the center. The meat was juicy and delicious with the salty and creamy Parmesan sauce. 

The burger came with a large helping of crisp double-fried French fries and vinegary strands of purple cabbage slaw. 

The next day, I woke up early and took my spa shower. The hotel water was soft and the InterContinental offers free Byredo Bal d’Afrique cleansing and conditioning products. (Bal d’Afrique perfume sells for $230 for a 1.07 ounce – 50 ml bottle, so I lathered up in luxury.) 

As I let my hair dry, I ordered breakfast from Bistro 888 again for in-room service again. 

For breakfast, I ate an 888 Omelette with three slices of whole wheat toast. The omelette was ¼-inch thick all around and amply filled with sautéed spinach, mini shiitake mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, and melted Monterey Jack cheese.

Fried fingerling potatoes came with the meal along with two small bottles of Tabasco sauce for extra seasoning.  These tasted great with the double latte I ordered to go with breakfast.

I forgot to order bacon, but my husband Laurent brought back some from breakfast downstairs.  The bacon was thick cut with mostly meat and deliciously salty. (San Francisco is hot during the day with unexpected gusts of cold wind. Perfect weather for salt depletion.) 

The InterContinental San Francisco weekend trip was a great success. I ate two great meals, felt invigorated by the Byredo Bal d’Afrique spa shower, admired the San Francisco skyline 12 stories up, organized a writing project in my head (Tasting Rome blog), and had fun on the way home admiring the scenery along I-280 as we passed the airport and Palo Alto real estate on the way to Highway 101 to Salinas, California. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Spicy Crab Salad at Roy's in Pebble Beach by Ruth Paget

Spicy Crab Salad at Roy’s in Pebble Beach, California by Ruth Paget 

The unexpected presentation of ordinary dishes at Roy’s restaurant in Pebble Beach, California make ocean side dining there a pleasant and memorable experience. 

On a recent visit to Roy’s, I ordered spicy crab salad. I like stringy masses of crab with spicy mayonnaise, but Roy’s has a much more elegant way with this salad. 

The chopped crab with a hint of mayonnaise came as a large disc in the bottom of a large flat-bottomed salad bowl. There were about 4 ice cream scoops of crab all together. Spread on top of the crab was a thin layer of spicy, hot wasabi horseradish paste. 

On top of the crab disc, there was a mound of organic Monterey County baby greens with two pink Hawaiian flower petals (plumeria?). I assumed the flowers were edible and ate them along with the salad. 

The dressing was a yuzu-pineapple juice vinaigrette. Yuzus look like prickly lemons and taste like grapefruit. They give the sour tang to the tropical vinaigrette. 

That salad was delicious for light spice lovers and certainly qualified as a spa lunch. 

For dessert, I ordered a chocolate banana cream pie, which arrived as a 3D swirl of bananas and thick whipped cream in a flaky pastry cup topped off with a thick chocolate syrup. 

As I ate this delicious food, I thought of chef Ferran Adrià whose meals at his El Bulli Restaurant in Barcelona, Spain were described as theatre – great food, great beverages, great view, great comfort, and great service. 

Roy’s restaurant at Pebble Beach, California provides all this and offers a varied menu for diners who would like a burger or BBQ après golf. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Seafood Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Seafood Simple Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert is an all-inclusive reference for all things fish. Ripert begins Seafood Simple with several pages of explanation and photos about how to skin, debone, and fillet different fish body types. 

After the preparation technique chapter, Ripert provides recipes organized by cooking method as follows:

-raw, cured, and marinated 

-steamed 

-poached 

-fried 

-baked 

-sautéed 

-broiled 

-grilled 

-preserved 

Some of the recipes I consider outstanding include: 

-oysters mignonette – raw oysters on the half shell with a red wine and shallot served on the side for dipping 

-halibut en papillote – baked white fish with tomatoes, onions, white wine, and basil that is wrapped in foil  

-moules marinères – steamed mussels with shallots and white wine

-halibut mushroom casserole 

-linguine vongole – steamed clams with linguine pasta 

-salmon and tomato à la Gilbert – poached salmon in tomato and cream sauce 

All of these dishes remind me of the food I ate in Parisian bistros when I lived there and are items that I can make in my home now. 

