Out of the Oven

We have a peach tree in our front yard. While we can't take credit for planting it, it has grown beautifully this year, many thanks to my husband's hidden talent as a gardener and "lawn care specialist."

While I was gone, he sent me pictures of the peach tree. They were fully ripe while I was gone, and some had to be eaten while I was away.

However, we now have a drawer-full of them, and they make terrific pies. As I found out.

I also found out my husband had never had a peach pie in his life!

I'm certainly no Martha Stewart, but I will quote her here:

"Doing projects really gives people self-confidence. Nothing is better than taking a pie out of the oven. What it does for your personally, and for your family's idea of you, is something you can't buy."

Doing projects really gives people self-confidence. Nothing is better than taking the pie out of the oven. What it does for you personally, and for your family's idea of you, is something you can't buy.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marthastew587403.html?src=t_pie

Doing projects really gives people self-confidence. Nothing is better than taking the pie out of the oven. What it does for you personally, and for your family's idea of you, is something you can't buy.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marthastew587403.html?src=t_pie

Doing projects really gives people self-confidence. Nothing is better than taking the pie out of the oven. What it does for you personally, and for your family's idea of you, is something you can't buy.
Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/m/marthastew587403.html?src=t_pie

The Possibilities of Pizza

“Pizza makes me think that anything is possible.” - Henry Rollins

Yes, I’ve been absent for a while. Since my last post, I’ve flown to Italia, driven to Slovenia and Hungary, flown back to the East Coast, picked up a patient Zheng, Lucia, and Panda … and … 

flew them, plus as much stuff as we could carry … to New Mexico!  

The Yuan family is in Albuquerque now. Still very much getting set up. Still without furniture (and believe you me, that will be aNOTher post …) 

In the meantime, I wanted to post some beautiful, Botticelli-esque photos of Paolo’s Paroni’s Personal Perfect Pizzeria (ppppp), which was my “welcome” to Italy! 

And I must remember that anything is possible … 

Ice Cream on Route 66

We took a lovely road out of Eureka Springs, AR into Oklahoma. I was amazed by the openness, scenery, and tranquility of this part of the country. 

As we were preparing to leave Oklahoma (this was on a Saturday), I was saying to Zheng, 

"We should really get an oil change and get the car looked at. We will be driving through some remote country, and we should make sure everything is in working order." 

And sure enough, we pulled up to a car place that took walk-ins. Minutes later, our car was getting an oil change and we were getting good wifi and free popcorn. 

(God provides things in very mysterious ways!)

Tulsa was the next stop. My dad had shared a memory from his teenage years with his family when they traveled out west:

"We stopped for ice cream every day at 3." 

One of my few regrets was that this rule was not introduced at the beginning of the road trip. It is also a reminder that I have a hard time resisting ice cream with "peanut butter" as a main ingredient.

PHOTO: Braum’s stop, somewhere in Oklahoma … 

 

Local Flavor

One of the many things that Zheng and I share is a desire to get to the heart of a place. This is tied very closely to three things. If you ask yourself, how do people spend their:

1). Time
2). Money
3). Appetite (food)

you will have a very accurate read on what is popular in a given area. 

Albuquerque, NM

1). Time: Hiking the Sandias, going to the Rio Grande park, shopping (there are a significant amount of furniture stores in ABQ), coffee shops, watching Breaking Bad 
2). Money: Native American or summer-styled clothing, Mexican influenced cookware and decoration
3). Appetite: Mexican food, great food in general, good barbecue

During our drive, we tried very much to get a sense of the “local flavor” of any given state, city, town, etc. 

Here were some observations from a Chinese (now permanent US resident!) man, who has lived in the United States for six years:

1). Lower gas prices mean worse houses (and cars).
2). Walmart is everywhere.
3). People dress very poorly (clothes don’t flatter them, clothes don’t match, aren’t kept in good repair, little taste) and often the clothes don’t fit properly.
4). Pennsylvania had the worst roads of the eleven states. 
5). Also, the longest and most boring drive (and also most harrowing due to very narrow roads) was the PA Turnpike Northeast Extension.
6). If you enter a state through a Native American reservation, you will not see any labeling or signage.
7). Americans really love drive-in food. (He meant drive-through windows).
8). Americans love to go to church!
9). Fast food is cheap.

