at the yarn market

I'm sure you all know that I am a knitter, and one of the things knitters like to do is fondle yarn.  Chengdu has some very good yarn stores, but if you need something other than wool, or you want things at rock bottom prices you should head up to the North Market's yarn section.

 This is inside one of the little nooks at the yarn market.  If I hadn't gone with a friend the first time I never would have found it.  I bought my sable(? the picture on the package looks a little like a raccoon) yarn here and I love it.  So soft.  It can be a mess, when you come during the winter it's packed.  There are ladies feeling yarn everywhere, and people sitting and knitting even though the space to walk through is only big enough for two people to squeeze by.

 This is the needle and hook guy.  You can buy sets of needles for next to nothing.  It's awesome!


And of course, I can't go up to the north market without finding things to take pictures of. 

 creepy dolls on strings.

 I never thought to buy bras on the street, but apparently in China that's how it's done.

 Hungry?  There's fruit...

 Tofu?

Or fried potatoes.

Greens, Potatoes, and grits

So this week we did not get 5 lbs of greens.  We got 4 lbs of greens and 1 lb of tiny potatoes.  Which is a plus I guess.  Do you remember the grass from last year?  Well we got it again.  It actually stir fries nicely.  Maybe the are some type of chive?  They do have a very very faint onion or garlic taste to them.  The weeds from last week did not stir fry up so nicely, they tasted like weeds.  *sigh*  I also just tossed out some of the really stinky greens.  I don't know what they are, but they smell bad raw and when cooked they smell and taste worse. 

 The stinky greens are the heart shaped ones in the middle.

I know I've been MIA lately, in case you were wondering what I've been up to, I've been trying to use up our food stores in the run up to our pack out (beginning of July?).  We have a plethora of grits so I've been trying to come up with clever ways to use them up.  I have made grits pudding, grits pancakes, and used a ton of grits instead of rice or potatoes, but still.....  I have not taken any pictures though because well grits pudding was REALLY gross looking (although it tasted good-like a grainy bread pudding), and grits pancakes just look like pancakes.  I am going to try making leftover grits muffins but I think I want to make them savory instead of sweet.

Crafty crafting

I got bit by the crafting bug this week and did a couple of projects.  This post on pinterest captured my attention since we just threw away about 100 dvd cases as we prepare to move.  I rescued one and turned it into this:

I think the cardboard I used was too thick though because the cases doesn't close.  I'm going to have to make another one, I just need to wait until we clean out some more cases. 

I've been planning to make a interchangeable needle case forever.  I LOVE this Lantern Moon case, but am unwilling to spend the $$ (maybe I should add it to my amazon wish list....) I even had fabric picked out and laid aside for it, but I just hadn't wanted to commit.  Well this week I finally did it, I would post a tutorial, but I was making it up as I went and I think there are things I would do differently if I had to do it again so I'll just show off my finished product.  I think I'm going to try and make another one so I WILL eventually do a tutorial-maybe.

I'm also reverse engineering a doll dress because Babes got another Madame Alexander doll for her birthday and those tiny doll clothes are expensive.

5 lbs of greens

Have you ever wondered what 5 pounds of greens looks like?  Well, I didn't either, but I found out yesterday.  Our weekly delivery of organic produce consisted of 5 lbs of leafy things.

Most of them I've seen before, some I like, some I REALLY don't like, but we did have a new addition yesterday.  They looked like weeds. 

I mean I swear I've seen them in the back yard, and they smelled like weeds, when I chopped them it smelled like I was cutting dandelion leaves, or grass or something.  What did they taste like?  Well, exactly like what I thought cooked grass would taste like.  Now the question is, how do I cook up and disguise 5 lbs of greens so that DH and babes stop complaining about cooked weeds?

United says "Screw You" to the Foreign Service

United's Senior Manager for Marketing, Customer Service and Business Systems responded to my letter to United CEO Smisek on March 7.  He said that United developed the waiver for the military "in recognition of the commitment made by members of our military and the family members (including the four-legged ones) who share in their sacrifice" and intends to limit this "special process" to military families only.  United has sent a standard customer relations response to individual e-mails saying that concerns would be conveyed to senior management for disposition.

