Well, I wasn’t disappointed. It was well past midnight by the time they showed the medal ceremony for the ice dancing competition but it was worth putting off sleep. I would have given out three gold medals last night. The competition was that good. But in the end, the right teams were on the podium without any controversy. And I loved it that the Canadian gold medalists were belting out their anthem along with the entire audience. That’s what I call an Olympics moment.
So OK, yesterday I said I wanted to be Vera Wang for a day. Today I think I’d rather be an Olympian ice dancer, with a super cute Vera Wang designed costume instead of my puffy parka below when I hit the ice in Belgium–
My favorite outfit from the entire competition was the open-back red dress Russian Oksana Domnina wore for the compulsory dance. Heck, if I looked like her in that dress I would have worn it off the ice, to dinner, to the dentist. Maybe I’d just sit around the house in it. And if I were an Olympian, I think any hardware would do; I’m not difficult (famous last words)!
Tonight the ladies’ figure skating competition begins so I guess more late nights are ahead of me. But tomorrow, let’s go back to FIMTSO. And if you have any particular item you’d like to see as a test item for this series, do email me or leave a comment.
Tags: ice dancing, Oksana Domnina, Vera Wang
The Vancouver winter Olympics this year is practically in my backyard (well, it’s on the west coast) but NBC is still doing tape delay in my time zone. So it’s been tough to stay off the internet in order to watch the events before the results are released everywhere. What’s tougher is watching some of the events start after 10pm on TV when I know they have already finished in real time. It’s frustrating to not be able to watch a sporting event live, but no doubt I am fixated on all of the skating events, from short track to figure skating.
Ice skating has traditionally been fueled with politics, and the recently revised scoring system doesn’t seem to have tempered the tension at all. From the old battles of the cold war to the fighting words of the new war between the two camps, whether you are Team Lysacek or Team Plushenko, the world of figure skating has not changed much. But that’s part of the hassle of watching this great sport. So many drama kings and queens in the mix…and I’m just talking about the commentators, coaches, and judges. As a fan I have to filter out all the noise and just enjoy the skating because, all trash talking aside, there’s been some fantastic skating so far.The focus should just be on the athletes. I can’t wait to watch the next few ice dancing competitions. Imagine all the drama, fashion, and tension that have to unfold on top of the ballroom dancing on ice blades. What’s more entertaining than that!
If I could be anyone for one day it might be designer Vera Wang. I’d offer my services to outfit all of the Olympian skaters and not just Lysacek. BTW, did anyone notice the encrusted snakes on Lysacek’s costume in his long program? She had released that same wrap-around snake as a necklace a season or two ago, which I wasn’t able to score. So if I were Vera for a day I could snag that necklace for myself and crank out a couple of outfits for the pairs teams as well!
Well, I’m going back to the Tivo to see what else NBC aired around 2am…most likely the medal ceremonies. Is it just me or do you also wish the athletes knew the words to their national anthems? I think if I were on the podium I’d be bawling while howling the anthem. It’s probably a good thing I’m not an Olympian. Anyway, I think the best way to see the Olympics is to brush out the old passport. Sochi, see you in 2014.
Tags: figure skating, Lysacek, Plushenko, Sochi, Vancouver, Vera Wang, Winter Olympics
It’s rare that two holidays fall on the same day, but today we get to celebrate both Lunar New Year’s Day and Valentine’s Day. Tradition has it that you are supposed to do today what you’d like for the rest of your year to be. Which means no working, no bickering, and no spending money unless it’s for eating out or handing out red envelopes. Translation: family time and eating time. Lots of eating in fact. It’s the one day you get a pass on your diet! It’s also the one day you should be wearing a brand new outfit, preferably with red in it. I’m not a superstitious person so I don’t know if all these traditions bear any on your luck, but it’s a good excuse as any to dress up!
The first pic is of my baby niece Lil A in the traditional áo dài and her first pair of heels. I know, she’s not a year old yet but we are very early to fashion in my family. I heart Lil A.
As for me, I’m still debating over which ensemble makes the cut, but it won’t matter anyway. Because my New Year/Valentine bag I got a week ago (technically before my resolution started!) is so bright no one will notice anything else I’m wearing but this bag:
I love the chevron pattern on the delicious patent leather. A bit retro, a bit modern, and a lot of sass. Just the right way to start the Year of the Tiger.
