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Fennel Nian Gao (年糕) with Shiitake Mushrooms
Just had two wonderful bowls of fennel 年糕 (nian gao). Nothing you would find in a Chinese or American cookbook, at least one that I own. Basically, I had a bulb of fennel that has been sitting in the refrigerator and needed to use it up. I also had a bag of nian gao (or…
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Don’t Feed the Animals
During the winter season, you can visit the Ardenwood Historic Farm. Naturally, the farm is not as active during the winter; however, you can still enjoy visiting the many different farm animals. We saw some “free range” sheep roaming around the sheep pen with a sign reminding us not to feed the animals.
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Ardenwood Historic Farm (Fremont, CA)
Ardenwood Historic Farm is located at 34600 Ardenwood Boulevard in Fremont, California. Although Ardenwood is open year round, the peak season for visiting the farm is during the summer (April 1 to November 15). During the winter, the Patterson House is closed and the farm offers fewer activities for visitors. Still, you will be able…
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Sign of the Times: Not Hiring
Spotted the “Not Hiring” sign during the weekend. You think a few people have already stopped by to ask about job openings? From what I hear, construction work has come to a dead halt. So, any contractor that is building in this economy will be very popular. Anyways, the sign really means a lot of…
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iLife ’09: iPhoto Promises Face Detection and Face Recognition
At Macworld 2009, Philip Schiller announced iLife ’09. For around $80, you get the latest versions of iPhoto, IMovie, Garageband and iWeb. $20 per program does not sound bad if you are actually using all four applications. In my case, I’m only using iPhoto, which was not worth the $80 upgrade fee. So, my reason…
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Best Selling Children’s Books
Amazon has been a bit off with their recommendations as of late. Today, I received an e-mail regarding the best selling children’s books under $10. I understand why Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? is on their list. But, remember the “one of these things doesn’t belong here” song from Sesame Street? Now,…
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Sustainable Construction
AP is reporting that the Bird’s Nest stadium will be converted into a shopping and entertainment complex. Funding the construction of an athletic stadium is one thing. But finding a stable source of income to pay for ongoing maintenance is another.
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President Obama’s Controversial Inaugural Address
During the broadcast of President Obama’s inaugural address, CCTV panned out when the President said the “c” word – communism. Not exactly one of the seven dirty words. However, if you read the inaugural address, you will realize that CCTV overreacted. President Obama said: Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just…
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Berry Tart
Another dish from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything. So, I had no intention of making a berry tart over the weekend. However, I was at Costco and decided to buy some berries. For variety, I picked up a package of blackberries. For some reason, no one else was interested in eating the blackberries and…
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Korean Pancake (Pa Jun)
I first discovered the Korean pancake while watching the free Not Your Grandmother’s Pancake podcast on iTunes. In it, Mark Bittman prepares a Korean-style savory pancake. The recipe is available from the New York Times. I used the one from How to Cook Everything. Anyways, I’ve been making this dish every weekend now for breakfast…