Starting seeds Indoor 室內玩孵孵樂

Starting seeds Indoor 室內玩孵孵樂

There are many ways to grow from seeds indoor with not just store bought tray with clear cover. You can make your own homemade seed starting kit.

You can be creative to make your own with berry containers, clear jars (with lid), plastic bag, re-sealable bag, egg carton and floral sponge, potting soil. Remember to label them the name and the date.

Keep them somewhere warm or cold, according to direction of the seed package. After they sprout, move them to bright place to grow.

除了買較貴不耐用的孵種子盒外,你也可以發揮創意和資源回收利用已有的材料來變通孵種子喔.

水果盒/蛋盒打洞裝土或插花用岩棉後澆水放入種子後裝入夾鍊袋或透明塑膠袋,或用切下來的一小塊岩棉加水吸滿後播種在罐蓋內後透明罐口向下轉緊,這樣就是一個迷你溫室了. 或是把軟塑膠容器蓋子剪除後只留邊,然後放一張保鮮膜或透明塑膠袋,置於最溫暖的室內取適當的距離也不可過熱. 記得標明植物名和日期.

出芽後轉綠了要移到明亮處受光以免徒長.

Nice Exotic Honey! 美味的特殊蜂蜜

Recently, I went shopping for pure lavender honey with my dear husband. It was a nice afternoon in the market, busy as usual. We got the chance to taste the honey before we bought them. Wow, what a treat! After trying 6 different kinds of honey (1 Linden, 2 different lavenders, 1 sunflower, 1 black currant, 1 Tawari), we bought linden honey and lavender honey — although I liked them all! I look at them as a special treat, I won’t consume them that fast. Next time, I will try something different.

I was surprised by the rich taste of honey, what a difference compared with ordinary honey! You can taste the flower scent and nectar sweetness. Black currant blossom honey tastes kind of fragrant and fruity. (A sweetness with just the right amount of fruity acidic taste — it is perfect!) My grandfather (mother’s father) was a bee keeper, I used to spend my summer and winter vacation with him. I am familiar with honey and appreciate every single drop of honey. The hard work behind all these treats comes from the bees and the bee keepers. Perhaps I am sensitive to scent and taste. When the honey melts in my mouth I feel the flowers bloom inside as well. A pleasant surprise! It brings back nice memories of my childhood spent with my grandfather.

最近和我先生去了有名的鬧市去買純正的薰衣草花蜂蜜。　共品嚐了６種不同的蜂蜜。（椴花蜜，葵花蜜，黑醋栗花蜜，西蘭木花蜜以及法國普羅旺斯和紐西蘭產的２種薰衣草花蜜），每種的風味都如此出眾獨特，真令人感覺口中有萬花齊放的香甜幸福感！　黑醋栗花蜜居然有令人驚喜的風味，完美的香酸甜搭配得教人無法忘記它。　每嚐一種倒真能感受到置身於一望無際盛開的花田那樣的感動與奇妙。　　和一般蜂蜜相較，這些特殊蜂蜜真是幸福感破表，雖是甜品卻也不僅止於甜品！　

其實我很珍惜蜂蜜的可貴，每一滴都是蜜蜂和養蜂人辛勤來的結果啊。　　我小時候暑假寒假都會去外公家玩住在那裡。　　外公離世前有養蜂所以對蜂蜜是有很深的感情，每次嚐蜂蜜總能在敏銳的味覺嗅覺的撩撥下也會勾起對慈詳外公的思念。

Marzipan簡單的杏仁小點心

From a blogger’s recipe (English and Japanese):
從格友的原來網站食譜(有英文和日文說明):
http://saraboy.com/2012/12/21/the-ultimate-christmas-treat-homemade-marzipan%e3%80%80%e5%ae%8c%e7%92%a7%e3%81%aa%e3%82%af%e3%83%aa%e3%82%b9%e3%83%9e%e3%82%b9%e3%81%8a%e8%8f%93%e5%ad%90%ef%bc%9a%e6%89%8b%e4%bd%9c%e3%82%8a/

So, I finally made this cute treat this afternoon. It was not hard to remove the almond skin after couple minutes in hot water. But you do need a good/powerful grinder to grind the almond into mill.

今天下午終於有空來試來自瑞典的格友她的食譜. 杏仁在沸水泡過兩三分鐘後去皮就很容易. 最好是有馬力強大的機器,能夠很快把脫皮後的杏仁磨成粉.

