Hello there!

The beginning of the year is such a groggy time for me. I still feel like I’ve not fully awakened or something. To help dispel some of the lethargy, I spent a few cathartic hours pruning out in the garden. Things don’t look great now but hopefully, as the weather warms up, things will green up and or fill out. Tending to the edible plants is my job (we have a low-key gardening service for the rest of the yard). I remain carefully optimistic, despite my negligence.

How does your garden grow?

Leave a comment

💎 Your ginger and pineapple questions answered

A number of you found the tropical fruit information to be of great interest. Ellyce asked about how to grow ginger well on the mainland. I asked my friend Chan for tips and she quickly offered great insights. Check out Chan’s tips in the comments section of last week’s aloha midweek gems; I pinned our conversation to the top of the comments section!

As for how pineapple grows, I found a couple of photos from last week to show you how that Sugarloaf had grown before I harvested it.

Yes, you just then replant and there’s a new plant to make another pineapple!

💎 Co-gardening to share resources and harvest

My neighbor, Adrienne, is a superb gardener. She also has full sun. When one of her lemon trees didn’t work out, I suggested that we co-grow an Italian lemon and a Southeast Asian calamansi tree. Between the two of us, we also have Meyer lemon, Bears lime, and makrut lime.

I bought the trees locally (they’re grown by Four Winds, which ships too) and Adrienne planted them and tends to them. She loves cocktails and calamansi’s unusual tart-sweet (think lime x tangerine) flavor is good for that. I use calamansi for nuoc cham dipping sauce and other Southeast Asian dishes; I also squeeze the juice into soda water for a fizzy drink. Calamansi (Citrus × microcarpa) is often seen in Filipino cuisine but is also native to other parts of the region, including Indonesia and Taiwan.

It’s only been about 3 months but the little calamansi put out fruit already!

Only about 1 1/4 inch wide, calamansi is rare so what I was able to harvest is extra special. If you’re tight on space or if you don’t have the right growing conditions for something, team up with a neighbor!

💎 Food processor reviews

Last year when we were recipe testing the Thai cookbook, Jen in New Zealand shared that the food processor she uses most is a smallish one, though she also has a bigger capacity machine. Jen is a very good cook. I asked my friend Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks and she also has a smallish machine. Were they onto something? Is bigger always better when it comes to processors?

So I got a small processor, then I got another. I’ve been using them all — including big boy and the minis - for about 6 months to figure out what works best for home and why. I just wrote up my assessment on the website. I was surprised by the performance of a $40 processor, so much so that I also made a casual video to show you that it’s worth considering. Check out the new food processor buying guide.

💎 Chicken pho for healing

Several friends on the East Coast have reported getting a terrible flu around New Year’s. If you’re in the same boat or are nursing someone back to health, make a pot of chicken pho. Make chicken pho using my Instant Pot chicken pho recipe or the long simmer, more traditional version of phở gà. Both are excellent and it just depends on your equipment. When I’m unwell, the aromatic chicken pho broth and squiggly noodles are extra comforting.

💎 Say 👋

If you see me out and about, don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to me like Meg did this week at the Santa Cruz farmer’s market. We were both shopping for oranges and yes, the weather here this week is heavenly!

Next up — think about what you want to learn and cook in 2026. Paid subscribers — this will be your chance to seed what we do at PTFS this year.