2012年即将过去

这一年过的很快，搬了一次家，昏天黑地的工作了四个多月。每周工作72小时，忙，累，常常心情不太好，没有一点自己的时间，做够了这份工，必须换一个。无论从哪个方面看都必须要换地方。
以前在中国的时候下班和周末也常常做各种好吃的，现在累的一点心思也没有了，全部时间都用来睡眠还嫌不够用。肩膀都累到疼。再也不想到华人的公司上班。

新的一年，我想做点有意思的事情，可是什么事情有意思，需要思考一下。
或许多几次旅行，多读几本书，多研究几个菜谱，思考一下未来。

好吃的欧洲梨European pear

以前常吃的梨是鸭梨，脆而多汁，气味清淡。在多伦多常见的梨是欧洲梨，比如波士梨，巴特利特梨。困熟的梨酥软可口，梨味香甜浓郁。这边华人超市也卖漂亮的鸭梨，可是只要有欧洲梨促销的话，我们就不会买鸭梨。因为我们更爱吃欧洲梨。

BOSC梨
这种梨的形状好像葫芦，颜色也像，梨把儿细长，底部很大。
困熟的梨很香甜，核非常小，肉厚汁多，酥软可口。

     

                                                                 BARTLETT梨
 BARTLET梨好像一个黄绿色的铃铛，受光照的表皮带红色。成熟以后，比BOSC还要酥软，多汁，有明显香气，非常香甜，带有山梨的味道。


以上两种是我们吃过的品种。还有红色的欧洲梨，我们没有尝试过，估计味道应该很相近吧，下次如果促销买来尝尝。

Toronto is nice every day

   Our neighbour said that it was a warm winter last year, so we didn't suffer much coldness. But what I am feeling now is a cold spring, low temperature for a long time, except a couple of warm days in March. When we were in Shanghai, abnormal weather often visited it. It seems that the whole world is covered with abnormal weathers.

    We have been living happily in Toronto for over a half year. All views in my eyes are so nice here, no matter it is sunny or rainy, which makes me happy for no other reasons. Toronto is really a beautiful place to live in. I have never felt more grateful, peaceful and happy. Thank god for giving us the priceless luck!

亲情是天意Family bond depends on luck

"这世界有许多事通过后天的努力可以弥补，可是亲情不行，是天意。你想要什么样的爹娘，你想要什么样的兄弟姐妹，你自己说了不算。"

吃多了螃蟹 too much crab

前几天在华人超市罕见的发现鲜活梭子蟹，买了七只回来。以前从来没有在家自己做过，都是吃现成的，所以特意跟公婆请教了做法。用电饭锅蒸格分两次蒸熟了螃蟹，开吃。这梭子蟹竟然只只膏满肉肥，非常鲜美。我家先生边吃边开心评论加国螃蟹物美价廉。吃完剩下一只，放冰箱冷藏，第二天做了螃蟹汤，也很鲜美。先生吃得很满意，我却吃多了，感觉上头，胃里发热，直想喝凉水，这几天都没胃口。看来＂美味不可多用＂说得一点错也没有。 蒸螃蟹（两人份） 原料：梭子蟹4只（约170克/只），姜4片，料酒少许 做法： 1、螃蟹在水龙头下冲刷干净，待用 2、电饭锅放适量清水，放上蒸格，将螃蟹壳朝下摆好，每只螃蟹肚子上放一片姜片，再淋上料酒（白酒应该也不错，我觉得放酒主要是为去腥味） 3、按下煮饭键，待饭锅里水开并且锅盖冒出蒸汽时开始计时，蒸15分钟左右，熟了出锅享用 Tips： 1、如果饭锅盖缝隙大，可以用干净毛巾将锅盖边缘盖住防止漏汽太多，有助于食物快点蒸熟 2、螃蟹一定要新鲜的，垂死的和死螃蟹容易引起食物中毒

多伦多天气好热Toronto is heating up

多伦多最近好热啊，竟然达到二十多度。路上看见很多行人穿上了夏装，好像冬天过后直接步入了夏季一样。前些天的大风不再刮了，现在每天是微风习习，阳光煦暖。天气预报说，加拿大多地气温打破了上世纪七十年代的同时期最高纪录。不知道这是不是什么预兆。

无所事事的日子好悠闲。逛逛公园，感受自然的气息。蓝天碧水间，白云悠悠，鸟儿啾啾，让人心里装满了暖暖的情感。这才是人应该过的日子。

Got haircut

My sir helped me cut hair. I am very happy and satisfied with his job. In fact, he just cut my hair shorter and made the bottom-line the same long.

