Papamamajojo's Diary

Oct 5: Oct 3 09 was Mid-Autumn Festival ( eighth month 15th day of lunar calendar 八月十五 中秋节. I packed these store bought mini mooncakes with red bean and lotus seeds paste fillings for Jojo's lunch box.

Oct 6: Sushi bento.

Oct 7: Joseph asked for cinnamon bread so I baked some and packed some for his lunch. Papajojo's lunch box had ketchup fried rice. At school Joseph made and baked this pretzel which he brought home and ate it for tea. He said it was delicious. ^^

Oct 8: Some time ago, I made salmon flakes using recipe from here, and stored it in the fridge. This morning I mixed it with sushi rice and packed into the lunch boxes. Jojo love it! ^^

We had lunch at the Panera Bread outlet. The bread there are delciious! Papajojo and I ordered lunch set each. So good!

This homemade pizza was made using the no-knead recipe. Toppings were tomato paste-ketchup sauce, bacon and provolone cheese. Easy to make and delicious!

Simple bento. ^^

Ken and Young invited us to their place for dinner to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival together. Young prepared many delicious korean food. So delicious! I made tiramisu. Everyone had great time together. Thank God for wonderful time with Ken and family.

21 Sep 09: We bought a packet of frozen Thai Durian from the asian supermarket in Cinncinati. Quite good taste!

22 Sep 09: The char siew (Joseph's favourite!) was also from the asian supermarket. Tender and delicious, great for bento.

23 Sep 09: Jina baked these delicious chocolate muffins and we had it for breakfast the next day. Simply delicious!

24 Sep 09: My first attempt at baking apple pie turned out well. The aroma was heaven!

26 Sep 09: Saturday we had a church picnic held at one of the parks. I baked this pizza using no-knead bread recipe, bacon and provolone cheese. Easy and delicious! It was one of the first dishes to be completely wiped out by our friends. Glad they liked it!

We bought these mini mooncakes at the asian grocery store. They were made in New York, USA. Fillings were red bean and lotus seeds paste. Tasty!

I'm so into no-knead bread these days! I even bought a US$80 (from TJ Maxx) 8Q oval shape caste iron dutch oven to make the bread. Totally worth the investment! Crispy crust, light, soft on the inside. Eaten with home made kaya. Ooh la la! The mini cupcakes were made for party at Great Wall Chinese Restaurant. It was the last day of operation. Felt sad that it's gone but happy for the owners who are our church friends for the new beginning. Looked so cute and tasted delicious!

Joseph asked for cinnamon buns the day before and I made these just in time for breakfast. Waking up to the delicious smell of cinnamon, he was so happy!
Cost of cinnamon buns: less than $2.
Happy smiles on my son's face: Priceless.

Autumn is already here and the basil plants seem like they're going into hibernation soon. So I harvested the leaves and made this dish. Yummy!! The smell is so refreshing. So

On Sep 5, we went to the Berry Farm and picked these juicy, delicious blackberries and raspberries. Everyone had lots of fun!

Bento for Sep 9, 09. Good, auspicious date!

Bento for Sep 11, 09. I love the red beetroot flowers. So pretty!

On Sep 12, we had picnic with Joanne's school friends. Teachers and their family, parents and kids were there. Each brought a dish to share. I made sushi and it was all eaten up by the time we left, about two hours later. Thank God for the good weather. We had good time getting to know other families while kids played at the playground.

Jojo were playing and one of them broke the lego car.

Papajojo: Joseph! Why did you break the car?

Joseph: It's Joanne's fault!

Joanne: No, it's Kor Kor's fault!

Papajojo: Joseph, don' say it's Mei Mei's fault. It's your toy so it's your fault!

Joseph: No, it's not my "ford". "Ford" is a truck.

Papajojo: -_-;

Me: hahahaha...

Recipe from here. I used only buttermilk. The muffins turned out moist and soft. Yum-O!

31 Aug: For the first time, I had to prepare uncook octopus bought from korean supermarket. I was quite shocked to find that the octopus wasn't in the "ready to cook" mode when I took it out of the packet. Had to ask Papajojo to do the cleaning after which I just boiled it in water for few minutes. Tasted quite saltish and chewy. Papajojo commented that's why it's cut into small pieces to make Takoyaki. Anyway, we had it for dinner with the stir fried salted zucchini. Yum.

1 Sep: I used the instant Pau flour to make Red Bean Pau. Don't know why the pau dough was quite saltish. Don't think I'll ever use instant pau flour again. After sending Joseph to school, Papajojo, Joanne and I went to the Air Force Museum. I packed fried tofu skin sushi, sushi roll and steamed asparagus for lunch there. Dinner was Thai green curry cooked with instant paste. Spicy! At home, Joanne made Jello and we had it for dessert after dinner. Yum-O!

2 Sep: Joanne's first day of school. Made colourful lunch boxes for Jojo but she didn't eat much. Might be too excited on first day of school to eat. Anyway, while kids were in school, Papajojo and I did some sight seeing and driving around. I also took the local driving theory test and passed! Hallelujah!

4 Sep: On 3 Sep, I packed fried rice for Jojo's lunch boxes and forgot to take photo. Hee hee. Today's lunch box include quail eggs, braised pumpkin and sushi roll. Thanks to my sis's suggestion, I made extra sushi rolls and gave it to Jojo's teachers, something extra for their lunch. They told me they like sushi very much and were happy to get the surprise lunch treat.

I baked this on Friday and we ate it on Saturday morning for breakfast with ham, butter and cheese. Still soft and delicious. Yum-O! I used the recipe from here orignially for Japanese curry bread. Maybe next time I'll add the curry filling.

25 Aug: "Octopus & crabs" sausages; peas, corns and carrot salad; sushi with carrot & kanpyo fillings

26 Aug: Salmon onigiri

27 Aug: Simmered Taro, Beetroots, Asparagus; Steamed rice with steamed beef

28 Aug: Japanese fish cake with carrot filling; Sausages with seaweed; Sushi with kanpyo filling