Are we really in Taipei?

Eating dumplings and drinking bubble tea in Taipei! Never in my wildest dreams have I imagined that we would be living in Taipei. But with a Costco and Ikea within reach, we shouldn't be home sick. We have been busy trying to get settled in, though we don't have a place of our own yet we have our bank accounts and phones. Kids are predictably unpredictable! They are jet lagged and delirious!
I really wish we had our camera with us on our orientation trip, which ended with a trip to Home Depot and Costco. It was incredibly strange to be walking through Costco in Asia, it felt like I never left Portland.
Apartment search continues...

Hey, don't touch that!

After being disappointed with many Quiches around town, I finally decided to try making my own. After all it is just eggs in a pastry shell, how hard could this be? And why can't these pastry shops get it right?! Thomas Keller's explanation about making Quiche in his book Bouchon made me feel like trying out his recipe. Being a gear head that I am, what excited me most about his recipe is that I get to buy something new for my kitchen; a 9 inch ring mold. Without the ring mold the Quiche was bound to be a failure as per Keller. Courageously, I venture into the kitchen. My only goal for the first day of the new year was to make a Quiche (which could turn out to be a horrible flop) , make a pot roast for dinner while the chicken stock simmered on the back burner.
Made the dough, lest it rest, rolled it out, rest it again, pre-bake the shell, blanched the leeks, crisped the bacon, blended the milk/cream/eggs together, put is it all together, baked it for about an hour and half....it was hard not to cut into it right away. i managed to keep out of it, till it was completely chilled and rested a full 24hrs.
I have to say that this is the BEST Quiche I have ever had. So there I am no longer a Quiche virgin!