Il mio primo premio...simpaticissimo!

Sono appena riuscita ad avvicinarmi al computer! Con i miei due maschi è una lotta poter stare davanti al computer. Qualche giorno fa ho ricevuto una sorpresa molto carina da una mia lettrice ma soprattutto una cara amica. Sono abbastanza nuova qui da Blogger e devo ancora scoprire delle iniziative degli amici "blogger".

Questo è il premio donatomi da Elena del blog Zibaldone culinario

E' molto appassionata e preparata in cucina. Ama sperimentare. Se non sapete che combinare per la cena, passate da lei e troverete di sicuro tante idee (come è successo a me!).

Ora tocca a me scegliere tra 3 e 5 blog per dare il premio. Dato che non sto ancora frequentando molti blog, ho pensato di donarlo a soli 2 blog che visito spesso. Prima indico qua le regole del gioco:

- accettare il "premio" e scrivere un post con link della persona che te lo ha donato
- scegliere da 3 a 5 blog per farli conoscere ( è il fine di questo "premio")
- comunicare loro che hanno vinto il premio

I due blog che ho scelto sono:
Menta e Liquirizia
Grafic Scribbles

Non ho seguito tutte le regole ma penso di essere perdonata ;-P

Salapao: Chinese steamed buns / bread

A couple of years ago, I bought a pack of mixed flour for "salapao" or Chinese bread from my reliable on-line food store. It was my first attempt and I wasn't so satisfied as the salapao I used to have in Thailand was softer. My husband loves those steamed Chinese bread, so I was curious to try to do it although I wasn't very convinced about the result...and I was right, the buns came out a bit too hard and sticky.

There're several kinds of salapao; assorted ones and empty ones that are called "Mantou". My husband has tried the latter and he loves it. He's never tried the assorted ones but now that he became vegetarian, he isn't going to try them for sure! The assortments of salapao can be "red pork" (a Chinese recipe of marinating pork in some spices and then grilled), chopped pork & boiled eggs and sweet cream. I like the buns with red pork the most.

After the 1st attempt, I didn't keep in mind to try it again but somehow I just got a pack of the flour again some months ago. Finally I picked it up the day before yesterday and decided to proceed it!

Well, the mixed flour I got is a kind of easy-to-do. Here's the package.

I thought to make buns with chopped pork and a boiled egg. I mixed the pork with a little bit of these ingredients: chopped garlic, coriander, chopped spring onion, soy sauce, cornstarch and a pinch of white pepper.

I placed the flour in a bowl and gradually add 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp. of water and 1/0 tsp. of vegetable oil. I mixed until just blended. Then, I transferred it onto a floured surface and kneaded the dough until smooth.

I shaped it into a long roll and divided it into around 12 pieces. I flattened each piece of dough and placed the filling at the center. then pleated the edge loosely and pressed firmly the top to close the bun.

When the buns were ready, I placed them onto grease-proof paper and arranged them in a boiling steamer. I let steam for about 15 minutes and proved that the fillings were well-cooked.

Well done!!! (I left 2 pieces empty for my hubby)

This time I've done a good job ;-) They tasted good and the bread was as soft as it had to be. Yummy!!

I'll learn to make the sweet cream filling so that my hubby can eat it too. Perhaps I may try to make some with only blended boiled eggs and some herbs. I must think of some alternatives without meat!

Carnival festivity

Yesterday was a very sunny day, it was worth going out. We're in the period of Carnival, so there're many events all around. We've never been to the famous mask carnival of Venice. We once visited that of Busseto (the province of Parma) which was quite grand and lively. Well, I just had a look on the local newspaper and found some nearby villages which organised the festivity. At our living place there was an in-door disguise competition but I preferred bringing my boy to an out-door one. He had been to the competition some times when he was smaller.

My husband decided the place. It was in our province, not far from our zone and it's called "Gossolengo". Certainly our teenager-to-be wore a disguise costume. Just have a look in the pictures and guess who he was mimicking!

