Happy Late Summer Reader,

I hope you are enjoying these last weeks of summer before the fall season begins! If you have kids, I hope "Back to School" goes well for you! I just drove my daughter back to university to live in a house with friends. I bought her some Thermos insulated food jars to pack lunch for campus. She looks forward to making her own meals and not having to eat from the dining hall. The variety of stainless steel and silicone bentos has exploded since she was a small girl. We had the Planet Box for many years and passed it down to nephews.
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My interview on The Cookbook Love Podcast

Listen to my interview about Plant-Based Pacific on the Cookbook Love Podcast! I share inspiration for the book, my Filipino-American heritage, my childhood in Japan and the multi-cultural goodness of Hawai‘i. Also cooking and writing tips for first-time authors.

Listen here

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Vegan Options on Royal Caribbean's
Wonder of the Seas

I just got back recently from a family reunion celebrating my father-in-law's 80th birthday on a Royal Caribbean cruise, Wonder of the Seas. This was my first cruise experience and to be honest, I had some anxiety about what would be there to eat. I realized that I am quite spoiled when it comes to food and tried to focus on spending time with family. However, I thought that documenting the options might help someone else plan their trip or at least know what to look out for!

If you visit San Juan Puerto Rico, be sure to check out Cafe Berlin! Their Tofu Papaya Avocado Ceviche was so refreshing and I really enjoyed the vegan Puerto Rican Mofongo. The tofu in it was spectacular. The best meal was found off the cruise and I highly recommend a visit.
We also visited St. Maarten and saw magical turtles while snorkeling.
(the little on in the header of this email was off Tintamarre Island)

Read more about vegan options on Wonder of the Seas

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Anyone else have too many cucumbers?
We've had a bumper crop and have been eating them at almost every meal in addition to fridge pickling, canned pickles, fermenting as kimchi and dill pickles, making tzatziki, cucumber raita and donating to our local food bank. For the first time, we dehydrated a batch! They tasted so good and are so easy to eat! I hope to save some for winter time!

I've seen Chinese cucumber Lays potato chips. I'm going to make some cucumber powder and put it on some potato chips.
Dehydrating is super easy to do, especially if you have the right equipment. I've had an Excalibur dehydrator since my raw food exploration days in the mid 2000's. It still works great but if I didn't have it I'd pick this stainless steel one - COSORI Food dehydrator.

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With summer and tropical time coming to an end, think of leaving a review for Plant-Based Pacific. I'd love to hear your thoughts and see the pictures of what you have made. As a small business owner and first-time author, it's word-of-mouth and personal connections that help the book find the people who would enjoy it.
Orders from my website come signed by me! But you can also leave reviews on Amazon.com!

Thanks so much for your support!

I'll be back in your inbox in the fall, just in time for apple season here in upstate NY!