Update: I didn't make anything special but I spent a lot of eating.

Lately it's been hard to relax since my life will change.

I hate saying goodbyes b/c I get so emo and so sad T.T so I try to avoid talking about it as much as possible unless people ask. Therefore, I don't think many people know what's going on in my life except that I'm sorta kinda stressed... meh...oh well.

I ran away from the city a lot in the past few weeks, but the fresh air out of the city was helpful. This week was no exception. I spent time by the lake last Saturday, Sunday, and yesterday.

I go running around the lake in Wakefield on most early weekend mornings because it's nice to be out in the calm before the day starts up again.

I usually try to go before 8AM but there are already plenty of runners/walkers/bikers by the time I get there. There is a nice breeze on most days and perfect for running or just stopping to relax and think by the water.

On Saturdays there is a farmer's market near the lake where they sell fresh produce, baked goods, noodles, cheese, and flowers. Some items are expensive but I thought this cookie at the Swiss Bakers tent was really cute. I bought a moose cookie for my niece to eat after her swim lesson.

Sunday, after spending the morning at the lake: Chinatown August Moon Festival

I got free lobster after the August Moon festival in Chinatown that I performed at on Sunday.

Who knew China Pearl served non-Chinese food? Our dulcimer group got steak, corn on the cob, broccoli and a whole lobster for free. Sweet. I thought the meal was pretty good and very filling. The steak was done just right. My only complaints are that the corn was soggy and they didn't offer mini forks to help me devour the lobster.

Lab Outing 8/17/10: Kimball Farm

Yesterday my lab went to Hopkinton to kayak or canoe. Since I hurt myself in the shoulder, I opted for the paddle boat with a couple of my coworkers. So much fun :)

After we did our grilling and later on we went to Kimball Farm in Westford for mini golf and ice cream.

This was my small cup of mint chocolate chip ice cream:

It was pretty nice helping they gave me. I looked forward more to the ice cream than the actual golf to tell you the truth... and it sure hit the spot :)

So what new thing have I tried to make lately?

I've only made one thing for myself.. and it's so simple... yet satisfying, healthy, and food allergy friendly for me (a good thing since I've had like 2 allergic reactions in the past 3 days).

I'll post the pictures and recipe soon :)

I ran away to NYC

They say you can never run away from reality, but I say, you can always try.

Michelle Branch ft. Timberland "Getaway"

The lyrics seem to fit exactly what I've been feeling for the past few weeks... instead of going to the mountains like I did last weekend, I took a rather impulsive trip to New York City by bus instead.

I did a lot of finding good eats, eating, eating, and bargaining for super cute things when I could.

LUNCH: Joe's Ginger

I wandered along Mott St. until I came across Joe's Ginger on Pell St. (a side street towards the end of Mott St.). I have never eaten here but friends of my mom and my awesome friend Alyssa have raved about the steamed buns (小籠包 xiao long bao) and dumplings (鍋貼) here. For lunch I just ordered the appetizers: crab and pork steamed buns and pork dumplings.

I loved the crab and pork steamed buns... I think this is what this place is known for. There is a burst of flavor in each bite. Definitely try these if you go to NY.

Next order of business. Wandering back onto Mott Street, I made my way to Aji Ichiban, a Japanese/Chinese candy store that sells all sorts of dried fruits and candy... you can try each one before buying... omg so stuffed... I bought a few pounds worth of stuff here.

I basically wandered Mott Street for an hour buying cute bags. I got a super cute backpack and mini messenger bag for a grand total of $25.

It was really hot in New York and I wanted something to cool me down after walking outside for an hour.

SNACK: Fong Inn Too

I just discovered this place. They have the best soy/tofu foods. Inside looks kind of dark/dingy and there is nowhere to sit and eat. So, people just buy and stand around inside and eat.

I ordered a bowl of 豆腐花 (Dofu Fa, Chinese dessert) for $1.00

OMG... Best 豆腐花 I have ever had... it does not compare to any other ones I've tried. If you have a craving for something cool or... tofu... this is the place to be... and it's cheap!

I finally leave Mott Street and head to Canal Street to go check out Kanman Market. It has been renovated since the last time I've been there. Now there is a 3rd floor full of Hello Kitty and other Japanese cute things.

I spent a lot of time here b/c I fell in love with the kitchenware and tableware designs

This cute bean set is a set of chopstick holders

I love love love this soup and rice bowl set. The hair is the rice bowl while the face is the soup bowl.

I really love these tea sets. They are so cute and creative. The bumble bee and giraffe both come with two cups.

Aren't these two cups really cute? I love em.

These are actually erasers shaped as food in mini bento boxes.

This is for the hello kitty and pikachu pokemon lovers out there... so much stuff here.

Back on the street, I went in search of the place that sells really good Lo Paw Bang 老婆餅, a Chinese pastry.

I think this was towards the end of Mott St but I could be mistaken and unfortunately I don't have the English name of this place. But, they have the best pastries. They are not too dry and always come out perfect. I bought 18 老婆餅 to bring home.

