last night we went to my brother's house and made dumplings! i love the idea of making this dumpling fest an annual tradition. it's lots of fun to make together and quite a tasty outcome at the end.
last time we made dumplings with my in-laws when they were here for (american) new year's. i gravely mis-remembered the number of skins in a package and so i hastily made the dough from memory - and they were great! we thought they tasted better than the package skins, and were easy to make. just mix about 2 parts of flour to a bit less than 1 part of hot water, and now you have dough for dumpling skins! it's also the same dough for scallion pancakes, so i tried my hand at it. you just roll out some of this dough, paint with oil (i sprayed), sprinkle with scallions and a touch of salt. then you fold it into thirds, roll up, then put the roll on its side and flatten out - this is how the flaky layers are made. then you fry in a decent amount of oil and have a tasty pancake!
the first couple were not so good. the first time i tried to be healthy and spray the pan. doesn't cook the pancake all the way through - you need to pour the oil in, though you don't need a ton either. the second i rolled too thin, and it was like a chip (albeit a tasty one).
next time i will have the butcher grind the pork for me. i was in a hurry this time, and i think the texture/taste suffered. my sister-in-law's dumplings were far better, partly because she had done this.
the kids liked playing with the dough. well, boo liked playing with the flour. this picture doesn't do justice to the sheer amount of flour on him.
my nephew was genuinely helpful, though. here he is demonstrating the roll! most of the time we had him portioning out the dough and rolling into a ball for DH to roll out. he made a couple of dumplings of his own - including a "death star" dumpling, which actually looked remarkably like a land cruiser.
he also demonstrated his impressive dance moves when phil collins "sususudio" (how do you spell that?) came on, inspired by "so you think you can dance." there were also some interesting acrobatics.
near the end of the year, we met my brother and his family for a dinner at bob chinn's. we shared a 5 pound whole alaskan king crab! they bring it to your table before cooking it. here is my nephew's reaction.
the crab was sweet and delectable. the last time i ate there was a couple of years ago, and i ordered a pasta entree. bad choice. too salty and the flavors and textures were all off. not sure if they've had a chef change, or if it's just better to order the unadulterated seafood (which probably would make sense at a place like this), but it was much better at this visit. we did share another entree - the sea bass, cooked "asian style" with black bean sauce garlic and scallions. it was awesome and very well done.
boo is taking one of his increasingly rare naps (last month he came up to me during an alleged naptime and announced, "mommy, i don't like naps."), allowing time for posting a few more photos.
with all the snow and cold we mostly hung out at home with all the relatives in town. somehow, between cooking and making wedding invitations and last minute christmas gifts, it still seemed like a full slate. anyways, one of our few trips was out to check out the museum of science and industry. every year they feature several dozen christmas trees from around the world. here are a few of my favorites.
sweden - with its straw ornaments:
norway, appearing rather similar:
japan, with its strings of origami cranes and ornaments. maybe we'll do some origami ornaments next year.
canada - a shout out to rosemary :)
there was none from taiwan, and the one from china was kind of spare. they did have some neat paper phoenixes, though.
we went on the coal exhibit (our new membership definitely came in handy, as we were able to completely bypass the 1hr+ line) which involves a dark elevator ride down, dark tunnels, and lots of loud machinery. boo was not a big fan. this was his expression through most of the exhibit. afterwards, he said "that was a little scary. not a lot scary, but it was a little scary."he enjoyed the farm exhibit much more.
we also did a "quick" run around the massive U-submarine. much too big to photograph, but here he is with the anchor.
family photo!
and a couple more random photos from the visit. here, boo is illustrating how he is trying to be more helpful these days ... here he is helping grandma peel a ton of garlic for her pasta dish.
during one of the (increasingly rare) naptimes, here is the family pitching in assembly-line style to make A's wedding invitations! i was going to post a picture of the invite itself, then i realized that i'm trying to limit the amount of identifiable information posted on this blog. it really is a lovely invite. 
