Malaysian/Singaporeans Kaya

Kaya means "rich" in Malay. It's also a thick, sticky, custardy jam made with coconut milk, sugar, and eggs.
I first tried this amazing stuff a few years ago when I visited Singapore with a friend. It's usually served with coffee boiled over a gas stove sweetened with condensed milk, shmeared perfectly on toasted white bread, and  topped off with thick butter pads.

It's also usually served with soft boiled eggs.
This is a common breakfast, snack, or treat.
It's just like the name--rich.
It's sweet, but nutty, and the combination of runny egg and coconuty buttery-ness and the crunchy toasted bread with a gulp of perfect coffee is just to die for. I crave this and have searched for recipes. It was disappointing when they all called for things that were hard to find or just TOTALLY time consuming (about 2 hours of constant stirring!)

Today I went to the local Asian Market and found Coconut spread. It was Thai--but I thought maybe it was something like the loved Kaya. I opened it in excitement upon returning home and noticed it was more like coconut caramel. It smelled caramelly and tasted it too. Would be GREAT on ice cream! But I wanted Kaya. I looked up some recipes and found a great one at Kitchen Tigress for a nice 10 minute one. I also found many more for the original and tweaks on the original and 30 minute ones and so on.
I wanted a 10 minute one that I could make using this Coconut spread, cause I didn't have coconut milk or pandan leaves. I had eggs. I had coconut spread. So I improvised.

If any Malaysians or Singaporeans happen upon my recipe, please forgive me for this sacrilege. I love Kaya, and while I admit this is not the true Kaya, it is a good replacement in the event of only having these ingredients available. Please, don't hate me. It's for the love all that is kayaaaaaaaaaaaa! I truly respect those that have the patience to sit over a pot for 2 hours stirring the real thing. If you've never tried Kaya and don't have access to it, this is a great substitute.

So, introduction and apologies complete, here's my recipe that also takes approximately 10 minutes.

Here's what you need:

coconut spread and 3 eggs

toasted coconut, you can toast it in the microwave

and:

a small pot

a whisk or spoon, I used both!

1. First, separate the yolks from the whites. You will only use the yolks. So you can make some meringue or fluff or some something that only needs whites...I just scrambled 'em up and gave 'em to my happy doggies.

2. Place about 4 tbsp of coconut spread in a small pot. Keep it on low the whole time. If you wanna turn up the heat toward the end, never put it above medium low and DON'T leave it alone.

 3. Let it get warm and melty. Don't let it boil.

4. When it's warmed and melty, temper your eggs by adding a small amount at a time of the caramel to the bowl of eggs. This keeps it from curdling. OR you can forget like I did and add the egg directly to the caramel and hope it doesn't curdle. and whisk it nicely. Mwahahahaah.

5. Yumm-o. Let it cook. It'll thicken up in a minute or two. Or three.

 6. You should be able to part your caramel sea. 

 7. Grab your coconut. It must be toasted. You can add as much or as little as you want.

It's not required.

 8. Poach or boil up an egg or two. Butter your bread. Toast it up. Slather your lovely all over that buttery bread.

Cut it in half.

Enjoy. 

It's great dipped in that yellow runny stuff.

Serve with sweet creamy coffee for best results.
It'll store in your fridge about a week.
 

 You have to make this. Now!

Happy Thanksgiving

In America this is a huge holiday, and I've always loved it, not just for the food, but the fellowship with family and friends. The whole point of the holiday is remembering to say "Thank You", to God, to loved ones, to the people who work hard to keep your life smooth.
In China this holiday is widely unknown and uncelebrated. Those Chinese who have foreign friends are familiar with it and if the foreigner has a kitchen and oven and can cook decently, the Chinese friend may have tasted some of the holiday spread. But "Thank you" doesn't seem to be as widely used in China. With Judy, my tutor and best friend, she's like, "You never have to thank me.We're friends. It's just what friends do."
Regardless, as a believer and an American, I try to give thanks every day. Recently it's been more difficult with the stress, but we're to give thanks in every situation, so I've tried to continue being thankful in the midst of it all.

Here's my list:

1. I'm thankful that in any situation, God is involved.

2. I'm thankful that God has control. I'm not at the wheel in life because He's the Captain and I don't have to worry as much. I know I'm in good hands. I still worry a little, but there is always a peace that comes when I totally hand it over to Him.

