Dim Sum Saturday

Sui Mai and some regular Dumplings

For my brother John’s 24th Birthday, he picked Dim Sum for the standard family meal. For everyone’s birthday, my mom makes dinner and we do the whole family gathering thing, as I’ve added Josh and John has added Wendy, they’ve gotten larger. My brother wanted everyone to try something new, so he chose Dim Sum. We’d thought about just going out to a restaurant, but decided that it would be a lot more fun to try it ourselves at my parent’s house.

Wendy picked out several recipes of John’s favorites. They included Sui Mai – which are little dumplings that are open on top (like mini baskets). Har Gow – steamed dumplings with delicate almost transparent wrappers. Cheong Fun – Shrimp wrapped in rice noodles, and Wu Gok – Crispy Taro rolls. We also made regular pork dumplings, and of course Spring Rolls.

 

Just two of the fillings Wendy made

I have no idea how long it took her, but Wendy threw together all the fillings at home. There were so many bowls of raw fillings that it seemed impossible to make all of them! I started in on wrapping the Spring Rolls. I was pretty proud of my first attempt at making these. Next time I want to learn how to make the filling as well.

Peeling Wrappers for Spring Rolls

 

Spring Roll Filling - Chicken, carrots, mushrooms, etc.

 

Finished and Ready for Cooking!

While I was doing that, Wendy got the Taro Rolls started. First she cooked up the filling and got the Taro boiling. For those who have never heard of Taro (I never had until the last year or so), it’s sort of like a potato. It’s the root of a large leafed plant. It tastes kind of like a cross between a potato and a sweet potato. It also turns slightly purple when mashed. I will probably start experimenting with these where I’d usually use potatoes for something new and fun. But I digress.

Raw Taro Root (Thanks Wikipedia)

Diced Taro

Once we had the spring rolls made, and John started frying them, we moved on to other things.

Doesn't he look thrilled to be helping?

 I began stuffing the Sui Mai with a combination pork and shrimp filling while my grandma watched. These were incredibly simple as I didn’t have to seal the wrappers. I topped each with a bit of edamame.

Making Sui Mai

Wendy made the wrappers for the Har Gow, filled them and threw together the Cheong Fun (which were super easy, but REALLY good). My mom joined in the fun and started making some standard pork dumplings.

Wendy making Cheong Fun

Cheong Fun after steaming

Making Har Gow wrappers - very sticky

Har Gow - uncooked

Mom making Dumplings

While all this was going on, Wendy was systematically steaming the finished dumplings in the bamboo steaming racks (one of my favorite Christmas gifts!).

Steaming Dumplings

I finished by pinching off bits of mashed Taro (with flour and other things) dough, flattening it, filling it with pre-cooked pork and rolling it into a ball. These were then fried golden. Next time we’ll be adding more salt, as they were a little lacking.

Wu Gok filling

Taro Dough

Wu Gok

I have to say, while it was a LOT of work, it sure beat going to a restaurant. Us girls had a great time together and my mom and I got to learn a few new tricks. It was much more fun spending the time together to make a fabulous birthday lunch for my brother!

A Fine Place to Dine...

This is the first area of the apartment that is more or less complete. Well, for now anyway. The space is smaller than my old dining area, but I like it as much if not more. Instead of the rather crowded, double shelves from before; I used only one shelf and turned it on its side.

The old dining area

Then I hung two IKEA shelves on the wall. IKEA had discontinued the wine glass racks so I had to search elsewhere. Luckily Bed Bath and Beyond had them in stock. They just fit the width of the shelf, so we had to do a little bit of improvising to get them to work properly. I’m happy with the result though. I finally have a home for my wine glasses and assorted other barware. I also used the same sconces that had been in my dining area before, but put placemats behind them to emphasize them on the accented wall. I hadn’t been as happy with my accent wall previously, but with everything in place, I’m really pleased with the outcome.

Finally, my glasses have a place to hang.

I need to add something to the soffett, but have yet to decide what to put there. Possibly some plates, or mirrors. Time will tell.

