I feel weird these days. I'm sorry for John, he always gets bad time because of my selfishness.
2days in roll, scary dreams have been making me tired. Me being killer, running away, chased, ghost attacking me, etc. Aggg, I'm tired of this!!
I wonder if I'm pregnant yet. My doctor said we keep trying Chromiphen 2 more months, and we'll try something else with fertilizing professional facility. Every morning I check my temperature, scaring thinking "what if the number is down? (which means I wasn't ovulated or didn't pregnant)". Oh I'm tired of this! I know this is just a start.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Daytime date
It has been crazy weather here. Yesterday, it was warm and windy.
Couple days ago, it was freezing cold. Couple days before, it was so warm like spring.
Man, what a crazy weather!! Well, yesterday's crazy wind killed power somewhere, and our house lost power too. While I was taking shower. Shoot! Bathroom was dark (I could see stuff, thank goodness), but I couldn't use hair dryer. I was so glad that I wasn't baking!!
I was wondering how big this power-problem was, and seems like big enough to killed the power of John's office! He came home because his company lost power too. Our house was still out of power, so he asked me to go out to coffee shop while he use wifi there. YAY! Daytime date!! I grabbed my sawing materials and we went to one of my favorite coffee shop in town.
Thankfully, they said they also lost power but it was just came back on when we got there. I ordered chai with soymilk, it was soooo good! We shared a piece of cake, mmm yummy! (isn't it like me?!)
We stayed there about 3 hours :-p , and came home to cook together. What a wonderful day.
Couple days ago, it was freezing cold. Couple days before, it was so warm like spring.
Man, what a crazy weather!! Well, yesterday's crazy wind killed power somewhere, and our house lost power too. While I was taking shower. Shoot! Bathroom was dark (I could see stuff, thank goodness), but I couldn't use hair dryer. I was so glad that I wasn't baking!!
I was wondering how big this power-problem was, and seems like big enough to killed the power of John's office! He came home because his company lost power too. Our house was still out of power, so he asked me to go out to coffee shop while he use wifi there. YAY! Daytime date!! I grabbed my sawing materials and we went to one of my favorite coffee shop in town.
Thankfully, they said they also lost power but it was just came back on when we got there. I ordered chai with soymilk, it was soooo good! We shared a piece of cake, mmm yummy! (isn't it like me?!)
We stayed there about 3 hours :-p , and came home to cook together. What a wonderful day.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Purin
Japanese "purin", aka custard pudding, or Mexican Flan.
I made it before but failed to make it solid without over-cooking. It's so easy to over-cook, or way to less cook by scaring of over-cooking.
This time, I found a easy & simple recipe and tried, it worked well!! John liked it too.
250ml milk
2 eggs
3 TBSP sugar
That's all. Mix them together and cook. Easy, eh? (for caramel sauce, 1 TBSP sugar & 2 TBSP water)
I made it before but failed to make it solid without over-cooking. It's so easy to over-cook, or way to less cook by scaring of over-cooking.
This time, I found a easy & simple recipe and tried, it worked well!! John liked it too.
250ml milk
2 eggs
3 TBSP sugar
That's all. Mix them together and cook. Easy, eh? (for caramel sauce, 1 TBSP sugar & 2 TBSP water)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I called! I called!!
I don't like talking on the phone. It makes me nervous. Maybe because it's harder to communicate. I can't use gesture nor writing. Also, because I'm nervous, I try to let the conversation as short as possible, even when I didn't quite understand what people say. Email helps me alot, because I can take my time what I want to say, and I can read over&over again of their response til I understand.
John always (nicely) encourages me to conquer this phobia, and I appreciate his help.
Recently I have to make sure about the rules of food business, and I tried to find e-mail address to contact. But there was none.
So... I called! I had a number to call, and called!! He didn't answer, but I left the message. Seems like he doesn't like calling either.
John always (nicely) encourages me to conquer this phobia, and I appreciate his help.
Recently I have to make sure about the rules of food business, and I tried to find e-mail address to contact. But there was none.
So... I called! I had a number to call, and called!! He didn't answer, but I left the message. Seems like he doesn't like calling either.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Favorite
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KitchenAid Cooks All-Purpose Shears, Black | KitchenAid Pro All-Purpose Kitchen Shears, Red |
One of my favorite kitchen tools. I messed up the old one (never try to sharp your scissors if you don't know what you're doing), so I got a second one.
Bone-in Chicken Breast
Recently, I've established the good recipe for baked skin-on bone-in chicken breast (halves).
You can season it before baking with poultry seasoning, or salt+pepper+herbs, etc. The key is temperature and time; pre-heated 120C (250F) for 1 hour, uncover, then broil til skin gets gold brown. Let it sit for 10-15 mins before cut.
