The Continuing Roll Saga

This recipe worked. Well, halfway. The recipe produces 24 rolls, but mine yielded 20. The first batch of 12 got a little too brown and I got really despondent. But the second batch, after they were watched very carefully as they cooked, were removed from my little oven at just the right time. That leaves eight rolls for Thanksgiving. One per guest. Not ideal, but it will do.

Three times a charm.

Nantou

We had a team outing in Nantou this weekend. Unfortunately, I had to miss the first day of the trip for a last minute meeting in Hong Kong. But I flew back late last night, and Chris and Gioia met me at the airport with a car to drive us to central Taiwan. We pulled into the hotel parking lot at 1:30 am. It was rough.

But we woke up refreshed, with no small thanks to Chris, who coaxed Gioia back to sleep for another hour after she popped up at 7 a.m. Once we all got rolling, the group went to a botanical garden and then to a bai jou factory (Chinese rice wine, basically). The fresh air, lakes, mountains and green things were a nice change from city life.


Today was a good day, despite the hectic schedule. I was glad that I was able to join my team. Now we are back home and I am trying to get some food made before our belated Thanksgiving celebration tomorrow. The pecan pie is in the oven and the pumpkin is for the morning. It smells fabulous here.

More pictures from today’s outing are here.

Giving

Tis' the season, and all.

On the plane to Hong Kong last night, the Cathay Pacific flight attendant handed me a Change for Good envelope. It was exactly what I needed. For months I have been carrying around a stack of coins - Yuan, Sing dollars, US quarters. Too heavy to cart around, yet too difficult to remember to spend them when I am in country. So into the envelope they went. Chris hates it when I give my coins to Change for Good. He thinks I should better manage my inventory. But I think it is a win win for all. Someone takes my heavy useless coins away and gives them to someone else who can acually use them. Brilliant, I say.

Speaking of giving, we are in the midst of re-evaluating our annual giving plan. I am a big fan of Charity Navigator for this process. It is one of the most useful websites out there for determining which US organizations are good stewards of donations (here is one for UK peeps). Ever tried to see how much money Operation Smile spends to get your dollar vs on actual programs? Over 25% of income. Think that is a lot? It is.

As for Christmas giving, well... I am still not prepared. I bought some things today in the HK airport, but I still have much to do. Yikes.

Rolls Take Two

Trying again. I borrowed a breadmaker this time to see if that was easier. I also used a true dinner roll recipe instead of just a plain ol' roll recipe (sweeter, more buttery). The rolls were good. A little heavy, but still fluffy and yummy.

My taste tester was not convinced, however.

Sick

On Friday, Chris was sick. Sunday night/ Monday morning, the dog threw up all over the floor. Gioia had a fever Monday night. And now, I am sick.

Awful, awful.

Wawa Wah!

As we walked by Sogo yesterday, we saw a Christmas charity booth at the entrance. It was one of those "pick a child's wish and grant it for Christmas" dealios. I love those things. Usually I prefer gift drives where I can make something, but this one required a swift trip to Toys R Us.

We picked two cards - one from a child who wanted an airplane, and one from someone who wanted a baby doll. A doll that spoke. A doll that the giftee could take care of. The request was very specific.

So as we perused the baby doll isle at Toys R Us, I was struck by two things. First, these crying, wiggling, bottle drinking, diaper soiling baby dolls are creepy. Really creepy. And not especially well made either.

Second, there are no Asian baby doll options in the Taipei Toy R Us. None. Only Caucasian babies. Shelf after shelf of Caucasian babies. Why is that? Really, why?

It makes me very sad.

Roasting Red Peppers

It is impossible to find roasted red peppers here in Taiwan, so I finally researched how to roast them at home. Very fun, actually. You have to hold the pepper over an open burner flame until the skin turns black and crispy. After it cools and rests in a paper bag for a bit, you can easily rub the blackened skin off of the pepper. A little oil and 30 minutes in a hot oven and voila. Roasted peppers.

Yummy.

Company is Coming

Some friends are coming over for dinner tonight. I am not hosting Thanksgiving at my house this year, so this is kind of a little side celebration - a chance to have a glass of wine and relax in the company of people we hold dear.

