Judging a Book by its Cover

On a recent trip back to Taiwan, we brought back quite a few Chinese children’s books for Ryan. One reason is for him to have more exposure to Chinese. Secondly, besides the works by Taiwanese authors, there is an amazing selection of award winning children's books from Europe, Japan, and US all beautifully translated. Lastly, in all honesty, I’m a big fan of these picture books. Those colorful images and adorable characters are my eye candies!

When it comes to selecting the books, I’m totally a "judging a book by its cover" type of person. If the color, design or the illustrator’s drawing style appeal to me, I’ll go for it regardless of whether the storyline is appropriate for a two-year old….Therefore, we’ve got a few lovely books that I enjoy but certainly not appreciated by Ryan. Well, if you know how many times a mom has to repeat the same story in a day, you’d not blame her for choosing the ones she will at least enjoy herself.

Thanks for Grace and Vivian's book recommendations which kept me not too off-track from age appropriate books.

Grand Loup, & Petit Loup by Olivier Tallec & Nadine Brun-Cosme is one of our favorites.

The Rock Rice

I still remember those countless hours spent looking for toy ideas at Oompa, and Talbot's. However, as Ryan is getting older, I found my passion for scouting out good quality toys has diminished. I think partly it's because the products designed for the babies are too adorable to resist, partly because we found ourselves gradually giving way to toy trucks, trains and more trucks in the house. But most importantly, I realized too many toys could limit children’s imagination and creativity.

While I was researching a good kitchen set for Ryan, one day I found him layering his little cereals on the latch system of an old high chair. I curiously asked what he was doing. He happily responded “I’m baking my cereals.” It suddenly daunted on me that if he’s got a well-designed and sleek looking kitchen set, could he still think of the multiple mini-shelves latch system as an oven? My conclusion is no.

Now, Ryan's favorite activity with cousin Tony is to play chef at the backyard using our retired mini grill, park found pine cones, rocks, sand, and the only real cooking ingredients, thyme and rosemary both planted in the backyard. They named their master creation the Rock Rice.

In the picture, Ryan was busy firing the grill. Well, at least, according to him.

The Gardener, my all-time favorite store

The Gardener was mentioned in my previous posting but I think it deserves a place of its own. It's one of my must-visit stores on every trip to Berkeley. The store was founded back in 1984 by Alta, a former garden designer and photographer. It was originally intended to sell a collection of garden tools and hardware. Over the years, with Alta’s fabulous style and taste, the Gardener has evolved into a lifestyle store.

What you may find at the store today is a great pair of Japanese flower scissor, the local Heath dinnerware, a tribal Noah bell to an organic dinning table from Indonesia. With its well-edited merchandise collection and constant change in store display, no wonder many people come to it for gift ideas, a new piece of garden furniture or simply inspiration. Most importantly, the Gardener portraits a modern, organic indoor/outdoor living style, we Californians all long for.

The Gardener, my all-time favorite store.

"Give me another cup of BitterSweet, please!!"

Over the weekend, we found ourselves wandering around Berkeley again. Yes, again. We always love the city's artistic ambiance and the number of independent shops it offers. In addition to my regular pilgrimage to some of my old-time favorite shops such as Gardeners, Lilith, Twenty-two Shoes, and etc., I know I might just stumble across my next must-go shop. It’s just this thought that keeps luring me back to the area.

Well, as always, Berkeley didn’t disappoint me today. While strolling on College Ave., we happily encountered a cute chocolate cafe-BitterSweet. With two enthusiastic chocolate lovers in our group, we had to give it a try. The store offers an astounding variety of chocolates bars from all over the world. It also makes its own confections and chocolate drinks. We tasted its hot chocolate. It's rich, creamy and as if you are sipping a hot fudge cake. It's just divine! This time, it’s me, who asked “give me another cup of BitterSweet, please!!” instead of Ryry.

We will come back to it on our next visit to Berkeley, which I'm certain will be in the very near future :)

Happy Autumn Equinox!!!

Today is officially the first day of autumn. With the change of season, different varieties of flowers are making their appearance at farmer's markets. This weekend, I saw a great variety of chrysanthemum. I'm usually not a big fan of it but was appealed to this dual layered orange-yellow specie for its bold color and intricate flower pedals. As usual, Ryry was eager to participate in both the flower arrangement and photo shooting sessions.

Summer Pear Panna Cotta

We rencently had panna cotta at Satura Cakes, a popular bakery store at Los altos. We loved its creamy and smooth texture. We tried to re-create it by experimenting with various recipes. Here is the version, we enjoyed the most.

Panna Cotta:
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1.5 teaspoons unflavored gelatin powder

Pear Coulis:
1 whole pear
1/8 cup sugar

Panna cotta: Combine whole milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring from time to time (do not let it boil). Let cool for five minutes. Sprinkle gelatin powder over the water and let it sit for 5 minutes. Whisk gelatin into panna cotta mixture. Keep in the refrigerator until firm, about three hours or overnight. One thing to note is that if you prefer a firmer texture and would like to demold the panna cotta and serve on the plate, you may use 2 teaspoons of gelatin instead of 1.5 as indicated on the recipe.

Pear coulis: Cut pears in small slices. Combine in a small saucepan with the sugar and two tablespoons of water. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat immediately. Pour into the bowl of a blender and mix with short pulses. Cover, let cool to room temperature and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serve the panna cotta in the cup topped with a layer of coulis.

Sept 20, 2007 is the launch date!!!

Today is the launch date of Twenty-Two Butterfly. This is a site for me to share inspiration, daily creation and happenings around our house-22 Butterfly!