Bird Nest with Snow Pear 【冰糖雪梨炖燕窝】

My mom saw my Bird Nest with Red Dates and Gingko and Bird Nest on Chicken Congee earlier and told me her friend likes to make bird nest with Snow Pear. It sounded like a really good recipe and I made it few days ago and had to make it again in two days, it is really that delicious!

我妈早前看见我做的冰糖红枣白果燕窝和燕窝鸡丝粥 ，就说她有个朋友喜欢用雪梨炖燕窝，味道很好也非常滋润。我听了觉得这个做法真的很不错，某天下午就做了这个冰糖雪梨炖燕窝，我能说这是我吃过最棒的燕窝糖水吗？

Aam Papad/Mango Fruit Roll-Ups 【日晒芒果卷】

The weather forecast is showing a 3 day continuation of hot sunny days, I make sure to take advantage of the power of nature and sun-dried a couple of snacks for us. 

The Ataulfo mangoes I bought this time were not very sweet, maybe it is still early in the season, together with the Sun-dried Sweet Potatoes I posted earlier, I also made this Mango roll ups.

It turned out so tasty the whole family likes it!

今年美东的夏天来的比较晚，一直到上一周天气才升温到九十华氏度以上。上周看见气象预测里说了会有连续三天的九十度高温艳阳天，正适合利用阳光进行食物脱水和日晒。  

于是和之前上过帖子的日晒红薯干一起，我还晒了这款日晒芒果卷，两天半晒出QQ甜甜很有嚼劲的芒果卷，装瓶密封就是很健康又美味的零食啦！

Sun-dried Sweet Potatoes【日晒红薯干】

The summer came rather late this year, not until last week that we started experiencing the temperature above 90s F. Since the weather forecast is showing a 3 days continuation of hot sunny days, I make sure to take advantage of the power of nature and sun-dried a couple of snacks for us.

The first one I made was this Sun-dried Sweet potatoes that is a very famous healthy snack in Fujian Province, where my ancestors are from. It took me 2 and 1/2 days and it turned out so sweet and yummy! Just like the ones that I had in Fujian years back.

今年美东的夏天来的比较晚，一直到上一周天气才升温到九十华氏度以上。上周看见气象预测里说了会有连续三天的九十度高温艳阳天，正适合利用阳光进行食物脱水和日晒。

于是我就晒了一批红薯干，两天半就晒出QQ甜甜很有嚼劲的红薯干，装瓶密封就是很健康又美味的零食啦！

Jia Xing Meat Dumplings 【嘉兴鲜肉粽】

"Jiaxing zongzi" (嘉兴粽子): It is one famous kind of zongzi in mainland China named after the city Jiaxing. The filling is typically pork but also can be mung beans, red beans or salted duck eggs.

I made a small batch of this Jia Xing dumplings specifically for a friend from Nanjing, this is the kind of dumplings she grew up eating, I am glad that I did as it turned out so good and I am very glad to learn again one more dumplings recipe.

这款嘉兴肉粽是为一位南京朋友做的，是她心心念念的家乡味，这款粽子我是第一次做，出来的效果很是不错，味道很好哦！

“嘉兴粽子”是浙江嘉兴特色传统名点，具有悠久历史。嘉兴粽子以糯而不糊，肥而不腻，香糯可口，咸甜适中而著称。尤以鲜肉粽最为出名，被誉为“粽子之王”。嘉兴粽子因其滋味鲜美，携带、食用方便而备受广大旅游者厚爱，有“东方快餐”之称。

资料来源--http://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%98%89%E5%85%B4%E7%B2%BD%E5%AD%90

Bird Nest on Chicken Congee 【燕窝鸡丝粥】

I made Bird Nest with Red Dates and Gingko earlier as dessert earlier and have a few more pieces of bird nests left. I wanted to make a savory version of bird nest soup and the thought of Chicken Congee came to my mind.

Since I have some organic chicken at home, I made this congee for lunch and shared with my friend, she too agrees that it is yummy.

前几天泡的燕窝一半做了冰糖红枣白果燕窝 ，剩下的我想做成咸口味的燕窝粥。家里有刚买的有机鸡肉，于是我做了这个燕窝鸡丝粥约了朋友一起吃，味道很是不错哦!

Cantonese Style Dumplings 【广式咸肉粽】

It was Dumpling/Dragon Festival last week, it is a tradition at home to make some dumplings (glutinous rice wrapped in bamboo leaves) during the season.

This year I started the festival with this Cantonese Style of Dumplings which have moong beans in it and tasted though different than the type of Bak Zhang that  I am used to and loved, it is still one  of my favourites.

今年端午节前一直想着要裹点粽子过节，材料都买好了，却一直等到端午节当天才有时间裹，虽然闽南烧肉粽是每年一定要裹的家乡味。

今年所裹的第一款肉粽却是这款港式/广式肉粽，它是我很喜欢的一款肉粽，也是俊干妈的家乡味，裹好分一半给俊干爹干妈过节。

Bird Nest with Red Dates and Gingko 【冰糖红枣白果炖燕窝】

Around 10 years ago, my dad built a high rise building with a few little holes and no windows in one of our farms, he called it "Swiftlet house", with that he started his side business farming Swiftlet for its nest. 

The term “Swiftlet farming” may spike confusion that it is a business of farming or domesticating swiftlet to be reared in a confined space like chickens in a chicken coop. This is far from the truth as Swiftlets cannot be domesticated. 

The idea of swiftlet farming is not to actually raise these birds for sale, but for their nests, which is highly sought after especially by the Chinese. 

The swiftlet nest, or commonly called bird’s nest, is a Chinese delicacy since the Tang Dynasty of China (618 – 907 A.D.). The nests are simmered with broth into bird’s nest soup. 

Though we have many "farmed" bird nests ready back at home, it is unfortunate that Bird nest is in the list of US customs food restriction list. Since I can't bring our very own bird nests here, I went searching online and bought two boxes of bird nests and made it the way my mom would.

It feels much better having this sweet soup though I am far away from home.

大约10年前，俊外公在郊外的林子里建了一间高高的，四面无窗却有着几个小洞洞的建筑物。他说这是“燕屋”，等着燕子们来入住；从此踏上了养燕之路。后来的好几年，俊外公陆陆续续地和朋友们合资，又建了好几间的燕屋。有的相当成功，吸引了不少的燕子来定居，有的不算太好，燕子们都不来。

所以俊外公经常说，所谓的养燕子。其实就是给燕子们提供一个相对有吸引力的住所，剩下的，就是运气了。燕子不需要喂食，也不需要医疗照应，只要定期地给燕屋进行清理，然后定期采收燕窝即可。

家养的燕窝在质量上和野外采收的燕窝差别并不大，还很可能更人道一些。因为采收的时候只会采集燕子已经不再使用的燕窝，燕子下了蛋，孵出雏鸟喂养成年之后就会弃巢重新建立新的鸟巢，再下蛋再养幼鸟。所以业内也有个标准，就是燕窝只能采集已经被燕子弃用的鸟巢。

话说得有点远了，每次回娘家，吃的燕窝都是很夸张的一整碗熬得浓稠的粥。我怀孕的时候，俊外公最大的遗憾就是没能让我经常吃上他的燕窝。所以他来美国看我的时候，还准备了一大盒要带来给我，还好上机前被我在视频里劝阻了。燕窝和任何和鸟类有关的食品/产品都是被禁止带入美国的哦！想吃还是在美国境内买来吃吧！