3. I'm thankful for friends here in China. They always seem to call or text just in time when I'm about to lose it, and they help keep me sane. I love my friends. Life would be so dull without them, too. I also am thankful that they know they can call me when they need help--it's not a one way relationship--it's involved. They know I'll do my best to help them in any way, whether it's helping them with English, or just listening to them when they're sad, or when they are in a new place and need someone to just help keep them sane!

4. I'm thankful for my students. I've grown to love them even when they do drive me a little crazy. They're fun, and have a lot of personality, and they're smarter than they credit themselves. They do tire me out, but they're worth the work and research I've had to do to teach them.

5. I'm thankful for my family. Without their constant encouragement, prayer, support, and feedback, I think I'd crumble. Living overseas is a big deal, but they've never put me down or said, "No, that's not what you should do." They believe in me, they love me, they lift me up, they're my biggest fans and I can't thank them enough or even find the words that will properly express my gratitude to them for all they've done. Stephen sometimes I'm thankful that your job wakes you up in the middle of the night and that it gives you a chance to call. I'm glad you think to call me when you're driving and needing to stay awake. While I'm here at least. :) Cause it's almost always when I'm awake and wanting to talk too! Tricia, I'm thankful you've been keeping in touch more. I really look forward to your calls and enjoy the talks.

6. I'm thankful for loving support from ch's back home. I know there are many back home loving and praying and supporting both me and my family. I don't have to worry about my family as much as they're going thorough health issues, surgeries, and recoveries, because I know God has covered them with His blessings in the form of people who love them dearly. God really knew what He was doing when He moved my family to Chandler. The love of this ch family is what we are supposed to be like. Always will to help, to share, to give, to visit, to listen, to pray, to lend a shoulder, to walk not just one extra mile, but the whole journey. Supporting and caring for my family is a huge part of supporting me. I can't say thank you enough.

7. I'm thankful for my extended family. Grandparents- two wonderful sets who LOVE LOVE LOVE God, who encourage me in the Spirit and have always wanted the best for me. My Uncle David and Aunt Angie and their family- Uncle David your excitement over the last few years for this kind of work has inspired me in new ways. Your excitement is spreading to those around you too. Amber the recent changes in you have also been a blessing. I am anticipating "meeting" you again! And little Bennett too. (BTW, I BRAG on him all the time to friends, English Corner, renren the Chinese facebook, and even to my classes :)  Aunt Rene you've been through a lot more than you should have suffered the last year, but you've stayed strong and grown even more. I admire you and am praying for a better coming year. I love you all so much!

8. I'm thankful for my dog, Mahu. He's really a gift from Dad. I tell people that. God gave Mahu to me. He always makes me laugh and smile, and I love that he plays with his toys just so he can get a nice back scratch in the end. (He picks up a toy, squeaks it a few times, I get it and throw it, he brings it back once or twice but he's gotten to where he won't fetch anymore than that cause he comes over to me and does his little "back scratch" dance.) I love his adorable run. It makes everyone watching happy. He can't run and not give smiles to everyone within 50 meters. He's my baby he knows it. He helps me make friends. Everyone in the community knows him! Random people I don't even know will come up to him and say "Hi Mahu!" and I'm like, "How do you know his name?" Haha.

9. I'm thankful for the last year. It was hard, stressful, tiring, and a challenge. Working for a college teaching the lowest level students in the entire University with no materials and no help of any kind and no communication with leaders with low pay is far from ideal. But, I've learned so much, and compiled a decent collection of lesson plans if I ever get to teach older groups again. I never went without, and have even managed to save a good bit despite the low pay. I've gotten to meet some great students, some of which I plan to keep in touch with even after my time is done here in this school.

10. I'm thankful for the two Chinese teachers I've gotten to know the last few months. They reached out to learn from me (amazing, eh? I'm a new teacher myself, but they still wanted to learn from me! And they wanted to use the materials I'd worked to put together. Wow. Big deal.) Helen and Tina are sweethearts, and I want to continue our friendship and keep in touch with them.

11. I'm thankful for Adventures in Odyssey. From as far back as I can remember, I've listened to AIO. I've fallen in love with the characters (literally. God, where is MY Wooten?!) and have learned so much, from history, to Bible, to random silly facts. Life wouldn't be the same without AIO. I've laughed and cried and even gotten angry and sad as I listen to the characters stories unfold. They're like best friends. When Hal Smith died  (first voice of Whit) I cried.  When Paul Herlinger died (the second voice of Whit), I cried then too. When Walker Edmiston died, (the voices of Tom Riley and Bart Rathbone) I cried again. It's been such a huge part of life, I think if Katie Leigh (Connie) or Townsend Coleman (Jason Whitaker and the 7-Up dot), or Jess Harnell (Wooton),  or Will Ryan (Eugene), came over to visit at my house, Mahu would be just as excited because he knows their voices so well from years of listening to them!

