Ginger Milk Curd Step by Step 什麼什麼嘛

豆腐花(腦)喔﹖

Graters 武器 -- anyone of these would do, I use the top one.

Brown sugar syrup -- about the consistency of honey.
You can use sugar or any kind of sweetener would work.
(Don't know about artificial sweeteners, I never used them.)
做糖漿加幾片薑更香

Mature ginger root + 1 tsp of brown sugar syrup.
老薑和糖漿

Grated ginger -- you know the root is matured
when you see the tough fibers while grating it.
要老薑才行﹐嫩薑沒澱粉撞不出來

Extract juice from grated ginger by pressing with
the back of a spoon or squeeze with your fingers.

Approximately 1 tbsp of ginger juice + 1 tsp of syrup.
薑汁 + 糖漿

Add about 1 cup of milk and nuke on high for 1:30 minute
You'll have to experiment with your own microwave oven,
it could take anywhere from 1:30 minute to 2:00 minutes.
加奶﹐叮 1:30 - 2:00 分鐘就好了
各家微波爐熱度不同﹐自己試一下就知道了。

Ginger Milk Curd done!
The curd has been broken up to show you the milk does coagulate
when mature ginger root (contains starch) is used.
好囉~~薑汁撞奶﹐像豆腐花(腦)嗎﹖

Key points to a successful ginger milk curd:
1. Must use mature ginger root.
2. Sufficient heat to bring the milk to barely below boiling point.

There are many recipes on the internet for ginger milk curd,
but they are too complicated for me. I am not a perfectionist,
this method works for me. It takes less than 5 minutes
to make the concoction, if it is not easy and fast
I would not be doing this every evening before bedtime.
(This is a my sleep aid -- it is soothing and relaxing.)

A note about milk curds:
1. If your curd comes out sort of "chewy" (老) -- nuke too long.
2. If your milk has bitter taste (苦味) -- too much ginger juice.
3. Any kind of milk would work -- I use 2% reduced fat milk.

Don't sweat over the curds.
It is not a big deal if the milk does not coagulate,
the ginger milk still tastes creamy and wonderful
no matter how it turns out~~~enjoy!!!!


廚房那邊留言不知為什麼被吃掉了﹐
有些朋友想知道做薑汁撞奶的過程﹐
希望這簡單圖解有點幫助。

Surviving Freezing Temp Inside CF 撐得住嗎?

Shanghai Bai Cai passed the cold tolerance test, this is a keeper.
嘿嘿~~上海青江白菜合格通過冷凍考試

Frigid temperature has no effect on Chinese kale,
cold crop is sweeter in taste than warm weather crop.
冷天種的芥蘭比較甜脆

These bai cai are getting big and crowded,
it's about time to harvest for the dinner table.
呵呵~~可以摘葉炒一盤了

Napa is quite hardy
紹菜撐得住

Mizuna did not made the cut
日本芥菜垮了



It's been freezing cold and windy all week, day time temperatures
have been in the L20s to L30s, sometimes strong gusty wind
blowing at 50 mph like a train running through.
It snow last night and some snow flurries on and off today.

I went outside to check on the vegetables and strawberries
to see how they fare in this late March cold snap.
Basically most of Brassicaceae (Cruciferae) family members
can withstand freezing temperatures in short period of time
if given some kind of protection from the elements.
The strawberries were under row cover, they came through OK.

There are some unprotected vegetables such as
cauliflower, kale, fava beans, and bok choy.
They all seem to be fine at this time.

All wrapped up in a bundle are
Blue Lake and scarlet runner beans.
I know better not to mess with beans, squashes,
and melons until after the Spring frost date,
but I can't resist temptation when the weather was so
nice and warm in the last few weeks. Now I'm paying
the price for starting too early and have to baby them
through the next 3 weeks or more before planting out.

Have You Started Your Spring Seeds? 你育苗了嗎

Sunbathing seedlings:
Fruits -- tomatoes, chili peppers,
Herbs -- holly basils (both red & green stems),
scallions, sweet basils, purple shiso,
Leafy greens -- yu choy, Shanghai bai cai,
red stem bok choy (hon cai tai)

Shanghai Bai Cai 上海清江白菜
Seeds from China
These seedlings are ready to be transplanted
within the next 2-3 days.

Remember us? We are Bai Cai #5
4 weeks ago we looked like the above bai cai photo
with 2 true leaves prior to moving into our new home.

