I asked SB if we were on a ship that was sinking and there was only room for one more on the life boat, would he pick me or his computer. He asked me how far from shore we were.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed here. It is a Lunar festival. In the past I would run around with a beautiful fish lantern made out of red, pink, orange, and gold cellophane and at the end of the night all the kids would congregate at the pond in our neighborhood and try to float our lantern candles or create burning wax sculptures on the edge. It was the only time of the year that the management would let us wade into the pond. All the usual six legged water inhabitants would flee for their lives. Those that didn't heed the evacuation warning would be caught and burned.
We tell cultural tales and exchange moon cakes. In Vietnamese culture, the cakes are square, but in Chinese culture they are round. And sometimes treacherous. Chinese have more variety to their moon cakes and that is not always a good thing. I prefer the traditional lotus filled cake with a salted duck yolk in the center (symbolizing the moon).
Actually, I don't really like the yolk but always feel compelled to eat some of it due to nostalgic association. Unfortunately there is another traditional moon cake that is absolutely gross. It is filled with what seems to be bits of ham and fruitcake filling. I cannot find words to describe the feeling as a child when I would bite into a creamy lotus paste cake only to discover that it was instead some chunky candied fruit and ham mixture. Also, there are newer variations with red bean paste, some yellow paste, etc. Whatever happens to be lying around. The ones in the picture were given to SB at work. They have gold on top. Oooh. That's right. We're so well off that we're eating gold.
We also went to a friend's house for dinner. She made several delicious and complimentary dishes. I like the differences in Chinese entertaining. There is a lot of attention payed to separate and individual dishes that go nicely together. In American food we have a palate decorated with a main part of a meat with veggie and starch sides, perhaps separate soup and salad, and then dessert. In this meal there was a refreshing soup, followed by three artfully arranged dishes, not necessarily of one kind. There was one poultry plate, but then there was a fish plate that was cooked with scallions, with its own sauce. Then the vegetables came with shrimp so they could have been their own meal as well. SB and I brought dessert, a black forest cake that we picked up at a Japanese bakery.
I had wanted to make panna cotta but we didn't have time because we were coming from his rugby team's official signing or drafting or whatever it's called. It would have worked. The other thing I have noticed here is that the Chinese like breads to be sweeter than I like. In general the cakes are not especially sweet but all bread and cake is very, very light and spongy. I have heard that Chinese do not like dessert to be especially rich and I have to agree with that observation. You will not find butter cream in cakes here. You will find a lot of fruit and fluffy stuff. SB is not a fan of fruit in dessert with the single exception of apple pie. Not blueberry or peach or anything else. And certainly no warm bananas (my bananas foster was a hit with everyone in his family but him).
After dinner we swilled wine and watched SB play beginner level guitar hero. It is much more entertaining than I could imagine and I will have to be strong and steadfast in my resistance to gaming devices in our own home. He already has too much real stuff without making a virtual collection. I include a picture of his hockey bag to illustrate why we don't have room in our tiny, one bedroom shoebox o' love. I wish there was a way to upload the smell of sweaty, unwashable, sour hockey pads.
The Mid-Autumn Festival has passed here. It is a Lunar festival. In the past I would run around with a beautiful fish lantern made out of red, pink, orange, and gold cellophane and at the end of the night all the kids would congregate at the pond in our neighborhood and try to float our lantern candles or create burning wax sculptures on the edge. It was the only time of the year that the management would let us wade into the pond. All the usual six legged water inhabitants would flee for their lives. Those that didn't heed the evacuation warning would be caught and burned.
We tell cultural tales and exchange moon cakes. In Vietnamese culture, the cakes are square, but in Chinese culture they are round. And sometimes treacherous. Chinese have more variety to their moon cakes and that is not always a good thing. I prefer the traditional lotus filled cake with a salted duck yolk in the center (symbolizing the moon).
Actually, I don't really like the yolk but always feel compelled to eat some of it due to nostalgic association. Unfortunately there is another traditional moon cake that is absolutely gross. It is filled with what seems to be bits of ham and fruitcake filling. I cannot find words to describe the feeling as a child when I would bite into a creamy lotus paste cake only to discover that it was instead some chunky candied fruit and ham mixture. Also, there are newer variations with red bean paste, some yellow paste, etc. Whatever happens to be lying around. The ones in the picture were given to SB at work. They have gold on top. Oooh. That's right. We're so well off that we're eating gold.
We also went to a friend's house for dinner. She made several delicious and complimentary dishes. I like the differences in Chinese entertaining. There is a lot of attention payed to separate and individual dishes that go nicely together. In American food we have a palate decorated with a main part of a meat with veggie and starch sides, perhaps separate soup and salad, and then dessert. In this meal there was a refreshing soup, followed by three artfully arranged dishes, not necessarily of one kind. There was one poultry plate, but then there was a fish plate that was cooked with scallions, with its own sauce. Then the vegetables came with shrimp so they could have been their own meal as well. SB and I brought dessert, a black forest cake that we picked up at a Japanese bakery.
I had wanted to make panna cotta but we didn't have time because we were coming from his rugby team's official signing or drafting or whatever it's called. It would have worked. The other thing I have noticed here is that the Chinese like breads to be sweeter than I like. In general the cakes are not especially sweet but all bread and cake is very, very light and spongy. I have heard that Chinese do not like dessert to be especially rich and I have to agree with that observation. You will not find butter cream in cakes here. You will find a lot of fruit and fluffy stuff. SB is not a fan of fruit in dessert with the single exception of apple pie. Not blueberry or peach or anything else. And certainly no warm bananas (my bananas foster was a hit with everyone in his family but him).
After dinner we swilled wine and watched SB play beginner level guitar hero. It is much more entertaining than I could imagine and I will have to be strong and steadfast in my resistance to gaming devices in our own home. He already has too much real stuff without making a virtual collection. I include a picture of his hockey bag to illustrate why we don't have room in our tiny, one bedroom shoebox o' love. I wish there was a way to upload the smell of sweaty, unwashable, sour hockey pads.
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