Ong Tao, Red Envelopes, Fever Dreams: A New Years Not My Own
skoral 
Blog 
adoption, c-5 galaxy crash, operation babylift, rosemary taylor, tet, vietnamese new year
On the most important of days, in a land I cannot remember, traditions and culture reach a most revered point in the year. Tet – Vietnamese New Year is a time of renewal and refresh. The quintessential aromas of traditional Vietnamese foods fill the narrow streets from street-side vendors and restaurants alike. Homes are cleaned, people wear new clothes and debts from the previous year paid. Ubiquitous red traditional decorations appear, adorning the entryways of houses, a general bustle on the streets reaches an all-time high, the stores are full of shoppers making purchases for the new year, and young children eagerly await the famed “red envelope” containing money for the new year.
Sometime in my life, I want to return to experience Tet for myself –breath the air, eat the foods and reacquaint myself with a past that is tucked away in my infant memory. What does real Pho taste like? What does a bustling Saigon marketplace feel like? What does Saigon smell like? What is it that people who’ve been there fall in love with and makes them want to return? When I do go, will I have some kind of flash-back? Will I remember some lost memory? A place or face perhaps? –clues to a past life that were locked away amidst death, destruction and untold horrors that only resurface in recurring nightmares that still haunt me? Watching children executed. Women taken into huts screaming, never to exit. Faceless ghosts from a past that can only be unlocked with fever dreams and nightmares. Jarring awake, drenched in sweat with that cold piercing fear and sorrow that is unfathomable to those who have not experienced war.
It has been 37 years since my departure. A visit is long overdue for this prodigal son. Not the first and surely not the last to wonder what life had been and what it could have been, however unlike many, it isn’t a “lost parent” searching mission. My parents are here, and for me, they always have been. I want to experience the life, smells, sounds and all that culminates to identify me as “Vietnamese”. A deep search for many of us adoptees. We are living lives between two worlds, belonging to neither — an unsettling and uncomforting feeling to be sure. Around “my people”, I am not one of them. I cannot speak or understand, yet from the outside, I look like them and am identified as one of them.
I am an adoptee.
Vietnamese / Adoption Links of Interest
- Vietnam Online -Tet
- Family Culture – Tet
- Rosemary Taylor – FFAC
- Friends For All Children
- Adopt Vietnam
- Operation Babylift (1975)
- C-5 Galaxy Crash (4/4/1975)
- Mam Non Organization (Ann Arbor, MI)
Foodies, Angry Birds and Norman Rockwell
A tired man once said, “There is no greater joy than to come home.”
The greeting of family, reunited after a day’s work around the dinner table to reconnect and enjoy close company, a vision from a Norman Rockwell painting perhaps, a reality for a precious few in this era of mobile living, ultra high speed internet, and Google. For me, it was the smell of a real home cooked meal simmering in delicious anticipation of my arrival, the scent of flavorful and robust spices– sage, oregano, thyme and other subtle smells hanging delectably throughout the kitchen.
A Calvin and Hobbes reference here would have been extremely funny, but there was no big orange tiger bowling me over as I opened the door. The intensely flavorful aromas of herbs and caramelized goodness, however, had much the same effect on this tired father and husband in a most warming and pleasing way.
She looks up amidst steam and mouth watering vapors at my tired presence and waves me to the table. “Dinner’s ready.” The children, pausing momentarily from mischief and mayhem come running for hugs and kisses as I set my bag down on the floor.
The living room is being used as an epic and climatic battleground between bird and pig as the boys lob Angry Birds at green pigs on the couch. There are four “dead” birds (or the soon to be re-thrown ‘remains’ of) laying upside down on the floor. Two victorious pigs sit on the couch, having vanquished the aerial assault, which leads me to believe that they’ll be eating just as good as us tonight (Perhaps egg salad sandwiches?)
Oh, what yummy goodness are we to indulge in tonight?
It started with caramelized onions and garlic to create intense flavors I am so much in love with. Next to go in is chicken and spices. She places it on top of the bed and allows it to simmer and gain flavor while I am on the long drive home from work. It simmers in spaghetti sauce until I walk through the door. Spinach and provolone cheese are placed on top of this spectacular homage to the food gods.
A wife demonstrates her love through food, bird holocaust in the living room, and future cook watching mommy… If only Norman Rockwell could see this!
Lunch for Less than $1 that feeds a family of 5
In my quest for finding cheap, but good eats for my family, I created the ultimate Cheap Lunch today!
Ramen has always been a staple food group for our youth and bachlors. Often purchased for $0.25 per pack or less, it provides filling sustenance that lasts for a few hours.
In many cases, this diva of frugality is often joined by that oh, so quintessential “redemption in a bottle” known also as beer.
Today, however, I created this bowl of cheap goodness for Ji, the kids and I by doing the following:
Three packs of Ramen noodles- $0.15 each
Frozen mixed veggies
Green onion $0.10
Carrots and white onion
In a pot, pan or wok (whatever you have to cook in), boil six cups of water. Add 2 tsb of Soy sauce as it comes to a boil.
Next throw in the frozen veggies, onion and carrot slices along with the noodles.
Let boil for one minute and turn off heat. You’ll want to let it stand, covered for roughly three minutes more to cook well.
Serve and eat right away.
I estimate that this meal cost under a dollar given that I was reusing a lot of the foods that I previously bought and still had available. Not bad for a buck!
January in Michigan and it’s 45 degrees!
I cannot believe the nice weather we’re having this winter. Part of me is thinking that we’re going to pay for it later on, but the kids are enjoying it!
Alex is riding his new scooter he got for Christmas as I write this post. It’s really cool cause it has a skid plate that makes sparks as you brake!
