Uniquely U

It is like taking a mini home with you when going camping! Try to civilize a couple of days staying in nature with all the comfort from home. ;) A great way to drag the kids, adults too, off all sorts of screens, cut off the signals, disconnect completely!  Let's go back to basics.  Stay Tents Tarps Air mattress Air Pump Sleeping bags Pillows Extra blanket Camping chairs Lantern Flashlight, headlights Lighter for camp fire Long clothes line and clothes pins Several grocery bags for garbage Facecloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, tumbler, soap Waterproof sandals, hiking shoes, socks Clothes (Light, long sleeve tops, pants, T-shirts and shorts, PJ's, light jackets) Mosquito candles Eat Hotpot stove and fuel Dutch pot  Frying pan with cover Bowls, plates, cups Kitchen stuff (forks, spoons, chopsticks, cutting board, knife, drainer, sponge, dish washing detergent) Picnic table cloth Cooler and ice packs Food (water, cooked rice, oatmeal, c...

When you click a label link on a blog, a box appears at the top of your pages, "Showing posts with label ...". It looks weird and you might want to get rid of it, like me. From your blog design view, click "Template", then click the "Edit HTML" button; Ctrl-F to find this line: < b:includable id='status-message'> , click the little triangle on the left to expand the HTML; I commented out the <div> contents (in brown) and replaced it with an empty <div> tag; Save template.  That is all you need to do! If you miss the message box, you can always get it back by uncomment the HTML code. I will not miss it. 

When you have multiple posts of different interests in a single blog, you would want to organize them somehow. So far I have only found one way of doing it, using labels. First, tag your posts with different labels. From your blog design view, click Posts; Select the posts you want to group together by ticking their check boxes; On the header of the posts table, the first drop down menu has a tag symbol, that is used to create and label selected posts. Click it, then create a new label. Once you hit OK, you selected posts will be tagged with that label, which appears besides your post title. Secondly, show the posts grouped by label on your blog. From your blog design view, click Layout; Decide where you want your labels to appear. I chose sidebar-right-1. Click "Add a Widget". A widget selector window pops, scroll down to select Labels. Click the plus sign to specify the details of the labels, like giving it a name. I called mine "Interest...

This one may sounds trivial, "how hard could it be to delete a blog?", but it is not. I was expecting it appear on the "My Blog" page, beside each of the blogs, be a delete button or a drop down menu item ~ maybe a developer from Blogger will see this and make it logically happen ;) . To delete a blog: Go to "My blogs", where all your blogs are listed in the design view.  Click the blog name, then click Settings -> Other -> Delete blog. Deeply hidden, isn't it? ;)

I started this hobby by creating one blog for each of my interest areas: one for delicious pastries, one for life's little moments, and one for the dance class that I am leading. As time goes by, I found myself spending time and energy going back and forth among my blogs, both time consuming and energy sucking. Can I put them in one place? Oh, yea! A simple procedure does it. Go to "My blogs", where all your blogs are listed in the design view.  Decide which one is your main blog, that you want to merge others into. Repeat step 3 for each of the blogs.  Click the blog name, then click Settings -> Other -> Export blog. This saves an xml file on your computer hard drive.  Click your main blog name, then click Settings -> Other -> Import blog, uncheck "Automatically publish all imported posts and pages". It is a good practice to preview all changes before publishing them. Repeat this step for each of the blogs you have exported. If all your...

The aroma of homemade red bean paste is irresistible when you bite into the bun! Ingredients 3½ Cups All-Purpose Flour 2½ Cups Red Bean Paste ⅔ Cup Water ⅔ Cup Milk ¼ Cup Sugar ¼ Cup Butter, Melted and Cooled 1½ tsp Fast Active Dry Yeast 1½ tsp Salt Egg wash for brushing Some nuts or seeds to garnish Directions 1. Microwave water and milk together for 40 seconds, about 30 degree. 2. Pour it into bread machine, then add yeast, sugar, butter, flour, salt. Mix all ingredients in the bread machine in dough setting (usually done in 90 minutes). 3. Divide the dough into 20 pieces and make buns. 4. Place the dough on a cooking sheet and set it aside to rise again for about 15 minutes.  5. While buns are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F.  6. Brush the surface of the bread with egg wash and garnish with nuts or seeds just before baking. 7. Bake the buns for about 28~30 minutes, or until golden brown. You can use store bought...

从小吃着长大的东西，就是有种特别的味道，让人偏爱。喜欢面食的南方人，终于在失败了无数次后，成功的做了馒头。没有缩水，没有死面。 ;) 1100g 面粉 500ml 水 2 tsp 白糖 1 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast 1. 微波炉热水，35秒，至30度水温，搅拌均匀； 加入糖和发酵粉，再搅拌均匀，放置5分钟。 2. 将水慢慢倒入面粉中，边用筷子搅拌成大块大块的面疙瘩。开始揉面，揉成一团后加盖休息10分钟，再揉至面团表面光滑。 3. 用凉水将手打湿，轻轻拍湿面团表面和盆内周，这样面涨起来后表面不会干燥起壳。 4. 发酵到2-3倍大小，将面团排气取出，分成两份，每份打平，沿长边卷起来，轻揉成一条光滑的面滚子，切成10个，一共20个馒头。 5. 放进蒸锅，再次发酵，20分钟。 6. 凉水开始蒸，水开后15分钟。火逐渐关小，熄火后5分钟起锅。 开笼的馒头，好吃到没天理！！！ ;)

When blueberries are in season, I love to make this simple cake.  Its cinnamon crust top is so yummy! INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 cup butter 1 egg 1/2 cup milk 2 cup all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 cup fresh blueberries Topping: 1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 1/4 cup butter DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375 degree. Line a 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper or foil; In a large bowl, cream sugar, butter, and egg together; In a small bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.  Stir the dry ingredients into the large bowl, alternating with milk; Stir in blueberries; Add batter to pan. It is very sticky, use a spatula to spread the batter evenly; Combine the ingredients of topping in the small bowl, cut butter into the flour mixtures using a pastry cutter or 2 knives. Sprinkle the topping over batter. Bake in the middle rack for 35 minutes until the top turns lightly golden.  Let ...

I scored a little white dress from Gap on my summer vacation. It is 100% cotton seersucker with 100% cotton lining. Natural materials are like magnets to me. Its classic style fits me as well. I see it as a canvas, waiting for me to decorate it any way I would like. So here goes the touch up. All I need to do is to sew some buttons! ;)