Happy Easter!

Our little Easter egg...

Egg Dying

This year I decided to try my hand at making natural egg dyes,

 just for fun.

(pickled beet juice, grape juice, pomegranate tea, passion tea, green tea, chili powder, and red cabbage)

Here is how they turned out... 

(from top left:  red cabbage, grape juice, green tea, passion tea, pomegranate tea, and pickled beet juice. The chili powder is pictured in the center of the bowl...a golden brown)

And a very excited little girl! She insisted on eating the pink egg first...it was quite tasty!

It was definitely a fun experiment.

From Us, to You...

My Grown-up Christmas Wish

Do you remember when you were a kid and the things you had on your Christmas wish list? I recall a couple - a pair of single-blade ice skates (that G-Mama will tell you were super hard to find as I was only 3 years-old and had small feet!) and dominoes.

But this year, this year is different. Sure it's always nice to get items all dolled up in ribbon and bows, but the reality is...it's (generally) not necessary. So what are you asking for, you say? A prayer or thought.

We received a message from a family in our preschool today. A classmate of our dear CiBaby, a sweet and smiley little guy, has been diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. He's 4. Four. All of the test results are not back yet to see what the risk level is, but regardless...this is a big deal. So my wish is for you, your friends, their friends and their friends to hold a thought and say a prayer for Will and his family, so maybe it'll be heard and answered...kind of like a petition. A prayer petition.

So if you've gotten me anything, you can return it*...I only want this one thing. I might even write a letter to Santa...it can't hurt.


*Let the economy suffer a little, it's a worthy cause.

Happy...

2010!

We rang in a very frigid new year with our good friends, the Kippsters. There was lots good, semi-clean fun...along with, of course, the annual watching of Christmas Vacation. And the kicker is that CiBaby was actually awake to ring in the new year! Yikes but yay!

After that fun night of too much to eat and drink and too little sleep, I creaked my way out of bed and into the kitchen. Our morning entailed celebrating a good friend's birthday with a New Year's Day brunch...and I had signed up to bring the cheesy potatoes. One, never have I made cheesy potatoes and two...well, there's CiBaby...who loves her cheese but her cheese doesn't love her (at least the inexpensive stuff). So I set out on a mission to make a great tasting lactose-free cheesy potatoes...sounds like an oxymoron, right? But holy crykies they were GOOD!*


CzaMama's CheeZ Potatoes for CiBaby


Thick white sauce with mushroom (recipe follows)

1 cup goat's milk yogurt

2 tsp corn starch

2 lbs frozen diced hash brown potatoes, thawed
1/2 cup goat's milk butter, melted
1 1/2 cups shredded aged cheddar cheese, divided
1 1/2 Tbsp dried onion flakes
salt and pepper, to taste
4 oz chevre, cut/broken into small chunks

In a large bowl, mix yogurt and corn starch. Slowly add warm thick white sauce, stirring constantly until incorporated. Add in thawed potatoes, melted butter, 1 cup aged cheddar cheese and onion flakes. Mix; add salt and pepper, to taste.

Put potato mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and dot with chevre. Top with remaining shredded cheddar cheese.


Bake in a 350F degrees, preheated oven for 1 hour.

Thick white sauce (bechamel) with mushrooms:
2 dried mushrooms (I used shitaki), rehydrated (reserving soaking water), squeezed of extra moisture and finely chopped
3 Tbsp goat milk butter, divided
4 1/2 Tbsp all-purpose flour (or Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour)
1 1/2 cups hot lactose-free milk (I use 2%)
3/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Melt butter in heavy saucepan. Add flour; cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until mixture (known as a roux) is smooth and begins to bubble.

Remove saucepan from heat. Add milk all at once. Return saucepan to heat; stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. Sauce will be thickened and smooth in about 1 minute.

Add salt and pepper; cook over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

As if we hadn't cheered enough, the clan came over to our abode to continue our annual New Year's Day fire and hot dog roast...with a twist. This year it was so incredibly cold none of us wanted to be outside, so instead everyone roasted their dog and marshmallows by our cozy living room fireplace!

Cheers!

*I make no claim that they are healthy or low in fat/calories...just without lactose.

Where did it go?

Christmas, that is. You prep and prep until utter exhaustion, and then what? Poof, it's gone! And once you notice it's months later.

This Christmas was no different...well, maybe a little different. I worked retail. (gasp. silence.) It was quite an experience. I hardly got any baking done (not that I do much to begin with), the presents got wrapped at the last minute (like usual) but the worst...I didn't get any crafting done! sigh.* But besides those minor blips, it was a HUGE success.