View from the livingroom

The main thing I’m pleased with is the light fixture.We quickly removed the old one (our old landlord was thrilled with it in place of where the ceiling fan had been. We’ll have to buy something cheap when we move, but I’m okay with that). The placement was a little odd as well. If our table had been put right against the wall, than the fixture would have been directly above the table. However, with the table out where it is, the light was above one of the chairs. It was also too low, I'm not overly tall and managed to hit my head on it, which put it directly in Josh's face.

Reminder, here's the original light

That was nothing that a cheap ceiling hook couldn't fix though. Now it's the height we want, and in the proper location. I found the replacement fixture at Lowe’s for under $60. They had some with 5 – 7 lights, but decided due to the size of the apartment, to keep it smaller. The three lights make a big difference. One light in the old fixture just didn’t cut it. Since we are partially underground, lighting is going to be a big concern of mine. So this is the dining area so far. I have something fun planned for my huge floor to ceiling closet doors, but I need to find bulk magnet sheets first!

The new light, just where we want it.

And all I have are these Damn Nepalese Coins...

Dal-Bhat-Tarkari & Momo’s

So Nepalese coins don’t really have anything to do with this post, but I went to Nepal back in the summer of 2000 and I may admit that the There’s something about Mary line may have had a slight impact on my choosing to go there. While there, I was introduced to some fabulous cuisine that for some reason or another I never tried to re-produce here at home. Possibly because the first time I tried, I found very little on the internet in the way of useable recipes. It may also be because no matter how hard you try, the location is everything. A cup of Chai in my living room will NEVER taste the way it did when on the side of a cloud covered mountain, after having hiked for two hours, we had to stop for the monsoon rain and were treated to little metal cups of chai to warm us up. See, location is hard to reproduce and nothing will live up to that. But at least I could try to make the food.

We started with the dessert, Kheer (or rice pudding). This isn’t the European style of rice pudding, no eggs in other words. It’s simply rice made in milk with a LOT of sugar, cream and spices. We could have eaten it hot, but for convenience sake, made it ahead of time and chilled it for later.

Rachael stirring the Kheer

Kheer- almost done.

Now, anyone that has ever been to Nepal will know that there is one thing impossible to miss, the MoMo. Not sure where the name came from, but it is a delicious steamed dumpling, the kind sold by street vendors and restaurants alike. Unique to Nepal, it is one part of the cuisine that borrows more from the close proximity to China than it does India. While water buffalo meat wasn’t on-hand here in the states (it kinda tastes like beef, only tougher), we made due with a combination of pork and beef.

Momo filling

We cheated slightly and just used wrappers from the local Asian market instead of making them ourselves. I’ll tackle that one next time I think. Rachael and Brandy filled most of them so we could then steam them up.

Momo making teamwork!

Filled, before steaming

Thanks to Wendy’s Christmas gift of a basket steamer, we had no problem steaming them up and Josh and I still have a TON of leftovers as well!

For the main course, there was only one dish to make. Dal Bhat. It is the national dish of Nepal. This rice/lentil combination is eaten at least once a day. Dal is made from lentils and can vary from a soupy consistency to one more in line with porridge. Bhat is simply basmati rice. Tarkari is usually included in the combination as well. Essentially just curried meat and/or vegetables, Tarkari is a large part of Nepalese cuisine. I choose to make chicken Tarkari and add vegetables as well.

Wendy, chopping veggies for Tarkari

Tarkari cooking

Once everything was cooked, we sat down to plates of the rice, lentils and curried chicken. We also made Mango Lassi’s to drink. The yogurt/mango combination was wonderful! Next time I’ll need to add more green chili to the Tarkari though as it wasn’t as spicy as it could have been.

Some of the ingredients I picked up at the Indian Grocery

After dinner, we boiled up a large pot of Chai and enjoyed it with the chilled Kheer. In all, I’d say the foray into Nepali food was a success and will be repeated. After all, what else am I going to do with a whole liter of mustard oil?! Now if only I could remember where I did put those damn Nepalese coins….

Chai, almost ready!

The guys enjoying dessert

Brandy and Rachael

Rachael and I after dinner

Picking the perfect paint...

