Utah State Fair

One of our family traditions is attending the Utah State Fair every year. 

We of course try to take turns as to what we visit - exhibits for dad, rides for Maddy, animals for mom, rides for Maddy, giant turkey leg for dad, rides for Maddy, yellow slide for mom and for Maddy.

The state fair is so full of color and excitement, the smell of cotton candy and kettle popcorn.

The big yellow slide is a ride that, until a neighbor clued us into it, we had ignored. It does involve many stairs so after three trips down the slide, one right after the other, my legs were burning and my heart racing but my cheeks were tight from the smiles. Maddy and I love this slide.

Slightly below rides on Maddy's favorite-things-to-do-at-the-fair list (but only slightly), are the cutouts. Silly girl.

For whatever reason, we are always in attendance on a night that is threatening rain. While this makes for wet bottoms from sitting where rain has puddled, and for muddy cowboy boots, it also makes for smaller crowds and beautiful skies.

So, another year attended-check, lots of fun-check, not too much rain-check, baby pigs-check, way too many pictures of the same things - check ...

See you next year Utah State Fair!!

February in review

In February, I was pleased to have opportunity to work again with Lex de Azevedo in his recording studio. I joined  the UVU Institute choir and Katie and Georgia in the soprano section recording a song that will someday be on the album Alleluia: The Life of Christ Part 2. Lex is living in Brazil these days but all that sand and surf has been inspiring him and he is writing this final piece to go along with Gloria, part 1 and Hosanna, part 3. Recording a song that will be one day on a CD is such a neat but also humbling experience. Each voice is scrutinized and each entrance has to be perfect. I am constantly checking myself "Am I sticking out?", "Do I have enough support?", "Am I keeping vibrato in check without sounding to young and breathy?" It is full of long hours but I drive away late in the day thinking to myself "what would my high school self say about one day working in a recording studio!" I realize, I'm no 'recording artist' or anything fancy like that, but it is a privilege to be able to add this new facet to my singing experience repertoire. It does give me insight into what goes into making an album so what I enjoy when I play a song on my CD or iPhone means a bit more. 

Also on the music front, I spent every Sunday night directing the Stake Choir in preparation for Stake Conference. After singing in the stake choir I had been itching to try my had with the group since there were such great men! So when the Stake Music Chairman called and told me that she had shingles and asked would I fill in, I was pleased to take on the added stress. It made for very busy Sunday's and lots of planning and thinking during the week, but I told Scott this was good stress. Yes, it kept me a bit on edge, but I believe that if I always accept assignments and callings in the church I will not only be blessed for obedience and willingness, but I will learn and gain personal, spiritual insights and enlightenment which, through the stress, will manifest in joy. Joy and happiness are not synonymous, neither are joy and relaxation. In fact, probably not even joy and fun! That is definitely evident when looking at parenting. Lots of joy, not always happiness and relaxation and fun. It was a great experience, the choir scared me for a bit because we didn't have a huge group, but it the end people came, and sang beautifully, and I was pleased with them, and I felt joy.

In other news, Mom and Dad and Scott all had birthdays. Maddy and took presents to grandma and grandma scooter-ride and they showed us the wonderful cake and cupcakes that Katie and her crew had brought over that day. Where there is a cake, Maddy feels there should be a candle, so they kindly fulfilled her wishes by making their own.   

Scott also had a birthday and we went to Franck's - his favorite French restaurant. We were sad to hear that Franck Pissel is  no longer the head chef at Franck's. Franck's not run by Franck - go figure.

The food still looked as pretty as ever and was very good but not quite the same. Still Franck's ideas, but not done with quite the perfection we are used to. Bummer. Scott is feeling disillusioned. I feel like I've been cheated on. Apparently he hasn't been the chef there for several months! Boo.

We actually had a big trip at the end of February to DISNEY WORLD but that deserves a post in and of itself so, thus ends another monthly update.

