Sunday, December 25, 2022

Happy Holidays 2022

 


Dear All,

Wishing you a happy holiday and a happy new year! This year, we are so grateful to have spent more time with friends and family.

Isabelle is enjoying her 2nd grade time and started to learn tennis again. She still loves to read and is making her way to Harry Potter collection books. 

Alexander is doing well in 1st grade. He finished his peanut allergy desensitization program and can now eat anything he likes. He is also applying his jolt of energy into basketball, soccer and tennis. 

This year we have travelled to Yosemite together in the summertime; and are spending the holiday break with Ivana's family who are visiting from Indonesia.

We hope to see you soon in 2023 and wish you a happy holiday!

Arthur, Ivana, Isabelle (8) and Alexander (6)


Saturday, December 25, 2021

Happy Holidays 2021

 


Dear All,

Wishing you a happy holiday and a happy new year! We are so thankful to be safe and healthy during this time. This year, we have been inching out of our bubbles. We made a day trip to Angeles Mountains to have the kids sledding and we took the kids to Disneyland (it was Alexander’s first time). 

Isabelle is thriving in 1st grade. She is starting to love piano again with the help of her new teacher. She still loves to read and just started the first two books of Harry Potter.

Alexander graduated from his preschool and started Kindergarten in the fall. Alexander is almost done with his peanuts desensitization program and he is eating 20 peanuts a day. Both kids started playing soccer with AYSO again. 

Arthur and Ivana have gotten to the groove of working from home. We also celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary and went on a trip to Santa Fe, NM.

We hope to see you all soon in 2022 and wishing everyone a safe holiday.

Arthur, Ivana, Isabelle (7) and Alexander (5)


Friday, December 25, 2020

Happy Holidays 2020!

 

Dear Friends and Family,


Wishing you a safe holiday in 2020! This year especially, we really miss spending time with you!

 

Both Arthur & I transitioned to working from home in March and we finally set up a second office for Arthur (best corner on the house - overlooking our backyard). We are juggling working, parenting and managing kids' virtual zoom. Thankful for all the help we have from friends and family.


Isabelle (6 yo) transitioned to Zoom in March and started Kindergarten virtually in the Fall. She started in person school once a week in December. More than ever, she continues her love for reading and we have to constantly peel her away from her Dory Fantasmagory and Fly Guy books.

 

Alexander (4.5 yo) continues at Manhattan Beach Preschool in person throughout the year and enjoys playing with his friends at school. He loves showing us how fast he runs and has a keen eye for building his legos. In eight weeks time, he will finally start his introduction to a small amount of peanut to manage his peanut allergy.


We had many trips planned and cancelled in 2020 and we are spending a lot of family time together in 2020 at home, picking up food to go and having picnics outdoors, swimming during the summer and going to the beach a lot more. 


We hope you are enjoying your holiday and looking forward to kicking COVID out of the way and slowly transitioning to a normal life.


Love,


Ivana, Arthur, Isabelle and Alexander


Sunday, March 29, 2020

David lebovitz chocolate chip cookie

Source plus alteration:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/04/david-lebovitzs-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe.html


Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt 

1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 cups (about 225 g) nuts, such as walnuts, pecans, almonds, or macadamia nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped

14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped into 1/2- to 1-inch (1.5- to 3-cm) chunks or 3 cups (340 g) chocolate drop. I prefer using Ghiradeli bittersweet chocolate bars and chopping them.

Maldon Sea Salt - to put after cookies right after taking them out of oven




Directions
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl by hand), beat together the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla on medium speed just until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated, then stir in the flour mixture followed by the nuts and chocolate chunks.
3. On a lightly floured work surface, divide the dough into quarters. Shape each quarter into a log about 9 inches (23 cm) long. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, preferably for 24 hours.
4. Position racks in the lower thirds of the oven; preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Make sure to get an oven temperature to check that your oven temperature measurement is correct. For instance I have to set mine to 365F to get inside oven to read 350F
5. Slice the logs into disks 3/4 inch (2 cm) thick and place the disks 3 inches (8 cm) apart on the prepared baking sheets. If the nuts or chips crumble out, simply push them back in.
6. Bake on the lower third of the oven, rotating the baking sheets midway through baking, until the cookies are very lightly browned in the centers, about 8 to 10 minutes. If you like soft chocolate chip cookies, as I do, err on the side of underbaking.
7. Right after you take the cookies out of oven, sprinkle some Maldon sea salt on top of them.
8. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to handle, then use a spatula to transfer them to a wire rack.


Storage: The dough logs can be refrigerated for 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month. The baked cookies will keep well in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Monday, March 16, 2020

Sticky rice recipe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4xHTy4_lkQ&feature=share

Tip highlights:
1. Soak the rice in water before the rice steams easily.
2. The ratio of rice to water is 1: 0.7.
3. Cooked and simmered, the rice heart is more cooked and tasted.

material:
Long glutinous rice 4 cups
2.8 cups of water
Pork belly pork 300 g
30 g of mushrooms
60 grams of shrimp
100 g

seasoning:
2 tablespoons of rice wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fine sugar
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons soy sauce

practice:
1. Put the long glutinous rice in the inner pot of the electric cooker, and soak it in 2.8 cups of water for more than 4 hours.
2. Soak shiitake mushrooms and pork belly shreds; slice red shallots and set aside.
3. Pour an appropriate amount of oil in the pan and heat it up.
4. Add the shrimp and stir fry the shiitake mushrooms.
5. Then stir-fry the pork until the meat turns white.
6. Add rice wine, salt, granulated sugar, white pepper, and soy sauce and stir well. Turn off the heat.
7. Spread the fried ingredients on long sticky rice, put the inner pot into the electric pot, add 1 cup of water to the outer pot, and steam until the switch jumps.
8. Open the lid, loosen and mix well, add 1/4 cup of water to the outer pot, and continue to steam until the switch jumps.