A Somber December

This year, Christmas lights are less bright.  Caroling less joyful.  Cheers are less loud.  Too many unexpected sad events have happened this December.

Jenny is gone.  Can't believe the vibrant Jenny left us abruptly.   It was supposed to be a very happy month for the Keng sisters.  They were getting together, girls only, to celebrate Jean's birthday.  Sheila arrived SF on the 7th.  We had dinner.  We talked to Jenny on the phone.  She said she was so looking forward to Sheila's visit to Santa Fe the next day and the birthday bash in Las Vegas the week after. Then, on the 8th, Jean got the call.  Jenny was gone. She left behind her husband, son, brothers and sisters.  Her passing was so sudden and everyone was left shocked and speechless.

Jenny was buried yesterday, December 19, 2012, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Grieving in Newton, CT.  A week before the Christmas weekend.  Kids and adults were getting ready for the holidays.  So much planning, so much joy, so looking forward to the celebrations. Then, on December 14, 2012, a gunman opened fire in an elementary school taking away lives of 20 innocent kids and 6 adults.  In matter of minutes, joy, hope, future and life were robbed by the most unthinkable.  So sad.  So hurt.  So senseless.

20 kid beds are now empty.  26 families will have a heartbroken Christmas.

Sadness in Oregon.  The Newton shooting dominated the news.  However, a few days before on December 11, 2012, innocent Christmas shoppers were killed by a gunman in cold blood in a Oregon mall.  They did not do anything wrong.  They were simply there at the wrong time.   These people had no idea that they would never return home again.  My heart ached for the loved ones who survived.  Now, there will be empty seats at Christmas dinner tables, and Christmas presents that will not be exchanged and opened.

世事無常.   Yes, things can happen any time any day but somehow these recent sad happenings hit me more than usual.  Perhaps it was because these people did not have a chance to say goodbyes.  They were just going about doing their business.  We are not supposed to leave this world in the middle of cooking, shopping, teaching and learning.  No.  It's not supposed to be like this especially during a month when all people look forward to is peace, joy, warm thoughts and happy plans.

Hard to say Merry Christmas to all but I guess life has to go on until the day we are gone.

Thanksgiving 2012

So Thanksgiving came and went.  Another blessed year for the Wu Family. Nothing dramatic or extraordinary has happened.  Days of our lives passed by calmly and smoothly, like a little stream of water flowing through a quiet forest.  For that, I'm thankful.

The family got together for our annual turkey fest.  Jennifer made a beautiful 24 pound turkey.  She is getting better and better with that turkey with each year's practice.  It was juicy and moist.  Caitlin is now Jennifer's efficient kitchen help.  Carli made her first appetizer for the party.  Brandon is developing a low tone voice and he is now 12.  And guess who will be joining us next Thanksgiving? Little Justin Wu will be here in March 2013.  Yes, another new family member for the Wu clan.  For that, I'm thankful.

This Thanksgiving though has been a traumatic one for few families outside my world.  Sad news after sad news over the holiday weekends.  Family being killed on a shopping trip.  Family being swept out to sea while enjoying a stroll at the beach.  What a horrible pain losing your family any time, let alone during the holidays, and especially painful right after a family Thanksgiving gathering.  I can imagine what the surviving family members must be going through right now.... my heart goes out to them and I hope that they find peace some time soon.

This just goes to show: life is unpredictable.  We must be thankful and be grateful for what we have today.  We hope to have what we have today tomorrow and everyday, but I guess no one can guarantee that will always be the case.

So, hold on tight.  Kiss it.  Treasure it.  Say Thank You every night.

The Naked Wine Try

Let's Get Naked!  I got to try out a group coupon deal couple of months ago.  A case of Naked Wines for $69.

What's Naked Wines?  I don't know why it's naked, but I see it as a support system in which customers pay forward monthly (like an investment) to help fund small wineries with their wine business.  In return, they get to buy wines at a good discount.  Naked Wines recognizes that small independent winemakers do not have the financial means to compete with wine conglomerates in marketing and distribution.  So, its goal is to provide support through collective efforts.

I wasn't too interested at first but I liked the concept and I figured that I would be doing a good thing. And heck, what's there to lose anyway?

