My Favorite Food--EVER!!

Remember the post I was promising that was all about my favorite food? The time has come. Unfortunately for me, I have NONE of this favorite food in my house. And seeing all the pictures of it reminds me of how badly I want it right now. Sigh.

A brief history:

Back in the day (before I was born or even thought of), my parents lived in Taiwan. (I have a brother that was 'MADE IN TAIWAN!) My Dad was a TOP SECRET undercover CIA agent. It sounds cool, huh? You know you wish your Dad was a secret agent. Just admit it.

There's lots of things he won't tell us because 'he'd have to kill us'. He doesn't get tired of using that line. Ever.

Anyway, my Dad also served his LDS mission there in Taiwan. And he learned that his favorite food was Chiao Tzu's. (or you can butcher it and call them Gyoza's, but your pronunciation would be wrong, my friend. WRONG!) He eventually found a recipe for them that topped all others he had tried. It's secret. You can't have it unless you're family. Sorry. But not as sorry as you're going to be when you see what you're missing out on.

From as early as I can remember, Chiao Tzu's have been a staple for special occasions. We could have them for our birthday or if someone special was coming over. Luckily, there were six of us kids so that meant that we could almost certainly get them a few times during the year. Score!! I still remember the time that my sister, Joyce picked beef stroganoff instead of Chiao Tzu's for her birthday. I curse her to this day for that choice. Did ya hear that Joyce?!

One time, when I was about 12, I was telling my Dad and step-mom that I could eat at least 40 Chiao Tzu's. (You see, usually we didn't fix anything else to go with them. That way you can eat until your heart is content. We usually made at least 200. And there was NEVER any left over. EVER.) My step-mom bet me an ice cream cone that I couldn't eat 40 Chiao Tzu's. She was sure she'd win. But guess what? At twelve years old, I ate 40. When I was done eating, I literally fell on the floor and groaned in pure agony. To this day, I don't think I've ever been that full in my life. I thought I was going to die. I could see the light. And you can bet that the LAST thing I felt like was the stupid ice cream cone that I had won. Speaking of... Bette, have you ever paid up on that ice cream cone? I'm ready now.
One time my Dad ate 80. He literally felt like he was going to die.

You see? My family loves food. Even if it nearly kills us. That's true love.

So, I think you know what I'm getting at...

When we visited my Dad in Washington, he made us his Chiao Tzu's. And because it was a Fast Sunday that day, you can bet that the anticipation was even more severe than usual.

I dream about this food. And now that John has been married to me for 8 years and has had the pleasure of taking part of this special food more than a few times, so does he.

The Chiao Tzu Preparation:

My Dad chopping the Chinese cabbage. Notice my Dad's perfect hair. It never moves. His full head of hair is a work of art. He has people stop him on the street to ask him how he does it. I'm not kidding. Zoom in on the pic.

See the green bowl? I have memories dating back to the time I was four years old using that bowl. See the 2 liters of squirt in the background? Having Squirt is ESSENTIAL when eating Chiao Tzu's. It clears the palate and gives you a great bloat. A must.

More strategic chopping:

Laura holding the finished secret recipe product:

Bowing Chiao Tzu's. It's an art. You must 'bow' them appropriately. I used to get yelled at as a child that mine looked like 'diapers' and my dad would give me several lessons. You must crimp to seal and give it a 'seat'. There's always someone who does a really bad job with one Chiao Tzu and that person gets really made fun of after it's been steamed. I'm happy to say it was Laura this year instead of me. Way to go, Laura!

These lungs (pronounced Lone-gs) are made of bamboo and they're the original ones my Dad purchased in Taiwan. They're seasoned. The more seasoned, the better. You can buy yourself some really great lung steamers from Bed, Bath and Beyond HERE. Even my Dad approves of their quality. That's sayin' something.

Chiao Tzu prep. It's almost time!!!

My step-mom also makes a recipe straight from Taiwan of Chinese Pan Fried Noodles. We were spoiled enough that we got these too. They're delish!

Here's Charlotte enjoying them:

The juice. I can drink this stuff. Your Chiao Tzu is NOT complete unless you have some of this. I always use more than anyone else because I'm a pig that way.

The finished product and the heathens grabbing. We always count to make sure it's EVEN and that everyone is served the same amount in each batch. No fair if someone gets more! When you're done, you must announce to everyone how many you consumed. He who consumes the most, WINS!

It's probably not smart to announce how many you ate to people who don't participate in the tradition, however. One time I went to a party where some 'fake' Gyoza's were served and I told everyone that I can eat 40 of them. I was definitely not as popular at that moment as I am with my family. I got a lot of weird stares and looks. RUDE!

This year I ate 30 plus a hearty serving of panfried noodles. The bloat was fantastic!

Clark and Grant came in first place with 40 a piece. Way to go, guys!

Dad, I'm ready for more. Can you come over and make me some?

I Made Them TOO!

