CASSAVA OR YUCA --- WHAT IS IT?

CASSAVA OR YUCA! What is it? What's the code? This is the question I always get when I buy yuca/cassava at Whole Foods market. The cashier scrambles to ask other cashiers to know what is this 'thing' called and to search page after page in her or his book for the code to enter. If I buy it at an Asian or a Hispanic market, of course, the cashier usually knows what it is. No question was asked. It is not very American at all, isn't it?

I grew up eating yuca in Indonesia. It's a root that tastes very similar to potatoes. There is a waxy film covering the root (I think it is to preserve it's freshness). After it is cut horizontally into chunks, the brown and waxy outer layer can be removed easily with a knife.

I like eating yuca, deep fried, just like thick French Fries. Indonesians have many ways/recipes to prepare yuca. We eat them as snacks. It can be prepared salty or sweet (as desserts).


I usually boil yuca in salty water for about 20 to 25 minutes. I tried the pressure cooker, too, which only take 3 minutes (under pressure). Below is my garlicky yuca recipe. This dish can be eaten just like it is (boiled). Or, the gravy (sauce) can be drained and then the yuca is deep fried until they are crispy. DH who loves fried food loves deep fried yuca. Boiled yuca looks soft but it becomes hard and crispy when it is deep fried.

Garlicky Yuca/Cassava

1.5 lb yuca/cassava (prepared as pictured)
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tsp. table salt
3 cups water or enough to cover it entirely
1 tsp. oil

In oil, sauté garlic until fragrant. Add the yuca chunks, water and salt. Simmer for 20 to 25 minutes until tender. The water will become a bit thick like gravy.

I have other recipe I adapted from Bryanna's recipe. I receive this recipe after I emailed Bryanna about the Peruvian restaurant we visited one day, called Inka Mamas. One of their menu items is called YUCA ALA HUANCAINA. Of course, Bryanna has a recipe for this dish with potato, instead. She said I can replace it with yuca. It's an appetizer consists of lettuce, corn, carrots, olives, and deep fried yuca smothered with 'cheezy' warm sauce.







YUCA ALA HUANCAINA (A PERUVIAN YUCA DISH)
(adapted from Bryanna's recipe)
Serves 6

1 Garlicky Yuca/Cassava recipe (above), deep fried

White Sauce ingredients:
1/2 pkg. Mori-nu Silken Tofu, Firm
1 cup soy milk
1/2 to 1 cup water
2 Tbsp. non-dairy margarine/Earth Balance
2 Tbsp. unbleached flour

1 T. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 an onion, minced
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 Tsp. minced jalapeño
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of white pepper
2 Tbsp. Bill's Best Chiknish
2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes
1/2 tsp. salt


6 to 8 large lettuce leaves
18 black olives
12 2"-long chunks of cold cooked corn on the cob
12 2"-chunks cold cooked carrots

White Sauce:
Combine silken tofu, soy milk, and 1/2 cup water in a blender. Blend until smooth/not grainy (take a few minutes). Melt margarine/Earth Balance in a small sauce pan on a low heat. Add flour and combine until thickened. Scrape flour mixture into the blender. Blend until smooth.


Sauté the chopped onion, hot peppers and turmeric in the olive oil until the onion is soft. Stir in the white sauce, chicknish, spices, salt, and nutritional yeast. Keep warm. If the sauce is too thick, add the remaining water (or add more) a little each time until desired consistency.

On each serving plate, place a lettuce leaf. Place a few chunks of deep fried yuca (still hot) on each lettuce leaf. Place a few olives, 2 chunks of carrots, and 2 chunks of corn around the yuca. Drizzle the yuca with the sauce, distributing evenly. Serve immediately with more sauce, if desired.

I used the left over sauce on top of Tofu Benedict(toast, tofu, vegan sausage, caramelized mushrooms, and grilled tomatoes) for breakfast and it's delish!




Yuca tastes just like potatoes. If you can find it, don't be afraid to cook it and try it!

Vegan Pecan Sticky Buns - Move Over Cinnabon

It has been almost a year that I didn't post a new blog. This doesn't mean that I haven't tried new recipes or cooked. I have. It's just that there are so many blogs out there that I enjoyed reading so why repeat what they did, I thought.

Although someone may have blogged vegan pecan sticky bun already, this blog is all about learning to make bread the easiest way. I grew up with rice and noodles so making bread is something I am not good at. I threw away dough that will not rise time to time then I got frustrated.

Recently, I learned that it's easy to make bread and it's nothing to be scared about. I learned about no-knead yeast bread from my friend Bryanna who recently blogged about it. I bought this recipe book that she recommended. S he found out about this book from Julie Hasson from Everyday Dish who also blogged about it. Word of mouth (or blog to blog) is a powerful thang! This book is titled Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. You can throw away your Kitchen Aid mixer or your expensive bread maker. You can just go back to the basic: a very large bowl and a wooden spoon. I successfully made artisan breads from the recipes. It was so easy, no kneading. I mixed the ingredients in 5 minutes and let the dough rise in the fridge for 24 hours or more. I went to bed after mixing the dough and the next morning it will be ready for bread baking. Or, if I don't want to make bread that day I'll let it rise in the fridge until I am ready.

Being successful with bread, I wanted to make more exciting bread such as vegan sticky buns; especially, after tasting the most delicious vegan pecan sticky buns when we were at Flagstaff, Arizona. We had them at Macy's International Bakery. We went to this bakery twice just for their sticky buns. That was last December. After that experience, I craved for this sticky buns so did DH although he may not admit it. The dream for having sticky buns didn't just started last December. It started after I stopped eating eggs. Whenever I passed Cinnabon at malls, my mouth watered smelling and seeing the cinnamon rolls they displayed. Of course, those are not vegan. It's loaded with eggs and butter. I thought that there must be a way to make them without eggs and butter, the vegan way. At last......I found this good recipe in this cookbook with the help of Bryanna who veganized it.

