New Year Reflections

Happy New Year! A year has flown by already! This year has been a crazy year for me, with my husband deployed to Iraq for 7 months. I still remember this time last year when I was trying to squeeze every last moment I can with my husband, because he’ll be gone after the new year. Thankfully, God has been watching over us and he (and his entire unit of 150 marines) came back safe in October 09. We went on a much needed vacation after he came back and now we are getting back to the daily life. Thank you to everyone who had prayed for us during this time!

I wish that everyone will have a wonderful new year!

One Bun, Two Ways

A Cantonese Favorite: 叉燒包 Char Siu Bun and 豆沙包 Red Bean Bun! While most of the Chinese buns that you might see in dim-sum place are steamed, sometimes you might also see them in baked form. It's a yummy snack that I grew up with and so easy to eat while you are on-the-go. Here's my recipe for making them, they both use the same dough recipe and you can put in the filling that you like.

(Makes 12 buns)

Ingredients for Dough:
1 Egg, room temperature
1.5 cups Water @ 80 degrees F
1/4 cup Vegetable oil
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 tsp salt
4.5 cups Bread Flour
3.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast

To Make the Dough with Bread Machine:
1) Put the liquids in the pan in the following order: Egg, water, vegetable oil.
2) Put in the sugar and salt
3) Put in Bread Flour
4) Put Yeast on top of the Flour
5) Place the pan into the Bread Machine, select Dough Program and start.

To Make the Dough without the Bread Machine:
1) Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
2) Assemble the dry ingredients in a large bowl: Bread Flour, sugar, salt.
3) Make a well in the middle of the bowl and place the egg and vegetable oil in the well.
4) Pour in the dissolved yeast mixture.
5) Mix and combine until the dough form into a smooth round ball.
6) Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it doubles in volume.
7) Punch down the dough to deflate it, and reshape the dough into a ball.

*Hint*
1) If you are not using the dough immediately, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Do not let the dough dry out.

Ingredients for (叉燒) Char Siu filling:
(*To make Char Siu yourself, roast 1lb of pork loin in a 350 degree oven for 1 hr, while turning and brushing the meat with char siu sauce every 15 mins)
2.5 cups of Char Siu, chopped
3 Tablespoons of Char Siu sauce (purchase in an Asian market)

Instruction for making Char Siu filling:
1) Combine the Char Siu and the Char Siu sauce together, set aside.

Ingredients for Red Bean filling:
(You can also buy the red bean filling in an Asian market)
2 cups of red beans, soaked in water for 1 day.
1/2 cup of sugar
5 cups of water

Instructions for making the red bean filling:
1) Put the beans and liquid into a pot, and heat oven medium heat.
2) Stir in the sugar.
3) After reaching to a boil, turn down to low heat and slowly cook until the liquid has almost evaporated and the beans have become mushy. (if the water evaporated before the beans are done, add more water and reduce the heat a little more).

Instruction for making the buns:
2) Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
3) for each piece of the dough, flattened the dough into a disk, and place a spoonful of filling inside.
4) Wrap the dough around the filling and pinch it close, and place the dough on the baking sheet (with the pinched side facing down).
5) After each individual bun is made, beat an egg in a small bowl and brush the egg mixture on the top of each bun.
6) If you'd like, sprinkle some sesame on top of the bun.
7) Place the baking sheet with the buns in the oven set at 350 degrees, bake for about 20 mins until the tops are golden brown.

Cute Animals in Iraq




My husband send me this video from Iraq. With all the talks about gloom and danger in Iraq, it's hard to believe that Iraq have something this cute!! I wish my husband can bring back one as souvenir, I'd like one as a pet! (hehe, just kidding)

An update

Wow, I can't believe it's been so long since I have update this blog! I've been pleasently suprised by the numbe of people visiting my blog too, and thank you for visiting and following me!



A lot of things had happened since I have last updated. My husband has been deployed in Iraq. My day job has gotten crazy busy. My cat was seriously sick. Upheval in my church and spiritual life. Hosting foreign student at my home. Snow removal. Yard work. Gardening. Rescuing abandon cats. Friends moving away. A broken pipe in the house. Car problems. House remodeling. All these things have been so time consuming, and emotionally draining at times that I find myself withdrawing and tired out. Meanwhile, my love for crocheting has taken a backseat.



There are still a lot of challenges ahead, but looking forward to the good things to come I have found a renewed strength to continue again. I hope to start creating some new items for my etsy shop soon and get ready for the fall/winter season. Thank you for all your support, it means the world to me. :-)

Remembering our Heros on Medal of Honor Day



Today March 25 is the National Medal of Honor Day, a day dedicated to honor our American heros who has given much to our country. Since many people I know are not aware of this day and are not familar with the meaning of Medal of Honor, I am dedicating this post to these brave heros who deserve much more recognization and respect for keeping our country safe.


What is Medal of Honor?


It is a small 5 pointed star that hangs from a ribbon, and it represents a moment when the recipient ignored fear and danger to perform "a deed of personal bravery or self-secrifice above and beyond the call of duty while a member of the armed forces in actual combat with an enemy of the nation." This award is the nation's highest military award for battlefield heroism. On March 25, 1863, the first Medals of Honor were presented to 6 members of the Andrew's Raiders. Since its creation 3448 medals have been awarded.


Some interesting facts:


What can you do to commemorate this day?

Please take a moment to remember our American heros, and pray for the soldiers who are continuing this fight to keep our country safe.

HomemadeZen 1 year aniversary!

It's been one year since HomemadeZen opened in Etsy! Thanks to your support, HomemadeZen has made 270 sales and 1012 Hearts in the first year! It's been an amazing success and I am very happy to hear that many of you enjoy my amigurumi toys and patterns!

To celebrate, my store will be offering a BOGO sale (buy one get one free) on my crochet patterns from March 8 to March 13! (free pattern must be the same or lesser value) Just specify which free pattern you want on "Notes to seller" during check out. Thanks for the support again and check back often for new crochet patterns and cuties!

-Celia

Shop Announcement

Due to recent travel commitments, all amigurumi softies in my shop will not be for sale until March 8, 2009. I will still be selling my amigurumi patterns in my etsy shop. Thank you for your patience and understanding.