Menu this week

Saturday

Spicy Avocado Chicken Casserole

Sunday

Pepperoni pizza

Monday

Beef stew

Tuesday

Lasagna (Kirk night)

Wednesday

Curry fried rice

Thursday

Pizza or Won-ton noodles

Friday

Christmas Eve!!!

Menu this week

Sunday

lunch

Sweet Pork buns + Sticky rice pork balls + 滷菜 + 叉燒 + Puerh tea

dinner

Garlic butter sauce Sea scallop + Asparagus Risotto + Avocado Salad

White wine

Apple crisp + ice cream

Monday

Day time: wonton making

Thai green curry chicken + Rice

Tuesday

Day time: bread

Steaks + Salad + mash potato or garlic bread

Wednesday

Curry wonton udon

Thursday

Chicken wings + Tomato basil Pizza

Beer

Friday

Italian sausage, Chinese broccoli and pasta

Menu next week

So... my sister is her!! She arrived last night and we chatted till 2am until we can't keep our eyes open anymore.

Sophia will be here for 6 weeks. In the meantime, I will have another person to make supper, lunch, breakfast and desserts for...

Awesome!!

Now I have chance to try more new recipes!! Can't wait!

Menu next week:

Monday

Cuban chicken

(This is cuz we know it is so good and I want to impressive my sister with it ;))

Tuesday

Pineapple chicken thigh

(Always wanted to try, especially when I got a fresh pineapple two days ago)

Wednesday

Beef Lasagne

(The cottage cheese MUST be used!)

Thursday

Off to Toronto

Yeah Yeah! The menu of Toronto will be....

*Catch up with old friends

*Fetish party with girls and gay

*Restaurants!

*Good meals and good chats!

*Opera or NOT...

Menu this week

Monday

Won-ton curry Udou soup + 炒高麗菜 (fried cabbage)

Tuesday

Lemon Butter sauce with white fish

Baked asparagus+ red/green peppers

Rosemary and mozzarella potatoes

Wednesday

Spaghetti

Thursday

Chicken Florentine Rice Casserole from Allrecipe.com

Friday

Photography class

Saturday

Dinner with family

Sunday

Terry's party

Things we are gonna do

When Sophia is here, we are going to...

1. Bake lots of things in the recipe book that she's bringing with her

2. Make lots of steamed bum or 蔥油餅 in the recipe book that she's bringing

3. Make lots of artisan bread together

4. Put make-up on each other's face and take pictures... this is actually her idea but I think I'll like it :) Plus my stored make-up can finally got used!! yeah!

5. Chat a lot

6. Having lots of afternoon tea in the house or outside.

7. Check out Quebec/ Toronto together.

8. Read and share what we are reading. :)

9. Go to movies EVERY week!

10. Watch movies at home A LOT!

11. Knit together!

12. Paint together! (got to finally paint something for the frame I bought long time ago)

13. Take pictures together... (Now I'll have a personal photographer for my food making. Yeah!!)

14. Shop together!! (but not too much for me... cuz I'll go crazy!! >_<)

15. Decorate for Xmas together~ (My favourite!!)

16. Do Xmas shopping together... (okay... for whom who may concern, this is DIFFERENT from no.14)

17. Lots lots fun stuff that I can't wait to do!!

Looking forward to seeing you, Sophia~ My dear baby sis~ :D

(add...)

18. Nails

Menu this week

Monday

Red wine Mushroom Risotto + Chicken + Parmesan Asparagus

Cranberry Green tea

Tuesday

4-year aged cheddar + blueberries/Raspberries/Blackberries + SHIRAZ red wine

Potato Leeks soup + Belgian Bread

Wednesday

Lunch in Montreal!

Steve's bday~

Thursday

Moroccan Tagine + Bread or Rice

Friday

Dim sum or afternoon tea

Photography class

Saturday

Dinner with friends

Sunday

Dinner with family

路要自己走...

那天，收到封妹妹從台灣來的mail，要我連結Youtube聽這首歌...

說這是爸這陣子一天到晚掛在嘴邊唱的...

我按了連結，旋律十分柔和，歌詞的內容是這樣的...

"我知道對你來說 這世界有一點複雜
我知道你肯付出 卻不懂該如何表達
我知道你不喜歡 成人世界的偽裝
我知道關於未來 你有自己的想法

天地萬物都有存在這世上的意義
沒有一個人有放棄的權利
我會牽著你的手 但是路要自己走
面對選擇的時候 聽聽心底寧靜的角落
有一天我會放手 因為路要自己走
失去方向的時候 記得抬頭仰望 清澈的天空...."

我知道，這是爸爸要對我們說的話...