Nervous about the food

When I throught about Taiwan food, my mind conjured up images of Andrew Zimmern or Anthony Bourdain from the Travel Channel. They wander around the world looking for the most exotic and different foods to try. I was expecting a whole lot of food that was not going to sit well in my stomach. Parts of animals that I normally don't eat and that I figured my stomach would reject. We did see these things in the food court at the Taipei 101 mall. Things like:

 

Pig Ears

 

 

 Caramelized Chicken Feet

 

 

Crispy Intestines with Pickled Vegetables

 

 

Unlike Andrew and Anthony, I was pleased to eat at an assortment of places that mostly (mostly) served what I would eat in the United States. My Taiwanese co-workers were so intrigued with my wanting to photograph my food that towards the end of my visit, they were reminding me as I went in with my fork "Wait, wait! You didn't take a picture!".

 

 Cow Boss

At the night market we stopped in to eat at Cow Boss - a steak house. The meat was not a great cut, and it looked a lot like a Salisbury steak. However, it was edible. The interesting thing was that they had added a cracked egg minutes before presenting it at the table. The plate, being hot, cooked the egg a bit and my friends taught me to stir the egg around and then mix it in with the noodles and vegetables under the meat. Not bad - different.

Awesome Burger

 

We at at an American style hamburger joint called Awesome Burger! I decided to go with something different than I would be used to and was pleasantly surprised and pleased with the Peanut Butter Bacon Cheese Burger!

Italian

 

I'm sad I didn't get the name of this restaurant but it was a great, small little hole in the wall place behind the office. My Spaghetti Bolognese was not disappointing.

 

 

 

Din Tai Fung

 

I went to Taiwan looking forward to eating at this dumpling house and it did not disappoint. We joined the general manager of our Taiwan office and he told me about how each dumpling has the same number of folds or twists in it. Whatever the case, this was a wonderful meal I truly enjoyed. 

 

 

It was fun to take a moment to watch the men making the dumplings through the window.

 

 

Thai Food

 







We went to lunch with our accountants and I was pleased to find that for the most part, Thai food in Taiwan and in the US have very little differences in terms of ingredients and flavors. The fish was served head on - a fact that my Taiwanese companions seemed to find entertaining. Maybe they were thinking that it would gross us out or something? We had to pick out bones from the fish but it was quite good and I wasn't turned off by the head, which I think my companions told the waiter (In Chinese) to aim in my direction!

 

Dessert was a cold, ice, berry, evaporated milk treat. It was good but talk about an ice cream headache!



Ice Monster

 

Speaking of ice cream - or just ice rather- after having eaten such a big lunch, dinner ended up being a stop at a dessert shop. The big fluff on top was kind of shaved ice - mango flavored, and then a scoop of mango ice cream, sliced mangoes under it all, and a scoop of something that might have been whipping cream but in the consistency of yogurt. Delicious but again, far too cold. Good thing that Taiwan restaurants always serve water at the table slightly warm. Sips of that helped take the cold edge off my throat. It was a rainy day  and my shoes were soaked (I'm not kidding, puddles inside my not-real-leather flats) and rain water had crept up my pants halfway to my knees. Downing that large of a serving of ice treat made for a chilly walk back to the hotel.

Not Pictured

(at least, not my pictures)

 

We ate lunch the first day at a Japanese restaurant. The menu was all in Chinese but there were pictures. This was my least favorite meal as all the things on my plate had the overwhelming taste of seaweed. This did not help much in my hopes of maybe having a week of happy food experiences. However, it was edible and so I figured I could handle it - if not enjoy it.

 

Each morning we ate at the hotel buffet breakfast. Our hotel was a Western style hotel and served "western" food. Every day I had a glass of orange juice, two eggs of some sort - either omlete with some red peppers or ham or simply fried, and at least one, if not two, chocolate croissants. Oh those chocolate croissants - I could live on those alone.

 

 

Our last meal in Taipei was at T.G. I. Fridays. I have to admit, I was grateful to have something my stomach would for sure be happy with before embarking on a 20 hour trip home. a nice club sandwich with fries hit the spot.

  



In Conclusion:

Taiwanese food - or at least what they serve to the tourists - was ok, and good, and even wonderful. Nothing at all to be nervous about. I stand pleasantly corrected. Of course, I didn't try the caramelized chicken feet or the stinky tofu . . .