My dishes on the Christmas Eve, 2011

豆沙薄煎餅Red bean pancakes, on left, and 豆腐皮捲 Bean curd sheet rolls, on right.

I got some leftover red bean paste from making glutinous rice balls a couple days ago and decided to make red bean pancakes that I had made more than a year ago. This time the pancakes tasted extremely delicious as expected. However, today I discovered that the red bean paste from cans, even though very convenient, is extremely rich in sugar, and, of course, in calories too. I should either reserve these pancakes for very special occasions or use self-cooked low-in-calories red beans instead.

My pancakes were a little burnt today. I should have been more patient - using lower heat setting and cooking each one a little longer.

While making the pancakes, I felt uncomfortable from the heat and the smoke. This may be why my father has always been discouraging me from cooking.

My mother had taught me to make these bean curd sheet rolls that I made today. It had been one of my best dishes in the long past. Recently I found the Chinese super market in White Plains, NY, sells bean curd sheets and decided to make the rolls again. My bean curd sheet rolls today tasted a little salty and were not rolled tight enough. I will continue to perfect this dish again. One concern though about using this kind of bean curd sheets in dishes is that it contains preservative "sulfur dioxide", the health risk of which I have to understand more.

蘑菇豆腐Sautéed tofu with portobello mushrooms

The portobello mushrooms had been sautéed and frozen for a week. I simply added firm tofu to the mushrooms and continued to cook. The dish is as delicious as that made from freah portobello mushrooms. This proves that sautéing and subsequent freezing is a good way to preserve portobello mushrooms

豆沙元宵

今天是冬至，冬至吃粉圓，我不會做粉圓，元宵應該差不多吧 ，剛好家裡有豆沙和糯米粉，就做了幾個，用酒釀和蛋煮來吃。不算太成功：豆沙餡太軟，元宵的形狀和大小很難控制，圓的元宵又太大，皮厚了些，基本上豆沙餡沒芝麻餡好吃，酒釀不夠甜。

Getting ready for our Paris trip

I made pineapple filling so that the pineapple I had bought a few days ago would not go bad when we return from Paris. I made seitan 烤麩 for karlyn's party which will occur the next day on our return. I also sautéed the portobello mushrooms for Terence or for preserving in the freezer. I sautéed some dry tofu with cilantro for Terence. Of course, the leftover will go into the freezer too.

酒味李/杏蛋糕，烤球芽甘蘭，炒意大利芥藍... Wine-flavored plum/apricot bread, roasted brussels sprouts with garlic, sautéed broccoli rabe, ...

G

酒味李/杏蛋糕，烤球芽甘蘭，炒意大利芥藍，麵，醋溜魚片
Wine-flavored plum/apricot bread, roasted brussels sprouts with garlic, sautéed broccoli rabe with shallots, noodles, and sweet and sour fish.

Roasted brussels sprouts with garlic: sautéing with cut face down for 5 minutes followed by roasting at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes; drizzled with balsamic vinegar; based on a Bittman recipe.

Sautéed broccoli rabe with shallots: cook broccoli in boiling water for 2 minutes. This step reduces the bitter taste. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.

Broiled tilapia which I had cooked last night, got made over with some sugar and vinegar (1:1) and thickened with corn starch.

The breads were made according to Mark Bittman's fruits and nuts bread recipe.

烤魚片，蔓越苺橘味核桃蛋糕，烤洋芋泥，...Broiled tilapia, cranberry orange walnut bread, mashed baked potatoes, ...

烤洋芋泥

No-knead bread, mashed baked potatoes, and sautéed spring mix.

蔓越苺橘味核桃蛋糕

Cranberry orange walnut bread - a good way to use up the cranberry sauce at hand. I used my banana nut bread recipe, however, substituted cranberry sauce for banana.

烤魚片

Broiled tilapia, and sautéed spring mix with garlic in 30 minutes. I made these two dishes for my younger son. Marinate the tilapia with a mixture of garlic, lemon juice, and oil for about 15 minutes ( no more than 30 minutes). Broil the tilapia for 4 to 5 minutes. ( I did it for 7 minutes.). Add salt and black pepper and serve. I learned this way of cooking tilapia from the Food Network.