Pear, Carrot & Onion Soup

Pear is a cooling food and usually in Chinese cooking, they used Asian pear to make tonic soup.  But for me, I find that the Bosc pear resembled Asian pear the closest as it is crunchy, sweet and juicy and I loved to use it as a substitute.  This soup is made without chicken bone/ drumstick/ pork bone so it is a healthier version without the grease.

Since it is a cooling soup, it's suitable for people who feel heaty or have a cough.  As it is good for soothing the lungs.

Meatless Thursday Dinner

A view of my meatless Thursday dinner.   I only started doing this about 2 weeks ago and I am dropping pounds.  Not much, only 1 or 2 pounds but it's dropping.  I didn't start this to lose weight but just want to eat less meat, so this was a welcoming surprised.

Turmeric garlic brown rice, asparagus with carrot in XO sauce, tofu with frozen mixed veggie and imitation lobster and Chinese fried eggs seaweed anchovies soup.  I believe most recipes already posted in my blog.

Easy Stir-Fried Carrots

Carrot is better if stir-fried it with a little oil.  It is also better if you don't peel it with a peeler but scrape it with the back of your knife and then rinse it.  Just like gobo/burdock root (outer layer is packed with nutrient too).  Since I started to plan meatless meals for my family twice a week, I need to come out with more vegetarian dishes.  Carrot has always been a side ingredient in my Chinese cooking but I wanted to make it a main ingredient so I created this easy dish.  It's really easy and only used garlic and carrot, not to say simple to make too.

Meatless Monday Dinner

I am really trying to eat healthy and prepare healthy and nutritious food for my family.  So recently I started meatless Monday and Thursday meals.  I started cooking meatless meals twice a week, the rest would be fish (twice a week) or white meat chicken.  We eat out on Sat. and Sunday so I am more lenient on the choices.

Meatless meals can be satisfying as well as delicious.  So try it!

Healthy Rice (Black, Brown, Barley and Millet)

I was cooking barley brown rice for my family for a while now.  And then I read that black rice is also good for us, including all the black things like black bean, black woodear and black sesame seeds.  I also bought some millet because of the health benefits that I read.  So, I decided to mix all these grains together.  Chinese believed that barley can aids in beauty like have beautiful skin, reduce heatiness and detoxification, black rice aids kidney, bright eyes and millet aids stomach, etc.

I also read that not everyone can eat millet especially for those that have hypothyroidism or problem with thyroid.  Since I had it before, I definitely watching what I eat.  I would probably use the rest of the millet to make bread or buns instead.  Small quantity is fine, just not everyday.

Now I am alternating barley brown rice, turmeric garlic brown rice, sweet potato brown rice and black brown rice for our meals.  You can find the recipes under Rice.

Korean Red Pepper Sauce (Goit-Chu Jang)

I was fascinated while I was reading the Dok Suni cookbook.  In her book, she mentioned that her mother used to make the red pepper sauce, then store it in a jar, refrigerated, and used it in cooking or served as a dipping sauce.  This red pepper sauce is a staple seasoning for many Korean dishes and it is made with red pepper paste.

I didn't know there was such thing as red pepper sauce, I always thought it was the red pepper paste that was served a the dipping sauce.  My bad!  Anyway, as I was curious I wanted to make it and tried it myself.  I thought it was kinda bland so I added sugar and sesame oil.  You can experience with the first four ingredients and do a taste test and see how you like it, if you think like me then add the sugar and sesame oil.  :)

I used this in my Korean BBQ meal.  Take a piece of red leaf lettuce, add a piece of grilled chicken, add some seasoned radish, seasoned beansprout, soy sauce anchovies and top with this red pepper sauce, wrap it nicely and in the mouth it goes.  How good is that?  I also used this sauce in my bibimbap.  Yummy!

Lemon Honey Drink (蜂蜜檸檬水)

I saw in a Chinese article that this lemon honey drink can aid in weight loss, detox and beauty (美容排毒減肥).  The method is really easy so I would share it here.  All I know is honey and lemon are good for us so this drink should be safe to drink.  I drink one glass a day (or skip a day or two) if I have the supply in my refrigerator.  Honey is antiseptic, antioxidant, has cleansing properties for our body and health, fights infection, aids tissue healing, reduce inflammation and scarring, great beauty and skin care product for ladies and more.  The benefits of eating or drinking lemon juice are great as well such as control high blood pressure, aid in weight loss, good for stomach, detox and more.

