another day in the water

Since the last post, I've brought A in the water again and she was fearless, jumping in just like "Alex ge ge" and going underwater before I helped float her up to take a breath. She is quite comfortable in the water, and is learning her limits, i.e. that she can't swim yet and needs to learn how to float, get her head up to breathe, and paddle to the edge... M and C are also working on this - we all had fun practicing and hanging out in the pool - ah, summer! 

photo by Susanna

This has brought back memories of Maggie and Alex at younger ages in the same pool and various vacations where we swam and went snorkeling. In 2001 Alex was not quite one, and our family vacation was to Puerto Vallarta. They had a great pool with a shallow area for babies and a deeper area to swim and practice snorkeling.

 

Swimming with my niece

Swimming with my young nieces and nephew (and my own children) is a favorite summer activity. Often it's not swimming, per se, more like teaching them to be comfortable in water and practicing movements that will lead to swimming. We start first by putting feet in the water, then kicking/splashing...

Next we stand in shallow water and move arms and legs back and forth or walk to become familiar with the resistance. After that, time to gently glide into, and back and forth in the water supported by my forearms.

With lots of talk and reassurance as they eventually become comfortable with the buoyancy and sensation of floating.

By the end of this afternoon's swim, my two year old niece let me flip and float her on her back a couple of times to look at birds and planes flying overhead, and put part of her face in the water to blow bubbles... Next step, submersion!

City flowers

Living in a subtropical climate, there are so many flowering bushes and trees that are a part of the landscape, in parks and along the streets, not to mention the planters hooked over numerous sidewalk railings, that one doesn't really notice them, doesn't, as the saying goes, "stop and smell the flowers."

People always seem to be in a hurry and walk with intent, or while talking or sending messages on their phone, and don't pay attention to these pops of color in an otherwise dreary city-scape. I've taken a few photos here and there, but am as guilty as others of not really appreciating them, giving just a fleeting thought to their beauty...

This bush seemed to have two colors of blossoms, perhaps they change color as they grow. I've seen this popular bush bloom in shades of red, peach, and yellow as well.

This was an interesting blossom and after looking it up think it may be a mimosa tree.

This is a bauhinia flower, on Hong Kong's flag.  

Flame of the forest tree and two canopy shots. The last one is more orange.

 

Of course, people travel especially to look at and appreciate flowers. To see tulips in Holland, lavender in France, or sunflowers in Tuscany, for example. Another famous place is Japan, to see the cherry blossoms. We went last Spring for that and to visit the Fukumotos. Read about our trip.

coffee

This is my weekend morning cup of coffee, usually brewed after reading and lounging around in bed - enjoying a lie-in as some say here. Sometimes I don't get to drink it until after making breakfast, or brunch, though.

Weekdays, after my quick morning bike commute, I usually have two poured at once from a communal pot into a thermal travel mug that I sip from while at my desk.

I don't remember when I first started drinking coffee regularly - probably during college. It was a regular household feature growing up since my parents always brewed a morning pot. They used to use an electric percolator but switched to drip in the 80s when it got a bad rap.

I appreciate the drink but wouldn't call myself a coffee connoisseur and usually brew at home since I prefer it black. I do enjoy an espresso drink out from time to time and drink instant sometimes, too. 

Throughout the years I've brewed coffee in many ways. Cone filter into a cup or thermal pot.

Italian espresso pot - a percolator - but not seen as "bad for you" as old percolators

Vietnamese drip coffee filter, traditionally used to brew a strong coffee to mix with condensed milk for a delicious iced coffee.

photo by Maggie

When my colleagues got a new drip coffee maker, I bought the old one. I haven't owned an electric coffee pot since graduating from college and it takes out that extra step of boiling and pouring the water - as if that is so difficult, haha! The capacity is much more than we drink though, so usually brew half a pot.


Drinking coffee is more of a routine for me than an addiction. Some mornings I don't bother drinking coffee and just have water instead...and if you're wondering, I do drink tea, but it's coffee that I make at home.

Baking

This post was prompted by the question at the end of Maggie's post "don’t you just love to [take photos of the things you] bake?" She was writing about apple crumble, so I figure she meant dessert, but I don't have as big a sweet tooth as some, and don't bake sweets as much anymore since there are less people to eat the end product. 

Looking through my Facebook profile and Instagram feed as well as photos on my iPhone to jog my memory from the beginning of the school year, I found several snapshots of some of the things that have come out of my oven. I haven't taken photos of everything though - dinners including lasagne, roast vegetables or roast chicken aren't included in this post. Sometimes I bake to use leftovers - quiche is one example.

Pizza - dough from a quick recipe that you can leave to let rise and bake focaccia with or not. Used a bell pepper languishing in the refrigerator until it was starting to wrinkle and sausage that was frosting over in the freezer.

Crostata - an Italian cake-like jam tart - delicious for breakfast and used up the last of my sister's homemade plum jam.

Bread - besides pizza dough or focaccia, this one rolled with sun-dried tomatoes and cheese, others plain or with herbs, and a another not pictured made sweet with a bit more sugar, milk and fruit (apple is a favorite).

A dense moist cake using an overripe banana in the batter and swirling in a jar of pineapple jam someone gave me from Malaysia. I was considering making Taiwanese or SE Asian pineapple tarts, encasing the jam in a shortbread crust, but I went for the less labor-intensive route. I do love shortbread though...

Oatmeal cookies and my mom's favorite, pecan pie - with pecans she shelled for me (after I ate my fill of them raw).

Cheesecake bars with a chocolate crust

Brownies and Blondies

Keeping with childhood traditions, an assortment of baked goodies to give out at Christmas. This past year it was peppermint shortbreads,  gingery German Pfeffernusse, and roasted pecans (sweet and spicy with a little chili powder).

I bought a block frozen puff pastry on sale and had fun playing around making Palmiers and apple and banana tarts.  Not pictured are the pot pies made with leftover stew - easy dinner!

I enjoy puttering around in the kitchen, just not the clean-up!