Andrew is up to his favorite outdoor past time of hunting for worms, and Izzy is just trying to keep up with her older siblings.
45 in Michigan!
A Flash in the Pan for less than a Hamilton
Smoked Sausage Stir Fry
For our next installment of “Cheap Eats in under 30 minutes that make Rachel Ray Envious” we have tonight’s dinner:
Smoked Sausage Stirfry (on a bed of rice)
Meal serves 5 – 6 depending on how hungry the family is.
The goal for this dish is to be tasty, yet filling for less than two #1′s at McDonalds.
To start things off on our culinary adventure, I used a 12 inch skillet.
Start by coating the pan with a light film of oil and warm under low heat.
Using 7 Kroger’s brand smoked sausage (they come in a pack of 16 for $4.89), slice them into 1/8 to quarter inch sections. Put them in the pan with e tablespoons of soy sauce. Turn the heat up to almost full.
I next used a bag of frozen bell peppers and three slices of onion and one clove of garlic ($2.80 estimated cost) and put them in the pan as well.
While it was cooking, I made the sauce.
1 cup of water
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of some Korean starch of some sort… I can’t read Korean.
Mixing this, toss it in the pan and turn often for five minutes or so until the frozen veggies are hot.
Remove from heat and serve right away on a bed of rice ($0.65 est. cost) .
The secret here is that the hungrier people are, the more rice you put into the bowl 
Son’s Beef Soup Recipe for under $14 – Feeds 8+
Son's Beef Soup for less than $14
As a follow up to my Facebook post, “Son’s Meals for under $14 that feed 5 adults and 3 kids” I want to describe in more detail how I made the beef soup. Specifically, this is not beef stew, as it is made in 30 minutes, and is a soup. Beef stew is much thicker in consistency.
Prep:
First thing to do is to get your stock on the stove, heating up:
1/2 gallon water
2qts Beef stock
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 soy sauce
These all were already available in the house, so I didn’t need to purchase them. If you have to buy them, you could expect to add about $5 to the final price.
Cube the meat in 1/2 inch cubes and marinade.
The secret here is to create the marinade to taste before adding the meat. All amounts are approximate as I did this to my personal liking and taste.
1/4 cup steak sauce
1/4 cup beef stock
1tsb flour
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning
Cut up the following as such:
3 Carrots
3 Celery stalks
1 Onion
1 small box of Mushrooms (around 20)
Add some herbs to taste in the broth as it comes to boil.
I used a couple pinches of each:
Thyme
Oregano
Cumin
As soon as the water comes to boil, toss in the veggies and turn down to medium high heat.
Put the lid on.
In a pan or wok (I used a wok), add beef cubes AND marinade all together until only pink in the very center. Usually five minutes under high heat.
Put the whole pan full of meaty goodness into your stock pot, reduce to medium heat and let simmer for the last 15 minutes.
I served this in a bowl with a cup of cooked rice.
For my family, this recipie serves all 5 adults and three kids (ages 2, 4 and 6), but the best part I still had half the pot to take to work the next day!
Christmas Fail
So we get the kids loaded up in the car and we head over to mom and dads house. The 15 minute car ride was no problem, and it was perfect timing because when we got there, the relatives were pulling in just as we were.
I helped unload the car that full of presents, and everyone got situated. Mom was making lunch and everyone was in good spirits.
Until…
Ji called me from the living room, not so much in a panic, but 1 of discovery. Apparently somehow for cameras have been left at our house. In there she was a photographer with no cameras! What was I to do, but offer to run home and grab the cameras for her. I had been the one who was responsible for breaking out all the bags in stuff that we were going to take, and somehow I had forgotton to bring her cameras. So here I am running home grabbing. the cameras, and I am reminded:
When you really love somebody, there isn’t much that you wouldn’t do for them.
Christmas Round 2
Its Christmas all over again at the parents! The Extended family coming in to town.
Kids are excited and were getting ready to head over there. Before heading over, Ji set up the karoke app. Musical Mayhem ensued!
The First School Open House of Horrors!
My Son's 1st Grade Classroom
First of all, there was no ‘open’ about it. The room must have 95 to 100 degrees, and about 25 parents, exhausted from work, stinking up the room with good ‘ole corporate B.O. (yeah, I fall into that category)!
The school was having a book sale in the library, so naturally, my son wanted to go check out the books. On one table, there were the tried and true classics… Charlotte’s web, The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes. To a true bookworm’s shock, a violation so horrific that it surely would have caused humpty dumpty to fall in shock greeted me…
A Captian Underpants book tossed haphazardly on the mountain of classic fairytails, novels and Caldecott award winners, no doubt by an irritated parent resisting their child’s impulsive buying habits.
Family Story Night at the Library… FAIL
There cannot be anything worse than expecting a quiet, child-lulling story time at the library but walking in to a mosh pit of four year-old ‘screamers’ with parents in a twisted Stephen King-ish version of romper room! It is even worse when you and your boys are exhausted from a long day of learning and just not up to the energy required of such an event.
Amidst the chaos of crying, screaming and general discord, my boys and I sat, motionless, just observing it all. It really was too much, from singing “This old man” to “5 little monkeys” to doing jumping jacks to get the blood flowing (of which we had no part in), there was just too much activity for the boys to handle. Right at the point where everyone was running in circles (like cheetahs), Andrew decided he’d had enough and just keeled over and curled up in the fetal position to go to sleep. Alex was staring off into the middle ground, a kind of deer-in-the-headlights look that he makes when he’s too tired to think. I suggested that we go over to the kids section and play games on the computers for awhile. Both the boys slowly got up and we left this seventh circle of hell.
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