This drink is sourish and sweet at the same time and quite refreshing!

Caution:  Not all people are suitable for honey drink.  My hubby gets upset stomach whenever he had some honey.  Don't drink it first thing in the morning without breakfast.  Better drink it after lunch.
 

Spicy Cucumber Salad (Oye Moochim)

While I was reading the Dok Suni cookbook, I saw a picture of this cucumber salad placed in a table setting with some BBQ raw meat and a few banchan and had a urge to try it.  The recipe was fairly easy and I had a English cucumber at home, so I made it.

I think I didn't do a good job in straining the salted cucumber as my middle was not as crispy.  I served it with my Korean BBQ meal.  I probably won't make this again as I couldn't mix this in my bibimbap and can only serve it as a side.

Mochi (Peanut Coconut Filling) 麻糬

I guess you can call this a Chinese style mochi or 麻糬.  I  remembered when I was in Malaysia, I ate this with peanuts and sugar filling (long long time ago).  Over here in the U.S., we have the similar filling too but with added coconut flakes and often time made by Vietnamese Chinese.  We can easily buy this snack at the Asian market so often time I won't be bother to make it myself.  Today, since I have the mood, I made this for my family.  This microwave mochi was very easy to make and took less than 30 minutes.  Evy loved it and wanted to learn from me, but perhaps when she is older as the dough has to be handled when it is still warm and I don't think she is up to it yet.

Sharing with you my peanut, coconut and sesame filling and hope you like it!

Sweet Potatoes Rice (地瓜飯)

Sweet potato is one of the healthiest food one can eat.  It contains vitamins A, Bs, C, manganese, potassium, dietary fiber and some iron. It improve immune system, preserve eye sight, fight infections, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer and has low glycemic index.  But for people with kidney and gallbladder ailments, consult your doctor before consuming.

I have a combination of orange and purple sweet potatoes for my rice simply because I love the different displayed of colors.

This is one healthy and delicious way of eating the sweet potatoes.  You can make it complete with a fried egg (sunny side up) on top for a more balance meal.  Or you can serve it with lean protein and a veggie side dish.

Purple Sweet Potatoes (紫色地瓜)

Sweet potatoes or 地瓜 come in various colors.  The most common orange and yellow and not as common purple.  The purple color one is slightly more expensive.  Sweet potato is really good for us as it contains lots of vitamin A, C, manganese, Bs, potassium, dietary fiber and iron.  Hence, it has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory properties, can improve immune system, preserve eye sight, fight infections, anti-cancer (some even said better than ginseng) and low glycemic index (suitable for diabetics).  This is by far one of the healthiest food to eat.  However, people suffering from kidney and gallbladder ailments are not suitable to eat this.  Consult with your doctor for a recommended amount.

Recipe coming up will be my version of sweet potato rice (地瓜飯), stay tune for this healthy and yummy rice!!

Korean Sweet Sesame Chicken

 

We quite liked this dish as it was sweet and tangy and nothing could go wrong with a sweet tangy sticky sauce on a fried chicken strips.  When I looked at this picture again, I realized that I forgot to garnish it with the toasted sesame seeds.  It involved some steps and the last step sort of slip past me.  Hehe...

I had tried a spicy version and I wanted to try the non-spicy version too hence this dish was made.  I also made it healthier by using chicken tenders instead of wings.  When the ginger and garlic were minced and mixed in this dark sauce, my girls won't know what they were eating and they loved the sweet and tangy sauce.  Just don't tell them what were in the sauce when they asked.  What a great way to trick them!  :D

Easy Crimini Mushroom in Asian Sauce

Mushrooms have been in the spot light especially in health books, magazines and health food store.  It is a fungus that packed with nutrient powerhouses.  It is an excellent source of selenium, a potent antioxidant that fight off damaging free radicals, and thus anticancer.  The dried Shiitake mushroom is said to reduce high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and protection against breast cancer.

You can easily find the dried Shiitake mushroom at any Asian supermarket.  It is cheaper at Asian market since shiitake mushrooms has been a staple in our Asian cuisines.  Since mushroom is one of the health-boosting and anti-inflammation foods, I would make sure I cook it at least once a week.  The above is fresh crimini mushroom that I bought at Sunflower Market.  I read that when crimini mushroom matures, it becomes portobello mushroom.  Crimini mushroom is sometimes called baby portobello.  I love the texture of this mushroom, it's firmer than the white button mushroom.  I would eat a wide range of different mushrooms and not limiting myself to one or two to fully benefit from it.

