Making Hamburgers Taiwan style

On November 15th Reagan's actual birthday. We had the opportunity to do something kind of fun. We went to this restaurant called Royal Host where they were going to teach the kids how to make hamburgers. My two chefs were the only Americans but they enjoyed the process just as much as the local kids. We went with a friend from church so she translated everything we needed to know.

First the kids were given two patties of meat to work with. They were supposed to put them together to make a ball of meat. Here are a few photos of them working with the meat.





Once they made a nice ball of meat they were supposed to throw it between their hands to make it ready to be flattened into a patty. The chef walked around to help the kids if they needed help making the ball ready. At one point the chef traded balls of meat with Reagan so he could help her. The look on her face was priceless. If looks could speak the chef would have heard her say " I don't want that ball of meat that you have been touching, I don't know where it has been." But with our language barrier and Reagan's politeness she said nothing.

Once all the kids were finished they pressed their patties and went downstairs to cook their patties. The manager informed the kids that due to the griddle being so hot it would be a safety hazard to let them actually cook their burgers so they just got to watch.



Once the patties were ready they went back upstairs to create their burger with the trimmings. They had butter, mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and ketchup.



The boy standing beside Gavin piled on the butter. Most of the kids piled on the trimmings more for fun than for them to actually eat their burgers. Reagan and Gavin are true Clarksons they were making their burgers to eat.



I think Reagan and Gavin were the only two who actually ate their creation. The kids had a great time. Gavin was reluctant to go at first I had to make him because I had already paid for him to go, but when it was all finished he commented on how much fun he had and he was glad I made him go.

Making Cookies for School

Reagan wanted to bring something to school to celebrate her birthday. If we were at home we would make cookies or cupcakes no problem. Well here in Taiwan without an oven our choices are limited. I then remembered the chocolate oatmeal no bake cookie recipe I got from my mom. What a perfect recipe.

I remember making these cookies with my mom as a little girl and her telling me that she used to make these cookies as a young girl too. It was kind of fun reminiscing during the cooking process.



As we were making the cookies I told Reagan the secret of how you know that the chocolate is ready for the oatmeal. This is always the hardest part for me because I always want to stop before it is actually done. You are supposed to drop a few drops of chocolate in a cold glass of water to see if it clumps together when that happens it is ready for the oatmeal.



We stirred for a long while and they were finally ready to add the oatmeal. I was so proud that I was so patient and cooked it longer so it would it be perfect. We added the oatmeal and proceeded to the table to drop the cookies on the wax paper. You have to do this fast.



As we were doing this I soon realized that we had cooked the chocolate too long because the chocolate was too dry to really form great cookies. Some formed but for the most part it became chocolate covered oatmeal. Back to the drawing board.

We had enough supplies to make one more batch so we started over. It wasn't as nostalgic as the first time. I was a little stressed that I had to get this batch right so she could have cookies to take to school. We mixed it up again and stirred the right amount hopefully and the second batch was ready.



We started placing the second batch on wax paper and realized the chocolate could have cooked a little longer but we were still able to make cookies. All in all it was not our best baking endeavor but we were able to find enough cookies to put on the tray to take to school for her birthday. We ate the ones that didn't make the cut. They were delicious.

I am thankful for moments like these. I will cherish this memory always. I hope Reagan will as well.

Reagan's Bday 11-9-2008 7-22-30 PM

Reagan's Bday 11-9-2008 7-22-30 PM, originally uploaded by padaron.

Reagan blowing out her candles.

Reagan's Birthday

Happy 11th Birthday Reagan!



I know this is very late, but I guess it is better late than never. We actually celebrated Reagan's birthday the weekend before her birthday because Ronny was going to be out of town on her real birthday. Since we don't have an oven I ordered a cake from the food services from school. We let Reagan choose where she wanted to eat and she choose Chili's.



This photo looks like it could be at a Chili's anywhere doesn't it? Happy Birthday Reagan.

