Last week

My three fellas took me out to one of our favourite Japanese restaurants where I had the best seafood porridge which is loaded with crab and prawns and topped with ikura and uni.

 

And we were excited to see cherries and strawberries at the farmers market again! The price is a bit high at the moment but it will get cheaper as summer rolls around.

Currently…

 

Reading:

A River of Stars – Vanessa Hua

Not Your Sidekick – CB Lee

 

Watching:

Dead To Me

I wasn’t all that sure about this show at first.

Then I ended up binge-watching several episodes. And finished the rest within the next couple of days!! This is a dark and funny show and it is just a delight to watch.

Listening:

Still no personal audiobook at the moment. But the kids have been listening to A Boy and His Bot. 

 

Eating:

I made waffles this morning. The husband said, we can bring you out for breakfast! But really, I make better waffles than the diners in our town and so, homemade waffles it was.

Drinking:

Nespresso

Cooking:

I’m going to make a double batch of baked mac and cheese. And I’m trying to decide about adding either cauliflower or broccoli to it.

 

Last week:

I read:

Half a World Away – Cynthia Kadohata
The Way You Make Me Feel – Maurene Goo
Bad Friends – Ancco
The Far Field – Madhuri Vijay
I posted:

 

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Library Loot (May 8 to 14)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last week felt like a looonnggg week. The husband was away in Denver for work and when he got back he fell ill.

It’s Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May and this month, on social media and blogs, I’m taking part in #LitCelebrAsian and #APICelebrAsian where we feature books by Asian and Pacific Islander authors. This past weekend was the topic of favourite API-authored books. And that was what I posted above!

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 

Watching:

 The husband and I rewatched Infinity Wars

Listening:

Not listening to any audiobooks at the moment but I have a couple on hold

Eating:

 

I made this French chocolate cake (recipe from David Leibovitz) on Sunday and it was so good.

Drinking:

 Water

Cooking:

Fried noodles

Some kind of pasta dish

Maybe if I’m up to it, some bacon cheddar scones

Last week:

I read:

Woman World – Aminder Dhaliwal
Faith Vol 1 – Jody Houser
Watch Us Rise – Renee Watson, Ellen Hagan

I posted:

Quincredible Vol 1

Library Loot (May 1 to 7)

Crenshaw

#AsianLitBingo 2019 TBR list

 

 

 

Also, my parents flew back to Singapore on Saturday and we were all teary (and the kids were sobbing). It was great having them around, especially my Dad who was last here two years ago and doesn’t like cold weather.

 

We had a nice at-home Spring Break. It was really hot last week so the kids did some swimming, biking and scootering, gardening, and hanging out with friends at a trampoline park.

 And my younger boy turned 6!

So I made a funfetti cake with vanilla frosting as he requested.

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

Watch Us Rise – Renee Watson, Ellen Hagan

 

Under the Lilacs – Louisa May Alcott

 

Watching:

 

Street Food on Netflix – I loved the Singapore episode which focused on a few different hawker foods, and featured the story of the woman whose family runs the famous putu piring stall. Putu piring is a special dessert made of steamed rice flour, gula melaka (palm sugar), and coconut. It’s so delicious and we make sure to eat it every time we go back. Luckily there’s one near my Dad’s store in the Haig Road market.

 

Listening:

I just finished listening to American Like Me, edited by America Ferrera. And am looking for my next audiobook!

 

Eating:

Brie and a piece of toast

Drinking:

Water

Cooking:

It’s going to be a much cooler week this week, also the husband is away the whole week! So to make things easier on myself, I’m planning to make some baked mac and cheese. I usually make two trays worth so I can freeze one.

Last week:

I read:

Evicted – Matthew Desmond
Internment – Samira Ahmed
American Like Me – America Ferrera (ed)
Slow Days, Fast Company – Eve Babitz
I posted:

#weekendcooking – another month, another funfetti cake!

Library Loot (April 24 to 30)

 

 

 

Happy Spring Break!

Of course Spring Break for the kids means extra work for me….

Some of their friends and classmates have wonderful travel plans – LA, San Diego, the Utah national parks, Washington DC! But not us! April is a busy time for the husband and so we are spring break-ing it at home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 

 

Watching:

How To Get Away With Murder – definitely a show that needs to be binge-watched.

Listening:

American Like Me – edited by America Ferrera

 

 

Eating:

Chocolate cake doughnut from Krispy Kreme

Drinking:

 Tea

Crafting:

This is my leftover yarn project – granny hexagons. I’m just playing with the different colours here, trying to see what works. And trying to figure out if I should add a fourth round in a neutral colour (probably white) to give it a more cohesive look.

Cooking:

Well nothing definitely yet but I will be baking the younger boy’s sixth birthday cake soon.

Browsing:

Have you downloaded the free books that Amazon is giving away for World Book Day yet?

Netflix is buying up all the book rights it seems!

