good eats: Hill Country Chicken - Flatiron neighborhood, NYC

Hill Country Chicken: 1123 Broadway (close to 25th Street), Manhattan
Cuisine type: Texas style fried chicken

Peter's cousin, Jordan, has came to visit us and New York City during this holiday week. He came into the city with me yesterday - he did the touristy things and I went to work. After work, we met up and I showed him a bit of midtown before we headed back home.

As we were in Flatiron neighborhood, I have wanted to grab dinner at Hill Country BBQ Market. When we got there, it was packed with people so there was no way we could eat there and still manage to catch 8:29pm train home. So we went to its sister restaurant - Hill Country Chicken instead. It is famous for its fried chicken. The chicken are sold as individual pieces - breast, thigh, drum, and wing. We ordered a couple pieces of thighs, two biscuits, and two sides.

The skin was crispy and flavorful. We also drizzled honey on the buttermilk biscuits. It was a good meal. We had our dinner paid for by taking the offpeak train home. But I will need to work out to burn off all that fat from the chicken!

favorite things - Coffee Break French

I took a few years of French back in high school. Unfortunately the only words I could remember are "bonjour", "merci", and "cafe au lait". After we have visited the charming Quebec City during the summer, I have determined to pick up the language again.

In the podcast section of iTune, I have discovered Coffee Break French offered by Radio Lingua Network. The program is free and each lesson is about 20-minute long which I can listen to when I take a walk. Coffee Break French has over 400+ lessons available on podcast.

In 2014, I am planning to clock in 10,000 steps a day. And perhaps after a year of walking and listening to Coffee Break French, I will be able to carry a simple conversation.

Joy of Coffee Break French!

2014 goals

2014 goals

• 10,000 steps a day
• buy just what we need
• buy just what we can eat - avoid throwing away food
• grow more vegetables and herbs
• save for Kyoto trip
• ride more bicycles

joy of fermenting string beans

my home made sour beans - day 2 of fermenting process

This summer I took a fermentation class offered by Common Ground Farm. From this class, I have learned how to preserve vegetables naturally and brew kombucha. The pickled string beans were sour but they were very good in Spicy Ground Pork with Sour String Beans (哨子江豆）which was one of our favorite Sichuan dish. You can find the recipe to cook this dish from Tiny Urban Kitchen.

To ferment string beans:

• two tablespoons of sea salt
• some Sichuan peppercorn (1 teaspoon or more)
• one or two hot chili
• a handful of string beans

1. Gently rinse the string beans. If the string beans are from your own garden, you can skip this washing step to preserve the good bacteria that reside on the beans.

2. Add the salt to a jar and add some water. Shake salt and water to dissolve salt.

3. Add Sichuan peppercorn, chili, and string beans to the jar.

4. Fill water to the top of jar and try to immerse the beans in water to minimize string beans exposure to air.

5. If you have airlock, cap the jar with it. If you don't have it, simply cover the jar with a layer of paper towel and tighten it with a rubber band.

6. Let the jar sit in room temperature for about two weeks.

7. After two weeks, open up the jar and taste for the beans. If they are sour, they are ready. If there is a layer of white furry stuff on top, simply just remove the layer from the jar and the rest of beans are edible. (This is the scary part but I was taught in the class that it was perfectly fine to eat the beans. I have eaten a few times homemade pickled beans and so far we are still doing well.) If the beans are not yet sour, let them ferment for a bit longer.

8. After the fermentation is completed, you can cap the jar and store the jar in cooler space (basement or garage) until you are ready to cook it.

2013 Blessings

Year 2013 started out very rough for me.

I had an illness that was making me extremely miserable night and day. The doctors did not know how to treat but could only give me steroids to keep the condition somewhat manageable. Work was filled with unpleasant politics that it took a lot of courage to just walk through that revolving door on Madison Ave.

But God has been faithful and He has helped me to get through each difficulty after another. He has provided me with brothers and sisters from our fellowship to pray for my recovery. He has provided me with wonderful neighbors that would cook for me and be there for us. He has taught me to trust in Him. He was always there with me throughout the year and provided countless blessings.

Year 2013 started out very rough but it is ending with a heart filled with appreciation for all the blessings that have been given in 2013.

