Do I really need to say many word's ... here ?
As I was anxiously awaiting my Sweetheart's reply to my last letter and a singing " BEE " card , telling Her ... that I'm alway's thinking of my Lao Po and how much I miss Her and Love Her .
Well , today came the wonderful Letter , as it does every week and it had a beautiful attachment with it . Yes , the Photo above . How great Life can be , sharing it with someone ... so thoughtful , loving and the most wonderful Person in my Life now .
Is one of my first handwritten notes to my Flower , that I am proud of and my Lao Po even more so . This drawing Character's , really is like painting and few I do know , I make a point not to forget them and write them often ... over and over . People must think sometimes , that I'm crazy writing on everything that can be written on with a Felt Pen . " NO " ... it's not being carzy , it being in Love with someone you care about and try to learn at least something of Her language and Culture . Having a great Teacher in my Lao Po and under no pressure to learn like in School , I think ... I will do alright with my 75% used up Brain . Hahaha
So , to come back to my Lao Po's letter , which was an answer to my last Blog so to speak . About my Weekend and my Bar-B- Q'ing ( has nothing to do with Qing ) . As it explained that I'm not the best at that , but I would not say , that I have not learned something over the years at the Grill . Well , I know how to turn it " ON " and " OFF " . That took two year's . Now , I do like it though . The only thing I have learned and don't like , was my late Wife ... alway's put on the Chicken ( Raw ) , when in fact , I like to cook it somewhat first and then put it on the Grill . So not to get it burned before it's done . This was one of the hardest thing to master , that my late Wife knew how to get it done without burning . I never found out how she did it , and never really bothered Her and ask . Because it looked too hard for me . I have a lot of Patience with many thing's , but when it comes to Cooking , it is pretty much out the window . I know now , it's due to not having much confidence in yourself .
But , to let my Sweetheart know , I do know alot of Mexican , German and American dishes , that I can teach my chinese Cooking Wife " Qing " . We'll teach each other many thing's , I'm sure .Like today , as I'm writing , I have three Chicken Breast's in the Oven for making my favorite Asian Chicken Salad . Yum Yum ... can you smell it ?
She also ask about my Weekend . As I have mentioned on my previous Blog entry , I was going to pick up my Friend ( Ron ) and go to a Celebration for the fourth of July . Picked him up about 10:30 in the morning on Sunday , and off we went to Fillmore ( close to the Ventura Beach ) . As the four previous year's , it was alway's a two day Event . But to our surprise , there was NOBODY there at City Hall and the surrounding Park ? What is going on , has the bad Economy something to do with this ? We looked at each other and started to laugh . What now ???
So ... I give all of my Follower's one guess , what we did next ?
It was of course my Idea , let's go to ... no other then ... Chinatown ! How many guessed right ?
Even though it's about 60 + miles away , it alway's draw's me there for some reason , I can not explain ? Rubbish ... it's because , it reminds me of my Lao Po , what else ? Hence , Ron hasn't been there of many .. many year's , he agree'd . So Chinatown it was . I must tell you , not only did Ron enjoy himself , but of course I did even more . Some of the Street's were closed , due to some Festivities for the Fourth of July ... Chinese Style . Alway's a sight to see , but a sad situation to be in .. not having my Sweetheart next to me . As I go through the Market Places , it reminds me of Yu Yuan Garden , that my Lao Po love's soooo much to go to.
We had a great Lunch at the famous " Hop Luie " . Of course , while paying the Bill , there I was again .. writing Zhen de hen xie-xie ni and SH MiFeng ( in character's ) on the receipt . The Lady took it and walked off , but suddenly stopped and took a closer look at the paper . Was shocked of course , as she saw this . I'm sooo bad ...but I love it !!!
As my Wife would say " Naughty BEE " !!!
She is right , but I also LOVE , when she calls me this . It's the way She say's it , with the most sweetest Voice , that my Ear's have ever listened to .
Well , I do hope it was an interesting Post today , as I will send it off , all the way ... halfway around the World now ... to no other then my ---->
Shanghai Flower
Cooking raw chicken on the grill is easy. Just cook on low heat. I cook everything on low heat. Cooks slow, and lets the flavour work its way in.
ReplyDeleteThe only food I like to precook are baked potatoes. They take too long when they are raw.
Great blog Arnold.
Much appreciated Martin .
ReplyDeleteMakes sence to cook slow , but I do not have the Patience when it comes to Cooking . Give my a Steak or Fish and we'll eat in 10 minutes . That's more my Style of Bar-b-que .
If you slice the potatoes and some onions along with a dash of seasoning salt and add a couple pats of butter, wrap it all with some aluminum foil (two layers of aluminum foil) and put it on the grill just after you light it, by the time the grill is warm and ready for the steaks (or other meats), the potatoes should be starting to slightly sizzle. Move the potatoes to an upper shelf while you grill the steaks, and everything will be done and ready by the time the steaks are done. Works like a champ! Hint: You can coat the aluminum foil with a little oil to help keep the potatoe slices from sticking.
ReplyDeleteYour lettering is awesome, Arnold!
I'll be over and you can show me maybe ? Thanks for the Idea , it's just finding the Time to do it . On weekday's after work I eat at almost 21:00 , so on weekends I try to cook something more nutritious , that last 's me a couple of day's . Ones Qing is here , I will have more time to pay attention to more of the details of using the Grill .
ReplyDeleteAbout the character's , like I have mentioned , I practise almost daily . I do recognize and write about two hundred of them . So out of 10,000 to 15,000 that is a good 2% . Wow ... not much . That's like know the Alphabet from "A" to "B" . Oh Boy ?