Archive for April, 2009
Poa Poa
Yesterday, I learned the sad news that my Poa Poa (grandmother on my mom’s side) unexpectedly passed away. Although there was a huge communication barrier between us (she spoke a dialect of Chinese that I didn’t really understand), I always knew that she was proud of her grandchildren. After all, she was the first to bring her family–my mom, my uncles, and aunts–to America to seek a better life. And a better life she gave them. Our family is a true life rags-to-riches story. One day I hope I get a chance to document my family history. It’s amazing and much more interesting than my own life.
I’ll always remember how Poa Poa would grab my arm affectionately during family dinners and tell me in Chinese that I was too skinny. “Eat more,” she’d say, “eat more.” That was one of the few phrases I understood in Tai San, her native dialect. Then, she would point me in the direction of a huge spread of roasted duck, chow mein, and pork buns. Poa Poa would spend hours in her kitchen wrapping sticky rice dumplings filled with pork for all of us. She’d make piles and piles of them–so much we could never eat them all. But, making food was her way of contributing to her family. And when my cousin would bring his two adorable daughters to our family parties, Poa Poa would point in their direction and tell me that I needed to hurry and have some kids too. I always laughed her comments off, but now I wish she could’ve seen her future great grand babies.
Poa Poa, I hope that you know I love you and you will be dearly missed.
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Simple Joys
Hello, hello!
These last few days have been beautiful, and hot, hot, HOT. 85 degrees in SF is as common as snow in July, especially in the Sunset district where Hubs and I live. Last night, we opted not to eat in and instead took a long walk to a delicious Chinese hole in the wall restaurant about a mile from our house. I love walking with the Hubs. It’s true quality time for us because we have no TVs, computers, or video games to distract us. It’s just us and our shoes as they hit the warm pavement.
After a satisfyingly salty bowl of beef noodles and black bean chicken, we stopped by a yogurt shop to reward ourselves for “working out.” As we slurped our melted treats on the stroll back to the Sunset House, I listened to Andrew as he chatted about his day. And, I couldn’t help by think, at that very moment, there was nowhere else I wanted to be or nothing else that would make me more content. Not a new condo, not a dream job, or even a winning lottery ticket. All of those would be meaningless without someone to share them with.
Life is truly about the simple joys of loving and being loved.
Recipe (all supplies SU unless noted): Cheers to You stamp set, kiwi kiss, whisper white, pacific point, summer sun cardstock, basic black ink, Sizzix tag die, oval punch, good morning sunshine designer paper, kiwi kiss ribbon, colored pencils
Trade Offs
The house/condo hunting journey that Hubs and I are on (that is also driving us nuts) is a true testament that life is about trade-offs. Buy a new property for prime $$? Or get a less expensive, older property that needs work? A large house with a yard in the burbs? Or tiny condo in the heart of the happenin’ city? Everything is a give-and-take.
Over the weekend, we found some super affordable, spankin’ new housing developments with hardwood floors, huge floorplans, large bedrooms, the works! The catch? They’re in a city that I don’t want to live in. I mean, I really, really don’t want to live in this city. I don’t like it at all. But, if we purchase one of these units, Hubs said that we could afford it on one income (his income) once he finishes grad school. That means I could devote myself to our future family and possible budding business enterprises, like photography, design, crafts… oh the imagination runs wild! I can’t imagine calling any city other than SF our home. However, the idea of not working a corporate job is almost irresistible… It’s most definitely a trade off.
What would you do?
I miss my craft time quite a bit. Yesterday, I got out the tools and whipped up a quick card. I love this stamp set (Trendy Trees). Sometimes I sell my used stamp sets after they’ve been retired, but I’m keeping this one for sure. 
Recipe (all supplies SU unless noted): Trendy Trees and Absolutely Fabulous stamp sets, kraft, whisper white, bashful blue card, chocolate chip stock & ink, corner rounder punch, white gel pen, button bouquet, kiwi kiss ribbon, stampin’ dimensionals, white twine from Michaels
Stampin’ Up Occasions Mini Catalog
Ok, so today I already admitted I’ve been a bad blogger. I have to confess that I’m a bad demonstrator too. I haven’t yet posted the release of Stampin’ Up’s Occasions Mini catalog, despite the fact that is has already been out for two weeks! It has a ton of adorable stuff in it and I’ve already spent a good chunk of change on the products, although I haven’t yet had a chance to use them. I love the adorable Matchbox Bigz die and matching stamp set (page 16-17). I’m already planning to make some super cute party favors.
Click to open the Occasions Mini Catalog
Also, there’s a promotion going on too! From SU’s website: The Get Connected Campaign: Connect with family and friends when you make them beautiful cards and gifts using products from the Occasions Mini Catalog. Until April 30th, when you buy $40 in products from the Occasions Mini, you’ll get one item from the “Under $10” page (p. 208) in the Spring-Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog–free!
Happy stamping!
Tutorial: Top Note Die Box
I love blogging. I’ve kept an online diary in various forms for at least ten years now. Blogging is a part of my everyday life that I doubt I will ever give up. Unfortunately, when life gets busy, blogging is also the first activity to fall by the wayside. It takes a chunk of time to craft a project, photograph it, edit pictures, and then write up a post–anywhere from one to three hours. I love sharing info. I just wish I had more hours in the day to blog more consistently.