 12. I'm thankful for God's Word. It gets me peace, conviction, truth, guidelines, correction, training, and everything it says it's useful for in 2 Tim. 3:16。

13. I'm thankful for the opportunity God has given to stay in China. He provided a job for the future and I'm excited to give it a try and learn and grow and stretch myself even more. I'm looking forward to the challenge of high-energy classes teaching kids.

14. I'm thankful that the new job will provide housing, and will help find off campus/in town housing for me.

15. I'm thankful that I have foreign friends here to celebrate the holiday with. I'm not going to have to celebrate alone or so differently.

16. I'm thankful that I have like-minded friends to fellowship with each week.

17. I'm thankful that even when I return, I'll have people to fellowship with each week. He won't leave me out to dry!

18. I'm thankful for heating. The school took a few weeks getting it on, but since then I've slept well and stayed pretty healthy.

19. I'm thankful that I got to see snow! Twice!

20. I'm thankful that I'll be home in time for Christmas with family. Maybe I'll bring some snow home with me. But not so much that it's too dangerous for everyone to travel to see family!

21. I'm thankful that I have access to butter to make flaky pie crust for my pecan pies. :)


22. I'm thankful for all the great things God has done in my life this year. I can't name them all here on a list. But He's blessed in so many ways. I'm thankful that He saved one of my close friends, that He's working on others. That He's taught me new things and carried me through the hard times. God is good--all the time. I'm thankful for that.



Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.
感恩节快乐！
gǎn'ēn jié kuài lè!

So I haven't posted in a little while. I've been busy...cooking yes, but also many other things...planning classes, preparing and grading tests, having parties, and so on. Here's a recipe from a recent event with just me, Julie, and her BF XL. It was a hit.

And it's healthy.

And Oh-My-Stars good.

Protein packed Lasagna
pretty red tomatoes, rough chop
salt
pepper
olive oil
garlic, minced
any filling veggies like onion, olive, bell pepper, mushroom, spinach... diced
soft tofu
cheese, shredded, any kind you want.
lemon juice
basil
italian seasoning
some water
noodles, not cooked
ground meat, seasoned with s&p, garlic, par-cooked.

in a saucepan, cook down the tomato with only a few dashes of salt. when they start brightening and browning, add in the diced veggies, garlic, more salt, pepper, basil, italian seasoning, oil, and a bit of water. let simmer on low. Preheat oven to 375F/175Cish.
in a medium sized bowl, combine about  1/2 c to 1 cup shredded cheese, tofu, basil, lemon juice, s&p, garlic, and olive oil.mix well.
in an oven pan, put a spoonful or two of sauce on the bottom. layer noodles. then continue layering a good helping sauce, cheese, tofu mix, meat, noodles, sauce, tofu mix, meat, cheese. Don't be skimpy on the layers.

Cook about an hour to an hour and a half. Let rest 30 minutes if you can wait that long.
The noodles will cook in the sauce juice, so no need to precook.
I don't have measurements cause I eyeball and taste everything as I cook. Prolly why I'm never hungry when it's actually time to eat. But trust me, I had room for a nice serving of this deliciousness.

 Partially cook it.You can also leave this out and just use mushrooms. If you roll that way.

 Get them tomatoes roasty! I used cherry cause they were prettier than the big tomatoes.

 

Ok, I only did tofu cause Ricotta isn't available here. But seriously, it takes on the flavors you put in it. So make the most of it and enjoy something different but JUST AS GOOD (Yes I realize some will consider this statement sin.)

 We devoured a 6 serving pan. Very quickly. This is a must try, especially if your family thinks they don't like tofu. Prove them WRONG with a family favorite. It's also fast.

I'll post some Chinese food recipes tomorrow evening.

Hope you all give this fabulousness a taste!

Poetry

I'm studying up on poetry for my upcoming Reading and Writing class. Shel Silverstein was brilliant. I love this one:

Ations - by Shel Silverstein
If we meet and I say, "Hi,"
That's a salutation.
If you ask me how I feel,
That's consideration
If we stop and talk a while,
That's a conversation.
If we understand each other,
That's communication.
If we argue, scream and fight,
That's an altercation.
If we later apologize,
That's reconciliation.
If we help each other home,
That's cooperation.
And all these ations added up
Make civilization.


