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On The Other Side of the World

Ω May 29th, 2010 Ω Tagged Amherst College, Beijing, cat shaving, China, chopsticks, edamame, Hagan Daaz, kung pao chicken, pejoy, Peking University, Pocky, Pretz, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, travel Ω 24 Comments

Hi everyone! When I last blogged with you, I was exaustedly sprawled across my suitcase. I’ve now lived in Beijing for about a week and I feel like I’m quickly adjusting to life in a Chinese city. I no longer say “I’m sorry” as I push past crowds of people (unless I say “dui bu qi” so I can smirk at my own cleverness), and I did not bat a single sweaty lash when I saw a man shaving a cat in the street yesterday afternoon.

Anyhow, thanks again to my fabulous guest posters Lynn, Joanne, and Melinda for picking up the slack while I was adjusting to new territory! Another somewhat reluctant thank you to Jessie’s Subconscious for making a surprise appearance (a.k.a. Peter … just kidding about the “reluctant” thank you, by the way. The word I’m looking for is “clutching-keyboard-in-China-with-surprise-yet-somewhat-pleased” thank you). THIH has another four exciting guest posters in the queue over the next week and a half, so we have some wonderful posts coming up!! :D

I’m sure you’re all wondering what the heck I’ve been up to over the past week. Well:

Plane lunch. Eaten with chopsticks and a lot of internal cursing. I probably should have gone for the cod meal option.

Flying over Greenland (the closest I’ll ever get!!). Sadly, nothing to be seen out of the windows, as I was wedged into the middle of the plane.

Single-sized portion of vanilla bean Hagan Daaz with built in spoon.

Approaching Beijing 13.5 hours after takeoff from Newark:

Beijing airport:

Bird’s Nest from the 2008 Olympics (I’ll get a better picture for you guys later):

On to some food! Kung pao chicken, served family-style:

I noticed right away that authentic Chinese food is ten bajillion times better than their American counterparts. I remember eating so-called “Kung Pao Chicken” when I was at Amherst College and in restaurants, and those American versions do NOT compare. In general, the food here is lighter and much more flavorful than American Chinese food. For example, what do you get when you toss edamame with a little sesame oil, vinegar, and spicy pepper?

Simply satisfying.

Check out my room!

Handwashed laundry hanging out to dry.

This is a hole from my room to the outside. Did I mention I’m on the third floor?

One of the Chinese students told me that my dorm (the foreign students’ dorm) is the nicest on campus. None of the Chinese students’ dorms have air-conditioning, and until recently some didn’t have hot water. This study abroad program has been eye-opening in many ways so far.

Gotta provide our own water and toilet paper.

My first breakfast in Beijing was a little startling. For someone who is used to a hearty bowl of oatmeal made with milk and banana, topped with peanut butter, I was a little bummed to order this:

The bun was filled with some kind of generic meat (probably beef, but maybe pork, or a combination of the two). Together, both cost 0.90 yuan, or about 13 cents. Cheap and NOT filling. I quickly abandoned the bun and ate the egg for breakfast. Don’t worry! Jessie didn’t starve. I’ve been eating a lot of this:

I used to gobble down Pocky when I was a young ‘un. The chocolate flavors are particularly good. I also decided to try the Pretz kind after seeing them on Sophia‘s blog. The pizza flavor really does taste like pizza! I also wanted to taste a new kind called pejoy after seeing that one variety was red wine-flavored. Yes, it did taste like boxed red wine.

In the interest of not toying with your patience (and to give way to my ~~laziness~~ busyness), I will present images of my first few days in Beijing without words:

I won't be eating the street food.

Beijing subway, one of the nicest subways I've ever seen.

At the Peking University main campus:

So far we’ve spent a good chunk of each day in our Traditional Chinese Medicine and Mandarin classes. I’ll talk about them more in a later post. Other than classes, I’ve been exploring the area around the Peking University Pharmaceutics campus, shopping some and eating lots! I look forward to sharing more with you all later. Until then, zai jian!

