Lipskys’ Tuna Poke for 4

Poke (Poh-kay)… is a traditional Hawaiian dish made from raw fish (Sashimi-grade ahi tuna or octopus) sliced/ diced into bite-sized pieces and marinated in a sauce. Depending on the portions, it can be served as an appetizer or entree.

Due to proximity, Hawaiian food is influenced at times by Japanese cuisine. Over the years, we have been known to frequent a local Japanese sushi steak house, and we have enjoyed a great poke or two over the years. Tashi, our sushi chef friend, will vouch for it!

So, being devotees of a great poke, we’ve researched recipes and experimented with a few on our own. The result is that we’ve created our own homemade tuna poke and decided we are ready to share.

As with any recipe, the key is to read through the recipe first, organize all of the ingredients and you’re ready to go! You will be amazed how quickly this meal comes together from start to finish. It takes about 20-25 minutes. 

Ingredients

Sriracha Sauce
6 Tablespoons mayonnaise 
3 Tablespoons Sriracha 
3 Tablespoons soy sauce 

Poke Marinade
1/2 cup Japanese soy sauce
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp mirin sweet rice wine
1 Tablespoon + 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 Teaspoons granulated sugar

Poke
1 Pound Sashimi-grade* tuna cut into approximately 1/2″ cubes – we prepare it frozen
2 Avocados (Haas), peeled, pitted, & cut into 1/2″ pieces

Rice
2-3 cups long-grain, white rice, (we use Jasmine), cooked – we serve it warm, or… if you prefer, the traditional Sushi Rice (see pics below**)

Toppings
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
6 Scallions, thinly sliced diagonally 
1/2 Cucumber, seedless, diced small 

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, Sriracha & soy sauce; set aside until ready to drizzle on top to serve. Tip: A squirt bottle is a plus for drizzling it!
2. Combine soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and sugar in a medium mixing bowl and stir until sugar dissolves. I use a metal/ stainless steel bowl to keep the marinade as chilled as possible.
3. Add prepared tuna and avocado to the marinade, toss well & let marinate for approximately five to seven minutes. A longer time is not necessary.
4. Divide the warm cooked rice between wide bowls & add some drained tuna and avocado mixture to each bowl. Discard the remaining marinade. 
5. Drizzle with some Sriracha sauce
6. Top with scallions, cucumbers & sesame seeds.

*Note: Tuna must be sashimi-grade tuna to be eaten raw.  Ask your fishmonger about the grade of your tuna.  We always buy it frozen & cut it while it’s frozen for this recipe. 

**Traditional Sushi Rice – This is the brand that we use for our poke and sushi rolls. For each cup of rice (prior to cooking), we add 2 1/2 Tablespoons of rice vinegar, 1/2 Tablespoon of Sugar, and 1/2 Tablespoon of Salt at the end to season it. We also only use a wooden spoon so we don’t damage the cooked rice. This prevents the rice from having any adverse “reaction” to the vinegar.

“And the Emmy goes to…Ted Lasso!” Now, try his Famous and Delicious Biscuits!

Are you familiar with Ted Lasso? He is the charming & witty football coach from Kansas on Apple TV+. This show has received over 20 Emmy nominations for a freshman series & won 11! It’s a great show and we’re loving it!

Jason Sudeikis, Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, plays Ted, an American football coach from Kansas, who is hired to coach an English Premier League soccer team — AFC Richmond. The problem…Ted knows nothing about soccer. The good thing is…he does know how to coach a team and a real plus is that he makes some delicious biscuits!

In England, biscuits are similar to cookies in the United States. They’re like a shortbread cookie. Ted, who is trying to get in good graces with the professional soccer team’s new owner, Rebecca, cheerfully delivers biscuits to her every morning. He delivers them directly to her, at her office, in a lovely pink box. Surprised at the gesture, Rebecca tries them and to her delight, she finds the biscuits to be extremely addictive. She starts craving them, wants more, and would like to know where he gets them because she would like to purchase them for herself. Ted insists that he will continue to bring them to her. As time passes, Rebecca discovers the real secret…Ted’s biscuits are homemade, everyday, in his very own kitchen!

Recently, “Ted,” & his fellow stars from the show appeared on the TODAY show & AppleTV gave out his recipe!!! I was so excited to find the official recipe online. So, the next day, I baked some. The original recipe follows, & I’ve added my minor adjustments in parentheses.

The recipe is easy! It’s a great treat & what a fun story to share!
In my best English accent… “Do try them!”

