🎊 Happy 14th B-Day Srey-Yuu 👨👧 A Hot-Pot For You & More 🍲
July 12th was Srey-Yuu's 14th birthday, and I decided to give my daughter my time, the most precious resource of all, and a pretty outstanding hot-pot spread too.
Everybody Do Srey-Yuu's Chores 🧹
Her birthday fell on a school day, not exactly easy circumstances to do something special, but I have been asking her for many weeks how she'd like to spend her special day. The number one thing was that she didn't want to wash any dishes on her birthday, so I took that one step further and made sure that we performed all her chores for her.
When Srey-Yuu would arrive home from school there would be nothing for her to do, and luckily she didn't have any homework. I had spent the previous evening making two plates of carrot halva, then woke up in the morning to start making a hot-pot, her favorite food, and something I've never made before.
👨🍳 I'm A Chef, How Hard Can It Be?
I used to cook a lot of SE Asian style foods in my younger years, but now that I've got a Cambodian wife, I leave the SE Asian foods to her, and I stay in my comfort zone of cooking mostly South Asian flavors. After I googled several different vegan hot-pot recipes, the broths were all very simple, so I sort improvised my own version with inspiration from several websites.
Ultimately I wanted to make a fairly simple broth the first time, and then decide based on the taste, what I will add in future hot-pots. I fried green onions, chilies, ginger, and lemongrass, then added 4 liters of water, tamarind, tomatoes, pineapples, corn on the cob, nutritional yeast, soy sauce, sugar, and salt, and an hour later a heavenly broth was waiting on the stove.
🫵 Are You Not Satisfied?
As soon as Srey-Yuu arrived home I took her book bag and told her everything has been done. I then asked her what she wanted to do with nothing but freedom and me at her service until bedtime. At first she seemed a bit perplexed, but with some interrogation she revealed that she wanted to Netflix and chill.
While Srey-Yuu watched Netflix, we all prepared a party area over at the cabin. I divided the massive batch of vegan hot-pot broth into two pots to allow the guys to add meat if they wanted. Well, it turns out our neighbors were out of town, and that meant no meat for sale, so everybody went vegan for the evening. Much to my surprise the guys were enjoyed it and wanted to know the details of how to prepare it.
The Ole' Stink-Eye 😠
A good birthday or non-birthday hot-pot must have a lot of accessories for maximum entertainment. We had several kinds of noodles, leafy greens, tofu, veggies, sauces and whatnot, so it made for a pretty good spread. Also, there was dessert that I mentioned despite no photographic evidence, and lastly Srey-Yuu's stink-eye face in the above photo, something I didn't notice until uploading the pic.
I stepped out of my culinary comfort zone that is mostly Indian food and made SE Asian food for SE Asians, glad to have not let anyone down. After the food Srey-Yuu wanted to watch a full-length movie before going to bed, so I let her Netflix and chill one final time. There were a few gifts too, a small phone bag I brought from the US and a Harry Potter LEGO set.
The following morning was a regular school day, so Srey-Yuu had to get up at 5:30am and moto 30km to the Thai border where the nearest public school is. I love this girl to the moon and back, would do anything for her, and hope her birthday was a special despite us not having a lot of financial resources.
We Are Wealthy In Other Ways 🐱
I'd like to think there are many ways to be wealthy, and we have an abundance of many things like love, mountain views, spicy food, bad jokes, a cute new kitty friend, and so many more things that have no dollar price. ChairWoman Meow was present for some of the birthday proceedings, and was her usual highly tolerant self. That's all for meow folks, smell ya later.
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First of all, happy birthday to your teenage daughter. Crazy how they grow up out of no where.
It looks like a spectacular spread and I'm really inspired to do a hot pot. I even have a butane burner that I could use. Never done that before.
I just love the setting on the wooden terrace. My style of living.
You are for sure wealthy in ways others are not. Especially the bad jokes. They are worth the most. I couldn't live without them and there are plenty in this household haha. Smell ya later!
13 was a hard b-day for me to accept, and somehow I thought 14 would be no big deal, but now it's only 4 years til she's a legal adult, and I just don' t feel that's enough time together. I missed out on the first several years of her life because I didn't know her mom yet, and somehow I feel we need to make up for those lost potential dad-daughter years.
I would love for me and Srey-Yuu to take a backpacking trip through the Balkans or perhaps somewhere else in SE Asia someday. The hot-pot was a blast, super easy. I just made the broth beforehand and kept a big megapot on the side out of sight. We just refilled our small pots with broth when needed and used our little mini stoves to boil.
I'm definitely gonna make some changes to my broth for the future, and usually within three times of experimenting with a new dish I am able to dial in the flavors to my liking. Galangal and more herbs will be needed for round #2. ✌️
Thank you so much @carolynstahl for you wish. Yeah, I guess life is very short and the time flies fast. Have a great day.
That's the best birthday gift, letting other people do their chores hehe.
I wish her all the best! I just love reading about how much love your children get from you and your wife.
I also love your definition of abundance, and I truly agree with you there! Continue being blessed!
Thanks for stopping by with such kind and inspiring words. I hope she feels the love even if I embarrass her sometimes because I'm a foreigner and she's a teenager. All in all I think this will be a lifelong memory, but definitely not the last time we will be doing a hot-pot.
