Carey Jane Clark

Our China: The Knife Guy

June 24, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

We sold pretty much everything we owned when we moved to China. At the time, we figured we’d be here for at least five years. Now if you ask, we’ll shrug and say we’re not sure. We understand now that things can change in a moment here, but we foresee a longer stay.

I did keep a few things for my kitchen when we came–like a favorite paring knife or two. But soon after we arrived, I had some dear Chinese friends show me how much better it is to use a cleaver. Now, if for any reason, I use a paring knife, and JavaMan happens to be around, he’ll say, “Why are you using that?”

A cleaver really is a wonderful thing. And the one kitchen utensil I really missed when we were back home in Canada.

To keep my cleaver kuai (fast), it’s gotta be sharpened. But never fear, at least once a week, the knife guy comes to the neighborhood. He carries his work station with him, and a megaphone. The megaphone blasts out a message, but it’s not the message itself that draws attention, it’s the sing-songy way the canned announcement goes out over the megaphone. When we returned to China last year and heard the message blasting around the neighborhood for the first time, Pumpkin confessed to having missed his little song.

Recently, the knife guy came by and I had my knife sharpened. Though I know better, I left a thumb in its path the following week. So, in case you should be convinced of the need for a cleaver, you may want to follow these safety tips:

Tomato, Lentil and Spinach Soup

June 11, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

It rained today. When you get around primarily by public transportation, that can be a messy affair. By the end of the day, despite the fact that it had been hot and balmy the last two days, a cool breeze had moved in.

On the way home on the bus, the television at the front of the bus had some kind of food show with pictures of meat, meat, and more meat. It’s been about a month and a half since we’ve eaten any meat, and I have to say, it looked appealing.

I also had no plan for dinner.

But it felt like a soup kind of day. So on the bus, I formulated a plan. I knew somewhere I had a recipe for a soup with lentils. So I went to the market and picked out a few ingredients. But when I returned home, I couldn’t put my finger on that recipe.

So I made one up. It turned out to be the perfect hearty soup for a rainy day. And DELICIOUS! (Five stars from all the kids as well.)

Here it is:

Ingredients

2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 medium red onion, sliced
3-4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 stalk of celery, sliced thin
6-8 tomatoes, chopped
1 19-ounce can lentils (I used 1 cup dry and pre-cooked them)
2 cups vegetable broth
bunch spinach
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp yellow curry
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh cilantro to garnish

Directions

Heat coconut oil in a saucepan and saute onion, garlic and celery until tender.
Add spices and heat until fragrant (I actually added mine at the end, because I still hadn’t quite decided how to flavor the soup. Still delicious.)
Add chopped tomatoes, and continue to cook about 5 minutes.
Add broth. Allow to simmer until all the vegetables are tender.
Add spinach, salt and pepper to taste. Heat through and garnish with freshly chopped cilantro. Enjoy!

Yummy Vegan (and GF) Muffins

June 4, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

I mentioned last week that our family has eliminated meat, dairy and eggs from our diet. I have been dabbling in this kind of diet for a while now, trying to add more vegetarian choices to our meals, then became convinced of the need to eliminate dairy and eggs altogether as well, but one of the reasons I stalled was the inevitable learning curve of a dietary change. Having switched to a gluten-free lifestyle in the last couple of years, I’m already a serious recipe tweaker. Now there are more tweaks.

However, I ordered a few cookbooks to help me through the transition, and things have been going smoother than I had anticipated.

One of my big kitchen challenges is breakfast. It has always seemed as though my kids were hard to please at breakfast time. Two would really enjoy something and the other one would hate it. And having now eliminated several options, I was not sure how this would work.

However, I’ve managed to find a number of breakfast selections THAT EVERYONE LIKES (!) so that I now have seven breakfast selections–one for each day of the week–that everyone is happy to eat. You have no idea what a breakthrough this is for me!

Here is just one of the delicious breakfast choices:

Rice/Millet Blender Muffins

yield 12 muffins (I actually made 21 smaller muffins from this recipe)

1-1/2 cups long grain brown rice
1/2 cup millet
1-1/2 cups water

Soak the above ingredients overnight. This begins the germination process, breaks down phytic acid, which inhibits nutrient absorption, and makes the grain much easier to blend. It also makes for fluffier muffins.)

1 apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
2-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-3 Tbsp honey

Blend thoroughly until grain is only slightly gritty.

Add 1 Tbsp baking powder (aluminum free) at the end and blend just until mixed.

Variations: Substitute (non GMO) corn for millet in equal proportions. Substitute one or two ripe bananas in place of the apple. Add cocoa powder or sweetened chocolate chips. Add chopped nuts.

We made this recipe with apple the first time, then tried with banana and chocolate chips. Truly delicious both ways! My kids declared it their favorite muffin recipe (and I have some good ones)! I couldn’t be more thrilled.

Our China: Haircut

May 27, 2013 by Carey Jane Clark

When we first moved to China in 2008, I had short hair–hair that needed to be cut every six weeks or so. So not long after our arrival, I booked myself a haircut. I went to a fancy salon, and was very pleased with the result.

Six weeks later, my hair was butchered by the same hairdresser.

Following that experience, I was very nervous about getting my hair cut here. My solution was to let my hair grow out, and when it finally became too long to manage, I stood in front of the mirror and cut my own hair. I was already cutting my children’s hair as well; it was the next logical step.

When we returned to Canada, I finally saw a real hairdresser, who said I didn’t do to badly. Since returning, I’ve taken the scissors to my hair again.

Recently, a friend invited me to her house for a spa night, where several expats had their hair cut by an excellent hairdresser, so I’m finally back to a professional haircut again. But there are other options: Forgive the quality of this picture. It was speedily taken on my un-smart phone. When I turned around after taking it, I discovered someone trying to sneak a picture of Sweetpea–the risks of acting like a tourist.

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