I got the case within two days of ordering.  Wow!  Fastest delivery ever!  It came at 8am on a Saturday morning - kind of early for wine delivery (cough-cough).  It was like a mystery box because I didn't know what they sent.  When ordering this deal, you only get to choose red, white or mix.  International or US.  I chose All California and hoped for the best.

First Observation: Funky wine names and labels.  All screwed tops except a couple.  Most are from 2010 and 2011.  Hmmm.... not sure if I like this very much, but being a good sport, I shall not judge until I try.

See. Swirl. Smell and Sip.  So for the following four weeks, I did my tasting and dutifully jotted down my thoughts with each wine.  Naked Wines welcome comments on its site so I did my share.  I actually learned a lot from reading others' comments.  I also liked that the winemakers are active in the forums and they exchange dialogues with the customers enthusiastically.  Although I don't know how to express in proper wine lingo, I found my "experience" was on par with other folks'. So, does this mean my tasting skill is improving?  I sure hope so.  Hiccups!

Professional or not, cheap or not, good or not, I enjoyed my case of Naked Wines. But would I go back to order from them?  Probably not any time soon.  You see, I can pick up similar wines at the supermarket in the same price range so why should I go through ordering?  On the other hand, a part of me says I should - for equal value - because I'll do my share to support the independent winemakers.

While I ponder, here are pictures of the wines I tried.  I tried 11 out of the 12 bottles.  I'm just not into moscato so I'll leave that last bottle alone for now.

Ken Deis Napa Valley Cabernet/Merlot 2011

Interesting blend.  Nice dark ruby color and rich bouquet.  Don't think it as a cab.  It's not as dry or full bodied but well balanced.  Easy to drink on its own.

William Henry Sauvignon Blanc 2010
I like the grassy, "green" feel. I like the acidity in t his wine.  Not complicated but delightful.

Accord Santa Maria Chardonnay 2009 - I liked the rich color and the bouquet.  My only regret is that I used some to make cioppino.  Should have saved for drinking instead.

Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Shiraz 2011 - Easy to drink.  It's better on the nose than on the palate.  Perhaps it need some aging.

Credence Nectar California White NV - Fruity, structured.  Nice finish.  I knew it was going to be off-dry but still a little bit too sweet for me.

Sin Fronteras Tempranillo 2011 - Fruity.  Medium-bodied.  Beautiful color.  Drink well without food.  Best to finish it in one day.  Turned sweet on day 2.

William Henry Gewurztraminer 2011 - A little bit on the sweet side.  It had a subtle floral note and a nice pineapple finish.  It's a nice afternoon wine.  Goes well with a cobb salad or a light cheese plate.

Da Da Da Lodi Chardonnay 2011 

Crispy.  Light.  Not the chardonnay style I like. It reminds me more like a pinot grigio.  But I think this is the style that the chardonnay is trending to.

Bear & Crown Merlot Sonoma Valley 2011 

I have not had merlot in a long while so glad to give this a try.   I like it better on the palate than on the nose.  A wine to drink with something meaty.

Semilla Lake County Sauvignon Blanc 2011  - Fruity. Crisp. Balanced. Really enjoyed it.  This one I would order again.

Stephen Millier Angels Reserve Viognier 2011 

Refreshing and nice floral nose. I like the honey finish yet not overly sweet.  Better than TJ's Honey Moon in body.

Overall, the wines are young and off-dry.  I think the small wineries may not have the capacity to make more complex wines.  But, big kudos all around for passion and for having fun.

Happy Birthday to Me

So, I'm 49 today.  One more year and I'll be half a century old.

Looking back, the last 48 years have gone by in a blur even in human years. It's a great run so far.  It may not have been smooth sailing but who does not have bumps and bruises along the way?

I don't have a lot of money but I am comfortable in my little world.  I don't need a lot.  I just need enough. There is not much more a girl needs.  (OK, OK, I don't mind winning the lotto!!)

I am blessed with a wonderful family.  My greatest wish is that my family stays healthy and happy.

I am blessed with a soul mate for the past 27 years and I would not trade this relationship for anything else.

I am blessed with bunch of friends who love me for who I am.  I don't have hundreds and hundreds of friends, but I have ones who grew up with me and are now growing old with me.

I may not be young anymore but that's only physically.  What's important is that I stay young at heart.  After all, 49 is really pretty young even in human years.  I still have a long road ahead of me.

