Family, Friendship, Food, Fun and Everything in Between!
My daughter has been complaining that her hair has a ton of knots lately. I noticed that the routine hair oil trick doesn’t seem to work as well as before. It’s time for a trim.
I guess my princess was happy with my hair cut skill, proven on my prince. When I asked if she wanted a hair trim, she happily accepted the offer.
One happy customer with no complaints!
Finally, my stubborn boy wanted his cowboy boots on!
My baby girl has always been a boots girl she is wearing hers too, as you can see in the picture! We were just going grocery shopping :p preparing for the savory crepe tasting party tomorrow. Super exciting!
I am testing recipes for sweet and savory crepes. Did sweet version yesterday. Last minute idea and decision. Grabbed a few friends live nearby as judges and we brain stormed on ingredients, presentations, flavor combo… Such a fun time! Kids went crazy playing too. Love my friends!
I made a few variations of crepe batters and fillings and toppings:
4 kinds of batter:
batter with grand marnier, batter with rum, plain batter and chocolate with espresso
Fillings and toppings:
Lemon ricotta filling with blueberry syrup topping
Cinnamon mascarpone
Strawberry mascarpone and cream cheese
Very berry sauce
Home made apricot jam
whipped cream and cream cheese filling
Here are some in progress pictures, everyone’s creation based on what they liked and after math.
Having fun tasting and creating
Can’t wait till my savory version tasting!
I have been pushing my kids to donate some of their million unwanted toys to those kids in need for a couple of years now. My bad on not really following it through until now. I have always talked to them and mentally preparing them, but never seemed to really get a box and make them do it.
So, I need to change that and correct my mistakes. I will need to move soon, so perfect timing on really put this idea to action.
Kids were initially excited that we get to go through their old toys and do something nice to other kids. They went ahead and filled up the box half way in no time, really grabbing everything they could see and reach.
Feeling happy that my kids are indeed generous and kind kids, but a bit worried that they would regret, I walked away for a second. Then the kids yelled from the play room and told me the box is ready to go. I came back to the play room and saw this.
Most of these were in the box, and now in their “keep, just in case we want it” pile.
They talked each other into keeping everything! Ugh, gotta try harder tomorrow. At least I have 2 giant boxes of their small clothes for donation. That’s a good start!
I can’t stand my son’s hair being long and pokes his ear. Especially in Texas heat, I much rather him keep his hair short. His whole life, I have been cutting his hair, except for a couple of years ago, we tried a hair dresser one time, and let’s just say, it was a 4 people job and he did not fancy that experience.
My big boy knows, it’s way more comfortable with shorter hair. So as soon as I mentioned I am giving him a hair cut, he was ready to roll.
Bubbles came to visit. Yep, her name is Bubbles. I have no clue where Jasmine was at that time.
Once I started working on his hair, my daughter joined as a sweeper. She did an amazing job.
She took a break, and found a ripe fig from our fig trees! I didn’t even think we would have any ripe ones till a week or two later. But she certainly enjoyed it.
Big boy looked so much better with shorter hair! What do you think? I am just happy that he loved it!
2 more tests done today, first thing in the morning. Chest CT scan and spine X-ray… fingers crossed for good news! The following 2 days waiting period is going to be hard.
Kids were happy as usual, we played games, read books, braided each other’s hair, watched a bit news, waiting patiently in the waiting room this time due to radiation from X-ray. My mind was distracted, even with two super hyper little ones near me. It felt strangely unsettling.
Please keep my mom in your thoughts and prayers…
I have perfected this dish. I have not met a single person that didn’t like it, that’s including kids, and not just my own…Everyone has way over eaten when this dish is served. So, if I can make a suggestion, pack up the rest of the dish and put away, before eating, otherwise you will go back to serve more.
Of course, I tweak the recipe with what I have on hand all the time. As long I have the delicious fat rice noodles on hand, I am golden!
Disclaimer, if you are not familiar with some of these sauces or seasoning, they are all very common sauces in Asian cooking, they are available at pretty much all Asian markets.
Here is how I made today’s version:
Ingredients:
1 package of fat rice noodles, left on the counter for a couple of hours to bring up to room temperature, then taken out of the packaging and microwaved on high for 5 minutes to completely soften.
4 large eggs
1 chicken breast, thinly sliced
4 Swiss chard, hard stem removed (I saved the stem for juicing later, no waste!) and thinly sliced
2 carrots, cut length wise in quarters and cut into match sticks
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cabbage leaves (I had Taiwan cabbage, so much softer than regular American cabbage), thinly sliced
4 cloves of large garlic, minced
1 knob of ginger, about 1/2 inch long, minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 handful of fresh basil, thinly sliced
Marinade for chicken:
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp cooking wine (I used Shaoxing wine, available at any Asian market)
1 tsp mushroom bouillon
1 tbsp rice vinegar
Seasoning for Pad Kee Mao:
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp of Maggie sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp mushroom bouillon
Method:
Marinade chicken with the chicken marinade above, mix well and set aside. Let the chicken soak up the flavor. Wash hands well.
