Digital Home Thoughts: The Great Photo Book Round-Up Review: Who Makes The Best Photo Books?

I have been researching good photo book creation sites, and ran across this review. It is very extensive and a great place to start if you are also looking. I have not created accounts for all of these. But I've used Shutterfly (didn't work well in China), Snapfish (hated it), and Kodak Gallery. I am going to try out the AdoramaPix now! Enjoy!

Digital Home Thoughts: The Great Photo Book Round-Up Review: Who Makes The Best Photo Books?

U.S. Navy Captures Pirates After Gunfight - WSJ.com

Wow, Somali pirates attack the Navy. That just seem really stupid, right? ANd why don't pirates have cool names anymore, like Bluebeard or Blackbeard? The pirate mentioned here was referred to as Mr. Fanah. That seems strange.

U.S. Navy Captures Pirates After Gunfight - WSJ.com

Recipe - Cranberry – Sweet Potato Bars

Finally got around to baking these yummy bars again. Haven't made them since moving to China. The recipe calls for Sweet Potato baby food, and that is not always so easy to find! I made these for Natalie when she was a toddler, she loved them. It tastes a bit like cobbler, though without the extra fruit. They are also pretty good as an ice-cream topper too! You can throw one into the micro for 10-15 seconds and then onto a big bowl of vanilla ice cream.


I used to make these with a mixture of dried fruit and fresh fruit. The ones I made today, I threw in about a cup of fresh cranberries. But remember that plain, fresh cranberries are really sour! If you only use fresh, you may need to add a bit more sugar. And there are lots of other dried fruit you can use, such as apricots, mango, peach, etc. Whatever you like!

Also, I don't worry too much about using exact measures for this recipe. It is pretty forgiving. I am careful about how the dry/wet ratio so that they are not too dry or too moist.

Walk on the Promenade

Saturday we spent a family day and went to the fake market, took a walk on the Promenade near Huangpu River, and ate at Hooters. Not your typical family day, but our family day none the less. Thought I would put up some pictures from our walk. The weather was not great, but there was a TINY bit of sun. Cold though. I think it is never going to warm up here in Shanghai.  We didn't get the Promenade until after 4pm, too much shopping at the fake market I guess. There were lots of people as this is a holiday weekend. Chingming Jie is Monday, which is Tomb Sweeping day. So, hard to get a picture without heads in the bottom. The pictures here are of the Bund, across the river in Puxi. They have been doing reconstruction over there for months. Last weekend was the first weekend it was open. You can see from one of the pics that the Bund walk was FILLED with people. That is why we decided to stay in safe Pudong!

One of the funny things was seeing this woman "grooming" her husband. I got a few pictures, and she seemed non-plussed that she might be attracting attention.

Natalie had some ice cream from Hagen Daaz and then we headed back to the Super Brand mall for some shopping. Had to buy an Easter outfit for Natalie. She picked it all out on her own. And you can tell she is a girl because she told me she HAD to have the shoes that went with the outfit she wanted. And you can tell I am a woman, as I bought them! Then we ate at Hooter's. Tom loaded some video to Facebook. 

Recipe - Xiaolongbao

This is definitely not an easy thing to make, but I think it is worth it! I took a class last week, but wanted to try this myself to see what it really was like!  Plus Ayi had never made either, so we did together. It started yesterday with a trip to Metro to purchase a Pork Leg. Considered butchering myself, but decided my neighbors wouldn't appreciate the extra drama on the street! So, instead picked up a cut I needed at Metro. For anyone considering doing this, I included a picture so you can see. All the fat and skin are still on it. This is the leg, so the bone inside is pretty small. You might also see pork shoulder or pork hoof. I think the leg is best because it maximizes the fat ratio!  More on that in a minute.


