The Marriage Proposal

Lillian feels the flush rush to her face when she sees David down the long hallway walking toward her, rehearsing what to say in her mind, "hi", "nice day", trying franticly to relax her facial muscles and putting on a natural smile. David nods at her from a distance then turns into an office on his side. Disappointed but relieved, Lillian continues down the hallway to the copy room where she was heading, passing Rick and Susan's office, where David is chatting enthusiastically with both, leaning on Rick's desk with his side to the door. Lillian glances inside, taking in the familiar silhouette of David's face, the image that has a strange effect on her ever since the first day she met him.

***

It was a chilly night with the October moon almost full brightening the deep sky with her maternal tender tone. Avoiding the traffic as usual, Lillian left the office at close to eight. There were still quite a few cars in the parking lot, the usual late working crowd. Under the lamp post, a figure not at all menacing was illuminated, not a familiar face but Lillian was not alarmed. Must be one of the new occupants of the building, the group that was recently relocated up this campus from the south site. As Lillian and the figure walked toward each other, the face on the figure emerged: a good looking face, a very prominent nose, and eyes that gazed boldly into Lillian's when they passed each other. The next day, there was a town hall for the whole building, division head welcomed the new affiliates from the south, and introduced them one by one to the rest of the crowd. "David Tom", Lillian found herself making a mental note of the name that belongs to the face she saw the night before. The face belongs to a well-groomed, slender build young man with fair skin and brownish black hair with a tail trailing over his ironed white shirt.

Late afternoon, the early birds started leaving. There was less buzz in the hall way. No more meetings, Lillian went to the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee and prepared to get some real work done before calling it a day. Jeff would pick her up at 6:30 to dinner tonight. She planned in her head: there were about two hours to work on the Japanese localization document that she should have started days before if not for all the meetings and interruptions. As she walked back to her office, she was surprised to see David looking at the name tag on the window pane next to her office door. Hearing her footsteps, David turned around and greeted her, "You must be Lillian. I am David, David Tom. Matt pointed me at your direction. You coordinate the Asian release, right?" waving the document on Japanese localization from the last release. Lillian nodded in consent. "I have something to add to this. I hope it's not too late to get it in." Lillian smiled and replied, "no, not at all, I haven't started on it for this release yet." Lillian gestured David to follow her into the office to sit down on the chair opposite to hers across her desk. As Lillian leaned over from her side to look at the document with red marks on it. She could not help but smell a light trace of cologne scent, fairly pleasant. This neatly groomed person in front of her clearly stood out from the usual crowd of casual-dressing and borderline tardy engineers whom she's used to deal with. She also noticed his thick eyebrows and light brown eyes from close up. From the comments David wanted to add to the Japanese localization document, she got a sense of what he does. He is more a marketing person than an engineer. After a few exchange of questions and answers, both parties agreed on what the final version would look like and Lillian accepted David's document onto the pile of to-do's that she was yet to compile into the new version. David thanked her with a big, childish smile and walked out. Lillian found her curiosity toward this David running amok. Turning to her computer, instead of getting right to work, she found herself staring into the screen and wondering to herself about David. He looked Asian enough except for his eyes which has a lighter tone than her own. The phone rang, waking her from her thoughts. Jeff was on the line asking her where she'd like to go for dinner. "I don't know. You pick. I picked last time." She replied. "How about Florentine's" He suggested. "Ok." She always loved Italian but was a little surprised that Jeff would suggest it. He usually likes Chinese, burgers or steak. "I'll pick you up at 6:30 in front of the lobby" Jeff confirmed.

Lillian was a bit absent-minded all through dinner. Conversation with Jeff drifted from topic to topic with Lillian's occasional comments picking up on Jeff's trailing sentences faded into the air. Jeff's existence seemed a blur compared to other patrons in the restaurant. Lillian found herself studying each one of them and finding similarities to the face in her mind. From the distance she heard from Jeff "what do you think about us getting married". Jeff's face zoomed into focus, his sincere gaze rested on her while she was caught in a pause of surprise, not from the question itself but from the timing of it, that she heard it when she was thinking about someone else. She searched for the right answer. They had been seeing each other for years. They lived in separation only because their work locations dictated it. They spent most weekends together and had dinner together at lease twice a week. They appeared as a couple in each other's social gatherings. Marriage seemed the natural progression to their current relationship. She gave the rationalized answer: "I have no objection to it." She felt guilty after saying those words. Jeff deserved a better answer than that but her heart was not in it at that very moment. Jeff did not mind at all, he proceeded to discuss what kind of a wedding would she want, if she wanted both of their folks from back home to come and attend the wedding and suggested March would be a good time since it was several months out and would coincide with a major release of the product he's currently working on. Lillian pictured herself in a wedding on the cliff of a mountain winery with the back drop of a valley full of rows and rows of grapevines. She pictured herself in a simple gown and the groom in his tux looked a lot different from Jeff. In fact it was David that she had pictured to be the groom. She felt a rush of heat to her face from guilt.

