converting my mother

I just converted my mother to a Mac user.

That's no reason to celebrate (or is it?), but I just had to make her a bag. She used to make me great bags/pouches as I was growing up. Most memorable ones are a little gingham check pouch for my drinking cup at kindergarden, and a bag, made with sturdy denim, for my flute to replace a feeble brown vinyl case. So I'm just doing what she did for me.

It looks more like a piano lesson bag, but I'm quite happy how it turned out.

An expandable pocket will allow her to put an adaptor and a mouse.

The bag was made in a bit of haste, but everything came together perfectly. Even the thread on a bobbin ran out right after my very last stitch. That pushed me into a crafting ecstacy.

The embroidery was completely (and obviously) inspired by her wonderful work. I've got a lot to learn.

I'm packing to take off for home tomorrow. It's been a while since I've been home. I know happy eating will be waiting for me. And I'll go see grandma as often as I can.

I'll see you on the other side of Pacific.

I can positively say

Today, I can positively say: spring is here! The air feels warm. Birds are everywhere.

These happy hen and chicks aren't mine but my neighbor's. They are planted in a narrow strip of land with other colorful flowers. Bees were busy harvesting pollen on grape hyacinth.

Happy spring and have a great weekend.

water

Have you watched Frontline's Poisoned Waters?

I drink tap water. I want to trust the water quality here. But, all of a sudden, I'm feeling naive. I don't think going for bottled water is a solution for me. I admit that I constantly question the quality of water I drink and foods I eat before I put them in my mouth. It's usually for a split second and doesn't interfere with the enjoyment, but still, the doubts has seeped in deep. To dissipate my worries, I decided to acquaint myself with Massachusetts Water Resource Authority(MWRA) by poking around its website to find out about the water quality in Boston area. (For other cities in MA, check here. For other states, check here.)

MWRA reported that there is "No pharmaceuticals in MWRA drinking water" this month. Oh, good. No need to worry about conceiving a six legged baby boy with ovaries.

progress

These two are looking plump day by day.

It was deceivingly chilly today, but I went to admire my neighborhood gardens which are just blooming.

Cherry tree is getting ready to bloom.

Even my succulents are looking happy.

cautious spring

The sun finally feels warm but the wind still blows with chill. My favorite magnolia tree is heavy with buds but they've been very cautious this spring.

Like last year, we've been watching a pair of mourning doves, incubating their eggs for the past few weeks right outside our building.

I wasn't aware of it when I took this image, but the eggs have been hatched. I caught two fluffy bums of squabs this afternoon. It's going to be fun observing their growth for the next few weeks.

random notes

Trying to bring back some practicing music into my life. I got my stale flute out after seven(?) years of not playing. I was still as bad as I remembered, yet I couldn't believe how much my fingers remembered the keys. The joy of playing was still there. A miracle itself.

Now, I'm older and, presumably, wiser, I wonder if I can stick to a habit of practicing. Or because I'm older and wiser, will I know when best to quit?

****

Just finished reading Made for Each Other: The Biology of the Human-Animal Bond by Meg Daley Olmert. I enjoyed this book immensely. Learned not only a lot about oxytocin, but also historical human-animal bond and on-going fascinating researches. I now understand why animals give me so much pleasure.

Go pet your beloved animals/humans. You'll most likely have a weekend filled with joy!

what's for dinner

When I saw the big encyclopedic Martha Stewart's Cooking School book in the new non-fiction shelf at the library, I flexed my muscle and grabbed it. Filled with lots of step-by-step photos of some processes, any kitchen orphans like myself will find this book quite helpful to gain some basic knowledge/skills along with nice recipes.

The other night, I tried the shallow-poached fish fillet recipe (page 222) that uses kamquats (or kinkan as I call it in Japanese).

My grandmother planted a kinkan seed in our teeny garden years ago, saying "wouldn't it be amazing to have a kinkan tree in our back yard?". For the past fifteen(?) years, however slow growing the tree may be, it bore us plenty of fruits. I only wish I were there every time they made their mini-harvest. This year, my parents have made syrupy juice, soaking the fruits in sugar. (SAVE SOME FOR ME.)

Every time I bite into the skin of kinkan, I'm amazed how pungent this tiny fruit can be, like a bite-sized, citrus bomb. It's also curious that the sweetness of its skin is what ameliorates the tartness inside.

And I had never thought of cooking fish with kinkan till I opened the book. It sounded to me like a happy marriage.