Theres countless more. My favorite poem as of late though is Tyger, by WIlliam Blake.

The Tyger

by William Blake

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies

Burnt the fire of thine eyes?

On what wings dare he aspire?

What the hand, dare sieze the fire?

And what shoulder, & what art,

Could twist the sinews of thy heart?

And when thy heart began to beat,

What dread hand? & what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?

In what furnace was thy brain?

What the anvil? what dread grasp

Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,

And water'd heaven with their tears,

Did he smile his work to see?

Did he who made the Lamb make thee?

Tyger! Tyger! burning bright

In the forests of the night,

What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

Happy Day! It's packing day!

I'm starting to clean up the hotel I've been staying in for 27 days (minus the 6 in Tianjin), and packing up my things. The worker said the old place will be done tomorrow (I'm really hoping!). I checked yesterday and they'd worked on the electricity, so my living room light works, and the hall light is sort of working. My living room outlet and the refrigerator outlet still aren't working (Kitchen one went out AFTER I moved out....hope they get it fixed today. May be cause they turned off the circuit its on to repair the exposed wiring in the living room and they're on the same one.)
So besides that, the only other MUST fix is my door lock. Not sure why thats the last thing they're fixing but as long as they get it done it's no problem. I've been checking up on the place and my stuff and not noticed anything missing.
So I'll move back in tomorrow afternoon or evening. I'm not staying at this hotel longer than I have to. It's nice but it's a hassle and it's not home. And it's not got Mahu.

I go visit him every day and take him on walks. Every day, street dogs and owned dogs approach Mahu and follow him around. They play, or try to haha, but Mahu ultimately ends up ignoring them. But he does notice when they leave cause he gets a spring back in his step!

I have pictures of one of the dogs that likes to play with him but can't access them at the moment because my phone is being stupid. But as soon as I can get the pictures off my phone--they'll be here.
I need to go eat--maybe Cheerios. If my milk is cold. I have it sitting in my window. Hopefully it's gotten cold enough and not too much sun.

Everyone needs a little Latin Lovin'!

Judy and I finally got to try out the Spanish food Restaurant, Aulare! It was amazing.
 It's in a shopping area, so it's a fun area to walk around and soak up a little sun. Then up the stairs and we were welcomed by danceable Latin music.

That open door is to the Kitchen.

We were greeted and immediately seated by a friendly English speaking staff.

The environment was upbeat, classy, with a dash of fun in the air. It also smelled nice and clean.

Restful colors. But still fun!

We opened the menus and were surprised how affordable everything was.

They had a good selection of tapas. While we decided what we wanted, they brought a complimentary plate of fresh sliced, cold, crisp carrots and cucumbers with Thousand Island.

We decided on Meat Carrot, and Potato Empanadas.

At first glance, I was wondering why there was no sauce to dip them in. 

Upon first taste, I knew no sauce would benefit them. They were delicious and juicy on their own, needing no extras.

They were fried to perfection, the crust not too thick. The saucey meat inside made me think of a kind of Spanish meat sauce that would be good on noodles--a little like a spiced up marinara sauce maybe? But it was delicious. (20-25RMB)

We also chose Nachos Aulare. (25?Rmb)

 The chips, I'm pretty sure, were homemade. These were covered in cheese, jalapenos, olives, bell pepper, and I think a little onion. They were baked, and a few chips got a little done while melting the cheese, but they still tasted good! Judy loved the jalepenos and kept searching for more hidden under the cheese. She also said she thought they were a little dry and needed some kind of sauce -- she'd love Mexican nachos with sour cream, guacamole, and finished off with salsa. 

She also reallllly wanted soup. They had 4 to chose from. She got the 3 mushroom soup. I tasted it and it was really good. Full of flavor, a touch of cheese. Nice, filling bowl of YUM. (20RMB)

I got Chipichipi soup--tomato based with clams....like...8 clams floating beautifully in thick flavorful tomato broth with red and green bells. (25rmb) It was served with 2 slices of bread. With all the other food we got, I didn't eat but half of a piece.

I could go back for a bowl of this for dinner. If I was at all hungry!

For the main course, I'd read online about how great their Paella was. 

We got the Seafood Paella for 2. (128 rmb)

It came out steaming and ah...the saffron wafted through the air and made it's way to our nostrils as our eyes beheld the beautiful still-sizzling rice...it was like art. It had 4 mussels, a load of clams, and about 10 whole shrimp. They served it with some lemon wedges to spritz the seafood if you so desired.

