Inked in Beijing.

On October 7th, I got a new tattoo.

This is something I've wanted to do now for about a year. I wanted to have a memory of these very important years of my life that I've spent living in China. I knew immediately that I didn't want anything in Chinese writing. Not my style. Too cliché. (Then again, I have a compass on my ankle. Soooo, who am I to judge being cliché!?) So, I started to think about things that reminded me of China, specifically Beijing. A lot of my thoughts, of course, went immediately to food. But, I can't say I was ready to jump at the commitment of tattooing a dumpling on my body. 

My absolute favourite time of the year at home in Canada is fall. No question! The colours, the smells, the feelings, the coziness, the flavours. I. Love. AUTUMN! However, Beijing's autumn isn't quite the same. My favourite season in Beijing is spring. The colours, the smells, the feelings, the coziness, the flavours. I. Love. SPRING (in Beijing)! 

After a lot of thought (like, almost a year of thought) I decided that I wanted to get something connected to my love for spring in Beijing. And I came up with Chinese plum blossoms. These beautiful pink flowers come out in full force around April/May in Beijing. They brighten the place up after a grey, smoggy, and dark winter.

There's also the symbolism that comes with spring: rebirth, new life, and growth. Which is exactly how I see the symbolism of my life (so far) in Beijing. I've discovered a lot about myself over these four years - I've grown as a person, as a teacher, as a traveller, as a global citizen. I've opened my mind to many different lifestyles, cultures, and ways of life. I've seen a lot of things I never imagined I would. I've been reborn as someone who is internationally minded and aware, as opposed to my closed minded, small town self from six years ago.

I asked the tattoo artist to design the image with closed buds at the bottom of the branch, opened flowers in the middle of the branch, and then closed buds again at the top. To me, this represents the transformations I've experienced while living in China. The bottom buds symbolizing the me I was before moving abroad, the flowers representing the change and growth I have experienced, and the buds at the top of the branch symbolizing the growth and transformations I will continue to experience later in my life.

I love my new tattoo and what it represents. I love that it's unique and original. I love that'll always be a constant reminder of how important it is to discover yourself, to grow as a person, and to experience all that life and the world has to offer.

Cookbook • CHICKEN TACOS WITH AVOCADO CREAMA & PICO DE GALLO

As promised, I'm making cooking a priority again in my journey to #bebetter and focus on what makes me happy. I'm really good at telling other people to take care of "Number One" that sometimes I forget to heed my own advice. 

Over the last two weeks since making my presence again on the blog, I've created three new recipes, documented some "oldies by goodies" in my cookbook journal, and brainstormed some ideas for future kitchen adventures. Most of the time, my recipe ideas come to me when I'm walking the aisles of the grocery store. I LOVE shopping...at the grocery store and fruit and veggie markets. I love looking at all the ingredients, trying to come up with inspirations and ideas, thinking about what food adventure I could go on next. 

Ok, so who doesn't love tacos?! Seriously though. Tacos are AMAZING. And very versatile. Hard shell or soft shell. Corn or flour. Chicken or beef. Or fish! Salsa or sour cream. Or dare I say BOTH!? The options are endless. These tacos came from...well...a walk through the grocery store. I knew I wanted to make a taco recipe for the book, but wasn't sure what direction to go in. I have had this pico de gallo recipe in my back pocket for a few years now. So I knew I wanted it to have that. As I walked the produce section of the grocery store I go to here in Beijing, I saw the avocados. And the rest is kinda, sporadic. I just grabbed ingredients and went with it. And this is what I came up with: 

SHREDDED CHICKEN TACOS WITH AVOCADO CREAMA & PICO DE GALLO

Avocado Creama

+ 2 avocados 

+ 1/2 cup greek yogurt, plain 

+ juice of 1/2 lime 

+ cilantro 

+ salt & pepper 

Pico de Gallo

+ 2 tomatoes, seeded, diced* 

+ 1 clove garlic, minced finely 

+ 1/2 red onion, finely diced 

+ 3 tbsp cilantro, chopped 

+ juice of 1 lime 

+ sugar

+ salt & pepper 

Shredded Chicken 

+ 2 chicken breasts

+ 1 tsp garlic powder 

+ 1 tsp chili powder 

+ 1/2 tsp paprika 

+ salt 

+ juice of 1/2 lime 

Other

+ 1 cup purple cabbage, julienned 

+ juice of 1/2 lime 

+ hard corn taco shells 

*If I had my choice of tomatoes for pico de gallo, they'd be roma tomatoes. Not as juicy, which means your finished product won't be watered down. I haven't found roma tomatoes yet in Beijing, so I opt for "hot house" type tomatoes. If you have access to romas and you are making this recipe, use 4 tomatoes as they are generally smaller in size than hot house.  