The winery had been booked. The folks had bought plane tickets to come to San Francisco for the wedding. Hotels had been booked to accommodate guests from out of town. It was going to be an April wedding because of the availability of the winery. Some close friends had been told and asked to help out in the wedding. There were the guest list to finalize, the caterer and the band to book, the wedding gown, the tuxedo, the photographers, the video cameraman ..., lots of details to take care of from then to April. Lillian was listing the coworkers she would invite: Marian, Gail, Michael and Kate, her boss and group members, Dee Dee who she had close contact with and had a good rapport with, (definitely), Kenny and Michael H., the Engineers that did the localization on their products, (maybe), and David. David? Lillian rebutted herself. Why would I want to invite him? I hardly knew him. This past Wednesday, Lillian attended a daylong seminar off campus where she happened to sit next to David who was in the same seminar and found herself lost her usual concentration and flushed when David unwittingly glanced over to her side. At lunch time, an acquaintance of David's came over to ask if David wanted to go to lunch together. David consented and turned around to ask if Lillian cared to join them. Lillian went along. David was lively and humorous at lunch. A great talker. A little picky on his food: he had changed both the bread and side dish listed on the menu for his order.

After the seminar, Lillian felt she and David had known each other a little more than before. She felt more at ease to strike up a conversation with him at the coffee room in the morning or anytime they happened to refill at the same time. With the familiarity came more curiosity. David seemed to have many interests. He's young enough and lived the life style of a single professional. He appeared to be the right-hand man to the new division head who brought over David's group from Southland. David rented a place in Palo Alto, enjoyed the trendy restaurants in downtown Palo Alto, had a dog, liked roller skating, and hold season tickets to the 49ers and the Worriers.

Jeff asked Lillian if she should move in with him at his Emilyville house, since he owned it and Lillian was only renting her South Bay apartment. Lillian dreaded the long commute down 880 to and back from work and was postponing it as further back as possible. Jeff had hinted that Lillian might want to find a job closer to Emilyville. Lillian countered that jobs were popping up more in the south bay than up north and that if and when Jeff would change job, it would more likely be down south. As the wedding day approached, the two spent most of the weekends in Jeff's place, tackling last minute changes, but went their separate ways came Monday morning.

The invitations were out and people started to come to Lillian's office to congratulate her. Some came to protest they did not get an invitation. David who was not invited got words of her pending wedding and came to give his good wishes. Lillian felt her heart sunk a bit when she had to accept his congratulations. While on the topic of marriage, Lillian asked if David was seeing someone. David replied he had a girlfriend that he went out with but they were not on the track to marriage.

The day after the final fitting of her wedding gown, Lillian found herself dazed and dreamy at work. After refilling her second cup of coffee, she drifted along the hallways and stopped in front of David's office. Seeing he was alone and engaged in the screen in front of him, she felt she had no excuse but going in. She stepped in and as soon as David noticed her presence she asked if he's free for lunch that day. David had an intrigued look on his face sensing there was more than business on Lillian's mind as he turned to his calendar before answering ''Sure". The rest of the morning floated foggily by for Lillian. She had a lot on her mind but without any clear thoughts. As lunchtime approached, she started to feel anxious. Should she call to remind David? Should she walk over to his office? Should she wait another five minutes? Amidst her indecision, David appeared at her door. With looks much too inquisitive, he asked "Shall we go?" Lillian followed David to his sports car. He opened the passenger side door first before walking to the driver's side. settling himself into the seat, he suggested the restaurant to go to. It is a place quite out of the way by a sailboat dock. Lillian was quiet all through the journey while David occasionally tried to pick a conversation or two.

