GZ Tai-Tai

Hot Lunch at Home / Macaroni and Cheese

One of the best memories I have as a child was when we lived in Michigan. Our school was close enough to walk home for lunch. This meant that I could come home have a hot lunch and see my Mommy. My Mom did not disappoint either she would always have something nice for us to eat. I was in the third grade at the time and my favorites were tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich and the other favorite was macaroni and cheese. In those days I loved Velveeta cheese on my macaroni, what kid didn't love Velveeta? As an adult though the luster or the taste just is not there anymore.

Now as an adult and with more sophisticated taste buds, I came across a recipe one day about 5 years ago when I was living in Oregon it was our first Winter back from our last posting in China. The day was a typical cold rainy, gray, gloomy Saturday that my daughter and I were watching the Food Network and Sara Moulton had the recipe on her show Cooking Live. The recipe is the best I have had and does not disappoint. It has loads of cheese in it and I particularly like the zing it gets from green chili sauce.

So here is the link on the Food Network for my favorite mac and cheese.. It is called Chat n' Chew Macaroni Cheese.

Dinner Dilemma and Pizza

Another dinner dilemma... What to cook? This week has been busy. Monday was spent trying to find a Turkey.... No Thanksgiving is gone. This is a Turkey for our Cooking Club dinner coming up next week. The Turkey was not the problem that source has been worked out. Time was the problem. I never made it to my met man on freezer street. I had to get back to the house to send the driver back in time to pick up Ex-pat husband to bring him home for the evening. I spent too much time in the market buying Christmas lights and looking for an advent calendar for Ex-pat son. I did find one at a nice little shop but they did not have it there only a sample it would be 30 minutes before I could have it...which really meant it would be at one hour in China time. I said forget it and continued my search. I found another shop across the 4 lane road of traffic and this time the shop had more calendars to choose from, the one I really like they said it would take 10 minutes and it would be there... well after 30 minutes it was not.. I said I would come back tomorrow and buy it the woman in the shop said it would be there. ... SO I headed home as it was already 10 past 4:00 and ex-pat son had called and said he did not feel well and was I almost home? I am on my way I said, have a warm shower and put you pajamas on. I got home in time for the driver to get back to the office pick up Ex-pat husband and turn around and come back.

So yesterday I went out with the cooler still in the car and the first stop was the meat man. I bought not one but two turkeys... One small and one big. The small one will be dinner when Ex-pat daughter is visiting over the holiday perhaps for New Years day. Then back to the market to get that advent calendar , Ex-pat son (9) is really wondering if he will have one as we will not be in Hong Kong until the Advent season is well under way..he is a little worried about this... I always buy him one in Hong Kong. When I got there the woman said they did not have it and the sample was also gone... OK I chose one of the others she had on display and she had them in stock, no waiting so I bought two. One for Ex-pat daughter to enjoy when she is here for Christmas too.

Now It is after 12:00 noon and the driver is getting a little bit upset about his lunch time... Cultural thing with the Chinese... They get grumpy if they don't eat at 12:00 and have a nap.

I was off to the local Park n Shop to buy some inexpensive wine for Swedish Glogg which I will serve next week at the Cookie Exchange I am hosting... Coca Cola for husband is next on the list as this is how he gets his caffeine fix, and we are completely out, and he is grumpy! I also stopped at Aji Ichiban for candies to put in the Advent calendar.

Both Park n shop and Aji Ichiban are chains from Hong Kong but they are carrying mostly local items that the Chinese use. Western goods in Park n Shop is quite limited here in China and can be found on shelving on one wall at the back of the store.

Then I was off to the Australian Market that has western goods, to buy something that goes against my grain.... The horror of it all  boxed cake mixes. I had to bake two cakes for delivery today, to the school for a teacher luncheon. Last year I made a gorgeous Carrot Cake and Cheese Cake homemade... but this year  sorry I have no time...So yes I sunk to a new low and I even bought the cans of frosting to put on top of the cakes! When I got home I baked the cakes in between dealing with Ex-pat son and his homework and helping my helper Ling to fix our dinner. The cakes went into the refrigerator before I went to bed for safe keeping and this morning I frosted them with the canned frosting.

After my Spanish class this morning, I delivered the cakes and was trying to get out of the school canteen as quickly as possible.

I was hoping to drop the cakes and run. I felt very bad, even guilty, of passing off these cakes from a box. Not my standard at all!

I was cornered by one of the Moms that was organizing the lunch this year and she asked what I had, and showed me where to put them.

I confided to her that they were just box cakes and they were iced with can frosting. She was so sweet, she said, It's OK they are cakes and they are chocolate too! I could have kissed her!

Now I could just hurry and drop a couple of items off at two friends homes and just get home before Ex-pat son got home, since today was a short day. Which now leads to the Dinner Dilemma, I still don't know what to fix for dinner tonight and it is heading on to 4:00 in the afternoon.

Pizza... I think I will make Pizza..... That will work and here is the recipe, I use for Pizza dough in my Bread machine and my sauce recipe too.

