“For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” – Audrey Hepburn
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December 3, 2010
Happy Holidays: HSN Visit December 9th & 10th
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season! I am so excited to return to HSN December 9th – 10th with my famous “Beauty Bags” to help you take the guess work out of gift giving and make holiday shopping easy for your family and friends!
Just ask yourself, “What’s the gift everyone wants this holiday season?” The answer is beautiful, healthy, balanced skin! So give the Gift of Herbal Beauty this season and tune in and join me! It’s going to be lots of fun sharing laughs, beauty and the holiday spirit with you. It’s the perfect “wei” to kick off the winter season, beautifully.
And remember, as we prepare for the holidays, sometimes, it’s easy to lose focus and forget to take care of ourselves. So as we celebrate the holidays, give some time to celebrate yourself! It might be taking an extra five minutes at the end of a busy day to apply your favorite Wei East product. Or just taking a moment of “me” time to enjoy a hot cup of tea by the fire. Whatever it is, remember to take some time for yourself and find the moments of tranquility that we all need to brighten our lives.
Happy Holidays!
Love,
Wei
November 19, 2010
Thanksgiving with an Asian flair
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I’m starting to pull out all of my cookbooks and recipes to get my holiday menu in order. After spending half of my life in China and the other half of my life in the US, it’s very important for me to incorporate both of these cultures at the dinner table, especially when it comes to the holidays.
Here are some of my favorite recipes for you to try this Thanksgiving. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Asian Style Roast Turkey
Ingredients:
1 whole turkey (12 lbs)
6 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese five spice powder
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 chopped green onions
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro
1 -2 tablespoons sesame oil
kosher salt
coarsely ground black pepper
Preparation:
Remove giblets and neck from turkey, reserve for gravy. Rinse turkey with cold running water and drain well. Blot dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 325° degrees. Combine first all ingredients except green onion and cilantro and rub over turkey to coat. Pour remaining sauce into cavity. Add green onions and cilantro to cavity. Place turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a large shallow (about 2 1/2″ deep) roasting pan. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Insert an oven safe meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, being careful the pointed end of the thermometer does not touch the bone. Pour poultry stock into bottom of pan.
Roast turkey in a pre-heated, 325° F. oven. To determine the approximate amount of time needed for cooking, click here for our turkey Roasting Chart. Loosely cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning, remove foil during last hour and a half of cooking time. Continue to roast until thermometer registers 180 degrees F in the thigh, or 170 degrees F. in the breast.
Remove turkey from the oven and allow it to rest for 15-20 minutes before carving.
Asian Green Bean Stir-Fry
4 servings, 1 cup each
Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
* Pinch of crushed red pepper, or to taste
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 14-ounce can mixed stir-fry vegetables, rinsed, or 1 1/2 cups frozen mixed stir-fry vegetables, thawed
* 1 tablespoon black bean-garlic sauce (NOTE: This savory, salty sauce used in Chinese cooking is made from fermented black beans, garlic and rice wine. It can be found in the Asian-food section of large supermarkets or at Asian markets and can be used in stir-fries and marinades for beef, chicken or tofu.)
Preparation:
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add green beans and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring often, until seared in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. Add water, cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes for tender-crisp or 6 minutes for tender. Uncover, increase heat to medium-high, add stir-fry vegetables and black bean-garlic sauce. Cook, stirring often, until heated through and most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes.
November 12, 2010
Autumn Diet Tips for Beauty
Autumn is the season of harvest, the fruition of your inner and outer growth. It is a time to relax, a season for spending quiet time in nature and for healing. In Autumn, we begin to turn inward and redirect our energy toward reflection and gratitude for who and what are important to us.
This time of year, consuming warm foods, such as squash and pumpkin is ideal, while dairy products and processed foods should be avoided. Also, try not to eat too much meat in Autumn. This is a great time for squash soup or other vegetable soups, lightly steamed vegetables and whole grains.
Apples, grapes and garlic are excellent items to include in your diet as well.
November 6, 2010
Beauty At It’s Best!
Just found out some great news that I want to share!
Our China Herbal™ Advance Hand & Body Perfection was just chosen as the “BEST HAND CREAM” in Shecky’s 2010 Beauty At Its Best Awards. So exciting! Check it out!
October 29, 2010
Living in the Present
I’ll admit that my house is usually bustling and full of life’s energy, but whenever Kate is home from school, the day is guaranteed to be fun and always eventful. The fall weather was absolutely beautiful, I felt so connected with nature. I’m grateful for the day with Kate and I decide to take her for a mother and daughter adventure. We had a little lunch outdoors and then we were off to a local farm for pumpkin picking.