After arriving at the restaurant, being seated and ordering their food, David gave Lillian a look as if to cue her to start talking. Lillian struggled to say something but instead of words she found herself flushed with uncertainty. David turned to look out at the bay and started commenting on boats. A few sailboats floating in the distance under the cool bright sunlit sky. March breezes was blowing but David and Lillian were shield in by the glass enclosure of the sunroom. The sunroom was quite full while the rest of the restaurant was only sparingly occupied. Most people enjoyed dining under the filtered sunshine by the bay. Finally David asked, "Do you have something you want to say to me?"

Lillian was not surprised but still flushed more and her head started to buzz. "I was wondering if you remembered the time we first met? It was in October."

David injected "Oh, yes. in the parking lot. I was trying to find my car. I forgot where I parked it."

He remembered, Lillian thought. Felt encouraged, she continued. "Something happened that night and its hard to explain," she paused in search for the right words.

"Are you having wedding jitters?" David commented in a soft tone.

"It probably is but I cannot explain away my feelings," Lillian replied.

"Are you trying to tell me that you had a crush on me?" said David.

Lillian looked around slightly to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. Guests at nearby tables seemed all engaged in their own lively discussion and paying no attention to others. Feeling a bit guilty, Lillian replied in a much lowered voice, "yes."

The pause seemed a long time. The waiter brought their food. David asked him for malt vinegar for his fries. Lillian started playing with her food mindlessly. After the vinegar arrived, David probed, "what are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know", Lillian answered honestly.

After taking a few bites out of his plate, David started, "A friend of mine who's married got into this period of depression over her married life and confided in me. Our friendship evolved into an affair. We were discreet about it. After a while she decided it's not worth the risk to stray anymore. She went back to her married life and we remain friends."

At first Lillian did not know what to make out of what she had heard, soon enough hidden suggestion revealed itself. She simply nodded without looking up at David while her brain swirled: Would I want an affair with him? Was that what I was after? What do I want?

The rest of the meal went quietly. David left Lillian very well alone with her thoughts until it's time to go. "It's getting late. We should head back now." he said, got hold of the bill and paid. Once in his car, David took a piece of paper and wrote his home phone number down for Lillian. "Give me a call some time," he said.

"He left it all open," Lillian thought. Alone in her apartment, Lillian stared into the phone and found no answer to her dilemma. There was the urge to call but not enough courage to carry it through. "What is your concern," Lillian scolded herself. "Wasn't you attracted to him. Don't you want to find out what it is like." "What what is like," she rebutted herself. "It is not love, at least not on his part. If it is sex that I am wondering about, well, I already know how that is." "Maybe it's different with him." "I cannot believe that you'll have such naive thoughts. Is it the cheap thrill that you are after? Is it worth the risk?" "What risk? The risk of Jeff finding out? He'll understand or would he?" "For so many years we know each other and we really know each other. There is such comfort in the relationship. What if he finds out?" "He won't find out if we are discreet about it."

For several days now Lillian had trouble sleeping though the night, with David's proposition on her mind. She knew she'll have to make a decision one way or another soon for it was torturous the way it hanged over her life. She woke from a dream and checked the clock, it was only 3:30 in the morning. She could not fall back to sleep. She tried to remember what she had dreamt that woke her up. She was flying in her dream. She had been flying in her dreams on and off since college when she first left home and went to school on the East Coast. When she found a good paying job with a big computer company in the valley, she flew. too. Flying seemed to entail a kind of freedom. But she was never flying for the joy of it, she flew to escape danger mostly. But that night, in her dream she flew over a big blue ocean and landed on an island. The ocean and the island were not places she had been to but she had seen them before. The ocean looked like Mediterranean as she imagined it to be and the island was what she imagined a Greek island would look like. They were in her mind ever since she first read the labyrinth myth of Greek mythology in college. Not much else she remembered about the mythology. She was Icarus in her dream, perfecting flying with the wings his father made him. How high could he go before the sun would melt the wax and destroy him? How far could she go before she found out she had made a mistake?

