Dad's Memoir

Dad's autobiography - his first book ever - was finally printed.  It took him over seven years to write but it's finally done.

Dad started writing his memoir after mom's stroke in 2007.  He has stayed home to be with her 24/7  from day one.  Up to this day, he is still by her side day in and day out.  There are times that he has to go out for appointments and meetings  but he would always come home as soon as he could because he doesn't want to leave mom alone.

Dad started writing because he wanted to document his life and his life with mom (which is more than 4/5 of their lives) and to leave something for the kids to treasure.  So he started writing from his childhood, to his struggle while growing up, meeting mom, building their family, moving to the US, starting a new life and telling all about it.

And he wrote and wrote.  Dad's book is over 50,000 words and over 500 pages with precious photos from their childhoods and our childhoods.  Yes, he had a lot to talk about.  Some sad, some happy, some very down times and some very proud moments.

Not everyone's father is a writer.  My dad sure is not.  His writing may not be very professional but he wrote with his heart.  The book is dedicated to mom, who has stood by him through thick and thin.

Dad and mom endured peaks and valleys in all these years but they never lost the courage to plow through all obstacles.  Just when we thought that they were ready to enjoy their retirement, mom suffered a life changing stroke.  But this is life, and we will take it as it comes.

So Dad wrote from his heart.  We are so proud of Dad and his determination to finish this book.

Congratulations Dad.  You just prove to us again that as long as you put your heart in it, you can accomplish anything.

Something about my parents:

• Both in their 70s now.  Mom is three years younger than Dad.
• They have been married for 51 years (52 comes December 9, 2014)
• They were engaged for 3 years before getting married
• They were together for 7-8 years before getting engaged
• Together, they have 3 kids, 2 daughter in-laws and 4 grand kids

Hello 韭菜盒子 (Chive Pockets), We Meet Again!

The first attempt I tried making  韭菜盒子 (Chive Pockets) was back in 2008.  It was a noble try but nothing to get excited about.

Checkout how I did the first time: Chive Pockets

Now that I have a better handle on FLOUR, I thought I would give it another try.  Can you believe that I am now experimenting northern Chinese food (steamed buns, pork buns, etc...)??  I'm not even from the North!!  OK, that's a story for another time.

Lessons Learned from my second attempt last night:

#1 - Follow the recipe.  Yes, flour is not your friend if you don't follow its rules!!  I learned that I need to use the right water temperature.  Cold, lukewarm or hot.  It depends on what you want to make.  For chive pockets, you need a temperature of between 65°C - 70°C (or 149°F - 158°F.  Yap.  Good luck with that).

#2 - Knead the dough.  I know! I know! And I'm pretty good at kneading dough now.  I know I need to knead that baby until smooth and elastic - just like breads!

#3 - More chive please.

#4 - Cook the ground pork first.  This was a big discovery for me.  I used uncooked pork filling the first time and it took forever to cook through.  I ended up cooking the chive pockets as if they were pot stickers.  And the result was GIANT pot stickers with dried hard skin.  The correct way is to gently brown all sides of the chive pockets and cover the pot for couple of minutes to heat through.  That's it.  So point #5 from my first try is a bad one.  Chive pockets are not pot stickers!!

So, here's the result of my second attempt.   Much better yes?  I now need to work on shaping the pockets so they stand up like little purses.