Ted Lasso’s Biscuits

Recipe from the Today show & Apple TV – with my additions in parentheses

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 300 F. (I baked mine at 350 F)
2. Sift flour and salt, mix into a bowl, and set aside.
3. Mix butter on high speed until fluffy (3 to 5 minutes).
Gradually add sugar slowly, continuing to mix until pale and fluffy.
Add flour all at once and mix until combined.
(I added 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.)

4. Butter a square pan. (I used a favorite spray, Professional Bak-klene ZT & a 8” x 10” x 2” Wilton pan)

5. Pat and roll shortbread into pan, no more than 1/2-inch thick.
Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
(I flattened the dough & chilled it in plastic wrap for approximately 1 hour, as I do normally for shortbread cookies & then added it to the buttered pan to 1/2” thickness. I wanted
to chill the dough but not the pan… just a thought.)

6. Cut into squares.
(After patting the chilled dough into the pan, I cut it into rectangles & sprinkled some coarse Kosher salt on top of the dough.)

7. Bake until golden and make sure the middle is firm, approximate bake time 45 to 60 minutes. (I used a toothpick to check for doneness & my biscuits took approximately 25-30 minutes.)

8. Cool completely.

We couldn’t wait & enjoyed a few hot out of the oven but chilled the rest to share! Had a request from Bob… “Make these again!” Enjoy!

Sharing a Passion: Cooking and a Family Favorite – Marinated Steak Salad

Being “Foodies,” we love to celebrate with food.  We are a family of home cooks who have delighted in watching and learning from mom, gram, great gram, aunts and uncles. We watched and assisted as they created many delicious dishes over the years.  Many of the original dishes we learned were from our Slovenian heritage, but over the years we’ve explored many cultural cuisines and now enjoy an amazing variety of wonderful ethnic foods. 

Celebrating Life is what it is all about!  Being together is special!  Be it…a birthday (which we tend to celebrate for days), a movie night, various calendar holidays, international soccer watching, Super Bowl, sport tailgating, a picnic, baptism, bridal / baby shower or just family &/or friends stopping by.  Any or all of those occasions call for a celebration of just being together and enjoying some great food! 

Then, the real conversation begins…what are we hungry for?  A Salad? Soup & sandwich?  Perhaps an ethnic favorite?  Slovenian? An Italian Antipasto? Chinese? Filipino? Mexican?  North African…Tunisian?

Having some extra time at home during 2020, I used some of it to go through recipes and update our Family Cookbook!

When the girls got married (both over 10 years ago now), they received the first Family Cookbook edition. I decided, that now, in 2021, that Family Cookbook is in need of an update. It now needs to include the various “exploration” of food we have experienced during in the past decade.  Restaurant favorites, cookbook favorites, cooking classes, party favorites, entertaining specialties explored and enjoyed with friends….. Wonderful, Celebrations of Our Life! Celebrating with family & friends… having fun! You will come to understand us a tad better through this Adult Adventure – Food section! We Love to Celebrate! Have Fun and Enjoy some of our favorites!

I will be sharing some recipes with you to try! Be assured, they have been tested by us on many occasions and we give them high marks! They are “favorites” in our book!

MARINATED STEAK SALAD
Our family has enjoyed this salad since April, 1993. Mary Ann adapted it from The Silver Palate Cookbook

Ingredients:
Marinade:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce

2 pounds London Broil, 2″ thick

Garlic Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
salt & pepper, to taste
1 cup olive oil, extra virgin

2/3 cup sweet peppers, half red and half green (important for color) – diced
1/3 cup purple / red onions, chopped
1 scallion, thinly sliced, diagonally
2/3 cup garlic dressing*
1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped
Romaine lettuce, washed – dried – chopped
Lemon / Orange rind, grated for garnish

Instructions:
Marinade:
Combine the first three ingredients into a rectangular dish.
Mix well.

Place the London Broil into this mixture and marinate overnight/for at least 3 hours.

Garlic Dressing:
Combine the red wine vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a food processor.
Process briefly. With the motor running, slowly dribble in the olive oil.
Taste – – adjust as needed.
Transfer to a bowl for use later.

Pat the beef dry and pan fry it over the highest possible heat for about 5 – 7 minutes per side (to your preference). Let the meat to rest for a few minutes. 

Julienne the beef into thick, bite-sized pieces and combine with the peppers, red onions and scallion in a large bowl.

Pour on the prepared garlic dressing and toss thoroughly.
Add the parsley and toss again.

Arrange romaine lettuce leaves on a serving platter.
Top with the prepared steak.
Garnish with the lemon / orange rind.

Serve immediately or refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap.
If refrigerated, let salad return to room temperature before serving.