This is the response we received from United in response to their change in pet shipping policy that will basically make it a nightmare to transport Honeydog from post to post.    While I'm super mad about that, what makes me most upset is the response from United. 

"in recognition of the commitment made by members of our military and the family members (including the four-legged ones) who share in their sacrifice" and intends to limit this "special process" to military families only. 

"In recognition of the commitment"??????  What the ^%$?  Now, I know we are NOT the military.  My brother is military, and the stress that he and his family endure, is something different...  I'm not saying we are the same as the military they are responsible for the physical safety of the United States.  However, the Foreign Service serves the people of the US, especially those overseas.  If you are overseas and get sick, are arrested, or are the victim of a crime, a Foreign Service officer (FSO) can be there to support you.  They will help you arrange payment at a hospital, visit you in prison (they will NOT be able to get you out, you are in a foreign country you must abide by that country's rules), or help you file a police report.  FSOs have arranged search parties for hikers, helicopters for sick babies, and given repatriation loans to down on their luck travelers to get them back home.
If you are in a country that goes to pot or has a natural disaster FSOs are there to help you finalize your documents and arrange evacuation travel to get you to someplace safe.  In the past year they have done this in Japan, Egypt, Libya, and Syria.  Most of those FSOs did not live in the places they were helping out, they left their families behind to help out those in need.  In the case of natural disasters FSOs help to keep Americans in foreign countries apprised of dangers, coordinate search and rescue efforts, and inform family members of the situation on the ground.
FSOs are charged with the job of promoting US trade and tourism.  When at all possible they try to facilitate travel and are always looking for new ways to make the visa process easier, faster, and safer (to protect the US at home).
FSOs and their families serve as living breathing representations of America.   In many places in the world what people know of America comes from movies and television and the few Americans they might meet.  Sometimes we are able to contradict the movies, and sometimes not (Can I tell you how many times I have been asked if all American women are like the ladies in Sex in the City?).
Embassies and Consulates are also targets.  If you are looking for a way to hurt America but can't afford the plane ticket what do you do?  You look to the Embassy.  From the local crazy person to more organized attempts US Embassies and Consulates are vigilant because we know we are targets and are vulnerable.
So United, don't talk to me about commitment.  I know very well what "commitment" means and for you to suggest that our contribution is not valuable is insulting. 

Back Home

Well we are back home again.  And as usual I think I'm going to spend the next two or three days trying to get back in the groove of things.  It is always good to get away, the 10 days in the sunshine did wonders for my moral.  I think I was starting to sink again--even though it had only been 2 months since I got back from my last vacation... although is visiting family really a vacation?  Especially when you are visiting in-laws? I'm not saying it's not enjoyable, but it IS work....
I definitely like Thailand more than I liked Bali.  Bali was nice, but...  I don't know it was somehow less.  At least on Koh Phangan the beaches were prettier than Bali's.  I can't say much about Thailand though, we literally spent 7 days at the beach, and did little more than eat, sleep, and swim (ok I knit too, but I did that while soaking up the sun and watching the little one swim).  I will say that I did not find the Thais to be overly friendly.  They were polite, and professional, but not the overwhelming friendliness that everyone always talks about.  I actually think Malaysians are nicer (or maybe more laid back?). 
But it was beautiful, clear blue skies, clear blue waters, green green jungle, and a string of rosy sunsets to fortify the spirit..... 

Anniversary

Today is our 10 year wedding anniversary.  10 Years!  Can you believe it?  No, neither can I. 
I have done a lot of thinking recently, wondering if I knew then what I know now if I would still go through with it, and yes I definitely would.   I can't say it's been easy. Marriage is hard.  Not hard in the way that I thought it would be.  The hardness creeps up on you, almost in cycles.  There are good times, and they are so very good, and then slowly, very slowly, almost like a mist difficulties begin to seep in through the cracks.  At least for me, I don't always recognize that things are hard right away, you are living your life, in your routine and the days get longer, you're a little more tired at night, a little more irritated during the day, and suddenly you realize that the good days are gone, and the hard times are here.  But the hard times leave in the same way.  You realize that times are hard, and you put in a little more effort, a smile here, a touch there, a special dessert with some wine after dinner.  Little by little you are able to inch your way out of that hole and stand in the sunshine again. 
I can say with certainty though, the success of our marriage has everything to do with my partner. I know I don't tell him often enough, but he is a good man.  I know we women like to complain about our husbands, but I try not to.  Because really, what do I have to complain about, he's a good father, a thoughtful husband, ambitious but not at the expense of his family, a careful planner, and a great travel companion.  He loves to eat what I cook and listens patiently when I ramble on about knitting.  I have found the one in whom my heart delights.  

