1) Merry Christmas everyone! It seems like Christmas is so far away, but it's not. Sometimes it's hard to get the feel of the season when it's 60 degrees and sunny outside (this is Utah girl talking here). We will be gone over Christmas and New years, but we'll send out a "Happy Holidays letter" when we get back.
2) I just got off the phone and thought it was pretty amazing that I could be sitting here in Hanoi using our American phone (Vonage) to call next door to Laos to book a hotel for our upcoming trip. Isn't the internet amazing?!? Aside from the language barrier, the connection is good.
3) I made Christmas cookies to hand out to friends in Hanoi - stop drooling all of you on the other side of the globe who wish that you had a plate : ) As I was baking I really came to value precious resources - it sounds funny from a kitchen point of view, but that was my a-ha.
Cranberry-pistaccio biscotti, Truffle cookies, Mint brownies, Spice sugar cookies, Annee's chocolate chip cookies, Mrs. Field's cookies with a Marchant twist cookies, Gingerbread cookies with lebkuchen glaze. Is that all?!? I promise I was in the kitchen for DAYS!
Olive oil for the biscotti: I almost used the last of our olive oil from Italy (most people fill their suitcases with wine from their time spent in Italy, but we brought back bottles of olive oil). This bottle went from Italy to Prague to DC to Hanoi.
Butter: All butter is imported to Hanoi. French butter seems to be the least expensive, so that's what we buy. Before my baking fest, I went out shopping and spent 600,000 VND (36 USD) on butter, flour and eggs. The butter cost $4.50 USD per cup - crazy! Oh well, anything for keeping a tradition alive, right? I've discovered that I love to cook and bake for those I love and care about. I discovered this passion a few years ago, interesting huh?
Other resources I used up: almond extract, molasses, ground ginger, white chocolate chips. I guess I'll be stocking up on a few things when I return to the States in the spring.
3) I went to see Twilight. I went to the 10:00 a.m. showing on Wednesday. I thought I would be the only one in there, but to my surprise it was packed with every teen girl in Hanoi. My thought: aren't they supposed to be in school or working? All of them giggled when Edward made his entrance onto the big screen. I had just as much fun watching and hearing their responses to the film as I did watching the actual movie. I laughed out loud in some parts due to the cheese factor, and other parts I was impressed. My friend Natasha was disappointed that I went without her, so it looks like I will be going again when we get back from Laos. I think it would be fun to see it again with someone else who has read the books.
4) Admission of guilt...I need to blog about our last trip. It was fun and I just haven't put it together yet. I'll add that to the "to do" list before we fly out for Laos tomorrow afternoon : )
