more cooking with Avery

Every Sunday morning I make a tasty treat to take to our fellowship. So far I have taken

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Cinnamon Rolls - my first time ever to make from scratch and they were delicious!!

Orange Lemon Muffins and Pumpkin bread
Next week I am thinking about apple pastries or apple fritters... we will see what the ingredients I can find!! Lets just say- our friends always anticipate the sweet treat in the red basket.

Our State Fair!!

Back home in NC... the State Fair just ended. I have been a faithful state fair attendant since the time I was 10 years old. Since it wasn't a reasonable excuse to fly home... we created our own fair. Here are some pictures from the fun filled day!
Painting Pottery. Only 15 RMB meaning just about 2 US dollars. Lots of fun and lots of people wanting to see how the "foreigners" paint.
The little man is holding a book. Wes and I decided they must be going to Fellowship... so we made it the HOLY Book :-)
Cotton Candy... it's got nothing on American cotton candy... but I did get to pick my color and watch her make it.
Wes was brave and got into a floating wheel. He had fun running like a hamster :-)
Captain Wes-- we took a little boat out for a ride. it was great until the engine sucked up some trash that was floating in the pond... we hurried the boat back to shore just as the boat started to die.

Fun Foods :-) Something candied on a stick... don't know what the something was.
Something fried on a stick

Romantic Date Plus Easy Delicious Italian Meal

Romanticism was brought back from the Tang Dynasty last night. After talking to Karen, I realized it had been quite some time since Wes and I had a date night. So here was our night... nice candle lite picnic in the living room with Italian Music.
Here is what we ate and even the steps for you to prepare the same dish :-)
It was super easy and courtesy of the Food Network
What you need:


Peel and Chop Eggplant into cubes. Sprinkle with Salt and let set for 40 minutes


Chop Tomatoes and Onion




Saute Egg Plant in Olive Oil and with Garlic until it is brown on all sides. Add the diced tomatoes and onion. Allow to simmer until the onion is soft. Add a handful of basil, 1.75 teaspoon sugar, salt and pepper.


Serve Over Pasta.


Light a bunch of candles and lay out a blanket for picnic :-) Enjoy

Exploring

Sometimes it is fun in China to get on a bus (any number) and ride until you feel like getting off... Once off the bus... explore the area. We did this on Saturday and found many furniture stores, knick-knack shops and lots of street vendors.
I wanted to share the purchase of the day...

Rats or Chinese Squirrels

Either Way... GROSS!!!
They are really common to see and give me the webby geebies.


The name is kind of a joke. Wes says they are "Chinese squirrels" because he thinks it's funny... for me... you've gotta call it what it is... it's a rat!!

Pumpkin Bread

It is October!! This is arguably my favorite month of the year (or back home it was) There are so many things about October to love.
1. State Fair
2. Candy Corn
3. Pumpkins
4. Baking with Pumpkins
5. Cutting or decorating pumpkins
6. Leaves Changing Colors
7. Cooler weather
8. The smell
9. Football
10. Autumn Candles
The list could literally go on and on... but the post is about Pumpkin bread in China :-)
So Pumpkins look a little different here... there is certainly no carving Jack out of the Pumpkin.

BUT we do have pumpkin so ... happy baking.
I bought a slice of pumpkin and baked it for about 45 minutes (until soft) and then mashed it.

Here is the recipe I used (taken from allrecipes.com)

I made one loaf with raisins and one with chocolate chips (or in my case a Dove bar chopped into pieces)


It turned out delicious!! We will take it with us to believers fellowship this morning.

Potato Soup

More Cooking!!
I thought I would post some more of my cooking successes for your pleasure. I know many of my friends here in China (and Thailand) are also facing the troubles of cooking in a foreign country... so hopefully this will help give my "foreign friends" some ideas and hopefully it will interesting to those back home to see how I adapt and make delicious foods.

Potato Soup.
This is something I remember my mom cooking when I was growing up. It is easy and tasty. I recently e-mailed her for the recipe. It didn't fail me :-) Easy and delicious soup!! I paired a Ham, Cheese and Pepper sandwich with the soup.


Recipe (Mom-- I hope this wasn't a secret recipe)
4 Potatoes
Lots of Celery
1 Onion
Milk
1-2 Tablespoon Butter
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)

Chop the Potatoes-- into cubes, Celery and Onions

Boil in Water until Potatoes are soft.
Some of the water and add milk, butter, salt and pepper. Regain boil :-)
You can also add Ham, Bacon or Spinach... but I think the best things can be simple :-)