Hello from Thailand

Hello from Thailand. I can't believe that I've finally made it here. After spending twelve years on and out of Asia I was starting to think that Thailand was going to be that one place that I'd never get to that everyone else had been to. And I have to say that it is as beautiful as everyone says it is. Right now I'm sitting in the "lobby" of our hotel listening to the waves as the surf rolls in to our little cove. I'd forgotten how many shades of blue that you can see staring at the sky and water. I could go on but I think I'll go down to the beach instead.

on the street

I'm always amazed by the things you can buy on the street in china. 

Knitting Fraggles

I saw this and had to share.

Purim

This past weekend was Purim.  In an effort to expose Babes to all of her heritage her dad makes sure to do something on all of the big holidays.  Not being Jewish myself, so I don't have a Purim cookie recipe passed down to me, I did a web search and found a great tutorial here on the cupcake project.  The cookies turned out great, I halved the recipe since there are only four of us and Honeydog doesn't eat cookies. 
Babes had a great time making the cookies, dressing up like Queen Esther (we even watched the veggie tales version of the story) and of course, we had cookies for dinner (shhhh... don't tell my mamma!).

Crafting update

I haven't been knitting that much lately.  After I finished my sister's sweater for Christmas (OK I didn't make it in time for Xmas, but I got it to her before I left the US) I didn't really feel like making anything big.  So I've spent my time knitting a bunch of little projects that I have had on my list, but didn't get to.  I made a pair of socks, some fingerless mittens, and two doll dresses for Babes' doll.
The socks were not my favorite project, the yarn Crystal Palace Mini Mochi was very hard to work with, it was fuzzy, and didn't really hold together well.  A lot of people mentioned that it broke easily, and while I didn't have that problem, it was a mess to work with.  But the socks are pretty crazy.  Take a look:

I LOVED the Evenstar fingerless mitts pattern.  They were super fun to knit up, the pattern was easy to follow, and they are GORGEOUS!  I wear them everywhere.  I'm going to unravel one, because it's funky looking, but I love them:

The two doll dresses I am very proud of because I personally adapted the patterns from other patterns to make them the right size for the dolls.  One of the dresses came from here and the other one is sort of this one.  (I say sort of because I modified the original pattern to fit Babes' princess tastes).  {I just realized that I already did a post on these dresses, so I'll just post a picture of her doll in one of them, and leave it at that.}

Opera vs Sichuan Opera

Tuesday night I had the pleasure of attending a musical cultural exchange. The US consulate set up a musical tour for an Opera singer (Carla Dirlikov) from the US to expose Chinese people to Western Opera.  At the same time, at least here in Sichuan, they arranged for some singers of Sichuan Opera to perform to educate the Western Audience about their Opera.  It was a very interesting evening.  Ms. Dirlikov was, of course, fantastic.  It's been such a long time since I've been able to go to an opera that I think my ears were starved for culture.  I was dreading the Sichuan opera part of the evening, but as it turns out, while I didn't love it, the Sichuan opera parts were very interesting.  The female singers are still a little too high pitched and nasally for me, but the male parts sound a great deal like American folk art singers.  Think George Clooney in O Brother Where Art Thou. Which leads me to believe that the musical traditions are not so different as we might think.
There were only two things that spoiled my enjoyment of the evening.  The first had to do with my seat, I was in the second row, which is awesome, but....  I was sitting with the photographers, and they were basically sitting in my lap to get their pictures.  The sound of their shutters, their cameras in my lap, and the constant standing and sitting were HIGHLY annoying.  Also I was right next to the speaker, which I hate in a theater performance anyway (if the theater is made correctly you shouldn't need speakers, especially not for Opera--OMG that just sounded snobby).  It was okay for Ms. Dirlikov because she stepped away from the microphone when she wanted to belt out a note, but the Sichuan Opera singers were piercingly high pitched.  My ears are still sensitive. 
The second thing was the audience.  I know it's like this in the US too, but I think it's really rude for people to answer phones during a performance of any kind.  If someone is making the effort to perform, or a give a speech, the least you can do is turn off your cell phone, or go outside to take your call.  Don't answer your phone in the theater and then have a conversation about what you want for dinner.  Please.