Since our plans have changed, Reagan is now the only family member who had her birthday in Taiwan. I know she will remember it always. She decided to wait to go back to the states to get her birthday gift.

It's Always Something

3 months ago we were praying for cold weather here in Taipei. Now we have what I would call "cool" weather, which is to say that the windows are open and the A/C units are all in hibernation for the winter. It's definitely cold in the apartment and now we find ourselves grumbling that we don't have a fireplace.

Sigh...

A Taipei Thanksgiving

A year ago on Thanksgiving day we were in Pflugerville with my family. We ate lots of good food, had too many leftovers (as always) and even put up Christmas decorations after it was all over because Grandma and Grandpa were there. At the time, none of us knew what the coming year had in store for us: the ups and the downs.

This year we find ourselves in Taipei for Thanksgiving and that in and of itself gives us a lot to be thankful for. The theme for this year's dinner was How to Cook Thanksgiving Dinner without an Oven! Some people around here either ordered their dinner from local American restaurants or went to the American Club (a kind of Country Club) for their dinner. Bully to them, but around our house - WE COOK!

The only non-homemade dish we had this year was something called "Orange Soup". We've had the "Red Soup" with grilled cheese sandwiches in the past, and the "Orange Soup" looked very harvest-y, so we decided to give it a go. I added my own flair and re-named it "Harvest Soup". Despite my best efforts at marketing, I was the only one who ate it:



For the main dish, we re-created the "Chicken and Dressing in a Crock Pot" recipe we tried several weeks ago. It was even better this time as we didn't add as much chicken broth to the dressing (the chicken on top of the dressing provides the broth!) and we put the chicken back in a skillet to get crispy before serving. It was a big success:



And the dressing:



Believe it or not, sweet potatoes (or yams) are really big over here so we had no problem whipping some up with some butter and marshmallows. Amy (my sous chef) even had the idea to put them in our little toaster oven to give the marshmallows that "toasted" look. I'm so proud of her! They were yummy as well:



And finally, Thanksgiving wouldn't be complete without the Barclay chicken noodles. We hope that Grandma Barclay is smiling somewhere knowing that her recipes made it halfway around the world:



Desert is where you really get stuck without an oven. The kids wanted to make "Puppy Chow" so they went off to the store that morning and bought the ingredients and whipped this up. It was really good:



But you have to have pies for Thanksgiving! Without an oven, we were stuck, so we had to (gasp!) order out our pies. We ordered them from Wendel's, a cool little German bakery down the road. Pumpkin Pie was a must, but we also got an apple pie as well. The kids went to go pick them up yesterday morning while we cooked and they were packaged so cool!

They came in this little hat box thing:





The pumpkin pie looked too good to eat. So we decided to take it's picture and just have it as a centerpiece for the rest of the holidays. Just kidding. We devoured it:



The apple pie looked like something straight out of Grandma Weseloh's kitchen. It was yummy too:



We're happy, we're healthy, and we're thankful for our family and friends! And oh, yeah, we're thankful that we'll be home for Christmas! Happy Thanksgiving 2008 from the Ronamy crew:

Video Fun

(For those of you who only read the email version of the blog, you have to go to the website http://www.ronamy.com/ to see videos.)

I was arranging photos on my computer and I came across a couple of videos that the kids had taken with their cameras. The videos were buried among the pictures and some of them are actually pretty funny. So in no particular order...

Amy Doing the WiiFit: This one speaks for itself:



Keely and Smelly Cat - Amy and the kids went to a friend's house one Saturday while I was away on a trip and evidently hilarity ensued:



Gavin Doing the White Boy Shuffle - Amy said I shouldn't post this, but I actually think it's really good dancing considering he's just winging it and expressing himself. Note to Keely - when you film a video, it's not a picture so you can't turn the camera on it's side:

Gavin Interactive

Gavin has developed a love for the "Clone Wars" animated series and movie. I'm not a big fan because it's not the Star Wars I grew up with, but when I watch him watch it, I see myself 25 years ago, making the lightsaber and blaster sounds while watching the movies.