There are two recipes listed below. One is the dough and the other one is how to convert this dougo to delicious Pecan Sticky buns.

I ended up making it in a 13 X 9 pan and used 3/4 of the dough.

Veganized Master Enriched Dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day*

* Veganized by Bryanna Clark Grogan The book contains several master dough recipes, and this is an enriched, sweet dough, perfect for a loaf of Challah (the braided dough) and the Sticky Rolls. You start by mixing the master dough first, Let that rest overnight in the refrigerator, then the next day, pinch off a cantaloupe sized hunk-o-dough to make your Sticky Pecan Caramel Cinnamon Rolls! Return the rest to the refrigerator to use for another day.
 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbs instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 cup soymilk, warm, whisked with 2 Tbs. Ener-G Egg Replacer (I used Bob's Red Mill egg replacer)
1/2 cup agave syrup or maple syrup
1/2 cup Earth Balance butter, melted
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, mix together the soymilk/Ener-G mixture, water, syrup, melted EB, yeast and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add in the flour. STIR, BABY STIR!!! Stir until you don't see any more dry bits of flour (about a minute). Cover (not airtight) and stick it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days. The longer you let it rise in the refrigerator, the better tasting the dough will be.

Cooking Tips NOTE: When you let the dough hang out in the refrigerator, it's not going to "rise" like a normal dough Think of Cinnabon, that chain store found in every American mall, except EVEN BETTER.

VEGAN PECAN STICKY BUNS* The Dough above: A cantaloupe sized chunk of the Master Dough (about 1.5 lbs)
The Gooey Sticky Caramel Topping:
6 Tbs Earth Balance, softened
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar 3
30 pecan halves ( I chopped them)

The Heavenly Sweet Cinnamon Butter Filling:
4 Tbs Earth Balance, softened
1/4 cup sugar or brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
13 by 9 inch baking pan

1. The first thing you need to do is take that master dough out of the refrigerator, grab a small cantalope sized chunk of dough. Return the rest of it to the refrigerator to use another time (psst...get the book for all the other recipes using this dough!).
2. Generously flour your hands and the dough. Shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough and tucking it to the bottom all around, rotating hte ball a quarter-turn as you go. This creates a taut, smooth surface. Let the dough rest, covered with a towel to take the chill off while you prepare rest of ingredients.
3. While the dough is unchilling, mix the topping and the filling. FOR THE TOPPING: Cream together the EB, and sugar. Spread this topping evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Scatter with pecan halves (I used chopped pecans). FOR THE FILLING: Cream together all ingredients except the pecans. Set aside. Dust your counter with flour and roll out the dough with a rolling pin to 1/8" thick rectangle. Try to get it 13" x 17" I had trouble with the rectangle shape, so I we just rolled it into a large oval. Spread the sweet filling evenly on the surface. Scatter chopped pecans all over.
4. Roll it up, starting with the long side. Flour your serrated knife and cut roll into 9-12 even pieces.
5. Set it in the pan on top of the caramel, cover with towel and rest for 1 hour Preheat your oven to 350F. The book says to bake for 40 minutes, or until golden brown and well set in the center. But take a peek at the rolls around the 35 minute mark.
6. While still hot, run a knife round the edge of pan and invert immediately onto a plate. If you wait until it cools, the caramel will harden and it will be difficult to turn out. YUM. Soft, pillowy dough. Sweet cinnamon and nutmeg butter dribbling down your chin. Sticky, gooey caramel. Crunchy pecans.

Indonesian Coffee Flan at Everydaydish.tv!

Photo by Yongkie Hurd

During my vacation at Portland, Oregon(see last blog), one exciting event I did was fulfilling Julie's request to present my Indonesian Coffee Flan recipe in her Everyday Dish.TV, a newly born website to present healthy and creative cooking. This is, indeed, a wonderful site with videotaped cooking shows (click on Cooking Show) where you can view what the dishes look like and how recipes are made, in short webtv segments. No measurements of ingredients are mentioned during the videotaping since you can find the recipes on the right hand side of the cooking show page. It is a smart idea for individuals who want to learn an easy-does-it cooking by using simple recipes and simple techniques.


I was, of course, NERVOUS, because the experience was really nerve-wrecking! It was my first experience being videotaped. Just try it, cooking something with someone breathing on your neck and watching you closely or from behind your back. In my case, it was the camera and the cameraman/director/producer, Jay. I was cooking under the shining bright lights everywhere. Hence, I have never cooked like this before. But Jay was very patience with me and methodical. At one time, he offered me a shot of tequila...hhmm....what a good idea! But I didn't take a shot and was able to go through it with his help. Let me know what you think of my video: Everyday Dish.tv presents Indonesian Coffee Flan. You may need to download the latest Quicktime 7 for Windows to view all the cooking shows in this site. If you are an iPod user, you can subscribe and download all cooking shows from this site. DH happens to get an iPod for his birthday and will be able to show his wife cooking to everyone he knows. :-)






Indonesian Coffee Flan is a recipe I invented because an acquaintance visited an Indonesian restaurant, had this dessert, and wanted to know how to make it. The secret ingredients are Indonesian Palm Sugar called Gula Jawa, Pandan (Southeast Asian flavoring leaf smells like vanila, also called screwpine leaf), vanilla, and a good coffee. I grew up with these ingredients and have always used agar powder in making jello-like desserts. I didn't know that gelatin powder that is used commonly in the US is made of an animal ingredient until I became a vegetarian and was told so. Indonesians have always used agar powder which is derived from seaweed for gelling desserts.

You may say, 'Wow these are EXOTIC ingredients! How can I find these ingredients?' If you live in a metropolitan area, you can find these ingredients in asian markets who usually carry Indonesian ingredients. You may find Gula Jawa (palm sugar) and agar powder in the aisle of Thai or Indonesian ingredients and the pandan leaves in the frozen section. It is very unfortunate that I can't find fresh pandan leaves in the States. The aroma of fresh pandan leaves is so wonderful!