Readers who might enjoy Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert include: 

-France lovers 

-young professionals like accountants and lawyers 

-musicians 

-artists 

-marketing workers 

-caterers 

-dieters 

If you like fish, Seafood Simple by Eric Ripert should be in your kitchen library

(Note: In Salinas, California, you can buy fresh seafood at Star Market and Safeway. Close to Salinas, you can fresh seafood at Phil’s Fish Market in Moss Landing.) 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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MENSA Book Review Writing for Kids posted by Ruth Paget

Tips for book review writing for kids by MENSA follow -

MENSA Book Review Writing for Kids

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MENSA Budget Basics for Kids posted by Ruth Paget

 MENSA Budget Basics for Kids including a monthly worksheet - click below:

MENSA Budge Basics for Kids

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Suggested A-level Reading List for British Commonwealth Universities posted by Ruth Paget

suggested A-Level Reading List for British Commonwealth Countries:

A-Level Reading List British Commonwealth

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International Baccleaureate Reading Database posted by Ruth Paget

This list adds some international flair to summer reading choices:

International Baccleaureate Reading Database

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Internet Public Library has Youth Literature posted by Ruth Paget

The Internet Public Library has children’s and young adult fiction and nonfiction that you can check out as an online summer reading resource - ipl.org

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Tasting Rome Reviewed by Ruth Paget

Tasting Rome Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

Tasting Rome: Fresh Flavors and Forgotten Recipes by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill provides armchair travelers and cooks with a salty, sweet tour of the city’s culinary offerings. 

The book covers the following traditional Italian course offerings: 

-aperitivi – salty snacks to go with cocktails 

-primi - first course dishes that are usually pasta or soup 

-secondi – second course dishes or main course offerings 

-contorni – vegetable course 

-dolce – sweets 

My favorite recipes in the cookbook include: 

*Aperitvii

-deep-fried suppli rice risotto balls made with radicchio (purple-red lettuce) and gorgonzola 

-deep-fried cacio e pepe suppli risotto balls made with crushed black pepper and pecorino cheese 

-crostini con burro e alici – toast rounds with butter and anchovies 

*Primi 

-carbonara pasta made with eggs, pecorino cheese, and guanciale pork jowl “bacon”

-spaghetti alla gricia made with guanciale “bacon”, white wine, and pecorino cheese  

-bomboletti pasta all-amatriciana made with tubular ridged pasta, guanciale, shallots, tomatoes, and garlic 

-cacio e pepe pasta made with just crushed black pepper and grated pecorino cheese 

*Secondi 

-pollo alla Romana chicken stew made with onions, bell peppers, cloves, and tomatoes  

-porchetta slow-roasted pork roast made with pepper, salt, garlic, rosemary, pepperoncino, and fennel seeds 

*Contorni 

-baked vegetables with bread crumbs 

-shaved artichoke salad 

-baked tomatoes stuffed with rice 

*Dolce 

-peach and wine sorbet 

-coffee granita

-panna cotta - solid milk pudding flavored here with mint 

Readers who might enjoy Tasting Rome include: 

-Italophiles who want to learn more about the country and Roman cuisine 

-cooks 

-servers

-travel writers 

-restaurant reviewers 

-young families 

-childcare workers 

People wanting to add a little Roman brio to their lives would also enjoy reading Tasting Rome by Katie Parla and Kristina Gill for the recipes and cultural notes. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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MENSA Storytelling for Kids posted by Ruth Paget

I like MENSA’s introduction to storytelling for offering several approaches for organizing stories.  Details below:

MENSA Storytelling for Kids

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The Italian Baker Reviewed by Ruth Paget

The Italian Baker Reviewed by Ruth Paget 

I enjoyed armchair traveling through Italy as I read Carol Field’s recipes for bread, grissini bread sticks, panzanella bread and vegetable salad, pizza, focaccia, sweet Italian croissants, tarts, cakes, and cookies in The Italian Baker. 

The recipes are sophisticated but Field provides nonna (grandma) STEAM education activities for baking as well such as: 

-coiling a bread string to make a pair of eye cookies 

-rolling out a band of dough and making two slits and pulling the dough at the end to make a crown 

-rolling out a band of dough and making slits every inch and then rolling the band up to form a bush 

More conventional items that families could make from the book on weekends include:

-panini bread roll sandwiches 

-ciabatta bread loaves from the Lake Como region in northern Italy 

-Olive bread from Liguria 

-chopped red pepper bread 

-Parmesan and pecorino bread made with cheese from Northern and Southern Italy 

-Parmesan grissini bread sticks 

-sweet croissants (kids are always fascinated to see rolling up a triangle into a croissant shape and the puffing up of the croissants overnight from proofing)

Field taught me that chewy texture and nutty flavor of many Italian breads come from the use an already fermented biga or starter that is mixed with dough to create a double fermentation in the dough in addition to the two risings of the dough. 

People in the following professions might enjoy The Italian Baker by Carol Field: 

-baker 

-childcare worker 

-Girl Scout troop leaders 

-restaurant owners 

-servers 

Italophiles, childcare workers, and restaurant workers might all find something to make in The Italian Baker by Carol Field. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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MENSA for Kids Greek Myths posted by Ruth Paget

MENSA for Kids Greek Myths activities.  Info below:

MENSA Greek Myths for Kids

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