I couldn't paint for five years at our old place, and I thought I wouldn't be able to paint here either. However, when doing the walk through, my landlord agreed to let me (secretly) paint anyway. You have NO idea how excited I got at hearing this. It literally made my week! I raced out to Lowe's, Home Depot and Wal-mart for paint swatches.

Having never been able to do this before, it was a bit overwhelming. First I knew I had to work with the colors that I already had. We had absolutely no budget for new towels, duvets, or anything like that. The paint I choose had to work with what I had going at our old place. Fine by me, as I liked the colors and being able to paint the walls would make it all seem new anyway. I just started grabbing colors that appealed to me and brought them home to put next to my current things. I picked a color for my living room at first that I loved until I set it next to couch only to notice the color's totally matched. Not exactly the look you want. I also waited till we got the keys so I could see how the color's I chose blended with the carpet. That helped eliminate quite a few options.

Ultimately we went with Wal-mart's Color Place paint cause we're broke and we're renting. When I own my place, it'll be Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams, for now...it's all about the $13 gallons of paint!

We started with the bathroom, it being the smallest amount of area to cover. I have chocolate Brown and Blue towels, so went with none to subtle blue for the walls. My husband loves it. I have moments where I think I maybe should have gone more neutral, and moments where it's exactly what I wanted. Maybe I just need to accessorize first and it'll grow on me?!

My husband choose our office color (well selected out of several options I presented him with). This is probably my favorite, it's bold, bright and tropical. It should inspire me to be super creative when I scrapbook and craft in here (at least I hope so)!

I went for a rich, rather dark shade of brown for the bedroom walls. We both like it dark when we sleep and it isn't so dark it's depressing or anything. More cozy than anything else. I'll love laying under the down comforter in here when it's snowing this winter.

Since we went so bold in other rooms (we were a little surprised in the office to see the color on the walls), we decided to go very light in the main living area. I choose a light cream. Since the living/ dining/ kitchen/ hallway area is rather open we didn't want to change colors and make things distracting. I feel we got a nice flow from going light and making the rooms really pop. Note the ugly light in the hallway, that's yet another future upgrade I plan on making.

The one thing I knew I had to have, was an accent wall. I also knew what technique I'd be using. Earlier this summer I helped my mom re-paint her living room (I'll post once it's done and I take pictures of it...she still needs to accessorize). She has a little alcove that she wanted as an accent wall, so I played around with some sample boards from Lowe's (I highly recommend these as if it looks awful you don't have to re-do a whole wall!!). After settling on a technique I learned in scene painting class in college, I went to work. The results were so well received that I did her entertainment center and front door as well. It's a fairly simple process...I take a rather dark paint and add water, don't ask how much as I keep mixing till the consistency is where I want it.
It needs to be runny, but not exactly a wash. I apply to a smallish area using a wet brush and then follow with a dry brush to blend. It ends up looking somewhat leathery and antiqued. I wasn't happy at first, not liking how my transitions didn't blend as well as I'd hoped, but everyone else liked it, so I let it be. Now, with my shelves hung and everything in place, I LOVE it!!

First things first...

Here is a view of the outside of our apt complex...totally boring and not at all unique. But given our budget, this is pretty decent! We gained a second bedroom, a large storage room, linen closet and more cupboard space. So for $65 a month more in rent, it's definitely worth it. Someday I'll be able to buy my own home, but for now, I'm going to make this as great as I can!!

This is my kitchen, note the weird island thingy. It's basically a cupboard on the floor, and apparently a standard feature in all the two bedrooms. If it were closer to the stove, with more counter space, then I could fit bar stools at it. As it is currently however, I don't consider that an option for two reasons: one, not space to walk in the hallway and two, no place to put your knee's, you'd have to sit sideways. So this will be my challenge, figuring out what to do with it from a design standpoint. Time will tell.

One of the few area's that is smaller here is the dining area, but given all the extra storage it shouldn't be an issue since I have other places to put things that used to live in my dining area (like my crafting things). I'm not a huge fan of the light fixture, it will be first to go in my purge of all things standard.

Here is my HUGE living room window...108" I believe, not a standard size, I'll have to buy a really long curtain rod.Bathroom, ugly tile, gross fixtures, need I say more? Not much I can do about the tile, but everything I can swap out...I will.