Precious Life

A friend, Karen B., from my church was diagnosed with brain cancer. A biopsy was performed yesterday and it came out malignant. The pastor sent a mass email describing that four tumors were found in her brain and the family is still deciding if they are going to push for treatment or not. Upon the Pastor's visit yesterday, Karen was sat up in her hospital bed, her head all wrapped up, while having a big smile across her face. What a wonderful, positive, person she is. I on the other hand, am terrified to even visit her. I don't know what to say in such situations and I'm afraid that I'll just burst into tears like I did this morning while I read Pastor's email in the privacy of my own office. It just dawned on me that I can't handle it - that Karen is handling it better than I am. I just cried, and cried, and cried and prayed like crazy for a miracle while thinking about her three daughters who are my age.

Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6

#12 - Lentil Sloppy Joes

Challenge 12: Cook 100 New Recipe Dishes
Recipe: Lentil Sloppy Joes
(Recipe: 5/100)

{ 08.29.2010 - Eleanor's Kitchen - Lentil Sloppy Joes }
{ Recipe from Vegan Dad }

INGREDIENTS

- 2 tbsp oil

- 1 onion, chopped

- 1 rib celery, chopped

- 1/2 green pepper, chopped

- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed

- 1 cup ketchup

- 1 1/2 to 2 cups water (more if needed)

- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)

- 1 tbsp brown sugar

- salt to taste

- freshly ground black pepper

- Tabasco sauce to taste

METHOD
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over med-hi heat. Saute onion, celery, green pepper, and oregano for 5-7 mins, until onion is translucent and pepper has softened.
2. Add lentils and mix well. Add ketchup, 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, Worcestershire (if using), sugar, salt and pepper, and Tabasco.
3. Bring to bubbling, then reduce heat, and cover. Cook for about 30 mins, stirring regularly, adding more water if needed until lentils are cooked but still hold their shape.
4. Serve on toasted rolls, open-faced if you want. 

I love Vegan Dad's website. So many good food to try, and they're all VEGAN!!! I used to be vegan before I met my husband. He didn't particularly like my nutrition choice, but he dealt with it. Somehow we came to the middle and became vegetarians... and then five years later, we started to eat meat. lol. Pretty funny.Still though, I prefer vegetarian dishes over meat dishes.

Nonetheless, the recipe above is pretty decent - kid friendly. I couldn't find the Red Lentil Beans at the grocery store so I used regular ones.

#68 - China

Challenge 68: Send/Receive 101 postcards via PostCrossing.com
Received: 7/101
Sent: 8/101

 
Got a postcard from China this time. Pretty regular ikea postcard, but it's an international ikea postcard, which I appreciated along with the gorgeous stamps. So, I took HeYunyan's advice and checked out theChinese Singer named, QiYu. Below is a song she sings in Chinese. It sounds more like a Chinese folk song (1970's) - but it's very catchy and soothing. After listening to it 5 times, it grew on me. It's opening me up to the world's cultures and I absolutely love it.

QiYu's live performance is better than the video below. It's a song used in a Taiwanese Movie, Your Smiling Face. The song is titled, The Olive Tree. The song's translation is below:

The Olive Tree

The birds flying in the sky.

The stream running through the valley.

And the vast grassland.

I've wandered far and wide,

Mostly in search of the olive tree in my dream.

Don't ask where I am from,

My home is in a faraway place.

In search of what have I been wandering afar?

The olive tree in my dreams.

Don't ask me where I am from,

My home is in a faraway place.

In search of what have I been wandering afar?

According to the writeup in youtube:

This song is one of the most famous "Taiwanese College Songs" in China. It is so classical that one will not feel tired of it even after listening to it a couple of times. This song was written in 1979. The lyricist, the composer and the singer quickly became well-known after this song was released in the Taiwanese film "Your Smiling Face" (欢颜, HUAN YAN). See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2B9aZ...

2008 is the 30th anniversary of China's "Reform and Opening-up". The life of the Chinese people changed dramatically during this historic period. I still remembered that when I was 5 years old, a white man visited my hometown. The local people never saw a white man before. So he was followed by hundreds of curious children and even adults. Now, I have lived in and traveled to many countries such as the U.S., Canada, Japan, France, Monaco etc. It is just like a dream. At least I dared not have such dream when I was 5. The 2009 CCTV New Year Gala presented many old songs, a reminiscence of the past 30 years.

---------
30 Years of Reform and Opening-up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frM0dP...
http://www.china.org.cn/china/reform-...

#12 - Pesto Cavatappi With Tofu

Challenge 12: Cook 100 New Recipe Dishes
Recipe: Pesto Cavatappi With Tofu
(Recipe: 4/100)

{ 08.27.2010 - Eleanor's Kitchen - Pesto Cavatappi With Tofu}
{ Replica of Noodles & Company's Pesto Cavatappi }

Ingredients: (I didn't measure, just estimated)

    Cavatappi Pasta

    Creamy Pesto Sauce Mix

    Olive Oil

    White Wine

    1/4 of Red Pepper, chopped

    1/4 of Green Pepper, chopped

    1/4 of Yellow Pepper, chopped

    1/4 of Orange Pepper, chopped

    Milk or Heavy Cream

    Tomatoes

    Firm Tofu

    Oil to saute tofu

   

1. Drain the tofu and cut in square pieces. Sautee over medium heat, each side about 3 minutes or until golden. Set aside.
2. Chop the tomatoes. Set aside. Over medium heat, saute the red, green, yellow, and orange pepper until half way cooked. Add a little bit of white wine to bring out the flavor. Set aside. (Roasted peppers would taste so much better)
3. Boil the Cavatappi.
4. Put together the Creamy Pesto Sauce Mix. Follow directions on the packet. Once simmered, add the sauteed peppers, chopped tomatoes, and the cooked cavatappi. Mix well. 
5. Place dish on a plate and then add the tofu on top.