Agar powder found in Asian markets in small packages


If you live in a non-metropolitan area, you can find on-line sources for gula jawa: IndoMerchant or Indonesian Food Mart; agar powder: barryfarm.com or Amazon , and pandan essence (use 1 to 2 teaspoons): Importfoods.com.

Portland, VegFest, Veganized Molé Rojo, Molé Verde, and Tamales!

I was traveling to Portland, Oregon, from May 10 - 14, 2007. The purpose was to visit friends (Julie Hasson, Bryanna, and Yongkie) and to attend Portland's VegFest 2007.



It was a delightful journey to be close to friends I met in the Internet. Yes, Internet is a great place to meet friends who have the same taste and ideas.

Take a look at Bryanna's Blog: Notes from the Vegan Feast Kitchen about this event. I also went to Powell's bookstore and attended Bryanna's and Julie's demos at the VegFest. It was a lot of fun! Then, we all had a vegan asian fusion dinner at Julie's. Yum!

At Powell's (the biggest bookstore I've ever been), I bought new cookbooks. I love cookbooks! The one that was outstanding to me was the Mole! cookbook by Gwyneth Doland. It is not a vegan cookbook but I am able to veganize the recipes. I also want to make tamales with the veganized molé sauces I made from this cookbook.

It was a success! I made Vegan Molé Rojo (red molé).



The ingredients are guajillo chiles, ancho chiles, new mexico chiles, whole cloves, canela (Mexican cinnamon), whole all spice, pecan halves, almonds, garlic, onions, tomatoes, bittersweet chocolate, and veg. broth.



The next sauce is Vegan Molé Verde (green molé).




The ingredients are tomatillos, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), canela(Mexican cinnamon), whole cloves, whole cumin seeds, garlic, onions, fresh pasilla chiles, fresh jalapeno chiles, fresh cilantro, and veg. broth.




Mole Verde
Adapted and veganized from Mole! cookbook by Gwyneth Doland
Makes about 3 cups
3/4 lbs. tomatillos, husked and washed
3 cups vegetable broth
1 cup pepitas or pumpkin seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
6 whole cloves
3-inch piece of canela or Mexican cinnamon
2 jalapeno chiles, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 poblano chile, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil
1 cup cilantro leaves, washed and dried
1 teaspoon salt

1. Put the tomatillos and broth in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Drain the tomatillos and save the broth.
2. In a cast-iron skillet over medium heat, toast the pepitas, cumin seeds, cloves, and canela until the seeds start to pop and turn golden.
3. Transfer the seeds and spices to the blender and puree with about 1 cup of the reserved broth from the tomatillo pot. With a rubber spatula, scrape the puree into a small bowl and set aside.
4. Transfer the tomatillos to the empty blender. Add the jalapeno and poblano chiles, onion, and garlic. Puree while adding 1 cup of the reserved broth.
5. Add the cilantro and puree again until smooth. Scrape this puree into a large bowl.
6. In the cast-iron skillet, heat oil. Transfer the pepitas and spices mixture back to the skillet and fry this mixture in the oil until it browns slightly.
7. Add the pureed tomatillos mixture to the skillet. Mix well and heat thoroughly. Add more broth if the mixture is too thick. Season with salt. Serve immediately or it can also be store in a freezer until ready to use.

Then, I made tamales' fillings using soy curls, onions, garlic, zucchini, red bell pepper, and cilantro. The fillings were cooked in these molé sauces.

Here is the picture of Molé Rojo Vegan Tamale:



and the Molé Verde Vegan Tamale:



BTW, I added Smoked Cheddar Sheese inside the Molé Verde Vegan Tamale and it was delish!

Now, this is a teaser for you. I won't post the recipes here but will include the recipes in Bryanna's Vegan Feast Newsletter . I haven't submitted recipes for a while so I thought I'll share my experience with vegan feasters only in the Readers' Recipes section.
On top of cooking and buying cookbook, I also went to visit my ex-roommate, Carolyn, that I haven't seen for 15 years. She suggested that we visit Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. Rhododendrons are also known as Rhodies were flowering at that time. This turned out to be the highlight of my trip. We spent 2 hours in the garden and took a lot of pictures with my new camera, Canon Rebel XT Digital SLR. It was also Mother's Day that day. I promised my mother-in-law and my mom to share the pictures with them as I was thinking of them while strolling in the garden. For viewing the pictures, click here. I can't thank enough to Carolyn and her husband Michael to take me to this beautiful garden.
After enjoying the garden for 2 hours, we were famish. We went to this Lebanese restaurant(Yongkie's suggestion): Nicholas Restaurant for the best lunch I ever had in Portland. It is a family restaurant and very small. It has a lot of vegetarian and vegan options (check out their menu). This is the kind of restaurant I love: informal, family owned, small, located in not so great part of town (not in a mall or fancy location) but the waitresses and waiters are friendly and....the food is GREAT and CHEAP!

Vegan Dark Moist Spice Cake and DH's "Surprised the Guests" Birthday Party!

It was DH's (Dear Husband) birthday! I made a vegan Dark Moist Spice Cake from More Great Good Dairy-Free Desserts by Fran Costigan (my favorite dessert cookbook) for his birthday. This was an unusual request for a cake for DH who likes CHOCOLATE! I guess he wanted to be 'different' this year. Before I tell you all about this scrumptious cake, I would like to tell you about his 'surprised the guests' birthday celebration.

He had a 'surprised the guests' birthday celebration this year. This was how he was going to surprise his guests:

1. He didn't tell his guests that it was his birthday. This was hard but apparently possible.
2. He wanted to surprise his guests to tell them that it was his birthday party with a cake that had a Happy Birthday candle on it, at the end of the party, dessert time.
3. He wanted to present un-birthday gifts for all guests at the party.

