Mushroom Stock

 Mushrooms are wonderful earthy treats. There are a thousand different varieties of mushrooms. Be careful if you are not a skilled mushroom hunter; you are better off buying mushrooms in a supermarket. Some mushrooms are very expensive and making them into stock is not a practical choice to make.  However, mushroom stock is very helpful to have on hand especially for vegans. I like to make mushroom stock using the button mushroom or baby portobello mushrooms. These kinds of mushroom are inexpensive to make stock. Mushroom stock is ideal to have around. It can be used as a base for mushroom soup or a sauce for making stir-fried dishes to go with meets three or vegetables. Mushrooms are also very healthy to consume daily. So let's make mushroom stock now.

 Ingredients:

2 lbs. button mushrooms, cleaned

4 garlic cloves

2 cups chopped sweet white onion

3 quarts cold water

1 tsp salt

Directions:

Place all the ingredients in a stockpot and simmer for 2 hours. 

Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve.

Pour the broth into a glass jar with lid and then refrigerate, or it can be frozen until needed.

Tip: store mushrooms in the refrigerator covered with a damp paper towel to keep them moist. Do not store them in plastic bags, or they will become slimy.

Multipurpose Marinating Sauce for Meats

Summer is the season for BBQ, so I would like to introduce to those who always visit my kitchen a very unique marinade for all kinds of meats. I also use this marinade for seafood dishes like mackerel, tuna, and salmon. To add more flavor for this marinade, I add garlic oil to it.  I will provide a garlic oil recipe instruction below this recipe. In the Asian kitchen, garlic oil plays a big role for preparing Asian dishes. With this kind of marinade source in your hands, you will not hesitate to show off your cooking skills.  I guarantee that any type of meat preparation will have a super result after marinating with this sauce. 

Ingredients:

 1/4 cup soy powder sauce

1/4 cup oyster sauce

1/4 cup garlic oil*

2 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs onion powder

1 tbs 5 spice (ngu vi huong)

2 tbs blak pepper or white pepper

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs seasoning (chicken powder or mushroom powder)

1/4 cup corn syrup

2 tbs honey

1 tbs brown sugar

1/4 cup cooking wine** 

 Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Store the sauce in a glass jar with lid. It will last for months in the refrigerator.

I use 1/4 cup of the sauce for 2 lbs of chicken. You can adjust the sauce according to your family’s taste. Also adjust the sweet and salty to your liking.

*Garlic oil recipe:

1/2 cup minced garlic

1 cup oil (I use 1/2 peanut oil and grape seeds oil)

In a sauté pan, cook garlic and oil over medium low heat until the garlic turns golden brown. Keep your eyes on the garlic near the end of cooking because it is easy to burn it. Store the garlic oil in a glass jar with lid. I will share many easy recipes later using this oil.

**The cooking wine that I use for this recipe is called "Ruou Mai Que Lo". I will share the recipe at a later time. However, if you live near and Asian grocery store, this wine is sold there. 

Learn to forget the past

The word "Forget" sounds lightweight, but it actually weighs a thousand pounds. "Forgetting" is not easy, especially for those who hurt us.

The misery of human life is often entangled in thoughts because of these words: Let go of it, think uninformed, see not clearly, and cannot forget.

During a lifetime, one can meet so many people, experience so many bittersweet stories. But if everything was kept in their hearts, how tiring would it be?  Especially the nostalgia or the obsession often tends to reappear, making us sink in sad emotions, which is hard to let go of. That is called the past and one cannot forget.

To be happy, we need to put aside the past, strive for the present fully so that in the future, when looking back at the present all the beautiful memories have become that pass. Now the past is all happy moments and satisfaction.  Let's cherish each day we live because this is the true meaning of life. The past can be a good lesson for our future, but it should not be a burden to bear throughout life. So what can be forgotten should be forgotten, so that not only will our heart will be peaceful but also our mind will be enlightened. Your letting go of the past is a great gift to yourself.

Everyone is born and raised. No one will always be lucky enough to have success the first time they do it. Edison failed thousands of times before making the light bulb, but what he got after each failure was experience for the next experiment. But people only know him when the light bulb was actually made, and that process of failure is not well known. So when you try and still have no success, use it as a springboard to try harder in the present and build the present for the best.

So what is the word "forget" here?  If the past failures are the springboard of future success, why do we still forget the past? However, “Forgetting" here is forgetting the feelings of sadness, pain, and depression when failing, so that you always maintain your ideals, believe in yourself, and give yourself more motivation to dare to continue to fail the next time.

There is an English saying that "Freedom is not free”. Yes, everything we have in life is obtained by ourselves. However, there are also things that are destined not to belong to us, like someone who does not love us. Forget about the person who doesn't love us and look around us; there are still more worthy people. Forget about a desire too far out of reach to have peace of mind; instead enjoy the achievements of the present.

Happiness almost always exists in small things, maybe just a beautiful morning seeing the light in the sky, or maybe a friendly smile from a passerby when suddenly meeting each other's eyes. There is no need for high aspirations. Choose a simple life, strive for positive things and know how to ignore aspirations and ambitions that make us no longer ourselves.

The biggest obstacle between you and your happiness is wishing. You always wish for bigger things, different things, the things you don't have for the best. This is a completely wrong mentality. You have the right to dream, the right to strive for that dream. But that does not mean that those dreams are the only things that deserve to be grasped by you.

Life is multifaceted, and things need to be seen in many directions to get the best judgment. Think about when you are old, weak, and sick. What is the most important thing for you to preserve? Is it family love? Fame and fortune cannot be brought with you after death. True friends are ready to be friends both in difficult times and in happy times.

The answer is already in your heart. What you have to do is just grasp it boldly. "Forget" the frivolous things and focus on a good future with a sincere more conscientious attitude.

When our mind is peaceful, our life is immediately peaceful.

 

Psychological perspective