One of the best meals we had was in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The restaurant was called “Local Flavor Cafe” and has remarkable food. When my friend B.C. came to visit Arkansas four years ago (and also would join me on a very interesting road trip!), we had a meal there. When we re-met (and my husband and his fiancée met each other), we still talked about that meal! It seemed to be an obvious choice that Zheng and I would eat there during our trip. 

When Zheng and I were in Kentucky, he insisted on eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. Despite the fact that it is a chain, I agreed. We were ordering and he asked the cooks, “What is the most local flavor?” They didn’t understand him, so we went with the “original” chicken.

We chose a route that maybe meandered, and maybe was a little out of the way at times. But we saw a lot of America, as our friend John says, “that many Americans have not seen!”

PHOTOS: Local Flavor Cafe, Arkansas

Toddler Chinese

Zheng and I spent a wonderful night last night in Nashville, Tennessee. We were hosted by graduate school friends of his. I had heard a lot about these people for a while, so it was nice to finally meet them. They have been married for several years. They now have a son who is about two years old. 

When we arrived at their place, I walked into their apartment and smelled something very unusual:

I had not smelled home-cooked Chinese food for about three weeks. I felt at home immediately. 

I also was surprised to learn that, in being around Chinese speakers, and now into Rosetta Stone study of Mandarin, that I was able to pick up a lot more than I thought. 

(We will not discuss the fact that their two-year-old son has better Chinese than I do.) 

He was a real cutie to meet. 

Thank you, R, L and L for a wonderful time! 

PHOTO: Me and Lucas!

Hello from the Cave

So, I had been thinking, after reading a lot about the "Whole 30" plan (www.whole30.com) and of my long-standing "it's complicated" relationship with wheat and dairy products ... 

I am taking the plunge and going whole-30. Today is Day 2 and it feels great so far! I think I need to get some recipes, though. Breakfast is going to be the toughest, I think. And -- thank GOD the plan allows espresso (just no milk or sugar), so my inner Italian is still strong (and I don't have caffeine headaches).

I was explaining the idea of the plan to Zheng, and he needed an explanation of what "Paleo" means. 

He has decided that I shall be called "Cave Girl." 

Some of the restrictions of the diet make sense to him (no sugar, no dairy, no corn, no grains at all). His reaction to, "What do you mean, no rice or soy sauce! ... Well, I am not going to do this with you!" was very funny!

The best reaction was when we made the grocery list after returning from Pennsylvania.

"This girl is not from a cave. This girl works at a bank!"

PHOTO: Zheng has proven to be an excellent "Cave-Husband" so here is some meat grilling on our porch! We tend to grill a lot, in Rochester, that means grill a lot in snow!

Deep-fried Football

Last night, we were invited to join my brothers for the Eagles' game. (They are now the NFC East Champions). Zheng got a taste of what "American brothers" do during a game like this. (I will not repeat some of the things they said to the Cowboys!).

Since my dear husband was a resident of the DFW area for six years, he started cheering for Dallas. Bruce and Blake made it abundantly clear that that would *not* be tolerated.

Last night was also the inauguration of Bruce's girlfriend AD's peanut-oil TFal fryer. We made deep-fried green beans, onion rings, pickles, apples, and oreos. Zheng loved these too, so we have been drafted into Crab Rangoon instruction again on Thursday.

The game was terrific and the company was better. More stops on the "Chinese becoming American" train.

Christmas Present

Dear ones,

Greetings from Pennsylvania! Zheng and I have been here since Christmas Day, and we have been enjoying a lot of rest and relaxation (and family and food).

We are so grateful for the hospitality we have experienced. This is Zheng's first Christmas "up north," to which his response is, "it's cold!"

Today we gathered with my dad's family in Lancaster, and had a lovely but too-short visit with all of them. Now we are tucked in at my brother's with a fire, NFL football, and home-cooked food.