So the other day I was in the office doing some work (read: playing World of Warcraft) and I heard Gavin in our room watching the newest episode. Yes, I heard him watching the episode because it's a very interactive experience for him. Exhibit A:

Jet Lag

I usually pride myself in being to adjust quickly to time zones when I travel. For some reason, though, since I returned from a 2 week stay in the U.S. last Saturday I have been unable to re-adjust back to Taipei time. I've been going to bed about 7 or 8 (okay, closer to 7) and waking up around 2 or 3.

On the one hand, it's kinda cool to be awake at 3 AM in the middle of the city with the windows open to take advantage of the cool weather. Even in the middle of the night I can hear the random honk of a taxi horn (who are they honking at?) and the rev of a scooter's engine.

On the other hand, there's something creepy about prowling around the apartment in the middle of the night all by myself.

But then, I just had a horrible thought - maybe I'm not jet lagged at all. Maybe I'm just ... OLD.

Chicken Fried

Since we've made the decision to move back home to be closer to mom and dad while they battle the cancer that wants to take him from us and to be nearer to friends and family who want to support us through the ordeal...

Life feels right. For the first time in years, I feel like the path before me is laid out clearly and there's no fear, no hesitation, no doubts. I haven't felt this way since we made the decision to leave Houston almost 2.5 years ago. I know where we need to be right now at this place and time: our home in Pflugerville.

"Zero Gravity" is a theme we use at work right now to explain our strategy and our way of thinking. It's a powerful frame of mind if you can achieve it and it's a perfect way to describe things at home right now. Nothing is holding us down and holding us back. We're focusing on the important things in life and life feels right.

So of course, when I came across the song "Chicken Fried" by the Zac Brown Band on iTunes it put me in a good frame of mind and once again reminded me we're on the right path.



Well its funny how it`s the little things in life that mean the most
Not where you live or the car you drive or the price tag on your clothes
There`s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I`ve come to know
So if you agree have a drink with me
Raise your glasses for a toast
To a little bit of chicken fried

Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my woman`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love

Oh and for those of you think I've gone too country lately, you'll be happy to know that I also bought "The Best of Vanilla Ice" for only $5. See - I'm still cool. :)

A Man on a Tractor With a Dog in the Field

I think most everybody knows by now so I thought I'd break the news here. Our time in Taipei is coming to a close prematurely. To make a long story short, I work for the best company in the world and they understand that I need to be at home right now to be with my mom and dad while he is busy beating cancer.



This weekend I stopped by between a week in California and a few days in Boston this week. I was able to surprise mom and dad for his birthday in Brenham at Kristi's house and we had a great day. I also surprised them with the news that we're coming home for good on December 17th. In retrospect, I'm thankful that our house in Pflugerville hasn't sold.

We've been spending the better part of a year chasing something that's clearly not within our grasp right now. So we're anxious to move back home and just live our lives and be satisfied with the many blessings including the proximity of family and friends.

Yesterday as I was driving back to Pflugerville from Brenham I heard a song by Rodney Atkins that never really meant much to me, but now it means everything. So as of today, this is no longer the "American Expat Edition" by the "Man on a Tractor Edition" as we prepare to say goodbye to a very unsettling 2008:

I woke up the same way this morning
Like a stranger in my own life
Tired and confused with too much to do
Nothing left for my kids and my wife
Oh I clung to that first cup of coffee
Praying god, won't you show me what's real
Then out in the distance I saw through the window
A man on a tractor with a dog in a field

The dog walked just like it was smiling
The man drove like the world was all right
The tractor hummed on like a part of a song
That you sing to your children at night
His work was laid out there before him
In rows of green, his whole life was revealed
Oh what I wouldn't give if I could just live
Like a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

[Chorus:]

Let me do what I'm doing
Let me be where I am
Let me find peace of mind
On my own piece of land
When I'm lost, help me to let go
And find someway to feel
Like a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

There I was watching and wondering
My wife came down and sat beside me
She said. "it's not about living another man's life
It's about seeing your own differently
Oh this home that I love and my children
What more could one man hope to yield
Then she touched my face
And said, "there's more than one way
To be a man on a tractor with a dog in a field

We'll be home for Christmas, you can count on that.