***

In the copy room, Lillian picks up her resume that she just sent over the printer, proof-reads it again and makes several copies of it. She's going to send them to the potential job openings she found on the net this morning, jobs closer to Emilyville. With only days away from their wedding, Lillian had moved in with Jeff in his Emilyville house. She hates the commute. Fortunately she will be taking a long vacation in a few days. But she makes sure she sends her resume to the potential employers following up on what she already emailed them this morning so that she can consider a move after she comes back from the honeymoon. She walks back to her office with her printouts, passes where David is chatting with other coworkers. She looks at him trying to figure out whether he had seen her email but he won't look back at her. Well, what's done is done, she said to herself. This is what she had wrote him:

Good morning David,

I've been giving our conversation last week a lot of thoughts. As tempting as the potential would be, I cannot shed the doubts I have on my own temperament to deal with the outcome. I am not going to pursue it further.

Jeff, my fiancé, and I have a long relationship. In it, the most precious bonding we have cultivated is trust and I consider it harder to earn than affection. Once I realizes that, the jitter is gone.

I hope I am not making a total fool of myself :-)

-Lillian

New Year's Eve Menu

Chinese New Year's Eve, sons and daughters come home from faraway places to sit around the big round table with grandma and grandpa, ma and pa for a Family Get-together feast. On the table are treats reserved only for this evening, the good old hen that laid many eggs made into chicken soup, dumplings filled with more meat than vegetables, sausages glittering with dripping fat, sweet rice grounded to make rice cake, stuffed rice ball and all sorts of other sweet deserts, and vegetables picked at the harvest peak and pickled with crispness just right.

Time may have changed the menu on today's table, the essence stays the same, family make it an effort to go home on new year's eve and eat a big feast together to celebrate the old year's passing and welcome in the new year and what its promises could bring. This year, in our house, I happened to have my closest family plus a few friends of my brother's at my New Year's Eve's table. This was what I cooked for them.

Good Fortune Soup (Chicken, Mushroom, Fa-tsai Soup)

2 Cornish game hens, thoroughly defrosted
10 fresh Shiitake mushrooms
1 ounce of Fa-tsai (very thin eatable fungus)
1/2 teasp of salt
2 slices of ginger
10 cups of water

Fa-tsai can be found in the dried goods section in a Chinese grocery store. Soak Fa-tsai in water first before using. In a large stew pot, put all ingredients together and bring the soup to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for another 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot.

Deep-fried Vegetable Balls

1 cup of carrots and peas
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1/2 cup of diced potato
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
1 egg
1/2 teasp of sugar
1/4 tea sp of salt
2 cups of cooking oil

Mix flour with water, add vegetables, stir in one egg, add sugar and salt, mix well. Heat oil in a deep frying pan or a wok, test oil with a dry spoon, when bubbles form around spoon, reduce to medium heat, scoop one spoonful of vegetable-flour mixture at a time, carefully drop it into the hot oil. When balls turn golden brown color, scoop them out onto a plate layered with a towel to soak up excess oil. Make a big bowl full of veggie-balls. Serve warm.

Shrimp and Green Peas Sauté

1/2 lb. of shelled raw shrimps
1 cup of green peas
2 clovers of garlic, peeled and crushed
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup of cooking oil

Blanch shrimps in hot oil, set aside to drain out excessive oil. Heat 2 tblsps of oil, add garlic to oil, stir to bring out flavor, add green peas, stir to heat evenly, when peas are tender mix in shrimps. Transfer to a plate and serve warm.

Steamed Whole Fish

1 whole stripped bass, cleaned
4 slices of ginger
4 stems of scallion
2 table spoons of cooking wine
1/4 teasp of salt

Thinly julienne 2 slices of ginger and 2 stems of scallion, set aside. Boil water in a steamer. Set fish on a plate, sprinkle with salt, layer on 2 ginger slices and 2 stem of scallions. Steam fish for 15 minutes. Before serving, discard steamed ginger and scallion, layer on fresh julienned ones. Serve warm.

Assorted Veggie Salad

1/2 cup of mung bean sprouts
1/2 cup of soy bean sprouts
1/2 cup of julienned cucumber
1/2 cup of julienned Chinese radish
1/2 cup of julienned carrots
1/2 cup of julienned celery
1/2 cup of wood fungus, shredded and soaked
1/2 cup of "golden needle" flower, soaked
1/2 cup of shiitake mushroom, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup of pressed tofu, cut into thin strips
1/4 teasp of salt
2 tblsps of vinegar
2 tblsps of soy sauce
1 tblsp of sugar
1 tblsp of sesame oil

Boil water and blanch bean sprouts, tofu, mushroom, "golden needles" and wood fungus, in that order. Set aside, let cool. In a big bowl mix salt with carrot, radish, cucumber and celery, let stand for 30 minutes then drain excessive salty water from vegetables. Mix vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. In a large bowl mix well all vegetable and sauce. Refrigerate one hour or more before serving. Serve cold.