Then, I trimmed his hair with complete confidence and I was much a skillful barber. He is satisfied with what I did to his hair. I am satisfied too, though there is definitely a large space for me to make progress. This is the third time that I trim his hair.

乞讨者beggar

昨天傍晚出去转转。走到一家西人超市，刚进去，迎面突然出现一个青年男人。长什么样子根本没印象了，因为我没有端详陌生人面孔的习惯。他个子高高的，戴着一个长长的项链，拿着一杯咖啡，身上散发着明显的酒气，过来就熟练地对我们说，他和很多人说了，没人相信他，他要换乘公交车，然后反复地说，我在跟你们请求。我害怕他是坏人，就装聋作哑，他看没戏就奔向下一个目标了。

     先生以为那人在说足球，问我那人到底是干什么的，看起来不像好人。真奇怪，有钱喝酒和咖啡的人，为什么要跟别人要钱乘公交呢。自从遇到这个怪人，我就有点不淡定了，不想再遇到他。从这家超市出来，门口竟又发现一个妇女带一个孩子，举着牌子对进出的人打招呼。平常都没有乞讨的人。难道他们和那个怪人是组团来的吗？怎么福利完善的加拿大会有要钱的人呢？他们从哪里来，晚上住哪里呢？

Midnight Flood

The other day, in the midnight, we heard a sound of water running on the wall. It was so clear and real, that I immediately checked and found it was really water running from the ceiling of the small living room next to our bedroom. The sound was very loud like a wild spring in the mountain. There must be something wrong in the upstairs.

   I called the landlord, but he hung up the phone immediately after picking up. He must have been in a dream but I had to call. I called again, the sleepy man answered and I told him the serious problem. After a while, I heard some people rushing to my upstairs but the water was still running from the ceiling and the sound of river was still loud. I asked my husband to see what happened and I checked our wall cabinet which was also found leaking water. I quickly moved all the things out of the cabinet. Luckily, most of them were safe from the flood.

   Later, my husband came back and said that he helped with solving the problem. It turned out to be a water pipe blew out, but the landlord could not switch off the valve. My husband switched it off.

   Then, I mopped the water in the wash room and cleaned our wall cabinet. While, the carpet in the living room and our cabinet was full of water, but I could do nothing with it. In order to help blow the moisture away, two electric fans kept running in the living room for quite a few days.

饭锅掉到地上rice cooker fell off

前几天早上我起床后端电饭锅要去厨房做饭，出门的时候迷迷糊糊的电饭锅就从我的双手滑落到地毯上，叮呤当啷--电饭锅的组件立时各自分开。经过碰撞，铝制饭锅内胆在外面底部边缘被磕出两个凹陷，幸亏是在边缘，不影响与发热盘的贴合，否则就要重新买锅了。

    其实这个BLACK&DECKER电饭锅除了设计的样子我还算喜欢以外，就没有什么值得满意的地方了。首先，这电饭锅煮饭过程中常常喷出好多米浆，厨房台子常常被喷的厉害，即便我只是煮两个人吃的非常少的米饭。其次，这个锅煮出来的饭有一层糊底硬的饭粒，这一点后来看说明书还真的有交代“煮好的米饭底部会有层硬的，如果你不喜欢，请将其扔掉”。再有，这个锅的电源线和外锅是一体的，不像国内的饭锅都是独立的线，并且这个线非常的短，短到还没有我的电水壶电源线长，电饭锅必须紧挨着电源才能插电煮饭。有一个塑料蒸格，有一天我想蒸几个馒头，结果被烫死两个半，因为这个电饭锅的玻璃锅盖钮下有一个三只脚的塑料挂钩，这是设计用来将锅盖挂在锅耳朵上，方便盛饭的。这三片塑料脚把蒸气凝结成水滴下来，烫死馒头。刚用了一个季度，内胆的不粘涂层就看见划痕两道和一些点点的掉漆。要知道我用的非常小心，平常淘米都用不用内胆。只是盛饭用塑料勺子总要把米饭从底层翻起来松软以后才盛饭。国内用的电饭煲，几年了内胆涂层也没怎么掉。就这个不怎么好用的饭锅打折以后还要合RMB120多。

    同样是中国制造的电饭锅，差距怎么这么大呢。

Reading more

I have finished reading eight books recently. All of them are Chinese books. I borrowed an English novel from library, a thin book, but I have not read it yet, although I wish I could improve English by reading some English gradually. It is harder to read in a second language than mother language. Now, deep in my heart, reading English is not interesting at all.

