Chinese New Year Fruit Basket

We spent most of the day at home today, while the kiddo was playing with her father I had some time to myself to test/try another Lunar New Year Decor. The fruit basket to hold mini clementines or tangerine is another tradition staple for Chinese New Year.
I didn't film a tutorial or take a step by step pictures of the process. Since new year is already here didnt think it will be relevant:) But if you guys are interested comment below and I will film one.

Lunar New Year Dinner

This is our first year having Lunar Dinner as a family, the hubster did most of the cooking, and I can't believe I stood in line for over an hour to get roast pork. Guess what, I was the last person to get roast pork....all the customers behind me wasn't a happy camper. I would be so so so pissed if it was my turn and they tell me sorry lady we are sold out!
The kiddo was so happy wearing her new year outfit and playing with her lion dog. Running around the house saying "happy new year" (in mandarin) wish I was with my family in Boston!!! But it was a new experience prepping for lunar new year on my own. The long line ups... Yummy food and fresh fruits.
Lunar new year dinner is similar to Thanksgiving dinner:) will update another post with more details about the dinner.

Supermom having super powers...

As we were roaming around the Dollar Store Jaylin grabbed a pair of pink and blue gloves up and asked me, what does this say mommy?
It says "super mom" honey, she paused for a moment and checked her pockets. She gets a dollar here and there if she helps me around the house. She took some money out and said to me " mommy I'm going to buy this for you".
I asked her why, and her response was..... You are my super mom and with these super gloves they will give you super powers so you can clean super fast.
My heart melted.....

Lunar New Year Lantern

How to make a lantern with red envelopes? 

Fold the envelope in half then fold each of the corner in like shown above 15x. You need to fold all 15 red envelopes the
same way.


After making the crease for all the corners, open them up 15x. We will now begin to staple the flaps together. Take one envelope and located the top right corner, then grab another envelope and locate the top left corner and attach them together like shown above.

After attaching the two flaps staple them together on the crease, then add another envelope and attach the flaps together and staple...........repeat total of 5 x. When attaching additional envelopes to the flaps make sure the design is facing the same direction to have the design nice and neat. After attaching 5 envelopes and stapling their flaps together. Start all over and make another one exactly the same way.  You will then have 2 sets of flowers and used up 10 envelopes.

You now have two sets of flowers and 5 remaining red envelopes.

Take 1 of the remaining 5 envelopes you have flip it horizontally then staple the top left flap of the horizontal envelope to the bottom right flap of a vertical envelope of the flower. Repeat 5x there will be no envelopes left. You will now have a hat like lantern and the remaining flower to attach.

You will need about 24 inches of golden color string, split in half then tie a knot. Cut any random piece of cardboard about 1 inch in width then staple the string inside the cardboard. Secure it nicely by stapling twice then fold up the two sides and place it inside the hat like lantern before attaching the remaining flower.

After placing the string inside the hat like lantern make sure its nice and tight inside and will not pull through now attach the remaining flower. Locate the bottom two flaps of the horizontal envelope, like shown on the picture above attach the right flap of the flower to the bottom left flap of the horizontal envelope. Do the same to the other side, bottom right horizontal envelope to the left flap of the flower. Repeat 5 x until all the flaps attached and stapled together.

After all of the flaps are stapled together your lantern is now finished.

Sorry : ( I forgot to take pictures of how to transform one design to another just by stapling the sharp corners together to make a round like flower lantern.

For a video tutorial please visit my YouTube Channel.
Thank You
Happy Lunar New Year to all
2013 Year of the Snake.

Jaylinbree's YouTube Channel

                                         

                                   

They call it the "Fresh" 5 years

Every year after her birthday....since Terrible Two's kicked in I face a new challenge or a new and improved "Jaylin" in front of my the eyes the morning after her birthday. She turned 5 about a week ago and according to some books they refer to it as the "Fresh Fives". Once again she test her limits with me and I face a new tone and/or attitude from her. (hands on her hips and wiggling her body saying " no, it's not mommy".

I didn't start blogging so many of you may think every kid is the same, you are absolutely right. It's all normal and nothing new to parents ears but it's driving me nuts. Through the years Jaylin and I developed a deal or let's say we help each other, she is a very mature 5 and I believe and she understands the routine very well. Whenever mommy is done with all the chores or what needs to be done this mommy is not afraid to get down and dirty with her and play anything and everything. Taking turns is how I like to put it..... but lately with my workload trying to keep a blog going, learning to develop a website and uploading videos on tutorial  on YouTube i am counting on her to cut me some slacks but guess what I don't get anything done.

Setting limits and allowing her to make some choices.... she is 5 and i believe she should start learning how to make good choices on her own for herself. Taking baby steps by letting her get out of bed on her own without dragging her out of bed for school every morning, letting her decide when bath time is ready and making good choices such as getting out of the tub before having wrinkly hands. Switching things up for her quite a bit, before I will give her the 5 minutes time up kind of deal or you have 2 more minutes then we have to....etc...etc. But mommy still means business and when you can't make good choices for yourself mommy will take it all away and make the decision for you until you can practice good behavior.

