More Chinese…Even Though I’m Less Chinese

We had our extended family Chinese New Year dinner ten days ago, but since today is the actual Lunar New Year, we decided that some more Chinese food was in order. This year that meant eating our own body weight in char siu bao, a favorite for all of us and one of Matthew’s basic food groups. 😉

We also had some more gau. I’ve been trying to figure out how to get the stuff to cook at our altitude and thus far, the pressure-cooking method was the only one with which I’ve had success. I was talking to my mom yesterday and she told me how she made little ones with only a two-hour steaming time in her water well rice cooker. I don’t have that kind of rice cooker, but the recipe she uses also offers some tips on using bamboo steamers, which I do have, so I just had to try it to see if I could replicate it. I did get it to work, but it took six long hours. I actually took it off the heat after five hours because it was late last night and I really needed to go to bed, but I put it back in the steamer for another hour today and it finally did finish cooking. Seriously, sometimes I wonder if I’m just not quite Chinese enough to be able to work some of this Chinese food magic. 😂 BUT, it did cook eventually.

Matthew and I were both excited to eat some more gau, and Malia decided she was going to try it again. She has actually been really fantastic about that lately. She has been trying all kinds of new things, knowing that if she still doesn’t like stuff, we won’t make her eat it. And some things she still hates. And that’s ok. So, she ate some gau…and then she voluntarily ate some more. This time she decided that she likes it! I was honestly super surprised, but she said that it is better warm, and today’s batch was definitely fresh and warm.

I think next year I’m going to try replicating the water well rice cooker with a pressure cooker rack in a stock pot. Maybe having a smaller space will make things cook more quickly. But just in case it still takes forever, I’m going to start early in the day so that I have time to let it finish cooking long before bedtime!

(See how the shallow one is cooked but the taller ones need a bit more time? Another hour of steaming remedied that problem.)

Like Riding a Bicycle

After a four- or five-year hiatus where his hobby time has been focused elsewhere, Daniel has made his way back to origami. 

(Daniel's comments: “This is my most recent little project. It's folded from 6 rectangles: three 1x2, two 1x4, and one 1x6. All of which were glued together around a piece of wire to help it hold its shape. “)

I think it’s fair to say that his skill has not diminished in the interim. 

The Gospel Goes Hollywood

Family home evening looks very different for us nowadays. We don’t pull out the flannel board anymore. We don’t scour the Friend magazine looking for coloring pages. And we don’t sing the same song every week. No, with only two kids left at home and both of them teenagers, things are different. We still talk about the gospel and teach gospel principles, but those kinds of conversations happen as a part of our normal day to day interactions. These discussions come up over dinner or as a result of something that happened to the kids or something we read about in the news. And honestly, that seems like the better way to approach gospel teaching at this age. Incorporating these important topics into normal everyday life is how we want to live the gospel anyway. We want it to permeate our lives all the time and not just at those regularly scheduled moments. So we’re rolling with it. 

That means that sometimes we have to think outside the box when it comes to our actual FHE. Today thinking outside the box meant going out to dinner and then to a big screen showing of the movie “The Goonies.” It’s an old 80’s flick, one that we’ve all seen before, but seeing movies in the actual theater is a much different experience from watching at home, so when fun ones are showing, we like to catch them if we can. We had a good time, and Malia is old enough now to get the jokes, so she was entertained. And since we were in Astoria, Oregon two years ago, we recognized a variety of the locations that were in the movie, which was also fun.

And the best part? We actually had a gospel tie in for this activity! When we got home, Kevin geared up to share a spiritual thought about the movie. But Malia stole his thunder by saying that in the movie, they all work together even though they all make mistakes. I am so proud that Malia offered up that insight! Plus, having her outsmart Kev is always fun. 😉 He did add his two cents though, pointing out that they all have different strengths and skills and as they cooperate, all their different strengths and skills are needed. And that is what we are here to do. In this mortal life, we all need to learn to work together, meshing all our different strengths, skills, and talents.

So yeah. Like I said, gospel conversations are triggered by the most ordinary events and experiences around here. And I love it.

This is definitely not the movie we saw, but it was a fun photo op we came across at the theater.

Translation: "Wishing You Great Happiness and Prosperity"

Tonight was the annual extended family dinner celebrating the Chinese New Year. My sisters, my dad, and I convinced my mom to simplify things a bit, which was a good thing. There was still plenty of good food to be had though, in part because people volunteered to help a bit more than happens sometimes. And the most important parts of the feast were still there, of course-bao, wontons, gau. At least those are the most important parts in my opinion. Malia tried gau again, even though she despised it last time. But Kate was pretty much daring her to eat it, so she finished a small piece just to prove she could, even though she still thinks it’s completely revolting. 😂

Daniel was super brave and invited Tawni to attend with him. My family can be pretty overwhelming at first just by sheer numbers. I mean, there are seven siblings plus spouses and children and my parents…it adds up pretty quickly. And while most Sunday dinners have seen lower attendance of late, Chinese New Year is the one that no one misses. So, it’s a lot of people and a lot of noise. But Tawni was not cowed by the situation. She was talkative and answered questions and tried all the food, even the weird stuff, and pretty much, by the time the evening was over, she had won all of us over, even my parents. 

