Bear experience

It's superb to see bears. Can you imagine that the bears are just two car distant from you? I was so happy. The road in Sequoia curves around the mountains. So you can imagine the turns. I got motion sickness easily these days. I was in a bit bad shape before the presence of the bears. Funny thing was that my sickness dramatically got reduced by the ecstasy. This time was my second time to Sequoia. I got a pleasant memory the first time. I recall I saw many wild animals, including three black bears, one mom and two babies. Of course I got some expectations to the second time. The park fulfilled my expectation in the first evening. We hiked on a very short trail and returned. Around 2000 elevation we saw three bears on the side. Our presence was fine by them, seemed like. The color of the bears was not black, nor grey. We wondered what bear we saw. We engaged a conversation with two other people from another car. They had outdoor telescopes at hand. The guy said these bears are brown bears. Aha who can verify his words? We all got off the cars. We enjoyed the bears a lot.

Second day we hiked on Tokopah falls trail, bear hill trail, alta trail (partial), and big tree trail (partial). The Tokopah falls trail is not long. But the snow and the lack of signs made the hike very exhausting. We spent a good amount of time on finding right way. We got lost :p The view was nice. Due to the snow the water amount of the falls was abundant. We got some nice pictures along the way and on top. Some of us were not just satisfied with the rock, the snow, and the water at the end of the trail. We climbed up and did some off trail. It was awesome. Absolutely strenuous. I like it very much. I haven't hiked any strenuous trail after I lost my big toe nail. I was very happy that my ability of hiking is getting back. Not the best condition, but I am so grateful for the recovery. No bear. Guess the snow hinders bears. Not many fresh grass or berries on the scene. Bears eat grass and berries. Besides, the snow slows actions a lot. It can be the reason of why we encountered no bear this day. Yet we got a very exciting coyote experience. It can be a coyote or a fax. It swiftly ran toward us. For food? The closest distance was just a car away. I felt I was holding my breath at that point.

Third day was short. We luckily saw two bears in the morning. The bears cared nothing about us. They were just outside our windows. We turned back for them for the closer look. Beyond the description. The joy.

Sunburn or snowburn

Sunburn or snowburn is common. But what if I tell you that I have sunburn on my wrists and lower arms? I felt shocked. Then I felt funny. My face or neck got nothing after a day of strong sunshine. Yet the most unexpected area, wrist, got the sunburn, or snowburn. As mentioned in the previous post, there was bunches of snow on the trails. I wore long sleeves that covered all my arms. In addition, I put my wrists down most of time. I couldn't think of any reason why I got this esp in this weird areas. So I suspect that the burn is due to snow. The snow reflects the sunshine and somehow my skin around wrist and lower arm is weak and cannot tolerate the strong reflection. Well I put some aloe vera on, getting better. Next time I go hiking I think I will pay some attention on them :p

Hiking on the snow

This was not planned. I went with some friends to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. We were already in April. So no one expected to see bunches snow on the trails. The snow astounded all of us. We hiked with our hiking shoes or tennis shoes. I wore my tennis shoes at that day. Each step, I placed it carefully. I guess everyone else did the same thing. Tricky to walk on snow at a regular pace. Either the snow is slippery or the snow is hollow underneath.

Chocolate cake

I experimented a bit. I heard flourless cake and wanted to make one. In my imagination the flourless chocolate cake is soft, smooth and light. Not heavy not chewy and not over sweet. It can be a bit less firm than a soufflé. I read through my recipe book. The only flourless recipe looks not my kind. So I went online to do a little research. After modification here is my version.

Materials:
- 8 oz chocolate (milk, dark, semisweet)
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 eggs
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon rum
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
- Microwave chocolate and butter (less than 1 min)
- Put sugar, egg yolks, rum, vanilla in a big bowl and mix with a low speed for 10 min (until the dough becomes creamy)
- Pour the melted butter and chocolate and salt in the bowl
- Mix them for 10 sec
- In a small bowl mix the egg white for 2 min until the foam appears
- Fold the foam in the dough in the big bowl gently
- Preheat oven to 300 degree
- Put the cake pan in the oven and bake for 50 min

The cake puffed. A bit like soufflé. When I tested the cake with a folk, I got a similar feeling of cutting a soufflé. The outside was a bit crispy. The inside was moist. Very moist. I put it outside to cool it down for more than 30 min. I think I should have served it warm. After 30 min, the cake went to the normal form, no puff anymore. When I sliced it, I saw how smooth the inside was. My friends like it very much. The taste was between a Soufflé and a mousse. Very happy to have it. Happy to have it after a good dinner.