His plan worked great so far as the middle of dinner. The phone rang and none of us got up and thought that we let the machine picked it up. It was DH's brother who left a message on the machine loudly "Hi, it's me, your brother from Missouri, Happy Birthday....." Ooops, the cat is out of the bag! Almost all of the guests heard the message and together they yelled "OH, IT"S HIS BIRTHDAY!" It was funny. I was laughing so hard. Of course, everyone said things like 'Oh, I didn't bring anything' or 'Oh, I didn't buy a card for him.' But that's exactly what DH wanted. Indeed, the phone message was a good way to break the news. Then, he gave his surprised un-birthday gifts for all his guests who were suprisingly happy to receive it. The cake was not a surprised anymore but they all were still surprised by how scrumptious it was for a vegan cake.

It was indeed a delicious cake! It was moist (dark molasses and maple syrup), spicy (ginger, cloves, and cinnamon), and tender. It's topped and filled with Ginger Tofu Whip (tofu, ginger juice, orange juice, maple syrup, vanilla, and a tiny bit of nutmeg). I also used maple sugar. Believe it or not, there is NO WHITE PROCESSED SUGAR in this cake! But yet it was yummy. If you like to know who invented such a healthy but sensational desserts, check out Fran Costigan's website. I recently saw her on TV making her recipe Chocolate Cake to Live For in Get Fresh with Sara Snow in Discovery Health program. YAY, Fran!

P.S.: Dinner menu consisted of (from start to end): Lentil and Walnut Paté and Muhammara dips served with crackers and fresh cut veggies, Tom Yum Soup , Spicy Seitan Stew, Confetti Rice with Coconut (these last 3 dishes were from my last blog entry), stir-fried Variety of Organic Vegetables, and Dark Moist Spice Cake.

Spicy Tomato Seitan Stew, Spicy Tom Yum Soup, and Savory Confetti Rice

I am still cooking and trying recipes from Real Food Daily cookbook by Ann Gentry. 2 recipes caught my interests: Spicy Tomato Seitan Stew(pg. 173) and
Confetti Jasmine Rice with Coconut(pg. 147). They turned out very very good!

The Spicy Tomato Seitan Stew uses kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, onion, garlic, serrano chili, and ginger. These are definitely Asian spices. But then she throws in 28 oz. can whole tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. That's Italian! It is interesting so I decided to try it. I wondered how it was going to taste. East meet West? Unfortunately, I didn't have fresh basil leaves but I did have some Italian Parsley. I also didn't have serrano chilies but had jalapeno chilies. I changed the recipe a little bit based on ingredients I had at home.

I have fresh lemon grass and kaffir lime leaves since I have been growing them in the last few years. I don't do anything to these 2 plants but once a while feed the kaffir lime tree. It is wonderful to have the 2 plants thrive and available all year long to cook Thai dishes. This is the benefit of living in Southern California. Anything grows here as long as you water it. Here are the pictures of my plants:

Lemon Grass

Kaffir Lime Tree

Spicy Tomato Seitan Stew
Adapted from Real Food Daily cookbook by Ann Gentry (my changes are in Italics)

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 large onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons minced lemongrass (see note)
2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1 fresh jalapeno chili
1 large green bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 14.5 oz. organic diced tomatoes
1/4 cup Thai Thin soy sauce, Healthy Boy Brand
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon agave nectar
2 kaffir lime leaves
2 pkgs. Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Steak Strips(see note)
1/2 cup chopped Italian Parsley, lightly packed

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. add the onion, garlic, lemon grass, ginger, and jalapeno chilies, and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.
2. Add the bell pepper and saute 3 minutes longer, or until crisp-tender.
3. Add the 2 cans tomatoes, soy sauce, vinegar, agave nectar, and kaffir lime leaves.
4. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the tomates are very tender.
5. Stir in the Steak Strips. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until the seitan is heated through, then stir in the parsley.
6. Transfer the stew to a bowl and serve with rice.

Note:

• Lemon Grass stalks are really hard to mince with a regular knife. I recommend using a small blender or spice or coffee grinder to mince it to tiny tiny bits.
• The original recipe calls for 1 pound Basic Seitan (page 189) cut into thick strips. I thought using Morningstar Farms® Meal Starters™ Steak Strips was easier, quicker and still tastes great. For people who wants to quit eating beef, this is a great substitute and healthy. It is available in any major US market.

Confetti Jasmine Rice with Coconut
Adapted from Real Food Daily cookbook by Ann Gentry (my changes are in italics)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil3/4 teaspoon curry powder
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 cups uncooked brown jasmine rice
3 cups water
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/2 cup yellow corn kernels (about 1 ear of corn)
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped peeled carrot
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the sesame oil in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the curry powder, ginger, and turmeric, and then the rice.
2. Add the water and salt and bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer gently without stirring for 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender and the water is absorbed.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the corn, bell pepper, and carrot, and saute for 5 minutes.
4. Saute coconut in a dry heavy frying pan until a bit brown and well toasted.
5. Transfer the rice to a cookie sheet(see note). Use a fork to fluff the vegetables into the rice. Spread it to let it cool. Sprinkle the toasted coconut and almonds on top of the rice. Mix and transfer to a bowl and serve.

Note: I decided to spread the rice on a cookie sheet to cool so the rice will separate instead of sticking together when it's cool.



I served the above dishes with my Vegetarian Thai Tom Yum soup as a starter(with tofu, oyster mushrooms, and bok choy) using more lemon grass, fresh lime juice, jalapeno chili, and kaffir lime leaves in it. Spicy and refreshing!



Since Julie requested the Tom Yum soup recipe(click on Comments below), I posted my recipe of Tom Yum soup below. There are so many varieties of ingredients you can use in this soup. Sometimes I use vegan shrimps and make the soup a 'seafoody' taste. The most important is combining the Tom Yum stock, the crushed garlic and chilies combination, vegetarian fish sauce, and lime juice together, then, you can add just about anything to it. I didn't post the recipe in the beginning because I know some of the ingredients will be hard to find in some parts of this country. Actually, this time I didn't use any galangal, kelp powder, and kombu, but the soup still tastes great. This is one of my favorite soup that I can have everyday.


