Dumplings

Our neighbors Susan and Ron invited us to a traditional Chinese Dumpling luncheon yesterday. With my 1,400 calorie a day diet, we have become accustomed to eating very small meals. We arrived with a bottle of wine and four hydrangeas blossoms from our garden tied together with a ribbon to the smells of deliciousness! Is that even a word? It smelled of garlic and ginger and sesame oil. Yum.

My eyes grew bigger when Susan served a huge dinner plate filled with her homemade pork dumplings. I think there were close to two dozen dumplings on the plate! The entire plate was filled! As you know, I am not allowed to eat anything except non-starchy vegetables and protein but as a guest, I try to eat a bit of everything offered. Well, now I was in trouble. I was looking at a plate, a whole plate, of dumplings.

We gathered in the dining room where she had also prepared some eggplant in long strips with delicious flavors and topped with a very generous sprinkling of finely chopped raw garlic. I think we will stink of garlic all day today! She also served long beans cut into little pieces tossed lightly with other flavors including sesame oil. Both vegetables were served at room temperature. Both delightful.

I noticed that Susan finished her plate first and that, yes, we were expected to finish ours. They were really the best dumplings I have ever eaten and both of us finished our plates! Dessert was white mushrooms cooked in slightly sugared water with a cooked nut. These mushrooms are supposed to be good for lungs!

We sat in their living room and had a nice chat. Susan shared that when she was a young child growing up in a very northern province in China, she saw a photo of Mt. Rushmore in a book. She was fascinated. On Friday, they are leaving on a trip to visit Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and into Montana. She said it is something she wanted to see even before Paris and London. Mt. Rushmore.

It was also interesting to hear that she lived so far north that it was too cold for rice to be grown. She was raised on potatoes and noodles. No rice. It was not until her father, who was a physician, was ordered by the government to Shanghai that she first tasted rice. She began to teach English to Chinese high school students when she was 18-years old. She is currently a teacher, studied and got her state certificate and Master's degree and is currently teaching Social Studies, Math, Mandarin and English in the San Francisco school district. A brilliant woman. A lovely luncheon. A sweet couple.