Somewhere in Oregon.....on one big river

The slacker of the group finally decided that she should upload some of her pictures :)

Put in getting ready for the 5 day river trip under high wind condition

Wondering which way is upstream and which way is down

BTE hard at work fighting some crazy headwind

Whitewater here we come!

Beautiful wildflower

A view from our hike

The boys (including Rocky) off to their adventure

Kay and the Owyhee

SS Tahoe resting

Collin fighting Montgomery

Jatie looking good in Montgomery

Chels trying her new boat in Montgomery

Kevin showing off in Montgomery

Queen of the River in action!

I guess John is glad that is over

Great trip....looking forward to next year!

Some more Wrinkles

Some more Wrinkles video from the Snow Flake Lodge gig....





Wondering how the band got their instruments down the mountain? Here is how.......



This is me trying to video tape the action while trying to ski down....of course I am not as good as those guys :P

One night opening of DOT

Back in the beginning of March was BTE's bday and I wanted to treat him to a nice dinner. However, with my slim wallet, limited choice of good restaurants at N. lake, and some nice gifts that I got him. I decided that I can only afford a nice dinner for the both of us if i made it......so that lead to the one night opening of DOT!

For those who knows me well should know that I want to run a little eatery one day and I will name it DOT.

Anywaz, so I spent like weeks to plan the dinner, getting all the ingredients that i need, setting a menu, and buying stuff to transfer the "smallest house in the world" to a little nice faux restaurant. Then came the big day and guess what happened? BTE got really sick.....the 24 hours stomach bug that was running wide in the area.......poor him, spent his bday laying in bed all day, could barely eat.........so we had to reschedule...............

Friday came......I got home early, cleaned the house, moved some furnitures around and started cooking in "the smallest kitchen in the world". The door was supposed to open at 6 but I was delayed so when BTE came home at 6, I had to send him to the neighbours :P

The meun items were as follow:

California Calamari Two Ways

Wild caught shrimp risotto stuffed calamari with cherry tomatoes puree

And

Crispy tentacles dusted with roasted sea salt and cayenne pepper

Roasted Rack of Lamb

Medley of winter vegetables and balsamic reduction

Sinfully Dark Chocolate Cake

Rich buttermilk black cocoa chocolate cake with raspberry coulis

We had a wonderful time and even BTE said that was his best bday ever!

I have to say, I was even impressed by myself that I was able to pull this together......I think I will make this a tradition and do that again next year.......a chance for me to make a nice meal and celebrate my beloved's biggest day :)

and btw, I love square plates!

Kiss Seafood in the City!!!

There is a funny story behind this.......really!

So we were gonna head to the Bay area for Thanksgiving 2009 and I thought it might be fun to spend a night in the City (San Francisco)....and so we did......deprived of good authentic Japanese food in Tahoe, I decided to take BTE to one for a treat!

After some serious research, i decided to go to Kiss Seafood, a tiny 11 seater located in Japan town. Since BTE had never been to a true Japanese restaurant before, I had to lay down some rules for him so he can fully enjoy the food without offending the mighty chef.......

After a long list of rules......BTE jokingly said: This is serious, isn't it? I feel like this is a test of our relationship. If i don't pass, you will leave me, won't you? I must pass this test......Can you remind me of the rules again???

Are you ready for this? We ordered the Omakase (which means chef specials, the master chef picks out what he thinks are the best of that day and serve in the order he sees fit)

From left to right

Salmon Roe
Radish with scallops
Persimmon and Japanese green salad

Sashimi

I can't remember all the fishes in there but there were giant clams, butterfish, Tuna (red, medium and Toro) and other delicious fish. Everything was so good, each and single fish has its own unique taste and texture (unlike "sushi" you can in the general sushi place)

Chawanmushi-Japanese Egg Custard

Inside of the dish

BTE can't have eggs so he got grill Marckeral instead (equally delicious)

In the middle of service, BTE spilled some soy sauce on the linens and he was worried that he won't pass his "test", so he attempted to cover them

Stains exposed!!!

Uni sushi......so sweet and creamy!!! I loved it, BTE doesn't like it..."a texture thing" he said (separate order)

Braised fish (can't remember what species) in a sweet soy broth

Red miso soup with a variety of mushrooms

* There was also a sushi dish but I was too excited and forgot to take a picture!!!*

The meal was wonderful.....it was on the pricy side (~$ 200 including 3 orders of sake for the two of us)...but well worth it I thought....and BTE passed the "test"!!!

We ended up in the Japanese Mall and got some crepes J-style for desserts!

My first Le Creuset!

Thanks to Asian Clams...I am on the internet

I know I am already on the internet with this blog.....but this is different.......I am on the internet because of a NPR radio show!!! That is what is exciting :)

Plus it is semi-related to my work which makes it even more exciting :)

It is a recipe for cooking Asian clams.......Link



You have to scroll down almost to the bottom to see it....

Look for the title "Asian Clams invade Lake Tahoe" with a large clam picture and there it is....

Corbicula fluminea is the newest non-native species in Lake Tahoe. We are doing a lot of work to try to find out more about them. Here is a recent report about them if anyone is interested...Link

You can also hear all about it on the show :).....the link is with the recipe

Now lets start cooking Asian Clams :)

A tricky bbq pork bun business.......