F=MA (AKA I'm Bigger Than You)

I'm not a big fan of riding the train/subway in Taipei during rush hour. I learned pretty quickly that there's not really a concept of personal space and if you want to occupy a space in time, then you'd better be pretty aggressive about it. This is not rude - it's just the way it is here.

The problem is that I'm roughly twice as big (mass) as 99.9% of the population here. In addition I tend to walk 1.5 times as fast (acceleration) as the average person here. Ergo, if I remember my High School Physics from Mr. Matthews, I lay absolute waste (force) to anybody I come into contact with when we both attempt to occupy the same space at the same time.

Again, I'm not trying to be rude, and neither are they, but I'm still a person who doesn't like to come in contact with strangers, even if it is to bend over and help them up after they bounce off of my like a guy 2 cards short of a full deck in a padded room.

I guess my payback comes to me when children see me coming. They stare at me as if they've never seen anything like me. Now, granted, I'm probably the closest thing to a real Adonis most of them have ever seen... but staring and pointing and saying things in Mandarin they think I don't understand? That's okay because I'm learning Mandarin and one of these days my 36-year old vocabulary is going to catch up with their 3-year old vocabulary and they'll be sorry...

I've also noticed that there are 4 very distinct types of "blockers" during my commute on the trains and in the train stations. All of them make me remember that I must truly control my acceleration because controlling my mass is a strategic goal, not a tactical one.

The Esca-blocker. The Esca-blocker is the person who either doesn't realize or doesn't care that if you're standing you stand on the right and if you're walking you walk on the left. The Esca-blocker kinda meanders in the middle not letting the walkers by. This is generally where I try to "squeeze" by, but it's also where my mass comes into play and next thing you know my acceleration has caused me to force all over them. Sorry but I'm in a hurry for no particular reason and everybody else does it...

The Get On-blocker. The Get On-blocker is generally the person who is standing in the doorway of the train even though there is tons of room in the car. The problem is that I need to get on the train. Whoops - excuse my force, got mass?

The Get Off-blocker. The Get Off-blocker is a curious sort. Everybody knows when you get to Taipei Main Station that at least half of the car is going to want to get off. The Get Off-blocker generally stands in front of the door as people try to rush out in the internationally accepted period of time. After all, nobody likes to not be able to get off the train because somebody is in the way. Bam! That damn acceleration...

The Get Off-blocker 2.0. This is a new one to me and one that I discovered for the first time just today. The train was approaching Taipei Main Station. OK, quick - get into position and make sure you're not behind a Get Off-blocker. Oh, hello stranger - what's that? Oh you want to get in front of me? No problem. OK here it comes get ready... GO! Only the person that just shuffled in front of me is not getting off! What the...? Why on earth would you push your way to the door from the back of the car only to stand there? Use the force, Ron...

Anyhow, please don't take this as negative as I don't mean it to be. Sometimes things here are 180 degrees different than what I've come to expect. Personal space is one of those things. Luckily I've got enough personal space for the both of us.

Saturday Date night

This past Saturday Ronny and I planned a date night. We left the kids with some cash to get some dinner from Subway and we headed out on our own. Our plans were to go see the movie Tropic Thunder and then try the Thai restaurant at the department store.

I love when I go to the movies with just Ron and me because we always get snacks. The snack choices here are different than the snack choices back home. My idea of a snack at the movies is some kind of chocolate candy, maybe some popcorn and a Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb. My choices here were coffee, tea (including hot tea), coke, juice, popcorn, ice cream, chiros, oddly flavored pretzel, but I did not see any candy choice. We went with popcorn and coke. I miss Dr. Pepper.

Our seats were almost at the very top in the middle. I must remember to ask for row H next time, that is the row at the breaking point. We did sit with no one next to us this time. I like my personal space and leg room when I watch movies. I wonder if you could ask for a whole row?

