Hot Pot

  Guess what I've found out today? Rice cooker can be used to cook Hot Pot!
  Today I woke up around 8 and I felt very fresh and evergetic. I was so thrilled partly because we were going to see our friends, partly because I could swim, and mostly because we were going to get a taste of Hot Pot today!
   I met Jassamine and Mark in Sears when I was called in for a cash shift. Since we left my homeland, I have been always kept my ears alert to anything relate to China-inluding the familiar Chinese syllables, of course. Jassamine handed me over what she had chosen while she was talking to Mark that she was worried they would shrink after wash. What took me by surprise was Mark's perfect Chinese answer. I swear he could have been mistaken as a Chinese if you didn't see his face at that moment. I looked at them out of curiosity and answered in Chinese, "Wash with cold water." Then we got into a short conversation, from which I knew they met in China which Mark was teaching oversees, Jessamine majored in English and graduated from a teacher universaty, and they got married in China and later moved back to Canada! Hmmm, does this sound familiar? I gave them my phone number and asked them to call so that we could chat more. A month or so, Jessamine found a job in cosmetic department at Sears. That was when our friendship started.
  As far as I know, Jessamine is a better cook than I am. She knows how to cook so many Chinese dishes that I could only dream of. Anyways, let's start the story of today for now.
  I got up in the morning and read half an hour of "Outlander", and dicided to have my daily run as usual. (I've been working hard to get back to shape again lately.) We left the house after our breakfast and a quick shower.
  By the time we arrived at their house, it was around 11:30. After a brief visit, we headed to their swim pool. I love swimming and one of my dreams is to own a pool in the future. Jessamine and I both got our swim wears in Sears. I asked about the colour and style of hers before and she said it was secretive and I had to wait and see. It turned out we got the exact same one. Of course, both Simon and Mark thought we were so hot with our new purchase. And my Simon couldn't even hold a camera straight when two pretty girls in bikinis stood in front of him. Those two pictures are the only two clear ones among the bunch.  I think we look a bit like sisters except my hair is too curly. What do you think?

  Swimming was fun as always. We went back to their house one hour later. Jessamine and I immidietely got into kicken and started making Green Onion pancakes. She was an expert and I was her student. She also made us an absolutely delicious soup out of meat balls, a tomato, a touch of green onion and tiny bit of corriander.
  After lunch we started Mahjang, which is Simon's favorite game in the whole world. We hadn't played since we got back because it requires four people and it's very time-consuming. Obviously it was Mark's first time and I had to say he picked it up very fast. After the game, they had a couple of friends visiting and I made up my mind to the pool again. Simon said he had swam out for today, so I did it alone.


  About five thirty, I moved my way up to their apartment and lent a hand in preparing Hot Pot.
We started with cutting a variety of vegetables: Chinese Bok Choy, Endive, mushrooms, lettuce, sweet potatoes and potatoes and Tofu if you call it vegetable. The meat was bought in packages and was already sliced. The broth, used to put into the rice cooker, was made of beef broth with two slices of ginger, one whole green onion, Sichuan pepper, star anise and a cinnamon stick. The dip sauce was out of sesame paste mixed with a bit water. We also prepared some coriander and green onion and a jar of smelly Tofu to add a strong flavor into the dip. Today is the first day in my life to try that thing. My parents have always loved Smelly Tofu and tried every trick to get me into it too. I always refused to even touch it. Simon doesn't like having it alone but he loves the taste of it in his dip sauce for Hot Pot, however I was still not brave enough to try it after he made himself an example. Today, I decided to see if the world would stop turning if I dip my chopstick into it. And the result was the I love it in my sauce too. Our hot pot went great and everyone of us stuffed ourselves silly at the end. 

    Mark and Jessamine kindly gave us a ride home after the party. And today is just such a perfect day. We're taking them over for Simon's stuffed chicken in October.