CHINA: The Food

The food in China is quite different, but not shocking like you might think.  Rice, veggies, lots of cucumbers (who knew?!), meat, mushrooms and lots of cilantro.  Cilantro? Really?  I thought that was only the plague of the Tex Mex variety.  Apparently they love it in China and put it in everything.  Particularly awesome when cilantro tastes like cleaning fluid to certain taste palates. Um, me.  

(lunch time with the nannies.  so much YUM)

I actually really liked the food in China though.  I miss lunch with the nannies at Morning Star.  The nannies and MS’s driver would make lunch for everyone, and it was so delicious.  For those of you that are wondering... NO, real Chinese food is not really like American Chinese food AT ALL.  It's so much better.  Surprisingly so.  It is less, how do I explain this….fast foody?  All I can say is that their food isn’t neon orange or breaded and fried like pretty much all American Chinese food.

Oh and let’s talk about the wonder of Bubble Tea.  I had my first Bubble Tea in China which seemed very appropriate.  It’s available in the US, but not popular where I live, so I was still a Bubble Tea virgin.  Verdict:  YES.  More please.  I chose the milk variety.  Cold.  I want more right now.  Oh my, it is delightful.  

(Green beans in the center, come find me in America.  I miss you)

I also had the most delicious green beans of my life at the restaurant in Meredith’s neighborhood.  They were cooked with lots of garlic and tiny bits of port and some other magic deliciousness.  I need to figure out how to make those beans.  Yum.

The only hard thing about food in China is the water.  You can’t drink the water, which means you shouldn’t technically eat fruits or raw veggies that are washed in the water.  I did both and didn’t get sick.  But I also bypassed a few things that I probably would have tried if I wasn’t scared of getting sick (Hello, world’s most sensitive digestive system. You are so annoying.  The end) I did throw caution to the wind a few times and was so glad that I didn’t miss out on the deliciousness.  

Wrap up:  

#1  If you go to China, you won’t die of starvation if you don’t like Chinese food.  

#2  Go to a restaurant with photos of the food since you can’t read the menu.

#3  Don’t drink that tap water.

#4  Always say yes to Bubble Tea.  Always.

30 Days: Day 8 - Chocolate

I don't love shave ice all that much.
However this one came with sweetened condensed milk on the top.
Whaaaat?!
It was delicious.
Bonus: it was eaten whilst on the North Shore.

I'm a chocolate person.
I don't understand desserts that don't have chocolate.
Why do they exist?
They are like a cruel joke.

xoxo,

Chocoholic

Tea trip

One of the things I was really excited about when going to the Big Apple was going to a David's Tea storefront.  I first heard about David's Tea this past winter and have since placed a few orders.  There are no actual stores in my area, so I usually just take a chance and order something that sounds delicious in the website descriptions.  I've only gotten one kind that wasn't really as good as I was hoping it would be. The rest have been so yummy.

Coffee isn't for me.  I always think it smells heavenly, but can't stand the way it tastes.  Tea, on the other hand, is perfection.  I'm blaming my British grandmother and my mother who drinks hot tea constantly every day, all year.  

David's Tea has multitudes of flavors to try.  They have new flavors for the seasons, cute mugs and containers, strainers, etc.  If you love tea, you should give them a try.  Black tea is my favorite type and their Read My Lips is the most perfect chocolate, black tea ever.  

I might have gone a bit nuts in my purchasing while I was there.  The girl working at the counter was so patient and let me smell lots of different kinds based on the flavors I already loved.  I ended up buying so much that they threw in my cup of hot tea in for free.  So nice.

I've been drinking the Mint Julep constantly.  It's ridiculously delicious.  I want some right now just thinking about it.  The infuser was my splurge (okay, the whole lot was a splurge, but hey, I never go to Starbucks).  It works so much better than a tea ball because the holes are so small, trapping all the tiny leaves inside and letting the larger leaves float around freely.  Love it.  Worth the money.

If you love tea, check out David's Tea.  You won't be disappointed.

Mmmmm

I made this yummy dish the other night.
I found it on one of my favorite blogs, Cakies, a while ago and have been wanting to try it.
It was a hit for my roommate and I.
Definitely will make it again.

And then, since I had all the ingredients on hand, I made one of my favorite new desserts.
This one comes from the pages of one of my favorite cookbooks.
It can also be found on PW's website.
I can't even explain how ridiculously easy this recipe is.
Nor can I put into words how delicious it is either.