Anyways, the movie was funny and for a brief moment at the end I had forgotten that we were not home in America. It was a nice feeling. Of course after the movie I had to use the little girls room. I found myself praying there was an actual toilet in the restroom. You never know here. I was pleased they had toilets.

After the movies we headed over to the other building to eat supper. So far we had only eaten at Chili's at the department store and someone had told me that the Thai restaurant was good. We found the restaurant and were seated almost immediately. We ordered from the set menu and so we got try a variety of dishes. The food was delicious and so full of flavors. I would definitely go back to that restaurant but I am not sure it is something the kids would enjoy.

After supper we were going down the escalator and on one floor we were greeted by a red poodle just sitting there ever so quietly waiting patiently while his owner was shopping. It still amazes me how you see pets everywhere with their owners always so well behaved.

We then walked home, we passed by the shop where I had bought the kids costumes on the way to the movies and they still had costumes on sale and I thought I should come and stock up for years to come since they were so cheap. On the way home there was not a costume to be seen. The racks were now full with clothing. Wow, that was fast.

It was a wonderful Saturday night.

Stuff ... I See Stuff!

The nice thing about diddy-bopping around the globe with a camera phone is that when I see something that makes me appreciate the differences that bind us all together I can capture them. For instance, this past week I was in Manila and I saw this newspaper:



How do I get that job!? I'll give you a hint - it has nothing to do with the young ladies in the bikinis posing for a beauty pageant (yes I read the article).

Then, later on I came across this menu delight a Jollibee - the Filipino equivalent to McDonald's (but with a soul):



It was exactly like a hot apple pie, but with tuna! (In all fairness, it was quite yummy. It tasted just like a chicken pot pie with tuna instead of chicken.)

Back home we noticed that a new Pizza Hut was getting ready to open in our neighborhood. Parked out front, all in a row were:



Yep! Shiny brand new red pizza delivery mopeds! My camera phone doesn't quite capture it well, but I thought this was a pretty (and pretty unique) sight to see. An army of redness, just waiting to invade the surrounding neighborhoods with corporate American goodness in the form of melted mozzarella cheese!

Kayci Was Right ... Again!

Behold! The Churro that is preventing Kayci from visiting Taiwan!



We spotted this guy at the movie theater last night. We stuck with the popcorn, thanks.

Happy Halloween :)

Happy Halloween! It's a day late but I hope you like this picture I edited to say happy halloween to everyone! :)

Happy Halloween from Taiwan

I planned ahead this time. I knew that I would not be seeing Reagan after school and that I would not be taking Gavin trick or treating so if I wanted a Halloween picture this year I had to take it that morning. Keely wore her costume to school and I made Reagan and Gavin put theirs on for the picture because they were going to change into their costumes later that day for the party. Aren't they cute?



Reagan and Gavin were having Halloween parties that started at 1:00. I went up to help with the parties and of course to take pictures. In Gavin's class they carved pumpkins. I was the parent who was in charge of helping Gavin's table. His table mates and he decided to carve their own face as opposed to using one from a book. I thought it turned out pretty well.








They all worked together to clean out the pumpkin and carve its face. I think the finished product turned out great.



Gavin's teacher took a picture of the group and me since I helped.



Here are just few more pictures from Gavin's party. Elvis even stopped by to entertain the class.
I think he had a great time. Maybe I can get him to blog about it later.






My job for Reagan's party was to make a snack to have at the party. Reagan wanted me to make pumpkin dip and ginger snaps. Here's a picture of Reagan and friends and the whole class.








One of the games her class played was wrapping people up as mummies. Reagan was one of the people who was to be wrapped.







Both parties were great. I just went back and forth to make sure I got to spend time with both Reagan and Gavin. My pumpkin dip was a hit with the adults but not so much with the kids. Oh well more leftovers for me.

We ended our Halloween night at Jake's Country Kitchen for supper with Gavin and his friend Dane. I had bought a couple bags of candy just in case we got any trick or treaters but we didn't.