Even though I miss the dinners with friends in Edinburgh, Oxford has welcomed me with friendship, a change of perspective, new prospects and many culinary adventures.
Some of the best homemade dishes in 2013:
Pavlova, Marshall’s family recipe. After an authentic Korean dinner prepared by Marshall and Sun Young. British sinologists are for real. 喝茶的時候Marshall又端出一套梅花骨瓷杯，杯子是教他甜品方子的曾祖母留下的。Pavlova乃澳洲甜品，Marshall家是蘇格蘭人，杯子是日本的——曾祖母曾經在澳洲認識了她的日籍先生，二戰的時候陪他一起蹲獄，杯子是他們出獄後的紀念，梅花香自苦寒來。因爲知道這位曾孫學習歷史並熱愛東方文化，就將故事和杯子都給了他。
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Vegetarian bake with tomato and courgette, by newly converted vegetarian/ medical historian Yun Ju
Sichuan Hotpot at home, by a rising literary scholar, a taste of 1920s romance… 除了讓人回味的麻辣香鍋之外，還有她對歷史文學的理論洞見和親切爲人。朋友之間能心平氣和的討論不同的觀點，最難的。
A housewarming gift that was just perfect:
Full English breakfast with friends like a family, during our trip to Wales:
Homemade gingerbread jamie. My friend L was at an academic meeting, an occassion of which cakes and cookies were brought to delight. At the end they weren’t so into desserts but L knows that i’m a sweetooth… so they delighted my rainy afternoon:
Slow-cooked pork belly, celery with peanut butter and bakewell tart, those were the good times of our writing discussion. And these dinners and teas warmed up this house for us:
Pan fried black pepper chicken breast, with celery and pomegranate salad in a honey-mustard sauce. As gorgeous as the spiced warm whiskey made by a cool hostess who is also an expert of horror films:
A Cantonese dinner isn’t complete without soup, and for several but not one time our guests brought various Cantonese soup carefully boiled with love and medical cosmology… 雞腳淮山螺片湯，鮮甜到整鍋不剩。
同一天的晚餐，甜品是Q做的胡蘿蔔蛋糕：
My invention: fish curry in coconut cream:
廣東湯的精華：螺片蜜棗猴頭菇
慢燉農夫市場買到的蹄髈
最有心的聖誕火雞填料：花生、番茄、蜜棗、果仁（見：我們去年吃了一隻企鵝）
跨年大家一起動手，最後出來一盤讓人驚豔的鍋貼。圓潤飽滿的完美了今年的餐桌：）
Creative Evolution 