Happy Birthday to me.

A GD Experience

Gary Danko.  Everyone woos and ahhs when you said you've dined there. It's like pinning a star to your lapel.  I have been wanting to check it out but never had the chance.  For starter, there is a two-month waiting list for a table.

At last, I got to visit last night with my buds.  What's the occasion?  Just because the girls want to get together and to splurge a little.

What an Experience!  Our party was super lucky.  We were able to reserve a private room without room charge because we booked for the right date and for the right time.

The menu is long and extensive.  The amazing part is that GD lets each guest "design" his/her own courses from appetizer to dessert.  I can imagine the work and the control that go on in the kitchen.  Each dish is prepared with detail and all of the dishes come out at the same time. No miscues.  And to think, they do this every single night for every single party.

Everyone is a VIP.  Not only the wait team professional, they are attentive.  They know when to step in and when to leave you alone.  Water and bread are promptly replenished without being asked.  Yes, this is basic service but how many times we have to look around and wave for attention in restaurants? Not here.

We got out of the restaurant feeling pampered -  like after a good massage.  I'm sure all the guests walk out feeling that way.  I ask myself. how they do it?  What makes GD one of the best?  Why couldn't all restaurants be this way?

What have I learned?  To be great in anything, you must have the passion to execute at the highest level, and I think the hardest part is to do it day in and day out. I think most of us fail on the consistency part. You really need to have a strong well for it.

So much to enjoy.  So much to learn.  What an experience!!

Shirley Found - on the Other Side of the Rainbow Bridge

Shirley's parents let everyone know that they found Shirley's body today.  She died about a week ago after being struck by a train.

I have thought about the worst since Shirley has not been sighted since last Sunday.  I thought she might have succumbed to her injury or her disease or die from exhaustion or hunger.  I would never have thought - and I'm sure her parents and all who follow her story - that she would be killed by a train at the end.

It's so tragic and it is the worst of worst outcome imaginable.

RIP Shirley, the missing Great Dane from Philly.   At least you are no longer lost. God bless you and your parents.

Updated 09/17/12: Community Mourns Shirley

Finding Shirley

I have been following this little story on Facebook about a 3-year old Great Dane that gone missing for the past 10 days.  Shirley is her name.  Shirley was hit by a car when her mom was taking her out of the car.  She was startled, bolted, and disappeared into the woods.

Shirley's story unfolded in Germantown, a neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Apparently, it has a huge woodsy area because Shirley ran into the woods and has been lost for the past two weeks (since August 29th).

The story got me because as a dog parent, I can relate to the pain, the fear and the heartbreak.  Any pet parent can relate.  It's just like your human child gone missing.  I can't imagine losing any of my dogs.  Fortunately, I never had to experience it with Beau, Max and DuDu.  I'm praying that I would never have to go through such horror with Dexter and Victor.

Shirley's mom has been frantically looking for her.  To complicate things, the mom is in graduate school with a heavy class load, the dad is in the military hundreds of miles away and he is deploying to Afghanistan in two weeks.  Worst, Shirley is injured and has a medical condition called the Addison's Disease.

What's Addison's Disease?  According to Wikipedia, it's a disorder that occurs when the adrenal glands fail to produce enough hormones to keep the body functioning normally.  Without medication, the bodily functions will go haywire and will result in death.

What a horrible combination!  The added worry and the stress must be unbearable.  My heart goes out to Shirley and her parents.

Many people are involved in finding Shirley.  There is a search going on right now as I type this.  The searchers are racing against time.  If Shirley is not found this week and treated, she will for sure die.  It hurts to think that she will die of pain, suffering in loneliness and fear.

I follow the development through the Facebook posts.  Strangers from all over the world pour their hearts out to support the parents.  People volunteer to look for Shirley day and night.  It's at times like this that the best side of we humans shines: compassion, love, generosity and devotion.

It's already past 8pm in Philadelphia.  No words from the search group.  I can only hope for the very best for Shirley and her parents.

We all know that we will eventually part with our pets.  However, not like this.

So say a prayer to the Dog God and hug your dog a little bit tighter tonight, peeps.

If You Can't Beat Them, Join Them.