Sometimes you can find big 3 split chicken breasts for $3 in Kroger. You can buy 4-5 packages of them, put them in ziplock bag individually and freeze them (writing down the date on the bag with permanent marker will help organizing). It will be easy cooking if you sprinkle seasoning before freezing; you just need to thaw and toss it in the oven!
For juicy boiled chicken breast, key is 1)cook little bit short time and make it cook thru by left-over heat of water and 2)cooling/keeping meat in the boiled water. When you keep it in refrigerator, keep meat in ziplock bag with water boiled chicken; this way you can save space. Cut them up toss on the salad, and chicken salad is done!
You can season it before baking with poultry seasoning, or salt+pepper+herbs, etc. The key is temperature and time; pre-heated 120C (250F) for 1 hour, uncover, then broil til skin gets gold brown. Let it sit for 10-15 mins before cut.
Sometimes you can find big 3 split chicken breasts for $3 in Kroger. You can buy 4-5 packages of them, put them in ziplock bag individually and freeze them (writing down the date on the bag with permanent marker will help organizing). It will be easy cooking if you sprinkle seasoning before freezing; you just need to thaw and toss it in the oven!
For juicy boiled chicken breast, key is 1)cook little bit short time and make it cook thru by left-over heat of water and 2)cooling/keeping meat in the boiled water. When you keep it in refrigerator, keep meat in ziplock bag with water boiled chicken; this way you can save space. Cut them up toss on the salad, and chicken salad is done!
American kids' favorites
Last night, we had dinner with church friends family at home. They have a 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter.
Japanese kid's best favorite meals are like :Hamburger (meat loaf), Neapolitan (ketchup flavored spaghetti), fried chicken, curry, fried rice, etc. Most of "kids favorite menu" are very meaty, although, there are several techniques to add/hide lots of vegies without let kids notice. For example, chop up lots of different kinds of vegetables and combine in meat, or make sauce out of vegetables.
So I made hamburger and neapolitan (and some vegetable sides), but a 3 years old boy didn't like any! More than that, parents said "it's not a kids menu" (they didn't mean to hurt my feeling, just thought about it and let their son not worry for not eating much)
I was surprised! Hamberger and spaghetti are not kid's menu?! What are American kids eating then?
Hotdogs? Macaroni cheese? How do mothers make kids eat vegetables with those menu? There is no place to hide vegies!
Japanese kid's best favorite meals are like :Hamburger (meat loaf), Neapolitan (ketchup flavored spaghetti), fried chicken, curry, fried rice, etc. Most of "kids favorite menu" are very meaty, although, there are several techniques to add/hide lots of vegies without let kids notice. For example, chop up lots of different kinds of vegetables and combine in meat, or make sauce out of vegetables.
So I made hamburger and neapolitan (and some vegetable sides), but a 3 years old boy didn't like any! More than that, parents said "it's not a kids menu" (they didn't mean to hurt my feeling, just thought about it and let their son not worry for not eating much)
I was surprised! Hamberger and spaghetti are not kid's menu?! What are American kids eating then?
Hotdogs? Macaroni cheese? How do mothers make kids eat vegetables with those menu? There is no place to hide vegies!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Stuck home!
John took a car to work today, so I'm stuck home!!
Seems like I like staying home. I don't get bored, nor lonely at all (well, sometime I miss people). I have lots of things to do, like house-work, crafts, and cooking. It's a good feeling for me (I just noticed) that I cannot go anywhere because I don't have a car today. YAY! I'M STAYING HOME!
Seems like I like staying home. I don't get bored, nor lonely at all (well, sometime I miss people). I have lots of things to do, like house-work, crafts, and cooking. It's a good feeling for me (I just noticed) that I cannot go anywhere because I don't have a car today. YAY! I'M STAYING HOME!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
MAN vs WOMAN
Arguing with John for "anniversaries" or "holidays" perspective.
He HATES set-up special days, like Valentines day, Thanks Giving, or Christmas. He says he wants to show how much he cares about others on any other days, not because it's the day to do it. I know he's not good at giving presents or stuff like that. I know, so I learned to give up, or not to expect. I think he feels guilty of not doing enough by those day's coming up, that's why he hates those days. I'm not scared of our anniversary or Valentines day coming up. Why would I?
He loves traveling, and so am I. I enjoys planning but he never does it. One reason is he's busy and I have time. Even though I enjoy planning, I sometime feel like I'm the only one who's excited about it and John doesn't care much. I'm the only one searching around what's there, what's good, what to do. John listened me and talked about it if I tell him about it, but he won't join/help searching.
