My daughter Ella is here visiting us from England. We almost didn’t pick her up at the airport. I was looking at an itinerary from last year, which read that she was arriving on the fifteenth. This year, she arrived on the fourteenth. Ella and I do this thing back and forth each time she is coming out and after I purchase the ticket. We count down the days together. I’ll message her and write, “5 days” and the next day she writes, “4 days.” You get the point. Well, on Friday, I wrote, “2 days.” She responded that it was only one day for her and she was going to the airport in the morning. She then asked what day it was for me. I told her it was the same day as it was for her, Friday, and I asked if she arrives here on Sunday. She said no, Saturday. So, I searched for her itinerary to make sure she was right. I was reading the old itinerary all along. Thank goodness we have this tradition of messaging or she would have arrived here from that long flight only to find herself alone in the airport. I would never have forgiven myself. Now, she is here safe and sound.

Claud ended up picking her up because Daphne and I were at the Nevada State Democratic Convention for thirteen hours that day. It is a crazy time consuming process out here. We did our part to help and to be involved. I love how Daphne is so involved in trying to make a difference in politics. I was happy to know Ella was with Claud and made it back to our house before we were able to leave the convention. We were all exhausted that night.

Daphne is also doing a lot of cooking. She, like myself, has become inspired by watching cooking shows on television. One day each week, she and her boyfriend make dinner for our family and whoever else happens to be here. This week they made sweet and sour tofu and chicken. It is so amazing to watch and know we are all about to eat a delicious dinner prepared by my daughter. It is a little strange to not be involved in the process. This time, I helped out. I just couldn’t stand it. Ella got involved as well.

Ella, Jack and I are all vegetarians. So, Daphne was kind enough to make the tofu option. I wrote the recipe for both the chicken and the tofu so you could choose which one you would like to try. Daphne loves Asian food and after her trip to Hong Kong, I wasn’t surprised that she decided to make us food with an Asian flair. I am not a huge fan of tofu but I didn’t say anything when she told me what she was making. Also, I wasn’t sure if Jack would try it. She and her boyfriend set the table and opened a bottle of wine for me and Claud. It all looked so nice.

She cooked some fried rice to serve with the sweet and sour chicken and tofu. It all looked so delicious. Everyone sat down and dug in, including Jack. It was really so good. I loved the tofu. She told me the trick is to make sure to get the tofu as dry as possible so it bakes up nice and crispy. She was right. Her light batter on the tofu was just perfect. The thing about tofu is that it has no flavor. However, if you lightly batter it and add an amazing sauce, the tofu takes on the flavor the the sauce and is really very good. Ella loved it too and so did Jack. We all ate and chatted. I felt blessed to have almost all of my kids under one roof and happy to be enjoying some incredible food. You should give this dish a try and even go for the tofu option if your feeling brave. It really tasted wonderful. I promise.

Sweet and Sour tofu or chicken:

Time: one hour

Serves: 6

2 pounds chicken or 36 ounces of tofu

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs

2 tablespoons olive oil

cup apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons ketchup

1 tablespoon soy sauce

cup sugar

1 teaspoon garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If using tofu, wrap it in paper towels and try to get as much water out of it as you can. Cut the tofu into inch squares. If using chicken thighs, wash the chicken in water and dry them in paper towels. Pour cornstarch into a medium sized bowl. Whisk eggs in another bowl. Dredge the tofu or chicken into the egg and then into the cornstarch until all of the pieces are coated. Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, place the pieces into the pan and brown them on all sides. Remove them from the pan and place them onto a baking sheet. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce, sugar and garlic salt. Mix together with a fork or whisk. Pour this sauce over the chicken or tofu. Bake for thirty minutes. Remove from the oven and serve with fried rice.