TOM YUM SOUP (SIV ORIGINAL)A Thai spicy soup that is so popular in Thai restaurants in my area. It has shrimps, lemon grass, kaffir lime leave, galanga, lime juice, mushrooms, roasted chili peppers, and vegetables in it. The herbs and spices in this soup are good for a cold remedy because it really clears a stuffy nose (won't kill germs though! Ha ha). When my co-worker has a stuffy nose she always calls me and said 'Let's go for a Thai lunch and have that soup!' I re-invented this soup recipe with vegan ingredients without loosing the herbs and spices taste nor the 'seafoody' taste. This soup is SPICY, SOUR, SALTY, and REFRESHING!

Tom Yum Stock:
1 large (6 by 8) dashi kombu ( A Japanese seaweed ) , optional
10 cups water or your favorite vegetable broth
6 stalk lemon grass, use the lower thick portion, pounded, and sliced thick
10 kaffir lime leaves
1/2 cup thinly sliced galangal or 1 - 2 tsp galangal powder, optional

1. Roll lime leaves and crush them with your hand to release the leaves aroma.
2. Place all ingredients in a large stockpot. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain the stock and discard the seaweed, if using, lemon grass, and the leaves. Set aside .

Soup Ingredients:
14 oz. firm tofu packed in water, drained, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
8 oz. oyster mushrooms or other kind of mushrooms (shiitake, white, etc.), cut into slivers
1 1/2 to 2 cups vegetables such as cabbage or bok choy or napa cabbage or young mini corns in a can or a combination
6 to 8 dry red chilies (chili japones)
Note: These are hot chilies. To reduce the spicyness, cut the portion into half
3 to 4 large garlic cloves, crushed
6 Tbs Vegetarian Fish Sauce or soy sauce, Healthy Boy Brand
6 Tbs Fresh squeezed lime juice or a juice from 3 fresh limes
4 to 6 Kaffir lime leaves
1 stalk large lemon grass, sliced thick diagonally
1/2 to 1 tsp kelp powder or granules , optional, if you want to make it 'fishy'
salt to taste
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
1 Tbs vegetable oil

1. In a non-stick frying pan, heat ½ tablespoon oil. Stir fry red chilies and crushed garlic in oil until the chilies became dark and garlic is brown but not burnt. Set aside.
2. Heat a heavy pot, put 1/2 tablespoon oil, then, pan fry the tofu in a medium-high heat and stir for 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms and stir fry 2 more minutes. Add tom yum stock, vegetarian fish sauce, lime juice, lemon grass, kelp powder, if using, and lime leaves. Simmer in a low heat while working on the chilies below.
3. Set aside about 3 whole roasted chilies for the garnish in soup. Put the rest of the red chilies and crushed garlic mixture in a small blender like a spice or coffee blender including the oil. Add about 3 to 4 tablespoon of broth from the soup. Grind for 30 seconds.
   
   Note: Whole chilies won't make the soup spicy (unless you eat it) but looks good in it. So to make it less spicy grind less chilies with the garlic and set aside more chilies for the garnish.
4. Scrape the chilies and garlic mixture into the simmering soup. Throw the whole roasted chilies into the soup. Taste for saltiness and add salt if necessary.
5. Add the rest of the vegetables into the soup and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off heat. Add cilantro sprigs on top and serve immediately.

Spicy Tortilla Soup!

I bought a new cookbook, The Real Food Daily by Ann Gentry. There are also 2 Real Food Daily restaurants in Santa Monica and West Hollywood, CA. They are great restaurants and have been around for more than 12 years. We visited them but they are way too far for us to visit often. So I am glad to be able to get this cookbook.



I tried the tortilla soup recipe from this cookbook and it's so goood and spicy! You know me, I like it SPICY! I also tried other recipes from this cookbook such as Mexicali Chop Salad with Crispy tortilla strips and Lime-cilantro vinaigrette and Seitan Enchiladas with Salsa Verde (pg. 104 and 152). If you have this cookbook, try them, they are wonderful for this upcoming Cinco De Mayo (that is if you are celebrating it). These Mexican dishes really satisfied our tummy.

BTW, the Crispy Tortilla Strips on top are so crunchy, salty, spicy, and a bit sweet. DH loves it and said that these are good just to snack on. Whooosh, they are gone in a flash! The crispy strips are perfect for both on the salad and the soup.

A week ago we rented a movie called 'Tortilla Soup' (a funny and interesting movie), so that's how I came up with the idea of making this soup. Surprisingly enough, my new cookbook has a recipe for this soup. This must be a 'coinkidink', oh, I mean a 'coincidence', OR a God's Divine Intervention!

Now, about the tortilla soup, I have never made it before. I have seen it in restaurants' menu (usually has chicken broth in it, don't know why people can't just use vegetable broth?) and have heard of it but never know how to make it until I opened this cookbook. What's interesting about this soup is that corn tortillas are cooked in the soup with other ingredients until they are soft and disintegrate. Then, using a handheld immersion blender(I just love my hand blender), the soup ingredients are blended till smooth in the pot.

Who had this idea of cooking tortillas in a soup, anyway? Was it an accident in the first place? Oops, I dropped tortillas in my soup so let's see what happens if I cook them in it? Oh well, whatever it was, this soup is yummy and filling. Another thing about it, it is EASY to make. Any bachelor can do it, guarantee!

The soup is good with toppings like the Crispy Tortilla Chips, Avocado slices ('Avocado in a soup?' DH asked), and sour cream ( I made Vegan Sour Cream with silken tofu). It was suggested to top the soup with Pico De Gallo (fresh salsa) too but I didn't make it.