Squid yaki

A nice yaki with squid is great. My memory of a good yaki from Japan came out when we were in Japan town. Even though so many people lined up, we were so determined to get some squid yaki. The yaki took us at least 20 min to get yet the taste was not the best. The balls were super hollow. The yaki tasted no squid just flour. Sauce was sour. A big minus. Sad to say this was not a good experience. But the good thing is that the memory in my head stays good and the hangout was very delightful.

Oyster farm

I am from an island. But I never got a chance to see an oyster farm. On weekend friend invited me to go to a farm closed to Point Reyes, north of San Francisco. Should be fun, I thought. The road to there is horrible though. I got a severe motion sickness. The drive freaked me out. After 2.5 hours suffering we arrived at the oyster farm. It was my first time to see oyster farm. The farm is isolated. The view is so natural. The only artificial thing is the sticks used for oysters. I felt peaceful by looking at the view. The weather was good. The breeze freshed me. My sickness was gone after a few minutes of immersing myself in this.

The farm offers fresh oysters with various sizes. I initially didn't want to try the fresh one because I was afraid of the pollution. The farm is not really far away from San Francisco. I was afraid to eat in some mercury polluted oyster. My friend kept saying the fresh one tastes awesome. Well I stuck to the half cooked. With lemon and cocktail sauce the good quality of the oyster was revealed completely. After a while I was ready to try a fresh one. All oysters were in shells. I picked a small shell. This time I didn't need to open the shell myself. This friend is pretty proficient in opening oysters. I watched the whole process. It looked fun. I got my oyster. Poured some lemon juice. Excessive. Pushed the oyster in my mouth and no kidding, the fresh oyster tasted really good. I was surprised that I would like it. Normally I didn't like to eat something looks a bit black or too soft. Through the oyster I can taste the sea. I felt the San Francisco bay was in my mouth.

Daube

This daube has my most satisfaction. It was awesomely tasty.

According to Wikipedia, daube is a style.
Daube is a classic French stew made with cubed meat braised in wine, vegetables, garlic, and herbes de provence. Although most modern recipes call for red wine, a minority call for white wine, and the earliest recorded daube recipes call for white wine. Variations also call for olives, prunes, and flavoring with duck fat, vinegar, brandy, lavender, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, juniper berries, or orange peel. For best flavor, it is cooked in several stages, and cooled for a day between each stage to allow the flavors to meld together.

I have some good red wine. They were open for some time. Friends told me wine's taste lasts short, once you open a good bottle, better serve and finish within a day, you should turn it to a cooking wine otherwise. I wanted to give this wine another new life. I wanted it to know how good it is by giving the credit of a delicious dish to it. A bit silly. But I meant it :)

I then went ahead to getting all ingredients for this daube.

1. Two big chicken thigh with bone
2. Half box tomatoes
3. One bay leaf
4. One big onion
5. Wine
6. Salt
7. Black pepper
8. Half cup chicken broth

I washed the thigh. I removed the skin and fat. Skin and fat can contribute some flavor to the dish, but, for the health's sake, tossed them. I cut the thigh to smaller pieces. Put the chicken in a big pot. Then put the sliced onion and washed pearl tomatoes in. Poured all nice wine in. The amount of the wine was around half bottle. Put the bay leaf. Dashed salt and pepper. Covered the pot and marinated the ingredients.

I cooked the chicken after one day. One side story. The pot was a bit burned due to the carelessness. The wine volume was half yet I didn't set the first checkpoint accordingly. The pot delivered a burn smell after 30 min. I saw the bottom of the pot turned black. Was a bit sad. So put some chicken broth in and continued the cooking. After 10 more minutes the cooking was complete.

The taste of the chicken was superb. No burn taste at all. The chicken was tender and the vegetables were fully blended with the good wine. The juice was not abundant. Right amount. 200% satisfaction.

Banana nut bread

I remember I had a very tasty banan nut bread in Maui on the Road to Hana. We got it from a small local shop. The bread was moist. The shop was not frugal on banana. I saw banana and tasted banana at my every bite. It was a good memory.

Now I am competent at baking. Look around, I got banan, walnut, flour, sugar, and my good old mixer. Why not realizing my good memory to reality? I checked my recipe book, seems like I need to get baking powder. Alright, marked it on my note. Tomorrow I should have everything.