Chocolate Whole Wheat Oats Buns

Sharing a picture of my chocolate whole wheat oats buns that I made for our breakfast.  I added cocoa powder just for fun and stuff a few chocolate chips as filling.  The above picture is the unbaked buns but ready for oven.

This is the baked buns.  Guess I shouldn't decorated the buns with chocolate chips on top as it soften and sort of melted a little when baked in the oven.  Kinda messy for my girls to eat too.  But they loved the chocolate chips as filling!

Stir-Fried Chicken with Leeks (鸡胸肉炒韭菜)

I have started buying more leeks at my supermarket trip recently.  I found the flavor here is less pungent than the one in Malaysia.  Perhaps that was the reason why my hubby (he disliked eating leek in Malaysia) and girls have no problem in eating leeks that I cooked.  Leek is a part of onion family called Allium just like garlic, scallion and onion.  Leeks provide a good source of fiber, folid acid, manganese, potassium, calcium, vitamin B6 and C and iron.  It was said to improve the immune system, lower bad cholesterol levels, increase good cholesterol levels and fight certain cancer.  I eat leek purely not because of its health benefits but I happen to like leek a lot especially when it is stir-fried with a little oyster sauce.

I served the above as a one dish meal with a bowl of watercress soup.  This dish had frozen tofu, chicken breast, leek, red bell pepper, carrot and garlic.
 

Korean Chicken Vegetable Stew (Jjim Dak)

When I saw this dish in a Korean cookbook, I had to try it.  Why?  Because it has my favorite dang myun or sweet potato vermicelli in it.  Before that the only uses of dang myun for me is to make japchae (vegetable beef vermicelli) and I was so glad to find another uses for it.  Normally this dish is made with potato and since I don't really buy potato, I used Korean radish instead.  It paired so well together as the radish soaked up the flavor of the spicy gravy and won't crumble if cooked for too long.

This dish is very appetizing to me as it is spicy, sweet and savory at the same time, goes really well with a bowl of hot rice.

One thing I need to note though.  You have to eat this dish fast or once it is cooked.  If left on the stove, the dang myun will soak up all the gravy and become thicker and softer.  It is actually not too bad though as it makes the dang myun really flavorful.  But for presentation purposes or if you have guest then it will be a bad idea.

Edda's Drawings at 4.5 Year Old

Her illustration of princesses.

Edda is my girly girl who likes princesses and play with barbie doll.  So, of course she loves to draw princesses too.  I am impressed of her drawings these days, really what an improvement.  See her drawings at 3+ year old here and here.

Princesses with chat box.  But she still couldn't spell and read, so she just simply wrote down the alphabet that came to her mind.

Mee Sua Soup with Dumplings (菠菜饺子汤面)

I needed a quick lunch fix for Edda and me.  Earlier, I made a batch of chicken chive dumplings and freeze it for emergency such as a quick lunch idea and also an alternative for Evy when I didn't cook enough for her school's lunch box.  I checked my pantry and I had one bundle of somen left, just enough for both Edda and myself.  An lunch idea was formed as I remembered the way my mom cooked the somen for me during my confinement.  If you liked to check out my mom version just click under confinement.  It's similar to this except I added the spinach, dumplings, homemade glutinous rice wine and a little this and that.

Toasted Barley Tea (大麦茶)

My girl friend from China first introduced me to this barley tea.  She said she had it in Korean restaurant and really liked it and thus she bought it to make it at home.  Strangely though, I was never served barley tea when dining in Korean restaurants, or I have to ask for it?  They said it usually served with Korean BBQ.

Anyway, I saw this barley tea recipe in multiple Korean cookbooks and it's really easy to make.  You just have to search for this toasted barley in the Korean supermarket or Asian market.  This barley tea is very nutritious too and said to aid weight lost.  Chinese has been catching up and this barley tea is popular in other Asian countries too.  I found the benefits in a Chinese article which I copied and pasted here, 据本草纲目记载，大麦味甘、性平；有平胃止渴，消渴除热，益气调中，宽胸下气，消积进食，补虚劣、壮血脉，益颜色、宝五脏、化谷食之功.  Sorry I don't know how to translate it.

