Strawberry has always been one of my favorite fruits growing up. Strawberry picking is another favorite childhood memory that I had with this fruit. As an immigrant family, we were well-known to be picking "berries" during the summer for that extra income. It was not much. I remembered getting $20-30 for the entire day. Looking back, berries picking or any fruit picking task is extremely hard work. But did we know? We were those silly teenager girls who just wanted to make a few extra dollars to buy a new shirt or a new book. For my sister, my cousin and I, it was a fun summer job. There were early morning rises, like 4 o'clock in the morning. We would be putting on 2-3 layers of clothing along with beanies and gloves to preparing for a "so-called fun" day. These layers would be peeled off thorough the day with the demanding physical activities and the burning sun shining over heads. We had to pack lunch as we would be spending at least 12 hours at the field. And there wasn't just us! At the farm, we would see many other Vietnamese and Asian families, and it felt like we were in a small community during these days. Most of my friends were also growing up picking berries. My husband and his family were also working in the same fields at the exact time as well. However, the funny thing is we had never encountered each other—not even once. But fate brought us together a few years later at a Ngoc Son Tinh Xa Temple in 1997.
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~ This posting is dedicated to the best Daddy in this world. ~ From DinhPhong & NhaUyen Happy Father's Day! This month is packed with endless activities, events and a whole lot of baking...more than I could possibly have time for. Although I am extremely busy this last two weeks, I still try to squeeze out time to make some of these goodies for my children's best Dad--the most important man in our lives. My husband is an amazing father to our kids and we do not always express our appreciation to him on a day to day basis. Today, I want to thank him for helping me raise our two beautiful, smart children, and for trying to be the best role model for them. And he does most of the cleaning in the house for me and not to mention all of those laundry over the last 7 years. So, I never had to learn to use the washer or the dryer, and I am thankful for that! I do however certainly help folding them clothes though.
~ This post is dedicated to the World's Best Dad a daughter could ask for! I love you, Dad! ~ My dad, to me, is truly the best father in this world! He is probably the kindest man I will ever know in my life. I am sure that I’d learned to be kind from Dad, as he has taught me to always put others first. As a little girl, Dad and I would sit on our backyard swing and talk about what summer has in store for us. I would always hug Dad from behind, and he was my "Big Fat Bear." Dad was and is still the hero that rescues us from our day to day problems, from fixing the house appliances, building the backyard deck to eating our leftover meals. Up until now, as a grandfather, he still helps making custom highchair for the kids or fixing the cabinets for our house. One day, I would want my son to become a handyman, just like Dad.
Like most Vietnamese fathers, Dad is a man of a few words. But he is always the one that I would come to when I hit a bump or two (or hundreds) in my life. This is especially true now that I am an adult. With Dad, I can usually find serenity—a backbone for the kind of support that words cannot describe…nor needed. We could sit together over lunch or dinner, sometimes in silence, while enjoying each other's company. I have and will always value these moments with Dad. Every. Single. Time. Imagine that sweet romantic shade of soft pink pairs with the enriched, fresh scent of beautiful peonies. This combination makes an ideal theme for any celebration of love, and in this case, a hopelessly rustic dreamy bridal's shower. I made this cake for a friend, who was also my student a few years ago, before she becomes the Mrs. She likes gold, peonies and pink champagne. And I thought I should incorporate all of these elements into this cake. I am extra fond with peonies as they were the main flowers for my wedding—a sentiment reason. And, if you haven't already noticed, pink is my favorite color (surprise!). Therefore, this request is almost too easy to deliver. I love looking at what seems to be “thousands of petals” covering a cluster of stamens in the center. One of these days, I should really plant more peonies in my garden and stop “stealing” them from my father-in-law’s garden.
It is strange to think about mixing sweet dessert, a cake, with savory things like salted eggs and sausages and dried shredded pork. But apparently, this type of savory sponge cake is the hit in Saigon for the last few years. And it is also my sister's favorite type of cake. She has been asking for this cake for a while now, and I finally get around to experiment the recipe. If you ask what the difficult part of this cake is, I would say it is to collecting the toppings for the cake. Mostly because my family does not eat dried shredded pork or salted egg yolks on a regular basis, thus the hunting was on for the last few months to ensure I attained these quality products. I suggest if you are planning on making this cake, be prepared to have all of the ingredients on hands before attempting the recipe. These toppings are the highlights of savory sponge cake.
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This website uses marketing and tracking technologies. Opting out of this will opt you out of all cookies, except for those needed to run the website. Note that some products may not work as well without tracking cookies. Opt Out of CookiesAboutTristina TiepNhu Nguyen is a pharmacist by weekday and a baker by weekend. She is also a wife and a mother of two children. Free Cake Tutorials!Sign up for my newsletter and you will be the first to know about my new recipes and cake tutorials!
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