It was a Happy Labor Day meal.
Just because.
Because I wanted apple dumplings with vanilla ice cream mostly.
Now I have to invite more people over to eat these apple dumplings because I will eat them all myself if I don't.

new favorite sweet

I heard about this from Pioneer Woman, of course.
It was on her show a while ago.
Super simple and super delicious.

Slice down the center through one side of the peel and half of the actual banana.
Pull it apart just enough to stuff in lots of delicious treats.
I've used, peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, coconut and heath bar.
Basically anything that would taste good with a banana.


Then wrap it up in foil.
Place it in the oven at 350 degrees until every things is melted.
About 20 minutes or so.
Then pull out a spoon, eat and enjoy.

It's one of my favorite new sweets.

glorious dog

It was the best hot dog I've ever eaten in my entire life.
And the bun of perfection that went with it.
And 4 different (there were about 15 to choose from) mustards.
I dream about those 15 mustard flavors sometimes and curse myself for not buying some.

I ate this hot dog in Leavenworth, WA.
Just realized that I didn't really talk about the day I spent in Leavenworth.
It's was like going to the Germany Pavilion of Epcot.

I must publish this now and stop staring at that glorious dog.
It's making me ridiculously hungry.

Yum

Oatmeal has become my favorite winter breakfast. Plain, boiled on the stove with my favorite mix in's. Today's were cranberries and bananas. No sweetener needed. So delicious.

make/watch

Making my favorite cranberry muffins,
while watching a favorite Joss show
(search the picture carefully to find which one).  

I say that's a lovely way to spend a morning, don't you?

Only problem with this little combo of watch/make is that
a favorite show can be incredibly distracting.
I forgot the baking powder in the first batch.
Oopsy. 
They still tasted delightful.

equals

(source)

Homemade sushi
plus
a Cottage full of friends
equals
an evening spent laughing and chatting instead of blogging.

A perfectly, lovely way to end a relaxing weekend.

found

I found 2 new delicious treats for the cold winter months.


I don't know how they did it, but it really does taste like vanilla and caramel. An off the wall choice for me, but I really love it.

This is sinfully delicious. After reading the packaging (does anyone else do that constantly in the grocery store?) on multiple types, I realized how very little chocolate was in most "hot chocolates." Lots of dried milk and corn syrup. Gross. This one was actually chocolate and other ingredients I could pronounce. And it's beyond yummy. Maybe cause you make it with milk, but still. Oh, my deliciousness.

Random question: Do you sweeten your tea or do you like it straight? I like a hint of sweet. Agave is my favorite.

Fall smoothie

I've been slowly saying goodbye to my smoothie breakfast as the weather has turned a bit cooler. Sad. I do miss it. But when it's cold in the morning and I live and work in old buildings that don't really hold the heat, well, the ice cold smoothie must go.

But a few morning ago, I whipped up a little breakfast treat that I've been loving. It's easier than easy. Here's the recipe. Are you ready? It's really complicated.


1 banana
1 spoonful of peanut butter (I like the non-processed, separated peanut butter that actually tastes like peanuts. Trader Joe's being my favorite. Dry roasted peanuts and salt are the only ingredients.)
a splash or two of milk (2% is my personal fave, but whatever you want is fine.)

If you're feeling really crazy, you can add a bit of chocolate syrup. It adds a hint of sweet delightful chocolate that sends it over the top delicious.

I'm excited to try out a few more recipes like this one for the fall. Maybe a pumpkin spice? Now that sounds positively sinful.

Why today was awesome...

#1. Sleeping in

• complete with good dreams all night.

#2. Harry Potter 7 Part #2

• Good seats. Getting there an hour early does that.
  
• A (almost) fight between two women over saved seats. It.was.nuts.
• Opinions over this movie...would you like to hear mine or go into it blind? I could write a whole post on my thoughts.
  
• Loved that they used John Williams beautiful suite at the end during the credits. He's the man. I ♥ JW.

#3. Sushi for lunch

• We have an A-mazing sushi place near by. So, so good.
  

#4. A walk around one of my favorite cities in the world. Annapolis.

• It's charming beyond words. For reals.
• It was "let's show the world how much crazy money we have and take our million dollar boats to Annapolis and show off" day. Ok, that happens every day there.

#5.

• Twice in one week. Don't judge.
• They have a new flavor called Wildberry Tart that is beyond...well, it's just really, really good.
  

#6. Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

• I picked it up from the library at about 4pm.
  