Confession:  This is the first paella I've ever tried.

Another confession: I'd eat it again any time.

Total cost: 223 RMB

Grade Overall: A

Environment: A

Cleanliness: A 

(The bathroom was sparkling!)

Service: A

Judy was like, wow, the manager is making sure everyone is satisfied and that we never run out of water. Shes making sure everything is kept clean! This is the way a restaurant should be handled. Our food came out quickly and hot, and in good order.

Food quality: A

The ONLY complaint is that the shrimp was whole...head and skin and all. Peeling it was a bit of a pain and turned my fingers yellow from the saffron. They're still yellow 3 hand-washings and 4 1/2 hrs later.:) But it was really clean looking and tasting shrimp. It all tasted great. We will definitely come back next time we travel to Tianjin. And I want to take my Tianjin local friends there too!

We left full and happy.

If you're ever in Beijing, hop on a bullet to Tianjin and check this place out. 

They are open Monday-Sunday, 11-9.

Aulare - Urban Latin Restaurant
Binshui Xi Dao, Magnetic Plaza, A4, Floor 2. Nankai District, 

Tianjin 300381, China
中国 天津市 南开区宾水西道 时代奥城广场 A4座 2 层

Just print this out and keep it with you. The taxi driver will need the Chinese.

I forgot I had a blog!

I've never been a good blogger. I like doing my monthly newsletters, but blogs seem a little more like a chore to me. Strange since I love writing. Strange since I'm living overseas and experience "exciting and new adventures" almost daily. But once you've lived overseas for over 2 years, every day really isn't so much of an adventure. It's just life. You get used to the stares, the uniquely accented "普通话"/Mandarin, you become "just another person" at the places you frequent (which I'm PERFECTLY ok with, I've never liked the overt attention some people lavish on foreigners on first meetings.), and life and it's little quirks here in China become like life's little quirks in any country.
All that said--traveling with a Chinese friend for the first time over October holiday HAS been an interesting new adventure.
She has classes all day--except for the 3 hours she has for meals and the 5 hours she has for sleep.
 Her parents told her to take break from the strain of classes and go have some fun at least 1 afternoon. Today we went for Italian food at a Venezia Italian Restaurant in Tianjin, in the Italian Concession Section of the city. This street really felt like a walk through Rome rather than through Northern China.

 Judy loved the architecture. She said it all was so pretty and old!

We split a Vegetable pasta dish. It was well seasoned and really enjoyable. About 56RMB a plate.

We also shared a Pepperoni and mushroom Pizza. Really not as good as we expected...lacked seasoning and flavor. But the crust was nice and crisp, not too thick like is common in Chinese pizza places. Service was a lot faster than we expected too, especially since it still qualifies as "holiday". I think this was between 50-60RMB, for a 9in. pizza. Pretty good price for pizza in China.

Total Cost: about 160 RMB

Environment: A

Judy loved the feel--was like being in a classy old home.

Cleanliness: A

Service: B

We had to call the waitress standing right next to us about 5 times to get the bill. She was watching TV. Everything else was fine.

Quality: B

The pizza crust and the cheese were good, the pasta was good, but the pizza lacked much actual flavor.

Overall: B+

Judy thought it was a little expensive for what we got. I agree, especially since I could make everything we had for at least half the price we paid.

Then we went to NanshiJie--Food street. We got a few snacks and explored all the different kinds of Tianjin snacks that she'd never seen before. She loves food, especially snacks, so she really enjoyed exploring here.
We also went to the NanjingLu Carrefour, a big foreign supermarket that was actually a pretty big disappointment. The ones I've visited before had a huge selection of foreign things, and a great selection and affordable prices on other things. This one was dinky and small. Oh well, win some lose some.
It was right across from Subway, which Judy also loves. So, we got another Subway sandwich to take back to the hotel with us for when we were hungry again.
We got back to the hotel and spent 2 or 3 hours chatting and laughing and snacking. She does have class till 12am, so she headed out and back for class a little after 7.

Judy is one of my best friends.
She wants to travel together every year, just NOT over October holiday when EVERYONE is traveling. haha!


If you want a decent meal and a nice environment, you should try this place out.

Venezia Italian威尼斯酒吧
天津河北区意大利风情街自由道48号 
It's near the Marco Polo Fountain in the Italian District, across from the Beer Restaurant. :)


So, I guess this will conclude my first post. It only took 2 years! :)