Making a banana nut bread needs patience and care. More than 20 ingredients are needed. I simplified the recipe to fit it to my like. List: 2 teaspoon baking powder; 2 cup all purpose flour; 4 tablespoon melted unsalted butter; 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk; pinch salt; 3/4 cup walnut; 2 very ripe banana fingers; half cup sugar; 1 tablespoon orange zest.

Preparation:
1. Mix eggs, yolk, butter, zest, and sugar with low speed for 3 min or until you see the dough turn to creamy
2. Put flour, salt, and baking powder in and mix the dough for 3 min
3. Cut and mash banana
4. Crash walnut to small size
5. Put the mashed banana in
6. Mix the ingredients
7. Put the walnut in
8. Preheat oven to 350 degree
9. Put the dough in a loaf pan
10. Put the loaf pan in the preheat oven for 40 min

I didn't put any butter or spray around the loaf pan since the dough has butter. The buttered dough is a non stick guarantee. Another tip is that when you mix banana with the dough you need to ensure the mix is not over blended so you can taste the banana in the bread. You wonder if you don't have to mash banana because you like to see banana trunks. My advice is that if you don't mash the banana to a good degree, the bread will be too loose when you cut it. The third trick is that the creamy form of the dough has to be there. Your bread will taste better if you mix the dough enough time. The 6 min make a difference.

Crêpe

Cook well, eat well. You can feel the power of eating well inside you. Seriously. I modified the crêpe recipe, you can find the original one in previous posts, and the result was gorgeous. Thinner and lighter. This is good if you want to have a light dessert.

2 egg white and 1 egg
400 ml milk
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rum
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Mix all ingredients in a big bowl well with low speed
2. Let the dough stand for hours before cooking
3. Put some oil on a flat pan and use napkin to even out the oil
4. One scoop of dough one time
5. Cook both sides to golden brown

Change your heart

A good friend said "life is short". Life can be fragile. Life can also bring you a lot satisfaction. He has been through many since he has come to United States. Yet he always has a good spirit. It's fun to hang out with a person like him. He uses fun ways to convey his thoughts. His thoughts inspire me. He said sometimes we don't think things since there is no need. Therefore, we don't sense things. Many people don't sense much even though they have been on this planet for 30 years. To sense things needs practice. It's not just I say I want to sense and I will sense. Over time anxiety and doubt occur when we are alone. Sometimes these negative feelings help push us to think. We wonder why me and why not me. The more you practice the more you sense. Life is short. You need to keep your heart open. Change your heart once a while. The change will reward you gorgeously if you have a faith. You can live your life with no care. You can live your life with a sense. You decide how to live your life. Live your life right and things will come to you in your short life.

Swallow your pride

You don't like to admit your wrong doings. You don't like to know you're wrong. So you don't like to rethink the wrong doings. But the less you think about, the less you improve self. Sometimes we are too proud. We don't know what to do when things go bad. Hard lessons. It's usually a hard lesson to face wrong doings. Some people would say forget the wrong doings and start fresh. But history repeats itself. If the cause is not fixed then the wrong doing will come back to your life again. Most of people want to become better persons. No easy way. I am just like others. I don't like to say I am wrong. I tend to blame on others when possible. But I notice that history comes back. We don't want to regret. A fresh start sounds cool but does little to prevent you from regretting. Some steps can avoid this I learned. The first step is to swallow your pride. The second step is to fix the wrong doings you caused instead of escaping (to think to have a fresh start). Fixing things and making them work make more sense. You need a will, a strong one. Also, remember what you did wrong and what you learned from wrongs. No one likes to admit "I am wrong". We tend to be slacking on fixing wrongs caused by us or bailing out on the way of fixing things. It's not pleasing to face or rethink the wrongs. Forgetting your pride and reversing wrong doings are such noble actions. They really are. No kidding

Popovers

This baking is entertaining. It's dramatic. You will like it.

Ingredients for 12 muffin size ones:
- 2 eggs and 2 egg white
- 1 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation:
- Use mixer to blend eggs, milk, oil, flour, sugar, and salt, careful not to over blend ingredients
- You can add more sugar if you like sweet taste
- Preheat oven to 425
- Oil the muffin pan
- Fill each cup half full with the dough in the pan
- Put the muffin pan to preheated oven for 8 to 10 min

Tip them and remove them from the pan immediately. Serve hot. A fun desert :)