The More The Merrier

Thanks to the internet, iPads and Skype

these family pictures have more family members

than were physically home for Father's 80th birthday.

(Apparently waking up London Eye was not an option.)

Photos from the camera of Eldest Sis.

Let us add digital cameras and the timer function to that 'thank you' list.

Father's Day!

Usually, J and Z are in the home country with Father and Mother.  When I arrived on the 16th of May, that made three of us.

Jersey Girl arrived on the 18th from Taiwan, Sister Deer arrived on the afternoon of the 19th from HK, finally, Eldest Sis and Mindy arrived near midnight from the US having taken the long flight together.  The moment they landed, there was a clear majority of the children in Manila.

What a treat to be with home.  Father was celebrating his 80th birthday.

It was great to see everyone and be with everyone.

There were a lot of funny stories.  I particularly love what happened on the morning of the 20 May.

We were expecting Eldest Sis and Mindy to arrive while everyone was still sleeping. Mother woke up early (before 4AM?) and saw one of her daughters walking along the hall. It was Mindy, who was having trouble sleeping as she was still working on Florida hours. 

Mother obviously didn't recognise which daughter was there because she asked, "Is Mindy home already?"

"Yes, Mom.  It's me."  (Or something to that effect.)

Later that morning, when Father woke up, he found us already at the dining table. We were talking about the notes we had left for each other. I had left a note for Sister Deer because I had thought she'd be coming home to an empty house as a result of the doctor's appointments and the last minute changes that happened on Tuesday afternoon.  Apparently she had arrived a bit late so the note was not needed. Jersey Girl had also left a note for Eldest Sis and Mindy about the sleeping arrangements which Z taped onto the door but apparently the tape wasn't strong enough and the note fell off.

Anyway, I found the note for Sister Deer was reading the note as Father entered the room.  My back was facing the door at the time and he was overjoyed to hear the laughter and chatter. 

He joyfully announced, "Oh it's so nice to have everybody home!"    

Then he hugged me from behind and said, "It's nice to have you home, Mindy!"  

I found that so amusing because I don't think I've ever been mistaken for a sibling from behind.  It is usually mistaken identity because of my face.  

I turned around and hugged Father back, "Yes Father, but I'm not Mindy."  

We all laughed.

OK, so we do look alike.

Happy Father's Day, Father!

The greetings are for your birthday in May 

while we were all together

and for today, Father's Day

even if we are apart.

Lighting Up Town Hall

Town Hall is right across the office.

It looks pretty when it is all lit up.

These were taken on different evenings.

Double Rainbow Sighting

It has been raining for the past few days.

One nice thing about the rain is the possibility of a rainbow when the sun comes out.

Or better yet, a double rainbow!

This was the view on our side of the building.

(The second rainbow is quite faint in the photo.)

 At the far corner, the other end of the rainbows could be seen.

This was my attempt at the panoramic shot.

I went outside hoping to get a better shot.

When I got there, the double rainbows were not really visible.

In fact, it is possible that the people on the streets

didn't even realise the rainbows were there.

Vintage Buses

It's the Queen's Birthday holiday.

I had to report for work.

I chanced upon an unusual sight.

I wondered if my eyes were deceiving me.

This was not the usual bus on the streets of Sydney.

It doesn't accept Opal cards, of course.

Look, Up in the Sky

I love looking up in the sky.

Everyday God shows us a new picture.

'Round the World ... Literally

It's here!  It's finally here!

It only took almost two years to arrive but it certainly was worth the wait.

My aebelskiver pan is here!

I'd once written about it in my blogpost 'Round the World .  That was way back in July 2013 and I was talking about the round food items various countries have to offer.  Even back then I was keen on getting an aebelskiver pan.   

Little did I know that my aebelskiver pan would be a well seasoned traveler.  

