A friend of mine lease a small piece of land from her husband's company as part of the company's social responsibility program. The land is only meant for activities that could enhance the environment. They then decided to plant some vegetables.
Last two months were interesting for most gardeners in NJ, my friend and I shared information and progress of our gardens and now we share our crops!
She and her husband are both from the northern part of China, thus the French bean they planted is also a northern Chinese species called flat French bean (扁豆).
It is known to be the best bean to make this typical North western Chinese dish -- Steamed noodle. Where the beans are first stir fried, and then boil to bring up steams with noodles lightly spread over the dish to cook, the steam from the gravy will steam cooked the noodle and later to season the noodle. This cooking method allows the noodles to stay in form and retain it's springy texture, a very easy and tasty one pot meal
我过去十几年住过好几个国家。每次刚在一个地方建立起朋友群，才开始要熟悉，就要离开了。渐渐地，对友情就抱着既来之，则安之的心态。
而我又是一个不爱讲电话，鲜少写信的人，不是一个很努力维持关系的人。所幸的是，这辈子，总有这个遇见好朋友的福气。
在文学城私房小菜十多年了，认识了一群志同道合，高贵亲和的朋友。尤其是NJ吃喝团的团友，大家每个月聚聚，分享身边的事物，渐渐地成了好朋友。这是我来美国，最大的收获，也是让我觉得在美国最实在的地方。每次和家人说起跟朋友的聚餐，父母总觉得非常的安慰，知道我在这里并不孤单。
和小小太空猪MM相识于私房，第一次见面我们约了去港式早茶，只有开始的几秒钟尴尬和陌生，然后我们就很自然的聊开了。加上两家住的比较近，我们就开始交流很多做菜，拍照的心得，生活的体悟，人生的追求。
最近小猪家的大厨在公司那里领了块菜地，我们又开始交流种菜心得，然后渐渐演变成交换农产所得。这是小猪家第一批扁豆，和黄瓜，马上就拿来跟我分享，我也赶快拿了把剪刀，到后院把第一二根茄子和大黄辣椒剪了下来和猪MM交换。物轻，却是情意重。
小猪MM的扁豆，我拿来做了最爱吃的焖面，一边吃一边默默地希望，这一次，在美国，落地生根。也希望我和这里的朋友们，友谊长存。