My little portion of the insanity lingered a bit longer than most of the others. And like always, levity ensues when we are together and Tawni just rolled with it. Which is good. Because sometimes people get all deer-in-the-headlights when the puns start rolling. But she jumped right in. I’m really beginning to like this girl. Not only does she bring out the best in Daniel, but she fits right in.

It was a highly enjoyable evening. We ate too much and talked too much and laughed too much (if that’s possible) and had a fantastic time. Gung hay fat choi. May the next year be a happy one.

This Doesn’t Happen Every Day

Matthew has some serious trumpet-related goals set for his senior year. One of them was being able to play in Abravanel Hall. In order to do that this year, he needed to audition for and be accepted into the All-State Wind Symphony. His big focus has been the All-State Jazz Band which performs a bit later this spring, but he decided to give the wind symphony a go as well. He was pleased when the list was released, and he was on it. The funny thing is that he only started practicing the audition a few days before it was due, and he still made it into the top-level high school band as seventh seat trumpet. That may seem like a pretty poor seat but considering that these kids are the best of all the high school band students in the state, it is actually pretty impressive. And honestly, Matthew knows that he gave the audition very little practice time and was not at all offended by the results. 😂

The concert was last night. Kevin, Malia and I drove downtown and met Daniel and Tawni, who drove down from Logan for dinner before the concert. It gave us a chance to chat with Tawni a bit more, to ask her some questions and get to know her a bit. Matthew joined us as well, at least for a bit in between his rehearsal and his call time. Nathan is on a skiing trip with friends this weekend, so he was the only no show. The concert itself was great. There were three different bands performing-the band comprised of middle school students, a lower-level high school band, and the top high school band. All the bands did a great job, but as expected with the way the auditions and such go, the upper-level band that Matthew played in was the best. They performed extremely well, and we really enjoyed the performance. 

This evening gave Matthew a check next to one of the items on his bucket list. This school year has been hard for him for a variety of reasons, so to see him glowing with this evening’s performance high was wonderful. And it’s not every day that you get to play in Abravanel Hall!

Stage Debut

Malia is in the musical theater class at school this year. When she selected it as one of her electives, I will admit that I was rather surprised. She is very nervous about being the center of attention, hates when she has to give oral reports, gets so nervous that she kind of freezes up. So, it seemed a bit odd to me. However, it ended up being a fantastic experience for her. Her classmates have been great, supporting her and giving her a safe space to explore being a bit braver in front of an audience. Yes, she still gets nervous and still hates it when all eyes are on her, especially in situations where she doesn’t know everyone or doesn’t feel emotionally safe, but she enjoys being one of many, part of a group. 

The musical theater class at the middle school is only one semester long. They do that so more kids can have the opportunity to participate. For the first term of the class, they do a variety of activities like writing and performing a radio play, creating a short parody of a Broadway show and perform it for the class, etc. The second term is spent auditioning, rehearsing, and performing a full musical. 

The musical that was selected this year was “James and the Giant Peach.” This is the very first show Malia has done, and she had a great time. Yes, the dancing was tricky for her since it has never been one of her strong points, but she figured it out. And while she doesn’t like having all eyes on her, when she is part of a group like she was as part of the chorus, she is just fine being on the stage. 

It was a cute show; one I had never seen before. The kids did a great job. And Malia has informed me that she intends to take musical theater again next year. I guess that means she had fun!

Culinary Experimentation

Today is my birthday. And while in most respects it was just like any other day, my yearly celebration is the time when I allow myself to make cheesecake. I love cheesecake and I enjoy creating them, but they are an indulgent treat, so I have to limit how often I bake. Because once I bake, then I eat! I have a recipe for a dulce de leche cheesecake that I adore and it has been my cheesecake choice for at least three of the past five years, but this year I wanted to give another flavor a try. Obviously, Matthew can’t eat cheesecake made anywhere else, but neither can Malia. Cheesecake is one of those things that always has cross contact warnings for peanuts. So, they have only enjoyed the cheesecake flavors I’ve made at home. In addition to the dulce de leche, we’ve had orange, mango, strawberry, lemon, and raspberry white chocolate cheesecakes. But I wanted to give them an opportunity to try another flavor combo, one that is high on my list of favorites at the Cheesecake Factory-lemon raspberry cream cheesecake. 