Blessings of 2013:

• Recovery from idiopathic chronic urticaria and a caring allergist, Dr. Robert Lin, to treat my illness
• I was able to work from home twice a week
• Wonderful meals with our neighbors
• Friday nights fellowship
• Teaching Sunday School to wonderful children that sometimes talk non-stop but with hearts that are eager to learn and to love
• Two-week trip to Taiwan for medical treatment and to spend time with my parents and cousins
• A small patch of vegetable garden that did not produce much but will be promising for 2014
• Reconnecting with Margaret and John 
• Fresh vegetables from Obercreek CSA
• Bike rides in Burlington, Montreal and Quebec City in July
• Spending October with my parents in New York
• Visiting Italy with my parents
• Learning how to ferment food in Common Ground Farm
• Christmas eve with Peter's parents, cousin and LuLu in New York. 

the art of gifting

A few weeks ago, there was an article on NY Times about Chinese living in Beijing and Shanghai have started to move away from polluted cities in pursuit of clean air and blue sky. This article prompted me to think about how we in the U.S. have benefited from cheap "Made in China" goods. The Chinese have been producing all kinds of goods to satisfy Western appetite and have as a result increased its own wealth. However, this wealth came as a steep and irreversible price of polluting its land, air, and water.

After reading that article, I have made a resolution to consume less to minimize our impact to the environment. Basically, we will buy just what we need (not what we want). This may be quite difficult to carry out especially with these e-mail blasts of promotions and beautiful window displays but we will just need to constantly remind ourselves whether we really need something.

Christmas is a season to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But people often forget about the real reason of celebration and focus more on buying gifts. For some people, they buy things that they cannot afford which create additional stress. On the receiving end, people may not always be pleased with what they have received. Over the years, we have been given a lot of stuff and to this day we still don't know what to do with them. There are clothes that are perfectly functional but just not my style. There are vitamins that we don't really eat. They now take up space at home and I get annoyed every time when I see them. To donate them or throwing them out, it inflicted a deep guilt as I know that others spend money in acquiring these items. So the best solution to this dilemma is to advising family members not to give them in the future. Instead of giving gifts, the best thing that we can give is our heart and our time.

So instead of buying your loved ones gifts, how about spending quality time with them? Cook something wonderful for them? Take a walk with them? These invisible gifts will last for many years in their memories!

joy of autumn harvest

As the first frost of autumn is just around the corner, we have to harvest our tiny patch of garden before the vegetables froze. Even though the carrots are ridiculously small, they still bring me lots of joys and laughs (because they are so tiny). Next year, there is only room for improvement - there is no way that the harvest can be worse off than this year. I will work hard to improve our soil condition for next year's garden.

tiny little carrots

carrots' peacock dance - created by Peter

green tomatoes and one tiny squash

a chronicle of 2013 autumn

A chronicle of autumn colors:

September 27, 2013

September 28, 2013

September 29, 2013

September 30, 2013

October 2, 2013

October 4, 2013

October 5, 2013

October 6, 2013

October 9, 2013

October 10, 2013

October 11, 2013

bread baking class @ Le Pain Quotidien

This past Sunday, Peter and I took a bread baking class at Le Pain Quotidien Bleecker Street location. The class was held in a beautiful kitchen with huge panes of glasses to allow sunlight to fill in and passersby to look in. There were 6 students and 2 instructors. The small sized class allowed me to ask tons of questions with the patient and knowledgeable instructors - Dan & Daichi. As the class was just three hours long, the doughs have already been prepared when we walked into the class. During the class, we have learned to work on dough with different hydration and made with whole grains. The easiest to handle by far was the whole wheat dough as it was dry enough to handle easily and had good elasticity to shape it. Focaccia and ciabatta were challenging as they were wet and sticky. We also learned to score the dough and got to operate the oven with the conveyor. I love the steaming capability of the professional bread oven! I wonder if I can ever get a steaming oven for home kitchen. If you want to enhance your bread baking skills, I highly recommend the classes offered by Le Pain Quotidien. At the end of class, you will also get to bring your breads home to enjoy!

rye and whole wheat breads

ciabatta and focaccia

laundry: line dried

Do you line dry your laundry? I didn't until last November after a trip to Germany. During the trip, we have stayed with some German friends and had observed their way of life. We were inspired by our friends to treasure the valuable natural resources. One of the thing was to line dry your laundry instead of using a dryer. Yes, it does take longer to hang the clothes than just throwing them into a dryer. However, I also get the benefit of adding more movements into our sedentary lifestyle. In the summer, the clothes will smell so wonderfully fresh under the sun. In the winter, the damp clothes will provide some moisture to the living space.By drying clothes naturally, we also reduce the energy consumption.  Isn't that wonderful?