In August 2013, I sent a message to Mindy asking her to scout around for an aebelskiver pan for me.  I even gave her a recipe I'd found:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

• 2 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom or ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg 
• 1 cup milk
• About 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Preparation

1. 1. In a bowl, mix flour with sugar, baking powder, cardamom, and salt. In a small bowl, beat egg to blend with milk and 2 tablespoons butter. Add liquids to dry ingredients and stir until evenly moistened.
2. 2. Place an aebleskiver pan over medium-low heat. When pan is hot enough to make a drop of water dance, brush pancake cups lightly with melted butter and fill each to slightly below the rim with batter.
3. 3. In about 1 1/2 minutes, thin crusts will form on bottoms of balls (centers will still be wet); pierce the crust with a slender wood skewer and gently pull shell to rotate the pancake ball until about half the cooked portion is above the cup rim and uncooked batter flows down into cup. Cook until crust on bottom of ball is again firm enough to pierce, about another minute, then rotate ball with skewer until the ridge formed as the pancake first cooked is on top. Cook, turning occasionally with skewer, until balls are evenly browned and no longer moist in the center, another 10 to 12 minutes. Check by piercing center of last pancake ball added to pan with skewer--it should come out clean--or by breaking the ball open slightly; if balls start to get too brown, turn heat to low until they are cooked in the center. Lift cooked balls from pan and serve hot (see notes). Repeat to cook remaining batter.

In September 2013, Mindy reported that she had found one that was within my USD25 budget in eBay.  It is a Griswold, no less.  

Here is a very nice example vintage Griswold No. 32 cast iron Ebelskiver or Abelskiver pan.  Marked 962 A on bottom edge.  Looking to date from the 1920's, pan is in excellent condition with seasoning mostly intact.  A few very minor pit spots in some cup bases.  Measures 13 3/4" long at handle, and 1 3/4" high.  A nice clean vintage Griswold Abelskiver or Munk pan, ready for your kitchen or collection!  Feel free to email me with any questions you may have.  Buyer only pays actual shipping cost with no handling charges.

I told her to hang on to the pan.  I would eventually visit her and pick up my pan, I said.

The pan stayed with her for over a year.   I had not given any indication of going to the States so she made arrangements for the pan to travel to reach Manila.  

She figured it seemed more likely for me to visit Father and Mother (and J and Z) rather than Mickey Mouse at Disney World or Shamu, the famous killer whale at SeaWorld Orlando.   She passed on the pan to Jersey Girl who went there for a short stay in 2014.  

In November 2014, Jersey Girl reported that the pan had reached the Asian continent in one piece.  It was with her in Taiwan.  The pan was making its way to Manila and once it got there, I just had to go home and pick it up.  

Jersey Girl brought it with her when she went home later that year.  So the pan was there but I was not.

Last December, I made plans to visit Manila so that I could be home for Father's 80th birthday.  Picking up the aebelskiver pan was secondary on the agenda.  It was so secondary that my initial flight arrangements did not really take into consideration to size and weight of the pan.  It was only when Mother showed me the pan (and the box it came in) during one of our Skype sessions leading up to my visit, that I realised I would need extra luggage space if I wanted to bring the pan back with me during that trip.

All's well that ends well.  I bought extra luggage space for my trip.  I got to go home for Father's birthday last May.  Several other siblings also went home so majority of us were there to celebrate.   I got to be with family and friends.  Needless to say I ate a lot and didn't get to exercise.  But I had sufficient luggage allowance to bring back my well-traveled aebelskiver pan.

Today being my first Saturday back, I declared it my Aebelskiver Pan Testing day.

We started out with the recipe similar to the above which made a total of 14 aebelskivers.

We decided to test a second recipe because they were selling like hot cakes (or should I say 'selling like danish pancakes'?).    This one had more eggs and milk so we were hoping to make a bigger batch..

3 eggs, separated
2 cups buttermilk
1 1⁄2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cardamom or 1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon or 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons melted butter

DIRECTIONS
Beat egg whites until stiff; set aside.
Beat egg yolks and buttermilk together.
Sift dry ingredients together and add to liquid mixture.
Add the melted butter and mix together until smooth.
Fold in beaten egg whites.
Fill pan cups about 1/4 full of oil and heat.
Fill pan cups with batter. 
If you are adding jam, jelly, or applesauce to the middle add it now, only about a 1/4 teaspoons
Bake until the edges are bubbly.

Turn (using a fork, knitting needle, or toothpick) and continue turning until evenly browned and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

We don't have buttermilk so we just added 2 t vinegar to the milk.  We opted to put some pieces of apple in two batches, nutella in the third, and leave the last batch plain.  So all in all we made almost 30 aebelskivers with this recipe.   We managed to make a decent number of aebelskivers that were perfectly spherical.  They were really pretty.  The apple and nutella versions were the best.

Next up ... takoyaki!

With Our Youngest

Mother and child 

across the globe.

Taiwan ... Manila ... Florida ... Sydney