pumpkins – From My Corner of the Universe

Happy Halloween!

October 31, 2016

Decided to dress up this year for the Knights of Columbus Halloween party and will also be doing the same look for tonight’s trick-or-treating. This look was founded on Instagram and seemed easy enough. It wasn’t as easy as it looked, to be honest, but the end result was so much fun to look at. My youngest will be a kitty and my oldest will be wearing a previous costume: Snow White. Husband took these photos as I was getting ready. I also did the kitty makeup on my daughter but she said it was too much makeup so she washed it off and I repainted just the nose and whiskers.

This year we also decided to carve pumpkins instead of doing the spider web thing, which felt like work. Carving was a lot more fun. Unfortunately, pumpkins don’t last very long so they molded over and we had to toss them. We realized that in order to keep them longer lasting, we had to wash them in bleach after carving, etc., (husband looked up the process) so we’ll be trying that next year.

Bok Choy and Kabocha Squash

October 29, 2012

Mom gave me some bok choy and a kabocha squash and because my kids and husband are not fans, I have to be a little creative with what I make, otherwise most of it goes to waste.

With the bok choy, I made a stir fry with chicken and a little bit of osyter sauce. Husband and the kids liked it but they only ate the chicken.

I also boiled some bok choy. Husband and the kids didn’t eat any but that’s okay because I didn’t mind having it all to myself. It was sooo good. Especially because it reminds me of being Hmong. You’ll find that eating boiled greens of any kind (but usually leafy greens) is a norm in the Hmong culture. So, if you come across a friend or a neighbor who boils their greens and sets a big bowl of it on the dining table during meals, you’ll know they’re Hmong. 🙂

With the kabocha squash, I normally would just boil it and eat it the same way I do the boiled greens. This was the only way I knew how to eat it because this was always the way I grew up eating it.

The photo above was taken of some of Mom’s larger squashes. Mine was about the size of a small round watermelon. It was still a lot for one person.

I tried it boiled with some cinnamon and sugar. It was okay. I still prefer it plain or with a little sugar and mashed.

And, made a Thai red curry squash. The recipe is here. Instead of using bell peppers (which I don’t like), I used thinly sliced bamboo shoots. I also added one lemon grass sprig (tip and green rough parts chopped off), kaffir lime leaves, and instead of adding lime juice, I sliced a lime into quarters and set them aside with some thinly sliced scallions to be used as needed.

It was pretty good. I loved the aroma of Thai curry and the combination of the buttery flavored squash with the crunchiness from the bamboo shoots.

Mom always toasts some of her seeds. I think she lets them dry out in the sun and then toasts them in a pan. I wanted to toast them in the oven so I found this recipe and it turned out pretty delicious except that I burnt them a little.