Food, Glorious Food



Fresh jiaozi and veggies from the local market

 We've had to make many, many adjustments in our lives since we moved to China, but the one that has caused me the most stress by far has been food. I suppose this is because I prepare the family meals, and I feel that everyone is looking to me for something delicious and somewhat familiar.

In the beginning, I would spend 1/2 a day running from store to store to gather whatever items I could scavenge. Unfortunately, there is little consistency in these supermarkets when it comes to stocking Western food items. One week I'm thrilled to discover they have cheese. The next week, I'm questioning my memory. Was it just an illusion? I've eventually learned to stock up. Find it + Like it = Buy 'em out. Thank goodness for our huge freezer!

My prized can of German-brand chili beans.

There have been a few simple things that I never realized we would miss. One is legumes. Without dried beans there is no chili, no black beans and rice, no taco soup, no black-eyed peas and limas. I had no idea we enjoyed these "poor-man" dishes so much. Well, last week I found canned chili beans! In the US, I never would have considered buying any canned brand other than Bush's, but I jumped for joy at the sight of this German brand and dumped six cans into my cart. I prayed that they were good.

Back at the apartment, as I was putting the groceries away, I realized how little we've ventured beyond the familiar. Our food choices fall into four categories: American imports, Made-for-China American brands, International imports, and Chinese brands. I found that I buy items I never bought in the US simply because they're familiar. Those who know me know that junk food is an occasional treat in our house. Well, my family has eaten more Lay's chips and Oreos in the last 10 weeks than they have in 10 years, literally. Anything familiar is a go.

A few American brands in our pantry.





Made-for-China American brands. Recognize them? 




International imports that fit our tastes.



The four Chinese-brand items we buy.

You may notice that as we move into less familiar territory (Chinese brands), the items pictured are much fewer in number. I noticed the same thing. My thoughts: We cannot live in China for three years and not attempt to experience their foods. Plus, it's bound to make grocery shopping a little less painful.

I must interject here to say that a few weeks ago our driver introduced me to his favorite local market. I'll save the shopping experience there for another blog (I promise), but it deserves mentioning now because I buy all of our meat and veggies there. It's inexpensive and fresh as can be. They grind my beef on the spot, and it doesn't have all that extra stuff we kept finding in the ground beef from the supermarkets. To top it off, I can go home with  three pounds of ground beef, six boneless/skinless chicken breast, a pound of fresh green beans, two tomatoes, six potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, an onion, and fresh Chinese jiaozi for less than $20. So, I'll take a little credit for venturing outside of the import supermarkets for some fresh foods.

Well, I decided it was now time for us to experiment with other items. The kids and I headed to the store to pick a few interesting-looking Chinese brands that we would be willing to try. My expectations of how this would go did not quite match how it actually played out, but after an hour and a half we emerged with a few snack-type items: Chinese cookies, something that looked like rice crispy treats, gummies, gooey-filled rice cakes (we had no idea what filling), mini jello-like cups, dried seaweed, and green tea Oreos. Yes, I know, Oreos are not Chinese, but you can only find green tea flavor in China.


Our first attempt at Chinese brand shopping.

We spread everything on the kitchen table and began our taste test. The Chinese cookies were simple butter cookies. Check! The rice crispy treats were more like bread crumb treats, but not bad. Check! The gummies were, well...gummies. Check! The gooey rice cakes were interesting. It's a bland gummy ball filled with peanut butter. It wasn't horrible, but I'm not sure we would buy more. The mini jello cups were nothing like jello. The kids had a good hearty laugh at my expression after I took a bite. "Uh, maybe we were supposed to put them in the 'fridge", I said. They'll probably still be there when we move out. Yuck! Now, how about dried seaweed? It tasted curiously similar to collards. I'm anxious to try the cooked variety. Seriously. Finally, the green tea Oreos were not bad. We'll probably stick with original, though. I'm not sure why they felt the need to tamper with a classic.

One final note: It took me the three days to complete this post. Within that time, I received word from my brother and sister-in-law that they had taken a trip to BJ's and bought tons of our favorite items. We should have their shipment in about a week. "Operation Try Chinese" is on hold until further notice!




It Feels Like Home

On January 4, we arrived in China carrying two suitcases each, and we lived out of those suitcases for 62 days. Today, the rest of our belongings finally arrived! Honestly, we'd adapted so well to living without those so-called necessities that I was not as excited as one might think to hear that our shipment would be delivered today. The process of deciding what to bring and what to store had been such a whirlwind that I really couldn't remember what we had shipped. Of course, when the homeroom mom called last week to ask if I would bake cupcakes for Christian's class party, the cupcake tins I'd packed sprung to the forefront of my mind. But, I had improvised with Farell's birthday cake last month, so no big deal.

Baking is not prevalent in Chinese culture, so things such as measuring cups and cake pans are not easily found. In fact, most homes do not have ovens. However, I was determined to make Farell's favorite cake for his birthday. After searching several stores, I found an 8x8 disposable baking pan. Not the Bundt pan I needed, but it would have to do. With no measuring cups, I estimated the ingredients. With no mixer, I used muscle power and a wooden spoon. Three hours later, I had a cake. It received rave reviews. As for the cupcakes, I sent money for drinks instead.

You see we had survived for so long without that prized shipment, that I had become numb to the void. There were things that I knew I could use, things that could certainly make life more convenient; however, being without those things did not make me feel empty. I didn't spend my days longing for "the shipment". That being said, I had my share of mini-celebrations as I discovered familiar items while unpacking all those boxes. Our message board! My faux fur blanket! The Marvelous Mom mug Morgan gave me when she was in kindergarten!

Excitement certainly exploded in the house when the kids got home from school. In all of the pre-move madness, I had the foresight to ship all of the bedding and decorations from their bedrooms. When we got home, Farell had already placed a few items up in each of their rooms. I decided to throw the bedding on their beds. In separate instances, without hearing the other, they both said, "It feels like my room!" Ahhh...simple pleasures.

I'm learning so much in China. I'm not only learning about this land and these people, but also about myself. In the 62 days that I've been here, I've learned that necessity is relative and I can survive with much less than I ever thought. Three months ago, I agonized over what precious items would make it into the pre-specified shipment weight. I was forced to prioritize and consider what was truly important. Everything I decided to ship was on my "must have" list at the time. Within 30 days, I found it hard to remember some of those "must-haves". As we unpacked today, I discovered that the items which brought us the most joy were not those things which make life convenient. Instead, they were the things that evoked familiar memories of our lives in the U.S. I have a sneaky suspicion we'll be looking for the same sense of familiarity when we return to the States, having mini-celebrations over all those little items that remind us of our home in China.

Hmmm, we'll see...

Our Day

Knowing that I'm not one to share every detail of my life, a friend told me to remember that everything I do here in China will be something of interest to others. She encouraged me to post my daily activities, because she and most other folks I know have not visited this country. None have every lived here. Well, I had the best intentions of doing just that. I planned to take pictures of everything and share our normal routines regularly. The reality is that establishing normal routine has taken much more time and effort here than I ever expected. We're still not quite there. Unfortunately, figuring out just how to live here has taken precedence over documenting details. Today, I decided to somewhat try to play catch-up.

We take our cameras everywhere, and I catch a few pictures here and there. Occasionally, Morgan snaps shots and video without my knowing. I just discovered a few good pics she took of our daily drive to work and school, as well as a grocery shopping trip she took with me last week. I thought the easiest way to share these would be with a slide show. It's rather hurriedly put together and for some reason the picture quality is significantly distorted in full screen view, but I hope it can still do the job. Enjoy a glimpse into our daily routine.