hapa rules!

I just have to take a minute to give a huge shout out to Mike and Nancy who sent me the most amazing gift today. part asian • 100% hapa is an inspired creation by kip fulbeck. It's a 262 page book of portraits of "hapas" and their corresponding, hand-written answers to the question, "What are you?"

For those of you who don't know what "hapa" is, it's described on kip's website redsushi.com as: "Once a derogatory label derived from the Hawaiian word for “half,” Hapa has since been embraced as a term of pride by many whose mixed racial heritage includes Asian or Pacific Island descent."

Being a hapa myself (dad's Korean, mom's Irish/Scottish) and growing up as a child in the 60s-70s, I never dreamed I would see a book like this! And you know what? My reaction was something I neither expected, nor could control. I cried. I even laughed at myself for crying . . . while crying.

Now I don't particularly view myself as being a "wounded individual" for having experienced racism in my life -- or for never fitting in as one race or the other. I've always marched to the BWWONG of my own gong -- so to speak. And besides, my parents always, always told my sisters and me to be proud of who we are. I guess my reaction to opening this book and immediately knowing the language Kip used, seeing the faces of my fellow tribe of hapas and reading their quirky, insightful, poetic answers to the question, "What are you?" touched the core of ME and who I AM.

Yeah, I guess that's why I cried. Seeing the faces of my fellow tribe of hapas and knowing I can finally tick one box.

Now I realize I started this blog to "blab" or "blag" about cookiechang.com and cookie's crumz and all the art projects I've been working on and everything you can buy at cookiechang.etsy.com . . . so I'm going to wrap this up by reminding you why there's a cookie chang in the first place. It's nothing mind-blowing or earth-shattering. I just liked the name. And because "cookie" and "chang" go together like, well, Irish and Korean!

Anyway, one last little plug for this book . . . even if you aren't hapa, you're gonna know one. BUY THIS BOOK for yourself or the hapa in your life! They're on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and I'm sure at plenty of local bookstores.

I loved this grrl'z answer to "What are you?"

"I am a monster! Raa! And I have a pet dragon (quail). Well . . . I'm actually a Pepsi Twist. No. I'm a dark, dark black hole that sucks the universe. I'm an alien! (With pink sneakers!!)
PINK POWER"

hapa rules!!!!!

Chicken of the Woods in May. Heh?

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday as Poppy and I walked through the woods just down from our house in East Grinstead. There, on a muddy little stream bank, lay a log teaming with fresh, juicy Chicken of the Woods (laetiporus sulphureous)! Translated, this means MUSHROOMS! On May 6th? Who knew?

The earliest I've found them in Oregon was late late summer. But mostly I've found them in the autumn while picking Chanterelles (cantharellus cibarius). I guess like most similarities between the US and UK, you just have to tweak a little here and twist a little there to fit one into the other. (Well, kinda sorta.) At least we share many of the same edible species.

Poor Poppy. She thought she was on her way to chase squirrels up trees all afternoon. But as soon as I spied this log (where I'd seen little orange blobs only a week before), I flipped us around and back up the tree-lined incline home for the camera, a paper bag and my brand new Carluccio's Mushroom Knife  -- an inspired birthday present from our wonderful friends Janne and Christine!

Is it not just the sexiest mushroom knife ever? And the only thing more exciting than finding Chicken of the Woods at the beginning of May was using it for the first time! Was it actually Antonio Carluccio who designed this masterpiece? I don't know, but it's brilliant! Brush, blade and little tweezers -- all in one perfectly balanced, wood-handled tool . . . and that rhymes with COOL.

And now back to the laetiporus sulphureous . . . . When discovering these mushrooms in the past, I'd have to trim only the outer edges, leaving the tough and chewy majority on the stump. Not these babies. They were moist and springy and, well, perfect really!

Now all I have to do is decide how to cook them.