use real butter

Okay, NOW Kaweah is really seven years old! [Last year we told everyone she was seven and then Carrie emailed me and said Kaweah couldn’t be seven because Hailey is older than Kaweah - and then we all determined that I am a dipshit.] Today is her birthday!! When we got up this morning, she was running around shaking the plush elliptical focal mechanism toy in her mouth and parading about the house. I guess she does that every morning, but I convinced myself that she somehow knew it was her birthday (prolly not). For dessert tonight, she was given her favorite ice cream in the world - ANY ice cream!

she knows it is for her when we hold it 2 feet above the ground

without opposable thumbs or a vice, an owner’s hand will do to keep the ice cream in place

Work today wasn’t so productive workwise because everyone had sugar in their systems. We surprised our boss after our meeting with the cheesecake and the truffles.



I realized upon tasting a small sliver of the cheesecake that I need to cook it for far less time to achieve the typical silky texture. This one was fluffy and light - which is not how it should be. But everyone seemed to be thrilled that it was homemade cheesecake. Now the truffles, I will admit, were exactly how I thought they should be. Boss woman was very happy and hugged us all. Then the rest of the members of the meeting told me when their birthdays were… Our vendors and other business partners have been sending giant tins of cookies, brittle, and cake to our office. Candy is flowing from every possible corner. I’ve seen the gym busier than ever (two of us working out at the same time!!).

We found out today that yesterday was our super’s birthday. She told us. So we felt sort of obligated to do something for her, but what? We couldn’t take her to lunch because she’s in meetings all day tomorrow and will be gone the rest of the week on vacation.  I offered to bring a cake to share with office folk and make truffles for the super.  Next time, please remind me to shut up.

use fine dark semi-sweet chocolate to make the ganache

chill, portion, freeze, then roll the truffle in chopped pistachios, shaved chocolate, cocoa powder

half of the work goes into presentation

Been thinking about what to serve when I have people over for potstickers… I mean aside from potstickers.

menu for the potsticker party:

wassail
hot apple cider
pot stickers
chicken sizzling rice soup ??
dry cooked string beans
kung pao chicken
shredded pork and soybeans
steamed rice
dessert: TBD (flan? truffles and port?)

I realize that several elements are extremely non-Chinese, but what the hell… Chinese desserts soooo suck, and I’m just in the mood for some good wassail.

I’m finally home and it feels great! Despite staying in fancy hotels with a bed all to myself full of comfy down pillows and fluffy comforters, I am so happy to be home. I even missed the tumbleweeds of Kaweah-hair drifting along the hardwood floors. I got to spend a few more hours of quality time with Grandma and Elena this morning before my shuttle picked me up.

grandma and the two youngest - elena and i are the “babies” of our families

learning to pick tender pea sprouts with grandma

After I left grandma’s place it was just a blur of travel by van, by plane, by bus, then by car. I had one last fling with sushi in SF at the airport in the form of a rather fresh and tasty bento box.

bento goodness - arigato gozaimasu!

Jeremy is happy to have me home. I am happy to be home. I feel like I took a parallel path this past week and now I’m back to the real world.