*drools* It's sweet with winter melon (冬瓜) filling.

So back on Canal Street, I see all these street vendors. There are a bunch of little kids surrounding this one vendor, so I stop by to see what was the commotion...

Hand-made phone straps. So cute :D I got these 4 for $10.

Time for the best mini sponge cakes at Kam Hing Coffee Shop located on Baxter St. off of Canal St. It's a small bakery. They are best known for their sponge cakes. There is a latino guy there that speaks pretty good Cantonese. I was impressed.

These little cakes are so soft, they aren't too sweet but sweet enough, slightly moist, and are so good you can't eat just one. I bought 30 of these to bring home.

Back on Canal St., there are more food vendors and artists. The food vendors are mostly older folk who sell fresh fruit and veggies. Many were selling longans (龍眼), lychees (荔枝), and dragon fruit (火龍果).

The older gentleman that runs this stand was arguing with the other woman who also works here that after all these years he never got used to living here and that he'd like to go home. I found out they are from the same area in China as my mother, Zhong shan (中山) in Guangdong.

The longans were really sweet... they sold us 5 lbs worth x.x ... just because.

DINNER: Big Wong Restaurant back on Mott St.

The service is quick and it's a rather fast paced eating environment. Once you walk in the waiters/waitresses yell out to you: "How many!!! Come with me!" and they walk really fast to show you your table. The food is very good and on the cheap end. They always give huge helpings of food. For meat eaters I'd suggest the 3 combo rice plate (cha sew or pork, chicken, and a sunny side up egg that is excellent with the rice).

That's all I got from my escape from NYC! I just sped walked and ran 5 miles early this morning to get over this food day :)

Roast Pork Chops and Garlic with Cooking Mama

So, Cooking Mama is home today from work and has decided that she just wants to watch me... try (i.e. fail) making Pork Chops from the same cookbook: Creative Chinese Oven Cooking by Hseuh-Hsia Chen.

My mom is Cooking Mama. I swear I saw fire in her eyes. T.T

I came back home after a series of errands and appointments around 4pm and she hands me 3 raw pork chops that she has already beat with the blunt end of the butcher knife to tenderize the meat.

"Go follow the recipe and marinade while I watch"

Okay...

Ingredients for the marinade for 2 pork chops:

1 Tbsp Minced garlic (I used much more than this even for 3 pork chops~ nearly 2.5 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp Cooking wine

3 Tbsp Dark soy sauce

2 tsp Sugar

1/4 tsp Pepper

The first thing is to chop up the garlic...

"NO! There is a much easier way to break open the cloves!!!!"

Mom takes a clove and then hits it with the side of the butcher knife - clove breaks free of the casing

"Like that! See how easy it is? Saves time too"

Okay...

"You try"

Okay... *takes a clove and hits with butcher knife* - clove does not break open

*tries again* - clove sits perfectly on the cutting board

*fire in mom's eyes*

"!!! LET ME DO IT" *takes butcher knife and slams it down on the rest of the cloves* "THERE! SO EASY! Finish chopping! NOO Not like that.. like this!"

Mom sits back at the kitchen table with her feet propped up on the next chair and very leisurely eats her green apple while watching some TVB show. She periodically peers over to make sure I'm doing the proper and right thing.

I return to the chopping..

Okay so here's what happens now:

1. Mix all the marinade ingredients together in one bowl. I added slightly more than what the recipe calls for (see above) because I have 3 pork chops instead of 2.

2. Then spread all over the pork chops on both sides with your hands.

3. Cover the pork chops with plastic wrap and let it marinate for about an hour or more (overnight even). I let mine marinate for about 1 hour.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 400 degrees.

After pork chops are done marinating:

4. Wipe the rack (where you're gonna put the pork chops on) with olive oil and arrange the marinated pork chops on top.

*I put a baking tray underneath so the extra juice would drip into that instead of the oven.

5. Put the pork chops in the oven for 15-25 minutes. Check after 15 minutes by cutting the pork chops near the bone to see if it is done or not. The book calls for 15 minutes but my pork chops are thicker so I put it in for 25 minutes.

6. Then arrange the pork chops on a plate and squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top and voila!! Pork chops for dinner!

The extra marinade that was left after soaking the raw pork chops in them was poured into a sauce pan with a little bit of water added to it. Then it was boiled and poured into a bowl for extra sauce for the pork chops :)

Pretty simple and straight forward recipe. The hardest part for me was the garlic x.x

After an hour of marinating, it is still good, but I guess if you want the best flavor, it's better to marinate for a few hours.

Steak (中式牛排) - My first attempt cooking with meat

So on Monday night, mom hands me 3 frozen steaks and tells me: "This is for dinner tomorrow night, cook." Then, she hands me a cookbook called "Creative Chinese Oven Cooking, the New Trend" by Hsueh-Hsia Chen and turns to page 65 and says, "Look, it's so simple! You can't mess up!"

We'll see, Mom, we'll see.

