Shelter In Place Week 13- Beach Everyday | 第13周自主隔離

Shelter in place restrictions have relaxed a bit, we can now shop at off base grocery stores, and even exercise, hike and swim outdoors. Still can’t dine out with friends, but at least we can take fitness classes together on base. Even if it’s just for an hour or two, standing six feet apart and wearing a mask, I’m still happy that I get to catch up with my friends. 

自主隔離規定終於放鬆一點，能到當地超市買菜，還能上山下海出門玩。雖然無法和朋友一起在外用餐，但能一起上基地裡的運動課，算是朋友小小聚會吧！現在一兩小時的相遇，即使戴著口罩隔著6英尺距離聊天都覺得好開心。

Sunabe 砂辺

On this first day of August, we went scuba diving! Every time we decide to go scuba diving, I don’t sleep well the night before. But once I get into the water I’m back to normal again. Super thankful for my friend C for helping me! The choppy waves almost took away my fins, flooded my mask, and on top of that the steel tank was too heavy that I couldn’t float. I was extremely nervous, and made me miss doing boat dives. My friend C took us to see underwater UFO. As we got closer to it, the vision became blurry, the water felt a little warmer. Same as before, nervous while on land, but had a blast underwater. 

八月第一天我們和朋友一起去潛水！每次潛水前一晚我一定無法睡好，UN還要精神喊話，但每次到水底下就一切正常。真的很感謝朋友C幫忙，這次剛下水，因浪太大，我的蛙鞋被沖掉、蛙鏡進水、氣瓶太重浮不起來，把我嚇到失去理智，懷念能坐船出海潛水的時候啊！這次朋友C帶我們去看海底UFO，靠近時視線變模糊，還以為是蛙鏡起霧，附近的水也變溫熱。老樣子，陸地上超緊張，海底下超興奮。

White Beach

This is a beach on a military base, has outdoor grill and camping trailers for rent. Would be a good place to watch the stars and sunrise. During low tide, you can walk to a nearby island. Yes we did that, but as we were coming back the tide started rising. The path we walked through was flooded with ocean water taller than me on the way back. We eventually swam our way back to shore, defeated and exhausted. 

這是海軍基地裡的海邊，有烤爐能做BBQ、能在這露營，想必可以看到滿天星星，早上還能看日出。退潮時能從海邊走到另外一塊小島，是的我們做了這件事，但走回來時卻遇上漲潮。我們和朋友們都傻眼，原本走的路變成一片大海，水深浪大讓我們狼狽到極致，游回岸上後我們已累爆。

Chicken Thighs With Tomatoes and Feta from Bon Appetit

I swear I followed the recipe this time, but why does it look so different than the pictures in magazine? I may have lost points on presentation, but I made up for it with Harissa paste and the juicy tomatoes. Tasted great! Easy to make. 

明明照著食譜做，怎麼和雜誌裡照片差這麼遠？雖然賣相不及格，但有Harrisa Paste和番茄加持，味道很棒，而且做法很簡單。

It’s typhoon season again, won’t be able to go anywhere anymore. 

颱風好像快來了，這下子不就哪都去不了了！

Shelter In Place Week 12- Focaccia | 第12周自主隔離

Due to the pandemic, we’ve cancelled many trips since March. The most disappointing of all is the cancellation of Tokyo Olympics. I have no doubt that Japan spent a lot of efforts meticulously planned out these world games, only to be postpone by this heartless virus. UN and I jumped through many hoops to purchase Olympic tickets and book a hotel stay. We even planned to climb Mount Fuji after the Olympic Games. Such a big let down! 

從三月開始因疫情關係，我們已經取消許多旅遊行程，但取消2020東京奧運是我最生氣也最失望的。生氣無情的Coronavirus莫名來襲打亂全球運作，日本這麼精心準備這次盛會卻必須延後。而朋友們也知道，我和UN多期待能現場觀看奧運，還為了買票訂飯店動用許多人力。我們還打算看完奧運要去爬富士山呢！唉，我們這麼期待怎麼可能不失望呢！

On the plus side, I spent 26 hours and made focaccia for the first time! UN and my friend both complimented the taste, was a real confidence booster. What should I try to bake next?

