Decoding Jacques Pépin

Jacques Pépin is my favorite chef. I recorded all of his shows and I have a couple of his cookbooks. He is so good as a chef yet so down to earth. It's such a breath of fresh air comparing to the egotism in today's TV personalities.

Watching him cook is like watching a well choreographed dance. He would cook and prep at the same time, yet still have time to enjoy a sip of wine and teach us some great cooking techniques. His dishes always look so delicious and good-looking.

After watching so many of his shows, I basically came up with the following points to demystify the one-of-a-kind master chef.

• For saute, he uses a little of butter (in fact a whole bunch), a little of olive oil, salt and pepper.
• He likes to top his dishes with a little bit of chive.
• The ingredients he uses are always very fresh. I'm especially envious of the plum, red and juicy tomatoes.
• He is very generous with the wine and butter he put in his food. And he is unbashful about it.
• Every time he breaks an egg, he teaches us not to break it on the edge of the bowl or pot, but break it on the counter so that it doesn't shatter the egg shell, because the small egg shell pieces can get into the eggs.
• Every time he prepare the potatoes, he tells us to make sure to get rid of the "eye", because it's poisonous. And soak the peel potatoes in water so they don't discolor; and don't soak the peeled potatoes in water if you want to keep the starch in them.
• Every time he washes the mushrooms, he warns us to make sure to wash the mushrooms right at the time you are cooking them, otherwise they could discolor.  I mean, every time!

My mom taught me how to cook Chinese stir-fried when she let me help prep the food after school, so I was not afraid of cooking; Rachel Ray taught me to cook home-made food in 30 minutes, so I can cook even in busy schedule; Jacques Pépin taught me to be enjoy cooking and appreciate good food.

Hidden Figures

Hidden Figures is one of my favorite movies. I can't wait for the DVD to release, so that I can watch it again and again. It is very powerful and inspiring.

I watched the movie in a company Women in Technology group event with Jack. For Jack, it was special because it was about NASA and the early space program. To me, it was that and more. It was about the company I work for and its early contribution to the space program; about women in technology; and about being a minority in the workplace. The movie stirred up so much emotion in me. I was in awe of the unfair treatment these brilliant black women received in the highest technological institution in the U.S.; and I cheered for their hard-earned, well deserved triumph.

Being a Chinese-American woman in technology, I could somewhat relate to these hidden figures.

I teared up at the scene when Katherine Johnson had to jog a mile and a half to use the designated colored bathroom, sometimes in pouring rain, and then later wrongly accused by the ignorant mission director - Al Harrison, played by Kevin Costner, who was actually a good guy in the story - of taking long breaks. I felt that nobody should be treated that way, no matter what kind of work she did for a living and what race she was. I clapped when Al Harrison knocked down the Colored Bathroom sign and said: "Here at NASA we all pee the same color." My heart was filled with pride when John Glenn said: "Let's have the girl check the numbers, the smart one."

Not that I experienced terrible treatments in my life. In fact, I am one of the lucky woman that had many successful women role models in my path, and I'm thankful that because of them and my own hard work, I can live to my own full potential. My very first office-mate at work, and hence my first mentor, was a woman who is now a lead researcher and master inventor. The CEO of the company I work at is a woman; and we have many women are in different levels of management and technical leadership roles. There are so many men and women who gave me mentorship and I am grateful.

Discrimination comes in many shapes and forms. Nobody would say to your face that you are not smart enough because you are a woman, or because of the color of your skin. But it does come in very subtle ways. Many years ago in a technology conference, when I went to ask them a question, a couple of guys at the information desk asked me: "What are you doing here? Smile at people?" Being not quick on my feet, the only answer I could give was: "No, I'm here to work." The sense of insult only creep in later on.

Honestly I never really understand why people believe that men are smarter than women. Men may be able to achieve greater things because the society is so much more willing and ready to let them succeed and thrive. Through my school years and career, I always do as well if not better than my male counterparts in all subjects and tasks. Of course, some of those tasks were more difficult for me, but they were just as difficult for my male counterparts, and I just don't give up.

Moreover, I believe that by working together, men and women complement each other in skills. We use different methods and thought process to solve problems, and usually make higher performance teams.

It really sadden me that in this modern day, some of my college educated girl friends were unhappy when they had daughters instead of sons. One of my high school classmate ended up with three daughters when she decided to quit trying to have a son. I asked my friend who was expecting a daughter at the time why she wanted a son. She said it would so difficult for a woman to struggle and survive in this society, and it would be so much easier for a man. That maybe true, but I told her it depended on how she raise her daughter, and what kind of values she taught her. Do me and yourself a favor, if you have a daughter, teach her that everything is possible as long as she is willing to try hard to succeed.

There are smart people in both genders and in every race. Human value should not be measured based on intelligence or race. The bottom line is, we should all respect and be kind to each other despite our differences, and the world would be a better place. But, this ideal is only a dream that is further away from us as we speak.

Shake it off

Jake, our male golden retriever, usually lay in between of us when we were watching TV in bed, that way he got attention and scratch from both of us, until he got too hot then he would move to the end of the bed and sleep there quietly. This one time, he was peculiarly lying along the edge of the bed leaning against me. I suspect he never knew how big he has became and how much room he took up, but he definitely took up a third of the bed. At one time I was wondering: hmm... how could he balanced on the edge like this and not fall off? But then I let him be and went back to watching the movie.

