Family, Friendship, Food, Fun and Everything in Between!
I received this pasta machine as a Christmas gift, frankly, probably the best kitchen related gift I have ever received!
We made home made noodles several times in a couple of weeks. Today, this is THE breakfast kids wanted.
Instruction is super easy, measuring cups are provided with markings on them, it really is fool proof. So the kids and I had some fun making fresh noodles for breakfast.
Kids loved taking turns to cut noodles as they come out.
I made this a few times recently, but only yesterday, I remembered to take pictures before they were torn apart by kids :p
Super simple, probably not the traditional way to make authentic French Toast, but it works for me. I always have everything on hand.
Ingredients:
Sliced bread, you can use literally all kinds of bread, white, wheat, oats, whatever you have on hand. I normally buy 12 or 15 grain bread, that’s why you see the grain and oats on the sides of the bread
1 egg
about 1 cup of milk, again, any kind you have on hand, even soy or almond milk, or cream, if you are into heavy dense and super filling french toast
1 splash of vanilla
about 1 tbsp of honey, I don’t measure this, I simply squeeze honey into the mixture, a bit more, a bit less doesn’t hurt
1 dash of ground cinnamon, about 1 tsp, again, I never measure this either.
Method:
Mix everything together in a shallow dish with large opening, except for the bread, use a fork or whisk, make sure the honey dissolves nicely into the mixture. Cinnamon tends to float on top, that’s normal.
Heat up a pan on medium heat, melt a tab of butter, or use cooking spray. Put a slice of bread into the mixture, gently press down to let bread soak up the mixture. Flip after about 3 to 5 seconds, soak the other side. Make sure don’t soak bread too long, the slice will fall apart quite easily.
Gently lay the slice of bread soaked in egg mixture in the pan, fry for about a minute, until golden brown. Flip, brown the other side. Plate it up, that’s really it!
Well, I did not find my powdered sugar and did not have any berries on hand yesterday, so I served it as is, or with an additional drizzle of real maple syrup. I love it as is, with a hint of the nuttiness from the whole grain. Kids of course, wanted the maple syrup. Along with some turkey bacon, pan fried eggs and avocado chunks, breakfast is served!
New year, new resolution. Based on my track record, I don’t usually seem to be very successful with these. We tend to get stuck in the rut of setting new goals and failing these goals within weeks. Losing 5 lbs, reading more books, quit smoking… how many of us really made it through January without cheating? So, I stopped making new year resolutions a long time ago, just quietly encouraging others keep up with their goals. To me, a resolution is not about having to have a new year to have a new start, it should be a constant mind set of constant eliminating negativity in life and looking forward and making changes that will positively impact life.
Recently I was finally able to sell the house of 6 years, the one many people joked about being a mansion, casa de Ting. Sure, lots of life happened in that house, I had two wonderful children and had many many sleepless nights where I lost track of what time of the day / night it was. Watching them growing up was the best feeling. When I put the house on the market, some asked if I was sad or sentimental about selling it. After I moved out, some asked if I would want to go back and take another look. The answer is, not a bit. I don’t think about anything inside the house, nothing really triggers any sadness. I am not emotionally attached to any of it. Maybe I am weird, but I am one of the fortunate that I don’t keep looking back and play back the good and bad over and over in my head. I simply want to move on.
In my mind, what happened in the past belong to the past. There are many moments I do not ever want to look back, because there is no point of wasting my precious present on the past, especially if those moments do not bring me any joy. But, to those who may have sad past, don’t beat up yourself over your past either, you had to go through what you went through to be where you are today. Every single thing you suffered molded who you are today. You are stronger than ever, smarter than ever, wiser than you have ever been before. One day, you will be able to say “thank you” to those who hurt you, betrayed you or broke your heart, because of those devastating moments, you are able to break free from miserable life, you are able to find true happiness, find yourself, and not wasting a single more minute on someone or something that doesn’t help you find your happiness. To those had wonderful memories, they definitely showed you what happiness can be, and embrace that. The future will be better.
Kids have been scared of this zipline for a while. I have been encouraging them to try it and finally, off they go! They got the thrill of flying finally, and wouldn’t want to stop doing it over and over!
One day at a restaurant, a couple with 2 kids are finishing up their meal. The couple ordered a dessert for the kids to share.
When the dessert came, kids were super excited. The couple pushed the plate between the kids, they started devouring. With a big smile on the couple’s face, they were happy to see their kids excited. Soon, kids started to fight over who had a bigger bite.
The man pulls the plate back. Surprised, kids looked up, little one was a bit upset. The man looked at both kids then looked at the woman. He said:”Guys, stop fighting, you should want each other to have more.” Puzzled, kids stopped arguing and started listening. “We love you, that’s why mommy and I let you eat first. Love is not about saying it, love is about showing it. Just like I love mommy, if we were sharing the dessert, I would not fight her over the dessert, want her to have it all.”