Peach color flowering quince

Volunteer Lettuce

No idea which variety of lettuce this is.

One of the red leaf heirloom lettuce I grew last year,
seeds from Seed Savers Exchange.

Looks like an Asian lettuce.


The weather is warming up in the high desert
and daylight is lengthening.
I cannot wait to plant my Spring vegetable garden soon enough.
What a pleasant surprise while cleaning up the raised beds,
I found these babies hiding among bags of compost and manure.

Thanks to the wind dispersed seeds,
we have our very first garden salad tonight.

There are more leafy greens hiding
here and there among the flowers.
I pulled two bib lettuces from the north flower bed last week,
they were not use for salad because of fertilizer contamination.

Overwinter Vegetable Experiment 冬季實驗

Fava Beans -- Windsor
Sowed seeds 10/6/08
Best plant to overwinter

Japanese Wasabi -- from N_Y
Sow seeds 10/4/08
This is a slow grower,
it must be waiting for warmer temp.

Italian Kale -- Luciano
Sow seeds 10/6/08

Red Meat Radish -- Beauty Heart
Sow seeds 9/20/08
Must be pulled -- too close together, no growing room.

Brussels Sprouts -- Jade Cross (transplants)
Small sprouts -- should apply some fertilizer.

Cabbage (don't remember which variety)
Sow seeds 10/4/08

Spinach -- this is the most abused vegetable in the garden,
I have not given it a drop of water in the entire season.
Seeds were sown in mid Summer and harvested 3X,
I purposely left one small plant in the EB to see how
it behaves in the Winter. It proves this is a winner,
I can grow Bloomsdale year round in Zone 7a.

Mustard -- Xue Li Hon from Web
Sow seeds 9/18/08, harvested 2X
Looks like a biennial -- going to seed soon.

Italian Parsley -- a biennial plant
it goes to seed the second year.
I've removed the old (mother) plant, these are new growth
sprouting from self sown seeds. This parsley comes back every
year for me, it is a very carefree plant, all it asks for is water,
I don't remember it ever received any fertilizer
in the last two years.

Other overwintered vegetables without pictures include:
Bok choy, sweet peas, and green onions.

All of the above vegetables either in ground or EB were
grown without any protection from snow, wind, hail, etc.
The growth is slow and with some cold damages,
but they all survived, the growing rate accelerates
when warm temperature sets in during the day.

Lessons learned

1. Fall vegetable seeds should be sown
by mid August - early September in Zone 7a
to allow for more time to reach maturity.

2. Use cold frame to protect the babies
from wind and cold.

3. Maybe some seaweed spray would help?

Spring Is Here 是春天了

Crocus is the first flower to bloom in colder regions
signaling arrival of Spring,
but it is the 3rd flower to appear in our garden.
(Rosemary tops the list)

Poor thing 重見天日
I did not know the bulb was there until I cut the mugwort,
it was hanging to life surrounded by the invasive herb.
It looked pale, weak, and pathetic at the time,
but it recovers beautifully and bloom the next day.

Same area same crocus --- a day later, another bud.
It's amazing how resilient it can be, its determination to stay
alive under adverse condition is truly a gift from nature.

The wormwood (艾草) needs to be removed from the crocuses,
but I have to wait until all the bulbs finish blooming before
I can dig up the roots and relocate mugwort (艾草) to the herb bed.
There are so many gardening chores waiting in line
this time of the year --- relocating established plants
is not a priority item on the list of things to do.

Flowering quince 萬壽梅
is the second flower to bloom in Spring

Rosemary is the first to flower in Spring,
and it will continue to flower until Winter,
butterflies and bees love it. Having rosemary, lavender,
and other flowering herbs in the garden I don't have any
pollination problems with my fruits trees and vegetables.
Love those little helpers!

Mugwort (Asiatic Wormwood) 艾草

This herb did a good job of spreading in just one season.
I began with one small plant from sAm. I didn't know
what it was at the time and planted it with other flowers.
It has taken over part of my flower bed already.
They need to be separated soon.

Mugwort's growth habit is similar to mint--very invasive.
Its roots need to be restricted to a container,
otherwise they will be out of control.

Act I: Haircut
Act II: What do I do with these leaves?

I heard of mugwort's health and beauty value,
but I'm more interested in using it as a food ingredient.
Ummm~~~~~I have couple dimsum recipes in mind.


各位看倌
你喜歡用艾草做那種點心呢﹖