Oatmeal Cookies

Material:
 3/4 cup butter
 1 cup brown sugar
 1/2 cup sugar
 2 eggs
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional )
 1 1/4 cup flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
 2 1/2 cup quick-oatmeal, not cooked
Stir-In ideas, total 2 cups maximum
 1 cup chopped walnut
 1 cup raisin ( or cranberry )
 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
 1/4 cup white sesame seeds (for the oriental touch )
 1 cup chopped chocolate candies like Butterfinger, Snicker, etc.

Procedure:
Preheat the oven to be 350F.

Cream together butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla to mix well.
Add flour, baking powder, baking soda to the cream mixture. Stir in oatmeal.

Fold in walnut, raisin, and/or other stir-in items.

Scoop out the cookie dough to make 1-inch (diameter) ball. Drop on cookie sheets to bake for 12 - 15 min.

Yield: 3 dozen

ShiLai Temple 5/23/09

Srihari family come over our place to have lunch with us. Since I am really not much a chef, we take them to Chinese restaurant in Rowland Heights. Divya impressed me with her beautiful hand-painted bindi. Even little Princess Ishanvi has a bindi too!

After the lunch we went to ShiLai Temple, Ishanvi is like a fish in the water. She smiles at the Buddhist statues and happily roams in the temple's courtyard. ( By the way, "Ishanvi" is the Hindu Goddess of Knowledge. I better hold her in my arms more often to get smarter. Connection is everything. ) It is a beautiful day.

Every visitors want to check out Timmy the HHT. He politely greets Srihari family. Graze on the rose petals which makes Ishanvi giggles. Never seen a rock moves and eat flowers!

Divya also kindly brought me delicious homemade Indian food. Carrot Halwa, batter for Dosa ( fresh ground rice and chick pea with chopped vegetable batter ), and spicy sprouted lentils. I am in heaven.

These Indian delicacy are consumed rapidly; but the warmth of friendship lingers on.

Timmy and the tale of three families

Timmy is a long term resident of Hacienda Heights. He is also known as Hacienda Holy Tortoise, short for HHT. We move here at the end of 1996, and he lived in the house behind us. The first owner, Dale, got him from Mojave desert. We used to look at him in admiration when we water the rose bushes. He usually roams around the yard and snacking on lettuce or strawberries. Never saw a desert tortoise, he amazed us.

When Dale and his wife decided to move, he asked us if we like to adopt Timmy. We are gladly accept his request. However, the buyer, Mr. & Mrs. Tung, want to keep Timmy as well. Knowing Dale's intention is to have Timmy lives in an environment he is used to, we can only have Timmy be with the Tung's.

Couple years past, we start enjoy watching him over the fence. Mrs. Tung is actually a nice neighbor to have who also had an outdoor cat, Mimi. ( It's a girly name for a boy. Don't you think? ) She ends up moving as well and decides to give Timmy to us!

We are happy to welcome him to our home at last. Now he is one of the main tourist attraction of our humble home. Besides his winter hibernation indoor, he lives in his palace in our back yard by himself. Still a bachelor; since a lady tortoise is hard to come by.

Farewell, TienTien 珍重了, 寶貝 5/24/09

It is a difficult decision; we finally decide to say goodbye to our lovely daughter TienTien last Sunday, 5/24.
萬般不捨, 終於還是要和我們的愛女甜甜道別. 她在 5/24 往生了.

Her health deteriorates rapidly since she was hospitalized. Watching her fade away for this half year is very hard on us. Before we left, she suddenly realized something big is happening and cried with her little weak voice. We are all in tears but we can't have her suffer any longer just for our emotional needs.
她的健康在住院後每況愈下, 看著她日漸憔悴真令人心如刀割. 要到獸醫那兒的時候, 小東西驚覺到大事不妙, 用盡了全力微弱地喵了一聲; 我們淚如雨下但還是不能讓她再受這樣的苦. 只因為我們不能割捨對女兒的牽掛.
She was restless in my arms at the vet's office. Amazingly, she rest on Kalven's shoulder after he comforted her with his loving words. TienTien had to know daddy and mommy would be OK.
甜甜在我的臂彎裏掙扎, 但聽了她爸爸的哄勸, 寶寶乖乖地靠在他肩膀上. 她一定要爸媽都答應她可以走了.
She looked beautiful and calm as she always did at the vet's table. ( I witnessed other animals with terrified look on their faces at the time of departure ) She is an angel in fur coat. These wonderful 12 years will be ours to treasure and appreciate.
在獸醫的檯子上, 甜甜看來一如生前的文靜美麗 . (我見過其它往生的動物表情驚恐) 她是穿上了貓皮的小天使. 她給了我們美好的十二年, 讓我們珍惜感念.

Farewell, TienTien. Knowing you are not suffering anymore is the only thing can ease our pain. Thank you for share these precious 12 years with us. We love you forever.
珍重了, 寶貝. 知道妳不再受苦是爸爸媽媽唯一安慰的事.
謝謝你陪我們. 我們永遠愛妳.

Divya's kitchen 5/9/09

We were invited to Srihari's house to have authentic Indian food prepared by his beautiful wife, Divya. Not only we indulged the feast and company, they also share many interesting facts about Indian culture. To name a few, do you know:

• Wife and kids pick up the husband's first name as their last name. --- For example, if Mary Doe married to John Smith, she will become Mary John. Their kid, Chris, will become Chris John. This new trend is intended to break up the classification been implied by last name. News to me.
  
• An average Indian wedding has 1000 guests and last about a week. --- It makes my 86 people wedding looks like a picnic in the park. I thought it was a big task already.

Their lovely daughter, Ishanvi, is the pride and joy of them. She is a curious little girl who wants to be entertained all the time. Kalven and I have lots of fun at this gathering.