This Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for all those who have taken an interest in teaching my children…school educators, music teachers, scout leaders, sports coaches, Chinese school teachers…the list is long and the impact is profound. Their guidance and influence mean so much to my kids, and for that I am very thankful!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! 感恩節快樂!

While it’s still Fall, there is definately a chill in the air here in the Northeast. In Chinese, we use the phrase 外套 loosely. Translated simply, it means outer layer. So, a jacket, or a coat can be translated into 外套.

It’s only early September, and here in New Jersey, it’s already been quite chilly in the morning and at night.  This is one of my favorite seasons and one of the biggest Chinese holiday, Mid-Autumn Festival, is coming up soon on September 22nd this year.  Welcome Fall!

Traditionally, 便當, consists of rice, meat, and vegetable. However, in recent years, anything that can fit in a lunch box and eaten for a meal can be considered a 便當. For me, coming up with ideas to pack for lunch is always hard, especially my 2 school age kids have very different taste pallettes. Here are some ideas that have worked in the past. If there are anything you do for your kids’ lunch boxes, please respond as I would love to get more ideas!

Too keep the lunch boxes cool on hot days, I put in a frozen gogurt, juice box, or cheese stick. On cold days, I use a thermo funtainer, such as this Disney Cars one, available at most Target stores, to pack mac and cheese or chicken noodle soup. In addition, I also found this really cool Dinosaur sandwich crust cutter from the grocery store this week, and my 5 year old is over the top with his dino grilled cheese and ham and cheese sandwiches, all WITHOUT crusts!

Back to School – 開學 – kāi xué

For New Jersey, school is right after Labor Day weekend. We are all getting anxious about new teachers, new friends, new schedules, new clothes, new shoes, new stationary, new backpacks, you name it.  Be safe and Happy Back to School!

Watermelon or 西瓜 is a summertime favorite at my house. Growing up, we didn’t have refigerators until about 1979. To  make the watermelons cool, they were wrapped in ropes and dropped in a well until ready for consumption. Watermelons in Shanghai back in those days were also a lot smaller than the ones we see in the US, so it’s not uncommon to have more than one at a time. At the same time, since refigeration is not available, everything has to be consummed right away in order to avoid spoilage. So my mom would cut the watermelon into little triagles, and we would all sit around the table and enjoy the refreshing taste of this delicious fruit.

Looking for an easy noodle recipe on this hot, humid, lazy summer day….then came across with this popular dish that I love growing up.  Dried fried yi mein (乾炒伊麵) is a very popular dish served in most Chinese restaurant.  They serve this dish for birthday and wedding banquet as well.  It usually comes together with the fried rice at the end of the banquet, as the noodle represents a long life and/or a long marriage.

Yi Mein is a type of Chinese flat egg noodles, made from wheat flour.  They are known for their golden yellow color and the chewy characteristics.  The noodles are usually available in dried form, and involves soaking to make it “stir fried-able”.  It is usually served with shredded port, mushroom, and sometimes with crab meat.

Now I don’t have any of these noodles on hand, and am way too lazy to drive 20 minutes to the nearest Chinese grocery store to get the noodles.  I have some other noodles in the refrigerator, let’s see if that will work.  I will report on that later this week!

Today, my oldest had his first swim meet for the summer. While he was swiming with his teammates, his little brothers cheered him on. In particular, my 2 1/2  year old started saying 加油, jiā yóu, 加油 as he watched his brother swim. I was kind of surprised by this outburst of Chinese as his Chinese is limited to food and some simple instructional words such as go, come, eat, etc. It turned out, there was a Ni Hao Kai-lan episode where Kai-lan and her friends cheered for Ho Ho. The best way to understand 加油 is in a sentence, it basically is the equivelent of  “Go, Name (Ho Ho), Go!

This again affirms my believe television is ok as long as it’s educational! Seriously, if my kids are going to watch tv, at least I know they are learning!

Zongzi is a traditional Chinese food made of glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo or reed leaves. They are cooked by steaming or boiling.  Just like moon cake and most other Chinese food, there are different versions of Zongzi, and there are different versions of eating Zongzi.  Fillings vary from mung beans, red bean paste, Chinese sausage, salted pork, salted duck egg, to chicken, and taro.  I like to eat mine dipped in sugar, while other people may eat it plain.  My husband likes it with soy sauce.

Zongzi is traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival.  However, it is a favorite of lots of people, so you can see them in the Dim Sum carts too when you go to Chinatown.

I’ve recently brought one over to my Venezuelan friend’s for her to try.  She loved it.  It reminded her of the Hallaca, a traditional Venezuela dish that she loves growing up.  That was pretty funny.  I have two pictures here of Zongzi and Hallaca, can you tell or guess which one is which?

Chinese language is very interesting, as many of you already know. These two characters, if translated separately, means snow and cake respectly.  In addition, Ice cream, is known as 冰淇淋, bīng qí lín, totally different from ice cream bar, or 雪糕.

Anyway, I found these adorable 雪糕 from H Mart, a local Korean grocery store. These 雪糕 have the shapes of a panda, almost too cute to eat!  There are also many different flavors of 雪糕, including green tea, red bean, green bean, taro, in addition to the traditional vanilla and chocalate flavors.  

My favorite flavor as a child is red bean, what’s yours?