Visiting Qing in Beijing

Although we like to travel independently, when we visited China we wanted to hire a guide.  We can figure out the basics when we’re reading street signs in French or a city map in Italian, but we have no point of reference in Mandarin. 

We used a different guide in each area we visited: Guilin, Xian and Beijing.  They were all terrific in their own way, but Qing, our guide in Beijing, was truly special.  She was the modern face of an ancient country, a young woman in her twenties whom our girls adored.  She took us to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and the Night Food Market.  But the highlight of our time in Beijing just might have been the visit to her family home.

On the final afternoon of our trip, Qing graciously invited us to her home in one of the hutongs, or tiny alleys running through Beijing.  Many of the residences in these areas are built around courtyards.  Hutongs are truly unique to this city, and we were honoured to be invited to one.

Qing’s family of five lived in a small four-room residence.  Although no one in our family speaks any Mandarin, and Qing was the only English speaker in her family, we couldn’t possibly have been given a warmer welcome.  Her mother served us a delicious snack of chocolate cakes, persimmons and flower tea.  Her grandmother spent much of the time cheerfully chatting with me in Mandarin, convinced that “Canada” was a northern province of China.  And Qing showed us around her home – two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen overlooking the lovely courtyard.

Attempting to communicate in Mandarin is even
harder with a persimmon in your mouth.

As a North American who lives in a generously sized house, it was an amazing experience to visit a family with such a small footprint.  And once again I was reminded how incredibly lucky we were to meet this wonderful family who lives halfway around the world from us.

Mother's Day

My father, Gwen, me and my mom.

This year, my mother’s birthday fell on Mother’s Day, and we were delighted to have her come and spend a few days with us. 

So what’s my mom like?  Let me tell you some things we share and one thing we don’t:

1. She loves to travel.  I guess you know that I do, too.  My mom’s favourite trip was the one she took to Greece with her sister, my Aunt Barbara.  But she also loved our family trip (in the tent trailer) to the Canadian Maritime provinces when I was about eleven.
2. My mom loves to read.  She recently told me that she bought my first books before I was born.  (I know that’s common now, but much less usual in the 1960s.)  With her help, I learned to read before I started school.
3. She loves to bake.  When she came to visit us this weekend, she brought some of her own baking to share.  I definitely inherited her sweet tooth.
4. We both grew up on farms.  I think that's helped both of us recognize the importance of hard work, especially in pursuit of a goal.   
5. My mom loves jigsaw puzzles, and we usually pull out at least one when she’s here.  This time she brought a 500-piece puzzle, which is currently spread out on our dining room table.  I’m not particularly good at jigsaws – I lack both the patience and the good eyesight they require –  but I gamely helped solve the edge pieces before giving way to my mother and youngest daughter, the true puzzle champions.

Something else my mom loves is nuts in baking.  Anything with pecans, macadamia nuts or walnuts are her biggest temptations. I loved baking these for Mother’s Day for my mom, Joyce Baker.

And this morning I received the most amazing gift – the girls wrote a song for me!  They both sang it while my oldest daughter played the guitar.  Beautiful!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Walrus Bars

(adapted from California Walnut Commission)

Shortbread base:

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup corn starch

½ cup icing sugar

½ cup cocoa

½ tsp salt

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

Filling:

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

¼ cup honey

¼ tsp salt

2 Tbsp heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla or rum extract

1 ½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line an 8” x 8” pan with parchment paper.

Shortbread: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, corn starch, icing sugar, cocoa and salt. Add softened butter and mix, using hands, until mixture is moist and crumbly. Press firmly over prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes.

Filling: Combine butter, brown sugar, honey and salt in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and continue cooking for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Once bubbling stops, stir in heavy cream and vanilla or rum extract. Stir in walnuts. Pour over shortbread base, spreading walnuts evenly. Pack firmly. Turn down oven temperature to 300°F and bake for an additional 20 minutes. 

Remove carefully from oven (filling will be very loose, but will set as it cools). Let stand at room temperature for at least 2 hours. Once completely cooled, lift out of pan, cut into squares or triangles and serve. Store in an airtight container, in the refrigerator, for up to one week.

Thursday's Child: Kick-birdie in China

Trip planning is serious business.  When we’ve chosen our destination, I sit down with a travel guide and my internet resources, and try to find the most interesting activities and hotels.  But no matter how much I plan, there are always moments of serendipity.  Moments that couldn’t possibly be scripted, but that happen because we were in the right place at the right time, and were open to the possibility of something different.  This month, I’ll be writing about some of those wonderful, unplanned moments we’ve experienced.