CiBaby was into Christmas like nobody's business!!! She sang Christmas songs all season,** she baked cookies with G-Mama, visited Santa (by her request, not mine) and dressed in the holiday spirit...okay, so she's a little confused sometimes.

She had a blast. And it was a blast to see her having so much fun. And what could add to the delights of Christmas with a 3 year-old? SNOW and lots of it on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Lots and lots of it. So much so that we had over-night guests and some that missed out.

Besides the delights on a little girl's face we found there is still kindness among strangers. What a great Christmas gift. With all of the snow wouldn't you know, our snow blower would not start...and the plows came by...twice! So T-Daddy was out there with his trusty shovel digging the driveway out on Christmas Eve when a truck drove by with a plow on the front. The driver asked if he could move that pile of snow for T-Daddy. Ummm...YES! How wonderful. And if blessing come in twos, ours did this Christmas Day. While I was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast ready a man drove by on a two-wheeler...again with a plow on the front (Huh? You'd think we live on the Tundra or something!) and said, "Hey, I'll move it for you!" He proceeded to dig out the end of our driveway and within a couple of minutes he was boogieing his way down the street...which got T-Daddy inside quicker so we could get down to business!



After a couple days of celebrating with my family we had a day's respite (oh yeah, and I worked that day) and then came the T-Daddy clan. The last time they came over for a holiday it was one of our first years in our house and very few places to sit. This year was much different. We had a fully finished basement, lots of room in the living room and a full dining room...which helped a lot when there are over 20 people. The only thing that will make it better is when the kitchen remodel is complete.

But again, where did it go? I dunno...but I need a break!

*Oh well, whatever, right? I'm always up for new experiences. It's walking on my wild side! lol
**Shhh. So what if she does it all year. It adds to the story.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a little Elfin Magic this Christmas! Go nuts!!!

Happy Hallo-week!

What a great week. Our Hallo-week started with an Adults-Only party. T-Daddy and I were the Time Life couple...aka Kissing Sailor. The week continued with pumpkin carving with Auntie and Great-Gram, trick-or-treating at a nearby senior living apartments, multiple parties at school, a party with friends, quick crafting by Yours Truly and of course...trick-or-treating on All Hallows Eve.

We were lucky enough to have a buddy to collect candy with us this year...of course there were times where we thought we were watching Preschooler Smackdown as they ran to see who could ring the doorbell first.

All-in-all, it was a great week...full of fun and sugar!

The irony of it all

While I completely understand why it is, it doesn't stop me from thinking it ironic. Ask any loving mother what they want most of all for Mother's Day and you will hear a lot of..."I just want some time to myself." "To do what I want." "To relax." Hehe

Wishing you all a little peace and quiet. Happy Mother's Day to some of the hardiest working people on the planet.

P.S. As I didn't get any of the aforementioned activities today (except to be able to eat lunch sitting) I will be enjoying a long soak in my wonderful tub once the wee one is down for her sleep.
P.S.S. Don't worry, I will be filling in the blanks of the blog...now that I have a couple of spare minutes. HA! More to come.

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated Valentine's Day with a Family Sushi Rolling Party.

The party started with CiBaby decorating cookies*


I was the whip-crackin' instructor at our party. Here we have G-Mama and Auntie making their rolls. Watch out for G-Mama though, you might be surprised at the contents. If you were looking for something other than Spam, you may have to look elsewhere!


Our sushi rolls turned out beautifully and very tasty. Along with our rolls we had tempura...they balance eachother out nutritionally, don't you think?

Either CiBaby's tastebuds have developed, or our plan to starve her before dinner worked. She ate 5! pieces of sushi among other things.

But then she was holding out for Bopa's fav...Cherry Berries on a Cloud, to which she proudly exclaimed..."I like it!"

It was a lovely evening spent with the people we love.

*After all of the finger licking, CiBaby was the proud owner of all of the cookies.

Year of the Ox

Happy New Year!

Today we celebrated the beginning of Chinese New Year...the year of the Ox (which happens to be my sign as well!) which will continue for the next 15 days, ending with the Lantern Festival.

The day began with a very fun playdate with 9 other mom friends and their 11 children, it was a full house. Fun was had by all. In an effort to minimize stress on myself I made nothing except for coffee. I did buy some fun treats at my FAV Asian market...trying to keep to the New Year traditions (and still be American kid friendly) I got green tea pumpkin seeds, sweet candies and taro filled wafer cookies*.

After the house quieted and was tidyed up, I set to preparing our meal. It was a simple dish but delicious and very easy to make, which was served with Yu Choy. G-Mama and Bopa joined us for the festivities.

