Cooking and Gardening

Everyone in the world knows that Chinese are good at cooking. Chinese not only cook super delicious food, but also combine their arts with the food. Our meeting with relatives, friends and classmates means diner after diner and banquet after banquet. I’ve gained five pounds in a month!

China has several cooking styles. In Dongying most of the dishes belong to “Lu Style” that was originated in Shandong province.

My dad has some fruit trees in his yard, and I wish I could grow them Kuwait.

The hills and the birds were made of arrow roots and carrots

Sushi dish

Fish fried like swallows

Scallops

Dad's fig tree

Dad’s pomegranate tree

Baby red pomegranate

White pomegranate flower

Red pomegranate flower

Polar Panda's Lamb Soup

In the summer of 2000, after a forty-eight-hour train ride from Beijing to Urumqi and another twelve-hour bus ride, we arrived at Ta Cheng, China, where seventy percent of the population is Muslims. Within six days of vacation there, my husband’s family and relatives butchered seven lambs for us. Among various ways of lamb cooking, I favored the lamb soup. Since we came back from this trip, I started to love cooking lamb. My modified lamb soup became famous among friends for past decade. It is especially delicious after a cold ski day and it goes well with some white Sushi Rice. Here is the recipe for you to enjoy:

Ingredients:
1. Alberta lamb, butchered by a Halaal, 2 pounds, chopped
The blood would be drained from the lamb meat, which would be hung in a cooler for a day or so. 2. Cooking oil, some
3. Onion, one, sliced
4. Salt, appropriate amount
5. Water, lots
6. Ginger root, one piece, size of a thumb, sliced8. Ginseng, two pieces, sliced
7. Oyster mushroom, one handful, sliced by hand
8. Needle mushroom, one handful
9. Shitake mushroom, one handful, sliced
10. Potatoes, three or four, sliced
11. Cilantro, half dozen or so, chopped

Cooking:
1. On a stove with high temperature, add cooking oil into a large pot for about half minute.
2. Add onion into the pot and stir.
3. When sizzling, add lamb and keep stirring for about three or five minutes or until the outside of the meat turns from pink to white.
4. Add water to fill three quarters of the pot and cover the pot with a lid.
5. Leave the stove temperature high until water boils.
6. Uncover the pot, and use a big spoon to scoop out the floating stuff out of the pot.
7. Turn the heat down to three or medium low, add ginger and ginseng, and cover the pot again. The intent is to ensure the water is bubbling slightly, but not overflowing.
8. Let the pot sits there for two or three hours.
9. Add various mushrooms and turn the heat to high again.
10. Once the water is bubbling, turn the heat to three or medium low, and cover the pot for forty-five minutes.
11. Add dashes of cilantro to bowls before adding lamb and soup in.
12. Some people like to add a little bit Vietnamese garlic hot sauce, balsamic vinegar, sliced green onion, or grounded pepper into their bowl.
13. Enjoy.

Snow

I love to peek out through the windows at night and watch the snow flakes dancing wildly with the wind under the orange street lights. I eagerly crawl into my warm quilt to read, or lie down beside the fire place, listening to the firewood bursting sparks like a shooting stars and rubbing Jason's little feet.

I love to sit alone by the Tim Horton’s huge window on the third floor of Calgary downtown’s Bankers Hall, facing giant black glass windows of Dome Tower across the street. Snow flakes fluttering quietly and thawing on Stephens Avenue, only coffee steam is sizzling up.

I love to be the first skier on a ski run covered by an overnight fresh snow, and it makes me feel like Heli-skiing, drawing huge S on the soft white blanket, descending from the blue sky.
I love to hear the whooping sound when my skis brush the snow powder to the air, and I love to see the sun light shines through the powder into my eyes. I also love to fall freely when skiing on a quiet run, and I will lie down and let the snow thaw on my face and mouth, listening the wind blowing through the evergreens. A heavenly peace filling my heart, I praise the Lord and I pray with tears and thankfulness.

I love to cook delicious dishes all day, while the snow is burying our home. I always get excited to see friends showing up at the door for dinner, with the snow all over their coats and hats, bringing the fresh crispy air into the warm atmosphere that is filled with the smell of curry lamb, apple pie and red wine.

I love to wake up in the morning and hear the local radio warning people not to go to work due to a heavy snow fall. I always get delighted to have the accidental day off, to see neighbors coming out of their hibernation shells, busy shoveling the snow and helping to push the stuck cars.

I love snow and I will miss it so much. I also know I will love deserts and Persian Gulf.

(The first two pictures were taken in White Fish, Montana March 2009.)