三個女兒，不知怎的，因緣際會，都往國外跑... 有時距離遠了，心也就近了...

每天見面不會掛在嘴上說的話，不會上心的感觸，在少見面的時候也就浮現了...

有媽的孩子像個寶....這句話說的可真好，那天朋友邀我們去他們家吃中餐，因為她爸媽開了7hrs的車來跟他們過一個週末，她爸爸一來就幫她裝了個中央集塵(她爸是賣吸塵設備的)，她媽一來帶了一箱的食物、廚房用品...etc.的東西給她，我看著，心中是淡淡的感傷了一下，女兒賊、女兒賊... 當女兒賊是多麼幸福的呀~

"娘家" 這兩個字，在我的婚姻裡，是從沒出現過的名詞；既然沒有"婆家"這個字眼，也就沒有什麼"娘家"，大年除夕也是就在我家吃飯（如果有回去的話），也不用等到初二；不像我個朋友，剛嫁的第一個新年，吃完年夜飯去樓上偷哭... 說他很想念她娘的年夜飯...我聽著，怎麼也想像不到不能再跟爸媽一起吃年夜飯的話會是怎麼樣的難受...

雖然因為自己的工作不住台灣也很久了，可自從辭了工作，搬來了加拿大後，遇到十分不如意或很很很低潮的時候，也難免感覺自己好像是"嫁到"很遠的地方一樣...哈哈~

可人生嘛~ 總要過的...

我會銘記爸媽想對我說的話，堅強的走下去的~ :)

"失去方向的時候 記得抬頭仰望 清澈的天空~"

New thing I learned

Allspice is actually a plant!! There's such thing called Allspice berries, too!

Menu this week

Monday

Dark Beer Beef Stew + Steamed Broccoli/Cauliflower + Garlic Butter Bread

Tuesday

Kirk cooking night (Spaghetti)

Dessert: Chocolate cheesecake + Espresso/ Cappuccino

Wednesday

Spicy Cuban Mojo Chicken with Mango-Avocado Salsa

Thursday

Jing-Jiang Pork(京醬肉絲) + Lotus Shrimp Roll (生菜蝦鬆) + Rice

Friday

...(Photography class)

Starting to prepare for the dim sum dishes...

Weekend Special~

Lunch (Chinese)

Dim-Sum:

Pearl Rice Ball (珍珠丸子)

Sweet Pork Bun (叉燒包)

Won Ton Soup (餛飩湯)

Dinner (Italian)

Prosciutto & Porteenie mushroom pizza

Wine from Italy: MASI Modello delle venezie

Looks like we are having a colourful international meal week!! :D

Menu this week

最近一整個的有點懶散...雖然飯還是每天要吃的，可煮完就懶得照相了...

來報告一下上禮拜的菜單，現在正在計畫這週的，稍後再update這週的吧~

Menu 'last' week:

Monday

Chorizo + 芥藍菜(Chinese broccoli) Penn

This time I got 'real' Chinese broccoli from T&T and 'real' Chorizo from IGA extra and I added less olive oil but some chilli powder and red pepper to brighten the color. The result turned out well and both Kirk and I loved it!

Tuesday

Salmon + Veggie + Potatoes

Wednesday

Chicken casserole + Pumpkin soup + Homemade artisan bread

Thursday

Beef Stew + Rice

Friday

Green Curry Chicken + Rice for lunch

Saturday

Homemade Pizza (tomato,basil,mushroom) + Baked chicken wings

Sunday

Grilled chicken with pesto bow tie pasta casserole (Lulu recipe)

Apple crisp plus woo-long tea for dessert with movie 'Julie & Julia'

Walk into the unkown

Walk into the fog; walk into the unknown...

We were sitting at the dinning table in our 12F park-view apartment. Looking into the dark outside, I heard 'You are not afraid of going to Canada; you are just afraid to choose the future of a question mark.'

I guess I am... We all are.

That was more than three years ago when we were still in China. We were living in a three bedroom apartment with parks all around. Nice tree & grass view from two of our balconies and all of our bills were paid by the company. Company car drove me to work every morning and Kirk was teaching in a British university and had 3 months paid vacation every year.

Even though, the plan moving back to Canada seems firm in Kirk's mind, especially after Terry's 1st heart attack. I wasn't sure whether we should come to Canada, a place that I need to start all over with a new job, a new identity, new friends, new bills and a new life.

It is not just one question mark; it's dozens.

I know life is composed of millions of choices.

If you asked me what I'm thankful to my parents the most, I'd say it's they taught me how to make the best choice for myself by logics.

But it took me a while to realize:

The best choice can be made by logics most of the time with no problems. But sometimes, it has to be made by heart.