I broke down and bought a kitchen scale today.  Yes, I accepted my defeat and gave up manual conversion from metric to the US measurement when it comes to cooking and baking.

All these years my little 5-cup-and-spoon measuring set serves me just fine.  As a matter of fact, I still have the yellow plastic measuring set that mom bought me for my home-economic in junior high back in the 70s.  I never would have thought measuring ingredients is such a complicated task until I start playing with recipes that call for metric measurement.

At first, I thought I can just use the conversion chart and save money not getting a scale, but I see things are not so easy.  The US system measures volume while the metric measures weight.  So, bad news: 1 cup of water does not equal to 1 cup of milk and not 1 cup of oil.  Worse: 1 cup of white flour does not equal to 1 cup of wheat flour and not 1 cup of sugar.  Worst yet: 1 egg is not always 1 egg.  See what I mean???

OK, I know that the US is the odd ball in the world of measurement.  While other countries have adopted the metric system, the US, Liberia and Burma have not (knowledge perused from Googling).  Recipes and chefs say the metric measurement is more precise than the US measurements but it's working fine until I have to use metric recipes!

How I wish that there is an automatic conversion app that would just show everything in cups/ounces and table/teaspoons depending on the ingredients at a click of button.  Of course life won't be so simple.  Even if I convert recipes with minimal effort, I will still have to deal with measurement such as 1.27 cup or 4.5768272 tsp.  Now, how the heck will I ever be able to measure that?

So I conceded.  I bought a kitchen scale and will get to know my grams and milliliters (or cc).  I just have to accept the fact that a 45g egg is not just any one egg.  I will have to weigh it and find this precised measured out egg all in the name of metric.

Same Photo for 30 Years

I read a lovely story on cnn.com today. It's about a group of 5 friends who made a promise to each other that they would take a photo at the same place with the same pose every 5 years. They started this tradition in 1982 and they have been going at it for 30 years. They now have 6 photos to show off.

The story reminds me of my buds. Even though we don't have a photo tradition, we have plenty of photos to document our friendship and the passage of time.

Yes, our look have changed. We went from teenieboppers to middle age women and our lives took us to different paths in the past 30 some odd years. We don't even have a chance to see much of each other, yet, every time we meet, it's just like we just saw each other yesterday.

These 5 gentlemen made a pact and they stuck to it. Their photos are heart warming. Everyone should take a good read of their story and be grateful for the friends you have made in your life.

Friendship. Commitment. Frozen moment. Unstoppable time. Life-long memories. Just priceless.

Here's the story: Five Guys Take Same Photo for 30 Years

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Time in a Bottle

This little vodka bottle (375ml) has been in my freezer for almost 20 years.  It's a nice size for the freezer - not too big; not to small.  It fits the side door perfectly.  I got it from the DFS duty paid store for $10 and I haven't been able to find one the same size in stores elsewhere.

This little bottle fed me dinner when my mom was in acute rehab for 30 days after her brain surgery.

I would rush to the hospital to relief my dad after work every night.  I stayed with my mom until 11:30pm or so then I came home to prepare next day's lunch and dinner for my dad who would go back to the hospital to stay with my mom for the next 12 hours.

After I cooked and cleaned up, it would be about 1am or so every night.  I had no appetite and would take a shot of super chilled vodka from this little bottle then go to bed. It put me to sleep but did not supply the nutrients.  I lost over 10 pounds in 30 days.

On the last day of my mom's stay at the hospital, I toasted myself with 2 shots of vodka and kissed the bottle.  "We made it," I cheered!

Mom's Pork Chops (台式排骨飯)

I made mom's pork chops over rice for dinner tonight and bragged about it on Facebook.  I got few ooos and ahhhhs and requests for the recipe.

Most of mom's dishes have no written recipes so it's great that I'm actually documenting as I cook through her memory.  So here goes... my mommy's pork chops.

Thin cut pork chops – can be bone in or boneless.

1 large onion

1 bunch of sour cabbage

3 -4 cloves of garlic sliced

red chili peppers
green onion, ginger and garlic for the marinade.

