more food news!

well, i have been wanting to post something lately, but not much has been going on because it is winter in Shanghai, and, well, we all know that means most of the time you stay inside with the heater with a blanket on your lap and watch 24. i have watched many more US TV shows over here than i ever did in the US (not counting the simpsons and seinfeld). It is so much better here - you buy the DVDs of the show and can watch them at your leisure. no scheduling your week around your shows and wondering for a week how Jack Bauer will convince the president that he really must help this convict escape from prison and return to mexico. so as you can tell we have been watching a lot of 24, but have also found time for Lost, arrested development, Rome, and, i hate to admit, desperate housewives.

but since no one wants to read about which old US TV shows i am watching, i will stick to my oven related posts. we have made two batches of cookies, and over the weekend made lasagna and carrot cake over the weekend, and this weekend have our sights set on an apple pie and maybe biscuits (for SR, who thinks everything we have made so far is tooooooooo sweet). the carrot cake has been excellent - we made everything from scratch, even the cream cheese icing. actually, i have to say most of the cooking has been done by our neighbor, a teacher from san antone. he is an awesome cook. the only problem we have run into is that there is no baking powder or almond extract in Shanghai, and it has been very difficult finding the right pans. but we have gotten by so far.

i find the longer i live in shanghai, the more western food i eat. i don't know why. i guess when you first get here the food is all new and interesting and good and you don't miss western food yet. but after a while you start to get the cravings and rice and fried veggies everyday starts to get a little old and you decide that you just need a good sandwich or cereal. and i don't really feel full after eating a chinese meal. but don't get me wrong, i still love chinese food and eat it most of the time, i am just adding a little more western food.

we have been doing more home cooking in general lately. i guess we are starting to get tired of the chinese food we usually order for dinner. we have this one place we call, we say jiang bao rou pian fan (matthew knows what i am talking about), and they know exactly who we are - the foreigners on the 28th floor. it is one of my favorite foods and only costs about US$.60, but everyday gets old, and the veggies aren't always fresh. so now we cook a lot more, usually chinese food. SR does most of the cooking, and i help as much as i can. michael and orion usually join us.

with all this great food, i think i have been getting a little bigger lately. i always weigh in kg here, so i was unaware what i was up to in lbs until yesterday. i think now i am at about 195. so i need to be carefull, 200 sounds pretty scary. or maybe i should just stick to weighing myself in kg so i never hit 200.