With all the pros and cons, you can find your right answer for an espresso machine or a coffee grinder... But you can't always find the happiness of you or your family.

My dad once yelled at me '家是給你拿來談感情的，不是給你講道理的!!'

it means 'Home is where you should treat with your heart, not with your logics.'

Now, I know I can't agree with him more...

Therefore, I followed my heart to walk into the fog; to walk into the unknown where I believe we can find our happiness and future altogether.

After all, sometimes the most beautiful scene happens when you can't see it that clear. ;)

是公主，也是皇后...

記得曾有個朋友這樣對我說過："你這點很厲害...你是女強人，但是你不會再你老公面前表現..."

不本來就是這樣嗎？

在兩人世界中，你扮演的是什麼樣的角色，引導著你們生活平衡的模式。為了維持翹翹板的平衡，我們都得學會在適當的時候沈默、在特定的方面放手...

野炊烤肉，王子必定拋下白馬升火去；

安裝IKEA的書櫃，當然要王子出馬；

王子在公主手拿車鑰匙往車子走去的時候問了一句"You want to drive?"，這時就要將車鑰匙扔給王子說自己不想開車....

切菜炒豆干，皇后的工作；

切到手了，可以像公主一樣大叫，要王子拿ok繃來幫她貼上，但是待王子離開，包紮好的公主，要自己將拆掉ok繃的包裝扔進垃圾桶...

要不然，難道要向王子咆嘯說:"垃圾應該要丟進垃圾桶"嗎? XD

我們都是公主，也是皇后.... 畢竟王子也是需要人照顧與叮嚀的... ;)

台灣人的碎碎念

這要從國父和蔣中正那時代說起，戰敗的國民黨，遷到台灣，開始了不是那麼民主的民主政治，"創建"了中華民國這個不是那麼民主的民主政府，台灣的人民，不管是不是當時來的"外省人"，還是更早之前從福建省來的，或是更早就在島上的原住民...大家始得"統一"，成為了中華民國台灣人...

不管喜歡與否，歷史沒得改...只不過不同的立場有不同的詮釋和加註，中間的冷暖若不細說，大概的情況就是這樣...

由於共產黨和國民黨，當年都同樣是革命黨派，推翻了滿清，同樣都稱孫中山為國父；因此，台灣雖小，也是個獨立政府運作的國家，雖然中國不承認，但當年沒光復或統一的，如今還是存在著... 就這樣，我們這段特別的歷史，造就了我們今天這樣個特別的局面... 其中的愛恨糾結，可能連526集的'意難忘'也演不完吧~哈哈 XD

今天，在朋友的留言板上，看到了一則這樣的留言，說"不管你喜歡它（大陸）、討厭它（大陸），你都一定要認識它！" 這樣的語言我是認同的... 可之後的討論卻說，"不管是中國還是其他國家，總比留在台灣好..." 很想問"為啥?"

不過心底深處早有太多個可能的答案...台灣舞台太小了? 國力太弱了? 政治太不穩定了? 有能力的都出走了？考的上北大的，就不屑上台大了？

其實幾年前人在深圳的時候有過這樣的想法: 若中國的經濟有天超越了台灣，也許台灣就不會那麼介意是不是被稱作中國了? 多年來，台灣花太多的力氣和時間，在爭一些很基本的東西，例如：奧運會用自己的國旗，運動比賽上要以台灣還是中國台北代表出賽...etc. 感慨是真的，可悲不是我們的錯，但，是有些人必須做這樣的事的... 所以我沒做並不代表我不贊同，我若不贊同全部，也能理解部分，每個人都有自己相信自己必須做的事，我深信...

Kirk前陣子在讀一本Douglas Coupland寫的傳記，他提到Marshall McLuhan在加拿大慶祝百年獨立的時候說 "Canada is the only country in the world that knows how to live without an identity."

我一聽，眼淚都要在眼眶裡打轉的... 我說"那他還不知道台灣..." 這句話形容台灣真是恰當... 一個沒有身分的國家... 我們試著以此生存，跌跌撞撞...

其實放下一切，只要大家不忘本，不管是在地球上的哪一個角落做努力，都是在為台灣盡一份力，何必拿自己的想法套在別人身上爭的你死我活的呢~ 台灣，你我，都加油!

p.s. 不過想想，也許Marshall (1911-1980)是知道台灣的，只是在他有生之年，尤其是說這話的當年(1967)，他沒有辦法斷定台灣是否會'live'下去...所以自然是要把我們排除的，呵呵... (苦笑)

Menu this week

Mon. (Chinese)

Steam dumpling + Fried Woo Dong + Bok Choy

Tue. (Italian)

Spagetti + Basil Tomato Pizza

Wed. (French..?)