The Menu

Green salad made with arugula from the balcony
Butternut squash soup
Twice baked potatoes (with goat cheese)
Stuffed and rolled chicken breasts made with kale (also from the balcony), a variation on this recipe
Apple, pear and cranberry crumble with vanilla ice cream

The soup, chicken and potatoes are made and waiting in the fridge until it is time for cooking/ reheating. I still need to make the green salad and slice the fruit for the crumble. But it is early yet, so I think I will just put my feet up and relax for a while.

I Am Not Ready

Normally all our Christmas gifts are purchased, wrapped and mailed by now. I am very much a "plan ahead" kind of gift giving person. As we travel, I like to pick up gifts and stash them in the present closet well in advance of the holiday season.

This year, though, we decided to go to Turkey with the family. That was gift enough for us adults, so I have had no need to plan ahead, to stash away gifts in the closet from March to September. As a result, I have almost completely forgotten about things that still need to be done, like figuring out what to get for people who lie beyond the Turkey circle. What to do for Gioia to make her first Christmas with us special. How to find a church in Istanbul with service on Christmas Eve. I have ordered Christmas cards, at least. But for all else, I am not ready, not as organized as usual.

We also just found out that both Chris and I have to be in the States for the first week in January. Which means that we have to rearrange our tickets, and fly from Istanbul to the US and then back to Taipei a week later, all with baby G in tow. Stressful and expensive, this little wrinkle in the plan. It will all work out fine, of that I am sure. But still, I am unprepared.

Strata

The rolls became breakfast. I used a modification of this recipe from Gourmet.com. It was a little too bready. Gioia hated it, which is odd because she normally is a bread monster. No worries, Chris and I will eat it.

Sneaky Peaky

Myrrh is done.
Gold is nearly done.
This weekend is for Frankincense.

My backtack is on track.

Bread take 2

I was on a roll this weekend (ha ha) with the bread making. I tried the Egg Shell Rolls (also from the B Clayton book). After figuring out that the recipe needed 5.5 cups of flour instead of 4.5 to make a manageable dough, I got reasonable results. Oh, I also had to discover that I can only make one batch at a time in my mini, portable, table-top oven (on the bottom rack).

These rolls have a crispy outside (like an eggshell), but are chewy and fluffy inside. Would I make them again? Eh. They are nothing special. I think I will use these ones to make a breakfast strata. Not Thanksgiving-worthy for sure.

Verdict: Cornbread should be made, but rolls can be bought down the street.

Things I Am Apparently Teaching My Daughter

Chris was in Australia all last week, which meant that Gioia and I took showers together each morning. She wakes up too early for me to do it in advance, and it is just easier to bring her in with me than to having her stand outside of the shower and cry.

So guess what she picked up from last week's shower time? Yeah.

Sharp, that one.

Soup and Bread

One of the things I am responsible for bringing to our little expat group's Thanksgiving celebration is cornbread. I haven't made any for a while, so I decided to practice this weekend. Since I was cooking, I also whipped up some soup to make a full meal. Both recipes came from Bernard Clayton's book of breads and soups, which is actually two cookbooks in one.

Cream of broccoli soup. Yummy yummy. Mine wasn't so creamy because I didn't have any cream (substituted a little milk instead), but it was nice anyway. Lemony, tangy. Good.

The cornbread was good too. I need to try some more recipes from this book.

Yingge Take Two

We went back to Yingge today to have lunch at the nice restaurant from last time and to browse the shops. I originally planned the outing for two reasons. First, I thought Chris was still going to be in Australia and I needed something to entertain kiddo. Second, my friend J had never been so it was a good excuse to hire a driver and return for the day. Chris came home early, though, and it wound up being a fun little adventure for everyone.

Gioia was originally dressed for the outing in the pinafore I mentioned yesterday. But as we rode the elevator down to the lobby of our apartment building, she threw up a granola bar all over the front of her dress. So we had to turn around and change her clothes. The day got better though.


We saw dogs and cats and birds and fish and horses. Gioia was tickled. She even threw a bit of a fit a couple of times when we had to walk away from the dog (or the cat or whatever it was). She is fierce, alright. She is just realizing that Mom and Dad will say no to certain things, which makes her indignant and frustrated. When she throws a tantrum in public, we get the oddest looks from people passing by. They seem shocked and confused, not sure what to make of these wai guo ren with a Chinese baby who is howling and stamping her feet in anger. I am just waiting for someone to come up and accuse us of abducting her.