Prepare vegetables as mentioned in ingredient list.
The noodles come in a package, stuck to each other. If you throw the whole clunk into the wok, they will never separate. So, heat them up in the microwave, and separate them with your fingers. Try not to break the noodles, because you don’t want to end up with a bowl or 1 inch long pieces. Be very careful, it can be hot. This is by far, the most time-consuming process.
Wok on high heat, go in with one table spoon of cooking oil. Once oil is hot, go in with chicken slices. Stir fry until chicken is cooked and pull out chicken and set aside.
In the same wok, add 2 tbsp cooking oil, crack all 4 eggs directly into the wok. Use spatula to break up the yokes and scramble the eggs.
Once eggs are set, go in with minced garlic and ginger. Stir around until fragrant. Dump the whole plate of prepared vegetables into the egg mixture and stir fry as if you are making a vegetable dish (hint, this could be a main dish itself, if you add the chicken back in after the vegetables are cooked).
Just look at the color of the vegetables! It’s such a colorful and healthy dish! Stir fry for about 3 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Go in with the separated noodles.
Add all sauces on top of noodles. At this time, you will need 2 spatulas to move the noodles and vegetables around and evenly distribute the flavor. Go in with the cooked chicken.
A very important trick to have amazing tasting Pad Kee Mao is to leave it alone at this point, with heat on. Yes you read it right, heat on, and leave it alone. The bottom layer will be slightly charred, the edges of the noodles will be slightly crispy and browned a bit. That, my friend, is priceless flavor! That is what makes an amazing Pad Kee Mao rather than regular stir fried noodle dish.
Kill the heat, go in with sliced fresh basil and green onions, stir up and dish up. You can garnish with the best looking piece of basil to impress!
I am a shy person, sucks really bad at saying no to others (even telemarketers, they have such a hard life because people are rude and mean to them all day long), I am terrible at arguing with others to fight for what I want, I still am. Let me give you an example, back when I was in high school, I would rather not get an ice cream with my parents’ money, if I had to be the one walking into the store and buying it. It was not because of laziness, it was because I was extremely shy, I was avoiding talking to strangers at all cost.
I have been pushing myself since I left China back in 2003. I knew, I had to talk to people, even strangers to learn western culture. I knew I did not want to live a Chinese life in Canada (yes, I was in Canada for 3 years!) or United States. I hated phone calls with a passion. Probably because I was not confident in my English that I’d prefer to have face to face interaction, so I could tell if I misunderstood people through body languages. Even today, I got better, but I prefer talking to people face to face over phone.
Ever since I kicked off my website, I have been pushing myself. I am taking online classes, learning how to succeed in my business, in my financial-free goal. At the end of the day, that’s what I want, the capability to spend more time with kids, grand kids, leave them a legacy, showing them no matter what happens, we can bounce back, stronger than ever. Mommy did it, so can they.
To be honest, at the beginning of the lay off, I had no clue what I wanted to do, my mind was occupied in panic mode. So many what ifs became reality. I panicked, because I did not take action when there was an idea of my financial plan B, even though I knew this lay off was coming. I was intentionally keeping myself busy with other unimportant things, hoping the inevitable would not become reality. The lay off was a huge financial impact, a huge wake up call. I remembered I pushed myself beyond my comfort zone when I first left China to blend into western society. I considered myself did a great job. I have tons of English-speaking friends, more than Chinese speaking friends. I am very comfortable with Canadian and American culture. A lot of the times, I even forget that I look Asian, different from the rest of the crowd.
But today, I made another leap on pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Frankly, I was scared to death. I think I heard my voice shaking a bit as well. Haha. It was so embarrassing, but I was so lucky, the people I was talking to were extremely nice and welcoming. They made me feel so grateful and I can’t express how happy I did it. Let me tell you what happened.
Like I mentioned on my Facebook page SweetPeaJourney a couple of days ago, that I am hosting my cooking classes soon. I have been pushing myself to look for a venue. I did very awkward phone calls, left numerous voice mails, talked to a handful of people. I had some promising leads, some did not work out. But I had one more place I really wanted to try. I left voice mails with no luck for a call back for 2 days. It’s a wine place, I have been there twice, loved the environment, the comfortable settings, the manager was super nice and knowledgeable about her wine selections. I wanted to talk to them and see if they were interested in letting me using their venue, and maybe provide them with new clientele.
I was hanging out with kids and friends at a kid place next to the wine place I was trying to get hold of. We were leaving the parking lot, passing by the wine place. An SUV pulled in front of us, and parked right outside the wine bar. A man walked out and opened the door, and a second car pulled up, that’s the super friendly and knowledgeable lady working there! My friend and I have been talking about coming to this place when I don’t have kids.