I remember he bought movie tickets for surprise for our 2nd anniversary trip. We visited Ashville, NC with planning of staying hotel and visiting but he secretly planed, searched and purchased the tickets to make me happy. That's the feeling I want. I can feel "oh he spent time and effort to make me happy" by his attitude.
Why would I care about this these days? I don't know. I don't think it's monthly hormone thingie. I feel rashes on my heart. Maybe I should quit thinking of it.
He HATES set-up special days, like Valentines day, Thanks Giving, or Christmas. He says he wants to show how much he cares about others on any other days, not because it's the day to do it. I know he's not good at giving presents or stuff like that. I know, so I learned to give up, or not to expect. I think he feels guilty of not doing enough by those day's coming up, that's why he hates those days. I'm not scared of our anniversary or Valentines day coming up. Why would I?
He loves traveling, and so am I. I enjoys planning but he never does it. One reason is he's busy and I have time. Even though I enjoy planning, I sometime feel like I'm the only one who's excited about it and John doesn't care much. I'm the only one searching around what's there, what's good, what to do. John listened me and talked about it if I tell him about it, but he won't join/help searching.
I remember he bought movie tickets for surprise for our 2nd anniversary trip. We visited Ashville, NC with planning of staying hotel and visiting but he secretly planed, searched and purchased the tickets to make me happy. That's the feeling I want. I can feel "oh he spent time and effort to make me happy" by his attitude.
Why would I care about this these days? I don't know. I don't think it's monthly hormone thingie. I feel rashes on my heart. Maybe I should quit thinking of it.
Range
I might not like my range.
Ooohhh, unfortunate, eh? Yeah, pretty much. The glasstop range is easy to clean, I still like that part. Although, how it control the heat was different from gas or coil. Gas or coil, they heat full-power for Hi, medium-power for Mid, and few-power for Lo. Medium last as medium, and low power last as low. Glasstop range is different. They control on-off (very hot or nothing) frequency to make a heat-level difference. For example, if I want low heat, they heat for max power just little bit, and it quits heating for a while. It comes back for high power for a short-time and it quits. That's not what I want! I want to keep low heat while I'm cooking!!
So far, I don't like this heating system very much. I've got to learn how to get used to it.
And I need to bake breads soon. I just kept saying it and not starting yet!
Ooohhh, unfortunate, eh? Yeah, pretty much. The glasstop range is easy to clean, I still like that part. Although, how it control the heat was different from gas or coil. Gas or coil, they heat full-power for Hi, medium-power for Mid, and few-power for Lo. Medium last as medium, and low power last as low. Glasstop range is different. They control on-off (very hot or nothing) frequency to make a heat-level difference. For example, if I want low heat, they heat for max power just little bit, and it quits heating for a while. It comes back for high power for a short-time and it quits. That's not what I want! I want to keep low heat while I'm cooking!!
So far, I don't like this heating system very much. I've got to learn how to get used to it.
And I need to bake breads soon. I just kept saying it and not starting yet!
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
rice pouch
John's dad has a heating tube packed by rice for reducing pain.
I made small pouches to warm up my tummy etc, with remnant fabric. It's working good! Our house in downstairs is so chilly, so staying in kitchen or living room ifs rough. Since we made a foldable table, we sometime stay upstairs, but I can't stay in upstairs all day long.
I might make some more rice pouches, but I don't want to use the rice we eat (caz it's expensive!). Fortunately, one of my friend (somehow) gave me a box of Indian rice which I don't know how to use, so I guess I can use it for hot pouches :-D
I made small pouches to warm up my tummy etc, with remnant fabric. It's working good! Our house in downstairs is so chilly, so staying in kitchen or living room ifs rough. Since we made a foldable table, we sometime stay upstairs, but I can't stay in upstairs all day long.
I might make some more rice pouches, but I don't want to use the rice we eat (caz it's expensive!). Fortunately, one of my friend (somehow) gave me a box of Indian rice which I don't know how to use, so I guess I can use it for hot pouches :-D
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sleepppyyyyiiii.....zzz
Maybe we're sleeping too much.
We usually sleep like 8+ hours, but neither of us are morning people. Most of the time, I wake up earlier (maybe 1 hour) than John. I fall asleep so quickly but John takes some time to sleep.
Seems like I don't have not too much to write tonight. Good night.
We usually sleep like 8+ hours, but neither of us are morning people. Most of the time, I wake up earlier (maybe 1 hour) than John. I fall asleep so quickly but John takes some time to sleep.
Seems like I don't have not too much to write tonight. Good night.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Super bowl Sunday
As you know. We don't have a tv, more than that, John doesn't care about sports! I do, little, especially Football.