·      Pound the pork chops to break down the fiber

·      Marinate pork chops in soy sauce, sugar, green onion, ginger and garlic.  Leave overnight but no more than 48 hours (you don’t want the chops to become too salty)

·    Flour the pork chops and deep fry.  Set aside

·    Thinly slice onion

·      Wash and rinse sour cabbage.  May want to soak it for 15 minutes so it’s not too sour

·      Saute red chili peppers in hot oil, add onion

·      Cook onion until soft, add salt and pepper

·      Add enough water to cover onion, bring to a boil

·      Adjust taste with salt, pepper, sugar, soy sauce

·      Add the pork chops, turn down heat and let simmer

·      Saute garlic and sour cabbage

·      Add sugar, salt, pepper, and a little bit sesame oil.  Set aside

To serve, put pork chop on top of rice.  Ladle onion and sauce over.  Add sour cabbage on top.  Enjoy!

來碗台南肉燥

台南肉燥(braised pork belly meat sauce)  is synonymous with the City of Tainan.  It's like sourdough bread to SF or beignets to New Orleans.  It's a dish that make you homesick.

In Tainan, you can eat 肉燥 anytime and anywhere.  I remember the little eateries that sell nothing but 肉燥 noodles.  They are inexpensive and served in small portions.  Whenever people feel like, they would just stop, order, finish in two gulps and move on to their next place to be.  It's a staple, a street food and it's part of life in Tainan.

Not here in the US though.  You have to search high and low for a place that makes it.  You will drive far for a bowl of 台南肉燥米粉 or 肉燥麵.  But most of the time, you are disappointed because it just doesn't have the right taste.

台南肉燥 is special not because of the ingredients but of its authentic no-other-place-but-here flavor.  It's made of simple ingredients: pork belly, mushrooms, dried shallot, garlic, soy sauce, salt, sugar, white pepper, five-spice powder and a little bit of licorice powder.  The hard part is how you combine the stuff in the right proportions.

Mom's 肉燥 is legendary.  She has mastered this delicatessen (along with other Taiwanese foods) thanks to her growing up in Tainan and the cooking tips she picked up from Grandma.  Mom has not been able to make any of the special dishes that everyone longs for since her stroke.  Never fear though, enter Suts, who is determined to pick up where mom left off.

Mom is happy that I want to cook all the special Taiwanese foods and she is passing on all her cooking knowledge.  It's amazing that she remembers all the ingredients and the little details.

What do we need to do first in making 台南肉燥??  Slicing and Dicing.  The pork belly needs to be diced into 1-2cm cubes.  Can't grind it because you don't want to break up the meat tissue.  You can't use ground meat because it does not have the consistency of chopped meat, and it does not have the belly fat. You see, one of the attractive flavor of this sauce is the pork fat.  Each little dice should have some fat and lean meat.  So, a two-pound pork belly will take about 2 hours to dice.  Warning: YOU WILL NEED A SHARP KNIFE!!   cutting through the layers of the pork belly is not an easy task, especially when you get to the pork skin.  But, someone has to do it.

Next, you must have dried red shallots.  Not the deep fried ones, not the fresh ones.  Without this ingredient, you can't even make anything that has the word "braising" in Tainan cuisine.  Mom always has a stash on the bottom of the freeze but our stash is getting low because we have not had it replenished since her stroke. I've put an urgent request to cousins back in Taiwan to send some.  Can't imagine cooking without it.  Ugh!

Then, you need lots and lots of chopped garlic.  I used about a whole head of garlic for two pounds of pork.  Oh, can't forget the mushrooms.  Dried mushrooms have more flavors than the fresh ones so soak them and dice them too.  Ideally, the mushrooms and the meat dices should be equal in size.

Other ingredients include soy sauce, sugar, salt, five-spice powder and mom's secrete ingredient: licorice powder.  You need to have good powders, don't get cheap ones because they don't have the pungent flavors.  Mom got hers from Chinese medicinal shops.

We saute the mushroom first.  Flavor it with soy sauce and sugar.  Add the shallots and the garlic next.  Remember to turn down the heat because the shallots and garlic burn easily.  Next, add pork.  Stir fry and add soy sauce for color.  Next, add salt, sugar and the spice powders.  Add water then more soy sauce.  Adjust taste.  Bring to a boil then turn down heat and let it slow cook for 1-2 hours.  About an hour into braising, add hard boiled eggs.
In an hour's time, the kitchen and the entire house will smell wonderful and everyone's stomach will start making noises.  Ahhhhh.... so good!!!