Despite of the fact that I substituted sole with salmon; tangerine juice with orange juice; chiffonade of mint with arugula (the only small green leaves I had); white wine with sake; every single bite gave us miles and miles of... mmm.

(I also couldn't bring myself to discard the skin of kinkan we used to make the sauce with. That would've been a sin.)

Sides: Marinated roasted (yellow) peppers (page 315) (with balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic) and Steamed bok choy (page 294) with soy-ginger vinaigrette (page 357).

Can't go wrong with what reminds you of home, especially the way kinkan does.

Eating good? I sure hope so.

kitchen activities

Still alive. Just a bit lost in between my kitchen and work desk. I just have quick notes on my kitchen activities to share with you. No pic. Bare with me.

-Relished kabocha which I found at Russo's. It's my ultimate comfort food from my childhood. Cooked in o-dashi, soy sauce, mirin and a bit of sugar. Russo's was an amazing place to shop for vegetables, cheeses and breads. Sensory overload! I just didn't know how much fun a grocery shopping can be.

-Failed attempt in making flan. It never firmed hard enough. What went wrong remains a mystery to me. Need to read some more and consult custard masters. We still ate (drank?) it and shamelessly moaned for its goodness. We hailed to the heavenly trio: Milk, sugar and eggs.

-Two batches of cocoa meringue came out a bit deflated compared to the very first batch. I seemed to be over-whisking. Tonight, I stopped whisking right after the egg white was hard enough but while the tip was still soft enough to bend (I used to shoot for nice stiff tip). I also cracked the window in the apartment to keep the kitchen cool while I whisked. Lo and behold, the batch came out beautifully.

Have a lovely weekend and good eating.

craving

J had a long week. We both had a craving for pancakes and talked about it as we fell asleep on Friday night.

I (miraculously) woke up before him the next morning, so I prepared the breakfast for us by making fruit sauce, whipping cream and cutting some fresh fruits. Aside from dropping the first pancake on the floor, everything turned out good. But the best was talking random things over a cup of coffee/tea, lingering at the table. I still love getting to know him after all these years.

I also love pancakes as much as I did as a girl.

Happy weekend to you.

Kindle

I can't keep up with new technologies lately. I just recently googled "what is blue ray (Blu-ray)?" just to give you an idea of what you are dealing with here. I also usually wait as long as I can to get any sort of new gadgets if I must have one.

I don't feel the need for this one quite yet, but I see a clear benefit.

Kindle: a wireless reading device or an e-book reader. Launched by Amazon in November 2007, I (of course) haven't heard of it till recently. Now they are releasing Kindle 2 on February 24, 2009, at $359.00, with some improvements.

I'm still very fond of the tactile experience of turning pages, but the benefit of Kindle for reading magazines appeals to me. Its instant gratification of having what you want to read right away is tempting; though, waiting for a book to arrive or discovering a book in a shelf is undeniably exciting.

I'll have to wait for the price to drop and see how much more I can get on Kindle that I can't get just being online or at the library. It may be a long while?

meringue

Since I read a post about meringue by Angry Chicken, I've had a craving for them. A bad one.

We don't go nuts celebrating Valentine's Day, but I thought it might be a nice gesture to make some sweets for the occasion AND kill my craving at the same time. I found some recipes online and in Joy of Cooking. I had to finally find out what cream of tartar was. Of course, I didn't have it in the kitchen but when I learned that I could substitute it with lemon juice, nothing was going to stop me.

I have yet to own a mixer. But not to worry. I love intense hand whisking and mixing for some reason. I also have a pair of flabby arms which could use some work out. This turned out to be more challenging than whipping cream, but not impossible.

I went on and on mixing a couple egg whites, sugar (brown was all I had), vanilla extract with some lemon juice. (Before getting busy with whisking, I did warm the mix to melt the sugar while placing the bowl in a pan with shallow simmering hot water as recommended in the book for beginners.) It took a long intense 15-20 min(?), but when the mix was firm enough to hold a tip, it was looking fluffy and silky. I folded in a mix of powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

I dropped about 22 pieces with a big spoon on to a baking sheet and baked at 225˚F for 2 hours. I also let it sit in the oven for several hours after that to make sure they were nice and dry. Next time, I want to try baking them at 275˚F for 1 hour for the kind of meringue with crunchy outside and chewy inside.

So simple yet so good. They melt in my mouth. I think I'm going to get another one.

a lovely place

I'm wrapped up with my stop-motion fever, but here is a little mental note from yesterday afternoon for a change.

