I Am Back

I looked at the date of my last post, it was December 1st, 2012. Five months. It has been that long.

I went to China for 4 month starting early December and I was back early April on business assignment. I was originally scheduled for two months but one thing lead to another and I was there for four months. I wouldn't say that it was all nice and smooth trip, in fact it was quite challenging due to not being able to speak the language (despite my appearance and being Chinese myself). I had culture shock and homesick for the first month I was there, but fortunately, everything seemed easier after.

Tarte aux Fruits Rouges

Fall is here and even though I kept going on and on about how I love Summer, something is also magical about the beauty of Fall season. The leaves are turning from green to yellow or bright red, it is amazing. The weather has turn cold earlier in California this year and we also have a lot of rain, all this makes me long for a cozy couch in front of fireplace with a slice of brownie and a cup of milk (someday...
I just came back from a week trip in Louisiana, to visit M's family. It was quite a relaxing week, that I almost felt unproductive, but it was nice and enjoyable. We definitely got plenty of sleep for sure! I experienced an interesting Thanksgiving tradition in South. Apparently, it is very common to have the Thanksgiving feast in between lunch and dinner, we had ours at 3pm and football game is on all day long. Here in California, I am so used to having a feast during dinner time, so it was interesting to see something different.

A Pool Party for Joan's Birthday and A Strawberry Pistachio Mascarpone Mousse Cake

Wow, I completely missed the month of October and I've never missed a month before! How bad :(. Not that I did that on purpose but so many things have been going on.

There were so many birthdays, lots of cooking (everyday cooking), and other stuff, it is amazing how little time left you have after. In fact, we went to San Diego this past weekend just to getaway from everything and to celebrate M's birthday. Nothing fancy, in fact, we both got sick the day of our departure. He's holding up quite well, but I feel bad for sleeping all the 7-hour driving! San Diego was raining too, quite hard and COLD! It was definitely a getaway full of sleeping (about 11 hours average, we needed the rest) and eating. I can safely say that all 3 days were spent eating and eating and only tacos (plus cheese quesadillas). M

Passionfruit Posset with Mango and Passionfruit Sorbet

Hmm.... nothing really interesting is happening lately. If you must now, I moved cube to a different building and environment, lots of birthday celebrations happening and coming (mean more cakes to make), work is not as crazy as it's used to, I guess everything is going pretty well.

Some downsides are that more of my friends are leaving the country to pursue their dreams somewhere else. More friends will be leaving in a few months, it is bittersweet really. I am sad that they are leaving but more importantly, it has been a real blessing to have known them. The other downside to life lately is that the bf is literally working day and night (dawn really) 7 days a week, leaving me feeling like a single woman sometimes, so I guess keeping busy with cakes helps too. Another thing I could do to distract myself is playing Wii!!! Mario Kart to be exact. I started playing Wii for the first time about a week ago and I'm loving it! A bit too late I know, but hey, as long as I'm having fun I think it is quite alright....

Tartelettes Croustillantes Abricots et Cerises (Apricot and Cherry Crumble Tartlets)

Some people like changes, and some don't. I am the second part of the group, I don't like changes. I recently move cube to a different building. I was in that previous building for about 4.5 years, I made friends and become close to a lot of them. Being in a completely new environment scared me. Although I have to say that my current work schedule is not as crazy as before, which is always good.

Speaking about changes, I don't know how many more weeks I can talk about summer here as we can definitely feel the change in the season here. The sun sets earlier, temperature drops to mid 70's (still gorgeous), more chilly at night and in the morning. But in the meantime, I will still talk and post about my summer dessert at least for a couple more weeks.

Popsicles Two Ways: White Peach and Raspberry Swirl Popsicle and Mango, Pineapple and Raspberry Popsicles

So, I am in the middle of a super frantic mode currently. My trusty computer got infected by a virus, which resulted in the performance being really slow, almost impossible to use. The first thing I did when that happened was to check my "Pictures" folder, and they're gone! Basically, all of my data was gone, what a nightmare! I am trying to find help and crossing my finger that the data can be recovered, but we'll see... :(

In the midst of all that this past weekend, I spent some time freezing raspberries, making fruit salad and yogurt sherbet for my niece's and nephew's dessert, and the last thing I did was making brandied cherries and raspberries! It wont be until 3 months from now that they will be ready to use, but I can't wait!

Enjoying Summer Bounty with Summer Fruit Crumble

Just when I am about to post about summer fruits, summer is officially over. While East Coast is hit by hurricane Irene, and Texas and other states are scorching hot, weather here in northern California is great as usual, about 80 F constantly during the day, and low 60's F at night. This is exactly why people love California, cool and gentle breeze, not humid and not dry. Perfect.