Shu mai Saturday - Celebrate Chinese New Year

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Or Wishing you great happiness and prosperity.  Since one of our friends won't be available for dinner on this date, we moved it a few days earlier so we can have all have Chinese dinner at our home.  When I was trying to figure out what I would serve for our celebration, I started with a bit of a longer list as I wanted to try and make a whole bunch of stuff.  When the day came, I change the menu to the following dishes. We started with crab and corn soup, then Shu mai (favorite dim sum item), for main course, I made a vegetable chow mien with tofu, BBQ chicken thighs, Kung Pao Shrimp and steamed rice. Since our friends are not into desserts, I did not make anything special.  We just served some cookies that I had previously made.  Our guests were very pleased with the meal and were very satisfied with the amount of dishes on the table.  Unfortunately, I only remembered to take a photo of the Shu Mai which I made from scratch.  Have a great Chinese New Year, celebrate with friends over Dim Sum.  

Wonderful Wednesday - Happy New Year

It's another year, a new beginning, the year of the rat, a different set of resolutions, and so on.  We said goodbye to 2019 last night.  Is it a year that we want to put in a box and never to be opened again.  Too many disasters, so many lives lost, too much hatred, just too much of everything.  OK that's too negative, right.  I want to do my own year 2019 review on a good note. In no particular order:

• Bianca Andreescu won the US Open beating Serena.
• Toronto Raptors won the NBA Championship
• New England Patriots won Superbowl 53
• I got my very first HOLE in ONE on August 28
• Washington Nationals won the World Series
• St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup after 52 years wait.
• It all comes out in the wash - favorite country hit
• Kombucha and plant based diet - None for me, thank you
• Avengers: Endgame - Not pleased with Thor's new look
• Our California and Ontario trip visiting family and friends
• Wine bottling/labels for our own collection (3 types of red and 2 types of white)
• Reuniting with friends who visited our CPBB

And the review cannot be complete unless I share my favorite photos of 2019.

Snowy Sunday - Stayed indoor being productive

First day of December, although it was not the first snow, I considered it was.  Sometime in November we had a little bit of snow but in a couple of hours it was gone.  So technically I count today as our first day of snow because there was quite a bit.  By the looks of it, this one will be staying.  After breakfast, I decided I was not going anywhere.  It was time to bake and cook.  But before that, I tried to finish up with all the Christmas decorations that was mine to do.  I am sure you feel the same way, when it is cold outside, you think of SOUP.  I asked my hubby to save the bone of the ham from thanksgiving.  Using is for my broth and then I added vegetables and alphabet noodles. It's like a minestrone aka vegetable and ham soup. LOL.  Now it was time for baking.  First I check what I have in the pantry as well as the fridge.  Then I look for recipes that I can follow as a guide.  Sometimes I have replace an ingredient or two, but still sticking to the rest of the instructions.  It was a very successful day even though I did not get a chance to go outside.  Well, maybe just for a few minutes to change my garden flag and add a few decorations for outdoors.   I manage to bake the oatmeal pecan lace cookies, cranberrry whole wheat muffins with chocolate glaze, hawaiian pineapple coconut bread and of course my soup.  Check out the photo of our neighborhood with all that snow. 

Thanking Thursday - Happy Thanksgiving

Today we are hosting our second USA Thanksgiving Dinner with friends from our neighborhood.  Last year when we hosted it, we received such a great response and so we decided to have it again.  Since most of the guests are the originals of the neighborhood group, we will also have a short annual meeting to discuss the events for 2020.  We will also take volunteers to take on the task for a particular event.  For the dinner tonight, my husband will be cooking both turkey and ham.  In addition to that he will be making mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing.  The rest of the sides and desserts will be brought by the guests.  In our neighborhood get together it is always a BYOB rule.  The following are the sides that will accompany our thanksgiving dinner.

• Dinner rolls and butter
• Sweet Potatoes
• Green beans
• Broccoli salad
• Roast brussels sprouts
• Roasted vegetables
• Cranberry sauce
• Green salad
• Peaches and cream corn 
• Pecan pie and pecan tart
• Apple pie

We are very thankful to our neighbors who embraced us in their group and made is feel so welcome.  Although some of them have move out of the neighborhood, they still are part of our group and we never lose touch.  Since our families are all in the USA, this thanksgiving the neighborhood is our family.  You are probably wondering what my contribution is for tonight.  I couldn't just let the guest bring the dessert, that's why I made my oatmeal pecan lace cookies.  And then at the last minute made a puff pastry appetizers.  It was a success thanksgiving dinner with all of the above going so well with each other.  Of course the combination of the people in attendance was amazing.  We also manage to have our annual meeting. We think this will be totally a yearly event for our group.

Maple Monday - Happy Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to all, whether you are residing in Canada or a Canadian residing anywhere in the world, today is a day to celebrate being a true Canadian.  What do I love about this great country.  In no particular order: Poutine, Beaver tails, Tim Horton's, Maple Syrup, Bannock, Butter tarts, Sleeman's Honey Brown, Hockey, very friendly and polite people, Charter of Rights, Swiss Chalet, and last but not least, our Inukshuk.  Of course there are many more things to like about Canada but for now that's what I can list.  How about you, what are your favorites?  Everyone is looking forward to this day because it's a long weekend and for some it's a very long weekend if you took a Friday as your day off.  There are so many celebrations all across the country.  Since I have been retired, everyday is a long weekend.  I have been busy sewing again and I hope to do a different post just for that. Have a Happy Canada Day, be safe if you are travelling and think of one special thing about being a Canadian.

Majestic Monday - Happy Victoria Day

Victoria Day is celebrated in Canada in honor of Queen Victoria's birthday and it was declared as a Canadian holiday by the Government in 1845.  The Queen's birthday is actually May 24, but the holiday is celebrated on the 3rd Monday of May.  And since today is the 21 of the month, for some it is the sign of the beginning of summer.  Although it is still a month for summer to really kick off, others take advantage of this long weekend to go on a short trip somewhere maybe adding an extra day before and after this weekend.  Some of our friends have already taken their trailer, RV or camper to take advantage of the warm weather of May.  Some smaller cities have organized outdoor activities to celebrate this day.  For us, we have chores inside our home that needs to be finished as well as some weeding in the garden for Jeff.  It has rained for a couple of days and so outdoor chores have been postponed.  While I stay inside to do the chores, I have some sewing project that needs to be completed before the end of the month.  Whatever you plan to do this long weekend, have fun, safe travels and enjoy the time off.  

Tradition Tuesday - Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year - this is the year of the PIG.  Yeah, we can eat as much bacon.  Just kidding, we don't really celebrate it but when we use to live in San Jose, it was one of my favorite time because at Jeff's workplace, he can get the best moon cake.  There's one lady who works at some company and has contacts in China and for whatever reason, she hands out the best moon cake that comes in those decorative box.  Anyway, of course this year I won't have it, but hopefully there might be some available at some of the local store.  Another one I will miss is definitely going for dim sum.  This is one of those days where there are so many different types of dim sum because it is their Chinese New Year.  Although I saw on our local newspaper that one of the Chinese restaurant is offering a buffet special tonight for dinner.  As much as I would like to have some Chinese food, we truly cannot eat at buffet because we cannot consume that much food, and it is not practical nor reasonable.  We will probably just eat at home but still celebrate today by having Chinese food.  I can steam some dumplings, cooked some Cantonese noodles, fry up some spring roll and maybe add some BBQ pork if I can find a store that sells them. I am getting hungry. Gotta go.