It's a fairly simple dish to do and it doesn't take too long. The taste is different compared to Noodles &  Company's, but I'm surprised how good it still tastes. Noodles & Company's secret recipe tastes roasted and grilled, mine doesn't. Dre really liked it, so I'm happy. I feel safe to share and bring it to tomorrow's church outing.

But anyway, below is a video of Noodles & Co's Executive Chef, Ross Kamens, cooking the Pesto Cavatappi. It looks easy to put it together, but he doesn't exactly show how he makes his tofu or what exactly is in his pesto mix.

#5 - The Niña & The Pinta

Challenge 5: Complete a 365 day photo challenge
Picture 46 - The Niña & The Pinta
(Pic 46/365)

The Nina & The Pinta replicas were docked by the Mississippi River today. They're in town for a couple of weeks. When I studied the history of Christopher Columbus's journey when I was in 5th grade, I imaged these ships to be bigger, but in reality they're really tiny. The tour guide said that each ship contained at least 20 people each while traveling the vast Atlantic Ocean. It's crazy, considering how cramped it feels on board the ship. We weren't allowed to go in the lower deck, but we could peek down and it seemed like there was limited space to maneuver. I have no idea how they did it back then, but then again, people seemed to be smaller in size before. We had a great time nonetheless.

 Above is a postcard I bought
 for someone in postcrossing.com

The photo above is from the Columbus Foundation.
The Niña & The Pinta

#12 - Corn Fritters

Challenge 12: Cook 100 New Recipe Dishes
Recipe: Corn Fritters
(Recipe: 3/100)

{ 08.25.2010 - Eleanor's Kitchen - Corn Fritters }
{ From: The Best Ever 30-Minute Cookbook p. 331}

Makes 12

Ingredients:
    3 corn cobs, total weight about 250g/9oz (I used 9oz frozen corn)
    1 garlic clove, crushed
    a small bunch of fresh coriander (cilantro), chopped
    1 small fresh red or green chilli, seeded and finely chopped
    1 spring onion (scallion), finely chopped
    15ml/1 tbsp soy sauce
    75g/30z/0.75 cup rice flour or plain (all-purpose) flour
    2 eggs, lightly beaten
    60 ml/4 tbsp water
    oil for shallow-frying
    salt and ground black pepper
    sweet chilli sauce, to serve

1. Using a sharp knife, slice the kernels from the cobs using downward strokes. Rinse to remove any clinging debris from the cob and place in a bowl.
2. Add the garlic, chopped coriander, red or green chilli, spring onion, soy sauce, flour, beaten eggs and water to the corn and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and mix again. The mixture should be firm enough to hold its shape, but not stiff. 
3. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add spoonfuls of the corn mixture, gently spreading each one out with the back of the spoon to make a roundish fritter. Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side.
4. Drain the first batch of fritters on kitchen paper and keep hot on a foil covered dish while frying more in the same way. Serve the fritters hot with sweet chilli sauce - arrange on a large plate around the sauce, if you like.

It's amazing that I had time to cook. I'm getting used to my busy schedule that I've finally mastered how to go on with my week and still have time for a little cooking and grocery shopping. Nonetheless, the recipe above was absolutely delish. Dre couldn't get enough of it. I'm pretty pleased. Satisfying his taste buds make me happy. For the sweet chili sauce, I used Mae Ploy Sweet Chili Sauce that can be bought pretty much anywhere or in oriental stores. But yes, I will cook this recipe again. I loved it.

So anyway, below are some pictures from the going away ice cream party (for some friends) at Auntie Mila's house. The containers used are a special kind of bento box set - a Japanese food container. They're so cute. One day I hope to own my own set.

Loveless Marriage

Right now I cant think of anything worse, to live in a loveless marriage. Yesterday I found out that a couple I know, who just got married a little over a year ago, are out of love with each other. Maybe they weren't in love with each other to begin with? Maybe they were trying to fill the void of loneliness which got mistaken for love? Everyday seems mundane and awkward to them and my heart reaches out.

Anyway, I'm glad that Dre and I are still in love with each other. Yesterday, we woke up early to clean the house. We decided to thoroughly clean the refrigerator and it was pretty insane. It's amazing that after throwing out everything that's expired the fridge gets emptied - then you realize that there's absolutely no food. Nonetheless, we took out all the shelves on the door and inside the refrigerator and then washed them in the sink. Then we wiped everything down with an organic cleaning spray. It's pretty spotless right now and we've organized it to keep it more clean. We now have a separate container just for vegetables apart from the pull out drawers at the bottom. Those pull out drawers are now filled with water bottles (we're on the go a lot). Everything is in containers and it's such a wonderful sight to look at. But Dre is just amazing with helping me clean the house. It's one of the things that tells how much he loves me. I'm very lucky.