More pictures from Yingge the sequel are here.

Pinafore in Action

I made this little pinafore dress for G in early 2007, which, as it turns out, was before she was even born. I made the 2-3 year old size, but she can wear it now at 17 months because she is so tall for her age.

This is undoubtedly one of the best things I have ever knit. I am so pleased. The style is classic and flattering, but the denim material is strong enough for rough play. The only issue is that the silk ribbon flowers on the front make washing difficult. I think I am going to either hand wash it or wash it on the delicate cycle in the machine.

Shutterfly Love

Chris' Oma, Gioia's great-grandmother, lives in the United States. She is not a big internet user, which is not surprising as Oma is 89 years young. That means, though, that she is the only one in the extended family who does not get regular kiddo love through this website. But we really do want her to see Baby G grow. So we send her little photo books from Shutterfly every three months.*

We like the 4x4 brag book. It is the perfect size for stashing in a purse. With these little books, Oma can easily carry 18-20 pictures of Gioia around her community. Low tech for her, but easy-peasy, high tech for us. We just upload the pictures, organize them in a little book, click 'Send to Oma' and voila! It is only a little over 20 bucks too, with shipping.

A great way to keep non-wired family abreast of all things Gioia.

*I have absolutely no connection to Shutterfly. Well, no connection except for the fact that I use the company to make little books on a regular basis. Hidden blog adverts are creepy. I'm just sayin'.

Bubbles

Miss G adores bubbles. It is pretty much the only two syllable word that she can say well: Buh-BLES. Actually, she has been able to say that word for months now.

Sunday was rainy, which meant that we were pretty much stuck inside the apartment all day. We broke out the bubble shooter, the one that Gioia and the Nanny use at the park all the time. Essentially, we tried to recreate the "park" experience in the living room. Bubbles are always a hit.

This bubble device is fabulous. You dip the tip in bubble soap, pull the trigger, and then a stream of bubbles come pouring out accompanied by space blaster sounds. I could do without the noise, actually, but this little thing makes me a bubble rockstar.

We bought the bubble shooter from a vendor at the Sun Yat Sen memorial hall. In truth, Chris brought one home one day and showed me. It looked just like a little gun and I wigged out. No guns, No guns! I said. So we went back and bought another one, this time shaped like a more innocuous dolphin. The guy must have thought we were crazy, buying one bubble device and giving him one back at the same time.

Do you know how hard it is to take pictures of bubbles? Goodness.

Yes, I Cut Her Hair

Gioia had her first haircut at Tony and Guy this summer. It was a success. But then our family hairstylist moved back to Hong Kong, and we haven't found a new one. About a month ago, we walked into Aveda and asked if anyone could cut her hair, as it was falling in her eyes. Well, they cut it alright. But it wasn't cut well.

As her hair was growing out, it was getting shaggy. The bangs were looking especially ratty and uneven. Since we have no one to turn to, I broke out the scissors and trimmed her bangs myself. Chris is in Australia this week, and he is asking for pictures. Hence this post.

Cutting straight hair is hard. Really hard. Her bangs are much shorter than intended, primarily because I kept adjusting to get them somewhat even. It looks better than the shaggy mess it was before, but I certainly shouldn't quit my day job.

Anyone know of a pediatric hair technician in Taipei? Call me.

Bows

When we were waiting for MissG to arrive, we were given a great gift from one of our friends we made while living in Beijing. Amy lives in Malaysia now, and we were able to meet up with her and her husband for dinner when we were passing through Kuala Lumpur. That night, she gave us a collection of hairbows she had made for baby G. She said, Not sure if you are hairbow people, but here you go.

I was so excited. It was like I was being handed a diamond ring. Turns out we are, in fact, hairbow people. I blame growing up in Atlanta for that.



Gioia wears Amy's hairbows almost everywhere. Most of the time, she tolerates it. Sometimes she even asks for one. Bow...Bow... BOW! They do not always stay in her hair, though. Over the last few months, we have lost some key ones (white, pink). Luckily Amy sent me some supplies to make some of my own, and I finally sat down to do it this weekend. Very easy and very cute.