Denae has this wonderful recipe for Grasshopper Brownies; now affectionately known as "Blog Brownies" because she has brought them to blog parties that I didn't get to go to. Paige also did an entry about these fabulous brownies.

We had our good friends Ryan and Kelly and their son Dean over so I decided to attempt these brownies. They really are as good as they look. Better actually. I'm not usually a mint person. Like those yucky Andes mint things at Christmas time? They totally make me gag. But these?? These brownies are heavenly. You really must try them. Paige's link has the recipe. I sent a bunch home with Kelly because I was worried that even though the recipe makes a lot, I would still eat any leftovers. I saved myself a couple for my Saturday splurge. I can't wait. Here's a picture of us enjoying our Blog Brownies. Drool if you must. Oh, and ignore the off-centeredness of the picture. Levi took it.

Chicken Soup for the Holly

I knew it would happen. It comes around about this time every year. The inevitable cold and cough. No matter how hard I try, it does not escape me. It seems to always happen at really bad times. Holidays, times where I have A LOT on my plate, times where I'm supposed to sing in church or (gasp) at someones funeral. I think it would be one thing if it was just a snotty nose and a stuffy head. I could deal with that. But the cough? The cough just really makes everything so much worse!! It's the kind of cough that lasts for weeks before it finally trails away and leaves you. It keeps me and everyone else up in the night. Last night while I was nursing Faith, she would come unlatched with every cough and look at me like I was really ruining her night time experience. I sucked on cough drops to no avail. I'm sure the only thing they did was rot my teeth from letting them sit in the corner of my mouth all night long. It's a miracle I didn't die from choking on them.

The cough starts out innocently enough. Every time it starts, I kid myself into thinking it's just a little cough and maybe it will be gone the next day. It never is. It starts out dry and hits me just every now and then, then it escalates to the tickle in the back of your throat where you must cough and cough and cough until you've itched the tickle. Then comes the worst part. The cough turns into the bark where you bark and bark like a dog until that teensy bit of phlegm in the the back of your throat finally comes loose. It's so exhausting that you feel like you've just ran a marathon. You can actually feel the ab-work. You lie on your bed, curl up in a little ball and say, "Kill me now!"

I made myself feel better by making my famous Chicken Noodle Soup. I've mastered it. It's my mother-in-law's recipe (though of course I tell myself that mine is better. Shhh. Don't tell her) and it's my husband's favorite. He's a weird guy that way. His favorite food is soup. If I want to make him happy, I make him this soup and I'll be forgiven on any shopping spree I went on where I "accidentally" spent too much. Not that I've ever done that or anything. Because I love YOU; my readers, I am sharing the recipe. You're welcome! Feel free to thank me by sending gifts.

Chicken Noodle Soup

One whole roasting chicken

3 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 onion diced

3 medium sized carrots cut in pennies

2-3 bay leaves

1 Package Grandma's Frozen Egg Noodles

3 Medium sized potatoes, peeled and sliced in quarters

2 Chicken Bouillon cubes (optional)

Salt to taste

Cover chicken in a large stockpot with water, diced onion and bay leaves. Cook on high for about one hour. Take chicken out of broth water. Remove skin and bones. Shred chicken with fingers. While you're doing that, cook carrots, potatoes, celery and Grandma's noodles in broth water. Be sure to follow directions on the back of Grandma's noodles package first. Cook on high until noodles and vegetables are tender with bouillon cubes. About 20-30 minutes. Add chicken back into broth water. Serve. Get lucky.

If you want to be a good girl, you can make your broth before hand and skim fat off top the following day. Unfortunately, I am never prepared enough for this and I'm convinced it won't taste as good anyway.

The Snack Factory is CLOSED!!!

Okay. So I hate for some of my blog entries to be about my irriations with my five year old, but tonight I just HAD to get it out!!! Levi is a SNACKER!!! Even after I've actually gone to the trouble (it does happen sometimes) to make a nice dinner for him, he will finish and say, "What can I have?" ARRRRGGGHH!!! Tonight I went to a lot of trouble and made from scratch a kid's meal from Burger King. He ate the entire thing and immediately said, "What snack can I have now?" It honestly makes me want to scream. And don't get me started on the continuous snacking he thinks he must do after Kindergarten is over. One or two snacks is never enough. My pantry doors may as well be open 24/7 because it seriously feels like I'm shutting them all day long. I know that a lot of you reading this are thinking, "He's just hungry!" "He's a growing boy!" "Maybe he needs to eat more!" The trouble is there was never a more picky eater than Levi. He's picky with his snacks, his breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I'm thinking of buying this book:

It's a book by Jerry Seinfeld's wife, Jessica. It's about getting your kids to eat healthy by doing vegetable purees and sneaking them in their food. I watched her on the Oprah show and she seemed like a genius at the time. Looking back on the show, however, it seems like she had a LOT of different colored purees. I'm not sure I'm creative enough to cook with that many colors.