The cake that almost got away . . .

 

 

This is "Great Aunt Helen's Pumpkin Cake." Now, Great Aunt Helen wasn't MY aunt, but that's the name of the recipe! I found it in the San Jose Mercury Newspaper in 2002 and I've made it every year since then. I don't really like how pumpkin pie feels in my mouth, so this cake was a great way to have the flavor without the texture.

You've already heard about the frosting incident at the Beijing airport. That was escape attempt #1.

It took me two days to make this cake. My oven is not a standard size oven that can hold two cake layers at a time . . . it's barely bigger than a toaster oven and can only hold one layer at a time. Each layer takes 30 minutes to bake, so the baking time alone is two hours.

I started on Friday and finished on Saturday. Cake had to be completely cool before frosting. Not that difficult. While it was cooling, I made southern cornbread dressing (completely with bacon and chicken), macaroni salad and some rice krispy treats. A potluck with 35 other people takes a lot of food! (Plus, I don't cook very often, so I take advantage of it whenever I can!) All this cooking is on one induction burner and that little oven!

I frosted the cake and stood back to admire it. I took pictures. I packed up all the food, along with the two carafes of coffe and off we went. I was very carefully carrying the cake with a large plastic trash bag over it (with toothpicks stuck in the cake to prevent plastic "stickage"). My family and I carefully got into the taxi.

Taxis are NOT known for their cautiousness in driving. In fact, the opposite is true. We had to go two miles and those two miles were among the most insanely driven two miles I had ever been on. The cake literally was sliding all over itself . . . escape #2! I pretty much plastered my hand to one side of it to keep it from toppling over. I walked into our friend's apartment without removing my hand from the impromptu rescue. I then placed the whole mess on a table, got a knife and went to work.

The repair job was decent and everyone enjoyed seeing a four-layer cake on the desert table. Considering that there were also three pumpkin pies, one apple pie, one chocolate cake, the rice krispies AND the pumpkin cake, I was pretty amazed that half of the cake was gone. We served the other half at sundae club and it completely disappeared.

(Art made sure he got some. Last year, I made a two-layer version and Art waited too late and it was gone before he got any. This year, he ate desert first! I only make this cake once a year so he wants to make sure he can enjoy it!)

Yup, it's cold!

 

After a three-week break (due to pneumonia and extremely frigid temperatures), I started my morning walks again. The temp wasn't too bad . . . about 20 degrees (F) and the wind wasn't blowing. However, I made sure I had my hat, ear warmers, gloves and face mask.

Face masks have evolved into a major fashion item! Just two years ago, they were pretty much all white, with the occasional "gangster" black. This year, you can get all kinds of designs, sequins, rhinestones, etc. Even the guys have a selection now!

At any rate, I walked a mile . . . my lungs still hurt sometimes . . . and it felt great! I'll continue with one mile this week and increase it to two miles next week.

(And yes, I love purple!)

Stoney hearts

 

 

Every day, while walking to and from class, I pass by this little "stoney heart" on the sidewalk. I have no idea how or if this cement was poured accidentally or on purpose, but it serves as a great reminder to me:

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." Love, love, love. That's what it's all about!

The terrorists are winning . . .

 

We took a quick trip to Beijing this weekend to deal with a dental issue. While there, we stopped at a grocery store that carries western food items. I had planned on buying some cream cheese to make frosting this weekend for my annual "Great Aunt Helen's Pumpkin Cake." However, it turned out cheaper to buy the frosting already made . . . plus, I didn't have to keep the canned frosting refrigerated.

Enter the airport. We didn't check any luggage flying in, and didn't want to check any luggage flying out. However, the canned frosting got flagged in security. They didn't know what it was. They took it out of the luggage and Michael panicked . . . "Mommy! They're not taking away the frosting, are they? Mommy? Mommy! WHAT ARE THEY DOING WITH OUR FROSTING?!?!"

I was stressed, but trying to stay calm. Art was trying to take care of the other bags. My ticket got entered into the computer system as someone who had "suspicious" material in their suitcase. The lady put my bag through again and it got flagged again . . . this time, it was the small bottle of spray hair gel. They took that out and kept it. Michael and Rachel were still antsy about the frosting and wouldn't stay away from the table. The lady told me to wait, that she was going to check on it. She put the bag through a third time and this time it passed. The six small bottles of shampoo and lotion were no problem!