on the bottom is a layer of reddish-purple metallic/shimmery cardstock; then a layer of gold scroll opaque-ish vellum; then the text is printed on a slightly sparkly cream colored paper in zapfino and copperplate fonts. a thin moss green ribbon goes around the top left and the bottom right corners. the rehearsal dinner invite is printed in copperplate on the same cream paper, and then mounted on the moss green cardstock. the envelope is the matching moss green, and has a cluster of grapes stamped/embossed in a shimmery reddish purple on the back.
i didn't take as many food photos as i normally do. which is good, because i was more busy eating / living than taking photos. but a shame in that i will probably forget what i/we made and will probably re-invent the wheel next year. i do wish i'd taken a picture of 11 folks sitting down to hotpot with two pots going. 
this is christmas eve dinner: a honey baked ham, homemade dinner rolls with caramelized onions, sweet potato bread, and wonton soup.
notes to myself:
- christmas day dinner: cod with potatoes, peas, and white sauce; taiwanese ricestick; jello salad; oh my i'm going to have to write the rest later when i remember.
- the day after christmas: hotpot / shabu shabu
we had the pleasure of hosting DH's family over the holidays. i love a full house, and boo revels in all the attention. one of his favorite things is having storytime with grandma. she takes such wonderful time with each page and really has a conversation with him about what's happening at each part of the book. it makes me feel a bit guilty about speeding through the books sometimes. i noticed that he really blossoms when he can talk about what's going on, though, so i resolved to be a better reader with him this year.
on christmas morning boo and i and grandma were the only ones awake for hours. uncles G and E had arrived at 3am, with grandpa and grandma driving to the airport for G; and daddy had to work the night shift. it was kind of funny, though, boo didn't appear particularly anxious to open the christmas presents. probably because it hadn't sunk in yet that christmas day was the day to do it. grandma and i were super excited, though, so boo opened just his stocking while waiting for everyone to wake up.
he painted with auntie A for a bit too.
then the wreckage began.
here he is helping to deliver presents. (with the two uncles modelling hats that i'd knitted)
grandma and auntie A made a fabulous quilt for uncle G. two years ago they made one for DH, last year was uncle E, and this year was G's turn. it's made with all the treasured t-shirts from his past, arranged by A's fine visual design eye, pieced by grandma, and hand quilted by both.
yup, waaay behind. that's what happens when you do not follow the words of the "yarn harlot," one of my favorite knitting authors:
"Get yourself a list. I can't stress the planning and neurotic oversight enough. There must be a list. The list must be carefully considered. The list must be constructed weeks in advance when there is no pressure or panic. The list must be revered. My list contained 15 items to be knit before Christmas. The list is now sealed. Nothing will be added to the list during the execution phase, for that way lies madness."
i added. and added. and added. and so i was up late for many evenings before christmas, christmas eve (and even christmas itself, for someone who was arriving later) madly knitting. so no picture posting till the dust settled.
here is the obligatory santa picture. we checked out the santa brunch at nearby lamb's farm. darling and fun - they had a little craft area where he could make a little sand ornament (a huge hit, since two activities in his all time favorite list is scooping and funnelling), put a little foam bookmark together, and of course sit on santa's lap. he told him that he wanted a big slinky and a little present. when pressed, at one point he said he hoped his little present would be full of trains.
earlier in the week, while doing a return at the nearby mall, we ran into a santa with no line (!) at the bass pro shops. (i like to take him there to check out the massive fish, waterwheel, and waterfalls.) he told that santa the same thing - the kid's consistent. i then rapidly steered boo away from the crossbow shooting booth as well as the chance to test out the riflery on rudolph.
my nephew was genuinely helpful, though. here he is demonstrating the roll! most of the time we had him portioning out the dough and rolling into a ball for DH to roll out. he made a couple of dumplings of his own - including a "death star" dumpling, which actually looked remarkably like a land cruiser.
