Fall is definately in the air, cooler weather, and fallen leaves. Before you know it, it will be time to turn on the heater. This year, instead of dealing with ezema caused by dry air, why not add a humidifier in your rooms. This one, from Crane looks so cute, it’ll make any kids smile!

The whisper-quiet operation won’t disturb sleep while the darling design adds a playful touch to the room. The 1-gal. tank outputs up to 2.2 gal. of moisture a day and features an auto shutoff feature when the tank is empty. For use in rooms up to 500 sq. ft.

My other favorite is this pig humidifier from Sunpentown, which is a Taiwanese company that specializes in electronics such as rice cooker, hot water pot, etc. Again, thanks to whisper-quiet operation, this adorable humidifier doesn’t disrupt your little one’s sleep, it adds up to 7.5 liters of moisture to the air daily with a tank capacity of 3.75-liter. It also features an adjustable mist intensity and auto shutoff

I’m planning to buy this one for my youngest as he was born in the year of the Pig, so this will be a perfect addition to my little pig’s room.

Moon Festival day is always on the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the year based on the Lunar calendar. This year, it will be this coming Saturday, October 3rd. Legend has it, that is the day when the moon is the fullest, and the brightest. To celebrate this special occasion, families often gather together for dinner, known as tuán yuán fàn before eating moon cakes and drinking tea in the courtyard to appreciate the natual beauty of the moon.

For children, however, the lanterns are usually the highlight of the evening. Oftentimes, the kids will make their own, using wire, rice paper, and glue to create art master pieces of pandas, rabbits, dragons, snakes, etc. In some areas, there are also competitions for the best lantern!

This year, you can take part in this special celebration with your children by decorating a lantern for the Moon Festival similar to the one on the left. Click here to buy.

Museum – 博物館 – bó wù guǎn

In honor of the reopening of The Museum of Chinese in America in NYC, I thought we should learn what museum is in Chinese. Visiting museums is always a big hit in my family. My kids love the Childrens Museum for all the hands on exibits, they also love the Museum of Natural History for that big Dinosaurs display. Even at the Museum of Modern Arts, they were able to amuse themselves with the big helicopter inside. We will be going to this newly reopened MOCA soon. I am sure they will take pride in knowing all the famous Chinese Americans!

To learn more, you can also read a review in today’s NY Times.

We celebrated my mom’s sixty-sixth birthday during our visit to California this summer.  In our family, along with many others from the Shanghai/Yangtze Delta region of China, the sixty-sixth has always been cause for major celebration since, by traditional standards, it is a milestone for a long, full life.  Legend has it that the guardian of the after-life will come calling soon after a person reaches this milestone.  To ward off this unwanted visit, a person has to eat sixty-six pieces of meat.  Somehow, this mass consumption of meat renders the person undesirable.

So, in the spirit of preservation, my sister and I both prepared dishes with sixty-six pieces of meat.  Mine was  紅燒, or soy sauce braised (a very traditional Shanghai method) while my sister sliced a grilled steak into sixty-six pieces.  With all the meat consumed, let’s hope my mother lives a doubly-long life!

FredFlare did it again, how adorable is this cute mini panda skillet?  It is imported from Japan, and it’s perfect to add some panda love to your kitchen.  It’s also great using it to cook with your kids: good size, good look.

Mooncake – 月餅 – yuè bǐng

Mooncakes are a MUST when it comes to Moon Festival.  Mooncakes are regarded as an indispensable delicacy on this occasion, and are offered between friends or on family gatherings while celebrating the festival.  This year, Moon Festival will be on October 3rd. 

There are many folktales, stories, and tradition we will talk about over the next few weeks for Moon Festival.  However, I always think about food first.  So we will begin this festive celebration with learning how to say mooncake in Chinese.  Traditional mooncakes come in lotus seed paste, red bean paste, or mixed nuts.  The more delicate ones come with salted egg yolks inside.  Nowadays, mooncakes are offered in various flavors such as Green Tea, Durian, Green Bean, Taro, Date, and Pineapples. 

