Not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but my father-in-law used to own restaurants in China Town.  He is now retired, but his cooking is still VERY good, to say the least.  My sons are spoiled rotten by his food.  For example, he would make this seafood chow mein (noodle), and I can eat that for days.  The shrimps are never tough, the sauce is always perfect, and the noodle is always crunchy.

As he gets older, we get more worried about not being able to duplicate his cooking.  So my husband declairs that he is starting a family cook book to store our favorite recipes.  Well, when my husband decides to do something, that usually involves my help.  I told him that he really should start a blog, and make it private for now, and start adding recipes as we collect the tips and tricks from his father, mother, and my side of the family as well.  He seems to like this idea a lot, so I now need to start working on it. 

I am super excited about this project.  Not only does it serve my tummy well, but I think it will be great to do as a family.  I think this will help make our relationship tighter with our parents, and they will appreciate the fact that we want to keep their cooking alive.  It will be great for our kids to observe, so hopefully they will want to learn all about it too.

Please, any idea will be welcome.  Please write to me if you have any favorite dish too!

“Trick a treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. . .”

My kids have been chanting these words for almost a month now, and I’m happy to say, Halloween is finally here and hopefully that means the end of these words. . .or at least until next Halloween! Halloween is definitely not a Chinese holiday, in fact, most Chinese people are extremely superstitious, therefore, any mention of the ghost is a sign of bad luck.

Here in the US, however, is a different story. Our neighborhood is bustling with Halloween decorations for the past month, and we’ve been to 2 different Halloween parties already this year! The picture to the right are the 2 jack-o-lanterns my kids did with some help from my husband. I know I’m biased here, but I must say, they look pretty darn good!

It’s also exciting to see the cute costumes on the little ones, usually lots of princesses and super heros. This year is no exception. In fact, parents and kids are getting more creative every year. Some of the best costumes I’ve seen so far this year for the kids are GI Joe’s, personal chef, and a doctor and 2 reckless driver patients.

What’s your favorite Halloween costumes this year? We would love to hear from you!

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!

Chopsticks was sick when we were on vacation this week, my in-laws snuck him out to see a Chinese doctor while I went to the bathroom. The Chinese doctor prescribed him some herbal tea, which I rejected, but he gave him Haw Flakes to go with the herbal tea! I have not seen Haw Flakes for a very long time. I used to eat them when I was a little kid, so this totally brought back memories. At dinner, all the cousins were talking about this little tube of snack, and each has a story to tell. When asked what made Haw Flakes, no one really knew, so we googled it right there and I would like to share with you.

Haw Flakes are Chinese sweets made from the fruit of the Chinese hawthorn. The dark pink candy is formed into discs one millimeter thick, packaged in rolls of seventeen discs, and sold in packs of ten rolls. Chinese people take the flakes with bitter Chinese herbal medicine. It actually serves a great portable fruit snack, and the taste is similar to cranberry or cranapple. Some Chinese people like to give Haw flakes to children before dinner, as they are believed to enhance their appetite. Some other people claim that Haw speeds up metabolism and aids in weight loss. Whatever the benefits could be, I consumed lots and tons of them when I was little, and they are still one of my favorite childhood snacks. Don’t forget to look for them next time you are in Chinatown, you should be able to find them in the grocery stores.

While I spent a few days at my parents this weekend, they made a nice pot of congee for the boys and me.  I always love congee, and even though I make it myself for the boys at home, I still love the kind I grew up with.  There’s something really comforting and soothing about it. 

For those of you who are not familiar with what congee is, it’s basically rice cooked in a lot of water with various ingredients.  Congee used to be for the poor, it was served in times of drought where food are hard to come by.  And now, it has become a popular breakfast food for many Chinese people.  There are so many ways to cook congee, some with pork, or with beef, or with duck eggs, or with vegetables, or with fish.  Maybe I will write my recipe to share with you next time.  As for now, let’s just enjoy some mouth watering pictures.

My sister-in-law recently attended a dumpling party, and was so inspired by it that she made dumplings with her 5 year old daughter the following day.  She had such a wonderful time.  She taught my neice how to count and say different dumpling ingredients in Chinese, and told her other interesting stories from her own childhood.

I am so proud of her, and I am really proud of our work!  This is what our website is all about!!!  We want to bring the Chinese culture into other families and make this fun and interesting for both the parents and children.  It’s great to learn the language properly from Chinese school, but it’s even better to incorporate it into part of your lives.

Drop us a line if you have other fun ideas to share with us!  Go!  My Panda Paws!

The dumpling party sponsored by the Asian American Writer’s Workshop (AAWW), hosted by NY Times reporter Jennifer 8 Lee at her home in the city was the only dumpling party I’ve ever attended, and of course the best! So much so that our contributing blogger Allie and I were thinking about hosting one ourselves!

When we first arrived at her house, the fragrance from the different meat mixtures, ranging from pork w/ shrimp (traditional), to turkey, beef, and vegetarian were so inviting, we decided we HAD to eat before actually working at the wrappers’ table. Since this group consisted mostly 20 and 30 something writers and their friends, the shapes of the dumplings were very unique and creative. After we sampled some that were already pan fried or steamed, we decided it was time for us to contribute.

Born into a Shanghainess family, I didn’t eat a lot of dumplings (but definitely a lot of won tons) as dumplings are traditionally a northern Chinese staple. So my dumpling making skills were fairly limited. Given the square wrapper that was available on the table, I couldn’t get it right! So finally, I had to improvise! I decided it was better to do it like a tortellini than a true dumpling, because I couldn’t close all corners without the meat falling out of the wrapper. I have to say, despite the Italian look, it tasted fantastic, especially with some coriander chutney and spicy sauce!
Our host, my new idol was also most gracious. She steamed, she pan fried, she served, and most of all, she gave me a copy of her book The Fortune Cookie Chronicle from her own collection and autographed it w/ nothing but a fortune that reads “Take advantage of your great imagination, it will serve you will.” How appropriate is that for our new business?

one of the many batches of dumplings we made

Debbie and Allie making dumplings

w/ Jennifer 8. Lee (center) and other AAWW members

During a casual BBQ get together at my friend’s house, one of my friend’s daughters came in and demanded that a specific adult go out and play with them. When that adult was reluctant to comply, the young girl went on to say “If you don’t come out right now, you are fired!” While this sounds almost Donald Trumpish, it reminded me how my own kids sometimes speak disrespectfully to my husband and I; often forgetting to use the words please and thank you. The concept of not interrupting an adult’s conversation is also “lost in translation.” What’s really going on with this new generation of Chinese Americans?

I’m not trying to advocate an environment where the children are afraid of the parents, but shouldn’t there be some kind of boundaries? Please drop me a note as I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you have “war” stories from your own childhood? I know in my family, I was not allowed to speak at the dinner table until I was spoken too, and I cannot put my chopstick in a dish that an adult hasn’t had an opportunity to eat first. How times have changed!

I’m not sure if there is a connection between Holiday Inns and Chinatowns, but somehow, it seems there is a Holiday Inn Hotel in a lot of the Chinatowns I’ve visited. Growing up in California, there is one on Figueroa in Los Angeles, and one on Kearny in San Francisco. Both of these hotels are in the heart of the Chinatown. Now that I’m in Montreal on vacation, I saw yet another Holiday Inn here in Montreal’s Chinatown, and it makes me wonder if there is a connection between Holiday Inns and Chinatowns. Did Holiday Inn offered the best deal? It really doen’t matter, but rather it’s kind of cool. This one in Montreal is particularly pretty and unique. It’s got two Pagoda tops on the roof!