My good friend Jenny made the big switch from a push bike to a big blue flashy moto recently. She asked me a day or two into her driving if I used my horn. Oh my gosh, ‘YES!’ I said, ‘I use it all the time. In fact, if I don’t have my horn I don’t feel safe driving at all!’ Her next question, and rightly so, was then WHEN do I use it. So it got me thinking. I came up with this list of 8 scenarios in which having a horn may come in more than handy:

1 – Really!?!? You just cut me off!! {long beep if it was really stupid, shorter beep if it was maybe not on purpose}

2 – I’m not stopping, so watch out I’m coming through {a few short beeps}

3 – Hey I know you, let’s talk {as many obnoxious beeps it takes to get your attention- sometimes to the tune of a hit song}

4 – I’m passing you, just making sure you see I’m here {one or two bright honks}

5 – I’m outside the gate let me in! {a short beep and calling ‘boo-oi!’}

6 – Go faster!! {as many beeps as it takes to motivate their speed increase or go around them}

7 – I know it’s a yellow-okay red- light, but I’m still going through so don’t hit me! {strong beeps – scanning eyes highly recommended too}

8 – I’m crossing this intersection or turning this corner and I can’t see you, but I want you to see me! {a few honks and slowing down, or making a mega wide turn just in case!}

Happy Honking!

Be safe. Wear a helmet. And if I forgot any scenarios please let me know.

I just shared the punch line, but hope you will read the full story anyway!

http://chabdai.blogspot.com/2012/01/maybe-change-isnt-so-bad-after-all.html?m=1

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year. In Southeast Asian culture it’s basically akin to our Thanksgiving or Christmas celebrations in the States. Last year, 2011, was ‘my year’ – the year of the rabbit- based on my birth year. On a non-zodiac level, it meant rabbit statues around Phnom Penh, and photos of rabbits backdropped in red on houses, in stores, and hung on calendars. And for me especially it meant I got this cute pink blow-up rabbit as a gift a my party!

Tomorrow will also be the second of three new year celebrations in Cambodia. Each celebrations around town means the markets will close, the streets will be creepily quiet {except for families burning offerings to their ancestors today} and people will begin to travel to the provinces for holiday.

For me it’s full of hope, I’m looking forward to 2012- whatever animal it is- because God is working and showing me He has plans for my life… And He’s asking me to trust Him. If I could sum up my time at home and my hopes for this year it would be in this photo & this verse:

I want to live ‘ADVENTUROUSLY EXPECTANT’!!

Today was a day of firsts, here’s my list:

The first day back at work.
The first meeting of the community-based care forum w/ 21 staff members.
The first-best cappuccino from my fav little khmer cafe.
The first visit to our new office.
{My first response when I saw the office was a big ‘it’s orange – I love it!’}.
The first yay-let’s-design feeling at work in awhile {layout room design, fun fun!}.
The first time I made dinner after work today {green curry}.
And the first time I’ve blogged post-a-day of work.

That’s all, and with that, I hope my day of seconds is worth blogging about too!

<3

For years I have been trying to make bread rise. In college I spent a whole Easter Break trying recipes with my mom and failing a lot. I’m not sure what sparked the desire to try again today: was it the jet lag kicking in? Or was it the large, quality toaster oven I have? I’m not sure, but it was a success anyhow!

I promise this isn’t going to become a recipe blog, but instead I see it as a way to 1) introduce you to my kitchen here, including my toaster oven; 2) paint a picture of just how stinking-moist-warm it is here; and 3) be creative.

So, first things first, meet Mr. Toaster Oven:

We have house church tonight, and I wanted to make something special, not just pick up a bunch of bananas on the way, so I googled this recipe from Whole Foods {a favorite place to shop, oh how I miss you!}.

Easy Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls 

1 ¼ cup ww flour

1/8 cup buckwheat (optional)

2 Tbsp sugar (I used palm sugar)

½ tsp salt

1 package yeast (I used an estimated 7 grams of an 11 gram packet)

1 cup warm water (or milk)

3 Tbsp butter, melted

1 large chicken egg, lightly beaten

1 cup AP flour

Step 1: Mix the ww flour, sugar, salt, and yeast together well. Add water, butter, and egg and blend until smooth. Then add AP flour and mix all together well – no need to knead.

Step 2: I kept the dough in the biggest bowl I have, which is actually a pan, and wrapped a damp cloth over it for one hour. My success I believe came from doing laundry at the same time…  I put the covered-dough-in-a-pan under my hanging clothes, plus the naturally humid-moist-Cambodian-air = a combination for a quick rise!

