Monthly Archives: September 2012

Wink and a Smile

“Well, you can’t have a dream
And cut it to fit
But when I saw you, I knew
We’d go together
Like a wink and a smile.”

Oh Ms. Bean, you are a riot!

We have purchased you numerous kitty beds, and yet you still insist on the comforts of a box.

Last night Mr. B could hardly contain himself, he walked into our bedroom and burst out laughing. I was snuggled under the covers already for bed, and there was Ms. Bean in her box already for bed too.

He said, “you two belong together.”

He’s right, we belong together like a wink and a smile 😉

Oh silly Bean! You brighten our world!

What Fall Looks Like in South Korea

Dear friends,

Isn’t Fall so enchanting? there is just something about fresh apples, pumpkins, the colorful mums, the fog around the mountain peaks in the distance when driving to work in the morning, breaking out my cardigans, getting to see the leaves change, feel the difference in the weather, cooking big batches of soup, sip on something pumpkiny or cinnamony, Charlie Brown, scarves, boots with knee socks, snuggling in my comfy goose down comforter to watch my favorite movie with one of the large living-room windows open in the evening, the fact the moon comes much earlier and shines so brightly.

I love reminiscing about my childhood in the fall. The simple days of scooping up a huge pile of crisp colorful leaves when they would fall, and jumping in them. If we were home right this very second I know what Mr. B and I would be doing, why going to the Bloomsburg Fair of course. I’d also be finding reasons to make multiple trips to Starbucks to get my hands on their sweet treats and autumn drinks. Unfortunately the Korea Starbucks do not serve either in recognition of fall. 🙁 (Currently open and willingly accepting donations) he-he-he! Just kidding, we will survive.

AH! Everything about Fall screams comfort to me. I just cannot get enough of it.

What’s your favorite season? The older I get, I realize more and more how much I enjoy getting to see the seasons change. I was so blessed to have the opportunity to grow up on the North East coast where I’d see and experience these magical changes every year.

Spiderman

“Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can.”

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Do you remember that theme song?

The tune instantly popped into my head one evening after arriving home from work this week.

I had just hung up my coat in our entry way and slipped off my shoes when I heard tapping at the living room window.

I poked my head out around the corner, saw a man hanging from a rope, AKA Spiderman. He motioning for me to open the window. Eek! I hurried and opened the window, he motioned with his hands to slide the one screen to the right for him so he could get at the window to clean it.

I did.

Closed the window back up.

Spiderman quickly washed each window and dropped out of sight just as fast as he had arrived.

Peace

Good Morning,

The weekend has been very quaint and quiet. Very peaceful. I made sugar and cinnamon roasted mixed nuts, twice (EEk!) oOOOoh but the house smelled so divine! Celebrated a good friends 30th (surprise) birthday. I sipped hot tea, enjoyed the morning sunlight peering into the windows with Bean, and took Velma out for a spin among the marshmallow-clouded sky. Perfect in my book!

Hope you all had quaint and quiet ones too.

 

Sugar & Cinnamon Roasted Mixed Nuts

Ingredients:

1 Tsp Cinnamon

3 Tbsp Sugar -or- Splenda

1 Cup Mixed nuts

1 1/2 Tbsp Melted coconut oil (Or, if you are not a fan of coconut oil try grape-seed)

Lets get cooking!

Preheat your oven to 325F or 160/170C. In a mixing bowl, mix all of your ingredients except for your mixed nuts. Once all mixed, toss in your mixed nuts, combine. Spread nuts in a single layer on foil or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Roast 15-20 minutes or until lightly toasted and you see your desired level of brownness. (Be careful! The sugar can have a tendency to burn if you let it go to long). You may lightly dust the final product once you take out of the oven if you desire.

For fun you can try adding in a pinch of brown sugar, or a pinch of nutmeg, even shredded coconut flakes are fun too! (Say’s the girl who despised coconut growing up)

Don’t say I didn’t warn you when your house is smelling incredibly sumptuous after about 5 minutes of these little gems roasting in your oven.

Enjoy!

Souper-Sunday

We cut our weekend trip short due to homework and the new typhoon that’s threatening the Korean coastline again. The bright side of it all is, we made record time getting home, dealt with little to no traffic on the roads, we enjoyed sushi for lunch, and I was able to make a big ol’ pot of  copy cat Olive Garden  Pasta e Fagioli Soup and bread sticks. perfect meal for this very mild September Sunday. (Enter happy tummy dance now!)

Dont worry, I’ll share! I think your going to love it! I’ve adapted some online recipes/Pins to our own little concoction, Mr. B approved!