These days, we stayed at home a lot. I often plan to go out of the room and breathe some fresh air. He is sleeping most of the day and I can not go out myself and let him stay home alone. I think I should find a job asap.

熬夜病Allnighter

    熬夜，尤其是通宵熬夜就我个人而言是一种不良的个人习惯和心理问题。不知道别的通宵熬夜者是不是也有这种心理疾病。我有时候也在晚上熬一会，再熬一会，有时候是看电视，有时候是上网，有时候是学习。我知道熬夜对身体有各种伤害，可是总是希望再过一会儿睡觉，好像潜意识觉得晚上的时间非常宝贵，不用就是浪费，也可能是拖沓的性格表现，也可能是对事物产生依赖而不愿意睡觉。

    先生比我能熬夜，且有各种“不可辨驳”的理由为自己的熬夜做支持。无论如何我也没法相信一夜不睡不会对身体带来不良影响。昨夜先生基本也是通宵，说不过他也不想大半夜红脸白脸的弄的俩人都不舒服，自己先睡了。因为身体微恙，晚上起夜比平常多，五点半起来见他仍然盯着电脑屏幕。我就纳闷，这么熬夜到底是什么心理呢，有什么客观必要性呢？回来躺下好一会睡不着，浑身疲乏，辗转反侧。后来困了，昏昏沉沉之间几次有坠入深渊的感觉，好像灵魂出窍，不由自主。换了好几个姿势，总算睡着了。

    希望新年里，我从自己做起，摆脱熬夜的困扰，养成良好的作息习惯。

Is Pasta tasty?

Pasta often comes to my mind as a tasty food, So I sometimes want to buy and cook some. When we were in Shanghai, I bought pasta for some times, but every time I was disappointed since it tasted hard and flavorless. The hardness of pasta made my stomach uncomfortable. So, I told myself that pasta was not my dish and I should not buy it anymore. But, some time later, I would want to try again when it appears as a delicious food in my mind again although I am sure that I don't like it if I cook it myself. Today, I think about pasta and want to try some again.

I am so curious about pasta. Is it tasty or not?

来多伦多最冷的一天The coldest day in Toronto

昨晚天气预报要降温，今天果然非常冷，达到了零下十九度。早晨看外面阳光灿烂，中午出门想去超市买菜。穿上了厚毛衣和厚棉靴，出门膝盖冷，因为没带毛裤过来，牛仔裤里只穿了衬裤。走了一段路觉得不冷了，但是左脚外脚踝下面磨的疼，每一步都疼，感觉可能是磨破了。我们原路返回家里。我心里还想着去买菜，就换上了运动鞋要出门。先生说运动鞋太薄了，肯定冷。我说不冷已经适应了，就再次出门。谁知道越走越冷，小腿没有靴子的保护倒不觉得太冷，但是膝盖就不行了，那种冷让人感觉马上要得关节炎了。我们马上又返回家里。进屋以后全身暖和的都很快，只有膝盖好像飕飕往外冒凉风，希望不要真的冻到关节炎。这是到多伦多后最冷的一天。真正的冬天来了。哪里有卖厚毛裤的呢？

Jan 9, 2012 overcast
前天把不合脚的靴子退掉，新买了一双轻便不磨脚的。还买了一套snow suit雪衣，所谓雪衣就是棉袄和棉裤，外面一层料子比较厚实，是能防风的，里料是人造短绒，中间有蓬松的填充物，隔冷空气。这回再下雪降温我也不怕出门了。

It's hard to find a suitable wok

People prefer stir-frying in China, and the iron wok is the first choice for this way of cooking. I used to cook with iron wok over the gas stove for years since I began cooking. There are many advantages. First, the heat from gas stove can be transfered to the wok very fast, so the vegetables or meat can be sauted in a very short time so that the dish tastes very fresh when done. Second, the wok is traditional iron wok with a oval bottom, which allows the  cook to stir the food quickly and thoroughly without difficulty, so as to evenly heat the food. Third, when we stew something, the heat level can be easily adjusted according to recipe needs.

   Compared with gas stove, I feel electric stove here is really hard to use. I need wait longer time to let the pan raise to a higher or fall to a lower temperature. Besides, I cannot find a handy iron wok. In almost all the stores, we can find only the pans with large flat bottoms.

   I bought a iron wok in T&T supermarket. But it rusted as soon as I used it. No matter how well it has been used and protected, it still rust even though when it is coated with vegetable oil after use. I really feel disappointed and upset about this iron wok. But where is the handy one for me??