One of my favourites occurred when we visited our friends, the Jay family, in China.  Colleen had been transferred to Guangzhou, and it seemed the perfect time for us to see the country.  By the time we visited, they’d been there a year and a half and knew the city well.  Although it isn’t a major tourist destination, it’s a significant commercial city and has many interesting places to visit.  And while we were there, Garth took us all over, from the busy markets to the Western Han Nanyue King's Tomb.

One afternoon, he guided us through a maze of alleys that was way, way off the beaten path.  I remember walking down a narrow passage filled with tiny shops and balconies where clothes hung out drying.  We bought sugar cane to try, and a couple of young vendors were thrilled to have their photos taken so they could view them on our digital camera.

We neared the end of the alley and reached an open square.  A group of older women was playing a game of what we called “kick birdie”.  Just like you might imagine, this sport involves using knees, ankles and feet to keep a birdie aloft.  It’s a popular local pastime and is often played in groups.  Garth and the Jay girls had taught us how to play the day we arrived in Guangzhou and we’d already enjoyed a couple of spirited matches.

We stood beside the game and cheered as these talented women deftly kept the birdie from dropping to the ground.  Then Garth, with a smile and a few arm motions, let them know that he’d love to join in.  They smiled back and opened a place in the circle for him.  One by one, the rest of us joined in, lack of language skills no barrier to a shared activity.  The high point of the game was the women’s laughter as Garth used his head to bump the birdie, soccer-style.

This moment represented the true China to me.  Everywhere we went, the Chinese were incredibly proud of their country and thrilled to show it to the rest of the world.  And nowhere was this more true than in a small square in a tiny neighbourhood of Guangzhou, where we joined in a game of kick-birdie.

Scones fit for a king

After my post of two weeks ago, when I made scones for the first time, you probably guessed what I’d be posting this week.

The morning of the Royal Wedding, I wasn’t going to serve anything other than scones and tea (or hot chocolate where requested).  I made the batter for the scones the evening before, and baked them during the pre-wedding festivities on the 29^th.  And if they look a little well-baked, I can only blame my eagerness to see Kate’s dress for my missing the oven timer when it went off.

I enjoyed every second of the coverage.  I sang along with “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” and I thrilled to the majesty of “Jerusalem”.  I held my breath as William struggled to put the ring on Kate’s finger, and I sighed in relief when Prince Philip got through the occasion without a single faux pas.  In short, the wedding was perfect.

My youngest daughter and I got up at a quarter to 5 and watched it throughout.  My husband joined us just in time for the ceremony.  My oldest daughter only ventured into the room to eat a scone, but spent the day talking to her friends about Kate’s look (thumbs-up), the Queen’s look (pretty great for an 85-year old) and William’s look (no one had any idea what he wore).

The basic scone recipe that I used is here.  For our festive breakfast, I made two flavours, based on the ingredients I had on hand.  Half of the batch was fashioned into chocolate orange scones, while the rest were white chocolate and ginger.

Take a look at the music I’ve posed the scone beside.  It’s from a piano book that’s so old (1947), the music was “God Save the King”.  Elizabeth didn’t become queen until six years after the book was published.  My dad picked up the music book at a yard sale about 35 years ago and it’s become a family staple.

I hope these scones become a family staple for you!

Royal Scones

(adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home To Yours)

Make scones as directed here, through to the part where you stir the dough with a fork.

Omit the ¾ cup raisins.

In half the dough, add ¼ cup chocolate chips and the grated rind of one orange.  In the other half of the batter, add ¼ cup white chocolate chips and two tablespoons of finely minced candied ginger.

Finish the recipe according to the directions.

Thursday's Child: The Grand Canyon

This month I’ve been writing about beautiful outdoor destinations we’ve visited.  I’ll end it with one of the closest, yet most spectacular, sights we’ve ever seen – the Grand Canyon.

I had a hard time both writing commentary for this post and choosing pictures to accompany it, for the simple reason that neither words nor pictures do it justice.  Before we went, I had seen hundreds of photos of the Canyon.  It looked beautiful, and I was looking forward to seeing it.

But nothing prepared me for the spiritual nature of this visit.  If you’ve been there, you probably know what I mean, and if you haven’t, you’ll just have to go yourself.  The depth of the gorge, the reach of the canyon to the horizon and beyond, the striking and ever-changing colours – and still it adds up to much more than the sum of all these parts.

We were thrilled to visit the Canyon with our daughters when they were 10 and 7, and I wouldn’t have changed that for the world.  We listened to a ranger talk about the history and geology of the area, we hiked into the gorge twice, and we watched the sun both set and rise over the canyon.  But if I ever get back, I’ll set aside the time just to sit, and to watch, and to take it all in.

Easter

For those of you who have followed my blog over the last few weeks, you’ll know about my giving up baking for Lent.  I had no idea what an important part of my life it was until I had to quit.  From Ash Wednesday through this morning, I didn’t bake a single sweet good.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult.  It truly felt like forty days fasting in the desert.  I queried the spiritual leaders in my congregation to find out precisely when I could start baking again.  (The consensus was sundown on Saturday, but as I was at church until 10:00 last night, it was a moot point.)

My commitment also meant I was mostly giving up dessert, too, as store-bought sweets just don’t cut it for me.  Twice I broke down and begged my oldest daughter to bake a batch of cookies. I also found myself wondering what would happen if I googled “wild honey and locust dessert”.  But only if I could find an unbaked version. 

More than a few of you asked what my first dessert would be when I started baking again. Whatever I made would please my husband, who had heroically given up my baking for Lent.  But it had to involve a lot of chocolate to placate my 13-year old, who gave up chocolate. And it had to be something my whole family would love.

In the end, choosing the first dessert was the easiest part of my resolution.  I’ve been eyeing the Peanut Butter Brownie recipe on Smitten Kitchen for a while, and this was the perfect dessert to break my fast. 

By the way, I now plan to bake up a storm to make up for those lonely, barren Lenten weeks.  I’ve already made promises to my youngest daughter’s classmates, to my church’s hospitality committee, and to my neighbour’s church fundraiser.  My work is cut out for me – and I couldn’t be happier.

Peanut Butter Brownies

(from Smitten Kitchen)

For brownies:

2 sticks (one cup) unsalted butter, softened

1 ¾ cups sugar

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 large eggs plus one egg yolk

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

For ganache:

1 ½ cups semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup heavy cream

1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 13 x 9 inch pan and line with parchment paper.

Beat together butter and sugar until mixture is light and fluffy, then add peanut butter and beat until mixed.  Beat in whole eggs, egg yolk and vanilla.  Stir in flour until just combined.  Mix in 1 ½ cups chocolate chips, then spread batter in baking pan, smoothing top.  Batter will be quite thick.

Bake until brownies are golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes.  Cool completely in pan on a rack.

To make ganache, put 1 ½ cups chocolate chips in a heatproof bowl.  Bring cream to a boil in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate chips.  Gently stir in butter until it is incorporated, chocolate is melted and a smooth mixture forms.  Spread ganache on cooled brownies and let stand until set, about 15 minutes.

Thursday's Child: Zip Lining for the Terrified

I don’t like heights.

I don’t like speed.

So what was I doing zip lining in Costa Rica?

From the time we booked our trip, my husband talked about how important it was that we go zip lining.  I was surprised, because he doesn’t like heights or speed either.  But I thought if Andrew could overcome his fears, so could I.

En route to the expedition, he overheard our daughters chatting about what an adventure it was going to be.  He frowned.  “Do these things go really fast?” he asked.

“I think that’s why they call it a zip line.”

And a few minutes later, upon seeing our destination, “We don’t actually go all the way to the top, do we?”

Oops.

Many of our fears were allayed when we arrived at the zip line centre.  A full set of safety instructions was followed by a lovely gondola ride to the top of the canopy.  A local naturalist guide explained everything we were seeing, and kept us relaxed with his friendly banter.

And then we got to the top.  It was really, really high.  Our path back down would be via ten zip lines.  The first run was short and shallow, perfectly designed to boost a zipper’s confidence.  But they grew longer and deeper, and by the time we reached the fourth run, I looked into a chasm that was seemingly as deep and as wide as the Grand Canyon.  (With a few more trees to break a fall, if necessary.)

I took a breath, turtled into position, and stepped off the platform.

Probably the most relaxing part of zip lining is the zipping itself.  Flying through the air is a pleasant, breezy sensation.  And for anyone who has the nerve to look into the chasm below while in mid-air, I’m sure it’s a lovely view.

On our tenth and final run, a photographer stood at the opposite end taking photos.  My youngest daughter was sufficiently poised to spot the photographer and make faces for the camera.  My oldest daughter floated down as gracefully as a ballerina in mid-pirouette.  My photo shows me grimly clutching the lines as if I was defeating gravity single-handedly.

You've probably noticed that there are no pictures of zip-lining here.  That's because Andrew and I were too nervous to do anything but hold on for our lives.  These photos are of the beautiful Alma del Pacifico where we had a very relaxing vacation when we weren't scaring ourselves to death zip-lining.