Tags: ao dai, chevron, Valentine's Day, year of the tiger
By the time you read this the Year of the Tiger has already begun in Asia. Here in LA, it is just the eve of Tết (Vietnamese lunar new year) so I’ll take a quick break from the FIMTSO series to blog about one of our new year traditions: the bánh chưng, a salty cake made of glutinous rice stuffed with pork and mungbean…
and wrapped in lá dong (leaves), which are sometimes substituted with banana leaves.
The lore behind this cake is that King Hùng Vương had a competition for all of his sons to determine who could create the most delicious dish to be offered to the ancestors at the altar. The reward for first place was the throne to the land. Legend had it that the bánh chưng was created by the king’s poorest son who had no money to buy expensive ingredients like his brothers did. Instead, he wrapped the common ingredients of pork and mungbean inside rice flour, in the shape of a green-leafed square to represent the earth…
The bánh chưng was accompanied by the bánh giày, a plain cake of glutinous flour in a round shape to represent the sky. King Hùng Vương was so moved by the delicious concoction made of simple, every day ingredients, presented in way so respectful of the universe and ancestors that he deemed this dish a national dish, and our pauper prince Lang Liêu won the throne.
So to this day, the bánh chưng is associated with Tết and you will find it on most if not all Vietnamese altars and dining tables. But these days you can buy it year-round at Vietnamese stores. For a few Vietnamese churches and temples it is a big fundraising event around the lunar new year. At my parents’ church in Texas earlier this month (where these pictures were taken) I was lucky enough to volunteer a few hours one afternoon with the parishioners whose assembly line has been perfected after all these years. In a meeting room, tables are set up as stations. Volunteers are assigned to cutting leaves, cleaning leaves, preparing the ingredients, forming the cakes, wrapping the cakes, and tying the wrapped cakes. As a newbie I was only allowed to clean the leaves but next time, I’ve got my eye on building the cake inside the bamboo molds.
Their bánh chưng has been (mail) ordered by families around the country and even shipped across the continents to sons and daughters serving in Iraq and unable to celebrate Tết at home. I didn’t go through the proper channels to get permission this time so I can’t identify this church. But next year I will so that I can plug them a little bit more here…not that they need my help. Their wait list is a mile long.
The bánh chưng is literally cooked to death for 14 hours, and if you are lucky enough to eat it fresh, steaming warm, then it’s moist and sticky to the taste. You can freeze the leftover and re-steam it after a year without losing any flavor. But my favorite way is to flatten then pan-fry it till it is crispy:
My mom has special ordered a vegetarian one for me and I’ll get that in a couple of weeks when she comes out here. My mouth is already watering thinking about it. There is a cool way to open this cake and I’ll blog about it later.
At the risk of identifying a few faces here, I thought I’d post this video showing the last step of tying the bánh chưng so you can get a glimpse of this wonderful tradition:
Happy New Year everyone!
Tags: bánh chưng, bánh giày, Hùng Vương, Lang Liêu, Tết, year of the tiger
The Vietnamese new year (Tết) falls on February 14 this year. And as a lead into the new year, I’ll be blogging about cooking and fashion, two fun topics that I hope to cover more this year.
Today I’m actually just talking about the two different sauces that are used for spring rolls (the ones that are not fried like your basic egg rolls). There’s always the tried and true nước chấm that’s fish sauce based:
Alternatively, there’s the nước tương, which is a hoisin sauce based dipping sauce that’s a bit sweeter, thicker, and richer to the taste:
And this is the recipe for it:
Nước tương
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon crushed roasted peanuts (optional)
Blend all ingredients except for the crushed peanuts well over very low heat for a few minutes until the corn starch is fully dissolved. Add a touch of water if it is too thick. Remove from pan and let it cool.
Add red chili sauce (Sriracha or any other brand) to taste.
Sprinkle crushed roasted peanuts on top if desired. Serves 2-3 people or 6 large rolls.
In the above photos I am serving the sauce with (click on this link for the recipe) nem nướng as previously shown here:
And in this more recent video, I’m showing my trick of rolling the perfect spring roll. There’s nothing to it–just roll with it!
Tags: hoisin sauce, nước chấm, nước tương, spring roll