What are great white sharks afraid of?

Last week:

I read:

Orange: Future – Ichigo Takano
The Penderwicks – Jeanne Birdsall
Fearless Females: The Fight for Freedom, Equality, and Sisterhood – Marta Breen

Alice in Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (reread)

I posted:

 

#BookBeginnings #Friday56 -Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

Library Loot (April 17 to 22)

Rainy Day Reads #toptentuesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made pizza for dinner on Friday. Lots of broccoli, mushrooms, sausages. And on the other, mini bell peppers, bacon, mushrooms and more broccoli.

 Love this xiaolongbao place near us. It’s not as pricy as Din Tai Fung and doesn’t require a long wait (as long as you go when they open at 11). And it has red bean pancake!

 

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 I leave this little book in my car for emergencies like this when I forgot my book!

 

I’m reading this out loud to the boys. This is the second book in this series about a TV cooking competition for kids

Watching:

 How to Get Away With Murder

Listening:

 

American Like Me

Eating:

 

Drinking:

Yorkshire Gold

 

Last week:

I read:

The Plotters – Un-Su Kim

I posted:

Daisy Jones & The Six

Library Loot (April 10 to 16)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you take part in the readathon over the weekend? I sort of did. I knew I wouldn’t be able to do very much as my parents are in town and we would go out and do things, but I still wanted to join in for a bit. And I ended up reading four comics on Saturday!

 

Here’s what else we did this weekend:

Took my Dad to Texas Roadhouse for prime rib and those delicious soft buns that they have.

 

Did lots of gardening. We’ve had such a wet winter this year in Northern California – it was just raining again last week – and I haven’t been able to really get out there and handle all the weeds and plants that didn’t make it through the winter! I finally got to doing that, did some tilling of the soil, and hopefully the kids can plant some of their seeds soon. They selected some vegetables and some flowers and I haven’t exactly been successful planting flowers from seed (except sunflowers) so I hope they won’t be disappointed!

 

The 8yo and I made this Vermont Whole Wheat Oatmeal Honey Bread (recipe from King Arthur Flour) and it was fun teaching him how to knead the dough.

 

Currently…

 

Reading:

 

 

 

Watching:

I started watching How To Get Away With Murder and am hooked!

 

Eating:

Godiva soft serve

Drinking:

Water

 

Last week:

I read:

The Serpent Sea – Martha Wells
Daisy Jones & The Six Taylor – Jenkins Reid
A Woman Is No Man – Etaf Ram
The Backstagers Vol 1: Rebels Without Applause – James Tynion , Illustrated by Rian Sygh
Backstagers Vol 2 – James Tynion , Illustrated by Rian Sygh
Moonstruck Vol 2: Some Enchanted Evening – Grace Ellis
The Diary of Anne Frank: graphic novel – Anne Frank, adapted by Ari Folman, David Polonksy (illustrator)

I posted:

 

#WeekendCooking Funfetti birthday cake

Library Loot (April 3 to 9)

Things That Make Me Pick Up a Book #TopTenTuesday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My parents flew in from Singapore on Friday evening, just in time to celebrate my older boy’s 8th birthday yesterday.

He placed an order for a funfetti cake with chocolate buttercream.

So tada!

 

We started the birthday off with homemade waffles

He requested burgers for his birthday lunch so we tried a new place called Grub Burger Bar.

Then he got to spend the afternoon playing video games and in the evening cycling – we got him a new bike for his birthday present.

Oh and on Saturday, his music school had their annual recital and he did great!

Currently…

 

Reading:

Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
 

 

 

Watching:

I’ve been watching Zumbo’s Just Desserts, an Australian baking competition. It’s a slightly different take on TV baking competitions – the two worst scoring bakers of the day go head-to-head and recreate judge Zumbo’s super-fancy desserts. It’s always a technically difficult creation, like one which was a dessert in a dessert in a dessert in a dessert kind of thing like a brownie within a lemon tart with a ricotta pancake and a raspberry gel all encased in a meringue layer. Or something like that. And there was a levitating dessert!! Inside that chocolate hat was a ridiculously difficult ice-cream gobstopper with like five layers that sounded more like a savoury dish than dessert like tomatoes, avocado, corn, some chocolate-chipotle thing. I was intrigued but also appalled that this was a challenge for home bakers….

Listening:

The Fellowship of the Ring – JRR Tolkien

This is the BBC radio production with a full cast and sound effects and all.

 

Eating:

Funfetti cake

Drinking:

Lots of water

Cooking:

We had hotpot last night so lots of leftovers!

Last week:

I read:

Lu – Jason Reynolds
Wundersmith – Jessica Townsend
Geekerella – Ashley Poston

I posted:

Wundersmith by Jessica Townsend

Book Beginnings/Friday 56 – A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum

The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal

Library Loot (March 27 to April 2)

Top 5 audiobooks with multiple narrators #toptentuesday