Making Chocolate Chips-or how to cover your kitchen in chocolate

In what I think might be my last kitchen experiment until after we move (it might not be I still have a couple of months after all) I decided to make chocolate chips.  Why, you might ask, would I make chocolate chips?  Well, it's like this.... When we came here I debate bringing chocolate chips, I like them and use them all the time, but, as you may know, chocolate doesn't transport well.  We moved in the summer, we did our consumables shipment in the summer, I didn't want a big lump of chocolate where I used to have chips.  So I've been making due.  When the urge for chocolate chip cookies gets too strong I buy the gourmet chocolate drops that dove makes spending an absurd amount of money for them.  Then this past Thanksgiving, when I was buying my turkey at the fish market (yes you read that right) I bought a GIANT 2kg bar of chocolate thinking "WOW what can I do with this?" Well, as it turns out, this bar of chocolate sat in my freezer for months and finally yesterday I said "I'm making chocolate chips!"  I said this thinking it would only take an hour or so.  But I was WRONG! 
I started off yesterday, with my GIANT bar of chocolate, my screwdriver, and hammer, a bowl to melt the chocolate in, my icing bag, and an aluminum foil covered cookie sheet. And a little help from semi sweetie

The screwdriver and hammer were there to cut the chocolate, I've already broken a knife on a stick of butter, I wasn't about to try one of my knives on the GIANT bar of chocolate. 

The trick is to get the chocolate melted so that it's sludge like.  Not drizzly, but more like slightly runny icing.  The problem is that chocolate only stays at that stage for oh about 30 seconds, before that you've got runny chocolate everywhere, and after that you've got something that is like squishing poop out of a bag (sorry for the graphic nature of that comment, but I've changed diapers, and I have a labrador... this is the best thing I could think of).  I also found that my fancy schmancy Wilton icing bag didn't work at all!  After getting chocolate everywhere and nowhere I finally gave up and snipped a tiny corner off a plastic bag which worked 100 times better.  And while they don't look like Nestle's chips I did manage to get some chocolate onto the cookie sheet into a chip-like shape. 

Having done it, I don't know if I would do it again.  I managed to coat most of the counter, most of myself, most of the fridge/freezer, and most of the microwave in chocolate.  It took forever, although a lot of that was the learning curve... But if you'd like to try it; Melt your chocolate only slightly, like I said you want a slightly runny icing consistency.  Take one spoonful and put it into a bag with a small corner cut off, and squeeze tiny drops of the chocolate onto a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil.  If your chocolate is too runny pop it in the fridge for a little while, too stiff?  Place your plastic bag in a little hot water and let the chocolate soften a little.  Once the chips have hardened pop them off the foil and put them in a plastic bag (this part is the easiest part). 

Thank you Disney!

As a mother of a daughter I read a lot about the evils of Disney.  How the princess thing is destroying feminism and setting us all back... etc...
BUT has anyone stopped to think about the good messages Disney is sending to our little ones?  One of my favorite Disney movies for teaching Babes the importance of intimacy is the The Princess and the Frog.  (No, I do NOT use the word intimacy with my 4 year old).  In the Disney version of this story Tiana (our heroine) gives a frog a kiss, and what happens, she turns into a frog!