Step 3: Grease or prepare 12 muffin tins – I used individual cupcake liners because I have an itty-bitty toaster oven that no tin or pan can fit in!

Step 4: Stir the risen dough gently to deflate, and spoon the dough into tins. Let rise again. I repeated the under-the-clothes-rack-&-in-the-moist-air routine again and only had to wait about 10 minutes, but the recipe said an hour.  Either way, it should double in size again.

Step 5: Bake at about 200 C (400 F) for 10-20 minutes, taking into consideration the size and quality of your oven/ toaster oven.

Then enjoy of course.

I tried one with the last remains of my gifted-apple-butter, and it was gooood. I’m bringing them over for house church tonight, and I think as an addition to the soup-salad combo planned, they will be delicious. 

Here are a few photo highlights:

{My sis & I at my grandparents’ cabin}

{putting up our tree decorations :: these are some of my family’s fav ornaments!}

{annual cookie party with some of my best best friends!}

{adventures w/ my sis!}

{a full day korean excursion}

All in all it was fab, and now I’m back enjoying coffees with friends and catching up with my roommate. Xx.

My name is Aimee & I’m a Sconer.

Similar to an addiction of any sort, my creative-only-baking-at-home this Winter has been with scones, and I’d say I’m addicted.

What’s a Sconer?
It’s me.
Addicted to scones
All kinds.
Making them
Experimenting with them.
Eating them
And eating more of them

Double-Chocolate-Peppermint Scones & Garlic Chive Cheese Scones. Sweet Potato Scones. And this morning Whole Wheat Cinnamon Apple Scones.

I decided why I really do love them. The epiphany came this morning as I enjoyed the crust-crunch of my first scone (and yes I sure did have more than one!). I realized a good scone is like a cross between two of my favorite things- a muffin and a cookie – it offers the creative-healthiness of a muffin and the crunch of a just-over-cooked cookie. Yum!

I love apples. A quick tangent to this recipe post is the story behind this photo of Grandpa and I last summer. We share the same love: apples – we eat one a day, in addition to making apple butter, apple syrup, apple pie, apple cider, and applesauce; and love visiting Apple Hill. He saved me the best apple of the season in his fridge waiting for me to come home from Cambodia to taste it- and there it is in the palm of my hand. What’s our favorite kind? The crisp, crunchy, sweet apple kind!

Hence, a whole blog inspired from just an apple scone! Honestly, though, I believe applesauce should be its own food group, so I altered this recipe from A Whisk & A Prayer’s blog and substituted less milk and a bit of applesauce to make it extra moist and apple-y!

WW Apple Cinnamon Scones:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (about 5 ounces)
1 cup whole wheat flour (about 4 3/4 ounces)
1/4 cup sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup chilled butter
1 1/2 cup shredded peeled apple (about 2 medium apples)
1/2 cup milk (plus or minus to get a good consistency)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

TOPPING:
2 tablespoons low-fat milk
2 teaspoons sugar

Preheat oven to 425°. Mix flours and sugar an spices together, cut in chilled butter. Add apples, vanilla, applesauce, and milk. Mix well. Knead a few times and divide dough in half. Roll out dough and cut into 4-6 pieces each.

For the cinnamon topping: Brush milk and sprinkle with cinnamon (I used my Mom’s cinnamon sugar shaker).

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

I served mine with applesauce and butter, but if I’d had a jar of my Grandma’s apple butter I would have added that to the table.

Well sadly that’s the last baking in a proper oven for awhile, now for adventurous scone-testing-making in my mini-toaster-oven in the Penh.

Here are the recipes for my other favorite scones:

- Double Chocolate Peppermint Scones
- Garlic, Chive & Cheese Scones
- Healthy Sweet Potato Scones

I was honored to first meet with a Cambodian women who had worked as a domestic worker for almost four years, and thankfully had a kind boss. Somehow my coworker knew her and had called her to ask to meet up, and somehow our partner was able to find her street address.

She was all smiles. A grin from ear to ear. She exclaimed she was so happy to see us she wanted to hug us! Her smile didn’t relax for the entire time we were with her. I think it’s a smile I will never forget {I don’t want to, it was an inspiring one because it was full of hope.}

And she loved the prahouk {prized Cambodian fish paste} and a mint balm {to cure headaches & the like}:

Our second idea was to find a Khmer village or market. Again we followed the unknown path dictated from a phone call. We boarded a subway, an overcrowded train {I looked around and took note that I was most obviously the only white faced girl on the train, and definitely the only wearing a dress, groan}, then haggled for a taxi, and drove into the countryside :: and there among the green was the Khmer village. Markets, karaoke tunes playing, dried fish hanging, and I was excited {I was maybe more overjoyed to see them than they were to see u}.

