My Parents-in-Law

Our Florida trip every Christmas is like our annual retreat. After a year of hard work, we are so blessed to be in the warmer weather, indulge in authentic Chinese food, relax by the pool, open gifts, open more gifts, play ma-jiang, and simply enjoy the best family time.

I often feel I'm the luckiest girl on earth because of my parents-in-law. Their love for me is so unconditional that they never expect anything in return. I truly enjoy spending time with them, and I feel they have given me a family that I've always wanted. Honestly, I think they have adopted me as their own daughter --
I fell asleep on the couch, and they gently put a blanket on me. I wanted to help cook dinner, but they told me everything was taken care of and ask me to go relax. They know I love beef noodle soup, so that's what's waiting for me on the dining table when we arrived. I wanted to get a new handbag for myself, but they insist to buy it for me. Before we were leaving, they packed as much food as possible for us to bring back to Chicago.

These are just a few things they do. How lucky I am.

How lucky I am to have my health, a loving husband, the best dog anyone can ever have, and the in-laws who love me as much as their own children.

陶然亭 Peking Duck

During our stay in Taipei, my good friend, Fion, and her husband Eric (and their 5-year son, Aiden) treated us to a very nice dinner at 陶然亭. It serves the best peking duck in Taiwan! The peking duck was cooked in three rounds. First, the crispy skin and meat were sliced off to go with flour wrap, green onion and plum sauce. Then the rest of the meat were used to cook as a stir-fry with vegetables. Lastly, the bones were cooked in a delicious soup!

In addition to the duck, we also ordered their famous 涼拌白菜心, as well as 炒豆苗 and Crab and Tofu Stew (can't find the Chinese name). Thank you, Fion and Eric for such a great meal! I know we will definitely visit this restaurant again when we go back to Taiwan!

Baked Macaroni

Jeff is a big fan of macaroni and cheese. Unless we go to a restaurant, we typically just cook instant mac 'n cheese at home when he has cravings. Sometimes we would add chili in there to make chili mac.

I was flipping through channels the other day and found Giada De Laurentiis making a yummy and seemingly simple baked macaroni. So I decided to give it a try!

After a night of partying and drinking at Suzi's, I know Jeff would want some comfort food. I got the ingredients in the morning, and while he was watching football, baked macaroni was being completed. Added in the macaroni were assorted mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, and Jeff also added the leftover bacon from last night! According to the recipe, I added Parmesan, Romano and mozzarella cheeses. We also covered it with bread crumbs and butter on top and bottom of the dish.

Jeff really liked it, but I think I should put more cheese in there next time, so they would all stick together better.

New Appetizer Trial

A friend of ours, Suzi, invited us to her fab house for a holiday party this weekend. It was a chill party with about 10 friends. Suzi's kitchen is my dream kitchen! Her contemporary kitchen is huge with beautiful counter-tops, large island, a lot of storage space and double-set of stove top and oven. Her modern fridge is blended in with her cabinets. Before Jeff and I got married, Suzi also hosted a couple's shower for us.

For this holiday party, every person/couple would bring an appetizer or dessert. I wanted to try something new this time and found a easy recipe on www.foodnetwork.com! It is Rachel Ray's bacon wrapped shrimp (and/or scallops). We have some prawn left in our freezer, and I've been wanting to put them into good use.

This appetizer really is simple! First, you marinate the shrimp in sesame oil, lime juice, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt. Then wrap a piece (about 1/3 of a bacon strip) of bacon around the shrimp. Put them in the oven for about 15 -16 minutes at 425 degrees. After it's done, sprinkle chopped green onion on top. It was quite a hit at the party!

Thanksgiving Day

Jeff and I hosted this year's Thanksgiving at our new house! Jeff's parents flew in from Florida and Jeff's sister, Kien, came in from San Francisco to stay with us for a few days. At the last minute, we also had Jenn and John join us for Thanksgiving dinner. We had such a great time cooking together, watching football, playing Ma-Jiang and simply having a wonderful family time together!

Jeff used our fryer to deep fry some marinated turkey legs and wings, and it was a success -- crispy outside, juicy inside! Kien cooked her famous yummy garlic mashed potato. Jeff's mom sauteed green beans with minced garlic. I cooked corn with chopped red bell peppers and onions. We also had stuffing and corn bread as other side dishes. Before dinner, we opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate all of the good things happened to us this year! As always, we are grateful for everything we have.

My Uncle Allen

I have a lot of respect for my uncle Allen. Growing up, he has been a male role model for me, in addition to my father. He is my mother's youngest brother and have been spoiling my brother and I since we were toddlers. Uncle Allen doesn't have any children of his own, but I know my brother and I will take care of him when he gets old. To me, uncle Allen is a fun, witty yet hardworking and practical man. He is extremely street-smart and has a lot of friends in different walks of life. Though life has been throwing him some hardship throughout the years, he still holds an incredibly positive attitude.

Everytime I go back to Taiwan, he always makes time from his busy schedule to spend with me for at least a few times. He often treats us to nice meals, and takes us to visit my mother. This time he took us to a nice Japanese restaurant, where we had an amazing 10-course meal. I have to say it's the best Japanese meal I've had so far!