 At this point I turn to Babes and tell her, "you know you have to be careful who you kiss, if you kiss a frog, you'll turn into a frog".  And this has been a good starting point for a discussion (that a 4 yr old can understand) about being careful who you hang out with.  It has also led to discussions about kissing, and being in love with the person you kiss.
I know it's early to start this discussion, BUT, I'm trying to plant these seeds early so that when she gets older and begins to think about these things they are in the back of her mind.  I *hope* that I do not get up on a religious high road and start teaching her abstinence, which is what I was taught.  Abstinence is a beautiful theory, but when you're a teenager and you're faced with the choices of have sex with whomever and whenever, or ABSTAIN OR DIE! ... well...  yeah.  I'd like for her to have a third choice... wait for someone worth waiting for (and hopefully she won't be a teenager when "someone" shows up).
Here are some other great conversations starters from other Disney Movies:
Beauty and the Beast - Don't judge a person by how he/she looks on the outside
Tangled - Don't let someone tell you what you can't do AND you sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone
Finding Nemo - See what happens when you don't listen to your parents?
The Princess and the Frog - You have to work hard to get what you want (also you have to balance hard work with family and life)
Also, if Babes ever asks me what it's like to fall in love I'm going to point her to the final waltz scene in Enchanted.  

I think the dance scene is one of the best video descriptions of what it's like to fall in love.... The initial wonder of a touch, the first few timid steps, then slowly the crowd falls away and it's just the two of you, and the unrestrained joy of the dance.... 

what is this?

I finally got back in touch with our organic vegetable farmer and we're back to the "What on earth is this?" weekly exercise.  Actually that's not true, for the most part I've been getting a ton of various types of cabbage (I can't say we don't eat enough green leafy vegetables, If I never see another Qin Cai after we leave here it will be too soon) and root vegetables.  The past two weeks have seen a bumper crop of carrots and radishes.  Tell me internets what do you do with a pound of radishes?  Especially since DH and Babes aren't too fond of them.  I might have some pickling in my future....
Anyway, we've also received these things, which kind of look like broccoli, kind of look like cabbage, and kind of look like Brussels sprouts.

Not knowing what to do with them, and since they look too fat to stir fry (I stir fry just about everything I get in that green bag) I roasted them.

Roasting works well for Brussels sprouts, but not for whatever this was... or maybe I roasted them too long.  I'm going to try steaming next, and also the Google image search to see if I can't figure out what they are.

tips for pack out and moving part 2-- the purge

All right, so I've figured out what I want to go into my airfreight, now what about the rest of this crap?  Now it's time to purge.  This step is not really necessary, but it helps to keep your weight down and believe it or not it helps when you unpack.  I usually start my purge a couple of months out so that I can take my time and I don't get frustrated with how long it takes and quit half way through.
I don't know about you, but for some reason my stuff breeds in the dark.  I might start off with a few sheets of paper or a couple of books here and there, but by the time we leave in two years I've got stacks and stacks of paper, shelves of books, clothes, craft items, and other assorted--well crap that has limited use.  So every two years or so with a pack out date looming on the calendar like an ominous cloud I begin a purge.
I usually start with the least used room, no reason, except that in that room I can make as much of a mess as I want and it doesn't disturb anyone's life.   Then I open all the drawers, go into all the closets, look at all the bookshelves to see what we haven't used in the last two years that I can get rid of.  In this way, I slowly move through the house from room to room getting rid of things. 
I know this step sounds simple, but it is time consuming and will help you when it comes time to actually organize your things for pack out.

Where am I?

I'll give you three guess as to where I took this photo?  Did you guess the US?  Well you'd be wrong.  I took this picture at the new mall just around the corner from our place in Chengdu.  The new Wangfujing mall is only one of the dozens of new malls opening in Chengdu all the time.  In the year and a half since I've been here I can think of at least three new malls that I have been to.  I don't know how many more are out there that I just haven't been to yet (and probably will not get to).  Although strangely enough, many of them are almost always empty. 

I took this picture in the Bellagio restaurant.  It is inside the Wangfujing mall.  When we first arrived we walked up to this place trying to find the restaurant because it's fabulous, but the mall was completely gutted.  Both the mall and the Bellagio opened during Chinese New Year so we took the opportunity this weekend to go check them out.  The Bellagio was fantastic!  We liked everything we tried and would go back there again.  It wasn't dirt cheap, but the atmosphere and the food were well presented. 