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1. Poach chicken in 4 cups of water for 12-15 minutes. Remove and shred with forks. Add garlic powder, chilli powder, paprika, pinch of salt, and juice of 1/2 lime. Mix with hands. Taste and add seasoning as needed. 

2. While chicken is poaching, assemble pico de gallo. Combine chopped tomatoes, garlic, red onion, cilantro, lime, pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. Mix together and let sit for 5 minutes. Taste and add lime or salt as needed. 

3. Now, assemble avocado creama. In a blender or food processor, add avocado, lime, greek yogurt, and a handful of cilantro. Pulse until the ingredients have combined together into a smooth mixture with no lumps. Add a pinch of salt and pepper and mix with a spoon. 

4. In a small bowl, combine julienned purple cabbage and the juice of half a lime. Toss together. 

5. Once all components have been made, it's TACO TIME! 

6. TACO SHELL + SHREDDED CHICKEN + PURPLE CABBAGE + PICO + CREAMA

7. Serve with a side of creama, pico, and a lime wedge. 

I'm pretty proud of this recipe. The flavours work really well together. The tangy bite from the pico, the sweet & smooth flavour of the creama, the crunch from the cabbage and hard shell, the spice from the chicken. I ate three...and I'm drooling again thinking about the idea of getting to eat the leftovers for lunch! 

Something I'd like to try next time is adding cheese. Maybe crumbles of queso fresco (if I can find it in Beijing) would add another depth of flavour? I'm a woman on a mission for Mexican cheeses now! Watch out, Beijing! 

PS - FOLLOW ME ON SNAPCHAT, INSTAGRAM, AND TWITTER: mel_dickinson 

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Cookbook • UPDATE

May 18th. The last time I posted on this blog. 5 months ago. I don't feel guilty about it, but I also don't want to quit blogging. I love writing down my thoughts! I love being reflective. And I am in a very reflective mood this week. I need to hit a big ol' red reset button and get back to focusing on ME. And the one thing that never fails to make me happy - COOKING. 

Yes, I am still writing my cookbook. Not as often as I'd like to be. I've never stopped creating. I just haven't been writing down my recipes as promptly and frequently as I would like to be. 

I cooked A LOT this summer. I had so many amazing summer recipes I wanted to try. A lot of them I never got to, but some of them I did. I documented a few, but I also forgot to document a lot of them. But what I am certain of is I had a wonderful summer back home in New Brunswick (blog post coming SOON!) 

So, tonight I am sitting with my good friend Amanda at one of our favourite restaurants, Moka Bros, sipping wine by candlelight, writing recipes and blogposts. Getting back to working on me. Because that's what I need to do right now. For me. 

Stay tuned for recipes of some of my favourite recipes I'm making right now, including my homemade Greek Pasta Salad, Sundried Tomato Stuffed Chicken, and Mango Pineapple Salsa. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It's my Mom's birthday! I've written many, many posts about how amazing and loving my mother is, and you should read them (here, here, here, AND here). I always read through them again prior to writing these birthday posts, and it just reminds how lucky and truly blessed I am to not only call her my Mom, but also one of my best friends!

Kind, thoughtful, supportive, loving. These are just a couple of the many words that can be used to describe who my mother is. But one word that stands out above the others: selfless. My mother constantly puts others before herself. She is always there when you need her, even when you're on the other side of the world. Life is tough sometimes, and something I know to be true is that no matter how old you get and how independent you are, sometimes you just need your Mom.

I could honestly go on forever about how much I love my mother. Family is extremely important to me, and it is the values that have been instilled in me by my parents that have really influenced the person that I am today. What I love the most about the relationship that I have with my mother is how open and honest I can be with her, and I always know that she will be there to listen, give advice (even if it isn't what I want to hear), and to no matter what love me through thick and thin. I can't emphasize enough how truly grateful I am to consider my mother a friend.

Happy Birthday, Mom! I so wish I could be there to celebrate with you! But alas, we are 36 days away from being reunited. I miss you, I love you, and I appreciate you! xoxo

Cookbook • ROSEMARY ROASTED POTATOES

I did a good amount of cooking last week, which made me SO HAPPY! I wrote in my "Still Here" blogpost about how busy work life had been in April. I foresee it getting busy again in about a week or so as the school year is quickly wrapping up around here. BUT, until then, I'm focusing at home on cooking and building up my cookbook. Last week I added three recipes to my cookbook: Pad Thai (which I learned how to make in Thailand 2 years ago SLASH I'm just looking back now and realizing I didn't write about my cooking class in Thailand. Sad face!), Chicken with White Wine Mushroom Sauce, and Rosemary Roasted Potatoes. 