Pumpkin Squash soup + Homemade Bread + Mushroom risotto + Asparagus

& Wine

Thurs. (Thai)

Green Curry Chicken + Da Pao Beef + Rice

Fri. (Italian)

Chinese broccoli & Chorizo Penn

Sat.

Steaks + Baked Veggies + Broccoli

A weekend in Kingston

Kingston

100多年前 加拿大的舊首都，當地有名的旅遊景點，叫 Thousand Islands

1千多個小島散撥在加拿大和美國交接處的湖面

自己介紹沒有別人的好...大家看一下轉貼的資料吧...Thx (我懶)

Kingston Thousand Islands 位於聖勞倫斯河與安大略湖的交匯處，是一個擁有1865個小島的景點，分屬加拿大、美國兩國。千島湖雖說是千島，但實際上湖面共有1865個島嶼，分別落在加拿大與美國的領土中，加拿大約佔千島湖的三分之二，位於聖羅倫斯河(St. Lawrence River) 最美的一段上，有不少美國和加拿大的富翁、藝術家，都被小島與世無爭的生活所吸引而定居於此

總而言之，這就是我朋友Steph和她"性感的"老公(她堅持要這麼稱呼他)現在居住的城市，上次見到她，是三年前我們的婚禮上了，再次相見，大家都非常的開心，重點是，他現在有一個這麼棒的老公，看到朋友這麼幸福，真是件很棒的事!

我，一如往常的，帶上相機，記錄美好~ :)

A walk on the streets

......

對我來說，窺探是很具有故事性的....

..... .

A walk in the market

A walk in the park

View front the water front

The strangers

A walk in the town

Thanks to our dear friens, Steph & Corey~

the cutest couple of the world ;)

3度C

10.21

今晚發瘋似的抓起三腳架，和Kirk一起溜狗去...

這禮拜，Kirk接到了新的課程安排---黎巴嫩的外交官家教，晚上要回到家都8:30了，吃個飯也九點了...加上他學校的assignment...

晚上10:30,兩個人各抓了一支狗、一台相機、三腳架，圍上圍巾，穿上兩層外套，往家附近一片靜寂的腳踏車道走去....

今晚的月亮藏起來了，不像兩晚前，走在漆黑的腳踏車道上，一點都不覺得暗，月亮照出的我兩的影子，清晰可見，一點都不模糊...

我假好腳架，任Kirk帶著Coca朝漆黑走去，我站在原地，聽著風呼呼吹的樹枝嘎嘎響的聲音，望著月亮，突然好喜歡這裡，一切的一切，都可以這麼的美麗，那晚我在3度C的夜裡，見識到了夜的美麗，幸運的，這次帶上了相機，記錄了回憶...

The bike path

The moon in 3。C

Another new thing I learned in Canada

今天在網路上瀏覽時看到一個加拿大的網站，寫著"Proudly Canadian owned and operated"...

讓我不禁思考...加拿大雖然坐擁面積世界第二大的排名，但因為大部分的土地都太冷，人口不多，農夫得趁沒雪的的時候趕緊工作；很多東西還是得靠進口，因為國家關稅高，很多奢侈品的價格都比不上就幾小時遠的美國... 更別提要獨自擁有一個會賺錢的企業卻不靠大資本家的幫忙....

最近看到一則新聞，由於K-cups的風行，讓美國的Green-Mountain Coffee股市四年內漲了9倍，由於K-cups包括的品牌很多，其中在Quebec省興起、總部位於Montreal的Van Houtte (你在這裡的各大超市都可以買到他的咖啡豆)，和Timothy's coffee of the world也是其中獲利的咖啡品牌，這兩個都是加拿大人熟悉的所謂"加拿大"品牌...

然而，去年11月Green Mountain買下Timothy's coffee，今年九月又買下了Van Houtte，這兩個你會以為是加拿大擁有的品牌，其實都是美國擁有的...

雖說這就是開放經濟，沒有什麼不好的，不過我也許為自己剛搬來加拿大的時候很好奇的一個問題，找到了部分的答案...

"加拿大為什麼很少有大品牌呢?" 原因之一，也許是"因為成型的初期就被美國併購了..." 哈哈哈(苦笑)

記錄...

就只是一個記錄，記錄自己曾有的感受.... 沒有誰好誰壞...

- 在加拿大，一位朋友被法院抓去關，人們覺得他的朋友一定是做錯事了；在台灣，一位朋友被法院抓去關，人們覺得政府一定頭殼壞去了.... 因為我們不相信政府，相信朋友...