Security then took my two cans (plastic tubs, actually) of frosting to a desk, along with my suitcase, to a supervisor to deal with it. The original lady was very kind to me, making small talk about my kids and how lucky I was to have a son and a daughter. I replied that I knew I was blessed, but that at airports, they tended to give me a lot of trouble. I used the Chinese word for "mischevious" and she laughed. She left me at the counter, saying that I spoke Chinese and that the supervisor would have no problem communicating with me.

The supervisor had me open the frosting. She smelled it and wrinkled her brow. I don't think cream cheese frosting is a smell she had encountered before. She then had me taste both tubs. She told me to go ahead and take it, but next time, to check it in.

A simple process to go through security took 20 minutes. Yup . . . the terrorists are definitely winning!

Baby turns 9!

 

I got pregnant with my second child when my first child was only eight months old. To help her prepare for an upcoming baby in the house, my husband and I gave her a doll which she promptly named "Baby." We call her "Baby Cuddles." Rachel has been attached to Baby ever since she got her and Baby definitely shows that she is well loved.

I like birthstone jewelry and always have my eyes open for items that have our four family birthstones in them . . . garnet, amethyst, aquamarine (blue topaz works!) and peridot. Time and time again, Rachel and I would find these four stones . . . plus a fifth one . . . yellow topaz. At age two, Rachel confidently said, "That's okay, Mommy. The yellow stone is Baby's birthstone." I told her that the yellow stone was for November, so she needed to choose a day for Baby's birthday. She chose November 10.

Each year, we celebrate Baby's birthday. Sometimes, I make a cake and sometimes, I simply make a pancake breakfast. This year, Rachel didn't even remember it was Baby's birthday, so she was overjoyed when I woke them up on November 10 with birthday pancakes and a candle glowing in Baby's honor. Michael brought his lovies out as well . . . three pigs and Seamus, his Irish doll.

Needless to say, the entire family enjoyed the celebration meal. We all love Baby and are glad she's a part of our family!

It's a cultural thing . . .

 

In China, one often sits in the front seat of a taxi. Many times, places don't have exact addresses (or the passenger doesn't know the address) so people sit in the front to give directions, etc.

Top five questions asked by a taxi driver to me, the obvious foreigner in the family:

1. "Where are you from?" Not bad, gets boring, but no problem.
2. "How long have you been in China?" Okay, not very creative, but that's the only way you get info . . . asking questions.
3. "How long have you been in this particular area?" Followup to #2.
4. "What do you do for a living?" So far, so good . . . same questions as anywhere else in the world.
5. "How much money do you make each month?"

What? **blink** Did you read that right? Yes, you did. This is an extremely common question here and after over four years, I am still unable to get used to it or to answer it. We do get paid a bit more local teachers (not a huge amount more, but enough), but we don't want that info out there because then we could be known as the "rich foreigners" (which we are not).

I tried giving a lowball round number (more than 1000 yuan) and the taxi driver thought I was insane. He knew I was lying. Well, not actually lying (I do make more than 1000 yuan per month) but that I was being evasive.

Most of the time, I say that it's not an American custom to give out this information. Sometimes, this works, sometimes not. Sometimes, I simply have to say, "I'm not going to tell you."

I'm so tired I could just fall out of bed!

 

 

It's gotten COLD in our neck of the woods at night . . . this morning, we woke up to 18 degrees . . . Fahrenheit! Brrrr. While the heat got turned on yesterday, it wasn't working in the bedrooms. Michael decided he wanted to sleep out on the sofa. He snuggled into his "nest" in his bug blanket (snug as a bug in a rug!) and a fuzzy blanket and quickly fell asleep.

Later, as I was working, I heard some rustling sounds and turned to see that Michael had fallen off the sofa and was on the floor! He never woke up. I took the pictures and left him there. Later, when I checked on Rachel (coughing) and gave her some medicine, I checked on Michael as well . . . he was back on the sofa!

The workmen came today and bled all the radiator lines so now we have full heat in the apartment. We are very grateful and Michael is back in his bed!

Lock on Love

 

 

 

I don't know if this is a national tradition or a local one. However, young couples will often place a lock on a fixed item (bridge, stairwell or other such type item) and then will throw away the key. They won't place the locks on fences as fences can be torn down. They do this as a sign of commitment to each other. The city has to periodically go around the remove the locks as there are simply too many in certain locations (especially on bridges with pedestrian walkways).

One day, I'll have to head down to the most famous bridge in town (it's the first iron bridge over the Yellow River) as it has tons of locks on it!

Note: The two locks in the photos are probably from two different couples. This is due to the different aging on the locks. Additionally, the location is the center of the stair railing, an ideal location for "balance."