One last important thing to add to the dish: more minced garlic on top of the noodle.  Yes, if you're from Tainan, you will know this is is a must.

There.  That's our awesome 台南肉燥.  My ultimate comfort food.  it's also part of my childhood and it connects me to my family back home.

Have a good eat, peeps!

A Taste of Le Cordon Bleu

Thanks to all these coupons deals, I got to experience something different something new for half the price - the best part.

Few weeks ago, I did the wine bottling thing.  Last weekend, I had my first-in-the-life-time cooking lesson learning from Le Cordon Bleu chefs.  How cool is that??  There were quite a few cooking classes to choose from for $99 per 2 people (that's the great deal).  I picked Cajun/Creole because it was one of my favorite food.

The cooking class was at the California Culinary Academy.  I really didn't know what to expect. Is it like in the cooking shows?

I've never seen so many chefs in white chef hats before.  And those kitchens are amazing.  All kinds of pots and pans.  Everything is huge!!
The participants broke off to 3 groups of 18.  Each group in its own professional kitchen.  We then further separated into 3 work stations of 6.  We each had our own cutting board and an apron.  Boy, it was serious!

Chef told us that we will be making 5 Cajun dishes.  5??? In 3 hours???  Are you sure??  He gave us cooking tips, told us where things were, how to cut and cook certain way then he turned us loose.

At first, everyone looked kind of loss.  Where to start?  What to do?  Each team quickly formed a plan.  2 of our teammates tackled the gumbo, 2 was in charge of jambalaya.  My pal, Francis, and I took on fried oysters, a Cajun flavor coleslaw and a brand new dish that I had never tried before: Maque Choux.

What's a Maque Choux? How does it taste?  What does it look like?  There wasn't even a picture since it was a dish the Chef added on the fly.  OK, Maque Choux it is.  I love a good challenge.  And fried oysters!!  Man, I was loving it.

It was controlled chaos in the kitchen.  All the ingredients for each dish were prepared in advance including sugar, salt, spices, oil, etc... so we didn't have to frantically look for them.  That saved a lot of time.  So what did I learn?  Check what you need and have everything prepared first!!

The Chef and his assistant chef worked with us calmly. They must have seen people running around like chicken without heads way too many times.  I loved the techniques they shared and I appreciated the tips. I learned so much in a short 3 hours!!  

Q: How do you know the fried oysters are ready?
A:  It's ready when the oil is not dancing around it anymore.

Technique: Toss the oysters in the breading mixture with just three fingers.  If you handle the oysters too much it will warm up the oysters and make the coating less crispy.

Wow! how do you like that?  I can even apply the same technique to other deep fried dishes!!

Knowledge: Oh, I did not know there are so many different kind of roux.  And, I didn't know Cajun roux and Creole roux were different.  Did you???

Knowledge: Celery, onion and green bell peppers are known as the holy trinity of Cajun/Creole cooking.  Can't cook without these three ingredients if you doing Cajun/Creole!!

Time's Up!  After two hours, Chef started counting down time.  Man!  It was like the Iron Chefs!  We all hurried, plated the food, cleaned up our stations and brought them to another big kitchen to join others from the other kitchens.  When we saw all the food on the tables, we could not believe that we actually made all those food.  

Yes, we did it!!  It was a great morning and I walked out with an MasterChef apron, a certificate of completion and the satisfaction that I have pushed myself to another level.  Nothing major but it was also not a everyday feat.

I'll give myself (and others) a round of applause!

Creative Solutions

Most of the elevated dog feeders sold are still too low for the big boys.  Robert and I have looked into buying the ones for big dogs but the feeders are big and bulky and expensive.  It's like highway robbery.  *sigh*

So Robert and I have been looking at alternatives.  He was even going to build something himself but we actually found something better and inexpensive!!

Solution #1:  Can you tell what is this?  It's actually a table without the glass top.  Robert got it at a thrift store for just few bucks.  Being a designer he just knew what to do with it.  Flip it over and use the legs to hold the bowls.  Easy!  Simple!  Isn't he just clever??

Solution #2: While browsing in Goodwill today, I found two tall cast iron plant stands.  I thought heck, if the bowls can't fit, then I can still use them as plant stands like they were originally for.  So we bought them, took them home, and tried the bowls.  It was a perfect fit!!