What makes these so good is three things in my mind. First, the skins should be thin. If too thick, then top where the pleats come together just taste like dough, no flavor. Second is the soup jelly that is rendered out of the pork leg. This is what becomes the soup inside the dumpling skin that make xiaolongbao so good!  Third is using minced pork that has enough fat in it. If you don't, you will have a little hunk of pork surrounded by this beautiful broth. 

Ok, so let me say a bit about the soup jelly you will be making for this recipe. You will probably see that basically what makes xiaolongbao good is that the soup inside is about 30-40% fat. Of course that is why it tasted so good. It will probably seem a bit gross, but it really is the key to good soup inside these. So, get over it! Wash the leg before cooking. Here in China, the butchering is not always a clean cut, so wash the small shards of bone out the ends. 

Don't worry if this takes a long time to get right. This was my second time making today, and I focused on getting the dough the right consistency and pleating. I totally could not pleat the first time.  Was happy that today I did finally get how to pleat. Whew! Still suck at it, but at least I have a starting point. Not so happy with the skins we made. Not nearly thin enough. And I need to get a steamer set up that works a bit easier.  Special thanks to Suzanne for the moral support and teaching me the tick for pleating!




RECIPE

Recipe - Fennel and Celery Salad

So, I finally have time to get back to trying some new recipes and tastes. Last night, I tried a recipe from Bon Appetite, though of course I modified to adjust to our tastes a bit. Natalie didn't love it, but she didn't hate it! I take that as a good sign. Oh, and got to use my favorite red bowl for serving it!


Fennel and Celery Salad
This is a nice salad that is easy and kid-friendly. You can substitute Italian parsley for the cilantro if you prefer the taste.


ingredients:
3 celery stalks, cut crosswise into paper-thin slices
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed, halved vertically, sliced paper-thin
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup toasted salted pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
2 tablespoons olive oil, preferrably good extra-virgin
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese shavings (about 1 1/2 ounces)


preparation:
Combine celery, fennel, parsley, and pumpkin seeds in large bowl. Whisk oil and lemon juice in small bowl. Season with salt and pepper; toss with vegetables. Toss in most of cheese; top with remaining cheese. Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.

Migrated Blog

Due to some ftp policy changes on Blogger, I have moved my blog from my own website to blogger's site. And yes, I am planning on actually updating more often! My website is WAY out of date, so am in process of redoing that too. For now, FaceBook is about the level of output I can do. I hope to increase the communication in the near future!

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Superbowl 2010

Wow, what a game. Enjoying a beer at 7.45 am, at our age, well, it is interesting! Had to rush Natalie off to school so I could be on the 100 that would be allowed in to the Big Bamboo bar. So excited for Manning, but it was not meant to be. Wanted to say more, but a bit shell shocked that the Indy defense just looked that bad in the 2nd half. Oh well, a boiler won, so that is good!

Songs That Make Me Cry

Ok, you're not going to see this kind of crap from me very often. But, Angie Fanset inspired me to think about what songs can make me cry. Really. These are songs that I listen to when I am sad/mad and want to stay that way. Sometimes I feel better, sometimes not. Enjoy!

Holding Back The Years
Simply Red
This song is one of my all-time favorites. It can make me cry if I am sad or smile if I am happy.

Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
This song made me feel less alone in dealing…

Dust In The Wind
Kansas
I had this song stuck in my head when my grandmother died.

I hope you dance
Lee Ann Womack
Our hope for Natalie when she grows up

Natale's Song
Sia
The title made it special. The lyrics made it good.

The Luckiest
Ben Folds
The part about the old man next door makes me cry every time.

Bitter End
Dixie Chicks
Song we used for our goodbye party in the US before coming to China

Drive
The Cars
Tom and I broke up one time. This was the song I used to cry myself to thinking about losing him.

My Own Prison
Creed
I just love this song and the beat really feels like a pounding heart.

Still Loving You
Scorpions
One of my first hard rock songs and it became after an early "lost love". Gotta love self-pity!

Father And Daughter
Paul Simon
The song is just beautiful and makes me sad to think Natalie will be gone soon.

