Teochew Mooncake (With Yam and Pumpkin Fillings) 【潮州芋头南瓜月饼】

With Mid-autumn festival just around the corner, it is the time of the year again to enjoy the mid-autumn delicacy Mooncake. 

I made the cute piggy mooncake using the Cantonese mooncake recipe before. This year I decided to try something different and go all the way traditional to make this very old fashion Teochew "Orh-Nee" Mooncake. 

With pumpkin in the season, I even substitute the egg yolk with pumpkin paste filling, which to my great surprise, turned out to be super tasty and looks almost identical to egg yolk!A delightful surprise indeed!

中秋节快到了，又到了社交媒体满屏都是月饼的时候。我前几年做了一次小猪猪月饼后，因为家门前的Costco开始卖台湾产的广式月饼，就一直没有再开工做月饼。

今年我想做点不同的月饼，就选择了这款传统的潮州月饼。这款月饼因为工序复杂，也比较不经放，因此市面上是越来越难买到了。

我不是很喜欢月饼里的咸蛋黄，最近南瓜当季，就做了南瓜芋泥的双色馅，出来的效果很惊艳，除了特别美味之外。南瓜馅还被好多朋友误因为是咸蛋黄呢！

Mint Cucumber Juice 薄荷黄瓜汁

I rescued two cucumber plants from Walmart sometimes end of Summer, they were wilting and turning yellow and Walmart was pretty much giving up on them already.

I planted it at the edge of my raised bed against the backyard fence with a trellis, after days of carefully watering and feeding, the cucumber revived and flourished to two very healthy plants that yield good fruits.

Together with the Mint Syrup that I made using the mint leaves from my backyard, I made this refreshing and almost (the sugar, you see?) detoxifying drink. Just love it!

夏末的时候有一天我到沃尔玛买东西，看见它门口摆着两棵快枯死的黄瓜苗，开着几朵细细小小的黄花，看着让人心疼。我最终还是忍不住把它们买了回家。

我把它们移植到后院菜园子的角落靠近篱笆的地方，勤浇水和施肥的几周之后，两棵黄瓜都满血复活了! 后来还给我结了好多的瓜。

今天摘一根新鲜的瓜，加上一小勺后院薄荷做的薄荷糖浆，很清凉好喝哦！

Dried Yard-Long Bean braised Ribs 【豇豆干炖排骨】

The Asian dried their vegetables a lot around the end of summer/beginning of autumn--when the hours of sunshine are still long enough and air mostly cold and dry.

The dried vegetables will then be stored for consumption during the months when fresh vegetables are not readily available.

Dried Yard-long bean is one of the kind, drying the vegetables intensified the flavor of the vegetable and gives a completely different texture to it, which makes it very suitable for braising.

Dried Yard-long bean is especially good when braised with pork/ribs. This dish is so good that I ended up having another bowl of rice with it!

很多亚洲家庭喜欢在秋初把菜园子收成的蔬菜晒制成菜干留着冬天时没什么青菜吃的时候炖了吃。

我很久前听过一位朋友说豇豆/豆角干炖肉非常好吃，我自小就爱吃豇豆，但干豇豆却从来都没尝试过，于是干豇豆好吃我就记挂上了。

前阵子在我家附近的大华99发现了干豇豆，买回来和排骨一起炖上。结果那天晚餐又多加了一碗饭。