Not your everyday cup of "tea"

Eversince my move to Lawrence I'd been in a rather nostalgic mood. Making comfort food for me is something that totally soothes my soul, something akin to the culturally more popular, chicken soup. To me, having a good bowl of Bak Kut Teh is almost zen-like. I can't resist a good bowl of steaming, peppery, "herbally" soup. All my stress just totally melt away, I really don't care what other people have to say about it being an extremely rich decadent soup that adds pounds on you, hey, can't beat having to pay for therapy!!!

There're many versions of this soup but my perference is to use Seah's Bak Kut Teh Spice pack as the base for soup and using extra herbal ingredients to put together the final flavor. Most of the time this soup is served with chinese crullers as dippers but I prefer mine with thin noodles, it's just great. On the side for dipping is sliced thai chillis in dark sauce. As you can probabaly see, there are some chinese wolfberries in the soup as well..:)

To add to all the sentimental reasons for having this wonderfully rich tasting soup, it's also a good way to keep warm through the rather severe cold weather when we moved here. Lawrence, Kansas was apparently having one of the coldest and harsher winters they had seen in years, so this soup was really served as an "internal" temperature regulator for the whole family.

In retrospect, it's the little things in life that counts. Especially with this move, I've to realise that things are just not going to be what they used to be and the only way to deal with it is to think and be positive. One of the things I like to do to maintain whatever sanity and normancy in our lives is to just cook comfort foods; foods that we can always relate to and feel comfortable with.

PS: Just a small announcement, we have finally got into contract with the house that we were bidding on and hopefully close on this Thursday. Awfully close and unexpected but if everything turns out the way it is, we will be in a new place the week after this and "officially" start our life in Lawrence....;)

"We are no longer in Kansas", I mean, Texas..:)

I know, I know, I haven't posted for quite some time but there were some major changes in our lives these past couple of months. First of all....I'm no longer in Texas..:( I've relocated to Lawrence, Kansas, a small college town somewhere in Kansas. Technically, my lil' family had moved here. It was not an easy decision but it was for a better good, rather, a better goal. So despite all reluctance to move from Texas, a place where we have called home for ten years, we packed up whatever we could hold in two cars and left the state to another. It was heartwrenching for me. Sometimes, you never know what you had lost till you lose it. I didn't think I would miss Texas that much. After a while, I began to realise that I was homesick!! Strange even to say it.
When I first lived in Texas, I chanced upon this bumper sticker, it said "I wasn't born in Texas, but I came as fast a I could". I thought that was just too funny. Now that I'm no
longer residing there, I totally understand what that means.

Texas is one of those places that grows on you, it sneaks under your skin and before you know it, you're hooked! I'm always a little cynical of Texas' bigger than life mentality and sneered a little at their belief of it being a "worldly metropolitan" city. Well, I was wrong! Yes, it has its quirks and what not but trust that bumper sticker! The only regret I had was that I didn't really "make use" of my time there. In retrospect, I could have "utilize" my time there a little better. As for considering itself as a metropolitan town. It is, in its own special way; it's very multi-cultural and you have almost everything you would need in that lil' big town.
All in all, Texas is a big state with an even bigger heart! Definitely one of the friendliest people I had ever met! You know what, I could even live with the heat if I could stay there just one more day. Alas, we had to move and move we did......

Lawrence is a good place for small families like us but it's not Texas. Being brought up in a city environment, I guess I'm just not used to the small town, country life. Lawrence has its beauty, it's very scenic (codeword for country/rural) and very quaint (codeword for one of everything instead of 50 of everything). You don't pay for "options" of the big city which is a very good

thing. And once I get over the FACT that it's NOT Texas, I think I would be able to enjoy its perks. Meanwhile I'll just wallow over the fact that I'm no longer IN Texas!!! Lawrence, Kansas is a good place but Texas....an even better place...

The pics here are taken on my day in Lawrence from our apt balconey. All that snow is a pretty sight, a definite change from Texas scenery (give my city skyline!!). My husband had been real "guilty" about the move since he knew I love the city life, so he had been so nice as to drive us to Kansas City each weekend so I wouldn't be that "homesick". It's awfully sweet of him, but really, I'm sick of the long drive already!!!! On a bittersweet note, we are going back to Dallas next week................TO PACK UP THE REST OF OUR STUFF FOR THE MOVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!