She looked back at him in his eyes, tears moistened her eyes.
It’s book fair at school. In order to maximize kids’ fun and learn about responsibility and values, I decided to do something different this year.
I gave them 20 dollars each, and let them buy their own books of choices. Of course, I pre-selected a pool of books, and marked the prices for each.
Kids are super happy of course, first time they get cash. I gave them each a ziplock bag, so they put their names and class on the bag, and stapled the bag to their book list..
By the end of the day, they came home with 3 books each, and the change and receipt in the same Ziploc bags. Thanks to the lovely volunteers at book fair, kids had a blast! Change went straight into their piggy bank.
It was a wonderful idea (padding my own shoulders), kids learned the value of money, bought their books of choice and we supported their school.
It’s an amazing quick and easy peanut butter cookie recipe, no dough chilling required. Enough said.
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick of butter, room temperature
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup of white sugar
1 egg, room temperature
1 splash of pure vanilla
1 cup peanut butter, crunch or creamy, your choice
4 tbsp sugar, optional
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone liners.
Sift first 3 ingredients into a medium bowl. Cream butter and brown and white sugar in a large bowl using hand mixer, or stand-up mixer (hint, 2nd option is easier, but 1st option is totally do-able). Add egg, beat until well blended. Add peanut butter and vanilla, blend until well incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl as well to ensure everything is well blended.
Add dry mixture into wet mixture slowly, mix until everything is incorporated. Dough will seem a bit crumbly. That’s normal.
Put 4 tbsp sugar into a small bowl, for coating peanut butter cookie dough ball, if desired. Or, skip this step.
Take about 2 tbsp worth of dough and roll into a ball between palms. Roll cookie dough ball in sugar to coat (if desired) and put onto lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches a part. Press cookie dough ball down slowly with the back of a fork, and again with 90 degrees angle (engineer coming out of me), giving cookie dough iconic peanut butter cookie look.
Bake 10-12 minutes and let cool for 5 minutes before washing these down with a glass of warm milk…. you get the picture.
I won tickets off my favorite radio station 93Q again! This time, it was tickets for Lady Antebellum concert.
I have always LOVED the song “need you now”, especially the line where it goes: I’d rather hurt than feel nothing at all, that’s me. All-in or nothing. Granted I have been hurt, used, but I know I will have my happy cozy place I will finally call home.
For the first time, I was screaming at the top of my lungs at a concert, singing along, like a high school girl. It felt great to lose control for a bit (probably lost my voice a bit too).
I just know the one who deserves me will be right there waiting for me.
It’s the 2nd year in a row that it was raining. Bummer. It rained so much in my area the streets flooded for a while. So we had to cancel trick or treating, after we got dressed.
Off to Willie’s we went. Tons of kids wore costume there, because they had a promotion for free kids’ meal for every adult meal purchased. But my little monsters wanted blackened catfish with rice and seasonal vegetables for dinner, SCORE!
Book reading time tonight, we read a new book my daughter borrowed from her library. She was super excited about this book, because it has a spooky name – Blackout. She thought it’s some sort of Halloween scary book, perfect choice for Halloween.
So, as usual, we snuggled on the couch, pillows and blankets ready.
The book barely had any words, I was hoping for a bit more, since my daughter is in the phase of spelling and reading crazy, more words would help her. But here is the story, which hit me more than anyone else.
A family of 4 live in an apartment in a big city, mom, dad, big sister and little sister. One night, little sister wants to play a board game, but everyone is busy, no one wants to play. All of a sudden, the light goes out, the entire city is pitch black (hence, the name of the book is Blackout, ohhhhh). Mom brings the flash light, but no one can continue with what they are doing but sit down at the table all together. Soon it becomes too hot to stay inside, so they go to the roof top, where they find all the neighbors on the roof. It become a roof top party. Then everyone goes onto the street and there is another party. Light comes back on, everyone goes back into their house and continue with what they are doing before light goes out. Again, no one is playing with little sister. She goes and turns off the light switch, pretends it’s a blackout again, her family sits down at the table plays the board game she wants to play at the beginning of the book.
Kids were happy reading this book, I had a lot of feelings about it. It’s so sad reading this book, but the real sad part is, this is so real. A lot of us, me included, are so swamped between work, daily chores, adult responsibilities that we feel they have to be done, everything has a deadline, and quite often, we drag it out to the very end. Just like everyone else, I feel overwhelmed too, and I do realize I have to tell kids, mommy will play with you after putting all the dishes away, give me a few minutes, let me finish cooking. No, mommy have to go to work now, I will play with you after work…Granted, we just can’t play with kids whenever they want to, that’s just reality, but we certainly can think twice, if whatever the task we were swamped with has to be done at this very moment.
This morning I am still thinking about it, it hurts me to see the disappointment in my kids’ eyes when I tell them I can’t play or draw with them… Gonna keep reminding myself, some things can wait, my kids will never be this age again.
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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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