The chicken recipe was good, but it needs some work and some tweaking. It wasn't QUITE what I had pictured when I drafted the recipe the night before. Notes that I wrote in my cookbook journal include: "Flavour is off. I added salt, but was afraid to add too much because my side of rosemary roasted potatoes were on the salty side. Other flavours that could be added next time: thyme? parm cheese? (maybe as a crisp garnish"?) ????") So, I'm not ready to share THAT recipe yet. 

However, the potatoes I made were brilliant. And they are so versatile. You could substitute so many different herbs if you aren't a fan of rosemary. Or if you are a fan of rosemary, but just like to try new things and explore, like me!

They'd taste amazing with thyme as well. 

And also, grilled on the BBQ. I mean, summer is just around the corner guys and nothing says summer like a BBQ cookout! 

ROSEMARY ROASTED POTATOES

+ 20-25 baby potatoes
+ extra virgin olive oil (appox. 2 tbsp)
+ 2 tbsp roughly chopped rosemary
+ salt and pepper

Rinse potatoes and dice them in to similar sizes (this is really important to make sure they cook evenly!)

Put potatoes on a baking sheet and coat with extra virgin olive. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and the chopped rosemary. Use hands to mix and make sure everything is coated evenly.

Bake at 350°C for 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender and crispy on the outside.

PS - Make sure you flip and turn potatoes over half way through the cooking time.

Let me know if you try out this recipe! And let me know if you substitute with other herbs or flavours. I think the next time I make them, I'll use thyme and garlic. Garlic on everything makes it so much better!

And also, thank you everyone for the amazing support and feedback about my goals and new journey! The messages and comments have been an amazing motivator and I'm beyond thankful for all of you who are reading this!

PS - FOLLOW ME ON SNAPCHAT, INSTAGRAM, AND TWITTER: mel_dickinson 
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5 Years.

This date always looms over me. And over the last couple of days I've been reflecting, reading old blog posts, and thinking about how I feel. Of course, I feel sad. And I always miss home more than normal today. And, I'm a little breathless and at a loss for words thinking about the reality that it has been 5 years since Grandad passed away.

How does time fly by so quickly? So much has changed in our family, and it makes me sad that he isn't here to see it. I feel like these are the best years of my life recently, and I feel like a completely different person than I was when he died. I've grown immensely, and so has our family. Huge milestones have happened, memories have been made, and journey's have been taken. And I guess I'm in this limbo of feeling sad that he is gone, but also sad that he's not here to be part of our growth. 

And for some people, being "here" doesn't have to be a physical thing. For some people, there is a stage in their mourning where they feel their loved one lost is with them spiritually or in faith. Dealing with Grandad's death has taught me even more that I don't know what I believe. It's very rare, but when I do have a dream about him, I think I feel that his presence in my dream is him being present in my life. "Spiritually." But trying to find happiness and comfort in the idea that Grandad sees what I am doing and he "knows" doesn't work for me. I need him here, in the flesh. I need him here to talk to. I need him here so I can see him. 

Last summer, our family had a little reunion in Saint John. Uncle David came East from Vancouver, and before I fled back to China, we all gathered for fun, food, and family. This. This is when I feel Grandad with us. In the way Uncle Mark smiles and hugs me, the way Brad laughs, the way we dance like fools on the back deck busting a gut laughing, the stories Uncle David tells about their childhood. But most of all, I feel him with us the most when I see how happy my Grandmom is in those moments.  None of this would be our reality if it weren't for her and Grandad. Our successes and growth are reflected in their relationship, their leadership, and their love. 

I love my Grandad so much. I miss him so much. And he continues to be one of the greatest motivators in my life. Always and forever. 

Still Here!

YAAASSS QUEEN!! Julia knows what she's talking about! I snapped this picture when I was in Ubud in February because I knew it'd bring me joy every time I looked at it.

It's been a busy couple of weeks in the life of this teacher. Besides the regular grind of being a teacher that includes lesson planning, marking, and instruction, I've been immersed in helping with the school musical. Last week and this past weekend I pretty much spent at school. I was home long enough to wind down for an hour or so, and then go to bed. While it was exhausting and a lot of work, I enjoyed every single minute of it! These students are extremely talented, and I had so much fun working with them. 

But now the show is over, and I am back to focusing on me (and the piles of marking and planning I still have to do/catch up on!) I have some recipes sketched out and planned in my journal, and I'll be doing some heavy cooking this week and next. Except a new recipe in the very near future!

PS - Home in 50 days!!