I can't blame Jaylin for her behavior instead I will take two steps back and see what I have been doing differently and are my expectations set too high for a 5 year old?!?!? Is she not getting enough rest? Jaylin normally naps 1-1.5hrs daily after school but I have been cutting it to 45 mins because she will be going to first grade in September so I would like to slowly wean her off, dont get me wrong I love naps that is the time where mommy gets some snuggling time with her or get some work done. She could be tired with the new sleep schedule being crabby and short tempered. Jaylin goes to bed roughly by 8:30 pm and wakes up at 7:45 to get ready for school that's about 11 hrs of sleep plus a nap. She is a busy bee busy as in busy at home with mommy kind of activities not after school programs. I didn't sign her up for classes like most parents do nowadays, do you find that odd? Instead I will work with her at home with reading, simple math, science, DIY and other fun crafts projects. She loves it and so do I, we like to keep each other busy and aside of all the fun and games plus projects mommy still needs to keep the house in order and do daily mommy duties.

When Jaylin cooperates I can get a lot done, normally a speedy 30 mins of prepping and cooking or 15 mins here and there I can get things done in a jiffy and attend back to Jaylin with my full attention. Sounds easy right..... it actually can happen. But lately nothing was productive, reminders left and right, slowing things down a notch to lecture or reason with her why this and that was wrong or why don't you try saying things way rather than that way to make its sound nicer and less demanding. (regression) Jaylin is definitely testing my patience and I have to keep my cool. I try not to let it get to me or get frustrated with her because she is still learning and developing her personality and understanding what is right and wrong and how to deal with situations.

Lunar New Year is around the corner and today we recorded a video on how we made our lanterns. Stay tune...I need to edit the video along with writing specific directions on how to make decorative lanterns for Chinese New Year.

Crystal Growing Mystical Tree Experiment

A fun easy experiment for all age group but for the young ones age 3 and under a little assistance with snipping the liquid bag and pouring it in the little case will still fascinate the little hands. They don't supply a lot of solution so it’s ideal to be careful and not to spill so your tree will be a full grown tree.

I have seen this experiment at many dollar stores such as Dollarama. Take a stroll to the toys aisle and see if you get lucky, if not you can easily purchase a packet like this through amazon. I would even try a regular toys store such as Toys R Us it may be called a Crystal Tree, Mystical Tree or Magical Tree it’s all the same experiment.

When you open the box and spread out all the pieces you can tell the magic to the growing the tree is the solution. The solution is made out of Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate which is a soluble salt which is used as a fertilizer, a food additive and a fungicide. Best to keep a close eye to young children when using it so they don't consume it by accident.

I didn't experiment it on my own with Jaylin yet but I wonder if we poor the solution to a regular piece of cardboard what will happen, will we get the same result?

If you look closely to the tips of the tree you, it comes in different colors….some packets may contain one color ie: one of my trees is pink and the other is rainbow. It depends on the color you received and that will be the outcome of your tree. The solution is clear/colorless I am guessing its food coloring on the tips of the tree, that’s another good experiment to try out in the future. To dip the tips of a regular cardboard box with food coloring then add the solution. I may need to do more research on the solution to see if it’s possible to mix on your own with household products. I will update post if I figure out the solution mix.

The instruction is quite easy:

1.     Attach the two pieces of tree together then spread out the branches.

2.     Pour the solution into the base (bottom of the tree) and not directly on the branches.

3.     Let it stand and allow the cardboard to soak up the solution. The tree will begin to grow shortly but it may take up to a few hours to fully grow.

As simple as that you are done, the box states the tree will last 3-4days but the tree we have been the same as day one. But keep in mind since the solution is all dried up and the cardboard is dry as well the crystal will easily fall off or break. To keep the tree intact I suggest you leave it as display and not touch it nor shake it.

For a video demonstration please visit my web site:
Mystical Tree Experiment

Episode 1: Stew Black Bean Spare Ribs with Turnip

豆豉排骨炆羅卜

Ingredients:

• spare ribs 1 1/2 lbs
• 1 turnip 1 1/2- 2 lbs
• 1 bulb of garlic
• 5 slices of ginger
• 3 tbs black beans
• 2 sticks of green onion

Sauces:

• 3 tbs corn oil
• 2 tbs dark soy sauce
• 2 tbs cooking wine
• 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp corn starch 
  
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Directions:

• Place spare ribs in pan/wok with cold water (enough to submerge spare ribs)        add 1 tsp of cooking wine and bring to boil (roughly 5-10 mins)
• Drain and rinse spare ribs with cold running tap water (set aside)
• Heat pan for about a minute then add cooking oil
• Add peeled bulb of garlic to pan stir fry until golden brown then add 2 sticks of chopped green onion, stir fry together (1 min)
• Add clean spare ribs to pan and stir fry (3 mins)
• Add rinsed black bean and 2 tbs dark soy sauce, stir fry (2 mins)
• Add 1 tsp sesame oil , 1 1/2 tsp oyster sauce, 1 tsp sugar and the rest of the cooking wine to pan then stir fry all sauces evenly 
• Add water to pan (enough to submerge spare ribs) at high heat, bring to boil then lower temperature to medium/high for 30 minutes
• After 30 mins add sliced turnips then cook in high heat for 10 mins
• Mix 1 1/2 tsp of corn starch in a small bowl with 3 tbs of water then mix well, add mixture to pan and stir well till the desired consistency of sauce (discard rest of mixture)
• Ready to serve ( the amounts of black bean and dark sauce added not necessary to add salt but can add to desired taste)

Video demonstration to this recipe on my YouTube Channel.

Please visit my YouTube channel:  
Stew Black Bean Spare Rubs with Turnip

Please visit my website:
www.jaylinbree.com