Visited Lian with Serene. It was a fun fun fun fun play date although Viola was clingy that day, not sure why. We had salmon quiche- ala Lian-Yum!. Thanks Lian~

We finally went to Barnston island. Hate to say it but we were so disappointed with it. Des said “It is a joke?”. It is pretty much a residential island with a public park that all over Vancouver and Burnaby have tons of. The only one thing that was interesting was the ferry. We had to back out the car in order to get off the ferry…and back out to get in. Weird but hey-new experience, I guess.

It was such a good weather that we just forgot about the silly part and just laughed it off. Ha ha ha

“Let’s bake”, Des said. So, here we are. He chose ‘Hazelnut meringues’.

The recipe (make about 60-70 meringues):
3/4 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground ginger (I used fresh chopped ginger)
pinch of salt
4 large egg whites (at room temperature)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups of toasted hazelnuts and skinned, then finely chopped

How to:

1. preheat oven to 275F
2. sift sugar, cream of tartar, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together (set aside)
3. in a large bowl, combine egg whites and vanilla. Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat untul soft and foamy. Increase the speed and, while continuing to beat, add the sugar mixture a little at a time, beating until stiff, glossy peaks form, 3-4 minutes. Using rubber spatula, fold in 3/4 cup of chopped hazelnuts.
4. Using a pastry bag, pipe the meringue onto the prepared pans, forming drops ” in diameter and spacing them about 1/2″ apart.
5. Bake the meringues until lightly colored, 25-30 minutes. Turn off the oven. Let it cool completely for about 2 hours before serve.

Went swimming in the morning, Viola had more and more fun in the pool. We headed straight for North Van for breakfast and decided to drop a ring to Alissa for a last minute play date. She was up to it. Yeah! We got to meet Sophie again. My—how much she has grown. What a lovely family.

Every Tuesdays on March, Sharon got day off and we would hang out for shopping, play date or even just chatting. This was our last Tuesday of March. Kinda sad that now that she will be working full-time and no time for shopping, strolling and chatting. My Tuesdays are empty now…   ^_^

I cannot wait for camping season!!!

Viola was invited to Samuel’s 4th birthday party. It was awesome, the food, the company, the cake…everything was great. Lots of Desmon’s distance distance relative, feel really nice to have lots of people from the same home town. I really miss that warm family feeling.Anyway, we got home a bit pass Viola’s bedtime and she wanted to watch TV and we let her for 3o minutes before we put her down to bed. It was backyardigans and I personally love that show. I caught her “trying” to sing along with Austin. Des and I just laughed so hard, she even had her hands raised, imitating Austin on TV. It was adorable. Here is the video…(no singing though, just some funky dance moves while sitting) ^_^

We wet to the Aquarium again- Viola really loves it! Carolyn made lots of cookies for us and Serene brought each of us a sponge cake. Thanks!

March 19– what should I cook for dinner today?

I scrambled my fridge and found chicken–hmm…why not i make chicken meat balls, try something new~ I clearly did not what what I get myself into even though it was simple and pretty straightforward, it was wee bit time consuming. Not the preparation part, but the cooking part in the oven coz I had to make sure the chicken is cooked! Turned out good.

Note to myself: she only liked the meatballs without the red sauce…hahaha in the pictures, she ate all the macaroni but managed to left the meatballs with sauce untouched. ^_^

She is back…slowly~ (yeah!!!)

Couple days ago, I found myself in this really shooting pain near my right lower back. I couldn’t even stand up. It scared the hell out of me. I went to see my family doctor and she referred me to see a chiropractor as soon as possible. I did the same day. It turned out that because of hormone and holding Viola (25 lbs), my muscle and nerve near my sacrum and pelvis bones area are injured.

Result: I have to do lots of stretches, wear supportive shoes (orthotics)  and try not to hold Viola too much.

I wasn’t thinking much about it after I talked to my mom about it and then she mentioned how I didn’t listen to her—– oops, the ‘one-month-confinement’ topic was raised. Yes, I plead guilty for not sitting at home the whole month of my ‘one-month-confinement’ period after I gave birth to Viola.