• It's almost completely read.
• I...can't...put...it...down.
• Not on the list. I love it when a "can't put it down" sneaks its way onto the list before the summer is over.
  
• This is the first book by this author. And it's also another reason I fear ever trying to write anything.

#7. A quick nap

• Only to wake up and quickly get back into #6.
  

#8 Vampire Diaries Season 2 episode 8

• My roommate was kind enough to let me re-watch my favorite part.
  
• Damon Salvatore. It's always the bad boys. He goes right into the Spike and Tim Riggins category.

And I'm signing off cause that books is staring at me and I can't wait any longer to find out what happens.

Night.

delightful drink

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Come summer/warm(er) weather, I'm itching to start making sun tea. It's my favorite drink in the whole entire world of worlds. I'm on my 3rd gallon this week.

My favorite way to make it is not too strong, with a tiny hint of sweetener (agave=favorite, but honey and regular sugar are okay if that's all that's available), and a few mint leaves thrown in too every once in a while.

Passion tea is another favorite. Ooo, and Earl Grey. Or Lady Grey. And this post looks positively yummy with all its delightful ideas. I love, love, love tea, but hot drinks just aren't my thing. So when I can make my favorite teas and drink them cold, well, I'm one happy girl.

yummy favorite

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I'm going to do a total nerd post.

I was eating these tonight and realized that I'm slightly obsessed with them.

My favorite fruit, and it's hard to pick just one, has to be the cranberry. I will eat it in just about anything. Muffins, cranberry sauce (chunky style, please!), smoothies, cookies, trail mix, sherbet, salads, cranberry juice (my fave), cereal, granola or just handfuls all by themselves. My favorite brand is Ocean Spray. For some reason, that brand taste different/better to me. I like to buy them (dried) in the huge 48oz bag because I go through them so fast.

My favorite way to eat them is covered in chocolate, of course. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Cranberries are the best of the best and most addictive. Mmmmm...

Presidential

There is currently ice tinkling on my windows. We are getting snow tonight. That happens on an almost annual basis on President's day here. Why? Why can't spring stop teasing me and just come already.

I'm super thankful for an extra day off though.

....and PW chocolate cake. I'm really thankful for that cake. If you've never had it, call tomorrow a holiday and make yourself some. It's horribly bad for you, but worth every sinful bite. The rule in the Cottage is that we can only make it if we are having a large group of people over (or going to a potluck party) because we can't keep it in the house. If it's on the counter, we'll eat it non-stop. But dear goodness, it's the best cake in the world.

Night, everyone!

eat this immediately

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The moment I saw this photo, it went instantly into my "save for inspiration" file. I wanted to eat one of those cookies immediately! Don't they look like the yummiest things you've ever seen?!

(I use Tumblr to save all those images I find on my adventures all over the internet. I love it because it's simple, user friendly and lets me follow other people whose Tumblr's I also love. Tumblr rocks, yo.)

In other news...

• I'm dog walking this weekend. Nice little side adventure while I'm also working at camp.
• Found this blog a few weeks ago and really enjoy it. Love her fun, fashion photos.
• This video is super cool. One of my favorite movies of all time. And beautiful photos to boot. I don't think Annie Leibovitz is "it," but she is crazy talented. Those dresses...I die over those dresses.
  
• I realized today that almost half of my jeans have holes in the knees from too much wear.
  
• I also realized that my two favorite pairs of shoes have holes worn in them. (granted, one of those pairs was a rescue from the camp-end-of-summer-lost-and-found, which is a great place to score some cool stuff.) Need to buy some new shoes. Actually NEED to.
  

Have a great weekend, all!

Smoothie update

3 months.

I know. I can't believe it either.

I took the smoothie challenge and haven't been able to stop.

90 days.

Now, I will admit that it's not every single of those 90 days. I usually don't drink one on Sundays as I'm dashing out to church. And I may have missed one or two days in the midst of camp, but that's about it.

And can I say....it has been life changing for me. I did not get sick one time during camp. That may seem like no big deal to you, but we had plagues sweeping though our staff all summer (including my own roommate). Pink eye, sinus infections, fevers, colds, more fevers, coughs. You name it. I didn't get anything! I think my fruits and veggies and Chia seeds had something to do with that.

Not to mention that I had more energy than I have ever had in a summer. I was tired. That's pretty much in-escapable, but I wasn't exhausted beyond belief, like I usually am.