Xinjian Rice Pot with Lamb
san geung yeung yuk faan

(copied from Food of the World - China)

This wholesome dish from Xinjiang Province is known in Uygur as "poluo rice" which means finger-food. Thus is eaten with the fingers rather than chopsticks* or spoons. This dish is always served at weddings, funerals, and traditional festivals, including the first day of Chinese New Year.

Serves 6-8 (generous servings)

2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil

10-1/2 oz/300 g lamb or mutton, cut into bit-size cubes

2 carrots, coarsely chopped

2 onions coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon Sichuan peppers, lightly roasted and lightly crushed

generous 2 cups short- or medium-grain rice

3-3/4 cups water

In a large casserole, heat the oil and stir-fry the meat for 1-2 minutes, or until the pieces are sealed on all sides. Add the carrot and onion and stir-fry until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Add the salt, ginger, and Sichuan peppers and mix well.

Finally, add the rice and water and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and cook over low heat for 30 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all of the water. Serve alone or as part of a meal.

We cracked open a bottle of wine

we picked up in China, and put some
traditional Chinese music on the stereo.

CiBaby was so proud of her chopstick skills,

even though there were near misses!

Wishing you all the best,

CzaMama, T-Daddy and CiBaby

*If you see Durian fruit wafer cookies by Garden Company, run fast and far. Horrible. They smelled so awful and tasted just as bad. The coconut and peach were good, and the taro (by I-Mei) were good too. All not terribly sweet...like american wafer cookies.

**We used chopsticks...Bopa wasn't too excited about using his fingers to eat.

Merry Christmas - 2008

Let the spirit of love gently fill our hearts and homes. In this

loveliest of seasons may you find many reasons for happiness.

Smile, it's the 4th of July!

"sMile!"

CiBaby's first U.S. Independence Day was a busy one.

It was filled with breakfast eatin'

picture takin'

bike ridin'...and nappin'

Bapa (CiBaby's new name for G-Papa) "buggin'"

"pay-do" playin'

camera fiddlin'

family gatherin'

Corn eatin'

ketcup lickin'

deviled egg smushin'

baby-got-back

and a full belly

but never too full for ice cream and strawberries

FUN!!!

We hope you all had as much fun on the 4th of July as we did!
CzaMama, T-Daddy and CiBabby

It's 4706

...do you feel old?

Today we celebrate Chinese New Year, the year of the rat.

How are we going to celebrate? CzaMama is making dinner! We are having Barley and Vegetable Soup, Soy Roast Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onion and Cashew and Chili Fried Rice, all from the Chinatown cookbook, and some Big Bowl egg rolls (from the freezer section ;-). Then after dinner, CzaMama is running away to a Tupperware party (LOL!).

T-Daddy is celebrating at work today, they are having a Chinese New Year celebration, but it's only for employees (boo!).

Along with our celebrating we will try to bring ourselves good luck and keep away the bad luck. I will briefly open the door as it's only 9F degrees today (remember, it's the tundra). It's a good thing I bought new shoes for Saturday's wedding last weekend and that I already have the pants I'm going to wear. Oh shoot, I can't sweep today...darn. Although I don't think I can get away with not cleaning at all...I guess we just won't have as much good luck as possible. It also looks like I can only spruce up my hair as I don't want to wash away my luck.

When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other. - Chinese Proverb

Happy New Year!

**All of the recipes were absolutely delish!

2 Months Home - 2 Holidays Down

We've now been home for 2 months and both CzaMama and CiBaby are getting their groove on. Dancing, dishes, diapers, books...music, musing, snacks and socks. I don't think I've done so many dishes, picked up the house and done as much laundry in my entire life as I have in the past 2 months.

Thanksgiving was a whirl wind. Two families in the same day is a lot for adults, but throw CiBaby in the mix and you have a day of a lot of food and no nap. We all had a great time but were happy to go to bed that night.

Christmas was spread out over 4 days. Brunches with friends, an afternoon/evening here and there and breakfast with G&G. Christmas day was such a busy day CiBaby didn't close her eyes until she couldn't hold them open any longer (once in the comachair and then sleep eating at dinner).

These past 2 days have been like a vacation for me as T-Daddy has been home! We might actually have the whole house clean at the same time and get CiBaby's room really close to being done in time for the new year. Of course we ran into a little snag when removing the stripes tape and ended up removing some of the wall. OH SO CLOSE! Now to repair and repaint a section, paint touch-ups, replace the light, add closet shelves, remove the old bed, bring in the crib, the couch and the accessories. It will be so great when it's finally finished.

Just another day in the life...