300g almond mill or 300g nut mill (200g almond + 100g other desired nuts)
300克磨碎的杏仁粉 或300克堅果粉(200克磨碎的杏仁粉+100克其它堅果磨成粉)
200g icing sugar
200克糖粉
1 egg white
1個生蛋白
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
1茶匙純天然杏仁精

1.Mix well into clay like dough. Seperate the dough into equal portions, roll them into balls.
1.以上混合後成為黏土狀,分成等份大小後搓成小圓球狀

I used 72% dark chocolate 100-150g
純度高的巧克力100-150克

2.Melt the chocolate in a bowl on top of pan contain boiling water.
2.隔水加熱純度高的巧克力使融化.

1 baking tray
烤盤1個
wax paper or parchement paper on the tray for easy peel
蠟紙或烤盤用不沾黏的紙一張(防沾黏)
some pecan halves (garnish one pecan half in one small ball)
剖半的胡桃仁片一些(每1個小圓球裝飾一片)

3.Drop the balls into the chocolate bowl to cover the chocolate. Take the balls out, put them one by one on the tray. Garnish the chocolate covered ball with one pecan half. You can enjoy them after chocolate dry and firm. They are cute to look at and tast very nice, the chocolate cover is hard and the soft nutty center is just right sweetness!

3.置入小球使裹上巧克力漿,撈起後置於烤盤紙上,取一胡桃仁剖片塞入中間約1/2-1/3依胡桃仁大小調整深度. 乾後定型後即可食. 定型後的巧克力脆而香濃包著裡面的堅果軟心. 甜度恰到好處!

Home Made Canned Roast Red Peppers 自製罐裝烤紅椒

Home Made Canned Roast Red Peppers 自製罐裝烤紅椒
My neighbours Lynn and Karen showed me the whole process in the fall. Now I have time to post it.
我的鄰居(夫妻檔),每年都會製作一次這個. 秋末時我跟他們說我要幫忙和拍照記錄做法. 現在比較有時間就略為整理後發表.
1.Prepare red pepper and fuel.
1.準備材料和燃料.
2. Get fire going.
2.升火
3.Char the pepper skin and soften pepper flesh.
3.將紅椒外皮烤黑肉烤軟但不要整個烤焦.
4. Remove the charred skin and seeds with knife, remove excess fluid with dry paper towel. Keep the knife and cutting board clean.
4.將烤焦的外皮和種子用刀子撥掉. 然後用紙巾吸掉多餘水份. 這個過程要常清洗刀子和砧板…
5.Dry the pepper one more time with paper towel, fill the jar (250ml Mason Jars) with pepper (about 4/5 full or higher), put the lid and tighten it. The lid should be use one time only. Soaked the lids with hot water. Almost all supermarket and stores sell this kind of new jars and lids. When you reuse the old jars and lids, you will need to boil them in boiling water long enough to sterilize them before using.
5.將處理好的紅椒再用乾紙巾吸掉多餘水份後裝罐(4/5滿 或稍滿 )後,蓋緊旋緊. 圖中所示玻璃罐為250ml的Mason Jars. 蓋子只能用一次,用熱水泡過. 玻璃小罐一般超市或店裡都有賣新的消毒過罐子和蓋子和旋蓋. 若罐子是重覆使用過的要先在水中徹底煮過消毒才能使用.
6.Boil in a big deep pot, gently put the prepared jars in the boiling water, each layer put a towel to separate them to avoid the jars clash and break.
6.燒一大鍋水,輕輕置入裝罐旋緊的玻璃罐,每層罐子需用毛巾/布料分隔開,避免水滾後移動互相碰撞而打破.
7.Keep the water over the top towel and boil about twenty minuates to half an hour to sterilize the contents.
7.要燒水到約20-30分鐘,要注意不要燒乾. 一定要顧著, 水位太低了要加水,務使毛巾蓋著的玻璃罐有水淹過. 這個是消毒內容物程序.
8.When sterilization is done, turn the heat off and take the jars out to room temperature to cool down gradually. You will hear the lids popping, it means the process is done. In old days, almost every household will do this every year in the end of planting season to preserve extra food. Family members or with close friends/neighbours will do this together and then share. You can chat about recent events and joke during the process. Most important is you know what is inside — no seasoning or any chemical preservatives.
8.消毒程序結速後熄火後小心用夾子把罐子撈出放在通風處放涼. 在放涼期間你會聽到"啵"的聲音表示已達罐內真空. 室內放冷後就可裝箱貯藏,在將來的時間想吃就開一罐來吃. 由於此法麻煩現在的人都漸漸地已經不再自家制做了…在以往由於秋天蔬果豐收到吃不完的時候家家戶戶會請家庭成員幫忙制做一來是增加團聚機會,二來使食物能保鮮在冬天和春天時未種植期和初種植期的食物較缺乏期食用. 最後是自己制做的話比較安心沒有任何其它的作料和化學物,所以吃得安心!