Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins

Raspberry-Topped Lemon Muffins

1 1/8 cups sugar, divided

4 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel (from two large lemons)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

1 cup buttermilk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 pint containers fresh raspberries

Preheat oven to 375F. Line 14 standard muffin cups (or 56 minis) with paper liners. Mash 1/8 cup sugar and lemon peel in small bowl until sugar is slightly moist. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat remaining 1 cup sugar and butter in large bowl until smooth. Beat in egg. Beat in buttermilk, then vanilla and lemon sugar. Beat in flour mixture.

Divide batter among muffin cups (the 2/3 to 3/4 level worked well for minis). Top each large muffin with four raspberries (or one for each mini). Bake muffins until lightly browned on top and tester inserted into centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes (baking time was on the shy side of 20 minutes for minis).

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Thanks, LB for introducing me to Smitten Kitchen! The muffins were excellent! Next time, Q and I will try making them as minis.

Deadliest Catch

This year has been a good one for me so far! So, to celebrate all things great and wonderful, I took my parents and my brother for a king crab meal. Of course, our favourite sasquatch came along too!

Check out these beauties. They're pretty big, eh? We had one that was slightly under 7 pounds.

The crab was served four ways. The first course was steamed. The second course (which I forgot to take a photo of) looked very similar to the first course, but was cooked with garlic.

This is the third course - the crab was deep fried and slightly spicy.

For the last course, the crab was cooked with rice.

We had a great meal! Here's hoping the rest of the year goes well too!

Birthday Cake

Q and his friends, Conan and Frankie, helped me celebrate my birthday on the weekend. Q was a birthday gift from my friend, SN, last year. I know I tell you this often, SN, but Q is the best present ever!!! Thanks again :)

TGIF!

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

Xi'an, The Eternal City

Xi'an is the capital of Shaanxi province. It is one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China because it has been the capital of some of the most important dynasties in Chinese history, including the Zhou, Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties.

The first night we were in Xi'an we had a dumpling dinner. Each round of dumplings was a different colour, smell, taste, and style. I think we sampled 18 types in total!

The Drum Tower was initially built in 1380 during the reign of Emperor Hongwu of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). I didn't have a chance to go up it, but it was very impressive, even from a distance!

The night market in Xi'an was very lively. I tried a few snacks from some of the hawkers. Everything was delicious and oh so cheap. Why can't they sell anything other than hot dogs on the street in Toronto?!?

The Terracotta Army was my favourite attraction in Xi'an. This is the main entrance to the museum.

The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by local farmers who were digging a well. The farmers unearthed a huge burial pit belonging to the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the founding Qin Dynasty emperor who unified China into a central state and also laid the foundation for the Great Wall.

It is estimated that there are over 8,000 soliders, 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses.

The tomb took approximately 38 years to build, between 247 BC and 208 BC, and utilized the labour of over 700,000 conscripts. The emperor died in 210 BC. Here's Q taking a closer look at some of the warriors.

The Xi'an Railway Station is in the northeast part of town, just outside the city wall. It was quite something! The place was very crowded and noisy. I was a little overwhelmed so I didn't take any photos of Q here. Sorry buddy!

Walking down the stairs to the trains. Kinda tricky with three weeks worth of luggage!

Window view from my bunk. The countryside was beautiful!

Q getting some shut eye. The train ride was 16 hours, and they turn off the lights at 10 p.m., so there was plenty of time to catch up on some much needed rest.

While in Xi'an, we also visited a technology corporation and a small village to meet local rural residents. Overall, I really enjoyed Xi'an and all its history. I would definitely like to revisit the city in the future.

Next stop...Shanghai!

Guangzhou

Guangzhou is the capital of Guangdong province. It is located north of the Pearl River Delta, and is an important trading and manufacturing center, as well as a busy port. Unfortunately I don't have any photos of Q in Guangzhou. It was soooo hot and humid, and I didn't want Q to suffer in the heat. Nonetheless, here are a few photos, compliments of some of my friends from the trip I went on.

When we first arrived in Guangzhou, we took a bus to Panyu, which is a district of the city. Here we were treated to a series of lion dances. During the performances, we were served ginger milk custard, which is a traditional snack in the Pearl River Delta.

Baomo Garden is in the village of Zini, near the town of Shawan. The garden was built at the end of the Qing Dynasty, and is an excellent example of Lingnan architecture.

Feeding the fish at the garden. They were crazy!

This is the Memorial Hall for Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Guangzhou. He was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader, and is frequently referred to as the Founding Father of Republican China.

The hall is in an octagon shape, which is typical Chinese architectural style. Today the hall is used for important conferences and performances. It was rennovated in the 1990s.

Also in Guangzhou, the Panyu government held a banquet lunch for us where we all learned how to say gan bei ("cheers")! They gave us nice souvenirs from the 16th Asian Games, since Guangzhou will be the host come November 2010. We also went to the Guangzhou Higher Education Center, which accommodates 10 universities and up to 350 to 400 thousand people. Here we listened to a lecture on China's economic development.

Update on China Photos

Q and I are still trying to organize photos from our trip. Thank you for your patience! They'll be up soon, I promise! For a sneak peek of the places we visited, check out the map above!

Mail Call!

Our friends at QuatchiFan2010 sent Q and I an awesome package! This is the third package we've received from Sophia and the Quatchi family (see here and here to check out previous posts).

Q received another customized backpack. That's right...my sasquatch has two backpacks now! He really appreciates how Canadian it is. Thanks, Quatchette!

We also received two nightmare eaters, some papers toys...

...a jar full of stars, and a poem! It was so nice to see that the whole Quatchi family pitched in to making the crafts. Q and I are both very grateful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

On another note, a big shout out to my mum! Today is her birthday!

Long Weekend

For the long weekend, Q and I visited AHD in NYC. We flew Porter Airlines on the way down. Q really enjoyed the lounge!

We spent Saturday afternoon at The Cloisters, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's tucked up on the most northwestern part of Manhattan. The building is located on a cliff that overlooks the Hudson River. The Cloisters features medieval art and architecture...

...such as this: The Unicorn in Captivity (tapestry)...

...and this: Cloister from Saint-Michel-de-Cuxa.

 On Sunday, we were hoping to go to the beach, but the weather forecast was iffy. So, we went shopping on Fifth Avenue instead. Here's Q in front of the Rockefeller Center...

...and in Bryant Park. We had a great weekend! We hope you did too!