After a few minutes I felt some kind of struggle, and heard a big thump! When I looked down to where the commotion was coming from, I saw that Jake, all 85 pounds of him, hit hard on the floor. But instantly he popped back up, looking very confused and shocked, he gave himself a tremendous shake from head to tail. I rushed off the bed to comfort him, and I scratched his body to see that nothing was broken. "Oh poor Jake, I'm so sorry that you fell off the bed, but you are OK." Of course Jack suspected for a moment that I pushed his dog off the bed, but honestly I didn't do such thing, and it just happened. Fully awaken from the accident, Jake jumped back on the bed, laying in between of us, and went back to sleep as if nothing had happened.

If it were me, I would probably ponder what went wrong; who did this to me; why it happened to me; how could I protect myself so this wouldn't happen again, and eventually probably opened up a string of thoughts that might lead to the meaning of life. But to Jake, things happened, he shake it off, let it go and went back to sleep. That's one of the many qualities of dogs that I appreciate.

Spicy but not flavorful

I have had this big pressure cooker for many years, but just recently started to use it. I thought it can cook food quickly to help with my busy work schedule, just like cooking with the oven. Since I have lost the instruction manual, it's intimidating using this cooker, because if not handled correctly, some pressure cookers can explode. Though when she gave me the cooker, my mom reassured that this one would not let you open if there was still pressure inside the pot. "You just have to wait until the nob came down." She told me.

One night, I made lentil soup with the pressure cooker. When the "whistle" blew (indicating there was pressure inside the pot), my dogs went outside of the kitchen, quietly laid on the hallway where they felt safe enough and still able to see what was going on on the stove. Thinking that animals have good instincts for safety, I also stayed a safe distance from the whistling cooker - just in case.

I let it whistled for 30 minutes in medium heat, then turned of the stove, I waited for 10 minutes until the nob came down, which indicated no pressure inside.

I tasted the piping hot lentil soup, said: "Hmm, it's spicy but not flavorful."

Jack: "How could it be spicy but not flavorful?" To him, the two are equivalent.

Then he tasted the food, and said: "Oh, I know what you mean."

I only put jalapeno to make the soup spicy. Salt and pepper obviously was not enough to make this all vegetarian soup flavorful. Well, that was a good learning experience, and we didn't finish it.

Since then, I have had some success in making chicken, chickpea coconut curry and other lentil curry. You can't go wrong with curry and coconut milk! I am thinking to make some corn beef with cabbage next.

These days

Whenever I feel like blogging or think of a topic, the mood just got ruined by the fact that Trump is our president now and all the bad things he and his cronies are doing to this country, in the short two weeks since he took office. How can I talk about movies, enlightenment, or tease my own silliness, when there is so much hurtful negativity going on? Excuse me for I have no mood to write to entertain anymore.

I wish you would read this article on the link below.

This essay brought me to tears. I admit I had been living a somewhat sheltered life - growing up and living in the most diverse place in the U.S. and working in a really diverse company, but I have experienced discrimination of being Asian American and a woman. Please accept the simple truth: if you are not a minority, you will never understand how it is to be one, and if you care to try to understand, then read this essay. With the Trump protectionism, it will just make minorities - that is, everyone except white men and the super rich - more closed up again instead of being more opened. So, no it's NOT OK to have the Trump rhetoric! And we must resist and fight for justice!

White People: I Don’t Want You To Understand Me Better, I Want You To Understand Yourselves

Ushered

Whether we like it or not, we will be ushered into 2017 in a couple of days.

2016 was, to many, disappointing and sad. There was a contentious and scandalous U.S. election; Brexit; the never-ending wars in some parts of the world; refugee crisis; odd new diseases; starvation and poverty; so many people killed by terrorist and gun violence; so many fallen stars.

You may find many articles analyzing those events. You can read until the cows come home, or don't read them at all.

The question is, how can one deal with so much sadness, confusion and anxiety in the new year? 

Duality is created when, in our mind, we have a concept of how things are supposed to be. We feel disappointed or satisfied, sad or happy, because of those concepts. If we see things around us and around the world as "happenings" instead of mandate them as how they "should" be, then instead of being upset by the unhappiness, we maybe able to go on with our lives with less struggle and a little more positivity.

Yes, there are wars in the Middle East; the Americans have elected a small-minded narcissist as our president (shame on us); the British chose to leave the E.U. ... We are witnessing the world in transformation. In fact, our world has never stopped changing. Only this time, the wind of change is stronger, less predictable and seemingly backwards. Our parents and grandparents have gone through changes in their lives, and now it's our time. How are we going to deal with it? I believe everyone is free to do what you want. As to me, I will resist the new government for any injustice; fight for justice for all, and fight to protect our environment and all lives on it.

On a personal level, there will be challenges and struggles. Challenges make life more interesting and struggles make us stronger. How to deal with them is your choice, and only you can make that choice. Believe me, you will be rewarded with sprinkles of joy.

Life is a dance, enjoy and have fun, or do whatever you want with it.

Here is my wish for the new year - for all to know that our Earth and all lives on it are precious, and to treat them with care and respect. I guess what I really want to say is: please, please, please don't blow up our world.

May peace be with us all.

P.S. I will spend more time at the beach!

Advertisement campaign on T.V.

Yummy: loaded fries
Delicious: cheese-stuffed pizza
Great value: two medium pizzas for the price of one
Great deal: unlimited bread with your meal
Results: A nation of people with clogged arteries and obesity

Simple but sad as that.