- 在香港，專櫃小姐推薦28歲的女生用熟齡提拉抗皺霜，說"女生過了25歲就要小心皺紋了!"；在加拿大，專櫃歐巴桑看著30歲的亞洲女生拿起同罐抗皺霜時尖叫"不不不! 你還不用用這麼貴的!!"

Dinner for two tonight

Mushroom risotto + Grill Salmon + Baked Vegetables

It's a sunny Fall Tuesday.

My plan is to draft the menu and grocery list for this week. And bike 40mins to Chapters and browse a book I like to buy- On Food & Cooking: the Science and Lore of the Kitchen. I noticed although my job had absolutely nothing to do with Food Science, my major in university, I'm still interested in the science part about cooking. After that, I can bike back home and maybe take some pictures on the way.

However, shortly after I made plan for this week menu, Kirk called and suggested to see 'the Social Network' tonight.

With the movie plan jumped in, this leisure plan suddenly became a mission to complete in limited time. (the mood is totally different)

With that rush, I manage to get the dinner done within a hour but I think if risotto is one of the dish that better not prepare in rush. If there's limited time, maybe switch the risotto to Uncle Ben to make things easier.

Mushroom Risotto

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cup chicken broth

300g Mushroom, thinly sliced(suggested half portobello kind of mushroom and half white mushroom)

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 tbs onions or shallots

1/2 Arborio rice

1/3-1/2 cup dry white wine (I like strong wine flavour)

2 tbs finely chopped parsley & rosemary

1 tbs butter or margarine

1.5 tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper for taste

Steps:

Total use- 3 sauce pan

No.1 pan(pot): Heat chicken broth to boil then turn the heat down to remain it hot

No.2 small pan: Add 1/2 tbs Olive oil in over medium high heat. Stir in mushroom till it's soft. Keep aside.

No.3 large pan: Add 1/2 tbs Olive oil in medium heat, fry onions for 1-2mins then add rice, let the rice coated with oil for about 3mins. Through in 1tbs of rosemary & parsley in.

Turn down the heat to simmer heat, add white wine (I added red wine once and it gave the risotto a light purple colour to go well with the pumpkin shell). **If the pot is too hot, the wine will disappear right away. So must turn the heat down before adding the wine.

Let it simmer till the wine is all absorbed by the rice, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth, stir constantly. Wait till the rice absorb the broth, add another 1/2 cup chicken broth a time. Separate to about 4-5 times by adding the broth. It takes about 25-30mins. Taste the rice while all the broth is done. If it's still hard, get more chicken broth to add in, it should not take more than 1 cup. If you need more, maybe means you turned the heat too high.

Once the rice is soft, turn off the heat, add the butter, rest herbs, parmesan cheese. Stir evenly and close pan cover let it set for 2mins before serving.

• 
  

Menu this week

Mon.

Homemade bread + Chicken & Vegetable chowder

Lunch: Chicken sandwiches

Tue.

Risotto+ Grill salmon+Baked Vegetables (Green/Red peppers)

Click for details

Wed.

Bake chicken legs with potatoes, tomatoes, chili, garlic and basil + Steam vegetables (broccoli)

Thurs.

Ma-Po To Fu + Eggplant dish + Asian rice

Fri.

Early dinner: Chorizo & Chinese Broccoli Penn + Cesar Salad

Dessert after photography class: Cream Brulee or Apple crisp

Baking this week:

Artisen bread

Banana bread

Pumpkin cheesecake

Cream Brulee or Apple crisp

Menu this week

Mon.

Curry Beef Stew + Rice +Broccoli

Tue.

Spagetti

Wed.

Seafood chowder + Homemade Bread + wonton appetizer

Thurs.

Mushroom Risotto + Baked vegetables

Fri.

Won-ton wu dong noodle soup

Sat.

Homemade pizza (tomato, pepperoni, peppers, ground beef, mushroom)

Sun.

Roast chicken (IGA)+Uncle Ben rice+brocoli and carrots

家的味道

(圖片轉貼自網路, Click Here to link to the recipe)

