Mercury Calculator

We don't cook fish for a long time because concerning the mercury contamination.

Here I found a good and useful mercury calculator, maybe a good reference for the future use.

I read an article saying that there are 4 types of fish that should be on the list to avoid due to mercury levels. These include: shark, king mackerel, swordfish and tilefish. And FDA has released guideline that no more than 12 oz of low mercury fish should be consumed weekly.
Ummm, they are good references too.

Potato Leek Soup for Christmas Dinner

Ha, it's my 4th Christmas after coming to USA.

And this year I decided to cook potato leek soup for our Christmas Dinner.

I knew this soup when we visited Williamsburg second time. We tried to have lunch at one of the taverns but can't make it because we didn't want to wait for 40 minutes in cold weather.

I always like leek base soup, so I was very happy to find this wonderful recipe on line.

I've got to say, this is the soup that may needs a lot of technology. I used my food processor for slicing potatoes and then later the hand blender to puree a bit the soup.

And the result was wonderful. Hubby kept praising it every minute when eating it. I'm happy that we had a warm and creamy holiday soup for this Christmas.

And at night finally finally I finished watching the masterpiece movie of Christmas: It's a wonderful life. I fell asleep every time while watching it in the previous years.

2010 D.C. Cherry Blossom

This year Cherry Blossom, I go with friends in weekday, one day after peak blossom. We join the ranger walk and then have a sandwich lunch beneath the cherry trees. Here are some photos to share:

A nice walk in Georgetown

Since we want to take the chance to visit Dumbarton Oaks Park on Sunday because it's the last free admission day, I want to check on Georgetown cupcake to some free cakes. Then it will make our Sun. totally FREE. Such a beautiful and wonderful word. :P

OK, so we really did get 2 free cupcakes to taste and then we bought 2 different flavors. Gosh, these cupcakes though don't look gorgeous but are really great. I can't stop eating when I started. hahaha

Dumbarton Oaks Park is amazing. We visited the museum, music room and the garden. Very quiet afternoon walk and it's poetic. :)

How nice to see you again, Angela

Wow, what a busy weekend we had. First of all, I was so thrilled to meet Angela again in D.C. That is our 5th meet after we knew each other in 2005, on Thanksgiving in Providence. Then we met in Boston, D.C., Taipei before 2010.

She is really a very sweet girl and I adore her a lot. Can't believe that it's been four and half years and she graduated from law school and I married and moved to D.C. Also finally I introduced husband to her and they had pleasant chat in Tabard Inn where we met for breakfast.

We all love Tabard Inn and its fried donuts. Unbelievably good. Hope Angela will move to D.C. so that we'll have more chance to get together. But before that, let's get connected in facebook. I'm glad that she asked for my account and now we can keep updated our lives with each other.

We planned to go to Dumbarton Oaks Park but it is open from 2pm~5pm. She can't make it with her flight schedule, so we went to National Museum of American History to see Michelle Obama's dress in First Ladies Exhibit. Since it started on 3/10, we saw crowds in this first Sat and hence can't take close look but just browse some dresses that we like most. I think I will need to return to read in details later.

Then, time to say goodbye. I hope and believe we'll have another meet again in D.C. :)

A day in Baltimore

This weekend is such a non-stop one for us. After running all the errands that we had to, we drove to Baltimore. Finally paid a visit to Fort McHenry where I've been wanting to see the birth place of American National Anthem. However, we only spent 20 minutes there because it closes at 4:45pm on Sat. You need to pay fee to enter the Fort, so we will leave that for next time visit.

Although I had been to Baltimore several times but I never visited the east part of downtown where you can see a lot of restaurants and art/gallery/antique shops there. Some recession signs we saw in there and the real estate price is amazingly good.

When we were close to the house of husband's coworker, I saw this very old building which caught my attention. I don't know what is the business inside but I love to see the colors in the dawn. Therefore I asked husband to take some photos for me there.

We spent a great night party with some nice people. They all don't like Avatar and Comcast which I found amazing. :D Surely a lot of politic critics in the party as well as music and good drinks and food.

I really enjoyed it and hope there will be lots of parties to come. hahahaha

Seafood Okra Gumbo

I think I know how to cook gumbo because my friend Ally taught me before and I did cook several times. However, after visiting New Orleans, the gumbo is still different than the home made taste. So here I post the recipe of seafood okra gumbo from Gumbo House.

