Live Out Loud - Adventures of a mom

Cantonese style beef brisket (柱侯蘿蔔炆牛腩) 1 beef belly (brisket) (牛坑腩) (approx. 1.5-2.0 lbs) 4 cloves garlic 5 slices Ginger 1 cube Fermented red bean curd 2 cubes bean curd 1 tbsp light soy sauce 1 tbsp dark soy sauce 1 tbsp oyster sauce 1 Small piece of rock sugar 2 whole Star Anise 3 cups daikon radish, peeled and chopped into cubes   1. boil water with 2 slices ginger 2. put beef brisket into boiling hot water for 5 – 10 min 3. take the beef brisket out and rinse with cold water.  Discard the water. 4. cut the beef in an 1/2 inch cubes 5. heat oil in a pot 6. Add ginger and garlic for 1 – 2 min.  Stir. 7.  put the beef into the pot and cook for a few min to brown the meat 8.  put the red bean curd, bean curd, soy sauce (light and dark), oyster sauce to the pot 9.  Add water enough to cover the beef 10.  Cover with lid and bring to a boil.  11.  add rock sugar and star anise to it 12....

Here is our favourite discoveries....I always loved Peruvian Roasted Chicken and had been missing it for years.  Here is the closest we have found - Pollo a la Brasa!!! Ingredients: 1 whole chicken (about 4 pounds) 4 tablespoons white vinegar 3 tablespoons white wine 3 tablespoons canola oil 2 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder 2 tablespoons paprika 1 1/2 tablespoons cumin 2 teaspoons black pepper 1 teaspoon salt juice of 1 lemon 1 quart cold water Preparation: Combine vinegar, wine, oil with garlic powder, cumin, paprika, black pepper, and salt. Mix well to form a paste. Add lemon juice to cold water. Trim chicken of any excess or loose fat. Wash chicken thoroughly. Place chicken in zip-top bag. Pour spice paste over chicken. Coat chicken completely with mixture rubbing into every surface. Try to get the paste under the skin as much as possible. Seal bag and place chicken in refrigerator for at least 2 hours-4 hours. The chicken will have more fla...

So, after many many inquiries from friends about recipes from my wonderful husband-chef, we have decided to start posting them here! (yeay!?) - I'm not tech savy or I would have a page devoted only for recipes.  For now, my husband's avid fans should be happy - he has recruited his wife/secretary to type this out for all of you Happy Cooking! **Disclaimer - we do not follow strict recipes so keep tasting as you cook! :D Ingredients: 1. Chicken Legs 2.  Salt and Pepper to taste 3.  Tomato Paste 4.  Crushed or Stewed tomatos, fresh tomatos or whole canned tomatos - basically whatever type of tomatoes you find in your fridge/pantry 5.  Bay leaves, soak in water (you don't need more than 1-2 leaves) 6.  Paprika 7.  Cyanne pepper (if you like to have a kick to it) 8.  Raisins 9.  Water/Chicken Stock (we just use water) 10. Stewed potatoes, cut in big chunks 11. Carrots, cut in slices 12.  Onion(s), diced 13.  Frozen p...

Sarah just turned 4 today.  Oh how time flies!!!  We celebrated her birthday with her friends this weekend. And so, the traditional yearly question comes up:  "What would you like on your cake?"  A dangerous question indeed but one I cannot help myself asking! Sarah, pensively, replies to me on a night before heading to bed..."Ariel - because I don't have Ariel yet". Of course.  Why am I not surprised! But deep inside I am stubbornly fighting the urge to give her a 'princess party' - you know, one of those parties where we hire a princess of choice to oooo and ahhh the kids (and parents).  Aside from the costs, and the fact that I'm just simply too lazy to rent out a place to hold the party (we did splurge on a Gymboree party for my son's 3rd year...), I just do not want to encourage her to focus on outward beauty any more than what is already occurring in her -- she notices make up and pretty things already and I am already cautiously ob...

What is your first memory of your childhood?  A birthday party?  A kiss from a parent?  A trip to somewhere fun? Or was it a bad experience like being timed-out for the first time?  Losing something or someone dear to you?   My first memory of my childhood was my first day of school in Peru.  My parents and I had moved from Hong Kong and on the third day after arriving to this foreign, strange land, I was sent to school. I still remember everything (and this is very odd for me - I'm one of those who remembers almost nothing from my childhood).  I remember my parents trying to explain things to me.  I remember sleeping in my uncle's home after the super long flight on Day 1, and then being pulled to go for back to school shopping on Day 2.  Day 3?  Dad took me to my new school. It was a huge school.  With strange buildings painted in bright reds and blues.  There were buildings everywhere interspersed with greene...