那天和Kirk回公婆家晚餐，婆婆特地為了準備了做Pad Thai(泰式炒河粉)的材料和一本5cm厚的Asian Cusine Recipe(亞洲餐點食譜)。

說到我婆婆，她是我認識的加拿大女人當中最奇琶的一個，Kirk出生前，她在當地的小學教體育，直到有一天照超音波，產檢醫師告訴她，她肚子裡有三個心跳，懷的是三胞胎! 於是他辭去教書的工作，下定決心要自己一手帶大4個孩子(還有Kirk當時已經4歲的姊姊)，結果Kirk一落地，醫生發現，只有一個嬰兒... 三個心跳是誤診... 之後她就投身直銷Mary Kay賣化妝品，開著一台粉桃紅色的Mini Austin跑遍加拿大，是MaryKay加拿大的頭號業務之一，旗下有一堆人；不過因為很少在家陪孩子，之後便辭掉回學校教體育，此外，也在家自己開班教Yoga，不時出外去參加瑜伽演講、體驗或Camp... 幾年錢退休後她就在家一個禮拜上兩堂課。她說賺來的，就是她的"方便錢"...她另外還創辦了一個女性團體叫Feel Fit，下個月底要去非洲和巴黎度假...忙碌又充實的退休生活…

離題了，回到婆婆說要做Pad Thai，由於他問了我很多問題，我當然也就奮不顧身的幫忙做了起來。此外，因為是蘋果豐收的季節，他們買了一大袋的蘋果，餐後的甜點，自然就跟蘋果少不了關係，婆婆說要做Apple crisp當飯後甜點，餐前在來個Asian salad(其實沒有所謂的很道地亞洲沙拉這種東西，因為我們原本是不吃沙拉的...我從沒看過我爺爺奶奶吃過沙拉)，於是我們兩個就在廚房忙了起來...

亞洲沙拉很簡單，基本上就是生菜加上新鮮的豆芽菜和青蔥，重點是她買了一個Asian dressing，由芝麻油、芝麻、醬油...etc.混合而成的醬汁。再來就是當晚的主角-Pad Thai了... 食譜說要fish sauce，婆婆找不到，就買了個海鮮沾醬，說這應該差不多（在我看來是差很多，魚醬是透明的金黃色，這海鮮沾醬是西餐拿來加在生蠔上的那種紅紅的醬），食譜上說要Tamarind juice，我們沒有，直接跳過；食譜上說要Tofu，我公公不愛吃豆腐，省略；蒜頭用罐頭的然後我們胡亂的忙碌一番之後，端了一盤四不像出來，河粉過爛，醬料很怪（有押韻耶），就這樣，大家胡亂的吃了一燉晚餐然後期待甜點... （噗哧）

甜點的部份，婆婆負責做奶酥，我幫忙削、切蘋果，在鋪平的蘋果上灑上一層肉桂粉和糖（我婆婆給我1/3杯的白糖，要我灑上去，我淺淺的灑一層後，停止；她看著我，等了一下說"剩下的糖也要灑上去"，我說"不用，這樣太多糖了" 她楞一下"可是食譜上是這樣說的"，我說"吃太多糖不好，會胖" 再多灑了一點就很毅然決然的把剩下的糖倒到洗手臺裡...

用完甜點，我們整理了一下廚房，休息一下就開車回渥太華... 車裡，Kirk問我"剛剛那個apple crisp好吃吧？你有沒有記下媽的食譜?!" 其實差別就是糖用的比較慷慨... 我說"沒有，但我大概知道差別在哪...就是糖多一些..." 然後告訴他我倒掉了大半糖到洗手臺的事，他似乎很驚訝... 後來我想想，好像也是有點失禮，雖然我知道她不會太介意... :P

如果我沒倒掉那大半糖，Kirk會不會覺得太甜呢? 我想是不會...

有時候食物好吃，是因為有家的味道。我公婆家很美，室內擺設溫馨，應有盡有，有一個開放式的大廚房和一望儘是森林和草地、花園的後院，對Kirk來說，那是他從小長大的地方，自然是家的代表，連我都覺得不管外面有多冷，在那個家裡，就是溫暖，在那裡吃的食物也都很美味(除了那道PadThai...呵呵)。

就像我自己在家裡炒幾道菜，其實也是不錯吃，但不會像在家那樣，飯都沒了還猛吃菜，吃到自己一直說好飽那樣...

現在體會到，媽媽做的菜之所以是最美味的，是因為那代表了--- "家" 的味道...

WonTon妙用

餛飩皮除了包餛飩外，在國外的食譜上，常看到用餛飩皮做的開胃菜，真正試了一次之後，發現味道也很棒! 像無鹽的玉米脆片一樣，讓人想一口接一口~ 實在是有噱頭又簡單、易活用的一個好主意!