When you want to meet a new person, eat with them. So we ate dinner. When you want to make a new friend, given them prahouk. We gave them a jar.

What ensued was nothing greater than a meeting organized by God. We met a guy who told us where we could meet the leader. And then met in the home of a kind woman who gave us orange soda. We listened to a courageous woman tell her story, and then met a kind man who believed in helping fellow Cambodians.

A photo shoot ensued after, where I felt suddenly famous and phone cameras were coming from every room in the house. We all laughed and grinned big. I left encouraged, I loved the village. It was beautiful at sunset, the multi-colored houses behind a background of green land was inspiring in itself. But the smiles were even more brightly colored.

The hunt was a sure success. In the big capitol city we had found her small street address in the ritzy part of town, and their small village in the outskirts of town. Now for tomorrow and the next days, what else will be discovered… I hope more smiles!

Note: Why Malaysia? Why are Cambodians here? Why is Chab Dai here? Read this interview with me on Equitas’ blog.

I recently started a mini-locked blog to capture the colors I see around me. It was started in the USA on a quest to notice & experience & appreciate the colors of Cali like I do in Cambodia. I was blown away by the colors I found there! It brought my two worlds together in a beautiful, inspiring collision. Since then I’ve continued my quest for color-searching, and keep finding more than I expect, which makes my heart glad. These were my thoughts about color on the bus from the airport to KL, when I had a few minutes to dream.

Color is the presence of light.
A reflection of our Creator on earth.

Color brings a tangible symbol of the cycle of life & death & rebirth
to earth-
It is both the feeling of fall & the essence of a flower-painted
hillside.

Color is life.
Without color the world holds no creativy, no awe, no curiosity.
The colors of unnamed flowers and southeast Asian fruits.
The colors in a box of crayons.
The colors of rainbows circling the sky,
And the color of a bustling city centre full of lights & signs & people.

Color allows the whole world to see, experience, and enjoy the wonder
of the Creator everyday, in everyway, and everywhere. And together
around the world unite to hope as one for a day when tears & injustice
& anger are colored over with the hope & grace of God.

Where did YOU see color today?

{Above are a collection of color-sightings today from Petaling Street, Chinatown, KL}

Last week I stumbled upon the greatest pottery at a random thrift store in a small town in Cambodia. For everyone who knows me, they will know I love treasure hunting in thrift stores. The thrill of never knowing what you might find, and once you find it knowing that you may never find another one like it, ever. This of course makes saying ‘no’ to buying something difficult indeed. But it also must be learned – I pass on thrift store wisdom from one treasure hunter to another – never ever go to a thrift store looking for something in particular. It never works, some law of the world or something, but honestly it’s rare to find what you are looking for.

For me it was like that, a stumble-upon. It was a ‘wait, stop,’ to the moto taxi driver, and asking him to turn back to have a look inside. And then it was spending more than a few minutes admiring and imagining the possibilities of the cup-bowl-teapot aisle. By the time I left I had found more than one treasure: bowls of mismatching {yet matching} bowls of rich blue & contrasting white designs, teapots {one thing I’ve been meaning to buy for two+ years}, and a few small cups {smaller than the small teapots was the goal}.

Perhaps I’ve forgotten the very words every teenage girl once swore to: that they will never turn into their mother. Or perhaps I just miss her. I’m here, she’s there. Nonetheless it’s happening. I’m becoming my mother. {I love my mom.} I cant remember a time when I came back from college or just came home after school, and there was a change of slight to our home: the couch at a new angle, a new jar, or the frames being rotated. I see my mom in me as I continue to make and update my home here in PP to be more like home. <3

So what was the first thing I did when I got home? Cleaned, rearranged our kitchen to display the beautiful pottery, and hid away our old plastic dishes. And then, made a pot or two of tea!! Jenny {roommate} I think you will love them and guess what, we got a bright-green blender too!

One last thing, happy birthday mommy!!

—–

{Dear Japan, thanks for introducing these shops to Cambodia this year, I look forward to more treasure hunting!} Anyone visiting Phnom Penh or Siem Reap or Battambang, has a high chance of finding these treasure-full Japanese thrift stores.