Holly Season

We actually have a holly bush in the front of our house. When we first arrived, the berries had just developed, still green and young. The kids noticed them, but did not think too much about them. After all, those prickly leaves will keep anybody away!



But now, oh boy, they are among the few green leaves left alive. To celebrate the beginning of the new season, we brought some of the branches inside for the holiday spirit that these holly berries bring.

Happy December to all!

The winning Chocolate Cake Recipe

Before the cake bake-off, I tried a few recipes for chocolate cake. I am not a natural baker, partly because I have a hard time following a recipe! I have a tendency to tweak it, substituting ingredients if I don't have exactly what the recipe asks for.

For this particular event, I wanted to make a flourless chocolate cake at first, which I tried to make, but it did not quite turn out as planned (I don't have an electric mixer, which may be part of the problem). So I started playing around with the three recipes, ending up with this one!

In all honestly, my husband's cake was really quite good. I can see if he can share his secrets (I think he made up his as well). For now, here goes:

Preheat oven 350F, and set out a 9" spring form baking pan.


Cake Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

4 eggs, separated

3/4 cup sifted self-rising flour (with salt already added)

8 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate, broken into small pieces

1 stick butter (1/2 cup)

½ cup coffee

Melt chocolate  and butter in a double boiler until all melted together.

Beat egg whites until firm, set aside.

Combine egg yolks, sugar and coffee. Mix well. Add the chocolate mixture, and then the flour.

Slowly and gently mix in the egg whites. Fold this into the batter until all mixed.

Line a 9" springform pan with parchment paper, and butter the pan well. Pour the cake batter into the pan. 

Bake at 350 F about 30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Lather with chocolate frosting and decorate with fresh raspberries. Serve with homemade whipped cream or a little vanilla ice cream.

Ginny's Chocolate Frosting

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons coca cola or pepsi

1 cup confectioners sugar

Melt the butter with the cocoa powder, add sugar and coca cola. Bring to boil, and take it off the heat. Add confectioners sugar and whisk until smooth. Poor and spread over your chocolate cake,

Icicles

We saw these icicles the other day.

Just kidding.

This was taken a few years ago, when we went back to live in Boston for a year! I came across it recently and thought that I would share it with you...because I think that we are going to be seeing a lot of these pretty soon...

After our trip to Thailand, of course!

Happy new week to you all.

Seventh Birthday

Hard to believe: our children are now seven years old! They wished each other a Happy Birthday upon awakening.  It's called being twins!

This pair of twins has changed life as we knew it, in the best ways possible.



In celebration, Jim and I each made them a cake.

Better yet, we had a cake-bake off!

The competition was fierce (not really), and fun.  We had several judges who tasted each cake and voted. I came out the winner (really?!), even though I really, honestly, think that my husband's cake was far superior. Anybody interested in the winning cake recipe? I made it up myself, you know.

I wonder if this is going to be come a new tradition? It could very well be, but what was more fun was to have our children be surrounded by loved ones on their special day. How appropriate that it is one day after Thanksgiving.

Needless to say, we are all thankful to have them in our family. Happy seventh birthday, Claire and Momo! We love you so.

Thanksgiving Pies

A Nantucket Cranberry Pie and a traditional Pumpkin Pie. Michigan, we are ready for you!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate this day. More on being thankful in a bit, as you know, the big (most thankful of all) day is almost here!

Pomegranate

Pomegranate. Jewels. No wonder us Thais call it "Tuptim" which literally translates as "Ruby".



It is not native here in Ohio. In fact, when the kids asked where the first pomegranate tree came from, I was a bit speechless.  Must be China, I said. A lot of fruits originated there!

We then went on to more existential questions such as who was the first human? Did we come from monkey?

All I wanted to do was make a salad with a bit of pomegranate sprinkled about. And I wanted the kids to help me take the beautiful seeds out of the partitions found inside the fruit. I was not expecting to have a philosophical discussion about the origin of life!

At any rate, we did a quick search and found out that these ancient fruits originated in the Iranian Plateau, and in the Himalayas (I was in the ball park). Now they are cultivated in the tropics and temperate parts of the world.

This answer seemed to be just enough for the time being, for our soon-to-be seven year olds. Next time I think I have to use more tools than Google... I hope I have a bit of time to prepare for that!

ABC Gum Wall

California has Yosemite, and the Golden Gate bridge... What about Ohio? We have an ABC Gum Wall. Well, at least that is what we call it. It stands for, ready...: Already Been Chewed Gum Wall (if you are a parent, and are familiar with Ivy and Bean books, you know the lingo). We made that up ourselves.

I had to take a picture of them in front of it, after they each had contributed a piece of their own ABC gum to the wall. I know... free entertainment!

The wall is part of the Maid Rite building where we visited last weekend, after seeing the beautiful Bear's Mill (which completely ranks in a different calibre from this building, I am sure you would agree).