Here is the recipe with my changes:

Tortilla Soup
(Adapted from The Real Food Daily cookbook by Ann Gentry)

1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 jalapeno chili, finely chopped
2 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
9 cups vegetable broth
1 pound tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
8 organic corn tortillas, coarsly chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Toppings:
1/2 cup Crispy Tortilla Strips
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and sliced
Tofu Sour Cream

1. Heat the oil in a heavy stockpot over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add the jalapeno chile, tamari or soy sauce, cumin, salt, oregano, and pepper, and saute 1 minute longer.
2. Stir in the broth, tomatoes, and tomato paste. Cover and bring to a simmer over high heat. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender. Add the tortillas and simmer 10 minutes longer, or until the tortillas are falling apart.
3. Using a handheld immersion blender, blend the soup in the pot until smooth. Alternatively, working in batches, puree in a regular blender. Stir in the cilantro.
4. Ladle the soup into bowls. Garnish with the tortilla strips, avocado, and tofu sour cream, and serve.

Crispy Tortilla Strips
(Adapted from The Real Food Daily cookbook by Ann Gentry)
1/2 tablespoon canola oil or oil spray
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon maple sugar or regular sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Brush the oil over both sides of the tortillas (if use oil spray, spray on both sides). Cut the tortillas in half, then cut the halves crosswise into 1/8-inch-thick strips.
2. Spread he tortilla strips on a heavy, rimmed bakingsheet. Stir in the chili powder, maple sugar or sugar, and salt in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the chili powder mixture over the tortilla strips, toss the strips to coat, then arrange them evenly over the baking sheet.
3. Bake, tossing occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-line plate and cool.

Here are the pictures of our Mexican meal, all recipes came from this cookbook(highly recommend to buy):

Mexicali Chop Salad with Crispy tortilla strips and Lime-cilantro vinaigrette (lettuce, tomatoes, mangoes, zucchini, and avocado). The lime-cilantro vinaigrette dressing is very refreshing. A wonderful starter before we plunged into the spicy soup and enchilada.

Seitan Enchiladas with Salsa Verde, topped with Tofu Sour Cream.

Seitan Enchilada just came out from the oven. It is easy to make your own Salsa Verde (tomatillos, onions, garlic, and green chilies). This enchilada doesn't look pretty but it sure tastes very good. Don't judge food by its look only!

O Wow! Pumpkin Tunnel Cake, a Vegan Bundt Cake

Finally, I am able to make this new recipe from Bryanna Clark Grogan's new newsletter. My first impression when I inverted the cake to the serving plate was " O WOW!" It was a perfect and beautifully shaped bundt cake! I was so happy that I baked such a beautiful cake, I ran outside to our side yard with the hot steaming cake to show it to DH (he was planting plumeria trees). Here is the picture after I drizzled it with vegan caramel and chopped toasted pecan:




Here is a picture of a slice. I would have eaten it with Soyatoo! but I was out. :-) I guess I like that Soyatoo! a bit too much... :-)



The cake was delicious, full of pumpkin flavor and spices, and it was moist. We both love it. It was so tasty with the vegan caramel topping. The 'tunnel' is made of silken tofu, cashew, crystallized ginger bits, and lemon juice flavored. It is called Lemon-Ginger Tofu Cashew Creme Cheeze filling.

Here is a picture after the cake is cut:



Now, here is a teaser for you! I am not giving out the recipe. This recipe is for Vegan Feasters (subscribers) only. Yes, Bryanna only gives out recipes like this to her subscribers. I have been a vegan feaster for a long long time and I have had so many surprises like this from her newsletters. It doesn't cost much to subscribe and you will get tons of recipes. It is well worth it. If it looks like I am advertising it, you got that right, I am! :-) That's because I want to spread out her good and proven creations and also that she deserves it! So, what are you waiting for?

Vegan Sweet Potato/Yam Waffle with Toasted Pecan

Fall weather is here: cold in the morning and night, warm 77 F during the day, a typical Southern California fall weather. This kind of weather makes me want to eat pumpkin something. I just received the new Vegan Feast newsletter from Bryanna and saw her recipe of Vegan Pumpkin Tunnel Cake. Looks yummy! I really wanted to make it but my body was not up to it. I just came back from a business trip to Las Vegas for 3 days and didn't have time to go to the market to buy all the ingredients for it. I thought I had enough pumpkin in the freezer (left over from making pumpkin something in the past) but it turned out that it was not enough to make the cake.

This morning I thought about making Pumpkin Waffle to use that little bit pumpkin I defrosted. I made this waffle from a recipe from Vegan With a Vengeance cookbook before and it was really good. It turned out that the recipe asked for a whole can (15 oz.) pureed pumpkin. Yaik! No pumpkin waffle either. What to do? What to do? Then, I saw my kitchen basket full of sweet potatoes/yam (you know, the orange kind). This will do! I saw Rachel Ray's $40 A Day show last night and she was eating Sweet Potato Pancake with Toasted Pecan butter in Charleston. I surely could make waffles out of those potatoes I thought.

I microwaved 3 small sweet potatoes (about 15 oz) until they were soft (pierce with forks first otherwise they may explode). I changed the Pumpkin Waffle recipe (less oil and use whole wheat pastry flour, etc.) ...and.... Voila! Sweet potato Waffle was born. DH was surprised that I didn't make Pumpkin Tunnel Cake as I said, nor Pumpkin Waffle as planned, and was served Sweet Potato Waffles. He will never know what he is going to get, will he?