2 pounds fresh or frozen shrimp, head on about 40-50 count per pound
2 small blue crabs, fresh or frozen
3 quarts water 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
1 quart fresh or frozen okra, sliced into _" rounds
2/3 cup cooking oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped
1 16oz. can chopped tomatoes
2 bayleaves
2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon white pepper (or to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)

Peel and de-vein the shrimp, and set aside, covered in the refrigerator. Rinse the shrimp shells and heads, place in a non-reactive stock pot along with 2 quarts of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 - 45 minutes to make a stock. Strain, discard the shells and heads and set the stock aside. Meanwhile, wash the crabs well under running water, place in a non-reactive pot with 1 quart of water, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes. Strain, reserving stock and crabs. When the crabs are cool enough to handle, snap both claws off then break the body in half. Set aside.

In a heavy bottomed skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil , add the okra and saute over medium high heat for about 10 - 15 minutes or until all the "ropiness" is gone. This step may take a little longer if fresh okra is used. Frozen vegetables are usually plunged into boiling water and blanched before freezing, so they are partially cooked.

Place the _ cup oil in a large (8 quart) heavy bottomed non-reactive Dutch oven type pot. Add the flour and, over a medium high fire, make a dark brown roux as described on page10. As soon as the proper color is achieved, add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally until tender. During this process, allow the vegetables to stick to the bottom of the pan a bit, then scrape the bottom with a metal spoon or spatula. This allows some of the natural sugars in the onions to caramelize, rendering great depth of flavor.

When the seasoning vegetables are tender add the tomatoes, bay leaves and the three peppers and a little salt. Cook for about 10 minutes, repeating the stick and scrape process with the tomatoes. Add the sauteed okra and cook for 10 more minutes.

Add the crab stock and half of the shrimp stock to the pot. Stirring constantly, bring the pot to a boil. Lower the heat a bit, partially cover and simmer for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. If the gumbo appears too thick, add more stock to adjust. Add salt to taste and adjust the pepper if desired. Add the broken crabs and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the peeled shrimp, return to a boil and simmer until the shrimp are firm and pink, about 5 minutes. Remove the pot from heat.

As is the case with most gumbos, this dish is best prepared either early in the day it is to be served, or even the day before, thereby allowing time for the flavors to marry. When reheating, stir often and be careful to avoid overcooking the shrimp.

Serve in large bowls over steamed rice. This recipe will yield about six entrees or ten to twelve appetizers.

http://www.gumboshop.com/recipes/seafood_okra_gumbo/recipes_seafoodokragumbo.html

French Bread

Friend Caroline is from France and today she shared with me her recipe to make the easy home-made French bread. Voila, here it comes the recipe:

-butter a baking dish
-take some bread, toast, bagel why not, whatever.
-put them in the baking dish
-mix 500ml milk with 2 eggs & a little bit sugar
-put this mix on bread
-put in the fridge 1 or 2 hours to have the bread become soaked with the mix
-if necessary, remove the milk not soaked (you could freeze it for next time)
-then, put the baking dish in the oven for almost 20mn, 300F
-that's it! so good & healthy
*you could serve with chocolate, fruits, ice cream (less healthy in that case :-)

Excellent, I think I will try it today because husband said this weekend that why I don't make some dessert at home. hahaha :D

Chinese New Year Celebration

I really feel I spent more traditional CNY in USA than in Taiwan. :P I mean after I grew up to an adult.

Though I still remember how happy I was with new clothes and new shoes and how fun was the firecrackers in CNY when I was a little girl, it had been a long long while that I hadn't felt that joy anymore when it became only a short break after busy & consuming work.

In 2008 and this year I participated the Chinese New Year Celebration in D.C. Chinatown and Bethesda Library respectively. And I've got to say it's so much fun. Not only the lion dancing but also the live performance of how Chinese spend the New Year holiday with all kinds of meaningful actions.

The library was so crowded with people and I couldn't finish watching because I needed some fresh air. :P Husband was too naughty to participate as I wish but he used the library facility to finish something he's been wanting to. In Hands-on experiences on Chinese Arts, I asked a lady teacher to write his name in Calligraphy and he really loves it, so when we back home, he put that red sticker with his name on his desk to be able to see it all the time. :)

I was also very happy to see a few friends of mine coming too, esp one friend that I've seen for half a year. She told me she's gonna return to her country by this year end for good. Oh No, two friends to see off in 2010. :( Anyway, there is no banquet that never ends. Good memories always leave in mind.

