Shrinky Dinks

I bought a book on making Shrinky Dink jewelry today. It was so much fun! I always wanted Shrinky Dinks when I was a kid. I ended up making a little pendant. I made it 3D by drawing the cage on the shiny side, and the bird on a tree branch on the rough side. Looks cool, no?


Here's how it looked before getting shrunk.Here's after it shrank.

First Days of Summer Break!!

My last day of school was Thursday, June 11th. To celebrate, we went to Katana-ya in SF. We went there for my birthday, too. Ha ha. I ordered the strawberry-milk shaved ice. I always eyed it when others ordered it. It was so yummy. When I went home last summer, my mom and I made shaved ice. I requested that we do that again when I go home this summer.

Katana-ya's shaved ice.Mom's shaved ice.
Ramen, sushi, and shaved ice made a comforting meal after hiking at the Marin Headlands in Sausalito and shopping in the city.
Isn't it beautiful? I just love it there.Neat kelp!This kelp I've seen before. I tried picking it up. It's darn heavy!!This is the beautiful scene we saw when we exited a tunnel to go to SF.

Sleepy Birds

Last weekend Hubby and I went to the city of Walnut Creek to go window shopping at Broadway Plaza. There's a neat decor store that we like going to especially for the antique looking cages with real finches in them. The store's called Filthy Gorgeous. The only thing we've bought there are these really sweet blue birds that are salt and pepper shakers. We just use it to decorate our hallway shelves.



Anyway, one of the cages had a pair of canaries in them. I couldn't help taking photos of the canary resting in its bowl of seeds. So cute!
But look at this green cutie! It's our parakeet, Coqui, lying down on our sofa. Awww!!

Taste of Singapore

Hi R! So, Hubby and I went to Kopitiam as you requested. Extremely friendly owners. The chef (we think) kept telling us to order the laksa when he noticed me pointing out the sign for it to Hubby. But we had ordered already and didn't want to add another dish. Everything was very good. I especially loved the roti prata. It was so crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The chicken rice tasted just like it did in Singapore. I was so happy to see that they put the cucumbers underneath the chicken. It put a big smile on my face as I chewed.

We picked up the copy of the menu to plan for another dinner there (soon, I hope). I heard the chef say that he'll be going back to Singapore for three weeks soon so maybe we'll go when he's back.

A coconut flavored sago dessert with caramel and strawberries.Braised Curry Pork. The curry and the cabbage in it was very good, but unfortunately the pork was tough.Chicken Rice. Mmmm....Roti Prata with curry dipping sauce.

Strawberry Cupcakes

I had the urge to make strawberry cupcakes. Part of it is that it's a good way to procrastinate doing any school work. Heh heh! I used the recipe I found on Martha Stewart's website. I used Sprinkles' strawberry frosting recipe. I split the recipe in half because I didn't have enough powdered sugar, but it make the perfect amount. The fresh strawberry puree in the frosting made this lovely soft pink color with little red freckles of strawberry bits. It's sweet but you can taste the fresh strawberries.

Zuppa Toscana

I love Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana. My brother does, too. He would experiment with the copycat recipes once in awhile and he showed me how to make it a long time back now. I still make it anytime it's soup climate. I think I finally got it right this time.

Zuppa Toscana
Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
2 sliced thick-cut bacon (pepper-rubbed), chopped
1/2 lb. spicy Italian sausage meat
2 qt. low sodium chicken stock
1 chicken stock cube (Maggi)
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 large leaves of kale, chopped
1 cup heavy cream (optional)

Directions:
1. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil on medium-high. Add the garlic and onion to sauté.
2. Add the bacon and stir around.
3. Add the sausage and break it up as you cook it.
4. Once it's cooked, add the chicken stock and the cube. Bring to a boil.
5. Add the potatoes, and set the temperature back to medium high to cook the potatoes.
6. Test the potatoes' doneness. When it's done, turn the heat off, and add the kale.
7. When you're ready to eat, you can add the cream as much as you like to your bowl of soup.

Children's Clothespin Dolls

So here are the clothespin dolls my fifth-graders made. They were supposed to fashion it in the time of the US Westward Expansion. So miners, railroad workers, pioneers, frontiersmen, Native Americans, etc. I told them that they are to use any material they have at home because long ago, children made these because they didn't have money to buy dolls. So, my favorite is the one wrapped in snake skin that he found. He made a bow and arrow with toothpicks, bubblegum wrap, and hair rubberband. With all these random items, I knew exactly what he made. You can also see which students have support at home or the amount of effort or creativity they put in.

Here's the snakeskin Native American doll I like.