I think it also helped me stayed hydrated on those long stretches of 100+ degree days. And I didn't feel like I was ravenous for veggies or fruits like I usually am at the end of a summer eating camp food.

I have noticed that if I eat a small amount of starch (biscuit, dry cereal, bagel) with my smoothie, it helps my body. I also freeze the spinach now, which makes it taste a little sweeter.

I'm so addicted to smoothies that I have taken my fruit, spinach and Chia with me on vaca. I couldn't fathom a week without it!

You should try it. Even for 7 days. I bet you would notice a difference. I know I have found something that works wonders for me!

hello, addictive love

You know that part of So I Married An Axe Murder when the dad says "he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes you crave it fortnightly!" That's how I feel about Menchie's. Except I crave it daily. Sometimes more than once a day.

We have a new fro-yo shop in town. It's been open for just a few months, but because of camp I just found it this week. I won't tell you how many times I've been to it because that's just embarrassing. And I won't admit here in this public forum that I'm hoping to have time to go tonight as I leave town for vacation. I won't do that here. Oh, no.

Let me just say that it is positively, absolutely the yummiest of yums. It's heaven in frozen yogurt form. It's delightful beyond words.

Current favorite mix: Red Velvet yogurt with snow caps and brownie pieces sprinkled on top and a smidgen of hot marshmallow syrup and hot fudge. Oh, dear goodness, I want some so bad right now! Or at least until I find a new mix I can't stop eating.

What's you favorite summer treat right now?

smoothie update

Today is the 3 week mark of my smoothie experiment. The experiment that kinda just happened. I just decided on a whim to give it a try one morning when I was craving a smoothie. And I didn't stop. I've had one every morning for the last 3 weeks.

The small things that I noticed that first week have only continued.

• I have more energy (relatively speaking...it's camp insanity now, so of course I'm tired). Thank you, Chia seeds.

• My stomach issues that have plagued me since I was about 15 have become almost non-existent. For just that reason alone, I'll drink one every day for the rest of my life.

• I'm getting a great big serving of fruits and veggies when it's hard to eat as much as usual because of my camp food diet at the moment.

• They just taste delish. I do miss eating cereal though. I LOVE cereal. Gotta put that back in my diet in the evenings or for snacks.

There are more, I'm sure, but those are the biggest.


This particular one pictured is my second favorite recipe lately.


The ingredients:

raspberries
strawberries
blueberries
spinach
chia seeds
water
a tiny bit of agave

Blend it all together and enjoy! I get the fruit at Sam's Club or the grocery story already frozen. I don't add ice because the fruit is frozen and perfect without it. I also use water instead of juice, which I always thought would water it down, but actually is perfect. There isn't all the processed sugar that's in juice.

The only big thing I noticed is that I have Elevensies almost every day. I get so hungry between breakfast and lunch! It's helped to eat a small amount of protein or starch at breakfast time with every one else at camp. If I don't, I try to have a piece of fruit or some granola on hand to get rid of those stomach rumbles.

Such a wonderful discovery. I'm loving every minute of it.

yummy smoothie

The past few mornings (almost a week now) I dove into the world of green smoothies. Gotta admit that I'm really mad I didn't do this earlier. I've wanted to. Oh, how I've wanted to. I LOVE a good smoothie. I mean I throw a smoothie PARTY every year for goodness sake.

I read about the green smoothie challenge on Happy Foody a while ago. It looked so inviting, but it just didn't seem like the right time then. I threw caution to the wind the other day, not really thinking about it other than "hey, I want a smoothie for breakfast this morning." That turned into morning after morning of "I want another one."

Favorite ingredients at the moment...

Frozen peaches
Frozen pineapple
Fresh spinach (a cup or so)
Chia seeds (about 2 tablespoons)
a teeny-tiny bit of Agave nectar
water

It's been having some amazing benefits. I'll share more when the experiment has had more time to work. But as of today, I'm a total believer of the importance of fruits and veggies in the morning. And Chia seeds are my new best friend.

Have you done the smoothie breakfast thing? What are your favorite recipes or websites to find recipes? Did you notice a difference in your health or energy? I'd love to hear about it!


complete side track.....did anyone else see the Grey's Anatomy season finale? (It's still on Hulu, at the moment) Oh. my. gosh. I haven't seen a TV episode of anything that intense in a long, long time. I was literally shaking/screaming into my pillow so I wouldn't wake up my roommate/crying/yelling/freaking out. It was delightful!