The lemon raspberry cream cheesecake is a combination of a raspberry-vanilla cake, lady fingers soaked in raspberry coulis, and lemon cheesecake all topped with a lovely lemon mousse. I was going for a taste-and-texture-a-like but not necessarily an identical dessert, so I opted to leave out the ladyfingers. This is a complicated cheesecake and leaving out that element simplified things a bit. Because when I make cheesecake, I always make two. One dairy free for Matthew to enjoy and one with all the lovely milk and eggs. Because while I can make a darn good allergen free cheesecake, I love the flavor and texture of traditional cheesecake, and it is my birthday so I’m going to eat the real thing!

Needing to create two complete cheesecakes multiplied the number of elements I needed to make, so I started making the freezer or fridge stable things about a week in advance. So let me lay out for you exactly what creating these delightful desserts included.

-Raspberry Coulis-naturally allergen free so I only needed to make one

-Vanilla Cake Base-while a traditional egg risen sponge makes the base for the Cheesecake Factory version, I opted for a Matthew friendly vanilla cake, again to simplify things a bit

-Lemon Cheesecake-two separate mixtures, one dairy free and one not

-Lemon Curd-again, two versions, one with eggs and one without

-Lemon Mousse-one for Matthew and one for everyone else

-Stabilized Whipped Cream-real and coconut cream

Add it all up and I made ten different elements. Hence my starting a week in advance. But the end result was wonderful! The only thing I would do differently is make the cake layer thinner so the cake to cheesecake ratio is better. I felt like it was a little heavy on the cake with not quite enough cheesecake for me. Which means that I’m going to have to repeat this adventure at some point. 😂

We had planned to go out for dinner, but I was not feeling spectacular today (Darn migraines. They are seriously interfering with my life.) so we will reschedule that for another day. Kevin did get some balloons for me. And they are taller than I am! And Matthew asked Kevin to go to the Home Depot with him so that he could give me some butane to go with the crème brulee torch he gave me for Christmas. I guess that means my next experimental dessert will be crème brulee…both the milk and eggs version and the Matthew friendly version. Because why make one dessert when you can make two? 😜

A Beauty-ful Show

My parents have season tickets to Hale Centre Theater. They saw the current production of “Beauty and the Beast” several weeks ago and enjoyed it so much that my dad asked Rachael and I if we had any children that would enjoy seeing the show. We both have daughters that enjoy theater and so the tickets were purchased and given as Christmas presents. 

We saw the show this afternoon and it was fabulous! It was well cast, and the performers did a wonderful job. The sets and special effects were fantastic as well. Overall, just a super enjoyable performance. I have a tendency to cry when live theater is really well done. I don’t know why. There is just something powerful about a live performance that isn’t there when watching things on a screen. So, the fact that I got watery eyed is high praise. And while I may feel silly about it sometimes because it’s not like I didn’t know how the story was going to go or anything like that, at least I was in good company because Rachael was crying right along with me. 😂

So thanks, Dad, for sending us to the theater! Malia and I had a wonderful time!

Cooking Their Heritage

Although Daniel and Nathan have both gone home to their apartment in Logan, they are still on Christmas break. Nathan has culinary endeavors on his want to do list that he doesn’t have time for during school, so he and Daniel set aside today to make Chinese pretzels. Now for those of you who don’t know, this is a long, involved process. These little pieces of Chinese heaven are time consuming to create. They are also a little tricky to make if you don’t know all the best tips and tricks, so the boys have spent the past few weeks asking questions aplenty. Nathan also had a few last-minute queries, so he Facetimed me this morning as they were getting things set up. My mom provided them with a pretzel iron and my cousin Shirlene loaned them an electric skillet so armed with the appropriate tools and knowledge, they were ready to jump right in this morning. 

All their questions and prep work worked to their advantage, as they did a great job and ended up with what they thought was loads of pretzels. And technically, it really was a lot since a single batch makes about 12 dozen pretzels. But these crispy little treats are so addictive that honestly, I don’t think they will last long. Especially since they are feeding them to their friends and neighbors. I suspect they will just end up creating more Chinese pretzel junkies. 😂

I am so glad that my kids are embracing their heritage and are working to learn how to create the foods that we all love. I have realized in the past few months that my mom and I have a lot of information in our heads that will be lost if we don’t pass it on to the next generation. To that end, I’ve really been trying to add all those little tidbits to my recipes so that when my kids cook, they have the benefit of my years of experience. And I’ve been picking my mom’s brain and adding her tidbits to the knowledge base as well. Because honestly, she has a ton of information in her head that she doesn’t think about sharing unless specifically asked.

I’m just pleased as punch that my kids value their heritage and are working to preserve it. At only ¼ Chinese their blood is getting a little thin, but that doesn’t matter. Although it is funny to see people’s initial reactions when Nathan tells them he is part Chinese. 😜