We arrived in Japan and got our train tickets for the Narita Express to Yokohama Station. The scenery at the beginning of the ride was beautiful, with acres and acres of verdant rice fields along the way.
As we got closer to Tokyo, though, you start to see less and less green and more and more tall buildings. The Express dove under the city, so we didn’t get to see much of it until we were well past it. Tokyo would have to wait until another day…
We’re on our way…
House of Annie has hopped over to Kuala Lumpur for a whirlwind trip of visiting with family and friends, all at the tables of various eating establishments around KL.
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A Diary of Private Prayer John Baillie $9.99 on Amazon.com Annie’s rating: 4/4 |
When I started working, I had to get up early to get ready for the day. My day begins around 5.30am. I get up, jump out of bed into the shower to get my body and brain working, then it’s downstairs to start prepping for breakfast and lunch. Nate does help me after he gets up (an hour later) by getting the kids ready for school and getting them their breakfast while I’m busy putting together last touches for the kids’ lunches and cutting fruit for all of us. Thankfully, most times, our lunches are just leftovers from last night’s dinner so at least I’m not bogged down preparing adult lunches as well.
With all this busyness, I try to spend about 15 mins after my shower doing a quick read before jumping into manic mode. One book that I have found especially helpful to start my day is a devotional classic by John Baillie entitled "A Diary of Private Prayer" It’s a really small book but within it’s covers, I find beautiful, lyrical and rich prayers to start my day.
I’ve been having a lot of success with steaming lately. Both the salted fish chicken and the stuffed squid were delicious dishes that met with the approval of the whole family. Thus, I decided to go about trying yet more dishes from this latest cookbook I bought which was all about steaming.
The recipe I decided to try next looked a little bit more complicated but actually turned out to be quite easy and yet filled with yummy flavors. Also, Nate thought it had shades of Khau Yoke flavors without the crazy amount of work that Khau Yoke actually takes. And as for the presentation, it’s a dish with the "wow" factor. When presented tableside, it really looks like something that could have come out of a fancy Chinese restaurant.
Continue reading Steamed Chicken Wings with Taro and Mushroom