This is how it looks like and it's really fragrant.  The house was infused with toasted fragrant when I was boiling this.  The tea itself was fragrant and I like it without sugar.  The instruction at the packet of the barley that I bought said you can also served it cold with condensed milk or sugar for breakfast.  I will show you the picture of the packet in the next page.

Steamed Custard Sponge Cake

I wanted to create a recipe for steamed custard sponge cake.  This was my second trials.  I used a different recipe for the first attempt and for some reason the bottom half of the steamed cake was slightly hard, even though it rises beautifully.  So, I played around with this second recipe and added oil into my steamed sponge cake.  It didn't raise as high because my bamboo steamer was too big, I used a 12-inch bamboo steamer.  This recipe is okay but I wanted to try it with separating egg yolk and egg white (like a chiffon cake method) and compare the result.  And of course use a smaller pan!  This cake was soft but after the second day, it was still soft but had a slightly dry texture.

The steamed custard sponge cake from the bamboo steamer had nice top, even though I didn't cover it with a cheese cloth.  The first one I steamed using my electric steamer had bubbles top because the water condensation from the steamer kept dropping onto the cake.

Pickled Radish, Cucumber and Carrot

This is an Asian pickled.  This pickle is pretty common in Asian cuisine.  Most countries have their own version but cooking method is similar, 1:1 ratio of white vinegar:sugar.  It can be served as a Korean banchan too.  I tried to use less sugar and the result was less satisfactory as it leans toward sourish.

This is great as an appetizer as the vinegar really increases your appetite.  Not to say vinegar is good for us too.  It said to control high blood pressure, improving digestive system, reduce urinary tract infections and diseases, strengthening bone, etc.  You can do a search on the Web to read more benefits of vinegar.  With this pickle, I finally found a delicious way to have a little vinegar everyday.  Not to say cucumber, radish and carrot are good for us too.  But got to warm you though, this has quite a lot of sugar in it, so if you are watching your sugar intake, be aware.  Also, eat in moderation, a little bit in a day, not the whole thing in a day no matter how tempting it is.

Clementine or Mandarin Marmalade

 

What to do if you have sour mandarins?  The last batch of the Cuties mandarins that I bought turned out so sour that I wouldn't want to eat it.  Worst yet I bought 6 pounds of it!!  I would have returned it but my hubby said the gas money would have cost about the same and suggested to throw it away.  I am not a wasteful person, so it's hard to throw away 6 lb. of good looking mandarins even though it's inedible.  Then, I got an idea to make it into marmalade.  With added sugar, we can turn anything sour into sweet.  I came across an easy recipe but forgot where I have seen it but the process is really simple.

Look at those good looking mandarins, who could have guess it was so sour!  I guess it's time to stop buying the mandarins, is it the end of the season?  The last 40-50lbs that I bought was so sweet that I was truly disappointed in this recent batch.  Luckily the marmalade rescued me, it turned out so good that even my girls loved it.  I still have about 3 lb. of cuties left, right now sitting in my refrigerator to prolong the selves life, should last for a month before I make another batch of marmalade.  The marmalade can also be used in baking and cooking such as making cake, cookies, spread on Swiss roll, marmalade chicken, marmalade meat balls, marmalade baked salmon, etc.

Fruit Cake Mix Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I made this heart shape fruit cake mix cookies for this Valentine's day!  Also took this opportunity to wish all my readers a fun and happy Valentine's day celebration.  This cookie came about when I was shopping at my local supermarket and spotted the fruit cake mix was on clearance for 99 cent for a 16oz tub.  The 8 oz cherries an pineapple was on clearance for 49 cent.  How could I pass it out?  I used about half of the fruit cake mix to make this cookie and the other half I am planning to make a cake.

For the above cookies, I rolled it out and cut it with a cookie cutter.  The rest, I shaped into logs and placed in my freezer for future craving.

Korean Stir-Fried Fish Cake

While I was at a gathering and strike up a conversation with a lady friend and she mentioned to me about this Korean fish cake banchan/ side dish.  She said it was really easy to make and delicious and I agreed with her.  So, while shopping at H-mart recently, I bought a packet of fish cake to make this banchan.

All of us liked it and it was easy to make.  Furthermore, it keeps well in the refrigerator.  For the next two days, little Edda and me had it as our lunch with some other vegetable banchan.  I think children would like this, just omit the green chili if your kid(s) cannot tolerate spicy food.

