Seven Days of Dinner, Jan. 30 - Feb. 5

Last weekend was a hectic one. We hosted two birthday parties -- one for Jammy on Saturday, and one for 3Po on Sunday. I kind of went a little bit nuts over the preparation (it's the first time we've ever done separate parties for them, so I wanted it to be a big deal), so little details like figuring out what we're going to have for dinner kind of fell by the wayside all of last week and this week.

Now it's all over, and yesterday I finally got the opportunity to step into a supermarket and shop for fresh food (as opposed to the quick runs for milk and cake mix and juice and party supplies that I had been doing all of last week). I'm still recovering from the weekend, so I decided to focus solely on Monday's dinner, and I decided Monday was going to be taco night. I shopped at a nearby Mexican grocery store, and the whole family went wild over the food -- taco shells fresh out of their bakery, real Mexican sour cream, fresh salsa made with actual cilantro, pork stewed for over an hour. Flush from last night's triumph, I've decided to make this week a Round-the-World week: we'll be having dinner inspired by a different country's cuisine each night. Note that I said "inspired", not "authentic". I realize that several of the dishes below are merely American versions of the cuisine. Even the Philippine pork adobo won't be the genuine thing, because I make mine with far less oil than most Filipinos would. But that doesn't mean they can't taste great!

Here's what's on our menu:
Mexico: carnitas tacos
China: Chinese chicken salad
India: mushroom and pea curry with rice
Philippines: pork adobo with rice
Japanese: make-your-own veggie sushi and potstickers
England: fish and chips
America: pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw (this one's for Superbowl Sunday!)

Bon apetit!

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