Happy Birthday Kate (and Happy Kate NaNa Day too)

Many of you who hang out here already know this, but October is a big month for Kate.  Her birthday, date of abandonment, Kate NaNa Day, and her adoption day all fall within 12 days of each other.  And for those of you schooled in adoption issues, you know that means lots of different emotions crammed into a very small window.  This topic could probably be a post all of its own, but suffice it to say that she experiences excitement, grief, joy, and deep introspection - often all within about an hour.  Those of you who have witnessed a child grieve, you know they express it in many ways.  Kate is no exception. Her heart aches at the thought that she will never meet her first parents or see her foster mother again. She tells me that she misses China and wants to visit again soon.  Her feelings are valid, because it is sad to lose those things. Yet she still loves us deeply, despite (or perhaps because of) her grief and loss.  Adoption is complicated and messy and beautiful and redeeming all rolled into one big ball.  For Kate it just all comes at the same time. 

Anyway, the first of these big days comes in mid-October, when we celebrate Kate NaNa Day.  This was the four year anniversary of when we met our girl.  In our family it is a tradition that we go out to eat Chinese food, and then Tim and I give her a small gift that we bought for her in China.  This year it was a purple change purse at P.F. Chang's.

 

Ten days later her birthday (which also happens to be her date of citizenship) rolled around, and she wanted to celebrate with pizza and video games.  It was a good night for prizes. 

And last but not least, we had her birthday party the following weekend. For her party, she requested chocolate cake and Chinese dumplings.  We make the dumplings, or jiaozi, from scratch.  So with about 25 people at the party, that was a lot of dumplings.  Chinese families often make these together during celebrations, so I decided to insert some Chinese tradition into the party. Most people who attended learned to make them. I had the filling mixed and ready, and the guests helped roll, fill, crimp, and fry the dumplings. It was a huge undertaking for everyone, but it was a lot of fun and delicious.  They were a big hit.

I also managed to make my first chocolate cake from scratch.  Our family tries to buy only fair trade chocolate, but it was a challenge to find a good scratch recipe.  My aunt ended up mailing me her favorite one for a chocolate cinnamon cake, which was a big hit.  I love the icing so much it makes me want to cry.

As I was putting her to bed the night of the party, Kate told me, "That was my best party day I ever had."  I was glad, and asked her what she liked about it.  "I got a Hello Kitty alarm clock, Daddy set off firecrackers, and I got to eat my dumplings."  Add a lot of friends and family to that equation, and it really was a wonderful day.

Kate,
I love you sweet girl, and I love being your mama.  I am glad you have a tender heart and process everything deeply. It is such a wonderful part of who you are and how you care about other people.  You are a joy to parent, and I can't wait to see all of the amazing things you will do with your life.  And if you really do move back to China when you are a grown up, I will still come and visit you - probably more than you like:)

Happy New Year!

Chinese New Year, that is. Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Chinese New Year began on Thursday, and we have spread it out to sufficiently stuff ourselves for an entire week.

On Monday Tim and the kids and I made potstickers to share with friends. Super yum.
On Tuesday I made a beef-broccoli-noodle thing. It was pretty good.
On Friday we went out to a nice Chinese restaurant and had a delicious, and really loooong, meal with another set of friends.

Today we went to a FCC event with Tara and her family, and we did Chinese paper cutting, made paper lanterns, and watched a CNY show. Then we went back to their house and cooked. We made homemade egg rolls, mushu, noodles, and tea eggs. It was all pretty good, but the egg rolls were fabulous. Shout out to Tonggu Momma for her post about CNY recipes and other fun stuff!

I have definitely achieved my one-new-Chinese-recipe-a-year goal this year!

Oh, and if you are wondering where the pictures are for all of this fun, they are a bit lacking this year because I have somehow managed to lose my camera. I can't for the life of me figure out where I have left it. This is par for the course for me. In the last month I have managed to lose my glasses, my wallet, a pair of earrings, my favorite Burt's Bees lip color, and my favorite nail clippers, in addition to the camera. Everything has turned up except for the camera. I am still hoping.

In the meantime, Tara and John took a ton of pictures of today, so maybe they will show up somewhere?

More Garden Goodness

Mmmmm...

Fresh zucchini, tomatoes, peppers, and onions, straight from the garden.