We looked at each other, WHAT ARE THE ODDS that we bumped into the owners! My friend said, you need to go and talk to them. I was scared to death, I mean look at me, hair up in a messy bun with a hair clip, tank top with no sleeves, shorts with flip-flops, cross body mom purse with no business cards or resumes… In other words, I not only did not dress professional, nor came prepared. How the heck would I be able to talk to again, total strangers into listen to what I had to say? But this is such a rare opportunity! I was hesitating, swaying back and forth, excited but scared. My friend said to me: you only grow when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. I will watch the kids, don’t worry. My heart won the battle, heck, the worst they would say is no. But if I don’t ask, I will never receive.
I knocked on the door, peaked inside the dark glass. The lady waved me inside. The man sat by the bar. Timidly, I asked “Hi there, do you guys have a couple of minutes?” Such a terrible opening line, I know. Luckily they were super friendly, they were probably thinking, what an Asian lady dressed like this could possibly want from us? I walked in, introduced myself and told them what my idea was. Surprisingly they were super interested. We talked and laughed, I felt my leg shaking a bit even though I was half way sitting on a bar stool. I had nothing to give them, except for telling them about my website. They both went straight to their phone. The man showed his phone to me, asking, that’s you? Yep, that’s the silly retro selfie blog.. ha, embarrassing but funny at the same time. They liked the idea, we brain-stormed for a good 15 minutes. They invited me over again this Thursday to meet their suppliers and some regular customers. I was so excited and pumped! This could be it!
The rest of the day, I have been indescribably excited and kept repeating I couldn’t believe it! Kids were wondering what’s wrong with mommy… I was once again, proud to teach them another lesson, that mommy did something that I was super scared of, and I am proud of myself taking this step, it could be a disaster, but it can also be the turning point of our new life. I am beyond grateful for nice people in this world, for friends’ presence and support when I was at my mental lowest point, for my kiddos unconditional love and holding me accountable on everything I want to teach them. I have to be their example, before I can push them out of their comfort zone so they can succeed.
If you don’t try everything you can think of, you have not tried your absolute best. Fear is very real, but fear should never be in charge of your decision. I know it’s easy to say, but let’s all hold each other accountable, push each other out of the comfort zone, that’s when miracles happen and history made. I am proud of myself today, and one day, my kids will be proud of me too.
I know, you may think what would an Asian know about making salsa? I got the basic recipe from one of my good friends for over 10 years, since I made it the first time, I was hooked. I made so many different versions of it.
Today I made a mild yet super flavorful version, even my kids love it.
Ingredients:
3 large tomatillos, roughly chopped
2 medium size tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped, seeds and all
1 yellow onion, roughly sliced
juice from 1 lime
large handful of cilantro leaves
salt and pepper to taste
Method:
In a medium sauce pan, heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil on medium high heat. Go in with first 4 ingredients and stir for about 10 minutes. Vegetables will soften and release juices. Reduce heat to medium so the vegetables would not burn. Kill the heat once all vegetables are softened, and let cool for 10 minutes.
Add cooked vegetables and remaining ingredients into a blender. I used a bullet blender, I don’t like wasting a lot of the precious delicious goodness on the side of the cup after making it. Yep, I may be a bit weird like that.
Lid on and pulse 20 times, it would be one cup of golden scrumptious salsa! Use with chips, spread on your tacos. I promise you, this will beat majority of the restaurant salsa!
You can adjust the spiciness by adding more jalapeno peppers, or use serrano peppers, or even habanarro peppers (I call this one my “suicidal salsa”. I swear, one time this suicidal salsa made one of my friends hiccup until his face turned bright red and we thought he was going to stop breathing :p).
Keep this recipe handy, it would be a huge hit for any party!
It was such an adventure to the beach. Let’s just say, we drove for about 3 hours, hit 2 down-pours and tried 2 beaches before we were able to sink our toes into the sand at last. But it was so worth it, because at the end of the day, it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the company and the journey that’s memorable.
Anyway, here are some views of jam-packed beach, where people are like sardines, and totally reminded me the pools in China.
I loved the waves washed up ashore, hit my toes, up to my knees. A few bigger waves got my dress soaked at the bottom, I watched the kids going nuts, jumping above waves, laying down floating along, just enjoying life. I couldn’t stop the big smile on my face.
I also loved people-watching. All kinds of people, old and young, families, old couples, young lovers, dog owners, little babies can barely walk…little tiny chihuahua was being dragged into the water, giant German Shepard hopping towards waves with his tongue hanging out. I wish I could take a mental picture of this day, where everyone is have a great time! Happiness is contagious!
The sunset on the way back was mesmerizing. My heart is peaceful!
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Welcome to my blog!
I am an American Chinese, mother of 3 wonderful children, senior engineer, but passionate about cooking, arts and crafts, travel, gardening, sewing…
I value honesty, sincerity, simple happiness in family and friendship. Life has its surprises all the time, the only thing we could do, is to keep a positive attitude, welcome every spin with a smile and make the best out of any situation.
Feel free to look around my site and leave me a comment or send me a message if you find something interesting.
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