Lots of great food, snowy days curled up with NBC, and a side or two of socializing with friends, young and old. It seems to have been an embarrassment of riches for this mid-winter fortnight: Olympic, culinary and otherwise.
It has been particularly good this Olympic year to feel like a host of the games even though we live here in Ann Arbor, so very far away from Vancouver. We have felt connected and - strangely - responsible for the feelings on the festivities. I am so glad too that it's over and was successful for both of our "home" teams. Good on you both!
The whole experience has given us reason to celebrate. And there was much feasting today - and no cooking involved for me. Just watching some hockey, on the edge of my seat, and soaking up the skin-of-their-teeth golden moment for Team Canada. Sorry all-around to our friends here, but not winning gold in hockey would have been so devastating for Canadians - a real blow to the collective, national psyche. Team USA played so well - I thought they deserved the gold but the score just happened to say otherwise today. Certainly, their goalie deserved the tournament mvp. He was impressive. But I am happy for the country, for family, friends and everyone across the border that it was won by Canada on home ice. It was a Hollywood (North) ending. But enough of hockey... They will be talking about this for a generation, eh?!
Earlier in the Year of the Tiger celebrations, I made some celebratory dinner for my family. By "made", I mean that I boiled up noodles with stir fried ginger beef, steamed and pan-fried dumplings, and quickly sauteed some Chinese greens with garlic, pictured left. A lot of it I didn't actually "make" at all but rather "heated up". The bamboo steamers are great for that. The yu choy cooks very quickly up in the wok - rinsed and salted - in a little canola oil with fragrant garlic cooked quickly first.The yu choy tips are a family favorite - fresh, healthy, tasty. I get them as Huaxing Asia Market in Ypsilanti. Inexpensive, at $1.99/lb - I L-O-V-E them for that too! Easy to cook this meal, with only the back two burners being used. One wok, one large pot of water and my bamboo steamers. I get the shrimp dumplings we love from Trader Joe's and the frozen pork buns from the Huaxing Asia Market as well. The pork buns are steamed. The dumplings are done in the wok first with a touch of oil, then a splash of water added and a lid placed on it so it can steam. They get perfectly crispy on the bottom. Yum yum!
All the girl friends and mums celebrated earlier this week with a dim sum lunch midweek at Great Lake Seafood Restaurant. Thanks to our friends Amy and Alyssa for organizing that with friends, old and some new. Even my little girl got to tag along with the teenagers... Much thanks to the big girls for letting her crash.
We closed out today with a trip to Great Lake for dim sum - again. Oh, yeah! With the tax refund in the bank account and these Vancouver Games a roaring success in our eyes, we were out to truly relax and celebrate before an afternoon of skating at Vets Park Arena for half of us and workouts at Planet Fitness for the other.
Ohh... The treats! Calamari: so sweet, so tender, so worth it. I never eat deep-fried food but this was like candy - deep-fried-seafood-candy!
The egg tarts and the sweet glazed barbeque pork buns are my girls favorites, too. Each only available on the weekends. Take a look at the weekend-only cart they wheel around covered in baked Chinese goodies, pictured further above. Well worth this Olympic weekend trip with my family.
But soon it will be over. The Olympic Closing Ceremonies are about to get rolling. Tomorrow, it's back-to-school for the kids and a tough new exercise routine for me. Today at Planet Fitness, I began Day One of 10 Days To Shake My World. I need to run 5k minimum, up to 5 miles maximum for 10 days straight. I was inspired by all those folks in Vancouver. Wish me luck - Golden-Olympic-Tiger luck!
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