… Asian American style, that is! Li Shan tea from Taiwan (the “King of Teas,” some say) served with strawberry jam filled almond shortbread cookies, Chinese honey almond squares, and these dessert dumplings I made up when I was trying to figure out what to do with leftover dough.

Manufacturing for the alpha collection is out of my hands for now, which means this weekend I was very idle, so I surprised Hubby with sweets. I sketched for several hours, got nowhere with that, and decided I wanted to have afternoon tea.

Two yolks, a stick of butter, a small teacup of sugar, honey, and a pinch of salt with flour slowly mixed into the batter until a relatively firm dough is formed; roll balls of the dough in finely chopped almonds, and fill with your favorite farmer’s market fruit preserves. Hubby prefers strawberry, so that’s what I used. Bake at 350 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes and you’ve got the most delicious jam-filled shortbread cookies ever.

The almonds are home-grown on my aunt’s farm. She also keeps bees, and the honey I use is from her bees.

There was excess dough, so I threw in the rest of the almonds, rolled it out, cut a square, and then cut that square into even smaller squares, brushed with a wash of egg whites and honey, sprinkled on sugar, and baked at 400 degrees F until golden brown and crispy. The egg white wash and sugar gives the squares a glossy almost candy-like coating. Yum.

After I cut out the square to cut into little squares, I still had that tiny ball of leftover dough, so I rolled it out into two dumpling wrappers, filled with a spoonful of sugar (which will melt into a gooey center after baking), and pinched the dessert dumplings shut with the rest of the egg white wash.

Hubby and I spent a lazy afternoon filling up on calories, the best green tea ever, and conversation. We are both individuals with strong sociopolitical opinions, often divergent opinions, and so we have a lot to talk about. Lately it’s been Arizona Senate Bill 1079 and the BP oil spill. I know…not exactly the lightest discussion to accompany afternoon tea, but that’s how we roll.

I haven’t entirely thought through why I’m posting photos of cookies, probably because I’ve been reading too many food blogs and I feel inspired.

Just so this post is somewhat related to Taryn Zhang, I conclude with a photo of swatch test pieces currently sitting on my desk:

And here is where I do all my design work:

For Memorial Day weekend, Hubby planned us a road trip to Big Sur. He knows how stressful and hectic the everday work life can be for me, so every chance we get, he’ll whisk me away on a mini vacation to help me unwind.

Says the cat to me, "Don't bring these, you moron. What part of 'vacation' don't you get?"

The entire preceding day, I went grocery shopping and prepared our picnic food, a fusion of East and West, of his childhood favorites and mine. A Chinese road trip includes egg and nori sandwiches and tea eggs, and Hubby had already put in a special request for tea eggs (which takes the whole day and one night to make). For me growing up here, a road trip wasn’t complete without potato salad and baked sweets, like cookie brownie bars. So I prepared all of the above, plus a grilled veggie and shrimp pasta, steamed corn on the cob, and a bunch of little teatime finger sandwiches. Hubby is currently on a diet, so we skipped the soda and high-fructose-corn-syrupy fruit drinks for homemade iced tea, one pitcher of honey roasted red, and one of green matcha.

Grilled squash, zucchini, shrimp, and grape tomato pasta salad; James isn't the biggest fan of American/Western cuisine, so I always need to force-feed him for him to try it. Once he tried the pasta though, he inhaled it. =D Yay for trying new things. He's learning to love our comfort foods!

Hubby planned the whole trip. Love is when Hubby comes across some little article about Big Sur and automatically thinks, “I want to take my wife there, she’d really like it,” and then does.

That sign just about sums up the drive. Poor Hubby didn't get much of a chance to enjoy the scenic landscape; he was concentrated on keeping us alive! To the left, a steep cliff with signs that kept warning "falling rocks" and to the right, a plunging drop and then the Pacific Ocean. Ranked one of the most dangerous highways in America. (The photograph above was taken at one of the rare spots that actually went inland.)

I don’t know the origin of the following talltale-personality-indicator, but I once heard that people who prefer the mountains are introverted, conservative, possess a strong work ethic, are reliable and trustworthy, and are governed by rationalism, while people who prefer the ocean are extroverted, free-spirited, value their freedom, are leaders, movers and shakers. Sounds kind of like a person can’t be both, but after visiting Big Sur, I am! I love both mountain and ocean!

Sea lions!

Not a zoo, folks. Above are sea lions in their natural habitat. The fella immediately above has a toy ball! How cute!!

I was both amazed and disturbed at how close the squirrels let me get to them. I fed them some of the corn we brought. They reluctantly accepted the corn, disappointed that I didn’t have potato chips or cookie crumbs, which is what we saw the other tourists feed them! No wonder these squirrels are obese! Poor things! That was why I was disturbed–humans feeding wild squirrels processed people food, which is why they’re not afraid to approach us…they want more chips and cookies!

We also visited Hearst Castle. The typewriter reminded me of a law professor once recounting to me how they used to take the bar exam on typewriters (rather than laptops). Law students would lug to the center these giant cases and set these things up. I just can’t imagine!

Also above is an awesome desktop set-up. I took the photograph and noted to myself that one day when I acquire the privilege of a hoity toity home office, I would arrange it like above. At present, my home office is a mess, stacks of paperwork, case files, reams of fabric and swatch books, and a laptop covered in cat hair, because the resident cat thinks my laptop is a bed.

“Why are you taking a picture of the wall?” asked Hubby. Because I found it so inspirational! These tiles will inspire a Taryn Zhang handbag or custom print for the interior lining, just you wait.

The long drive home...

Hubby planned one final surprise…

We parked at a gorgeous vista point and watched the sun set together. I thought it was a great fluke, but apparently he planned it all along…he timed the trip accordingly so that on the drive home, we’d stop at a particular spot just in time to enjoy what you see above.

Oh– and this always happens to me. I wear a super-cute shirt, but then I don’t take a single picture of me wearing the super-cute shirt. It’s only when it gets drafty, I put on a bleh-blah-blah sweater or hoodie, and oh– now everybody wants to take photos.

Final random pic: Self-taken photo with the camera phone on the morning of our trip. Hubby’s still asleep. I’m a girly-girl, so I have to wake up early to put on my face. This is taken right after makeup application.

I look the best in low-res digital images taken in the dark. Lighting, or lack thereof, is everything.