Year of the Dragon

I made a pie! Perhaps I'm beginning to un-beige. My assignment was to bring a dessert to the dinner hosted by Terry and Brian to celebrate Chinese New Year. I was SO CLOSE to buying something. A Chinese bakery makes a lovely cake. It would be SO EASY! The Hubby even urged me to buy something. But I fought those beige tendencies.

I never make pie. Pie is something that was my mother's domain. But it has always intrigued me. Tips to making a good flaky crust: Keep it cold. Don't overwork it. Once it's rolled out and ready to be placed into the pie plate be careful not to stretch it.

Pie crust only has a few ingredients so it's not hard to make. But it's tricky. Just the challenge to push me out of beige.

The family celebrating the Year of the Dragon

As a first pie, I decide to go with one that only has a bottom crust and a crumble top. Half as tricky I hope. I email my Auntie Katie in Vancouver for tips. She is the one who taught my mother how to make pie crust. Unfortunately I don't hear back from her in time. I'm on my own.


I choose a Deep Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb. It is filled with apples, pears, cranberries, and dried figs. It turns out beautifully. I am happy. I'm a little less beige than I was before.


Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Still So Beige

I can see that others are living lives of colour.

Colin's Bacon Milkshakes

My nephew Colin embarked on a 41 day bacon eating adventure. He ate at least one piece of bacon every day for 41 days. On the weekends he made out-there bacon recipes. Colin is obviously not Beige.

Bacon Cake made by Colin

The Daughter's hair bun is normally small and underwhelming.










Then she does something magical with a sport sock and voila: a full and luscious bun.

This is what someone who's beige finds fascinating.











Treasure, who some might call a "sensitive" (picky) eater, tries various foods that he normally would have refused. Squid and mussels are not beige.

Sabina who previously was struggling with beige has joined the Ride to Conquer Cancer and her face is too red and her butt too sore to be considered beige any longer.

I, on the other hand, am still so beige. I think it has to do with my New Year's Resolution: Acceptance. I'm used to spending a lot of my energy trying to inspire others to...well...to see the world like I do. You can imagine how well that goes over. I really don't understand what all the reluctance is about. I believe strongly and sincerely that if more people saw things the way I do then the world, well, maybe not the world, but definitely I would be much happier. I know on an intellectual level that it's perfectly fine and actually desirable that everyone has their own feelings and thoughts blah blah blah but deep down I really don't get it. But I'm going to try to Accept People for Who They Are. Very basic stuff but not simple or easy for me. I think Acceptance is making me Beige. It's hard to imagine needing much passion to Accept people (yawn). But I probably don't quite Get It yet.

Will keep you posted.

The Year So Far is Beige

The year so far has been underwhelming. Kind of beige. Tofu-like. White rice. Cream of Wheat-ish. I guess it's going to be hard to match last year. In 2011 I became a Cyclist. I clip in. I wear shorts with a padded butt. I ride 100km in one go. In 2011 I became a Blogger. I have followers (only 6...but still...). I post from far away places like Thailand and Vietnam. In 2011 I became a Photographer. The Daughter shared tips. I know (a little bit) about shutter speed and ISO. Aperture is my friend. The few pictures I've taken that are not fuzzy or dark are works of art! In 2011 I made delicious things with yeast. Donuts. Cinnamon buns. I learned about Twitter and opened an account. The Hubby taught me to play pool.

In 2012, so far, nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I'm not just talking about Doing something exciting. I would be happy with even just Thinking something exciting. I know it's only been 7 days into the New Year. But for me the start of the year is usually a time of inspiration, of grand ideas. This year my only New Year's Resolution is to make Croissants. And that's a carry over from last year. I'm worried I've lost my zest. I need some chartreuse. A shot of magenta.

The Daughter and the Adolescent aren't helping matters. I haven't yet figured out how to be graceful as I slide into parental colourlessness. I would like to be doing this with quiet dignity and elegance. But how do you get used to being demoted from the centre of your child's universe to one who is way down on the list of people whom they want to spend time with? I lie in bed at night unable to peacefully sleep until they get safely home. Shouldn't I be the one out late at night having fun? I used to be. Before I was beige.

There are no photos today. They'd probably be fuzzy anyway. I wonder what colour self-pity is?