Super Easy Roasted Asparagus

For my friend Shannon:)

About 1lb. fresh asparagus
1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
Shredded Parmesan (not the grated powdery kind)
Salt & Pepper

Wash asparagus, breaking of woody bases. Place in a 9x13 dish. Drizzle olive oil onto asparagus, and toss to coat. Arrange asparagus in a single layer in dish. Salt and pepper to taste.

Bake @ 400 for 15 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top.

Eat it up!
***
Note: Over the years I have changed this recipe a bit from the original. The original recipe called for 2lbs., but it comes in 1/2-1lb. bunches, which is just right for my family.

I have fixed this recipe for a long time, but it was probably 2 or 3 years before Ben actually tried it. He was convinced that since it was green it was evil. Thankfully my persistence paid off.

Also, my aunt tells me that she has had brussel sprouts prepared this way, and she couldn't believe how much better they were.

Happy Chinese New Year!

All this week our family will be celebrating Chinese New Year's, aka the Spring Festival. We are still learning the ins and outs of this holiday, but several things we want to participate in:

• Spend time with friends and family. We are doing pretty well with the friends one (we have plans to hit several Chinese restaurants this week), but next year we need to do better and include more family.
• Do spring cleaning. I got an early start on this one with the whole getting new flooring thing. Since I had to move every single item in my home (unless it was on a high shelf), it was a good time to purge. Today I plan to sweep and mop and finish off the spring cleaning. (That is, if I can get off the computer long enough.)
• EAT! If you know me, you know that I firmly believe that food is the one of the best parts of almost any holiday. Preparing and sharing a meal brings people together.

I have decided that I would like to learn to make a new Chinese dish each year so eventually we can host a real celebration. Last year I failed miserably at that task. This year, I was determined to learn to make Chinese dumplings. I found a really easy recipe (although time consuming) and bought all the ingredients (I had to ask the Kroger lady for help in locating the Napa cabbage, and I had never even heard of white pepper). Will and I even watched videos about how to roll out and fold the dumplings. We were ready.

One of traditions involved in making this food is that the whole family is supposed to participate. That was probably the most challenging part:), but we did it. Ben read the recipe to us, while Kate and Will mixed the filling. They all took a turn rolling out the dough, and then Tim, Will, Kate, and I stuffed and folded the dumplings. Mama had to do the cooking, of course. Our friends Alex and Christa came over to share the feast with us.

I was a bit nervous about how they would turn out, but they were sooooo yummy. We all ate way too many (well, ok, Ben and Kate didn't really like them, but they can be picky), especially Will. After eating 5 or 6 of them, Will came and curled up in my lap. He said, "I have decided I don't like Chinese dumplings." Well, did you eat so many that they hurt your tummy, or do you not like the taste? "I ate too many," he moaned. So yes, they were a hit. Next year I will have to come up with a recipe that the other two like.

The dough, the filling, and the leftovers:

Can't wait to make 'em again next year!

Summer Lovin'

There are so many things that I love about summer time. I love the heat, the lazy days, the thunderstorms (is it me, or are they bigger in the summer?), and the late sunsets. But I think my favorite part of summer is the food. I love all of the fresh fruits and veggies that are everywhere. I hardly ever use a canned or frozen food in the summer because everything is so plentiful and yummy. And you know there are foods you only eat in the summer, because they just taste better.

Recently I was craving one of those foods. Blackberry Cobbler. Oh, yeah. When I was a kid, there were blackberry bushes across from our house, and we would go out and eat the yummy things until we were sick. Then Mom would make a cobbler with the ones we didn't eat. Mmmm. When we lived in Versailles, I had a good friend who showed me the easiest cobbler recipe in the world. Beware, the sugar content alone will send you over the edge, but it is sooo, so good. And totally worth the calories. I mean, it's not like I eat this stuff year round, right?

Janet's Blackberry Cobbler
3/4 stick of butter
1c self-rising flour (or if you are like me and only keep all-purpose, add 3 1/2 tsp baking powder & 1/2 tsp salt to all-purpose flour)
1c sugar + 3/4 c sugar
3/4c milk
1-2c berries

Melt butter in the bottom of a medium baking pan. In a bowl, mix 1c flour, 1c sugar, gradually adding 3/4c milk. Pour into melted butter. Add berries. Pour 3/4c sugar over top. Do not stir. Bake @ 350 for 45 minutes.

Best served warm with vanilla ice cream...yum.