I don't even have a picture of them this time, cause they got devoured so quickly.... it is not even funny! The one above is from a while ago :)

Even since the first time I made them........BTE, CS, and MW have not stop requesting them......I have even recruited the whole of Ryan household to make some a while ago...........

Since I haven't made them in a long while, I decide to produce some to satisfy those hungry minds :)

I said I was going to post the recipe a long while ago, but i forgot.......so I will do that this time..........

Cha Siu Bao (BBQ Pork Buns)
Make about 12

Dough

2 ¼ cups of All purpose flour ( I usually use 1 ¼ cup of bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat)
3 tsp baking powder
½ C white sugar
2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp water
8 tbsp milk

Procedure:
1. In a large mixing bowl, mix all dry ingredients together (flour, sugar and baking powder)

2. Add milk to the mixture and mix it with your hands until the flour completely absorbs the milk

3. Add water and mix it with your hands until completely absorb

4. Add vegetable oil and try to form dough. At this point the dough is still not very smooth and elastic.

5. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead for about 15 to 20 mins until dough become smooth and elastic

6. You can also do all that with the bread maker just follow the procedure of adding the ingredients

7. Cover the dough with saran wrap and let it rest for an hour

8. Divide dough into desire size, row them flat with a rolling pin (roll the edges thinner for easier wrapping) and is ready for use

Filling

1 C diced BBQ pork (pork marinated with Chinese BBQ sauce and cook either on BBQ or in the oven)
½ C diced onion
*I also like to put other vegetables in them, e.g. yellow squash, zucchini

Seasoning for the filling

½ tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tsp ketchup
1 ½ tsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 ¼ tsp corn starch
5 tbsp water

Procedure

1. Heat oil in medium low heat and add chopped onion in pan, sauté until golden brown (about 5 mins)

2. Turn to medium high heat, add pork and sauté for a few min

3. Add Chinese cooking wine and give it a quick stir

4. Add all other seasoning (except corn starch) and 3 tbsp of water and allow to simmer for a few min

5. Mix corn starch with remaining water and add the pork mixture

6. All the sauce to thicken (keep stirring)

7. Turn off the heat and add sesame oil and mix well

8. Allow to cool and sauce thicken

9. Ready for filling

Buns

1. Fill flatten dough with fillings

2. Steam for 8-10 mins on boiling water until bun become nice and fluffy


I usually have to put them into bags and separate them so everyone gets a fair share of them........and this is how much they love them.......

CS and BTE came home after a day of boating and wanted some...... but they weren't going to share, so each of them took one out of their own bag..............then when CS was about to leave.....BTE was like "do you want to look after MW's bag?"............and CS was like "of Course......extra buns for me"...................I had to hide MW's in the freeze so they won't disappear into the boys' stomachs......

Then the next day I ask BTE if he can bring MW's pork buns to her at the soccer game.....and BTE's response was....... "sure..... but it will cost her.......one pork bun for delivery"........

See......BTE and CS have also went as far as wanting me to make "all you can eat pork buns" for them.........

See that is why it is a tricky business........I can only make some many.........sigh

but Thanks, boys and girls for loving them so much :)

San Francisco................with vistors!!!

I have to first apologized about my laziness....... Yes i have been slacking off with my blog update :P...... Sorry Sorry Sorry........ Actually, I haven't really been slacking off, instead I have been working really really hard, trying to finish this report I have to submit. I was pretty much living at my office.............well plus i just found out that I have been sitting on a $700 dollar office chair, that is why I have been so comfortable at work.... a good way to keep your workers working for long hours eh :)

Anywaz...... too much to update, what to start :)

Ok, lets talk about my first visitors every since i moved to Tahoe!!!!


Yes..... R and his mom came to visit me end of Jan.......I was so happy!!! Well actually R's mom only went to SF and we sort of met up there, but still it was really awesome. Get to see some old friends, had tones and tones of good food and lots and lots of shopping!!!

some fotos to share :)



First this is a place that MW recommended.... I think is called Tu Lan........it is a super super southeast Asia like Vietnamese place.....It totally reminds be of Asia.....and the amount of food they serve you is massive... look at my bowl of veg noodles soup





Then It was Chinese New Year so i decided to go to China town and make some turns......I got a chinese clay pot from the Wok Shop..... still has yet to try making clay pot rice at home.....I can't wait!!! Of course, I have to have one of my favourite street food....Curry fish ball on the way home :)



And of course, I had to pay a visit to Citizen Cake..... and try the creation of chef Elizabeth Falkner. I spend a fortune on some of their famous sandwich (which is actually cookies)....The lemon ones are so good. There is a recipe in gourmet for these cookies... i have to try to make them sometime





Another SF hotspot......Brenda's French Soul Food!!!...........R and I went there for breakfast the last day we were in SF........that place was packed.... but i really like it... it is small and cozy.... just like a place that i would want to have if my dream ever come true:) We had their famous Beignets and I also ordered the Sweet Potatoes pancake with Caramel Pecan sauce......to die for........ the portion was a little too big for me.....so i really wish they can be smaller so i can try more things :)




And then R came back up to Tahoe with me.... and he basically just Ski and Ski and Skied.........

..................I have to say......I love SF!!!