How about you? Would you want to buy your baked goods from Salaivababy?
salivababy
I’m sorry but a bakery by this name is just not appetizing to this chica.
How about you? Would you want to buy your baked goods from Salaivababy?
How about you? Would you want to buy your baked goods from Salaivababy?
proper care and feeding of a Taiwanese husband
People ask me all the time what kind
of food I cook for Lawrance. They want to know if we eat Taiwanese food
or American food. My answer is not simple: To Taiwanese, we eat what
looks like western food, but to Americans we eat what looks like
Asian cuisine. It is our own unique fusion of east meets west.
I’m slowly learning the art of
stir-fry. I’m learning tricks to the trade and figuring out how to make
things we both love. And, I’m always on the lookout for
new recipes to try to see how we’d like them.
Last week, I made this:
And it was a homerun! Simple and
delicious! Yay for another dish to be part of our regular rotation.
I call it YaoGua JiDing with Peppers
(aka Cashew Chicken with Peppers). It’s not quite really “cashew
chicken,” but it does have cashews and chicken in it.
Ingredients
·
5 tsp cornstarch
·
3 Tbs soy sauce
·
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
·
2 tsp rice wine vinegar
·
1.5 tsp sugar
·
1 tsp hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)
·
1 pound chicken breast tenders
·
1 yellow bell pepper
·
1 red bell pepper
·
2-4 cloves garlic
·
1 tsp fresh ginger
·
1 stalk of green onions
·
1/2 cup unsalted cashews
·
2 Tbs coconut oil (I use coconut, you can use oil of your
choice)
Directions
1. Combine 2 tsp cornstarch, 2 Tbs soy
sauce, and next 4 ingredients (through hot pepper sauce) in a small bowl; stir
with a whisk or chopsticks.
2. Slice the two bell peppers, mince the
garlic and ginger, and cut the green onions.
3. Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Combine 3 tsp cornstarch, 1 Tbs soy sauce, and chicken in a medium bowl; toss
well to coat.
4. Heat wok over medium heat.
5. Add cashews to pan to lightly toast,
stir frequently. Remove from pan.
6. Add oil to pan. Add chicken; stir-fry
but don’t cook all the way (about 85% done). Remove almost cooked chicken from
pan; place in a bowl.
7. Add bell pepper to pan and stir-fry
about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger; cook 30 seconds.
8. Add the almost cooked chicken and the
sauce (made in #1); cook until sauce is slightly thick (about 1 minute).
9. Sprinkle with the toasted cashews and
green onions. Turn mixture over a few times then serve.
One of the keys to stir-frying is to
prep EVERYTHING before you get started. Once you start, there is no
turning back because it all happens so quickly once you get started. That is
why I now include the prep in my recipes (#2 & 3) above.
This took me a little less than 30
minutes from start to finish my first time making it. It made about four
servings.
happy, shinny people
Nobody is as happy as he seems on
Facebook. And no one is as “spiritual” as he seems in what we deem as
“spiritual” enough for Christian worship. Maybe what we need in our
churches is more tears, more failure, more confession of sin, more prayers of
desperation that are too deep for words.
Maybe then the lonely and the guilty
and the desperate among us will see that the gospel has come not for the happy,
but for the brokenhearted; not for the well, but for the sick; not for the
found, but for the lost.
So don’t worry about those shiny,
happy people on Facebook. They need comfort, and deliverance, as much as you
do. And, more importantly, let’s stop being those shiny, happy people when we
gather in worship. Let’s not be embarrassed to shout for joy, and let’s not be
embarrassed to weep in sorrow. Let’s train ourselves not for spin control, but
for prayer, for repentance, for joy. –Russell Moore
I SO agree with these last few
paragraphs of a recent blog post on Moore to the Point about how facebook is making us
sad.
I remember when I first was coming out
of a long, deep depression a few years ago. I was at a Christian
gathering full of missionaries, as I introduced myself I had no qualms
expressing my recent struggles and God’s great kindness towards to these near
strangers because I knew they were sisters in the Lord. My blunt honesty
was met with blank stares.
It bothered me then and still does now
that we are not “allowed” to show weaknesses, not permitted to be frail.
But, the reality is I am OH so thankful that my God is a God of mercy who
forgives my wretched sin. The reality is that it is ok to boast in OUR
weaknesses (2 Cor11:30 and 12:5).
Father, keep my heart soft. Help
me to be transparent with others and honest about my struggles and weaknesses
to You, to myself, and to my fellow brothers and sister in Christ. And,
when we gather to worship You, let us be a people able to express our emotions,
both our joys and of sorrows.
infant potty training
My mother-in-law told me this past
weekend that all three of her kids shared one cloth diaper and that’s the
only diaper she ever needed. She went on to tell me that she started
potty training all of her kids on day three. Meaning that when they were
three days old she started potty training them!
At first I was shocked. Sounds
impossible. But, then I started asking questions and talking to Lawrance
more about it. Then of course I had to google it.
Throughout much of the non-Western world, infant toilet training is the norm. In India, China, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, the arctic, and parts of Africa and Latin America, parents leave baby bottoms uncovered (Boucke 2003; Sonna 2006; deVries and deVries 1977).