This is truly a family favorite.

Traditionally, much of the “garlic dressed” steak is consumed before reaching the table!
We have served this salad at a variety of family/social occasions – at dinners, covered dishes, picnic/outdoor affairs. Whenever we serve it… Everyone loves it!

Enjoy this fabulous Lipsky family favorite! We always do!
As Julia would say… Bon Appetite!

To Do Today: Eliminate the word “can’t” from your vocabulary

Hi everyone,

Are you ready for some weekend relaxation or what? We are!!

Here’s a little task we’d like you to try today….

Don’t think or speak the word “can’t”.

We’re going to explain why we want you to try this and how amazing this little contraction is…

Are you thinking of “better things” in life?

Are you holding yourself back in life?

How often do you use the phrase “I can’t”?

Can’t is a nasty, yet powerful little word. It gets in your system and tells your brain some ridiculous things!!

Can’t is in the conscious part of your brain.

The conscious part of your brain makes lists, remembers to pick up milk and lock your door when you leave the house.

The conscious brain most certainly has its job to do.

But check this out…

an interesting thing is how your conscious and subconscious work together….

Your subconscious focuses on different things than your conscious.

It focuses on keeping you safe, reacting quickly, your dreams, solving big life problems, happy
thoughts, stored memories, fears, etc. etc.

Your subconscious also listens really well to your conscious.

Kind of like its servant.

If your subconscious hears “I can’t”…

it goes about the rest of your head and body notifying your nerves, muscles so on and so forth

“hey guys! Conscious says we “can’t” so warn everyone!”

So then….

Nerves go on alert, muscles get tight, stress seeps in, avoidance starts…

But wait one doggone second!! Just because you THOUGHT “hmmm, I can’t do this,” does it really mean you can’t do it?
Um, NO!

You’re at a decision point.
The point of taking action.
The point of “I want something better and this looks interesting but… Can I, or can’t I do it?”

And here’s your answer…
YOU CAN.

Change that thought, feeling, nervousness or fear and take control over your own mind.  

YOU CAN DO THIS!

Make “can’t” your enemy today!

Have an amazing day!

Do one thing for yourself today…

Don’t think or speak the word can’t.

See how long you can go!

The LifeDesigning1 Team

P.S. I have always taught and continue to teach Jackson that

“can’t” is not part of our vocabulary! Actually, I taught that to many children

over the years! ~ Nik

We believe in you!

Thomas Jefferson, Book love & The Magic

“I cannot live without books…”
– Thomas Jefferson

One of our many “Adventures” took us to Thomas Jefferson’s estate, Monticello, in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

A lawyer, architect, writer, farmer, scientist, author of the Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, founder of the University of Virginia… he was quite the accomplished gentleman of the times – April 2, 1743 – July 4, 1826.

An intriguing, amazing, having “history come alive” journey, not just for your children or grandchildren in our case, but for people of all ages.  

Known for many quotes, directly from their website – Monticello.org… There’s an entire searchable collection of his quotes available for ones reference as well as on the premises of Monticello where you can enjoy delving into the brilliance of this man through his own words.  

While we were there, I came across one particular quote that resonated with me. That little gem can be found on my desk in my home office.  And…, yes…, it is surrounded by a plethora of books of many subjects, sizes & shapes!  🥰

You may find a “few” collections not only in my office but throughout our home.  Our book collection includes… the classics, books on education, children’s books, art books, novels, cookbooks (yes, I do enjoy reading them!), biographies, religion & spirituality… to name a few.  

But, I digress… I wanted to share a book someone recommended to me recently: “The Magic” by Rhonda Byrne. If you don’t know who Rhonda Byrne is, click here for Google results or look her up on Wikipedia. She’s  known as the author of the New Thought books — The Secret [as well as the film], The Power, The Magic, The Hero…)

Her book, “The Magic,” shares with the reader, the power of gratitude, giving thanks, appreciating & counting ones blessings.  It is a 28 day journey in unearthing & acknowledging the joy in ones life.

The book is an easy read that leads you to reflect on your life & to appreciate each & every day that you experience! If you know my “story,” you know that my my family & I have come to understand this “power” for many years now.  We certainly have learned – to “count our blessings” each and every day.  

So… Does one of my favorite quotes resonate with you too?  

If it does… pick up a copy of “The Magic” on Amazon here. Let us know in the comments section below what book(s) you are currently reading that you may want to share with us!  We would be grateful for, give thanks, appreciate & count our blessings to hear your suggestions! 😉❤️

• Top two photos from Monticello.org