Suds In The Bucket
Sara Evans
I know this is upbeat, but this is such a strong song of independence.

Hurt
Johnny Cash
This is a great version of the Trent Rezner (Nine Inch Nails) song. Cash makes every song a cryer!

What Kind of Fool
Barbra Streisand
Wow, no good explanation. But it was my favorite song to listen to when my parents were getting a divorce.

Building A Mystery
Sarah McLachlan
Remindes me that building walls around myself was not going to protect me.

You're Still the One
Shania Twain
I think of this every anniversary (well the last 10 anyway!)

One Tin Soldier - The Legend of Billy Jack
Coven
Ok, who can listen to this song and NOT cry?

Tears in Heaven
Eric Clapton
I think of the sorrow he must have felt when he wrote this.

Run, Baby, Run
Sheryl Crow
Describes how hard you have to work at life sometimes.

Here You Come Again
Dolly Parton
Taught me that some people will always try to keep you down.

Trouble With Growth

I had a conversation in the office on Wednesday that I will simply label as odd.

Every employee received a free pass to the Expo http://en.expo2010.cn/participation/pop/moren.htm to be held in Shanghai in 2010. The Expo is a huge event - China expects 70 million visitors for it. Our employees received this perk from their union.

As I was looking at the ticket, I noticed the mascot for the Expo. As been noted by several people, the mascot, Haibao, looks like Gumby from Saturday Night Live fame.

I asked the employees what they thought of the mascot. Their responses were mixed but led into a discussion as to the definition of the word mascot. It is hard for me to define mascot. It is hard to describe in a sense that they would understand but that is not the point of this blog.

I told them that this mascot looked very similar to a character on TV in the States. They immediately shouted, “Yes, we know that”. They said this character was on the TV show “Growing Pains” – the sitcom from the 1980’s. I had mentioned previously on a facebook posting about China’s fascination with this sitcom.

I questioned that this character was ever on “Growing Pains” which led into a 5 minute discussion to ensure that I was thinking of the correct show – remember in China, this show is translated to “Trouble with Growth”. It took a while to make the connection of "trouble with Growth" to the actual title of "Growing pains"

After all parties knew that I understood that they were talking about “Growing Pains”, I said that this character was not in that show. They quickly jumped to the Internet and pulled up these pictures.

Well I have to admit, Gumby was on the show but I am shocked that they noticed this. How many times do you notice posters hanging in a scene from "CSI: Miami" or any other show?

(Another funny note – As I typed this at lunch on Thursday, my admin was looking over my shoulder and saw the word Haibao. She wasn’t here yesterday so she wasn’t part of the group discussion. I asked her if she knew it looked like Gumby. She said yes as she saw it on the TV show “Growing Pains”. I threw my hands up in utter amazement. Does everyone in this country watch “Growing Pains” in deep detail?)

After my amazement, we had several small discussions. They thought their mascot looked healthier because it was bigger. One guy thought that the American’s stole the idea for Gumby from China but I explained to him that Gumby was from the 80’s and Haibao was less than 5 years old.

This country and its people never cease to amaze me.

Tom – Don’t flatter yourself!

Today, I returned to the office after a 28 day absence. I was met with a lukewarm reception. Everyone said hello but nobody stopped in my office to have a conversation. People of other functions would walk by my office and peak in but no one ever said anything. I just thought people were giving me some respect in order for me to catch-up with organizing my work due to my absence. WRONG! The truth finally came out during lunch. As I was standing in line, I noticed several members of my staff were in line if front of me. I thought I would initiate the conversation and moved forward and said hello to everyone. One of the girls actually said hello as she backed away. I thought it was odd. Obviously, they didn’t want to engage in conversation so I went back in line where I had left my admin. My admin laughed and said that they were afraid to talk to me as they were not wearing their surgical masks. LIGHTENING STRIKE! It turns out that everyone is afraid I am carrying the swine flu since I was in the States for a month.

What an odd homecoming!