Well, John had an appointment to see somebody late afternoon anyways, so he left me home on Sunday afternoon alone. I was working on my projects (I got lots of things to work!), and thought about Super Bowl. Friends learned enough by now that we're not sports people (I am little, comparing to John), so nobody invited us for ball-game watching.
I was thinking "well, since it's Super Bowl, don't we need pizza?" Yes me, I've bought a pizza crust mix and pizza sauce! I have mushrooms, green peppers, olives, tomato, sausage, hotdog, and mozzarella cheese. More than that, I have a NEW OVEN that I can control the exact temperature!
So, I start chopping up the toppings and making dough, then John came home. What a good timing!! I asked him to help me, and he started making pizza!!
Well, John had an appointment to see somebody late afternoon anyways, so he left me home on Sunday afternoon alone. I was working on my projects (I got lots of things to work!), and thought about Super Bowl. Friends learned enough by now that we're not sports people (I am little, comparing to John), so nobody invited us for ball-game watching.
I was thinking "well, since it's Super Bowl, don't we need pizza?" Yes me, I've bought a pizza crust mix and pizza sauce! I have mushrooms, green peppers, olives, tomato, sausage, hotdog, and mozzarella cheese. More than that, I have a NEW OVEN that I can control the exact temperature!
So, I start chopping up the toppings and making dough, then John came home. What a good timing!! I asked him to help me, and he started making pizza!!
Isn't it sweet? Well, I've got a chance to try my new oven out. Seems like it's working good so far. I definitely need to bake some breads soon.
Aren't you curious what happened to John's pizza?
Looks, good, isn't it? Well, it tasted good too!! We still need to know how to use the pizza pan with holes (when the dough is stretching on it, dough went into a hole and didn't come off after it's baked). It's not too far away from papa John's. Yeah, John made it!
He's making funny face caz he thought I'm making fun of him.
Writing papers
Achi is almost finishing up his graduation thesis paper.
I heard the due was last week, so I thought he's having party to celebrate by now. Apparently, his due was extended 1 more week. The minimum page number was 40, and he said it's been over 50 when I talked to him last week. He showed me his un-finished paper, and it looked great. I was so proud of him.
Well, as I said, I thought he's been finished already by now. Apparently, he's still working on it, and this morning I figured out that he wasn't using a proper format. So now he's converting his 50 pages paper to right format, and he said it's over 100 pages now.
...Maybe you wrote too much, Achi.
I heard the due was last week, so I thought he's having party to celebrate by now. Apparently, his due was extended 1 more week. The minimum page number was 40, and he said it's been over 50 when I talked to him last week. He showed me his un-finished paper, and it looked great. I was so proud of him.
Well, as I said, I thought he's been finished already by now. Apparently, he's still working on it, and this morning I figured out that he wasn't using a proper format. So now he's converting his 50 pages paper to right format, and he said it's over 100 pages now.
...Maybe you wrote too much, Achi.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Photo show
We were invited to John's boss's house tonight (his name is also John... little confusing situation to talk about them since they both are "John". Let's say John for my husband and John-san for his boss for now).
John-san is interested in our Europe trip photos, which is over 2500, so we took our computer and projector to have a slide show in their house. John did a quick slide show by picking most interesting ones with explanations, seems like they all enjoyed it.
Hiroko, John-san's wife is also a Japanese (yeah, so in their company, there are 2 "John"s who have Japanese wife), made an awesome Japanese pot cooking with vegetables and chicken. I tried to help her cooking, but ended up standing in the kitchen and chatting with her :-p
John-san is interested in our Europe trip photos, which is over 2500, so we took our computer and projector to have a slide show in their house. John did a quick slide show by picking most interesting ones with explanations, seems like they all enjoyed it.
Hiroko, John-san's wife is also a Japanese (yeah, so in their company, there are 2 "John"s who have Japanese wife), made an awesome Japanese pot cooking with vegetables and chicken. I tried to help her cooking, but ended up standing in the kitchen and chatting with her :-p
Vendor meeting
Me and John went to vendors’ meeting for farmer’s market. It was good to see our market friends again.
We were forgetting that John was the candidate of vendor board (is that how you say?), and little bit worried about being selected. Sounds weired, eh? Whey did he do that then, right? Well, we didn’t know that he would become this much busy when they were asking who are interested in being vendor board.
Well, after they gathered up the voting, John was not selected. Should we say YAY? (^0^)/
The market will start in April. I’ve got to test my oven and get used to it by then!!
New Oven
Got a new oven!This is one of the most expensive shopping I’ve ever done in my life! I’m so excited to learn the new features and get used to it! Glass top is so easy to clean. I haven't used the oven feature yet (you know, I'm so excited...). I've gotta bake some breads soon!
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