Today is -21F in Minnetonka, MN

Due to the cold weather, our window is frozen inside too. : )

It is cold today in Minnetonka, MN. -21F = about - 32C wow~ I love it. Yesterday I saw two deers walking in the forest. I was wondering if they would be okay today under this cold weather. Anyway, I still love Minnesota even though it's so cold.

Happy New Year 2009!

In the end of 2008, we got an invitation from our friend to jump into icy Minnetonka Lake as a celebration of welcoming the New Year of 2009. We, of course, were not crazy enough to follow this so-called tradition yet. But we did give them our spiritual support and took this short video. Check it out. Maybe you'll feel like do it too for celebrating next new year!
the link of video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T75lWLTr7Y

Make a Smilebox greeting

My sister Shelly and Yuming got married in Taipei Temple on Dec. 19

I'm so happy for Shelly and Yuming. Congratulations to you two! What a sweet couple!

I love cooking!

I know I'm still learning how to cook healthy and delicious food. I feel I'm progressing. : ) yeah~ I'm so happy for that. The following is what I've been cooking lately.
This is Turkey mushroom sauce. Very traditional Taiwan flavor sauce. Sometimes I miss Taiwan flavor food and then I try to make some. I feel I've progressed a lot. Now most of time I can successfully follow the recipe pretty well. If you are interested in making, you may visit this website: http://www.wretch.cc/blog/mitong&article_id=2284888 (This is a Chinese version website.)

This is Apple-spice muffins. : ) I've been trying to find some healthier recipes for making bread, muffins, or desserts. So far I'm still bad in making desserts. (Well, according to the nutrition books that I've been reading lately. Sugar is not good for health. But dessert is all about sugar. what should I do then? According to these books' suggestion, I can use honey or real maple syrup or malt syrup or a herb named Stevia instead of sugar.) Well, anyway, I'm very happy about this Apple-spice muffins. It tastes really good. I only change milk to soymilk and 2 cups of all-purpose flower to 1 cup unbleached flour and 1 cup whole-wheat flour. I found this recipe in this website: http://eatbetteramerica.com/recipes/special-occasions/apple-spice-muffins.aspx

(Before baking it)

(After baking it)

Yeah~ This is what I made today. I would like to thank my little sister's good friend, sister K. She shared this whole wheat cinnamon rolls recipe with me. Today I finally tried it and it was successfully and delicious. I love cinnamon rolls. It is so wonderful to eat my own handmade cinnamon rolls. Mike likes it too. : ) Thanks a lot, sister K!

Camping is fun!

Last weekend, Mike and I went our first-time camping with other 5 families. We arrived the state park after dark so it took a while for us to find our camping spot. It was a little bit scary and exciting for us to drive in a totally dark small road. We thought we were in nowhere. Fortunately, we still found the camping spot and met other families. It was so nice to see people again after getting kinda lost for almost 1 hour in darkness. : )

With other people's help, we finally set up our tent. The first night was too cold for me and Mike to sleep. This picture was taken the next day morning. From Mike's face, you can see he was still in the shock of yesterday's coldness.

Aren't they sooooooo cute? They are my special little best friend Laila and Katherine.

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

Today is our FL Mom's birthday! : ) She is a very very sweet mom to us. We just feel so very grateful and happy that we can have her as our sweet sweet mom. We created a cute photo card by Smilebox for her birthday. Happy birthday, mom! We love you!

Take a look at our sweet home. : )

Share some photos of our home, cooking results, and us. : )

P.S., There are more pictures in my MSN space. Please go to the attached link. : )

http://sisterzhang.spaces.live.com/

Mike and Linda in Burnsville, Minnesota

Wow~ Finally I realized how to get my password and come here to update some photos.
I've been here for almost 4 weeks. I started to like this place. Everyone told me it is going to be really cold here during winter. I don't know how cold that might be but I look forward to experience it. : ) (Even though I sometimes still miss the really cute, convenient, having-good-food-everywhere Taiwan.)
What do Mike and I have been busy for? : )
Mike has a very nice job that brings him a lot of good opportunities in learning business stuffs and management. We all feel very blessed for this job. We feel very grateful.
I'm still learning to be a good cook. Hmm...now I understand it's not easy to cook yummy food everytime. Sometimes I cook something not very delicious but we still enjoy eating it. I appreciate our good appertite. ; )
I'm also preparing myself for driving license test. I need to pass the paper test first and then the road test. I really hope I can drive soon. : )

Mike and Linda Friedman : )

Welcome to our Blog!

We (Mike and Linda) were married on Sept. 9, 2006 in the Taipei Taiwan Temple.