This is why we love checking out thrift stores.  You never what you can find and you can always come up with good uses with the finds.  

Let's give ourselves a pat on the back!!

Bottle-Cork-Open-Drink

I'm glad that I got this LivingSocial deal for a visit to La Nebbia Winery!  It offered a chance to bottle and cork your own wine plus a tasting of its wines.  Heck, all these for $25?  I especially like that I will get to see how wine is bottled.  It's like "you drink milk but do you know how it's milked?"

La Nebbia Winery.  A winery in our backyard.  Actually, it's about 25 minutes away in Half Moon Bay on Highway 92 but close enough to call it my backyard.   I have driven by it quite a few times, but I finally had a chance to visit last Sunday.

It's little family-style winery.   It has a little wine tasting room, a wine bottling warehouse for the general public and a beautiful garden for picnics.  Note to self: make this a point of interests when I have visitors.

OK, the wine bottling part isn't quite that romantic.  A big warehouse with giant industrial tanks and a metallic equipment to fill and cork the bottles with one push of a button.  That's it?  We did get to attach the wine labels by hand though.

Since Jean and I were the first to arrive and there were only two of us, we got to spend some quality time with Kendyl, the winery owner.  She poured us each a glass of wine to start off (very nice), and gave us a a more detailed look of the bottling process including how she sourced her wine.  She let us visited her office which had boxes of wine samples from all over California. Her job is to sample them all and decide what to buy.  These wholesale wines are for the "Bottle and Cork Your Wine" days.  Those are the days where people can bring their own wine bottles to fill the wines with at $5/750ml bottle.  Note to self again: start saving wine bottles.

After Jean and I each bottled and corked our own wine, we headed to the tasting room.  La Nebbia actually produces their own wine with sourced grapes.  We got to try 12 wines from white to sparkling to red to dessert wines.  Hiccups!

Jean and I left the winery all happy.  What a nice little outing for a different experience so close to home.  Try a little, live a little.  Appreciate the small things that make up each of our days.  Cheers!

The Gopher Day

Some gopher decided to make my front yard his home.  He's been digging holes here and there.  My lawn, already not so good looking, is looking even uglier.  Well, at least he was eating up the weeds and dandelions, but boy, is he messy!!

One of Dad's friends, Mr. Huang, suggested that I sprinkle some pepper in the hole.  He said it works like a charm.  I  didn't really believe him and I wasn't ready to grind fresh pepper in the hole.  What would the neighbors say?!

But I decided to give it a try yesterday because this gopher is now bold enough to poke his head out from the ground to say hello.  Cute little thing but he is supposed to stay underground.

So, I cranked the pepper mill over the hole and hope the gopher didn't sneeze too loud and the neighbors didn't see me.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  When I checked the hole 30 minutes later, guess what?  It's been covered up!!!

Did the gopher do it? What did it mean?  Is he ready to pack up, lock up the door and go?

Strange but true.   I just have to share.

Look, My First Tart!

Before I talk about my tart, I just want to say that proofreading is so important, especially for a cookbook.  Case in point, check out the picture of the back cover of a pastry bake book and you know what I mean.

OK, I made my point.  Let's talk about me making my first tart ever.

I always want to make a fruit tart because I love the presentation.  Colorful fresh fruits on top of a layer of custard/cream.  It looks so grand and so yummy. But, it seems too complicated to make.

Well, guess what? It's not that hard after all.  I decided to give it a try this past weekend.  It was easier than expected.  Making the tart shell was probably the hardest because it was a sticky mess.  But other than that, it was a very pleasant experience.

I found that one has to be organized when making fruit tart (or anything for that matter).  It can take a while because the shell and the pastry cream all had to cool down before piling on the fruits.  Probably best to make the tart shell and the cream in advance.  The recipe I used can make enough doughs for two tart shells so I only had to deal with the messy dough once every two tarts. Score!

I never thought that I could actually pile on fruits on a tart but I surprised myself.  I couldn't stop giggling looking at my creation. Who knew!  What do you think?

So, I guess I'll be making tarts instead of buying now.  I just have to remember to only make it when there are people around to eat it.

If I have inspired you and you want to give tart a try, here's the recipe I used: Spring Strawberry Tart.