來點正向能量吧！我花了將近26小時做出focaccia，而且味道很不錯。讓我重拾做麵包的信心，下次挑戰什麼呢？

Shelter In Place Week 11- Weekend Cooking | 第11周自主隔離

Lately with COVID, UN’s job has gotten much busier. He leaves for work early and comes back later than usual, sometimes answering work-related phone calls and text before bed. With him working on the weekends, I have nowhere to go, so I started baking cakes at home.

最近UN因疫情關係忙到不行，早出晚歸就算了，睡覺前一秒還在工作。週末也需要上班，我無處可去只好開始在家烤蛋糕。還我自由啊！

Basque Burnt Cheesecake

This was very popular on social media. My first attempt almost burned the whole kitchen down. I forgot to trim the baking paper and it caught on fire as soon as it entered the 400F oven. Thank God UN was home to put out the fire. Created a huge mess, especially on the floor that UN just mopped less than 10 minutes ago. After that disastrous episode, I’m very determined not to burn another cake. I videotaped my baking (evidence in case of another fire), and it turned out very well this time!

前陣子似乎大家都在做這款蛋糕，我當然也很跟風做了一次，但完全大失敗。原因在於我沒把烘培紙修剪，碰到400多度的烤箱上層而起火。把我和UN嚇到快點救火，UN剛清完的地板不到10分鐘被我搞砸。繼那次後陰影極重，怕蛋糕再次著火。這次做蛋糕時還拍了影片，怕起火沒證據，非常成功（沒發爐！）

San Se Dan 三色蛋

It’s incredulous that in this Taiwanese food dessert, Okinawa, I was able to find salted eggs and thousand year eggs! To be honest I’m not the biggest fan of these types of eggs, but I bought them because I found the recipe for San Se Dan (three-colored eggs.) I don’t think I’ve tried San Se Dan before. Much can be improved from this first trial. Next time I will cook the salted eggs and thousand year eggs first to harden the egg yolk. Easier to cut and won’t look messy that way. I would steam the egg whites for more than 15 minutes to make sure they are fully cooked. UN loved the San Se Dan, but I’m still not a fan of the taste of thousand year egg. 

天啊，在沖繩這台灣料理沙漠裡，我竟然在業務超市找到鹹鴨蛋和皮蛋！即使我不愛吃這兩色蛋，我也買了！上網查一下能做三色蛋，我其實沒吃過三色蛋，做的極度失敗。下次我會先把鴨蛋和皮蛋用水煮燙，讓蛋心煮熟（變硬），切起來會比較好看也比較不凌亂。第一次蒸蛋白時，應該要蒸至少15分鐘，確定蛋白完全熟。UN非常喜歡這次做的三色蛋，但我還是不太習慣皮蛋的味道。

Creme Brulee

The theme for this weekend is eggs! In college I met a chef who was an expert at making cream brûlée. He told me that if I knew what goes into making cream brûlée I wouldn’t want to eat it. He’s exactly right! I keep double checking to make sure I wasn’t reading the recipe wrong, and it feels like I used a whole bag of sugar. This level of sweetness is even scary for someone with a sweet tooth like yours truly. Does anyone know why there are small scratches marks on the cream brûlée after they come out of the oven?

這週末都是和蛋有關的料理！在大學時有位廚師很會做Creme Brulee，那時他說如果我們知道裡面有多少糖就不會想吃了。完全沒錯！看著食譜一直反覆檢查我是否看錯單位，一直猛倒糖，雖然天天必吃甜食，但這糖量我感到害怕。最後想請問為什麼布丁烤出來的會有一痕一痕像是被叉子搓過？

See you next week!

下週見啦！