Lemon Crinkle Cookies

I don't like cookies usually but this is yummy!

Lemon Crinkle Cookies
Makes 2-3 dozen

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Potato Watercress Soup

I never could use the watercress I bought and now I found a great way to use this nutritious vegetable. I loved this soup!

Potato Watercress Soup:
1 pound baby red potatoes
1 sweet onion
4 cloves garlic
1 t red pepper
1/2 t paprika
salt + pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (Lucini Italia)
1/4 cup sherry
4 cups organic free-range chicken broth
2 bundles watercress

Slice up your onion along with peeled and crushed garlic and add them to a large pot with the oil. Season with paprika, salt and pepper and cook for about 10 minutes or until the onions begin to brown. Scrub clean the potatoes and half-heartedly peel (good to leave some skin). Chop into quarters and add to the pot. Toss the potatoes so they are well coated and cook for another 8 minutes. Add sherry and cook off for 1 minute. Follow with chicken broth and let simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes can be easily punctured with a fork. Add the watercress for 1 minute—just long enough to keep the lovely bright green color. Remove from heat and add small batches to your blender until entire mixture is smooth. Garnish with a few raw watercress leaves, s+p, dollop of olive oil drizzle, and a pinch of paprika and/or truffle oil.

Easter 2011

I found myself focusing on the meaning of Easter this year without too many bunnies and eggs. We talked about Christ's atonement, crucifixion and resurrection throughout the week. Last Friday, we read a lot of scripture stories of Jesus. On Saturday we talked about Jesus visiting the Spirit World to preach the gospel and organize His work. We went to church on Sunday to celebrate this glorious event of His resurrection. I felt strongly that I would see my beloved family again face to face because Jesus's precious love and sacrifice for us. I felt very peaceful and grateful!

We did some fun stuff with E too. It's his spring break last week but the weather has been storming and raining crazy. The design of the Ark is on our to-do-list now. :)

While We Are in Trials

Baba joined 13.7 millions of unemployed people in the US last November and we have been praying for a job. We are grateful for all the prayers and help we get. Although things have not changed yet, we feel peaceful and hope for the best. Mama is teaching 3 to 7 classes a week and tries to pay off her tuition. Life is not easy but we still count our blessings. God has His will and we have our hearts open and wait for whatever might come.

Mama and E made the snowman together. We had some good snow and it's quite a cold winter. We are all ready for the warm weather to come.

Yes, there was a big hole on the ceiling and it's quite a scary accident. Mama was in the eves one day getting some clothes and fell through. She was hanging in the air with legs in splits thanks to years' yoga practice. :) Baba had to fix the big hole and put the real floor up there.

E's favorite activity is to build legos. He's quite creative and imaginative. He also loves to read and draw. We stay inside a lot in winter and Baba enjoyed spending time with E playing legos, action figure and Wii. Baba's favorite time every day is to read Harry Potter to E. They started last December and are already on book six. Every time when they finished one book, we got to have a Harry Potter movie night. It was really fun!

Santa Claus- Part 2

Baba lost his job at the beginning of November and life has been different since. Our Christmas was really great and special as you can see the gifts around the tree. Santa appeared as so many loving people this year for us. Grandma took baba out shopping to cheer him up and stuffed our stockings. Church friends showed up with food basket and nice toys for E. Treats and the most beautiful handmade red apron appeared in the front porch. My adopted family took me out for shopping and got us presents. A newly-acquainted friend gave E a big package of Lego set which was E's favorite toy. We got cookies from the neighbors and cards from lots of dear friends. One of the cards astonished me with money in it and I don't even know who it was from. Words cannot express how I feel. I am eternally grateful for them and for Heavenly Father who put love in their hearts and transferred to mine.

Thank you, all the Santa Claus who visited us this year!!! We love you!

Santa Claus- Part 1

I came across this story and was touched by it. It means a lot to me this year. I haven't changed the music for a while so if the background music doesn't fit, please just mute it.

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.

I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big
sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even
dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day
because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told
the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier
when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they
were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told her
everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" she
snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going around
for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your coat, and
let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second
world-famous cinnamon bun. "Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store,
the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we
walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle
in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone
who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car." Then she turned and walked
out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but
never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and
crowded, full of people scrambling to finish their Christmas shopping.

For a few moments I just stood there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar
bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for.

I thought of everybody I knew: my family, my friends, my neighbors, the
kids at school, the people who went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker. He
was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me in Mrs.
Pollock's grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that
because he never went out to recess during the winter. His mother always
wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew
that Bobby Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I
fingered the ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby
Decker a coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real
warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter
asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. "Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly.
"It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a
good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag,
smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of the
coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and ribbons and
wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it.

Grandma said that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over
to Bobby Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever
officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept
noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk. Then Grandma gave me a
nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered, "get going."

I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the present down on
his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety of the bushes and
Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open.
Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent shivering,
beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that
those awful rumors about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they
ere -- ridiculous. Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

Luke II