Guest Post: Courtney from the THIH Family

I am VERY excited to introduce my next guest poster: she’s about four inches taller than I am, much more athletic AND artistic, and she can coax a plant out of the ground with her voice alone. Ok, maybe she can’t do the last thing on the list, but she is on her way to becoming a Master Gardener. Did I mention I have a black thumb? Anyway, I’m very pleased to present my sister, Courtney!

What’s that? You say this is a picture of ME? Ah, my dear reader, look closely. Courtney is in the picture, too. Still can’t see her? Here, let me give you a hint:

Let’s take a closer look:

Yup, that’s Courtney, waving in the background and adding a little “extra” to my scenic shot. When I asked her which picture she wanted me to put up in this post, she said, “Use the picture of you with me in the background, adding class to the picture”. Class, indeed.

At least I got a nice picture later.

Whenever Courtney and I visit our dad at the same time, she’s always making some kind of delicious dish. When Courtney is visiting our dad and I’m not, I always hear from my dad about the wonderful things Courtney made for dinner, and while I say, “Oh, ok,” secretly, I’m JEALOUS!! Anyway, Courtney wanted to share a few recipes with all of you. Enjoy!

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Strawberry Green Tea
Steep 3 bag of green tea – 5 min (but remember not for too long or else it will be very bitter).
Take a square foot of cheese cloth and double it over twice so it is 4 layers thick.
Take 3-4 large strawberries and mash them in a bowl.
Place mashed strawberries in cheese cloth.
Wrap and tie the cheese cloth to make a package.
Place the cheese cloth package in the green tea and let steep in the fridge until chilled.
Try this in the morning or as a nice summer drink.

Basil Lemonade
Lemonade:
6 lemons juiced
1/2 C sugar
8 C. water

You can adjust the water and sugar content depending on how sweet or tart you like it.

Muddle 4 lemon basil leaves at the bottom of a tall glass.
Fill with ice.
Pour lemonade over basil leaves.
Garnish with young basil leaves.

Courtney’s Dumplin’s
1 1/2 C. cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, shredded
5 mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C. tofu, crumbled (can substitute chopped pork or shrimp)*
to crumble tofu place small chunks in hand and squeeze until most of the water has drained out
2 green onions, diced
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs soy sauce
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 inch chunk of ginger
1 clove of garlic
salt and pepper
1 package of wonton skins

Place shredded cabbage in a bowl and mix with 2 tbs of salt. Let sit 15 minutes until cabbage starts to get “sweat”. While waiting for cabbage to “sweat” prepare other ingredients. Once cabbage is done rinse and drain. Mix together all the ingredients. Lay out wonton skins and place 1 tbs of filling into each wrapper. Wet edges of the wonton skin and fold in half, covering the filling. Crimp edges as you would a pie.
To fry dumplings: Place in heated skillet, covered in a thin layer of oil, and fry for 30 secs to 1 min per side, until golden brown.
To steam dumplings: Place each dumpling on a square of parchment paper. Place dumpling in steamer tray and steam 5 minutes if you don’t have a steamer tray, place chopsticks in a shallow bath of water and place a plate on top. Once steam starts to rise place dumpling squares on the plate and steam 5 minutes.

* if you use shrimp or pork pre-cook all raw meat

Dipping Sauce
1/3 C. soy sauce
3 tbs olive oil
3 tbs water
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove minced

Mix all ingredients together and serve alongside the dumplings.

Q: Do you like dumplings? What are your favorite kind of dumplings?

25 Comments

  1. thank you for sharing your wonderful recipes Courtney! your strawberry green tea sounds like something i would love to try to go with dessert some time when i have guests over. only the best for my guests 😉 and that basil lemonade sounds like a refreshing drink for those hot summer days. love how both drinks are non-alcoholic as well. my hubby will appreciate that…haha. thank you for the yummy dumpling recipe as well. i always thought dumplings were complicated but you make it sound so easy.

    Jessie,
    too funny about the first picture of Courtney. guess there is a naughty side to sweet, happy Jessie ;-)what has the China heat done to you? or should i say, “who’s this and what have you done with Jessie?” i’ll eat any kind of dumplings as long as there’s no pork inside. i absolutely hate it when i go to a Chinese restaurant and order the SHRIMP dumpling but find pork in there. hope you’re enjoying China!

  2. Is your sister just as adorable, sweet, and sincere as you are, Jessie? Because if so, I want to be adopted into the THIH family. THANKS!

    Well, if not, I’ll tell you which are my favourite dumplings. I started loving the whole notion of dumplings since Sophia’s awesome dumpling post not too too long ago. My favourite dumplings by far are the vermicelli + leeks + eggs + shrimp combo. That one. Pork and nappa cabbage is not bad either. I haven’t had either in a loooong time though!

    xo aletheia 🙂

  3. HI COURTNEY!!! i totally agree with aletheia!! i wanna be in this family!!! haha. i love mine, but still…

    A-M-A-Z-I-N-G POST!

  4. Such beautiful sisters!! All of these recipes sound great!! I really want those dumplings!! And the sauce too, sounds wonderful!! 🙂

  5. I know I’ve had dumplings but been so long can’t tell you what kind/whether I liked them or what my favorite would be! Hope your trip is going well!

  6. How nice to meet your sis, you girls are so cute! Thanks for sharing these recipes, I can’t wait to try the Basil Lemonade!

  7. Nice work Courtney. Excellent, in fact.

  8. If there were a fried dumpling with fried chicken inside, that would be my favorite.

  9. Hi there Courtney. It was nice of you to do a guest post for your sister. Thanks for these recipes. I like dumplings only if they are vegetarian of course.

  10. Gosh, your strawberry green tea sound perfect for the hot humid weather here, Courtney! And yes, I LOVE dumplings!!! My favorite!!! I adore kimchi dumplings, or xiao long baos, or pumpkin/pork/veggie dumplings. I mainly prefer steamed, but pan-fried is good sometimes, too!

  11. Wonderful guest post. So nice you can share your blog with your sister. Hope the trip is going well.

    Cheers!

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