They look quite proud, don't they? They might not be so happy with me years from now. I do consider it part of my job as a mother to document all memories, including goofy ones such as this!

Maple-Syrup Cranberry Relish

Three ingredients together can bring your Thanksgiving Turkey dinner to a whole different level.

I love cranberries. I love maple syrup. A little sprinkle of orange zest, and you are done!




Maple-syrup Cranberry Relish

3 cups fresh whole cranberries
1 cup grade B maple syrup
Grated zest from one whole navel orange

Rinse the cranberries well. Put in a sauce pan, and add the two other ingredients. Bring to boil, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until all the cranberries have popped. The relish will start to look jam-like. Have a taste, add more syrup if you would like it to be sweeter. Otherwise, enjoy with your turkey, and stuffing!

Broken Record

Am I going to sound like a broken record if I told you that we are (yet again) having beautiful warm fall days over here?



It feels like a Santa Cruz November day: cool nights, warm days.



Look at this tiny zinnia that has made it through many frosty mornings.



And these lucky children who still get to wear shorts and T-shirts and play in the backyard. Backyard! And tree! That is the big difference between our life here and our life back in California, isn't it?

I know. Talk to me again when we are in the middle of an ice storm... Although I do look forward to taking photos of icicles. Just think! Lovely frozen icicles hanging from the roof. I can picture them already...

But how much happier I am (we all are) on a day like today!

The Mill

Here is it, the mill today. So much history, and so much to learn. Best of all, however, is the master miller himself who showed us around, and treated us like old friends. He's a treasure as much as Bear's mill is to Greenville, Ohio.

Bear's Mill

West of Columbus, not too far from Indiana, sits an old mill. It still uses water like the old days, and there is a miller who taught himself how to operate the mill when he and wife bought the place a couple of decades ago.

We are heading back there today to watch the miller at work, and be transported back in time.

So, I am kinda back in the present...although apparently I quite enjoy living in the past (way past) just as much.

Will be back in the real present soon. I promise. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy these images I took from my last visit there, not too long ago!

Two year ago...

Since I am on a path called Memory Lane, I might as well share this photo again, of us three, on Natural Bridges State Beach, on November 15, 2008.

I promise to be back living in the present moment again soon!

A bit homesick...

"Home" sick. I am not sure where home is anymore. Maybe I should just call it "California Sick" for now.

I think I am allowed to miss California every so often right?

Today just happens to be one of those days.

So here you go, an image of one of our favorite beaches: Greyhound Rock. It's also the site of our wedding, and many lovely lounging days in the sun, not to mention all the sea creatures we found in the tide pools and sea glasses on the beach.

Sigh....

I know we will get to walk on it again some day. The question is just when.

Sisters

She made me take this photo the other day, and wanted me to post it on this blog, with this very title! So there, my love, my two 'daughters'! How sweet you both are!

A Coconut Story

I am not sure why I bought these coconuts. I saw them at an Asian grocery store recently, and they called to me, so of course, I had to bring them home.

It could be that I wanted them for the sake of nostalgia, helping me to remember my childhood days of seeing these round, hairy, brown balls all over the place.

It could also be my optimistic self, thinking that I can make something out of them, involving the kids in the process. I thought it would be fun to show them how to whack these things open, anticipate the coconut water that follows, and grate the white flesh in preparation for making coconut milk.

I validated myself today and put these coconuts to work. We did all of the above, including moments of reliving my childhood: I remembered grating coconut meat on a "Coconut Bunny" (as it is known in Thai...after translation of course), and then playing with the coconut remnants after my grandmother had finished making her first and second and third rounds of 'milking' the grated coconut meats.

Of course the kids loved hearing about it all, asking with curiosity about the Coconut Bunny, and what we would make with the coconut milk afterward.

I had a grand idea. I wanted to make some sticky rice (white and black), and soak in with the creamy coconut milk we had made ourselves with a bit of palm sugar and salt. We would have it for dessert tomorrow, maybe with a bit of mango, or that frozen Durian I still have in the freezer.

The kids did a wonderful job making coconut milk from scratch. They proudly brought me a bowl full of the said milk and wanted me to be sure to strain out all the coconut meat that got in by accident. Sure, I said, I can do that.

If my head was in the right place, we would be eating that delicious dessert tomorrow night. Except that we won't be. I did everything right, but forgot to have a bowl under the strainer. Yup, you guessed it. The precious coconut milk went down the drain.

On the bright side, I did get to accomplish all the reasons (I think) I bought the two coconuts in the first place. After all, I did not buy them while dreaming of a sticky rice dessert, did I?

Easy Popovers

How can one not like popovers? Just the name alone sounds fun, and the real things are even more fun because we can actually eat them!