We are proud to partner with a NYC bakery this year to offer you some fresh baked mooncakes!  Please visit our shop for more information.

Just found this recipe from Steamy Chicken, I can’t wait to try it.  I also love this dish, although I always associate it with Malaysian vs Singapore.  The chicken is also very juicy and tender, but I will have to say that my favorite part of this dish is those yummy rice.  I can eat bowls of them.  Actually just thinking about it now makes my mouth water.

My husband does a much simplier version of poached chicken which our kids just loooove and has become our dinner staples.  He serves it with scallion oil sauce which we just had today for dinner.  That, will be another day, for our recipe collection.  As for now, check out this recipe, just scroll down to the very end if you want to skip the stories.

Many of you already know that my family is in LA and we go there often to visit. My kids all love the trip despite a 5 1/2 hour long flight each way. When asked why they like California so much, their first comment is always “because Po Po (maternal grandmother) makes us yummy food”. They are certainly not wrong on that front, my mother is a great cook, and this is one of her receipes that my 2nd son loves. In fact, he had 6 egg rolls in one sitting!

Ingredients:

1 head of napa cabbage (about 3lbs), thinly sliced
1/2 lb pork, julienned
1 can bamboo shoot, julienned (optional)
1 package of square egg roll wrapper (I personally prefer Wei Chuan brand)
3 tbsp canola oil, divided
1½ tbsp to 2 tbsp flour
Salt to taste

Directions:

In a large wok, or sauté pan, heat about 1 ½ tbsp oil until hot, then sauté the julienned pork until cooked. Remove. Add the remaining oil, and sauté the cabbage. Once the cabbage is wilted, mix in the cooked pork. Add salt to taste.

At this point, use 2 to 3 tbsp of the liquid from the wok/pan and mix with the flour to create a slurry. Pour in the slurry back to the wok/pan to thicken the mixture. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours until cold.

Take out 1 egg roll wrapper on the table, position it like a diamond. Place about 1½ to 2 tbsp of the mixture in the center, in a rectangular shape. Fold the wrapper from the bottom first, then left, then right, and finally roll the whole thing upward.

To fry the egg roll, you’ll need enough oil to cover at least ½ inch from the bottom of the wok/pan. Once the oil is hot, slowly place the egg roll in the hot oil, turning once if the top is not covered in oil, and remove the egg roll when the whole thing turns golden. Drain on paper towel lined towel, and enjoy while hot.

In my family, we serve ours with Zheng Jiang vinegar (similar in taste to balsalmic vinegar) and plain congee. Yum!

Note: use a small sewing needle, pierce the egg rolls a few times so that the steam can escape while the egg roll is being fried. This way, it’ll prevent the egg roll from exploding in the pan.

I will admit that my in-laws are a huge part of my kids’ Chinese language skill.  My mother-in-law used to read Chinese board books to Chopstick when he was an infant, then gradually moved up to more age appropriate story books.  It’s really amazing how much the kids can pick up.  Chopsticks used to impress a lot of people with his knowledge of construction trucks names in Chinese.

For this Grandparents Day, why not get some great Chinese bilingual books for a private Chinese tutoring session and bonding time with the Grandparents?  Check out some of my favorites here, I guarantee that both generations will love them.

I didn’t grow up with my grandparents, so I often envy my kids’ relationship with their grandparents.  (except for the “occasional” disagreement withthe parents and in-laws on how to properly raise my kids)  The truth is, the kids’ grandparents are definitely being taken advantage of by us, and that they are probably under appreciated.  They provide great and free babysitting services, and not to mention the extra food to take home.

For this Grandparents Day (September 13th), I will definitely show my appreciation through the kids.  I thought about presents, but then I thought they will enjoy quality time spent with them instead of tangible presents.  I used to play Chinese Checkers and Chinese Chess when I was little, it’s probably too ambitious to teach my 5 and 2 year old but hey, never too early to introduce the concept.  And I am sure the Grandparents will enjoy the games too!