What are your holiday pastimes?

Central Conservatory "hot pot"!

Today marked our in-person introduction to the Beijing Central Conservatory. This campus, 13 buildings and approximately 2,000 students, is the site of our first master classes and concerts. First, we were taken there to warm-up by three delightful conservatory viola freshmen. Ellen and I rehearsed a little (the music feels great!) and then she gave a terrific class on orchestral excerpts.

Afterwards, the viola professor at the Beijing Conservatory, our "handlers," Bob, Ellen, and I (and the viola) were taken out to eat to "Hot Pot," for a traditional Chinese dinner, from the Szechuan province. "Soup," begins *in* the table: one half spicy, one half mild. Ingredients ranging from expected (mushrooms) to exotic (bamboo) are added to the pot of your choice. Other ingredients included tube-shrimp (shrimp that has been ground up, and that will re-expand upon contact with the hot water), squid (!), lamb, fish, ribbon tofu, noodles, water chestnuts. We also made our own "paste," before starting the soup-creation. My paste, sort of copied from the girl in line in front of me (it looked pretty good!) was: fried beans, sesame jam, coriander, minced garlic, green onion.

(Half of the reason that I'm writing these down and then "blogging" them is to remember how to re-create these once I'm States-side again!)

The hospitality that we have been shown by *everyone* has been absolutely astonishing. I have found our hosts to be delightful, enthusiastic to share their country, their stories, and especially their FOOD. Thank you!

(I could not have imagined the things that I have eaten already!).

Of special note tonight was the "noodle-man" - he did a dance with the noodles before throwing them into the soup!

"Peking" at the Forbidden City

Hello friends and family!

We have had a VERY rich and full day, our first full day in China! After I returned from the morning walk (complete with the tea-ceremony), I returned to the hotel! Our wonderful Beijing host, Zhong, re-met us again today at the hotel and brought with him his mother! What a delight!

She presented Ellen as a gift ... a hand-made, full-length, Chinese silk formal gown! It is a gift for Ellen as a "thank-you" for being Zhong's teacher. She then ... proceded to measure ME for ... something! My favorite color was requested, along with probably the most hilarious measuring-session I've ever had in my life! When I was asked about my preferences for the cut of the gown (apparently she is going to make me one, but I could have lost something in translation ...) ... I was asked how low she should make the front and-or the back. Zhong got an impish look in his eye when he translated,

"Do you want it sexy, or traditional?" I'm still giggling about this ...

We then were escorted to a restaurant, apparently one of the most famous for its PEKING DUCK. Peking Duck is a specialty from this area, and the cooking of said duck involves blowing its stomach up with beer, roasting it, and hanging it for several hours before serving it. The food that was brought to us was enough to feed all of the people at Tiananmen Square today. And it was ALL amazing -- the flavors, textures, colors of it. Zhong asked me if I wanted to try the Duck Head ... remember my rule of "trying everything once" - and so I said, of course! I was also informed that eating duck's brains adds to your own intelligence.

Getting to the restaurant was also an *adventure*. We took a public bus (that was uneventful) and then Zhong made us take two different rickshaws! (Small cart pulled by "driver" riding a bike in this case). Ellen and Bob took one, Zhong, his mother and I were in the other. I loved riding in this rickshaw. It was fun, and you could smell the streets as you rode by, and hear the sounds of this city!

From the restaurant, we went to the "Forbidden City." I have seen pictures of this, I have played an opera about it (Puccini's final opera, "Turandot," takes place in Peking's Forbidden City), and I have seen it on television and in the movies. However, nothing prepares you for the magnitude and beauty of this place! So many palaces, rooms, thrones, and rooftops. I was informed that when President Bush visited China, he stayed in the Emperor's quarters, which we saw part of today.

I'm also in shutter-bug-heaven here. It is such a different place than any place I have ever been, and every turn is a different monument to color and detail. There are sets of gargoyles I keep seeing - a dragon with several minions - that I need to find out more about.

Tomorrow's adventure - the Great Wall.