其作法相當簡單，將餛飩皮自然卷起鋪在迷你muffin烤盤裡頭，進預熱350F的烤箱烤7-8mins成形，直到皮脆且色呈金黃。

鋪的時候，就只要注意底部是平的，這樣成形後，小餛飩cup才能站立在盤子上。

裡頭的填料可以有很多選擇，自己發揮。但最好是有一點濕度的餡，好中和餛飩皮烤過後的乾脆口感。 所以如果放起司，最好選擇濕度較高的Feta cheese, goat cheese... 又或者，可以善用酸奶或plain優格，這種不會增加味道卻可以中和口感的食材。例如，煙燻鮭魚片+酸奶再加一小株新鮮dill配色，又或者可以將酪梨壓成泥，加鹽和胡椒調味，放上一小片番茄和一小塊洋蔥(類似墨西哥salsa的配料)… 但是要注意不要濕到會滴汁，不然才放一會兒餛飩皮底部就軟了，失去口感；外加一口咬下去，滴滴答答的也不方便…除此之外，留意一下配料的顏色搭配即可。

只要注意這幾個小細節就可以輕鬆做出一道簡單、美味又美觀的開胃菜；派對上、朋友小聚時，大家一手飲料，一手可直接從盤子上拿取的小食囉！

*右圖中，我是用Homemade Hummus 加上 chickpeas 跟剖半的小番茄和一小撮新鮮parsley，味道也很不錯喔! :)

Easy Homemade Bread

Our dinner tonight was homemade bread plus seafood chowder and wonton appetizer.

Be honest, I am not a big fan of bread. They are hardly to be my love unless they are finely fresh baked. The best bread I've ever had was from a German bakery in ZhuHai, China. The bread smells delicious and the crust outside is hard and crisp but inside is soft and chewy.

Last week I found this recipe called No-knead Bread from New York Times 4 years ago.

(What were I doing 4 years ago... umm... working like a dog in ShenZhen China and had a kitchen that I barely walked in, not even mention about baking since there's no oven in a Chinese kitchen...)

Anyways, even I am not a big fan of bread, the picture just looks too good to not try and the steps seem fairly simple and easy. Plus I happened to have a cast-iron pot so... Why not give it a try?!

Therefore, I went into the kitchen to make a dough in 5 mins then set it on the counter till the next afternoon (19hrs). Then I followed the steps to let it set on the counter for another 15mins, and then 2 hrs. Preheat the oven & dutch pot to 500 degree(later I found out it says 450F in the recipe and 500F in the video, so maybe that's why my bread got burned a bit) 30mins before the ferment is done, then throw the dough in the pot, cover with lid to bake for 30mins then remove the lid for another 15-30mins.

And here we go... You take it out from the pot and rest it on rack to cool down. Easy, simple and it tastes really good, almost as good as the German bakery bread but not yet.

The bottom is a bit burned and I think the crust is a bit hard. The inside is chewy but not to dry or moist, it's just perfect! Perhaps next time, I will preheat the oven for 30mins but the pot only for 15mins. Besides that, I baked it with lid on a bit longer than 30mins, shouldn't have done that.

I certainly enjoy the fun of tasting and the satisfaction! It's definitely worthy to try!

Recipe of No-Knead Bread and Video from New York Times, by Jim Lahey

Moon Festival Special

自製蛋黃酥

從來沒有想到有這麼一天...我竟然會閒到自己做蛋黃酥...

中秋節，既然沒有家人在身邊可以團聚，那就是和朋友相聚最好的理由和藉口啦~

昨天在家裡grill了些chicken kebab，下午揉麵團桿皮包餡烤了22個蛋黃酥...晚上和一個台灣朋友和她老公一起品嚐... :)

今天又和幾個加拿大朋友到中國餐館小聚，裡頭剛好遇到另一大家子過中秋，熱鬧到不行...

今晚老天爺還特別放晴，從餐館出來就看到頭上的滿月~

總算，中秋節圓滿結束... 該是我來分享蛋黃酥製作過程的時候了...(痛苦的回憶 >_<)

首先是材料，除了油、麵粉、蛋黃、水、鹽、米酒外，最重要的就是豆沙餡、鹹蛋黃和黑芝麻。向來沒研究過鹹蛋黃怎麼來的我，很蠢的到超市問說，"你們有賣鹹蛋黃嗎？" 機車店員一看就知道我是阿傻，什麼都不懂，他說"沒有，但是我們有鹹鴨蛋" 我想"沒關係，那我可以把蛋白剝掉拿來煮稀飯"...誰知道，我打碎第一個蛋，蛋白留了滿桌滿地... 0_0~'原來阿嬤早上配稀飯的鹹鴨蛋是煮過的呀...'，我恍然大悟，忍著噁心的情緒(味道蠻腥的)，拿出稍呈固狀的生蛋黃，去掉上面的蛋白，放上烤盤... 噴上米酒入烤箱(350F/180C)烤10mins，烤後放涼切半備用... (如果真要我再做一次，我想這個差事會叫哈你完成後再去上班)

接下來就是最辛苦的油皮和油酥製作了...

