As promised: pics of chinese eats~~~

Sorry guys that I haven't been blogging as I am supposed to. Being with family is so enjoyable and having so many relatives to visit, so many goodies to try, so many clothes to buy.... kept me busy lately. But as I promised, true Chinese food pics and traditions will be seen in this blog. ^_^ So, here are some random pics that I took these couple of days.
homemade won ton
filling was pork,greens, tofu, dry shrimp
it was amazingly tasty!
Vegetable bun
greens and shitake mushrooms
I had it as breakfast.
This is a typical place to have a quick lunch
this is the large pot where they prepare the dish
the sitting in place is very crowed
and the dish: duck offals, fried tofu, parsley and rice noodles
many other stands on the street. People in China are used to have a quick eat on the street, these are cheap, quick and delicious! (although not so healthy and clean, but you can't say you had real chinese food without trying street food)
chinese pizza
sweet potato
pot stick
And some eats at home made by my mom. Sauteed sweet beans
squid with celery
chicken feet (yes, chinese people eat everything)
sauteed veggies (black fungus, carrots, bamboo and mushroom)
water celery
soup made with rice noodles, fish balls and spinach
steamed ribbonfishoh..... I love my mom for making so many of my favorites!!! she's definitely on the project of put some weight on me :D
okay. these are for now. More fabulous eats will come soon! ^_^
Hope you guys are enjoying your holidays too!

Birthday party!!!! ^_^

Hi Everyone, I guess you're enjoying Christmas night right now! I wish everyone have a happy Christmas. I stopped by many of your blogs but couldn't open a lot of you, so if I don't comment is because I couldn't open your blog, not because I don't want to. The internet conexion in China is not the best, many international websites are forbitten in China. So, just bear with me this month, I'll catch up when I get back to US.
Okay. Yesterday's party was a total success, the acceptance of my western cuisine was better than I thought. They were hesitant to try new food at the beginning because they didn't know the name and didn't know what they were. But after I explained and described to them how popular and delicious are they, they finally tried them all and liked most of them.
The menu was
hummus over french toast breadblack bean dip over sweet potatoa big saladvegetarian paellachipaschocolate-pistacho biscottichoco-nuts petit fourspizza
and a soup made with beef and veggies (no pic)
carrot cake was the birthday cake
me with a friend for more than 20 years
Flower sent my Theboyfriend
then my camera ran out of battery and I forgot to bring the cord.... :(
Back to my morning. the Breakfast made with oat bran and apple, topped with dragon fruit.
I woke up at 5am and decided to get up to prepare the cake and some others dishes because my body really craved a workout so I wanted to finish up with the preparing and go to the gym before guests arrive. It was a great workout on the treadmill, I did 6 miles between running and walking. I felt warm and energized after it.

We spent our afternoon chatting, playing Majong ( a traditional game in China) and preparing wonton.It was a great day~ I enjoyed it a lot, not only because it was my birthday, but also because I felt being able to express my love to them once more, this time with a big meal fest! ^_^

I'm at home!!!!!! so happy! so cold!! ^_^

Bad (-1 point for each) : none
Good (1 point for each):

• I'm at home!
  
• I love our new apartment!
  

Sum: 2
It has been a long trip! I watched 6 movies; chat with the boy besides me for hours; had three not so good vegetarian meals and hundred of failed attempts to fall into sleep. But all these are nothing compared to the fact that I'm home with parents right!
Our new apartment is really nice (we bought it last year and I've never been here since it's ready two months ago), it's relatively small because it's in the center of shanghai, but it's very cozy and pretty, I love it!
Yesterday after I arrived home, we went for some groceries shopping for tomorrow's party. Today after breakfast we came to our other home in suburban of shanghai because it's bigger and we'll have the party here. The rest of day I spend preparing food and organizing a little bit.
I wanted to go to the gym but when I finished my errands at 5.30pm I was a little bit tired. Besides of that, it's cold and dark, I'd prefer stay at home to catch up with blogging and readings.

okay, some eats. My breakfast is the usual oatmeal (yes, I brought old wessex with me ^_^)

• 1/2 cup old wessex
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 chopped large apple
• cinnamon + vanilla

And coffee. But not my usual instant coffee, because we have a Italian coffee machine (brought from Argentina). Look... it's retro. Left part is to make coffee and right part is to make steam milk.
Look the result? A very Italian coffee, with tons of steamed milk .
I also had a large orange.
My mom had a Chinese bun, it's made with glutinous rice, sugar and aduki bean paste. I had a bite, it's very tasty.
For lunch we went to a place called (translated) "spicy hot burn". It works like a salad bar. You choose ingredients from a large varieties of veggies, different kind soy bean based food, seaweed, tofu, meatball, fish ball, etc.and then they put all these into a spicy broth to cook them. And voila, this is the hot pot of what I've chosen (3 kind of green leaves, black fungus, mushroom, seaweed, tofu, fish balls)This is one of my favorite winter dish, it's delicious and it's very versatile.
One hour later I had another of my favorite food ever: steamed corn!This is very popular in China, you can find a stand for it everywhere, which is great, because I love corns (almost equally as my love for pumpkins). I bought one another for later. ^_^ I need two big corns everyday.
Then, we went to a hair salon to have my hair cut and a great massage. Oh...man, it felt great, like a queen. And you know what's the best part?? It's CHEAP!!! The entire service (wash the hair, massage, cutting and brushing) last almost 90min and it costs for less than 2 dollars!!! I think I won't wash my hair at home during my entire stay in Shanghai. ^_^
We had dinner at home. My mom cooked while I was preparing for tomorrow.
Sauteed bok choySauteed kidney beanRadish and pork soupRadish pot
Beaten egg with leeks
mmmmmm......... it's delicious! It has the special flavor of HOME! ^_^
Dessert: a huge pomelo!!!!! Our favorite winter fruit!
Tomorrow will be a special day! I hope they like what I'll cook for them.

It's 24th morning in USA now, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas Eve! Enjoy the food and your family! ^_^