Assorted Sausages

1/4 lb. of Cantonese duck liver sausages
1/4 lb. of Cantonese pork sausages
1/4 lb. of Taiwanese sweet sausages
1/4 lb. of Cantonese style ham
1 stem of leek

Steam sausages and ham for 40 minutes. Let cool. Slice sausages, ham and leek in to bit size. Arrange sausage and ham slices, interlaced with leek before serving.

Five Spices Beef

1 lb. of lean beef, cut into bite size slices
1/4 cup of chopped leek
1/4 cup of chopped green onion
1/8 cup of crushed garlic
1/8 cup of crushed ginger
1/8 cup of chopped red chili pepper
2 tblsps of soy sauce
2 tblsps of sesame oil

Boil water, blanch beef for 30 seconds, set aside. Mix all other ingredients. Right before serving, mix beef with spices and sauce.

Mixed Pressed Tofu and Greens

2 cups of fresh spinach or "Tong-how" (eatable chrysanthemum leaves)
1/2 lb. of pressed tofu
1 tblsp of sesame oil
1/4 teasp of salt

Boil water, blanch greens and pressed tofu, let cool. Chop greens and dice tofu into tiny pieces. Mix greens, tofu with salt and sesame oil. Can be refrigerated. Serve cool.

Stir-fried Sticky Rice

2 cups of long grain sweet rice, uncooked
1/2 cup shiitake mushroom, cut into thin strips
1/4 lb. of lean pork, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup of soaked dried shrimp
1/4 cup of chopped shallot
2 tblsps of cooking oil
1/4 teasp of salt
4 tblsps of soy sauce

Brown shallots in oil or use pre-fried shallot bits. Cook two cups of rice with two cups of water in a rice cooker. When rice is ready, stir fry pork till done. Add mushrooms, shrimps and shallots, stir some more. Add soy sauce, add rice and salt. Mix well till all rice grains are coated with brown color. Serve warm.

Rice Vermicelli Sauté

1/2 lb. of dry thin rice noodle
1/2 cup of onion, cut into strips
1/4 lb. of pork, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup of shiitake mushroom, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup of carrots, cut into thin strips
1/4 teasp of salt
1 cup of water or chicken broth
1 tblsp of soy sauce
2 tblsp of vinegar
2 tblsp of cooking oil

Soak dry noodle in 8 cups of water for one hour, drained before cooking. Heat oil, brown onion, then cook pork till done, add soy sauce and stir. Add mushrooms carrots and broth, bring to boil. Add rice noodle, vinegar and salt. Mix well. Cook until liquid is well absorbed by noodles. Serve warm.

Fruit Custard

1 package of unflavored gelatin
1 cup of buttermilk
1 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of sugar
1 cup of blueberry
1 cup of diced apple
1 cup of sliced banana
1 cup of green grapes

Dissolve gelatin in buttermilk, use a blender to mix well. Heat orange juice till just start to bubble. Add orange juice to blender, blend some more. Pour mixture to cake mold and chill for about 30 minutes till gelatin thicken but still runny. Add fruit to gelatin, chill overnight. Right before serving, remove gelatin from mold and set in a big plate.

Sweet Rice Ball Soup

1 package of sesame paste filled rice balls (10 balls in one package)
1 package of red bean paste filled rice balls
1 package of peanut paste filled rice balls
4 tblsps of fermented sweet rice
1/4 cup of sugar

Bring 10 cups of water to boil, add rice balls. When water returns to boil, add sugar, reduce heat, simmer until all rice balls float to surface. Turn off heat, add fermented sweet rice to soup. Serve warm.

Nutrient-full Simple Dishes

Nothing is more sobering than a close friend's illness to remind us we need to pay more attention to our own health. Too often, we eat hastily and indulgently. The following menus are designed to maximize our daily intake of Beta-carotene, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Selenium, known cancer fighting antioxidants.