No pumpkin after all but this waffle turned out to be very very good. It was spiced with pumpkin pie spices (I love those spices) and sweetened a little bit with brown sugar. My kitchen smelled wonderful and spicy while the waffle was cooking and the smell lasted the whole day (didn't need to light a pumpkin spice candle). I also prepared the Toasted Pecan 'Butter' (Earth Balance) and served the waffle with this yummy 'butter', pure maple syrup and Soyatoo! (from last blog). It was soooo good I had 2 large waffles (a no no according my WW leader), I couldn't help it. :-)



Vegan Sweet Potato/Yam Waffle with Toasted Pecans
Makes 6 large waffles (my waffle maker is the 7-inches Villaware, round)

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour or unbleached flour
Note: you may use 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour instead of part pastry flour and part all purpose
2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cup soy milk (depending how thick your pureed sweet potatoes)
15 oz pureed cooked sweet potato/yam or 3 small sweet potato (about 15 oz)
1/4 cup oil
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
15 pecan halves

1/4 cup Earth Balance

Pure maple syrup

1. If using fresh sweet potatoes: Pierce potatoes with a fork, microwave for 6-7 minutes or until soft. Let it cool. Peel and puree with a potato masher. Otherwise, the easy way is open the can.
2. Toast pecan halves on a dry frying pan, turning them and watch them until they are very toasty and brown. Chop them with a knife. Mix 2 tablespoons of chopped pecan with the 1/4 cup Earth Balance.
3. Preheat your electric waffle maker.
4. Measure and sift dry ingredients into a medium bowl. Add the remaining chopped pecan to the dry ingredients and mix well.
5. Mix 2 cups soy milk, mashed sweet potatoes or canned sweet potatoes, oil, brown sugar, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Use an immersion blender or a hand mixer, beat or mix the liquid ingredients and mashed potato until smooth.
6. Combine the liquid mixture and dry ingredients together until well mix. The batter should be thick like muffin butter. If it is too thick add more soy milk.
7. Spray the hot waffle iron with canola oil spray bottle, Pour about 2/3 cup of waffle batter and set a timer for 6 minutes for each waffle or following the instructions of your waffle maker. You may need to use the oil spray for each waffle. For a very crispy waflle set the timer to 8 minutes. Serve it warm with toasted pecan 'butter' and pure maple syrup. Top with Soyatoo, if desired.

Enjoy!

Note to Gaia:

About Soyatoo!, I didn't have a problem with the can as you said. Did you turn the can totally upside down when using it? DH told me that if using the can in an angle it may not work as properly as if it is vertically upside down.

Soyatoo! and Gimme Lean 'Sausage' Roll

I updated this blog with an easy solution for the Soyatoo can. I have been having problem trying to work the Soyatoo cans. Lots of time, the whipped soya cream will not come out. Anonymous posted a solution on one of the comments below. Thanks so much! This is very helpful.....

"Anonymous said...
Anyone having issues with Soyatoo, here's a quick fix:I once bought it and it stopped working half way, this was because I put it back in the fridge and when I took it back out (then left it for 10 minutes as suggested) it still didn't work and all that came out was the propellant. I found the solution a few days ago, the Soyatoo needs either a very long time to soften from being in the fridge or (if you're impatient like me :P) run it under hot water.It really works wonders within seconds. You can tell if it worked by shaking it, if the cream is loose inside, it worked. I haven't found it to ever need more than a few seconds under the water though."

I haven’t blogged for a while due to ‘cooking laziness’…he he…. Yes, I have suffered this disease for a few weeks. After I enjoyed my vegan birthday and someone else’s cooking, we have been eating out a lot. We live in the city so it is easy to find vegetarian or vegan restaurants around us. At home, we have been eating a lot of sandwiches and soups and store-bought vegan stuff.

Talking about store-bought vegan stuff, see what I just bought: Soyatoo! the vegan soy whip in a can.


I have heard about this product months ago from Bryanna’s Newsletter Subscribers’ forum and have been waiting for it to appear at the Whole Foods near me. I finally saw it at this store and bought it. Amazing, soy whipped cream? Yes, I can squirt it out like regular whip cream out of a can. It has lighter texture than regular whip cream. I was satisfied with that and liked the taste. The only thing is that the whipped soy cream doesn’t stay up as long as the regular whip cream. After a few minutes, it sort of became a melty looking cream although it is still creamy. Pictured is a blackberry shortcake I made, topped with Soyatoo whipped soy cream.



This coming Thanksgiving, vegans are able to enjoy vegan pumpkin pie with Soyatoo whipped soy cream on top. Dreamy!

The second item I enjoyed lately is the Gimme Lean from LightLife. Inspired by Albion Cooks’s blog entry: Vegetarian English Sausage Roll (September 13, 2006), I bought Gimme Lean ‘Ground Beef’ style and made a vegan sausage with it. I should have bought the ‘Sausage’ style but I could not find it. So I decided to add my own ‘sausage’ flavoring to the ‘Ground Beef’ style. I rarely use this product and in the beginning I didn’t like it. But somehow, I think, this product was improved and now I like it. I bought Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry or Aussie Puff Pastry (which is vegan) and filled it with the gimme lean sausage. The result was very good. It was really easy to make and enjoyable as snacks with spicy mustard.



Vegan Sausage Rolls
Makes 24 2-inches rolls
Printable Recipe

1 Gimme Lean Ground Beef Style
½ to ¾ cup fresh breadcrumbs
½ cup soy milk
½ tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried marjoram
1 tsp dried crumbled sage
¼ tsp rosemary
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp salt

1 pkg Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry or Aussie Puff Pastry
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Soak breadcrumbs in soymilk for a few minutes. Then, add all sausage ingredients to mix them well with your hands. Form little sausages (about 2 inches long) and roll them with your hands.

Prepare puff pastry according to the manufacturer’s directions. Roll each sausage in puff pastry sheet with a little overlap, cut sheet, and seal the overlap with your fingers.
Lightly coat baking sheets with olive or canola oil (use spray if you like). Bake the wrapped sausages in the oven for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.

My Vegan Birthday !

My birthday was long gone but the memories of it are still lingering. I am so very glad to tell you all about it cause it was really a romantic day. Thanks to DLH (dear loving husband) who made my day so beautiful. Just the two of us, we spent the day in LA (if you are a single girl and looking, I highly recommend to get a hubby like him but not him since he is mine :-) ).