You're most welcome. I know that she will always feel your love. Might as well take advantage and cherish those moments. We are all getting older day by day.
Too more Hot Pots!
Yes, it is the best gift, and I really like it. Have a great day.
Happy Birthday @Srey-Yuu !
I can see that she had a great time on her birthday without doing any chores and just chill. :) I love the effort of the whole family of making her day a little special.
No chores is the height of luxury for her, and I totally get it even though I wasn't a physically lazy kid, I was more academically lazy 🤣. I hope it's a memory that she will talk about for many years to come.
🤣🤣
Thank you so much, and I did have a lot of fun, but school isn't really fun that day.
Happy birthday to @Srey-Yuu...
What you did for her on her birthday is something more precious and memorable for her for sure. It's the thought that counts. The best things in life are free like love of the family.
Memories are priceless, I totally agree. I think I can improve my hot-pot broth a little next time. I prefer galangal to ginger, I and I think I'd also like to add more herbs. I have seen special pots that have a divider in the middle so you can make two different broths, that would be very cool to have.
Thank you so much for wishing me a happy birthday. Have a great day.
Happy Birthday to her! I'm sure she very much appreciates all that you did for her. What a nice way to spend the day. There really isn't anything quite as special as a custom prepared meal.
Us old folks know how to appreciate the fine simple things of life like a made from scratch outstanding meal, but I am quite surprised this modern girl was this pleased with my efforts. A friend in the USA I went to school with just returned from a trip to Disneyland for his daughter's 9th birthday, can only assume that was thousands and thousands of dollars with the flights, hotels and all.
Srey-Yuu's already wise with money, saves the overwhelming majority of what she earns. If things go as planned, she'll be a landowner before 2025 and potentially have a home on land with a renter providing her income before 2026.
Thank you so much for wishing me a happy birthday. It is the best way to spend the day. Have a great day.
Happy birthday to @srey-yuu. Have a great day for you and your family, a small party of the family but looks enjoy and happy. And the food looks delicious. 😃
Thank you, I will relay your b-day wishes to her. It was a small but fun family party, and now I know how to make a very tasty hot-pot.
Thank you so much and the food is very tasty. Have a great day.
Happy Birthday to your daughter Sir. My wish for her special day is to have more blessings to come, always in good health together with the family circle.
Thank you, I wish her a happy and healthy future and an easy life provided by Hive income 😉.
Im sure she will. Hive platform, helps us a lot so it is already predicted to have a successful Life, well of us here if we are very consistent and have positive in mind always.
Thank you so much for wishing me a happy birthday.
You're a real chef of course 😇
Big Happy BDay to your child Srey Yuu 🎂🍰
Enjoy the precious time with all your family, God Bless you all 🙏
Although I am competent chef with Indian and Arabic food, SE Asian foods are something I have left to my wife for nearly 8 years, so it's more challenging because I'm out of practice. Thanks for the b-day wishes, I will make sure Srey-Yuu drops by and sees the Hive love.
Thank you so much for your nice words. Yes, my dad is a very good cook.
What's with monkey being carry so gently. I still like to do with with junior despite he already outgrow my sofa 🤣
She's a daddy's girl, still my cuddle buddy. Cambodian parents don't really show physical affection in the form of hugging and chillaxin' together much, but because I've been taking naps with Monkey-B since she was almost a baby, we formed a strong physical bond, so perhaps I am a bit of a man-mom 🤣. Srey-Yuu is a full teenager, would rather punch me than hug me, but sometimes she accidentally gives me a hug too 😉.
happy bday to you girl. May you healthy and wealthy throughout the year. Happy bestday ❤️❤️🎂🎂
Srey-Yuu better stop by these comments and say hi to all these lovely folks with b-day wishes. Thanks for stopping by my friend.
Most welcome sir. Haha maybe sis she's busy. Is ok sir.
Thank you so much for wishing me a happy Bday. Have a nice day.
Most welcome sister, Same to you too 😉😉
I am pretty sure this is something she will remember :)
Happy Birthday to her!
Thank you my fellow curation sensation. You're a big part of my family's motivation to keep Hiving. A little recognition goes a long way on this blockchain. So much love for Srey-Yuu in these comments, she definitely needs to drop in and see all of this.
I am sure she loved to see it all :)
Have an awesome day guys!
And thank you :))
Thank you and I will sure remember that day. Have a nice day.
You're very welcome :)
happy birthday. wish she always is healthy. she is so talented.
I converted your tip to HBD and added a few pennies to make it an even $2 HBD, then I sent it to Srey-Yuu. I told her it was from you, and hopefully she will find you in the comments here and say thanks.
No problem. Happy to see your togetherness family. Hope you guys always healthy.
Thank you so much @anggreklestari. I really appreciate it. Have a nice day.
You're welcome 🙂
Happy birthday to you baby! May you have more birthdays to come.
@srey-yuu, you better get in here and see all the love your fellow Hivers have shown you.
Thank you so much for wishing me a happy birthday. Have a nice day.
This is so beautiful, Happy birthday Srey-Yuu
I hope it was a memorable day.
☺️☺️☺️
Thank you so much.
You’re welcome ☺️☺️
Yay! 🤗
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It was a good day and awesome memories.
I am glad you enjoyed it, thanks for your help sous-chef.
Yes it was a very good day.