Here are the Advent Calendars that took so long to find and buy. The beauty of these calendars, is I can refill them each year with sweets of my choosing. This year is an assortment of goodies. 

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving feast was great! We had our Turkey Dinner at Danny's Bagel Italian Restaurant. Danny started out in GZ selling Bagels and sandwiches and then he started doing delivery pizza and other Italian food. It was all strictly delivery until now... He has opened a nice restaurant with great atmosphere, great food and the service is good too. Also there are no critters running around the place like in many of the area restaurants.

Ex-pat son loved the appetizers and had a little turkey and some pasta too. For me it is all about the Turkey (white meat), stuffing, cranberry sauce and floating it all in gravy! It was fantastic! The desserts were nice small pumpkin tarts, brownies and creme brulee all individual size so you could have a taste of everything and not feel guilty. Don't forget the fruit and fruit salads. Beverages were Sodas, beer and coffee and tea.. If you needed a different beverage for a minimal charge you could have the other offerings on the beverage menu.

Congratulations Danny it was a success! I hope you do another one for Christmas, New Years and how about Easter Brunch? Maybe I need to work on Danny about doing breakfasts....hmmmmm....

Don't forget to talk about the things you are thankful for too, and maybe even say a little prayer. I talked about all the things I was thankful for and Ex-pat Son thought I would never stop, but I did eventually.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble Gobble!

Golumpki/Golabki

We always pronounced it Golumpki but when looking for the recipe it is spelled Golabki.. No matter it is the same and it is really good! Even GZ Expat had to agree despite his earlier reservations and complaints of not liking cabbage. He ate it and had not just seconds, but 3rd and 4ths! He even took leftovers for lunch the next day! I caught him talking to some friends and telling them how good it really was too!

Golumpki is stuffed cabbage. Another comfort food of childhood and one that we did not have too often. It does take some time to make so don't be a lunatic like I was and try to do too much! This could be why we did not get it too often when we were kids. Because I remember a feast was prepared with it. No need for a feast as this will be a feast in itself.

Again I have deviated from the recipe, here is what I did.... The original recipe is from Polish Cooking by Marianna Olzewska Heberle.

Sorry no photo.... My Bad!

Pierogies

Sunday was spent cooking Polish food. I started the day out with the sole purpose of making Golabki (Golumpki). Husband made a few comments and whined that he did not like cabbage would I make Pierogies too. I did and he helped out some... I will post the Golabki recipe later.

For the pierogies which I enjoyed very much as a child when my Mom made them or when we went to Ohio and my Great-Grandmother would make them. I was a very small kid then, but I remember her making them, she must have been in her seventies then and she said she was going to have to stop making them because it was a lot of work. Yes, she was right it is a lot of work, even for someone that is much younger than seventy!

As with many old recipes these were lost when she passed away some 30 years ago as they were in her head.I think they are in my Mom's head too, she just needs to write them down for us someday. I have picked up a book quite a few years ago called Polish Cooking by Marianna Olszewska Heberle.. It has been replaced by a newer version than the version I have, I cannot find it on Amazon, so I assume it is out of print. Here is a link for the newer book in print now

The pierogi dough I used is from the book Polish Cooking by Marianna Olszewska Heberle. Although I did deviate a little bit and will try to note the deviations. The filling is from memory of watching Mom.

I will leave you with these websites Pierogies Plus in Pennsylvania , Rosies Perogies also in Pennsylvania, Supreme Perogies in Mississauga, Ontario Canada. Now you can have a look and maybe even order some to be delivered to your door. As I doubt they will ship these little beauties to me in China.... I will occasionally have to make them.

Lentil Soup

The other night when we had the Corn Bread and Soup. We had Lentil Soup, so I thought I would post that recipe.

This recipe is from a German friend that lives here and it is one of the recipes that our helper makes for us. Unfortunately I am not that happy with the photo but here it is anyway. The soup is very good even if the photo is not..... I guess some food, as some people, are not as, photogenic as others.

Corn Bread

Last night was comfort food night for me. I love soup in the Autumn not that our temperatures in Southern China resemble the cold November rainy days of Oregon. Thank God! I really hate that weather day in and day out. I hate wearing a lot of clothes. Strappy tops and Levi's or Capri pants is my uniform in November here in China. Yet I long for the occasional bowl of soup or chili, and a nice sweet, golden square of Corn Bread with butter and honey.

When I was growing up Tom's Pancake House had the best corn bread.  Dad and Mom would take us there for breakfast after Church on Sunday mornings. We all loved it! My brothers would usually order Waffles or Pancakes with loads of fruit topping and whip cream. I got hooked on the Country Omelet with corn bread instead of toast. I still love this for breakfast when I visit Oregon. The corn bread was sweet but not so sweet that you could not add the honey butter that they served with it. Over the years I searched for a recipe that was close to the recipe that they were making at Tom's. I finally found it on the back of a box and clipped the recipe and, I keep it safely with my other treasured recipes.