Burdock Root/ Gobo Herbal Soup (牛蒡草药汤)

Gobo or burdock root has many health benefits.  It is low in calories and contains a fair amount of fiber, calcium, amino acids and potassium, to list a few.  It has been used traditionally as a medicinal herbs to treat many ailments.  Said to be anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, disease prevention, blood purification and mild laxative.  It can be eaten raw, stir-fry or boil in soup.  I did a stir-fried version here.  But I found it quite fibrous and not as suitable for young children.

You can read more about burdock root at wiki.  I want to make it a habit of drinking this soup at least once a month.

I got this gobo at my Asian market here for 70 cents.  I thought it's pretty reasonable but I had no idea whether it's cheaper at other Asian markets since this was the second time I bought this.  But I have a very bad habit, I don't compare prices when I shop for Asian vegetable, I just buy whatever vegetable that look fresher and would last through a week in my refrigerator.  If you ask me how much are the prices of broccoli, green bean, asparagus, celery, cabbage, brussels sprout, onion, carrot, cauliflower per lb when on sales, I would be able to tell you.  But none of the Asian vegetables I could tell as I don't look at the price, I just grab and in the cart it goes.  Anyone of you behave the same way?

Happy Chap Goh Mei or 元宵节快乐！

Happy Chap Goh Mei or 元宵节快乐！  Chap Goh Mei (literary translates to 15 nights) marks the last day of Chinese New Year celebration.  I served Mala steamboat for an early Chap Goh Mei celebration.  I used packet mala paste and because of the spiciness of this soup base, no dipping sauce is required.

I found a smart way to reduce washing dishes!  That is to put all the ingredients into these two containers!!  If I put all the ingredients into individual bowls or plates, imagine how many dishes I have to wash.  Since we have been eating lots of seafood and meat during the Chinese New Year, I wanted something light with more fresh mushrooms, fish and vegetarian based ingredients.  Fish fillets, DoDo fish balls, fried fish rolls, pork balls, baby corns, scallion.

Romaine lettuce heart, nai pak, oyster mushrooms, beech mushrooms, fried tofu sticks.

Taro Tapioca Shreds Sweet Soup

I had a taro sago sweet soup as dessert recently at an authentic Chinese restaurant up in Denver with some friends.  I enjoyed it as I loved taro!  Always loved the taro in buburchacha, a popular Malaysian dessert when growing up and until now I still loved it.  I also loved the "or nee", smashed taro cooked in sugar and oil.  Taro is also high in dietary fiber, low in fat, high in vitamin E and rich in potassium and magnesium.

Since I don't have sago at home, I used dried tapioca shreds instead.  You can use either one or both.  This is a lovely dessert but quite fattening because of the high amount of coconut milk used.  Would be nice as an occasional treat!  And one of that occasion would be during Chinese New Year!

I am sharing this dessert with Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY hosted by Wen's Delight.  Go check out the roundup on Feb 7th.  :-)

Dragon Yu Sheng/Yee Sang (龙年鱼生)

My dragon yu sheng for the dragon year.  I saw some dragon inspired yu sheng and those pictures really inspired me to create this dragon yu sheng.  Yu Sheng or 鱼生 literally translate to raw fish.  It is a raw fish salad that Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore enjoy throughout the 15th days of the Chinese New Year.  I omitted the raw fish because my family don't eat raw fish.  The salad in itself was so delicious that it was worth the day of slicing those vegetable.  My version was quite simple as I omitted the fried colorful taro strips and some other things.  I also got the fried crunchy wonton from my friend's restaurant which they happily gave it to me (which cut down my labor of making this).  It was so good and I wonder why we only eat it during Chinese New Year?  Why don't I have the urge to make it some other times, just like the CNY cookies and nian gao?  How strange we are right?  Anyone of you make yu sheng other than during CNY?

Click here for the full recipe.  This salad is very versatile, you can add whatever extra you desired.

I am also sharing this dish with Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY hosted by Wen's Delight.  The deadline for submission has been extended to Feb 6th, the last day of CNY.  So go see the roundup on the 7th!  :-)

Pan-Fried Stuffed Lotus Roots

Eating lotus root is auspicious for Chinese as we believed that eating it during Chinese New Year will foster the grow of your new venture or business.  When I saw this dish on Chinese T.V. cooking show, I thought that it would be perfect for Chinese New Year.  And then I saw a similar dish at a Taiwanese cooking show, was it asking me to make it?  Haha...  Anyway, it looked delicious and I couldn't wait to try it myself.  Sharing here is my version.  I served it with a sauce so that the stuffed lotus root remain crispy.  A bit time consuming to make this but the result is well worth the effort.