OK, now I think I need to start practicing my calligraphy. Mom and sis both have practiced quite a while. Next year when I return to Taiwan, I definitely need to show them some work of mine. :S

My Dear Angel, thank you so much

This Chinese New Year holiday I can't find my mom on line so I waited and waited and finally she appeared last night on skype and she told me that she had spent a great time with my best friend Amy and her family the 3 nights in a row. And every day she went back home like 3am or 5am because they had been playing poker non-stop.

She is my angel and I always tell her that I feel so blessed to have her as my friend and we shared everything of life when we were single. My husband likes her husband C though he only met him once and he always dreams that when we get retired we can go visit them in Lyon. haha :P

She has invited my mom for Chinese New Year for 2 years already because she doesn't want her spend the holiday alone and also she told me that she likes my mom. Nice characters get along well, I think. :)

So I have not much to give to her this holiday, only in here dedicate this song played by Preservation Hall of New Orleans Jazz Band to my dearest friend Amy. Thanks you so much. :)

Who doesn't love tapas?

We were very happy to be invited to a dinner party by Spanish friends X & A. I can't remember whether I told my husband how much I liked tortillas de patats when studied in Spain but when he tasted that first bite, he understood my reason. :)

The pimientos del piquillo rellenos is very unique tapas and they told me it's from Navarra. Hahaha I am not sure if I tried it before but I do remember there are a lot of peppers in that province. Thanks for recalling my terrible memories which are fading so fast now and then. :P

And patatas bravas has very humorous name because I am not sure if those potatoes are braves or not. Suppose they are because they need to be deep fried and then be poured the red paprika on it (is that metaphor of blood? I don't know. :P)

The authentic paella valenciana is the 2nd time I saw Spanish friends cooking in front of me. We were really impressed by the way of making it, definitely not the same as what we see from internet recipes. :D Husband loved how the rice being so well cooked and he said he needs to make improvement on that. Well, the secret might also be the pan that does a lot of works on heating the ingredients more evenly. Not sure if we should invest on that? I finally know how to cut off an artichoke. X said it's good for liver so I think I should cook it in the future for our liver's sake. :P

And the feta cheese salad is so fresh and delicious that from now on I will know how to prepare it thanks to A's recipe sharing with me. :)

Wonderful food and wonderful wine and friends. We spent a terrific night together and it's also Chinese New Year. What a coincidence. I hope they will stay in USA as long as possible. :P

Oh I forgot to mention their naughty sons. A & P are adorable and we loved watching them being aggressive attacking the food though that made their parents a bit preoccupied. :)

I think everyone loves tapas, but tapas are especially delicious when have them with great Spanish friends. :D

After the blizzard of 2010

This is what I got from a friend's forward and I felt so amused by it.

Since D.C. has the record-breaking blizzard this winter & many side walks are buried in snow so high that sometimes hide the car inside. It might be pretty dangerous when plow truck comes in to clean up. So this resident drew the shape of a car on the snow for alert. Haha I love the sense of humor. :D

Washington, DC Snow Storm from Es Video! on Vimeo.

This is another share by my friend Vivian and it's the most beautiful video of 2010 blizzard in D.C. that I've ever seen. :)

Avocado Soup

Finally I saw a recipe which not only uses avocado but also leek that I had no idea how to cook with it. After I tried a few times, the result is quite good. If you desire a lot of veggies, try this. :)

Ingredients

1 large leek

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 medium celery stalks, roughly chopped

1 large onion, roughly chopped

2 bay leaves

1 quart chicken or vegetable stock

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 large ripe Hass avocado, pitted, peeled, and mashed

Juice of 1 lime

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small bunch of scallions, finely chopped

1 small bunch of cilantro, finely chopped

Cooking Directions

Trim the root end of the leek, cut off the tough green leaves, cut the leek in half lengthwise, and rinse well to remove any grit. Roughly chop the leek.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the leek, celery, and onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables soften.

Add the bay leaves, stock, coriander, cumin, avocado, and lime juice and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve topped with the chopped scallions and cilantro to taste.

Yield: 8 servings

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/recipe?id=9536043