Many friends of mine said he looks alike the real character very much ;-D

MEME 2011 (ricevuto da Elena)

Mi stavo già dimenticando di questa iniziativa contrassegnatami da Elena, ideata da "Gianni del blog di cocogianni"

Non ho letto molti libri durante lo scorso anno. Mi perdevo di più a leggere gli articoli, blog, forum, ecc su internet. Ho letto sia quelli in lingua italiana, inglese (la maggior parte) e thailandese. Comincio a compilare senza perdere tempo!

Quanti libri hai letto nel 2010?
10 libri
Quanti erano fiction e quanti no?
8 fiction, 1 autobiografia e 1 filosofia
Quanti scrittori e quante scrittrici?
6 scrittori e 2 scrittrici
Il miglior libro letto?
Angels & Demons di Dan Brown
E il più brutto?
Non sapri decidere, forse quello che mi è piaciuto di meno era Tre Uomini In Barca di Jerome Klapka Jerome.
Il libro più vecchio che hai letto?
Credo proprio che sia quello sopra
E il più recente?
Un romanzo thailandese che mi ha dato in prestito un'amica
Quale libro con il titolo più lungo?
Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (l'ho letto per la 2nd volta dopo tanti anni)
E quello con il titolo più corto?
Alcuni libri letti hanno i titoli corti uguali
Quanti libri hai riletto?
2
Quali vorresti rileggere?
Angels & Demon
I libri più letti dello stesso autore?
2 di Dan Brown e 2 di J.K. Rowling
E quanti dei libri letti sono stati presi in biblioteca?
Nessuno.
Quanti libri letti erano e-book?
Nessuno

Purtroppo non so proprio a che passare questo questionario (almeno per ora), quindi temo che si fermi qui! E' stato un piacere comunque!

Remodelling my blog

In these days I've been trying to change the appearance of my blog. Who has visited it several times at this period must have seen the continuous changing of the page's background image. The cool thing is that I found an accessory for webpages by chance and I got crazy of it! It's a hanging Japanese chime, moving as if blown by a slight wind and producing a bell sound. I love these wind chimes very much! We've one hanging behind a door inside the house. I find the bell sound very pleasant and relaxing but I avoid hanging it outside for the reason that the sound (that will contunue in the windy days) can disturb our neighbours as they aren't used to it.

When I saw this gadget, I decided that I "must" absolutely insert it in my blog! Well, it needed much effort for me as the website of this wonderful thing was in Japanese languages. I helped myself by Google translator at the first step, then guessing which code could be the right one. I tried and tried to copy & paste all the possible codes but nothing happened. At the end, I called my personal technician; my husband. (Why didn't I asked him to do it at first? It was simply because I was so stubborn that I wanted to make it done by myself!) In only some minutes, after modifying the Html of the page, he succeeded! Finally I was so happy to get the Japanese wind chime, that changes the designs automatically each time, at the right top of my blog.

After that, the old template wasn't fine anymore. The next thing was seeking for a perfect page design that could get along with my new wind chime!!! I've been looking for many Japanese-themed wallpapers, changing it for a lot of times and for now I think the Japanese cherry blossoms are ok. However, don't be surprised if any time you see different themes!!!

Vari tipi di "pasta" thailandese ( Various types of Thai pasta)

I've been lazy lately! Now I'm back but this time I'd like to write in Italian, hoping some Italian readers would visit my blog.

Questa volta, per cambiare un pò, ho pensato di scrivere in lingua italiana. Non si sa mai se qualche lettore italiano passa di qui (a parte Elena che mi sta seguendo e magari spera che parlo un pò della cucina thailandese) ^_*

La pasta italiana è famosa per tutto il mondo. Amo particolarmente i bucatini all'amatriciana, gli spaghetti allo scoglio, le penne all'arrabbiata ma mangio molto volentieri anche un piatto di pasta semplice con il sugo di pomodoro e basilico. Mi è venuta l'idea di farvi conoscere vari piatti tipo "pasta" del mio paese. Da noi non ci sono "i primi" o "i secondi". Di solito si servono diverse portate di pesce, carne, verdure, ecc...insieme con il riso come contorno. Per darvi un' idea chiara metto una foto esempio (che ho trovato su Google).