Menu 1

Breakfast:	carrot juice
	fresh strawberries
	whole wheat pancake
Lunch:	potato salad
	whole wheat bread
	orange juice
Dinner:	tomato tofu soup
	green bell peppers pressed tofu stir-fry
	corn bread

Whole Wheat Pancake

1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teasp sugar
1/2 teasp baking soda
1/2 teasp salt
1 large egg
2 tblsps unsalted butter, melted
cooking oil spray

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk in egg, butter, milk and buttermilk. Spray pan with cooking oil, when pan is hot, reduce to medium heat and spoon in about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake. Cook until bubbles appear on edge of pancakes. Flip with a spatula and cook the other side for about one minute. Repeat to make more pancakes. Makes 10 pancakes.

Potato Salad

1 cup of cooked and diced potatoes
1/2 cup cooked carrots and peas
1/4 cup diced tomatoes
1/4 cup diced cucumbers
4 tblsps Mayo

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, add salt to taste. Makes about 4 1/2 cup servings.

Tomato Tofu Soup

2 medium tomatoes, cut into sections
1 cup diced tofu
1/4 cup bok choy, cut into sections
3 cup of water or broth
salt and pepper

Bring broth to boil, add tomatoes and tofu. When soup returns to boil, reduce heat, simmer for 10 minutes. Add bok choy and turn off heat, Serve hot.

Green Bell Pepper and Pressed Tofu Stir-fry

2 medium green bell peppers cut into thin strips
1 cup pressed tofu, cut into strips
1 tblsp of cooking oil
salt and pepper

Heat oil in pan, stir in tofu first, then peppers. Stir till pepper and tofu are tender, add salt and pepper to taste.

Low Fat Corn Bread

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
1 teasp baking soda
3/4 teasp salt
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 large eggs

Mix dry ingredients first. Add yogurt and eggs. Mix until just blended. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake at 400 degree Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes, or golden brown in surface and nonstick in center.

Menu 2

Breakfast:	orange juice
	fresh mango
	sweet potato hash brown
Lunch:	corn chowder
	whole wheat bread
Dinner:	tomato and egg stir fry
	sweet and sour cabbage
	winter melon soup
	brown rice

Sweet Potato Hash Brown

2 cups shredded sweet potato
2 tblsp of cooking oil
salt and pepper

Heat oil in pan, when pan is hot, add sweet potato, sprinkle on salt and pepper. Reduce to medium heat. Press down to pack contents. Brown one side first, then flip and brown the other side. Serve warm.

Corn Chowder

1/2 cup of corn kernels
1/2 cup of diced cucumbers
1/2 cup of diced tomatoes
1/4 cup of diced shiitake mushrooms
2 table spoons of scallion finely chopped
1 cup of broth (vegetable of chicken)
1 and 1/2 cups of water
2 table spoons of corn starch
Dash of salt and pepper

Soak dry shiitake mushrooms in half a cup of warm water before preparing other ingredients. The mushrooms will be ready to dice in about 15 minutes. In the meantime dice vegetables, scrape corn kernels off its cob. When mushrooms are soaked, dice the reconstituted mushrooms as well and save the mushroom soaking water. Pour water, broth and mushroom water into a medium sized pot and bring mixture to boil. Add diced vegetables and mushrooms. When soup return to boil, immediately reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Use 1/4 cup of cold water to dissolve corn starch. While stirring soup gently, slowly add corn starch water to it. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle scallion bits onto soup and turn heat off. Serve warm. Makes about 4 one cup servings.

Tomato and Egg Stir-fry

1 cup diced tomatoes
1 stem scallion
4 large eggs
2 teasps cooking oil

Heat oil, brown scallion. Slightly beat eggs. Add egg mixture to pan, stir till egg starts to solidify. Add tomatoes and salt. Stir then reduce heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Serve warm.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

4 cup tear-up cabbage leaves
2 stems scallion
2 tblsp vinegar
1 tblsp soy sauce
1/2 tblsp sugar
1/4 teasp salt
2 tblsp cooking oil

Heat oil, brown scallion, add cabbage leaves, stir till leaves starts to wither, add vinegar, soy sauce, sugar and salt. Cook till leaves are tender.