On the way to the local pumpkin patch, she pulled her little wagon and held her favorite pink basket in one hand and tightly held my hand in the other. The fields reminded me of when I was a young girl in China and I told her some stories about how pumpkins grow from the Earth as she picked some wild flowers. As we made our way through the fields, we found our way to a maze made of hay bales. Before I got a chance to explain to her what a maze was, she was already happily running through the maze, just simply following the path running, running… Under the blue sky, white clouds were hanging in the sky like fluffy cotton balls; far away the rolling hills were laced with the colorful foliage of the season. My daughter’s giggle just added such life to the whole picture. She and I were both lost in the moment. We totally felt the power of the present.
Once we had filled our wagon with enough pumpkins for Kate, her brother and of course, all of her friends, we were finally ready to leave the patch. We pulled the pumpkins to the farm stand to weigh them. The cost was $5.49, but as I reached into by bag for my wallet, I realized that I had left it in another purse. Just as I began to explain to my daughter that we had to leave the pumpkins behind, the lady who owned the farm stand told us that we could just take the pumpkins and come back to pay anytime. I explained to Kate what the kind lady had done and she happily thanked her. She was so happy. We left the farm singing, our hearts filled with the joy of being trusted and blessed with the kindness of a stranger. Life is beautiful.
October 22, 2010
Thank You
What fun we had under the autumn moon! From the bottom of my heart, I’d like to thank each one of you for making the Moonlight Festival such as success. Your enthusiasm for Wei East warms my soul. It was a truly joyful event and I had an absolute blast. I hope you did as well.
I wake up every morning, no matter what problems I have, choosing to live by embracing life, living for the moment and having fun! I know this is much, much easier to say than do, but take your moments, drop everything you’re doing, let go of your problems and simply enjoy the moment. Because yes, we do have the “choice” to be happy!
October 13, 2010
Mooncakes for the Moonlight Festival!
The Moonlight Festival is one of my favorite times of the year’ I remember growing up celebrating this traditional Chinese holiday every autumn. My family always got together to eat moon cake, look at the moon, and simply spend time together. According to Chinese legend, this festival came about when Chang’E, the wife of the Chinese hero Houyi, drank an elixir her husband created and then flew to the moon, where she has been ever since. It is believed you can see her dancing on the moon during the festival. If you’d like to join my family and me in the festivities this year, here’s a recipe for Chinese moon cake that you and your family can enjoy:
Filling Ingredients:
• 1 pound red azuki beans
• water
• 3/4 cup lard or oil
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• Water-Shortening Dough:
• 2 cups flour
• 5 tablespoons lard
• 10 tablespoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
Flaky Dough Ingredients:
• 1 cup flour
• 5 tablespoons lard
• red food coloring for design
Preparation:
Filling Instructions: Soak red beans in water to cover 2 hours. Drain and discard the water. Cover with 8 cups fresh water and bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat 1-1/2 hours or until skins open. Strain the beans and discard the skins. Place the strained beans in several layers of cheesecloth and squeeze out any excess water. Place in a saucepan with the lard or oil and the sugar. Cook, stirring continuously, until almost all the moisture has evaporated. Let cool.
Dough Instructions: You will need 2 cups of filling for the mooncakes. Divide this into 20 portions and shape into balls.Mix ingredients for the water-shortening dough and the flaky dough separately until smooth. Divide each dough into 20 equal portions. Wrap one portion of flaky dough inside each portion of water-shortening dough. Roll out each piece of dough, then fold in thirds to form three layers. Roll out again, and once more fold in thirds to form three layers. Flatten each piece of dough with the palm of your hand to form a 3″ circle. Place one portion of filling in the center. Gather the edges to enclose the filling and pinch to seal. Place the filled packet in the mold, gently pressing to fit. Invert and remove the mold. Dilute red food coloring with water and pour onto a damp paper towel on a plate. Take some food coloring onto the cookie-design stamp, then press on top of the mooncake. Repeat process for remaining mooncakes. Arrange mooncakes on a baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Let cool before serving.
Enjoy!
October 1, 2010
Countdown to Moonlight Festival & Free Give A-Weis!
Dear Friend,
I’m only days away from returning to HSN to celebrate the Moonlight Festival starting this Friday, October 1st! The Moonlight Festival has been our tradition for the last seven years and I cannot wait to share the beauty with all of you. I will have plenty of brand new collections to solve all of your beauty needs, including the world launch of my new Wrinkle Relief Eye Cream Lotus Seed Collagen!
In the meantime preview my HSN visit guide, or head on over to my Wei East Facebook page where every day through October 7th, we will offer a new special give “a-wei”. Learn more.
I simply cannot wait for the celebration begin! See you soon.
Love,
Wei
Wei East on HSN
Friday October 1st
11:00pm – Midnight
Tuesday October 5th
7:00pm – 8:00pm
11:00pm – Midnight
Thursday October 7th
Midnight – 2:00am
8:00am – 8:15am
9:00am – 11:00am
3:00pm – 5:00pm
8:00pm – 10:00pm
*All times are EST