When visiting Oregon this summer we ate at Tom's quite a few times. The corn bread was hit and miss though, but I remember Dad saying that the corn bread lady had retired. I think she left the recipe because on the good days the corn bread was great, on the other days it was not up to par. Like anything I think your heart needs to be in it, on those days that the corn bread was not up to par I think the new corn bread maker did not put his/her heart into it.

Here is the link for the "back of the box" corn bread recipe Sweet Corn Bread. It comes off the Albers Corn Meal box.

I still think it is the closest to that childhood memory of good corn bread.

   

Baking Binge

Yesterday was a busy baking day for me. Ex-pat son's school is having a difficult time finding a food provider that does GOOD food for lunch.

Life is always a struggle in China even after so many years and so many changes in those years.

Ex-pat Son and many of his friends have even quit bringing home the school lunch order forms because the food is SO bad! My friend Carla was doing the lunches last year and they were excellent. However the demands of her family had to come first, so this year she is not doing the lunches.

Instead the choices have come to Korean pizza which ex-pat son says is disgusting... He says it tastes like they sprinkle sugar on it and the toppings are not appetizing at all. The other items are pasta and Chinese food. Which is fine but not for everyday. One of my friends was at the school when her daughter had gone to get her lunch at the canteen, she had ordered pizza that day, and it was given to her in a plastic bag. So the pizza was no longer looking like a slice of pizza and no doubt was impossible to eat. Why not put it on a paper plate?

OK.... I can go on and on about school lunches here at our school in China, and the schools in the States. I won't today because it will be a longer rant than I have time for now. Jamie Oliver is doing a great thing in the U.K .

Because the lunches are terrible and Ex-pat son refuses to buy his even for one day. I have been sending him nice things in his lunch. Most days he needs to heat something in the microwave that I have prepared at home for him. We always have leftovers from dinner, so I can make up a nice little meal for him to take to school in his lunch box and heat up in the microwave. I also need to pack a snack for him as his lunch time is quite late. He usually takes two pieces of fruit one for his lunch and one for his snack.  I try to pack a yogurt UHT variety( no spoilage) and a cereal/granola bar, or a muffin of some sort for snack. Whatever he does not eat at snack time, he will eat at lunch with his microwave meal or like today he requested a sandwich.

Yesterday I baked two batches of Banana Bread but made them into muffins I used my usual recipe for Banana Bread which comes from a cook book that our Church did for a fund raiser in the mid 1980's. Some of the best recipes are found in those silly cookbooks. I also used another recipe that was given to me by a friend. I had plenty of bananas that needed to be used up so this was the reason for baking Banana muffins, and we needed muffins for Ex-pat Son's snack.

I also baked Chewy Oatmeal Cookies. A recipe from Nick Malgieri that I found on David Lebovitz's site.  The recipe called for applesauce, I had a couple of apples that were needing to be made into applesauce so while the banana muffins were baking I made applesauce to make the cookies. The cookies are a hit with GZ Expat and Ex-pat Son.

David has an interview with Nick Malgieri on his site today!

Wow David is a man after my own heart! If I wasn't so in love with GZ Expat,  I would have to go and pay David a visit in Paris, a much more civilized city than Guangzhou. I am content visiting his web site and reading about all that lovely chocolate, balsamico, gelato etc. YUM!

I will leave you with both of the recipes for the Banana Muffins/Bread.

Say Thank You

This is the month of Thanksgiving and Thankfulness.

Here is a great way to say Thank You to all those Men and Women serving our Country! That means you and me folks...Those Men and Women are Serving OUR Country, and helping to give the People of Iraq a taste of the FREEDOM, that you and I take for granted each day!

Pop on to  www.letssaythanks.com

You can pick out a card and Xerox will send it to one of  our soldiers serving in Iraq. You cannot pick out who it goes to, but it will go to a member of the armed services. It is free and it takes a few seconds.

Expat Son and I sent our cards this morning. You can even send a personal message like I did.

So be thankful there are Men and Women willing to fight for YOUR FREEDOM and the Freedom of those in our world who have been repressed!

Take a couple of minutes out of your day today, and send a card to one of our soldiers. Show your gratitude.

Spinach Quiche

Here is the recipe that we used for the Quiche that we sold at the Food and Fun Fair table with the Zucchini Muffins.

We made Spinach Quiche and Bacon & Onion Quiche. I always make a meat version for those people that don't enjoy vegetables.( Husband) Although he is getting better at eating different and more vegetables than he ever did when we got married 21 years ago.  I do try to please.

I digress...

I had so many requests for the recipe that I decided to post it. Here is a photo unfortunatley I forgot about taking the photo until the next morning. So more than half of the quiche is gone. Also this is a ham quiche as I didn't have spinach and the boys were having it for dinner. 

I mention in the recipe that I use half sour cream and half plain yogurt. Sour cream is quite thick here more the consistency of spreadable cream cheese. Sour cream is also quite expensive so it is nice to cut the cost a little bit with the plain yogurt. The yogurt also gives the quiche a nice sharpness in flavor.