I roughly followed this this tutorial, but kept my bows a little simpler (two loops, not four). The process involves a hot glue gun, which made me feel like I was back in high school. Wild. I am quite pleased with the results.

The bow-capades are not over yet. She still needs a light pink one and one with some black. To match her goth outfit, of course.

Evidence That They DO Like Each Other

Lest you think from my earlier posts that Gioia and Frankie do not get along, here is evidence to the contrary. She likes him. She just doesn't want to hug him on command.

Perhaps one of these days I will get a decent shot. Probably wishful thinking, though.

(Really) Local Food

On my flight back from the US in September, I read Barbara Kingslover's Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. Such an interesting book. I started in Atlanta and finished it just before we touched down in Tokyo. If you have any interest in gardening or the local food movement, then this one should be added to your library.

Barbara's experiment, namely a year of eating things she had either grown herself or bought from people who lived nearby, was ambitious and dramatic. Raising baby Turkeys in the Spring in order to "harvest" them at Thanksgiving. Planting trays of seeds which were moved into the ground as soon as possible. Leaving bags of unwanted squash on the neighbors' porches because there was nowhere else to put them. Canning, canning and more canning in preparation for winter.

I was impressed. Almost inspired. Reading this book made me want to move to Appalachia and grow my own asparagus. Better to start small, though. Perhaps with the (less ambitious) plants on my porch.

Barbara completed her experiment, even thrived because of it. Food for thought for all of us.

Makin' Plans for CNY

The annual Chinese New Year trip: one of the new "traditions" that is easily adopted by a Western expat living in Asia. CNY is a family holiday in China and Taiwan, so staying home means one night of firecrackers and then six days of erie silence and empty streets. You have to get out of Dodge, for sure.

Last year, we spent CNY waiting for kiddo's visa in Guangzhou. It was a great experience, don't get me wrong. But we were stuck in limbo, wandering deserted streets and just marking time before the offices re-opened and we could move on. Not so fun. So this year, we were itching to go somewhere exciting, somewhere active.

So the tickets are booked and the studio is reserved. This year, we are going skiing in Japan. It has been a while since we last went skiing (Argentina in 2004? Yikes!), and Chris was itching to get back on the slopes. Plus Gioia has not really seen snow (that we know of anyway). Hopefully, this will be her "baby step" year, where she starts to feel comfortable in a winter environment. Next year we can pop her in a lesson or two. She will be a ski-wee before you know it.

The only problem with this plan is the clothing (or lack thereof). We pretty much ditched all of our warm gear when we moved to this tropical island. Gioia has a ton of sundresses, but not much cold weather gear. Luckily our friend Amy gave her a great hand-me-up ski outfit - beautiful overalls and a jacket - but I think she will probably need more than just that for a week. Hmmmm.

Play Kitchen

Chris finished the play kitchen I wrote about earlier this week. As I mentioned before, we started with plans from this version that was posted on Ohdeedoh.

One of my favorite things about the kitchen is that Chris made a removable mini-table to insert under the sink and stove instead of a fixed shelf. This design allows Gioia to take the table out and play picnic or have a little tea party with bunny. Two toys in one.


Some design notes from the handy man himself.

- The top wooden shelf in the original version seems to just sit on top of the GRUNDTAL towel rack. All attempts to glue it down were unsuccessful. A loose wooden board is kind of dangerous, so Chris is going to have to secure it to the backboard with L-brackets.

- We could not find cabinet hinges at B&Q, so Chris used a regular door hinge for the little door. But then he had problems because the screws were too long, poking through the other side of the door. So if you make a door, remember to use screws which are smaller than 1/4 inch (or smaller than the depth of the wood you use for the door). Generally, the 1/4 inch screws were needed all throughout the project.

- Placement of the "sink" is key. We used an old stainless steel bowl from the kitchen for our version. It was larger than the one in the original and deeper. Once the sink was fixed in the top, it impacted options for other things, like the shelf and door. Shelf placement issues eventually led to Chris' removable table/ shelf idea, so it ended well in this case. But it is a good thing to be thinking about.

