Fall colour秋色

Fall colour秋色

I see trees and shrubs starting to change colour, what an art show! 我見秋色漸深了,美的像幅畫!

Easy and Yummy Chocolate Truffles 簡單好吃的松露巧克力

Easy and Yummy Chocolate Truffles

Ingredients:

72% dark chocolate 250g
heavy cream (1 can) 170ml
butter 2 teaspoons
vanilla extract or alcohol as flavour (optional)

Suggest Coating ingredients:

cocoa powder
powder sugar
shredded coconut
crushed nuts (pistachio, walnuts, peanuts…)
plain or colourful chocolate sprinkles

Method:

1. Break dark chocolate into smaller pieces in a large bowl, if they are big pieces. This is for easy and faster melting. Add in butter and optional flavour (vanilla extract or alcohol) in the bowl as well.

2. Heat the heavy cream in a small sauce pan until simmer, stir to prevent burning.

3. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate bowl and let it sit to absorb heat for a minuate and then stir until this batter (called a ganache) is smooth. (Microwave this bowl 10 seconds if chocolate did not melt completely.)

4. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or lid and refridgerate it for about 2 hours to firm the ganache for easy shaping.

5. Prepare coating ingredients in small bowl(s).

6. Scoop the small amout of ganache in your palm and roll it into a ball. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Gently, drop the ball into the small bowl(s) with coating materials. Coat it well and pick the finished truffle and place it individual small paper cups until all ganache is finished.

Store chocolate truffles in room temperature or refrigerate them. Enjoy!

簡單好吃的松露巧克力

甘那休/ Ganache材料：(約30顆)
72%黑巧克力 250克
鮮奶油 1/2杯
奶油 1.5大匙
香草精/蘭姆酒或白蘭地2大匙(可調味或可不調味皆可)

外裹沾料：
無糖可可粉1杯
糖粉1杯
無糖椰絲1杯
碎堅果仁半杯
巧克力米(原色或彩色的)

做法：　
1. 黑巧克力先用刀切碎放大碗內然後放入鮮奶油,奶油和香草精或酒。
2. 將鮮奶油放入小鍋中加熱至邊緣冒泡微沸。

3.把鮮奶油倒入黑巧克力大碗中，靜置約1分鐘讓巧克力吸熱後融化，然後用橡皮刀輕輕攪拌至巧克力融化。還沒化掉的話可用微波爐加熱幾秒。

4.混合均勻的甘那休大碗覆蓋一張保鮮膜或加蓋，移入冰箱中冷藏約1-2小時至凝固不會流動。

5.準備外裹的材料放在小碗中。

6.取出後用小湯匙挖取一小球放在手掌心然後整型揉成球狀的小丸子後丟進小碗的沾料使均勻沾上沾料。

全部做好之後，室溫裝盒或放回冰箱冷藏保存即可。趁鮮享用!

Front yard Goldfinch前院窗外的金翅雀

前院窗外正在享受大波斯菊種子的金翅雀母鳥。
金翅雀是北美洲的一種雀。牠們是美洲候鳥，金翅雀是兩性異形的。雄雀分別於夏天及冬天呈黃色及橄欖色,金翅雀是吃種子的。

Outside of my front yard window, there is a female goldfinch feeding on Cosmos seeds.

The Goldfinch is a small North American bird in the finch family. It is migratory song bird. It feeds on seeds.

秋天的橡樹Autumn Oak

秋天的橡樹Autumn Oak

So many different pretty oak trees turning colour and producing acorns in autumn. Some autumn foliage will be bright red or red or orange or yellow or not changing colour so it will eventually dry out and become brown.

In some culture, acorns are used as food, eat as nuts for emergency or dried, grind into powder, get the starch with water cook in short time and can make jelly like tofu, with sauce, it is nice and special! I have tried few times.

Some countries their culture believe eating acorns are good for your health–perhaps because of the mighty oak lives strong and long?

秋天橡樹開始葉色轉變結實累累. 橡樹的葉色會轉成鮮紅,或紅,或橘色,或黃色,或不變色然後乾枯後成黃褐色.

有些文化有將橡實當成救荒的乾糧. 橡實可以去殼去皮後磨成粉,它的澱粉可和水煮成布丁一樣的"橡子豆腐",配著清淡沾醬,滋味不錯很特別,我吃過.

有些國家相信吃橡子有益健康且能延年益壽–可能是因為橡樹本身長壽高大的關係吧?

Garden flowers in end of Septemter九月底的花

Garden flowers in end of Septemter九月底的花
It is fall, there are less and less flowers still blooming…

有趣的午後花園Interesting afternoon in my garden

We were having our tea in our backyard in the afternoon, I saw a pair of praying mantis mating, a cicada flying by and making noise, a humming bird enjoy and rest on a humming bird feeder, squirrel was moving her young one by one from old nest to new warm nest back and forth. And I, I enjoyed tea and harvested some garden vegetables!
午後我們在後花園喝下午茶時,看到一對配對了的螳螂,一隻飛過吵鬧不休的知了,翩翩飛舞的鳳蝶,一隻來喝糖水並短暫歇息的蜂鳥,一隻母松鼠叼著小松鼠一趟一趟的來回搬新家. 而我,除了享受花園的下午茶外,我還採收了一些園中種植的蔬菜.

蜂鳥準備南飛! Fuel up, humming bird!

蜂鳥準備南飛! Fuel up, humming bird!
Have another look this garden where I planting so many plants like bee balm to fuel you up! We enjoy your company as always when you are north with us! 🙂 Safe trip!

大理花Dahlia

大理花Dahlia

It is a tender perennial summer flowering bulb, very easy to grow in full sun location. It is very easy to grow and to be propagated by seeds, tuber root with crown or stem cuttings from young shoots. 為不耐寒全日照的夏季開花球根花卉. 非常容易栽種和繁殖. 常以種子或分球或分芽扦插來繁殖.

冰淇淋鬱金香’Ice Cream’ Tulips Tulipa ‘Ice Cream’

 

冰淇淋鬱金香’Ice Cream’ Tulips Tulipa ‘Ice Cream’

Looking forward next spring! 真期待明年春天!

Cold hardy perennial.  This double flowered variety of tulip bulbs are hard to find in fall. Easy to grow.  Best growing in full sun location.   Double white flowers with red and  green in late spring.  Flower looks like vanilla ice cream on top of the strawberry, very cute and unique!  USDA Zones:3-8.  Mature size:1′-1.5′(H) X 3″-9″(W).   Propagate by bulbs, offsets or division.

耐寒強健的多年生植物.  這重瓣品種在秋天賣球根時很難找到.  容易栽種.  最好栽種在全日照處.  春末開重瓣白花,外圍有紅色與綠色像極了草莓上的香草冰淇淋,可愛又獨特!  極其耐寒不甚耐熱..  繁殖以球根,側芽/球或分株的方式來進行.

Reference links: 參考網站資料連結:

https://www.thompson-morgan.com/p/tulip-ice-cream/t46306TM               https://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/144514/#b                          https://www.americanmeadows.com/flower-bulbs/tulip-flower-bulbs/tulip-bulbs-ice-cream

美麗的小訪客Pretty little vistior

美麗的小訪客Pretty little visitor
A handsome male humming bird in my back yard. 在我家後院的一隻帥帥的雄蜂鳥.