If you have noticed that I have been missing in action for couple of days, that was because we went to a little family vacation to South Dakota. We took a spontaneous four days three nights trip to South Dakota. I literally only had two days to plan this trip, as I am a planner while my hubby is the spontaneous kind of person. Luckily with the help of the Internet, anything is feasible and I managed to find the lodging and places to visit in time. I will guide you through our visit to South Dakota with short illustration.
We first arrived at Mouth Rushmore National Memorial in the afternoon. Just nice to have a quick lunch at the cafeteria and walked around the area.
Bright sunny sky after our lunch, nice for photo shoot.
Evy enjoyed her chocolate chips mint ice-cream after lunch.
Edda loving her strawberry shortcake ice-cream.
Then, we took a stroll at the 1/2 mile loop Presidential Trail. The last 1/4 mile was stairs.
We stayed at Palmer Gulch Resort in Black Hills National Forest, 10 minutes from Mt. Rushmore. No cellphone signal here. 
Enjoying the free continental breakfast.
Cosmos Mystery Area- unusual happening happen in this area where water flow uphill and ball rolls uphill. We couldn't stand straight in this room as well, some unexplained forces at work here. The tour guide was trying to show us his Matrix move here. Haha...
The ground is level and yet one seem to be taller standing on one side, how is that possible? Definitely blow our mind! $9.50 for adult and kids free.
Bear Country U.S.A. - A place fulled of black and brown bears, I think at least hundred. I never seen so many bears in my life before. The animals roam freely in this 200 acres natural Black Hills habitat.
This black bear just enjoying himself walking back and forth at the entrance and blocking our car from entering.
Timber wolves and bears run wild here. They have Elks, Big Horn Sheeps, Mountain Goats, Arctic wolves, mountain lions, reindeer, Dall Sheep, miniature donkey, buffalo, Grizzly bears, lots of small animals and baby bear cubs too.
Cool up close and personal experience with wild animals.
We even got a bear bite souvenir here, look at our bumper. Luckily my hubby didn't drive his favorite car.
One of the many tunnels at Custer State Park.
Sylvan Lake Area at Custer State Park.
Peter Norbeck Visitor Center at Custer State Park.
Wildlife spotting along Wildlife Loop in Custer State Park.
Wildlife Loop.
Bison herd at Wildlife Loop.
Casually walking by our car.
Rocky Mountain Goat spotted at Mt. Rushmore area.
Second longest cave in the world. Named for the jewel-like Nailhead and Dog-tooth Spar crystals which line over 143 mile of passages.
234 feet under the surface. Temperature in cave is 49'F. Evy didn't enjoy the cave, too dark and scary for her.
Walking up and down 723 stair steps along a 1/2 mile loop in 1.5 hour tour. I was sweating at the end of the tour because I had to carry Edda. What an exercise!
Storybook Island- home of fairy tale and storybook characters for kids.
Storybook Island train ride ($1/ride). My girls loved this place but we couldn't stay long because we had a long drive home.
And back to Colorado!The trip was enjoyable. The taxes and prices were cheaper than Colorado and we got to see lots of wildlife. If you loved nature, wildlife, hunting, fishing, horse trail riding and camping, you will like South Dakota. But be warn, this place is pretty rural, certain places have no cellphone signal and Chinese restaurants are only found in Rapid City.
Since I had a successful crunchy baked chicken strips the other day, I thought why not try it on fish fillets. We loved baked fish and it would be an extra yum if the baked fish is crunchy right? I was out of the cereal that I used before, so I had to make my own coating for my fish. I was trying with the combination of homemade bread crumbs, walnuts and cornflakes. The resulted fish was not as crunchy as my chicken strips, I think I know the reason. I did not use a lot of the cornflakes, also my cornflakes was crushed too finely. The walnuts and bread crumbs did not give out too much crunch, only the cornflakes. So, make sure you don't crush the cornflakes too fine and pat it on a lot. Added nuts just because I wanted to add more nutrition to my girls diet. By the way, both my girls loved this crispy baked fish as both of them asked for more after given two pieces each. I definitely make it again with just cornflakes and walnuts. This coating is healthy as cornflakes came packed with vitamins and minerals, and walnuts is high in omega 3 fatty acids and an antioxidant food which are heart healthy.
What to do with the leftover Benedictine DOM from the confinement? I know I supposed to drink a little each night before going to bed, but I just never do it. A bottle of this is not cheap at all and I really like the sweet fragrant taste, throwing it away is definitely not an option. So, I used it in cooking! The alcohol content will evaporate during cooking and leave us with the sweet DOM smell. So, instead of using the Chinese cooking wine or Japanese rice wine asked for in a recipe, I just substitute it with DOM. I have used it in making spaghetti sauce too.
This dish was inspired by a dish we ordered at a Chinese restaurant in Denver. Theirs was drier and managed to keep the fish fillets from broken out. Mine was wet because I needed the stock to cook the fish fillets without the fish broken too much. Anyway, here is my version of the Asian-style ginger scallion fish fillets. You can use any white fish to make this dish, perhaps a more solid white fish would be ideal. Regardless this dish is delicious and healthy.
Want to eat Loh Mai Kai (glutinous rice chicken) without all the work? Oh, that's me for sure! I'm too lazy to pack each individually in a bowl and steam it, those are extra work for me. So, have to come out with my super lazy way to satisfy my craving. It is so not authentic okay, but it satisfied my craving, that's the point. I'm living overseas, so anything convenient/easy and yet manage to produce a dish similar to what I miss at home is the key. I really don't care whether it's authentic or not. :P So, stay away from this post if you like yours authentic. But for those who just want a quick fix, come, come, read further, I will share my lazy method with you. :P
First, wash the glutinous rice as you normally would when preparing white rice. Place in the rice cooker according to the water level (same with cooking white rice). Then, add in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, Shao Xing wine and a little white pepper, stir-well. Let the rice cook in the rice cooker. When cooked, stir the glutinous rice to mix well.
Second, preparing the chicken and mushroom (you can add Chinese dried sausage too). Marinate the chicken breasts with soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shao Xing wine, oyster sauce, a little sugar and white pepper. Soak the Chinese dried mushroom until soften, marinate with the same marinade above. Slice some shallots for stir-frying as well. In a wok, add oil, fry shallots until fragrant, then add in marinated chicken and mushroom, stir-fry until chicken is cooked, add a little water and the same sauce as the marinade again. Dish out when the sauce thicken slightly.
To Serve: For presentation, put some chicken and mushroom (plus a little sauce) in a rice bowl and top with glutinous rice. Pat it down firmly and turn it over on a serving plate. Serve with your favorite chili sauce.
Without presentation, just pour the cooked chicken and mushroom along with the sauce inside the rice cooker and stir together with the glutinous rice. Serve as is. :P
Hmm...I don't know how to call this 洋参须 in English and the one I found on the net was translated by Noobcook as American Ginseng Beard/ Fiber 洋参须. You can visit her site here for picture and explanation. This is the cheapest type of American Ginseng and available in most Asian stores. Instead of the Ginseng root, this is like the hair under the root. American Ginseng is traditionally used to increase energy, relieve stress, enhance the immune system and provide overall health. Normally I boil it with water for 10-15 minutes on the stove and pour as drink to sooth sore throat or make it into chicken herbal soup to drink once a month. The taste of this herbal soup is not as delicious (a bit bitter) as Dong Quai so often time I prefer to cook Dong Quai herbal soup so that my girls can enjoy some herbal soup.
