life:and:lim

Baby Jack shows us how real penguins roll.  Macaroni penguins, at that.

Here it is, Bookmobile Wednesday.  What I didn't realize is that some people don't actually know what Bookmobile Wednesday is.  Or, at least, what a Bookmobile is.

Happy Diwali!  Some Indian coworkers rendered the Taj Mahal in tealight candles.  Pretty awesome.  And my neighbors put Christmas lights up on their balcony.  I guess they would be Diwali lights =P

Ever since I read that article in Bon Apetit and learned how to make leek confit (see the Foodie Tuesday post about it), I've been wanting to try the recipe for Belgian leek tart that was featured in the article.  It just sounded like the perfect marriage of so many of my favorite things: buttery pie pastry, eggs, leeks, and cheese.  What's not to like, right?

In case you were wondering, the basic difference, that I can see, between a savory tart and a quiche is the egg-to-cream ratio.  I put a lot of dairy into this... 1/2 c. 2% milk (the recipe called for whole) and 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream.  But the recipe only called for 1 egg and 1 egg yolk.  I threw in 2 whole eggs, and if I had to do it again, I would probably throw in more, because I was craving a quiche. 

I decided against making the crust from scratch because a) life is too short, b) I don't have a food processor to cut in the butter, and c) Trader Joe's has these lovely ready-made pie crusts in the freezer section.  So I relied on good ole TJ's.  I think I used too big a pan though, because the crust, while nicely crimped in the first photo (and dutifully pricked all over), did not cling to the edge and shrunk abominably upon baking.  It was ok though, I didn't have a Springform pan anyway, so I was going to go with more like a leek pie or a frittata with crust.  Haha.

I added 1 small zucchini to spice things up a bit and I really like how pretty it turned out!

PS. The recipe called for aged goat cheese but I couldn't find any so I just used regular goat cheese.  Next time I will try something a lot more pungent.

As I'm slowly working my way through the massive amounts of music I've collected in my Bookmobile exploits (I'm hitting the paltry storage limits on my cheap Acer laptop), I'm starting to discover some stuff I really, really like.  One of my recent favorites is Boy in Static, the pseudonym of 25-year-old Alexander Chen, who studied piano and cello as a kid and got his break when his demo landed in the hands of Markus and Micha Acher of The Notwist.  

It was good to catch up with my brother after almost 2 months of not seeing him.  We talked over Vietnamese food and Pinkberry-like frozen yogurt at Yogurtland.

One thing I thought worth sharing was what my brother calls his "pacifier" theory.  After taking care of 50+ kids over the last 10 years--most of them at the nursery at church, he has come to realize that most people, young and old, have what he calls a pacifier--that is, some specific thing they need/want of the people around them which, when provided, will utterly quell and satisfy them.  Some people want to feel smart, for instance.  Some people want to feel beautiful.  Some people want to be recognized for their effort or accomplishments. 

I asked him what our parents' pacifiers were.  I was surprised/impressed by how accurate they were, when I really thought of it.  He said that our mom wants to be appreciated for the things she does for us.  (This is very true... the more I think of it, I realize my mom shows her love for us through acts of service, and by feeding us.  And I'm recognizing that in myself now, too--the need to take care of others in the same way).  Our dad also likes to be appreciated, but in a slightly different way--"He likes it when he advises you to do something and you follow his advice, and it works out well," observed my brother.  In other words, our dad gets great satisfaction out of being right.

It's an interesting thing to think about if you are trying to work with or influence a group of people, especially as a manager or leader, if you want to be bringing out the best in people or trying to get people to work towards a goal.

Nearly every time my brother comes to visit me here in the South Bay, he absolutely must have lunch at Pho Nam, this down-home Vietnamese place in Sunnyvale, housed in what used to be an IHOP building (with the cool sloped ceiling).  While their pho is really solid, better than anything else I've had around these parts (I like to get the eye round steak, brisket and tendons), the dish my brother craves is Number 62, the barbeque chicken over rice with Vietnamese eggroll, topped with an egg over-easy, and broth on the side.  He drizzles Sriracha sauce into that sour-sweet dressing stuff that comes with the rice plate, then dowses the entire dish with both the dressing and the soup and starts shoveling in the food.

I like to take little morsels of chicken with spoonfuls of fluffy rice and maybe a bit of egg, and dip each spoon carefully in the dressing before eating it, then chasing it with broth.  It's a very methodical process.  Either way, it hits the spot on a Sunday afternoon after church!

Something you don't see every day--a white haired elderly lady driving a super oldschool Mercedes Benz.  So independent.  Go gramma!