Ma non vi spaventate! Non mangiamo così ogni pasto. E chi avrà tempo di preparare sempre tante portate? A casa mia, in una cena che mangiamo insieme tutta la famiglia, mia mamma preparava circa 3 o 4 portate (1 di pesce o carne, 1 di verdure ed 1 zuppa che non poteva mai mancare). I pasti veloci (penso non sia sbagliato chiamare "fast food" thailandese; cioè si trovano dappertutto come trovare un trancio di pizza quando sei fuori di casa) sono piatti unici; paragonabile ai piati di pasta della cucina italiana e li chiamiamo "Kuay-Tiao"

Io vorrei dividere i nostri piatti di Kuay-Tiao in 2 categorie; cioè quelli asciutti e quelli in brodo. Il piatto di Kuay-Tiao più famoso (almeno credo), conosciuto dagli stranieri è il "Phad-Thai". Il piatto consiste in ospaghetti di riso (misura larga come le vostre tagliatelle), tofu, gamberi, uovo, germogli di soia e gli arachidi pestati. Ecco una foto!

                                             (mancano i gamberi qua ma mi piace come foto)

Da noi si mangiano più spesso il Kuay-Tiao in brodo. Ci sono varie ricette di brodo; il brodo chiaro che è preparato con carne bianca come pollo, il brodo scuro preparato con carne rossa come manzo ed anatra ed il brodo speziato e piccante.

                                                 Un esempio del Kuay-Tiao in brodo scuro

                                         In questa foto sono gli spaghetti di riso in brodo chiaro

                                                 Dal colore si capisce che è il brodo piccante!

                                                           Un Kuay-Tiao con frutti di mare

                                      Ed infine un Kuay-Tiao (noodles) asciutto allo stile cinese!

Qua in Italia, quando ho voglia di mangiare un piatto di Kuay-Tiao, faccio il brodo con le costine di maiale, un gambo di sedano, una cipolla e 2 pezzi di cannella. Faccio cuocere gli spaghetti di riso. Verso il brodo sopra gli spaghetti, aggiungo qualche verdura che trovo come germogli di soia o verza tritata fine. Per dare un buon gusto e profumo metto un pizzico di coriandolo tritato, cipollotto tritato e pepe. E' squisito!
                      

How we celebrate the Chinese New Year

Tomorrow is the greatest day for Chinese people, it's our New Year's Day! They're celebrating not only in China, but also in countries where there're many Chineses such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, etc. I'm imagining what my parents and grannies have prepared to celebrate the New Year. This fact makes me feel a little bit homesick as it's time that every family member get together. I mean the "whole" family which includes grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren, etc. We're quite numerous. The feeling is something similar to Christmas day but not really. According to the tradition, we offer food to gods andour deceased ancestors on a table in front of the altar. (The Chinese normally set an altar in the house.) We light candles and incense sticks in order to invite gods and our passed-away beloved ones. Each food, vegetable and fruit has the meaning. I'm posting here some pictures found in some websites as examples.

Oranges must be found on the table. We beleive they bring good luck and prosperity. Everything is in red theme, from decorations to the outfits. Wearing red color makes a good beginning of the year.

This year is the year of rabbit. The Chinese zodiac signs change each year and they're 12 in total. The signs have animals as symbols. Who are born in this year have the rabbit as zodiac sign. (I'm a dragon!)

Another thing I miss is dancing lions and dragons. The dancers wear masks. There's a type of long costume worn by more than one person. They dance along the streets with an orchestra composed by Chinese instruments. People drop cabbages into lion's and dragon's mouth and give red envelopes of money as a tip to dancers. When I was a child, my mom let us (me, sister and brother) wait at the terrace of the top of the house (it has 3 storeys). When the lion and dragon arrived, they saw us on the top so they climbed up to reach us. (The dancers are acrobats.) Small kids sometimes are afraid of them but bigger kids enjoy giving cabbages and tips very much.

Yet, kids are very happy when they go to meet relatives because they receive red envelops with money from adult relatives too. I remember that after the Chinese New Year's Day, at school children didn't talk about anything else, but how much they got in total. Classmates who were non-Chinese origin felt a bit envious towards the Chinese ones.

Before leaving, I'd like to wish my followers, Chinese or not, much happiness and luck in the rabbit year!

Happy Chinese New Year 2011!