Diapers are considered unnecessary-—even disgusting. When babies have to pee or poop, parents hold them over a preferred target (e.g., a toilet, an outdoor latrine, or simply open ground) until business is done.
How do parents know when their babies need to go? By paying close attention. In these “bare-bottom” cultures, babies spend much of their days being carried around. Mom learns to read her baby’s cues. And-—eventually—-baby learns to hesitate until Mom gives her the “okay”-—usually signaled by a special vocalization, like “sheee-sheee” or “shuuuus” (Boucke 2003; deVries and deVries 1977).
Sometimes called “elimination
communication,” this method is now being adopted by some parents in the United
States and other Western countries.
There is also a pdf that talks more about “Potty
Training” in China, where she gives the four basic steps to get started with
training an infant to go where you want them to go.
The authors also state that parents in
China can potty train their child so young because “there is an elimination
awareness ’window of learning’ open from birth to about 6 months of age.
If parents tap into this sensitive period, they generally have good
results with toilet training.”
So, perhaps it’s not as shocking as I
thought it was. But one thing for sure is that it takes LOTS of time on
the part of the caregiver (ie. mommy or, in many cases in Taiwan, grandma).
It depends on the caregiver always being near the child and being very
vigilant about “reading” and “learning” the child’s signals.
And, it might be labor intensive, time
consuming, and at times messy for mom, but it sure has other benefits too.
Just to start, think of all the money saved on diapers!
There is also a special way to hold a
baby or young one over a toilet–made easier if you are using a squatty
potty. Many in Taiwan also let their children go outside over a drain.
And, in case your wondering, the
vocalizations used here in Taiwan for “elimination communication” are a gentle,
breathy whistle or a “shuuu, shuuu” sound for peeing and grunting sounds like
“unh, unh” for pooing.
Here’s a CNN video of American parents
using this concept:
I give props to my mother-in-law for
her labor-intensive, money-saving way to raise my husband. I’m impressed!
It becomes even more impressive when I realized she had three under three
and used this method with all three of them! She’s amazing!
three calendars
My life revolves around three calendars. Teachers have their own calendar. Taiwanese have their own calendar. And, then there is the American calendar too. This means twice as many holidays, and three new years.From Thanksgiving to New Year’s (Jan. 1) are the “American holidays.” Then from New Year’s (Jan. 1) to the end of Lantern Festival (Feb. 17, this year) are the “Taiwanese holidays.” This equals somewhere between 3-4 months of “the holidays.”
Quite frankly, that’s a lot of holidays!
Moreover, as a teacher at a university we have two sets of 18 weeks with breaks in between. Which means our new year is in September, and the first semester goes to the middle of all these holidays.
Jan first comes right in the midst of the end of the semester. So, while many may feel like they get a fresh start on Jan 1st, I feel like I’m in limbo till some unknown point in the future.
There are so many longings within my heart, but I keep telling them “shh, just a moment more and then I can acknowledge you.”
So, while I wait for that moment that Lord willing I’ll get a chance to retreat, I sing this song longing to be refreshed, placing confidence in the fact that the Spirit is not bound by any man-made calendar.
Popout
the wu’s year in photos
I woke up this morning to the shocking reality that *gasp* it is the last day of the year! I don’t know why this year passed so quickly. Why do they keep slipping by faster and faster??
At the end of last year, I dreamed of being able to hold our little one in our arms by the end of 2010. Well, it’s come and gone and we are no more parents today than we were 365 days ago. So, all I can do is cling to the fact that God is kind.
Without further ado, let’s look back at each month of 2010 solely represented with just one photo.
This will be my sixth year to do this:
2005–was my third year in Taiwan, and I started bloggingJanuary: Amanda went back to Texas to meet our newest nephew
2006–my sister got married and my brother came to Taiwan
2007–I moved to a new city, and my cousins came to visit
2008–I met the love of my life; we dated, got engaged, and then married . . . it was perhaps the most perfect year of my entire life. :)
2009–our Taiwanese wedding, our first anniversary, and our first full calendar year married
February: Chinese New Year
March: Daily life as normal (note the use of gloves to eat messy food) :D
September: Lawrance turns 30 and has his 1st Birthday Party EVER! 
November: Lawrance preaches for the first time
December: We celebrate our third Christmas together in Taiwan. 
Oh, how only one photo a month doesn’t capture everything that happens!! I think we went to a total of 7 or 8 weddings last year and I got to go to Japan for a few days for a conference, we spoke in public multiple times, Lawrance started serving weekly with a missionary in another town, we changed churches in order to increase our ministry, and so on goes the list. We are blessed!!
Happy New Year from our Wu Home to yours!!
i’m forever grateful
This song has been playing in my head, in my heart, and on my ipod for the last two weeks:
Popout
You did not wait for me to draw near to You(Written by Mark Altrogge, Hosanna Music, 1985)
But You clothed Yourself with frail humanity
You did not wait for me to cry out to You
But You let me hear Your Voice calling me
And I’m Forever Grateful to You
I’m Forever Grateful for The Cross
I’m Forever Grateful to You
That You came to seek and save the lost
Happy Thanksgiving!!
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