Copycat Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup

Makes plenty to enjoy and share too!

INGREDIENTS:

1lb ground turkey

1 small onion, chopped

A handful of baby carrots, or one large carrot, chopped, whatever you have on hand works

2 tall stalks celery, chopped

2 minced garlic cloves

28oz can crushed tomatoes

15oz can tomato sauce

15 oz can of vegetable broth

15oz can beef broth

15oz can light red kidney beans (include liquid)

15oz can great northern beans (include liquid)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

Salt and pepper to taste

The  rind off of a nice chuck of Parmesan cheese

1 1/2 cup ditalini pasta

Lets get cooking!

Start by browning our ground turkey in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until meat is no longer pink. Next add in your onions, carrots, celery, and garlic, feel free to season with salt & pepper. Sauté for 10 minutes, stir the mixture occasionally. Now, add in everything left, but the pasta. Simmer for 1 hour stirring occasionally as needed.

When the soup has 15 minutes left to simmer, start cooking your pasta, it’s better for it to be a bit under cooked too. Once done, drain water out and add to your soup and simmer for another 10 more minutes.

Next, on to the breadsticks!

Copycat Olive Garden Bread-sticks

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 packet active dry yeast

4 1/4 cups all purpose flour

2 Tbsp. Melted unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. White Sugar

1 Tbsp. Salt

Let’s get cooking!

In a bowl, dissolve the sugar & yeast in warm water, let it sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture will be frothy.

In separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Pour in the yeast mixture. Add the melted butter. Mix all the ingredients with paddle, hook, or by hand.

Next, knead dough until dough is smooth. Watch out not to over-knead!

Spray cookie sheet. Pull apart dough and shape into your bread-stick strips. Cover dough and let sit in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400F or 200C, once heated, pop those prepared bread-sticks in the oven.

While bread-sticks are baking, microwave a stick of unsalted butter, 2 teaspoons garlic powder and 1 teaspoons salt.

After bread sticks have cooked for 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture. Then continue to bake. Bake for 5-8 more minutes.

Once you remove bread from the oven, gently turn over the bread-sticks and brush with butter mixture.

Freshly baked bread, the aroma, sooo nice!

The Sand, Sea, and Cool Ocean Breeze

I’m starting to realize now why people take photos of landscapes, sunrises, sunsets, etc. They take that photo because they are worried they may never see or get to experience another moment like the one they are in. They capture it to preserve it, and hopefully they are able to capture a smidge of the beauty the real moment possesses.

There is a point to all of this random rambling, I promise.

As I sat on the beach, feet dug deep into the sand I realized, i’m enchanted by the beach.

The sand, sea, and cool ocean breeze….

We are so blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy it so freely, as we do on most of our weekends.

Last, but certainly not least…I had to share our very rustic dining accommodations for this weekend. I know, I know, you are jealous. All joking aside, Allen’ chicken kabobs with pineapple and veggies are heavenly!

Grab the map coordinates here

Cruiser

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I Forgot how much I enjoyed riding my beach cruiser, or the bike formerly known as Velma. Tonight I rode around most of my evening after work. I had such a cheesy grin on my face too. So happy! It was market day, the temperature has been nice and cool with Fall settling in, plus I needed more fruits for my juicer, what? Okay..I told you I’m a tad bit obsessed! After stuffing my mini backpack full until the zipper was ready to burst, I have decided instead of trying to defy gravity with my bags handing from each handlebar, perhaps I need a basket to accessorize good ol’ Velma?

I was trying to think if there was anything that could possibly make my evening any better.

Having Mr. B along on the ride, oh and a tall glass of sweet white wine!

How are ya digging the truck selling huge king crabs at the market?

 

Juice

Recently We took the plunge and purchased a juicer.

Let me rephrase, I got an extra early Christmas gift from Santa.

Yes, the Hurom Slow Juicer to be exact. The company is from here in South Korea.

I’ve got to let you in on this little gem, I am OBSESSED!

Obsession, pure obsession!

I already look forward to strolling around the local farmers market here in Dongducheon, this just takes that excitement to another level. This week we picked up cucumbers, peppers, broccoli, apples, plums, nectarines, and bananas. YUM! We’ve been juicing every other day since the juicer made its permanent home on our counter.

I used to think yadda, yadda, freshly squeezed juice. REALLY, there is such a difference. The taste is out of this world, not to mention how fresh and nutritious it is. Plus, there is no need to worry about all the sugars and additives that hideout in store bought juices. I’m sold!

Mr. B chuckled and said, “Uh-oh! Look out, juice snob in the making”.

What are your thoughts? Do you have a juicer? Any good recipes to share?