left: sauteed onion and soy bean
right: baked sweet potato
sweet potato topping: tahini, chopped walnuts, minced garlic, lemon juice
Friday, November 20, 2009
dinner 11.18
left: sauteed onion and soy bean
right: baked sweet potato
sweet potato topping: tahini, chopped walnuts, minced garlic, lemon juice
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
bazeb and confuseb
I have a young student who faithfully switches his "b's" and "d's" when writing. On his last spelling quiz, he got 7/10--and all his mistakes were because his b's and d's were reversed. What to do!
I've been very surprised to find that many students have problems with this. Since they already have to learn thousands of detailed characters, I assumed that symbol recognition would be no problem for them. Really, what's another 26? And in comparison to traditional Chinese, Roman letters look like bean sprouts dropped into soup! But I digress. I mentioned the problem to one of the Taiwanese assistants at school, and she said she'd come in to class and have a chat with the kids.
She drew a capital "B" and a lower case "b" on the board, and then launched into a mini-workshop on Bb/Dd. From what I could understand (it was in Chinese), she told them that a "B" looks like the profile of a pregnant woman, and "b" is her baby. Since the baby is inside, they both face the same direction. A "D" is the profile of a woman after she has the baby, and when the baby is out, it looks at the mommy: D d. Hmm. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but since then, the students seem to be writing the curvy consonants facing the correct directions.
Tonight I was biking home and noticed a sign near a taxi-car company that made me sigh despondently--and I realized I should surrender the hope that my students will one day be free from Bb/Dd confusion. There, in large letters, advertising the company's website, the sign read:
I've been very surprised to find that many students have problems with this. Since they already have to learn thousands of detailed characters, I assumed that symbol recognition would be no problem for them. Really, what's another 26? And in comparison to traditional Chinese, Roman letters look like bean sprouts dropped into soup! But I digress. I mentioned the problem to one of the Taiwanese assistants at school, and she said she'd come in to class and have a chat with the kids.
She drew a capital "B" and a lower case "b" on the board, and then launched into a mini-workshop on Bb/Dd. From what I could understand (it was in Chinese), she told them that a "B" looks like the profile of a pregnant woman, and "b" is her baby. Since the baby is inside, they both face the same direction. A "D" is the profile of a woman after she has the baby, and when the baby is out, it looks at the mommy: D d. Hmm. Maybe a bit of a stretch, but since then, the students seem to be writing the curvy consonants facing the correct directions.
Tonight I was biking home and noticed a sign near a taxi-car company that made me sigh despondently--and I realized I should surrender the hope that my students will one day be free from Bb/Dd confusion. There, in large letters, advertising the company's website, the sign read:
www.car-clud.com.tw
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Maria's Birthday Cake
I've created a cake recipe in honor of my fabulous sister Maria's birthday (November 10th)! Here's the recipe!
Mi Hermanita Maria's Torta de Cumpleaños
INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Hershey's Natural Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 mashed, ripe bananas
1 c. warm water
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. safflower or canola oil (I used grapeseed)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Starbuck's vanilla syrup)
1/8 c. Kahlua
3 oz. chopped walnuts
1 3.5 oz. bar of Dove Dark Chocolate (71%), chopped into small pieces
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center. Butter a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the bananas, water, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and Kahlua. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix. You may notice the batter seems thin. Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate pieces. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
4. Let cake cool. If desired, top with frosting, whip cream, ice cream, or 23 candles!
Happy Birthday, Maria!
1 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. Hershey's Natural Unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 c. white sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
4 mashed, ripe bananas
1 c. warm water
2 large eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. safflower or canola oil (I used grapeseed)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Starbuck's vanilla syrup)
1/8 c. Kahlua
3 oz. chopped walnuts
1 3.5 oz. bar of Dove Dark Chocolate (71%), chopped into small pieces
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place rack in the center. Butter a 9x13-inch cake pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together the bananas, water, milk, oil, eggs, vanilla and Kahlua. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and mix. You may notice the batter seems thin. Add the chopped walnuts and chocolate pieces. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
4. Let cake cool. If desired, top with frosting, whip cream, ice cream, or 23 candles!
Happy Birthday, Maria!
...and another yummy dinner from last week!
Sauteed Onions
Purple Rice
Guacamole
(Mashed ripe avocado, tomato, onion, cumin, and fresh lemon)
Purple Rice
Guacamole
(Mashed ripe avocado, tomato, onion, cumin, and fresh lemon)
sunday morning drive
I'm kind of obsessed with riding my bike, Bluebell.
My apartment complex on Jhong-Shan Road
My street
My apartment complex, from the other side
And again! From a few blocks away. I live in "the country!"
Two men flying a remote-controlled airplane on an empty lot
I like living where there is red dirt and palm trees. The mound of buildings between these two trees is where I live.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
an afternoon in Danshui
A beautiful mountain range that I can see from where I live
A monument to missionary George Leslie Mackay, who arrived in Taiwan in 1871
An interesting take on Starbuck's!
And on a boardwalk! Perfect!
A Dutch fort from the 1600's
Danshui River
A golden temple in the mountains
halloween.1
The kids waiting for the rules of the game...
Pin the nose on the pumpkin... and that blindfold was not smelling so good by the end of the day!
Getting to work on making a mummy...
Hmm...
Team 2 is on a roll!
If we just set these pieces on his hand, and he doesn't move...
Emma steps in to direct the situation...
But Team 2 is finished!
Okay, we'll just stuff TP in his face; we already lost!
A little witch... and her never-been-flown broom!
Cheng-Cheng the Clown
Even Bat-boy needs a bathroom break...
Who doesn't love a guy who is confident enough to wear a bodysuit?!?
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