Winter Melon Soup

2 slices of ginger
1 cup winter melon cubes
3 cups water
salt and pepper

Bring water and ginger to boil, add melon, reduce heat, simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

Menu 3

Breakfast:	orange banana smoothie
	fresh cherry tomatoes
	whole wheat bread
Lunch:	grape fruit juice
	sweet potato salad
	corn bread
Dinner:	tofu miso soup
	stir-fried spinach
	cold buckwheat noodles

Orange Banana Smoothie

2 cups orange juice
1 large banana

Blend orange juice and banana in a blender. Makes four 3/4 cup servings.

Sweet Potato Salad

1 cup cooked and diced sweet potato
3/4 cup diced apple
1/4 cup raisins
2 tblsp Mayo

Mix all ingredients. Makes four 1/2 cup servings.

Tofu Miso Soup

4 tblsp miso paste
3 cups water
1 cup diced tofu
1/4 cup scallion bits

Dissolve miso in water. Bring to soup to boil, add tofu, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat, add scallions and serve.

Stir-fried Spinach

4 cups fresh spinach leaves, packed
2 gloves of garlic
1 tblsp of cooking oil

Heat oil, brown garlic. Add spinach, cook till withered and serve.

Cold Buckwheat Noodles

4 oz dry buckwheat noodle
2 tblsp of vinegar
1/2 tblsp of sugar

Cook noodle. Rinse with cold water and drain. Mix with vinegar and sugar. Makes two cups of cold noodles.

Menu 4

Breakfast:	sweet potato oatmeal
	grapefruit juice
Lunch:	udon soup
	fresh cherry tomatoes
Dinner:	pressed tofu mix with spinach
	mushroom and bok choy
	vegetable soup
	brown rice

Sweet Potato Oatmeal

1 cup dry quick cook oatmeal
1/2 cup uncooked sweet potato, peeled and diced

Cook sweet potato in 3 cups of water till tender. Add oatmeal and cook for another minute. Serve warm.

Udon Soup

1 lb. udon
4 cups broth or water
1/4 cup spinach
1/4 cup shiitake mushroom
1/4 cup tofu
2 eggs

Bring broth to boil, add udon. Arrange spinach, mushroom, tofu and eggs on top. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Pressed Tofu and Spinach Mix

2 cups of fresh spinach
1/2 lb. of pressed tofu
1 tblsp of sesame oil
1/4 teasp of salt

Boil water, blanch spinach and pressed tofu, let cool. Chop greens and dice tofu into tiny pieces. Mix greens, tofu with salt and sesame oil. Can be refrigerated. Serve cool.

Mushroom Bok Choy

1 cup shiitake mushrooms
2 cups bok choy
1 cup broth
salt and pepper

Blanch bok choy in boiling water for 30 seconds. Set aside. Cook mushroom in broth for 10 minutes. Thicken broth with 2 tblsp of corn starch water. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour mushroom and broth over bok choy and serve.

Vegetable Soup

1 tomato, cut into sections
1 ear corn, cut into four sections
1/2 cup cabbage leaves
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup carrots
3 cups water
salt and pepper

In a large stew pot, put everything except tomato in. Bring soup to boil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomato and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve hot.

Menu 5

Breakfast:	sweet potato porridge
Lunch:	tomato spinach sandwich
	fresh tofu and soy sauce
Dinner:	mushroom tofu noodle soup

Sweet Potato Porridge

1 cup uncooked rice
1 cup sweet potato, peeled and diced
8 cups of water

Use a rice cooker, cook till porridge is thick and potatoes are tender.

Tomato Spinach Sandwich

4 slices whole wheat bread
1/2 cup tomato slices
1/2 cup fresh spinach leaves
2 teasp Mayo

Spread bread with Mayo. Layer on tomato, spinach, more bread and serve.

Fresh Tofu and Soy Sauce

4 oz fresh tofu
1 tblsp soy sauce

Rinse tofu with hot water and drain. Sprinkle on soy sauce and serve.

Mushroom Tofu Noodle Soup

4 oz dry buckwheat noodle
1/4 cup shiitake mushroom, cut into strips
1/4 cup soaked wood fungus
1/4 cup tofu, cut into strips
1/2 cup spinach leaves
one eggs
2 tblsps of scallion bits
3 cups broth or water

Bring broth to boil, add mushroom, wood fungus and tofu. Simmer for 15 minutes, add spinach and stir in egg. Cook noodle. Add noodle to soup. Sprinkle on scallions and serve.