辣子雞丁 & 螞蟻上樹

My new dish~

Re-Visiting Taipei's Beauty

We rented a car service and spent one full day visiting some of the places on the outskirts of Taipei. I haven't been to a couple of these places since elementary school, so it was exciting for me. After visiting the graves of Jeff's grandparents and cousin, we went from Yangming Mountain to Jing-Shan to Yeh-Liu to Shan-Chi to Dan-Shui. I also got a chance to have some fresh coconut water and traditional local Taiwan dishes.

It was such a treat to re-visit the beauty of Taipei county. One of the reasons why Taiwan attracts so many tourists every year is its variety of natural scenery. There are beautiful mountains, amazing coastlines, lovely rivers and lakes, beautiful tea plantations. It's a small island, but Taiwan has it all!

The Be All and End All

This year's Chicago International Film Festival was on October 8-22. Along with Jenn and John, we had a chance to enjoy a very good film. It was a UK film directed by Bruce Webb -- The Be All and End All.

It's a story about two teen-age best mates. After Robbie was diagnosed with a fatal heart disease, Ziggy was doing everything he can to fulfill Robbie's final wish -- "you've got to get a girl to shag me!" Just like any great film, The Be All and End All made me laugh out loud and dissolve in tears. In its own humorous and heartfelt way, this film also reminded me what it means to be a friend.

Taipei's Hottest Buffet

My friend, Gina, took us to Taipei's hottest buffet, Brasserie in the Grand Formosa Regent, for lunch. I was amazed at the variety of food and cuisine available at this stylish restaurant. From sashimi to roast beef, from traditional Taiwanese to Italian, from seafood to hotpot, they have everything you can think of. The dessert bar must have more than 20 different pastries, cakes, cookies, ice creams.

I was not surprised this is one of the most popular spots in Taipei right now. While we were walking out at 2:45 pm on a weekday, the length of the line waiting to get in for the afternoon tea time was unbelievable!

Gina became a good friend of mine while I was working in Taipei after college. We live close by and met when waiting for the community bus one morning. Jeff asked who started talking first, and I said it was Gina, but now as I think harder, it might be me asking her whether the bus will take us down to the train station..ha. I remember we chatted during our entire bus and train ride that day.

I'm so glad that we stayed in touch even after I left Taiwan. Gina has always been my role model - energetic, keeps learning new things, optimistic during life's most difficult times, and overcome obsticles with faith and great personal strength. I know I just saw you in Taipei, Gina, but I can't wait to lunch with you again already!

大山無價

I've heard great things about this restaurant, so we decided to have a family meal there on Sunday night.

Located in the beautiful mountains of Taipei county, 大山無價 is famous for its heavenly scenery and surroundings (we could see it better if we went during the day), the rare ingredients used in the dishes, the creative courses, the exquisite presentation, and the enjoyment of "slow dining".

There were a total of 13 courses over a 2.5 hour dining experience. There's no menu, and all of courses were prepared by the famous chef that are primarily influenced by Japanese cuisine. I was impressed by the presentation and the interesting combination of ingredients in each dish.

The truth is I'm glad that I tried this place, but honestly, I didn't love it. I was also surprised that the service was not as good as I've heard. It is questionable whether I'd go back.

No Place Compares to...

Taiwan!

It was a perfect 10-day visit to my hometown, one of the most beautiful places on earth! The air was dewy sweet, the people were warm and passionate, the food is everything I've been dreaming about, and the family that always holds the special place in my heart.

One of the main reasons for our visit this time was to celebrate Jeff's grandma's 90th birthday. Many of Jeff's family also went back from the U.S., including his uncles, aunts, cousins. It was really great to meet some of them for the first time!

Waiting for us after we landed late on Saturday night were local foods and fruits prepared by Jeff's mom....yes, how lucky we are! And that was the beginning of our feast for the next 10 days.

Nick Vujicic

There really are no excuses for the rest of us....NO Excuses!

Thank you, Grace, for sharing :)

The Hungarian Experience

To celebrate our friend Chris' birthday, Chris and his wife, Suzanna, invited us to their favorite traditional Hungarian restaurant in Hillside, IL. It was my first Hungarian experience and an unforgettable one!

Chris is American-born, but he is fluent in Hungarian. It was impressive to see him communicating with the servers and ordering for the table. We ordered many traditional dishes, and they are delicious! My favorites are garlic bread (Lángos), chicken or veal paprikas, garlic sausages and fried frog legs. There are a couple dishes on the menu that I just have to try -- calf's liver and their traditional fish soup! These two dishes are very different from anything I've tasted. The calf's liver is very tender and sauteed with onions. The fish soup is salty and sour, which I really enjoyed. Another dish that made an impression on me was the Zucchini. It was shredded in a creamy dill sause.

Chris also brought a lot of champagne, wine, palinka (traditional Hungarian fruit brandy), as well as Absinthe. It was my first time trying Absinthe, and Suzanna captured a great picture after I took the shot.

It was such a fun night! Jeff was our designated driver, so he was really holding his liquor :)

Partners for Life

After a few glasses of wine...

me: You never told me why you wanted to spend the rest of your life with me...
Jeff: Well, it's because you're goofy.
me: Haha, very funny. No, seriously, tell me.
Jeff: I feel we connect in so many ways.
me: I know, but what made you say, "I want to spend the rest of my life with this person, and not anybody else?
Jeff: You really make me think about things that I normally don't think about.

Thanks for indulging me, bud. And thank you for being patient with me, and for standing by me through thick and thin. You make me realize what really is important in life.