油皮：鹽水+中筋麵粉+油......................油酥：低筋麵粉+油

醒好麵團後，開始餅皮製作: 油皮包油酥，桿平捲起兩次...重複22次...=_=

將餅皮壓扁，包入豆沙和鹹蛋黃，收起開口捏緊朝下放在烤盤上，表面刷上蛋黃液

灑上黑芝麻，進烤箱(350F/180C)烤35分鐘... Done!

這個'Done!' 等了我近四小時，手酸腳酸，不過吃到剛烤完的蛋黃酥，好感動呀~ Q_Q

超愛蛋黃酥甜甜鹹鹹的味道和表面酥酥的口感的! 蛋黃酥真的是我月餅裡的最愛呀~

因為我不是油、鹽、糖(糖果巧克力除外)的愛好者，所以成品不甜膩也還好不會太油或乾(是奇蹟呀~)，哈你說第一次吃月餅會想再吃第二個(他說月餅這種東西他只能接受一年一個)，我特還地做了gift pack 分給好友和鄰居，不過說實在，Mooncake這東西真的不是西方人的菜，加上製作過程這麼麻煩，我想...以後真想吃還是用買的好了... :D

p.s.其實蛋黃酥對會烹飪的人來說，應該算是月餅裡面最簡單做的了... 我參考很厲害的人寫的很清楚的食譜... 有興趣的話可參考...

小胖家食譜

Penny的食譜

最後，分享一下我今晚的應景照片... :)

初秋的甜點- Apple Crisp

轉眼九月將盡...

最近一首Green Day的歌常在我腦海中揮之不去

"Summer has come and passed

The innocent can never last

Wake me up when September ends~ "

看到一兩片楓紅已漸不稀奇，天氣轉涼了，人們也換上了長袖衣裳，加拿大的面貌又不同了...

在加拿大，初秋是蘋果豐收的季節，走一趟Farmer's market，就會看到各個不同種類的蘋果，呈在淺色的木桶裡販售，那天和哈你去了

一趟Old Chelsea，拎了五種不同的蘋果回來，那位小姐很好心，還幫我在每個袋子上寫上那種蘋果的種類，其中一袋酸蘋果，最適合拿來做甜點。

小姐還送了我一顆Gala在路上吃，一口咬下去，新鮮的清脆口感，拌著濃郁的蘋果香氣和果汁的甜味~ 果肉脆的剛剛好、皮超薄~ 激動的讓我回去又多買了16顆... (羞)

既然買了這麼多蘋果，那就在九月結束之前，試試這道超級簡單又好吃到升天的Apple Crisp(蘋果脆)吧!

(糖量已減少，因為西方人的甜食有時候真的很甜>_<)

材料：

蘋果6-8顆 （我愛蘋果的酸甜，所以都放8顆）

2 大匙 檸檬汁

1/4 杯白糖

1/2 杯 黑糖

1/2 杯 中筋麵粉(All-purpose flour)

1/2 杯 燕麥片 （我用生的燕麥片，也可用沖泡用的麥片）

1/3 杯 室溫融化的奶油（動物性或植物性皆可）

3/4 小匙(tsp) 肉桂粉

3/4 小匙(tsp) 荳蔻粉 (nutmeg)

香草冰淇淋一大匙（依個人喜好）

步驟：

(烤箱預熱350F/180C)

1. 蘋果削皮，切小塊 (不規則形狀皆可，一般apple crsip會切約薄小於1cm,常約2cm大小，但我喜歡多富含一些蘋果本身塊狀的口感，所以我prefer切大一些,約兩倍大)

2. 將檸檬汁倒入切好的蘋果，攪拌均勻，可增加風味且減速蘋果變黃

3. 在9"正方形烤盤中，噴油或抹些奶油，將拌好檸汁的蘋果倒進鋪平，灑上白糖、肉桂粉和荳蔻粉

4. 在另一個碗裡，案順序倒入麵粉、奶油、燕麥片和黑糖，混和好後平均鋪在烤盤中的蘋果上方

5. 放進預熱完成的烤箱內烤25-30mins，直到表面金黃且下層的蘋果可用叉子輕易叉過。

自烤箱拿出後，稍微冷卻10mins，趁溫熱的時候食用，也可在上面放球香草冰淇淋，口感很棒喔~

New Thing I learned in Canada

Arcade Fire's latest album 'The Suburbs". It's a really cool Canadian band that I learned lately from one of my Canadian friend who once told me 'Quinn is the worst coach ever.' while Quinn was the coach from Toronto Maple Leafs. :)

It's great music and great to listen while jogging.

They have a really cool website and this is the album artwork they have in the website.

I love it!