That long paragraph is my excuse for blogging less regularly than I usually do. I hope you’ll forgive me!
Today’s post is a belated one for Justine, who requested a tutorial for the Top Note die box that I made a few weeks ago. Sorry for the delay! I hope you (and everyone else) find this useful.
Start out with a 9″x6″ sheet of paper. Score one inch in on each side. Then, along the 9″ side, score at 4″ and 5″. Cut the folds 1″ to the score line along the middle score line and on one side.
Next, cut away the two scored sides of the opposite box end. This portion will be the box lid.
Fold the box into shape, tuck the little tabs that you sniped along the inside, and adhere with sticky strip. For my box, I also rounded the edges of the box lid to finish it off.
You can use whatever you like to keep the box closed. Here, I used a magnet that I purchased online. You can use a bit of Velcro too, which is easy to find in craft stores.
Now, cut four Top Note die shapes using the Sizzix. Two of the shapes should be with normal card stock because it’s thicker and two should be cut with patterned paper, if you want to decorate the outside of your box. The two layers will give the cover a little more strength. Then, adhere these covers to the top and bottom of the box that you made.
You can stop here if you like, but if you want to create dividers for the box, those can be easily made. To divide the box in half, cut a 3″x6″ sheet of paper. Score and fold at 2″, 3″ ,and 4″. Insert into your box.
Here’s the box divided into two sections. You can adhere sticky strip to the divider to keep the center from puckering up.
Now, for the other dividers. Cut two sheets of 2″x5″ paper and score at 1.5″, 2.5″, and 3.5″. Fold and insert into your box.
Voila! Finished box.
Delicious Dutch Babies
Although I’ve been cooking quite regularly, I haven’t gotten around to sharing a recipe in a while. I thought I’d change things up today and share a recipe for a delicious breakfast (or dessert) treat.
I had never heard of a Dutch baby before my coworker shared a yummy recipe with me. Contrary to my first impression, a Dutch baby is not an infant from the Netherlands (har har), but it is a sweet German pancake, made of butter, flower, sugar, and milk. It’s definitely not something a doctor would condone eating regularly. But, boy oh boy, is it tasty. And, it’s super duper easy to make. If you want to try a super simple impressive breakfast, a Dutch baby is the way to go.
Ingredients: Milk, butter, eggs, sugar, flour, and powdered sugar (and a squeeze of lemon, not pictured)
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 425. Whisk together flour, eggs, milk, and sugar.
Step 2: Melt half a stick of butter in a cast iron/oven proof pan. While butter is heating, do 1000 push-ups and run five miles.
Step 3: Pour the egg/flour/milk mixture into the cast iron skillet and let it cook for one minute without stirring.
Step 4: Place the skillet in the oven and let the pancake cook until it puffs up, 12-15 minutes.
Here’s what the pancake looks like through the oven window as it’s rising.
Puffy! I thought it was going to jump right out of the skillet.
But once I took it out, it started to deflate immediately. So, I served it right away.
Step 5: Sprinkle some powdered sugar on the pancake and add a squeeze of lemon juice (to cut the sugar a bit)
Eat and enjoy! And then go to the gym for two hours.
Dutch Baby (makes one – 10inch cake: serves 2 to 4 people)
Ingredients:
½ cup milk
½ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
4 Tbsp (½ stick) unsalted butter
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Whisk together milk, flour, sugar, and eggs until smooth.
3. Melt in a 10-inch ovenproof skillet (cast iron is ideal) over medium heat – 4 Tbsp ( ½ stick) unsalted butter.
4. Tilt pan so that the butter coats the sides of the pan.
5. Pour egg mixture into the skillet and let it cook, without stirring for 1 minute.
6. Place skillet in oven and bake until pancake is puffed and golden – 12 to 15 minutes.
7. Serve immediately, for the pancake loses its puffs, and therefore its drama, almost immediately.
Note: Serve this straight from the oven with a dust of powered sugar (aka confectioner’s sugar), a spoonful of the best fruit preserves, or simply some fresh squeezed lemon on top.
Home.
Home is where the heart is.
My heart is most at home in an romantic Marina style house with crown molding lining the ceilings, elegant arched doorways, and wainscoting along the walls. Hubs prefers sleek modern design, cool granite counter tops, and stainless steel finishes. I love Sunset Magazine style homes. Hubs prefers Dwell. This home search of ours is proving time consuming and fun.
I have no excuses for being MIA, except for the fact that Hubs and I have been overloaded, spending time with the family and searching for a place to call our own. I will be very sad when we finally move out of the Sunset House (*sniff*), but my blog will always have its roots. Although we’ve been looking for homes in downtown SF because it’s most convenient for both of our commutes, I can’t imagine calling my blog by any other name. “The SOMA Condo” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
In any case, I haven’t edited any pictures lately, so I’ll leave you with a funny mockumentary about Twitter. Watch out Twitter, here comes Flutter!
(if the video doesn’t appear in your google reader, click here to view.)
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