I don't know what to cook

 Before we joined the foreign service I was a pre-made girl.  If it came in a box, a can, or a bag, I knew how to use it and expand on it.  About the only thing I consistently made from scratch was cake.  But then we joined the foreign service.  Our first post was Beijing, and it was delicious and cheap to eat out, and eat out we did (and we both gained a bunch of weight)!  Then we went to Baku.  The first year I didn't cook a thing.  The markets were crazy, the food odd, everything was in Russian-- oh and I was pregnant.  By the end of the second year I had started to cook some things, but I was still having trouble coming up with things for us to eat.  After all, I couldn't go to the store and buy a can of soup, or a box of tacos... what's a girl to do?  By the time we moved to Taiwan, I realized that the world simply did not supply their grocery stores the way America does, and for better or for worse I was going to have to make some changes in the way that I thought about cooking. 
So I began simply.  Instead of dwelling on what wasn't there, I started to look at what WAS there and I tried to figure out what I could make from that.  I discovered that with a little flour, sugar, and vegetables there are TONS of things that you can make yourself.  Now, despite the fact that we live in China and nothing looks familiar we eat Western style almost every night. When we go out we eat Chinese because Chinese food in Chengdu is good, Western food...not so much.  This is true in most places outside of the major cosmopolitan areas, you are not going to get quality __ food unless you are in that country.  In all other cases it will be expensive and tasteless.  So cook what you can at home, and eat the local foods out, this way you get the best of both worlds. 
I guess my point is, that if you are a foreign service spouse, or officer, you have to be brave, and daring even on the culinary front.  There are very few things that you can buy, be it in a can, a box, or a package, that you cannot make, and often times make better, at home with a few simple ingredients.  And when you start to think it's impossible remember that your grandmother (or maybe your great grandmother) used to do all this AND she didn't have a microwave or a refrigerator.

Tips for pack out and moving in Part 1--air freight

I know it’s still early, but we are getting close to summer transfer season.  And while I’m not supposed to leave post until July (at the earliest) I’ve already started making my lists and mentally preparing myself for pack out. 

Why, you might ask, are you worried about pack out now?  For heaven’s sake, the movers will come and do everything for you!  Well, my friends, I’m glad you asked that, because, as this will be my sixth move, experience teaches me to prepare early.  While the movers will pack everything for you they basically just want to get everything in a box as quickly and carefully as possible.  This might not sound like a problem, but imagine 3-6 strangers in your house with boxes, paper and tape emptying drawers, closets, boxes, in 16 hours—and this includes loading the truck—and you might begin to understand why you need to be ready in advance. 

First things first:  Do you have items going to more than one place, or in more than one shipment?  For instance do you have an air shipment and a sea shipment?  Are you sending some of your things to storage, or to another house somewhere?  What about your suitcases?

Think about where you are sending your things and by what method.  Speak to your shippers early on in the process to find out if you can ship food, electronics, liquids, or aerosols.  If you get a lighter shipment (like an airfreight) to get you settled in before the main bulk of your household effects arrives, separate out those items first.  In this shipment you want to think about what is the bare minimum that your family can survive on and feel at home.  Things like kitchen supplies; pots, pans, plates, silverware, anything you use regularly to get food on the table—and take it from me pack your muffin pans and loaf pans if you might ever make muffins or bread.  I now have 5 loaf pans and 2 muffin pans because every time I move I don’t think I’ll need them, and every time we get there I need them and buy new ones. Bedding; sheets, towels, blankets, pillows—these may or may not be provided for you when you get to post, but chances are they will be weird, scratchy, and unfamiliar.  There’s nothing like sliding into bed in your own sheets to make you feel at home.  Toys—if you have kids this is a must.  There is nothing worse than arriving to an empty house, except arriving to an empty house with kids asking every two seconds “what can I do?”  Clothes—I would bring as many seasons as will fit, I once packed only summer and fall clothes because we were supposed to arrive at post in early summer and there would really be no way it could take 6 months for our items to arrive… well we didn’t get to post until late summer and by the time our shipment arrived it was late fall and I was freezing! 

Of course, every family is different and you are going to have to make your own lists as to what you send by air.  One way to do this is to make a list of everything you use as you use it for a month, then pare this list down to the essentials. Like getting rid of a pizza cutter when a knife will do, or instead of 3 plates per person per day, one set of dishes for each person. 

On packing day have your packers pack and weigh this shipment first so that if you have extra space you can add to it, or if you are overweight you can take things out before your entire house is packed up.