- The IKEA S-hooks we brought home did not quite fit over the towel rack, perhaps because they were designed for a real kitchen rack. But after Chris bent one side of the S open a bit, they worked just fine.

- Our kitchen materials and parts came to approximately US$100, more than double the claim in the original Ohdeedoh article. We bought our materials in our lovely island home of Taiwan, though, which probably was the main reason for the inflated costs.

Now that the woodworking part is done, I can play with it and add some real kitchen touches. Like sew a little curtain to hang under the stove and left of the door. Perhaps paint some staple goods on the backsplash behind the sink and stove - a sugar jar, a flour container.

Of course we now need accessories. I ordered a cute little dishes and pots set that is made from recycled milk jugs. And some wooden fruit - apples, pears, grapes. What else? Perhaps more play food.....

Shanghai in 80 minutes

For the past year and a half, I have been flying back and forth between Taiwan and the mainland, always having to change planes in Hong Kong. Beijing to Taipei took 10 hours; Shanghai to Taipei took six. It was awful. You can understand, then, how this NY Times article nearly made me cry today.*

"The planes will also fly in a direct line between cities over a route north of Taiwan. Charter flights between China and Taiwan currently take a longer route through Hong Kong airspace because of security concerns. Under the new routing, direct flights between Taipei and Beijing will take two hours, and flights between Taipei and Shanghai will take 80 minutes."

And then I thought about all of the tourists about to descend upon Taiwan, and I cried for real.

Popcorn Chicken....Feet?

We ordered pizza tonight from Dominos. On the little flyer that was left in our mailbox (which led to the ordering), there was a little picture of a bucket full of fried chicken poppers. Oooh. Popcorn chicken! Let's get the popcorn chicken too (Says I).

I tried one. It tasted good, but there was some cartilage in the chicken. Hmmm, weird. Perhaps they just cut that piece wrong. Let's try another. Mmmm. Still crunchy. How about a third piece?? At this point, Chris looked at me and asked, why is the chicken crunchy? We were confused for a while, staring at the chicken pieces, dissecting them to get a better view of the crunchy bits. Umm, that looks long and pointy. They all do. Kinda like....a....toe.

Fried chicken toes. With my Dominos pizza.

Notice something about the picture? The box is half empty. Yeah, that's how long it took us to figure it out. We tried to fool ourselves once the truth was discovered. Well, it tastes OK. You just have to suck around the toe bone.

Ha.

Red House

On weekend mornings, we are usually searching for something to do, primarily to keep kiddo entertained in the long stretch before her nap. This last Saturday, we took the subway to the Red House, which is a cute little attraction tucked away in a busy downtown shopping district.

The Red House itself was not too large, but it had some marginally interesting exhibits. The cakes and tea at the little cafe caught my eye, but unfortunately we had filled up already at the western imperialist hot beverage store. Oops. Perhaps I need to come back at teatime one day.

We also saw some funny life size dolls. With very large heads.


Gioia had a big time walking around and climbing things. She is in an over/ under phase these days, just like Skippyjon Jones. She clearly needed lots of napkins for going OVER the ottoman.


More pictures from the outing are here. Good times.

Handy Man

My husband is so fabulous. I needed a sunny ledge for my seedlings, so on Sunday, he put up this trellis with a shelf that hangs above the balcony sink.

He also worked on a play kitchen for Gioia. We had an option to buy a ready made one in a local store. But even if we ordered the kitchen now, it wouldn't arrive until January. Which is not very Christmas-y. I had been eying some of the fabulous do-it-yourself play kitchens, which have been featured lately on Ohdeedoh. We decided to make one instead of buying it. When I say we, I am not really being honest. Really I cajoled Chris into breaking out the power tools and building one similar to this one. It is not finished yet, but I definitely see lots of play food in Gioia's future.


A fabulous Handy Man. Wouldn't you agree?

Attempt #2

Argh. I can't believe you are trying to make me take a picture with Frankie again, Mom. I am so angry. Watch me throw my Tigger. There - ha HA! I showed you!

So much drama, yet Frankie stays calm through it all.

Perhaps it is time for Plan B.

Christmas Card Photo - Attempt #1

Not happening.