beautiful Hudson Valley

Amenia bike trail

This summer we have been making one-day trips in exploring Hudson Valley. There are so many beautiful and quaint villages all within an hour drive from our home. New York Times had an article on how to spend 36 hours in the Hudson Valley. Personally, I don't think that 36 hours are sufficient. So if you have more time available, you may want to spend a few days.

a day at Hudson, NY

a small chapel in Hughsonville (New Hamburg)

Beacon Falls

Garrison with a view of West Point

Saugerties

farmer's market at Hudson

Beacon

apple season

Apple season has arrived! We stopped by Meadowbrook Farm last Saturday to pick some apples. Per the farmers at Meadowbrook Farm, the apple season has just started. Right now, there are cortland and mcintosh varieties available. These apples were higher on the trees so we needed to borrow an apple picking tool. These apples are a bit tangy for Peter's taste but perfect for me. Next weekend, there will be more varieties available. So check out your local apple orchard if you love apples.

Obercreek Farm

This year we have signed up for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) with Obercreek Farm. As we have a family of just two plus one little dog, we chose the half-share option which allowed us to pick up vegetables from the farm every other week. The vegetables were wonderful and fresh. I especially loved the "pick your own" part where we got to harvest tomatoes, sunflowers, beans, and herbs directly from the field. It was fun to talk to the farmers that grew them and learned techniques to make my vegetables grow. Have you tried husk tomatoes (a.k.a. ground cherries)? They were amazingly sweet and had texture similar to cherries.  I am going to try to grow this next year in my own garden.

husk tomatoes

Last night there was a pig roast party at Obercreek Farm with live music and fresh vegetables from the farm. We have seen our wonderful farmers there - Sam, Tim, and Rebecca. The setting was so idyllic and beautiful! The event was gathered by farm supporters, some local politicians and some little dogs as well. I have also met my fermentation classmates - Matt and Emily and we had a great conversation about their new chickens that have just arrived. I hope that one day I will be able to raise chicken in Hopewell Junction. 

 

joy of juicing or blending

After we watched Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead on Netflix, Peter has been making juice for our breakfast. Joe Cross had suffered chronic urticaria for about 9 years before he has decided to go on 60-day juicing diet eating nothing but green juice. I had suffered a bad case of idiopathic chronic urticaria as well earlier this year. The disease made me miserable. I am so thankful when my condition had finally improved and I am now completely hives free. It is wonderful to be healthy!

We don't have a proper juicer so we have been blending our vegetables and fruits with our Vitamix blender. The taste may not be as clean as a proper juicer but the fiber content is good for us. What went into the juice this morning were: 

• swiss chard from farmer's market
• apple and celery from Adams
• carrots from Obercreek Farm
• parsley from our garden

Delicious! Thanks to Peter who has been juicing for our health for a month now! He even overcomes his obstacle of getting up early in the mornings on the days when I commute into NYC to give us a healthy start in the morning. What a wonderful husband! Such a simple joy!

joy from our fig trees

tiny fig trees in April 2013

same trees with figs - Aug 2013

We purchased three small fig trees this year from Edible Landscaping. When the trees arrived in April, they were quite small as you can see from the photo on the left. We were not expecting them to be fruitful for a couple of years. Surprisingly, we have now over 20+ figs between the three trees in just 4 months later. I wonder if it is due to the compost that we have added to the pots when we transplanted them. Simple joy from our fig trees!

VA Hospital - appreciation party

2013 Appreciation Party

Peter and LuLu have been volunteering through Good Dog Foundation since 2010. After we have moved back to Hudson Valley, they have been going to VA Hospital to visit patients regularly. Last Friday, there was an appreciation party for all the volunteers. Aren't those wonderful people and dogs that volunteer their times? LuLu had better luck than her mama. She actually won a raffle and got some wonderful new toys and dog treats that were prepared with love by one of the volunteer. What a lucky dog!

Below is a photo of LuLu's official badge when she volunteered at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan. I can't help smiling everytime when I see this photo. LuLu (Dog) Liu!

LuLu's badge @ Beth Israel Hospital

tomato mozzarella salad with arugula and pesto

tomato mozzarella salad with arugula

We have signed up for CSA (community supported agriculture) this year with Obercreek Farm. As we are just a family of three (two people plus a dog), we chose the half-share option which allowed us to pick up the vegetables from the farm every other week.