The recipe is for 中式牛排 (Chinese Style Steak) also called Garlic Flavored Steak, according to the book.

I didn't take many pictures because my hands were dirty from handling the meat and although I was washing my hands incessantly, I still felt like my hands were gross (I'm not going to spend all my time decontaminating the camera D:).

Ingredients:

3 steaks

1/2 tsp of salt

black pepper (as much as you'd like)

olive oil

Sauce:

2 Tbsp of cooking wine

2 tsp of soy sauce (I was taught that dark soy sauce or 老抽醬油 was better for steaks)

1/2 tsp of sugar

2 bell peppers (one green and one red for color)

1 can of sliced mushrooms (no added salt) or fresh mushrooms

1. Use a cooking brush and brush olive oil all over the steaks

2. Sprinkle the salt on both sides of the steaks

3. Add the black pepper and spread evenly on both sides of the steaks

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

5. Heat the trusty iron grill pan on the stove and arrange the steaks on the pan

6. Fry until you see the lines from the pan on the steaks and flip the steaks and do the same. The book calls for frying each side for about 30 seconds... My steaks were pretty thick so I did it for a longer time. I think I spent like 5 minutes for each side of the steaks. I just kept them on the pan until I didn't see too much uncooked meat left on the outside.

7. Then cover a baking tray with foil (easier cleaning) and place the steaks inside.

8. Roast the steaks for about 1o minutes in the middle of the oven, then remove. Cut the steaks to make sure they are as tender as you want them. I like my steaks close to well-done.

9. While the steaks are roasting in the oven, cook the peppers and mushrooms. Wash and slice up the bell peppers into squares. Open the can of mushrooms (fresh would be better but I didn't have any), drain the liquid, and rinse the mushrooms a couple of times with water.

10. Add a little bit of olive oil to a pan and cook the peppers and mushrooms.

11. Remove the peppers and mushrooms from the pan and add a 1 tsp of oil to stir fry the garlic.

12. Remove the garlic.

13. Make the sauce: Add the wine, soy sauce, and sugar to the saucepan and bring it to a boil (fast). The resulting sauce will be slightly thick. Add hot water to make more of the sauce.

14. Put the steaks on a serving plate and garnish with the peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. Then pour the sauce over the steaks.

I didn't mess up too badly with this one.. I may have melted a spatula... and I may have burned the garlic slightly but I took out all the black pieces! ... (Don't worry mama will fix it).

I took this picture after dinner.. this is all that is left and will possibly be my dinner tonight :)

The result was pretty good. The steaks were just the way I liked them. My family seemed to enjoy it!

As a side dish I wanted to try out the mini rectangular pan I got from Kanman to make egg rolls. I cracked 2 eggs and mixed them well, added a bit of salt and pepper and a little bit of seasame oil. Then I added the mixture to the pan. When the eggs looked like they were almost done, I put smoked salmon on top and then attempted to roll the egg sheet from the pan. (did this 2x for 2 rolls which I then sliced up)

Result: Salmon egg rolls... kinda salty tasting... I didn't take pictures of this one... it was all gone by the time I took out the camera.

I learned something new! Next time I promise I won't destroy any more cooking utensils or burn the food :)

Reflections - a break from cooking..

I have been away for a few days for a mini escape from the city and it was wonderful. I went up to the White Mountains in NH and neighboring Maine. It was nice to be carefree about things once and a while. The mountain air and quiet streams were amazing for me physically and mentally. I don't know, but for me, slowing down and noticing how important the little things are made me really happy. I found a moose and that was just the icing on the cake...

I learned a lot from my vacation especially being on top of the highest mountain in NH and touching the clouds and the 2 mile nature hike afterwards on Sunday.

Being on top of Mt.Washington and looking over all that was below me gave me the peace I needed. It was a beautiful day and I could see that the clouds were only slightly above me, casting their shadows on the other mountains. I felt insignificant and powerful at the same time. I forgot all my worries while I was here.

The 2 mile hike later in the afternoon with my family was a learning experience too. We always go on Sunday walks together for bonding time and exercise :) It's good to slow down and just notice the things around you. Nature tells a lot of stories. Maybe we can learn from it if we just take time to consider it.

Like this picture:

My brother pointed out that with death there is life: "It's the circle of life," he turns to me and says. Mom chimes in: "When one thing dies another life starts, it is so with plants and it is so with mammals." The endless circle of life. Nothing just stops and ceases to exist...

I find inspiration in these trees.

They were once seedlings that were probably dropped by birds or something. But they struggled to survive wherever they were. You can see the roots of these trees. They look like they are holding onto the rocks. I guess it is so with life. Whatever life throws at you, you just got to make due. Never give up because once you get over that hurdle, your life will be that much more interesting... just like these trees.

I've spent my last year being really busy because of one quote that I just followed relentlessly: "Turn your losses into gains" and I have....whether it was a broken heart, activities, and work... I'm always thinking... always trying to come up with new ideas to try... you never know until you try.

I'm going to stop being Pocahontas now and resume cooking.