I was blessed with a beautiful weather on my birthday on a Sunday. No more unbearable heat and humidity days lately. That day, especially, it was a sunny clear day in the 70's. Yay! DLH doesn't cook (that's one thing he doesn't do but suits me just fine) and I don't want to cook on my birthday (no dishwashing either) so we splurged on eating out for a day and enjoyed someone else's cooking for a change. DH paid for all the meals, drove, and arranged the itinenary since it was my day. I just had to look pretty and enjoyed the day.

Real Food Daily(RFD), West Hollywood (Vegan Organic Restaurant):
We traveled for about 1 hour (with no traffic) to West Hollywood. We noticed that driving to LA area on Sunday mornings is the BEST time. Looks like a lot of LA people are going out late on Saturday nights and wake up late on Sundays. There was NO TRAFFIC! Another YAY!

Hence, when we arrived at RFD about 10:00 am, the restaurant was still closed. We could see people were hustling inside for the preparations to open. At about 10:05 am, the manager opened the doors and we were the first customers. This restaurant opens early on weekends to serve brunch and that's what we were having. We started with organic soy latte before our meal. They were yummy coffee! DH ordered The Weekender (2 french toasts, tofu scramble with soy cheese sauce on top, potato fries, vegan butter, and real maple syrup) and I had the Southwestern Omelet (tofu omelet filled with blackbeans and soy cheese, potato fries, 2 slices of thin rye bread, and vegan butter).
There were no eggs, butter, and milk in this brunch. My cousin who lives in Beijing, China was amazed when she read my blog that I could make chocolate mousse out of tofu. Wait till she reads this blog! Yes, vegans can make everything out of tofu. People in China will be amazed.

Lake Shrine Temple, Pacific Palisades (SRF Temple and Ashram Center)

After brunch, we had time to kill before our visit to Lake Shrine Temple(opens to the public at 12:30 pm). We walked to Beverly Center, a shopping center/mall in Beverly Hills about less than 1/4 mile away from RFD. We just did a window shopping and walking our brunch off. It was a beautiful shopping center but full of shops we couldn't afford.

Then, we drove to Pacific Palisades by way of Sunset Blvd. It was an interesting journey since we passed Hollywood, Beverly Hills (passing the stars' homes), Bel Air, and Brentwood. We basically were heading toward the ocean since the temple is very close to the intersection of Sunset Blvd. and Pacific Coast Hwy. We couldn't miss the temple because the building is very distinctive with white domes roof with golden lotuses on top, white walls, and golden lotuses on top of pillars. We heard about this temple from a friend and wanted to visit the 10-acres gardens with a spring-fed lake in the middle.



It was indeed a serene and tranquil garden in the middle of LA craziness. This lake was built in 1950s so I could not imagine how peaceful this place was at that time. The garden was full of foliage, waterfalls, beautiful flowers, and statues. They also have koi fish, swans, turtles, and ducks. The temple itself is erected high on the hills above the lake overlooking the Santa Monica beach.

We spent about 3 to 4 hours there walking around the lake, the temple, and visited the museum and book store too. We noticed that some of the visitors/tourists were speaking foreign languages so this temple must be famous in other countries. Funny, that I had never heard of it until recently.

Here are some pictures of the garden, temple, and lake:



















Busaba Thai Vegetarian Kitchen, Los Angeles
After walking for hours (5 p.m. now), I was famished and ready for our next meal. We drove to Los Angeles' famous Melrose Ave. Thai cuisine is my favorite cuisine so my request was to try this restaurant after I read the review from Vegetarian Paradise. We were surprised that this restaurant was located near M Cafe de Chaya, a macrobiotic French Japanese restaurant serving no meat, eggs, and dairy. We love M Cafe too for breakfasts, lunches, and especially for their vegan cakes and pastries. Vegetarian Paradise also did a review of M Cafe.

At Busaba (this restaurant serves lots of vegan dishes), we ordered Wonton Soup (wonton skins stuffed with shiitake , tofu, veggie shrimp, and spinach) and Seaweed Rolls (seaweed stuffed with tofu, glass noodles, carrots and shiitake, served with sweet and sour dip) as starters. Wow! They were DELICIOUS! We liked them right away. The wonton soup and the rolls were very tasty.

Then, we proceeded with our next item which was Tofu Larb Salad (tofu flavored with lime dressing, ground toasted rice, chili flakes, red onion, served on a bed of salad).




YUM, YUM, YUM! This was my favorite. It was very SPICY. I meant HOT SPICY so for some of you this could be too FIERY. I loved it though! I was not named Spice Island Vegan for no reason (DLH called me that) The lime dressing gave this salad very sour and refreshing taste and yet it was a bit sweet and spicy. DLH said that it tickled every taste buds in his tongue.

Our next dishes were Busaba Special: Crisp Fish with Green Apple (crispy vegan fish served with fresh green apple, cashew nuts, red onion, chili, cilantro and a chef special dressing),



Spinach Mushroom Sauce (spinach sauteed roasted garlic and chili with tofu and mushroom sauce, not pictured), and a bowl of brown rice. We loved the veggie fish dish. It was not as spicy as the tofu larb salad but the taste combination (sweet, sour, and spicy) was a winner also. We knew then that we will come back to this restaurant.

By now, we were stuffed but my birthday won't stop here without a sweet ending. No, no, we didn't eat desserts after all that food :-) but we bought vegan pastries to take home from M Cafe across the street. We were so full that we didn't eat our desserts till the next days. Here were my birthday vegan pastries from M Cafe: Chocolate and Banana Napoleon pastry (I can't even say the French name of it) and Chocolate Tart (DLH favorite)

Thanks so much, DLH, and I love you so much! I truly enjoyed my day and will cherish this memory for more than a day.

P.S. : I want to say thank you to friends and family who sent birthday greetings: Carolina in England, Arie in Jakarta, Indonesia, mother-in-law in Missouri (HI MOM!), aunt Lotte in Netherland (who called me early Sunday morning), my mom who lives near me, aunt Lanny in Toronto, Canada, and Lia in Beijing. Love ya all!