Last Wednesday, we got fresh tomatoes, arugula, a huge bunch of basil and many other vegetables. Then we stopped by Adams Fairacre Farm afterward to pick up fresh mozzarella cheese and some meats.

After a bite into the vine riped tomatoes, I can finally understand why people are so crazy about summer tomatoes and why people like Alice Waters kept emphasizing eating local. The flesh of vine riped tomato is so fresh and sweet. With our vegetables from Obercreek, I have made this wonderful summer salad. I am definitely signing up for Obercreek again next year.

Recipe: adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

• some ripe tomatoes, sliced
• fresh mozzarella, sliced
• some arugula
• salt (sea salt or kosher salt) & black pepper
• extra-virgin olive oil
• balsamic vinegar
• pesto or chopped fresh basil

1. Wash and spin dry arugula. Lay the arugula on a plate.
2. Place sliced tomatoes on arugula.
3. On top of tomatoes, place sliced mozzarella cheese.
4. Scoop a little bit of pesto on top of mozzarella. You can also substitute pesto with chopped basil leaves.
5. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and black pepper on the salad.
6. Allow the salad to sit for about 10 minutes for flavors to blend in. 

jealousy

These two weeks, we have LuLu's best friend (or boyfriend as some would say), Stanley, staying with us while his family is on vacation. LuLu and Stanley have known each other since they were half a year old. They get along pretty well in general. I am surprised that they have stopped fighting for food.

However, it was hilarious to watch LuLu getting jealous of Stanley. Sometimes while I gave Stanley a back rub, LuLu would come and gently (or sneakily) push her way on me so that she conveniently positioned herself between Stanley and me. So it is true that dogs have emotions like human - in this case, jealousy.

It is wonderful to have Stanley as our guest.

chirashi lunch from Tsushima

Tsushima's chirashi 

If you love sashimi, good value, and you are in midtown Manhattan on a Tuesday morning, head out to Tsushima on 47th Street. It offers chirashi lunch for $16 on Tuesdays. If you are able to grab a seat before noon, you will get the additional benefit of happy hour price of $13 for the same bowl of chirashi. The assortment of fresh fishes are arranged on top of seasoned rice. Hmm... delicious! My favorite pieces are salmon and salmon roes. What are yours? The restaurant gets filled up very quickly. So get there early! 

something to look forward to

This year I will be crossing another decade milestone. I remembered I was so depressed as I crossed the last decade. There was this impending dread as if something bad was going to happen the day that I crossed it. But everything was normal just like the previous decade. This time around I am not as anxious as before. It is because I have something to look forward to.

my anniversary present - rasied garden bed

zucchini sprouts

This year, Peter has built a raised garden bed for me as our anniversary present. I have planted some vegetable seeds and a couple of tomato plants from Adams. Nothing really grew. At first, I thought that I have planted too late (late in May). Three months have gone by and we had just gotten a handful of sugar snap peas and one zucchini. My dentist told me to give him the surplus sugar snap peas. All I could say was that we harvested TWELVE pea pods - that would be six each for Peter and me. He then just laughed and told me to get myself a green thumb. After 3 months, shiso leaves and carrots are still tiny like seedlings. One tomato plant bore some green tomatoes and the other one had a couple of flowers. So needless to say, I was a bit disappointed. It turned out that the soil for the garden bed was not right - it looked more like mulch than a combination of soil and compost.

I have dug in some garden soil and planted mustard greens and bok choys last week as my Fall crops. They have sprouted and are looking healthy. Perhaps we will get some vegetables from our garden in the Fall after all. I will just need to make sure the worms do not clean them out.

At the end of this season, I am going to mix in some cow manure and compost into my garden to prepare for next year's growing season. I have plans to start seedlings indoor in January. Even though January and February are very cold here in Hudson Valley, I will have fun growing projects to look forward to! Next year I am going to do better with my vegetable gardening!

full house

This is the week before Labor Day week. A lot of people we know are traveling before school starts in September. We have Stanley (an Australian Silky-Hair Terrier) with us for two weeks as his family is traveling in Southeast Asia. In the next day or two, we will get two Beta fishes from two different families that are going on vacations. These two fishes will need to be in different locations of house so that they don't get stressed out by each other. We will also need to help one family with caring of indoor plants. With LuLu, Stanley, and two fishes, it will be a full house!