Because happiness is hard to come by for me (I assume that it's just the way I am built), I savor it when I truly am.

After a good non-exhausting work out
After searching a couple of perfect bottles for you
After being carded by the cashier and being tongue-tied from disbelief [yes I'm a fool]
After exchanging a word or two with an old man who stepped out of his house to smell the hint of spring in the air
After spotting a tiny downy woodpecker announcing to the entire neighborhood that he was indeed busy pecking

I thought to myself, why can't life be as joyous as it is?
As if I'm on vacation in a strange but a lovely place.

stop motion 4: taddie eating ping-pong ball

Because my mom requested to see Taddie move...


taddie eating a ping-pong ball from tadworks on Vimeo.

stop motion 3: love Po dance

Yet, another attempt in making (baked) Po move. I want to try Po with moving parts, but not quite there yet.


love po dance from tadworks on Vimeo.

The lighting is one of my (many) challenges, so I tried cleaning each frame to brighten up to see how tricycle Po would look. If you are interested in seeing the difference, you can check it out here.

Happy Monday to you!

bike po

Even with stretched-out legs, Po unfortunately couldn't ride these serious bikes (tricycle was the limit), but they sure can stand next to them. Custom ordered by a couple of special ladies who's been taking amazing bike rides in Western Mass (when the weather's nice out there, I'm sure).

I'm getting a bit anxious for the mounds of snow to melt away so I can go ride my old squeaky bike. I think my pants will appreciate that, I'm sure.

stop motion 2: pebble play

About 200 photos for mere 30 seconds. This was my first experiment. I had to put it aside when I realized that I should experiment with much less images. So I played with Po riding his tricycle which, by the way, involved about 27 images, and came back to this one.


pebble play from tadworks on Vimeo.

Pebbles were simple to handle... but I think I'm getting back to Po.

Have a lovely weekend~!

stop motion 1: po riding his tricycle

I'm learning and playing making stop motion. It's terribly rough and choppy but I must confess that I love seeing Po moving.


po riding his tricycle from tadworks on Vimeo.

[Edit: The lighting is a challenge for me, so I cleaned up each frame to brighten up to see the difference here.]

curd: my way and his way

I am feeling a little dairy-ed out today. We did go through almost 1.75 gallons of milk, a cup of heavy cream, a couple pints of yogurt and a bit of sour cream just in one week. That's a lot for us. But it certainly was a happy week and satisfied my craving.

I saved great suggestions on what to do with the curd for next time. This time around, I wanted to taste it. Without adding anything, it was a bit bland. So I went ahead and made two mixes: one with honey and the other with scallion and pepper. I preferred mixing curd with honey. Some fresh fruit added and I was swooning as I ate. J went right to scallion and pepper mix on toasted bread. Peace in the kitchen.

As I ate curd and drank whey, I kept smelling a baby. And I realized that I was just doing what our body does to milk out in the kitchen.

It's been fun playing with milk. I only scratched the surface and I'd like to continue. I highly recommend it for it's sheer simplicity and milk's amazing versatility. Once again, I recommend letting Ann Mendelson's Milk guide you through it.

Hope you have a great week ahead of you.

two music

A bit of break from playing with milk.

Two music videos that make me happy, found through two of my favorite blogs.


Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie. Found through Spoon & Tamago.

Volevo un gatto nero sung at Zecchino d'Oro. Found through Plastic Monkey.

Happy Friday to you.

drinking whey

[I corrected in the last post, but I thought I should mention here, too. I wrote 118˚F for the temperature of the milk to be heated for making yogurt. Correct temperature is 180˚F (or just before boiling). Sorry about that. This kills off any competeing bacteria.]

Since I still had some more fresh milk and Fage yogurt, I made a couple more batches of yogurt to last me another week.

With rest of the milk, I decided to try making whey and curd just by bringing milk to a boil; turn off the heat and stir in a couple table spoons of fresh lemon juice; and watch milk separate into curd (soft fluffy substance) and whey (thin white liquid). I dampened a cotton handkerchief and lined a colander, set over a bowl, to separate curd and whey.

It's like being back in a science lab at junior high. Now what was I to do with curd and whey? Ann Mendelson wrote how great whey was as a simple drink just by adding fresh lemon juice and sugar (I tried it with cane sugar) and pouring it over ice cubes. It's nice and warm here in New England (at 34˚F), so I gave it a try with a bit of reservation because the whey itself didn't look too appetizing at a first glance.

I was wrong to doubt. It was delicious and refreshing, even a little addictive.

Now... what to do with the curd?