I used to have a popover tin (it feels like in my last life, maybe in Maine?). With all the moving around, who knows where it is now. I do hope that whoever has it is using it to make these easy and delicious and kid-friendly pastries.

I was re-inspired to make them recently after reading this post, on a cold November day (which quickly went away for about a week when we had our glorious Indian summer days). I had forgotten how easy and quick and fun making popovers was until I made it again with the kids.

"We love them Mommy! Thank you for making them Mommy!" They both said while biting into their warm, steamy popovers, with the hollow middle filled with Nutella (although... everything is good with Nutella).

We liked them so much we made them again the following day, with a little more butter in the batter this time.

Popovers
Adapted from this post, and a recipe in this book (because you know, I can't follow a single recipe to save my life)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
4 tablespoon melted butter

Preheat oven 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

Whisk eggs, milk, sugar together. Add flour and salt and melted butter and mix well. For best results, mix the batter with a hand-held electric mixer (if you have one, if not, a blender probably works well) until batter is smooth and lump-free.

Grease a muffin tin pan, or a popover tin pan, and fill each one half way with the batter. Should make about 6-10 popovers depending on the size of your pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until popovers are all puffed and golden brown.

Serve immediately with plenty of options for filling: butter, jam, honey, or Nutella!

Indian Summer

It's Indian Summer here in Central Ohio. Warm days, cool nights. Feel exactly like our old home's perfect climate. The difference is, this is an anomaly. It will go away, and won't return again for months.

We are enjoying the most of it! Right side up, or upside-down!

Kitten

I am not a cat-person by any means. Although now that I said that, we did have a kitten once, who unfortunately did not live very long after coming home from the shelter with an intestinal virus. We loved this kitten we named after our beloved coffee: Peets. This is all true.

Look at this little thing, though. It was so sweetly sitting on top of an old milk can, looking this way and that. I just could not help but give it a bit of love (through my camera).

Doors

I like doors.

I especially like colorful doors.

And windows.

And barns.

It makes me happy to think that whoever decided to paint these things with these amazing colors had that moment of : "Yup, this color is it!"

And their decision often makes my day, when I go by the door, or the window, or the bright red barns.

The photographer named Momo

This is what happens when our son took my camera from me. He is pretty good, but he is not yet old enough to work the computer...so I do the editing and posting for him. He, the artist named, Momo.

Animal Encouter

There was a farm market in the Amish Country where they had a bunch of animals roaming around, and we were allowed to pet them.

Aren't these goats so sweet? There was one particular white kid who seemed to enjoy my camera, and would look at me with those innocent eyes.

Here, she is joined by her sibling. You can tell who is who! The sweet one is on the top of the photograph.


This horse, named Ben, is apparently the biggest horse in Holmes County! Take a look at these hoofs!


There were puppies, too, and chickens, and donkeys. But it was a bit too cold to stay out for long, with no mittens for my frozen fingers. Did we tell you we saw our first snow fall? Not just snow flurries...reall snow, on the ground. Gulp.

Amish Country, Part II

How do they do it? How do they keep living their simple life when all around them exists the fast-paced, hyper-technology, materialistic, media-crazed world?


There is a little part me that wishes to live such a lifestyle. I know it is a lot more than that -- one can't just decide one day to give it all up, and go join the crowd (plus I would look out-of-place with my tan skin and dark hair). So the next best thing to do is to take a trip up to Holmes County and be inspired by the simple way of life, the bucolic landscapes. I do find myself feeling refreshed and re-inspired after each visit.



Last time we went for a day trip from Columbus to Holmes County, we only scratched the surface of the Ohio Amish country. For one, we picked the wrong day to go (Sunday - their sabbath!). We also thought Millersburg would be the center of it all (that's how it looks on the map), where in fact, Berlin and Walnut Creek are more centers of the Amish country.

We still did not make it to the latter two towns (saved for the next trip!). From Columbus, we took I-71 north to Hwy 39 which took us through Millersburg. Before we hit Berlin as we had planned, we got side-tracked and found ourselves heading south for Charm, Ohio. Yes, how can one say no to such an elegant name of a town? It was charming, indeed, and we had lunch at an Amish-style restaurant complete with creamed chicken and biscuits.

We also found ourselves, later on, driving on Ohio's First State Road which is a gravel road winding along the hilly landscape peppered with farm houses, beautiful old barns, horses and cows. We would occasionally pass by an Amish buggy containing well-clothed passengers (it was COLD!) who would wave to us from their small window.


Last but not least, we saw our first snow of the season! Yes, this is true. Some hills were actually covered with the powdery white stuff. Can you imagine the children's plea to stop to have a snowball fight? We reassured them that this would not be their only snowy opportunity.

All in all, it was another pleasant trip to the Amish country. We feel lucky to be close enough for a day-trip for a bit of rejuvenation, and a little reminder that indeed, less is more. Always.