Photo of the day #9: Steamed mutton dumplings

One word: YUM.
These cabbage and goat meat dumplings are KICK ASS. I can seriously go on about them all day. They remind me of the ones you can get in this one little shop in XingJiang, with the dough skin super soft and moist, and the tender meat filling just dripping with juice. My mom made these today, as they are a childhood favorite, and I fell in love with these dumplings all over again. Who says mothers aren't good matchmakers?

BTW I'll be gone for the next 4 days on a trip, so stay tuned for more posts next week!

Photo of the day #8: Hot soup on a Chilly day

"The weather outside is frightful, but inside, it's so delightful..."

It snowed today! Just a few virgin flakes of melting, icy blankness, but I really am happy about this since it gives me an excuse to pull out all the cold-weather comfort foods that are such familiar old friends.

I came home shivering today to this delicious soup, actually just a really chunky vegetable broth, which satisfied both my immediate need for warmth and my craving for soup.

Even though I'm generally sick of winter after the first two weeks and the pretty frosted ground has turned into two feet of gray, slogging, frozen snow, there are definitely times I appreciate having a warm beverage and relaxing with my family in the warm kitchen while a blizzard is raging outside.
I also feel like I'm getting a bit ahead of myself right now, seeing that it's only November and there's not even any legitament snow on the ground yet, but the holiday season is really starting to get to me.
I predict plenty of pumpkin and Thanksgiving recipes to come!

Photo of the day #7: Japanese tea cakes

One of my dad's business associates gave him these; mini cream-filled puffs that are supposed to be for "tea time". Delish, and super light and fluffy. Barely any sugar taste at all but quite good with a cup of heavy coffee.

Photo of the day #6: Cravings

I have a feeling this is because of my nostalgia for summer as much as my overall love for fresh produce, but lately all I've been craving is fruit! So please put up with all these random fruit photos.

Bananas:

Apples:

And one of my all-time favorites (though I'm pretty much in love with all fruit)

Asian pears! So crunchy and juicy.

Yup. Will try to post more regularly now that all the quarter testing craziness is over.





Photo of the day #5: Ninja dog!

Feet-warmer, trusted cuddle-buddy, squirmy pillow, and leftover thief... these are all jobs that my dog Lulu dutifully performs. Here's another one to add to the list:





Undercover Ninja!

 

A couple more:



Wa-cha!



Photo of the day #4: doggone tired

I swear, my lazy dog Lulu personifies (or to be technical, "animalizes..." ; is that the right word?) everything I'm feeling right now, and here's the short list:

• Tired as hell
• Tired of being tired
• Any desire to get anything done absolutely lost
• Annoying cold and eternal stuffy nose, for which the infallible remedy is strong mint balm and lots of chicken soup with tons of garlic. Oh yeah, and while we're in a dream world whee I have the time or energy to make chicken soup or to sniff mint balm, I might as well add a good nap to the list as well

To quickly put a recap on the last two days, as I haven't been able to really post-

SUNDAY:As a method of procrastination from doing my homework, I decided to go with my parents to a dinner party at the house of a family from Bangledesh. After the typical "how tough immigrants have it" and "we do everything for our children" talk, we had a lovely feast of traditional Bangledeshian dishes. For dessert, there was homemade, freshly fermented sweet cheese, which was pretty much just thickened milk, water, and sugar. White cheese curds are my mom's favorite dessert, and she finally got ahold of the recipe that night. I have a feeling lots of milk and sugar shall be wasted in the near future! All in all, it was a lovely night and though I stayed up late finishing homework, the food was definitely worth it.

MONDAY: Had a tennis match. Too tired to exist.

Now more pics of the star!

Photo of the day #2 Lamb Kebabs

Lamb Kebabs are another family favorite and traditional Xinjiang food. Grilled to perfection and sprinkled with spices like cumin and dried chile pepper, to me it bring memories of street vendors and bustling marketplaces.

Photo of the Day #1

Played in the lake yesterday and caught many crayfish to steam and then stir-fry! So yummy with plenty of garlic and spiced up with hoisin sauce.