(Final note: I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting to all of your blogs. I’ve only been able to load a couple of WordPress blogs, but I can’t download any Blogspot or Blogger blogs, and I’m having trouble with some random blogs, I think because they have a lot of graphics on them, and this school’s Internet can’t handle it. I’ll keep trying to get through, but if I’m not as active in the blogworld, I’m sorry! I’ll do my best :) I also can’t connect to Facebook or Twitter, so I guess I’ll have to go back to the antiquated telephone to keep in touch ;) )

» Filed under Eating Out, Life, New Foods » 24 Comments

No One Messes with Triple P!

Ω May 5th, 2010 Ω Tagged Amherst College, beets, Cairn terrier, cheese, dogs, dragon breath, Norfolk terrier, office linebacker, pears, pesto, Terry Tate, Triple P Ω 33 Comments

When I walked out of today’s Counseling and Teaching final exam at 1:45 pm, I had just taken three finals in under 24 hours. No, I’m not kidding. There was some driving, eating, and occasional sleeping during that time.

(Here’s where the crotchety coot voice would say, “Young lady, in my day we had FIVE final exams in the space of five hours. And, we had to milk the cows and bale the hay during the five minute break between exams two and three.” )

I have one more final exam left on Friday, and then NO MORE marathon car sessions until August!! :D :D The dietitian for whom I work lives only half an hour away. Sweet.

When I arrived home yesterday, I was thrilled to see a package outside our apartment for me. Inside was a gorgeous purse that I won in Kristen‘s giveaway!

(I’m not sure what I’m pointing at, but it ain’t the purse.)

The purse was made by Kristen’s boss, Anissa, who started her company Lemonade Road while recovering a traumatic injury. The purse is gorgeous and roomy and – did I mention that red is my favorite color?? Thanks, Anissa and Kristen!

During the last few days, I took walks with Peter during study breaks:

Represent!

I also took time out to whip up a little treat I like to call:

No One Messes with Triple P! (Protein-Packed Pesto)

(Who knew Terry Tate had pesto on the brain?)

Ingredients:
A buttload of basil leaves, preferably stripped from your prolific Aerogarden
1 garlic clove (trust me, it potent)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I just broke off chunks due to ~~laziness~~ stress from studying)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup good olive oil
1/2 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed well

Place basil leaves, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts into food processor. Blend until … blended.

The basil, garlic, pine nuts, and Parmesan, ready to be DESTROYED (or ENjoyed, as the case may be ;) ):

While processor is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil until blended. Add beans and blend the heck outta the pesto until it’s as smooth as desired.

Serve on top of your favorite whole grain pasta, shrimp optional.

I tried Triple P and regular pesto side-by-side. The Triple P is thicker, so if you like a thinner sauce, you can thin it out with a little water or broth. Or, you could serve Triple P as a party dip for veggies, chips, whatever. If you serve it as a dip, you may want to leave out the garlic to prevent clouds of dragon breath.

On the side, I threw together a beet and pear salad that my sister C sent to me a while back.

C’s Roasted Beet, Pear, and Feta Salad

Ingredients:
1/3 C. toasted nuts (almonds, walnut, pecan, etc.)
3 large beets – ends trimmed and individually wrapped in foil
2 firm ripe pears
3 C. beet greens or baby greens
1 C. feta or goat cheese (I used goat because that’s what we had in the fridge)
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Dressing:
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tsp honey
2 tsp red wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 tsp grated ginger root

Toast nuts at 325 degrees F for 8 minutes (don’t burn). Or, you could make candied nuts by whipping an egg white until stiff, tossing pecans in the whipped white, tossing the egg-coated nuts in a mixture of sugar and cinnamon, and baking at 300 degrees F for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Roast beets in foil at 400 degrees F for one hour. In the meantime, stir together dressing ingredients. If you have a handy husb like Peter, you can use the red wine vinegar that he aged himself in a 2 liter oak cask.

Peel and cube pears and toss with dressing. Chop the nuts. Once beets are done, let them cool, then peel and slice them. Add to pear and dressing mixture. Toss greens with 2 to 1 ratio of oil and vinegar, and add salt and pepper. Arrange greens in a bowl. Add beets and pears and top with cheese and nuts.

As you can see, I didn’t arrange my beets and pears over greens because I just wasn’t feelin’ it. Even so, this salad would be fabulous with some greens, so give it a try! I liked this dinner so much that I repeated it in a slightly-altered form for the next day’s lunch: