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... ;)