It's really really cold here! But, the sun has finally come out!

OK, so the lowest temperature got last week was 8degC. I know, I'm a wimp. Just because I grew up in Minnesota doesn't mean that toughness stays with you. Plus, the houses here are not insulated well at all. But combine the cold temp with clouds and rain, it makes for a miserable week. Thank goodness for 2 things: fitted mattress covers that have heat controls and the natural heat of the sun finally broke through last Friday! But, we are still in winter and that means soup weather.

I went to the Chinese food store (yes, those exist here) to see if they carried napa vegetable (helps to make a good base for soup). I really wish I remembered the Chinese name for it b/c these people did not understand very much English. Anyway, what I saw there were these gigormous napa vegetables. They must be on steroids. Very big, very heavy. Too much for my soup. The guy showed me some other vegetable which I thought looked like boy choy and I said no thank you. Well, he heard "bok choy" from my mouth and immediately realized I was cantonese speaking and went ahead and showed me some "bai cai" which I think is the same as boy choy but in mandarin. I was so confused. Anyway, I'm currently making the soup. We'll see how it turns out!