Today is also 人日.  The 7th day of Chinese New Year and also everyone birthday.  祝大家人日快乐!! This day people normally celebrate it with longevity noodle, tang yuen (glutinous balls), yee sang (raw fish salad) and another great feast!

 
Crispy stuffed lotus root drizzled with scallion garlic soy sauce.  Click next for the step-by-step pictures guide.

I am also sharing this recipe with Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY hosted by Wen's Delight.  The deadline for submission has been extended to Feb 6th, the last day of CNY.  So go see the roundup on the 7th!  :-)

Frozen Tofu with Shiitake and Dried Lily Buds

Dried lily buds (金針菜) is also called golden needle vegetable but don't confuse it with dried golden needle mushroom (dried enoki mushroom) as they look almost similar.  Usually found in Asian supermarket where they sell dried woodear and mushroom.  Once open, I would keep it in a Ziploc bag and in the refrigerator.  When you want to use it, you need to soften it in the water first.  I often see dried lily buds in auspicious Chinese dishes because it symbolizes wealth for the Chinese when celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year.  Shiitake mushroom symbolizes longevity + opportunity and yellow color tofu symbolizes wealth and happiness (like dried beancurd stick and fried tofu puff).  Since frozen tofu is yellow in color and yellow means gold in Chinese, it should symbolizes wealth and happiness.  Whereas the fresh white tofu is not included as it is unlucky for new year as the color white means death and misfortune. You can braise your tofu in a sauce to change the color or pan-fried the tofu until golden before stir-frying to change your luck if you are superstitious like me.

This would make a great vegetarian Chinese New Year dish too!   The frozen tofu cubes and mushrooms soaked up all the flavor of the sauce and made this dish such a plus!  Imagine biting into the spongy and juicy cubed tofu and flavorful mushrooms!!

I am sharing this recipe with Aspiring Bakers #15: Auspicious Dishes for CNY hosted by Wen's Delight.  Go check out the roundup on Feb 1st.  I know I will!  :-)

Korean Mungbean Flatcake (Nokdu Buchimgae)

While flipping through a Korean cookbook, one pancake or flatcake dish stood up to me.  Because it used ground mung bean paste as a batter and it really intriguing me.  I never seen it in Malaysian cooking and it spiked my curiosity.  Furthermore, this recipe appeared again and again in several different cookbooks.  They are all different but one thing for sure is the ground mung bean paste.  Hence, I set to work with my own version with what I have at home and replaced the kimchi with spicy radish.   Instead of raw beef or pork, I used leftover fried chicken breast which I took off the skin and cut off the fried part.  Since everything were cooked, I just pan-fried until the flatcake became crispy and the middle no longer soft, you can press with your finger or spatula.

It can be called Jun or Buchimgae and you can make it all vegetarian by omitting the poultry or meat.  It will be as delicious!  Korean served this dish to welcome the new year too.  With this post, I want to wish all Korean a happy lunar new year!

Verdict:  I loved it!!  All seem to be married well together, the crispy bite on the outside and the soft and fluffy inside and the slightly nutty taste from the ground mung bean, what can I say but I will certainly make this again!  Since I seasoned the batter (oh well the Chinese in me, got to season everything!), it's good even without the sauce but tastes even better with the sauce. 

Crispy on the outside, soft and slightly nutty inside, so good!

Happy Lunar New Year and Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Wishing all my readers a prosperous, happy and healthy Chinese New Year!!  Be glad that you get to spend quality time with your family and relative.  Nothing beat reunion dinner and the continuous visiting in relatives' houses for more eats and ang pows (red packet).

The things that I was most looking forward to Chinese New Year when I was young were wearing new clothes and shoes and visiting both grandmas and relatives.  Eating the Chinese New Year sweets, cookies and all the auspicious food and not forgetting receiving the red packets as well wishes.  Playing with fire crackers were fun too and I especially loved the atmosphere back home, very festive.  Moving here, I still try to provide my girls with these CNY tradition, except they don't get to visit both their grandparents and relatives.  We have friends instead.