Chowing down for 365 days of good luck!
Good ol’ central Pennsylvania pork and sauerkraut.
What’s your traditional good luck food to kick the new year off?
Thought this was interesting —> Foods To Eat For Good Luck
Tag Archives: Dinner
Christmas Parties
Hello dear Christmas friends near and far!
We just ended our weekend of work Christmas parties. Very exciting, I know! But really…it was! Here are some photos from my fabulous Christmas party. We didn’t quite make it to Mr. B’s due to the unfortunate luck of Friday night Seoul traffic. But…It actually worked to my favor however, I was feeling quite achy and under the weather. Rest..lots of rest was what was in order.
Now, back to the good stuff, the party! Oh goodness it was a riot! Live entertainment both from the actual paid entertainment and also my co-worker and her husband getting up and dancing. I have to go on record and tell you all what she said, “When I hear the music, I try to control myself, but my hips… they are just uncontrollable and I have to get up and dance.” Too funny! Many belly laughs share by all, exchanging of secret santa gifts, and a boat load of A-mazing food, no pun intended.
Overall I’m pretty much always a fan of nights that involve celebration, holidays, Seoul at night, and dressing to the nines.
How was your weekend? Hopefully you enjoyed just as much merriment! Cheers!
PS: Santa’s on his way!
Address:
85-1, Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul-si
서울특별시 영등포구 여의동로 290 (여의도동)
Yeouido Dock
Yeouinaru Station (Subway Line 5), Exit 3.
Yeouido Dock is 5min from the station.
Dinner buffet cruise:
Weekends: Adults 65,000 won / Children 33,000 won
Weekdays: Adults 60,000 won / Children 30,000 won
Routes & Schedule
Yeouido-Yeouido
Regular: 11:00, 13:00, 14:00, 16:10, 17:20, 22:00
Magic show: 15:00, 18:10
Live concert: 19:30, 20:40
Dinner buffet: 19:30
On Eating With People I Adore
^^Love these few little guys holding on for dear life.
The past three weekends have practically begged me to snap photos it in all its brightly orange and deep burgundy gorgeous glory.
Would you look at those colors? I mean goodness!
As I get out and walk with the leaves crunching underneath my boots, I think to myself how I truly have a Pennsylvanian soul. There’s something about us girls from the North. I look forward to my four seasons. Scratch that… I LIVE for my four seasons. Just about the time I am almost ready to throw my hands up and surrender to the season, it sparks a magical little hint that something new and exciting is on the way. On the way, dare I say precious little white snowflakes? Eek! (Hot drinks, cheerful little dancing flakes, a Charlie Brown Christmas, Christmas tunes, and twinkle lights!).
Okay, let’s get back to the weekend.
I haven’t had much time to really breath and enjoy the past few days. I feel like I NEEDED this weekend to be open, go with the flow, no plans, the feeling of rejuvenation!
Mr. B’s been pretty busy lately- which is fine, so it’s fun to be able to spend 2 1/2 solid days with my two lovely lady friends!
Coffee Date? Loving up on one of the sweetest baby girl’s, Taking a short train ride into the city of Uijeongbu? A Pasta and wine dinner date at Padella? Such a novel idea!
I hope your weekend was just as rejuvenating!
빠데라 Padella
Address: 경기 의정부시 의정부동 155-19 2층
Address: 155-19 Uijeongbu-dong, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do
Phone: 031-856-1216
Hours: 11:30 – 24:00 Last Order 22:00
Delicious
Is it just me or does it seem like fall has been sticking around lingering longer this year?
No complaints in that department, I am enjoying event single delicious second of it. When I say delicious, I am talking about all of the wonderfully fall flavored morsels that have crossed my lips this season. Mmmm… pumpkin bread, pumpkin cheesecake, and of course the delicious dish I’m about to share with all of you.
Are you ready for this?
Spicy Pumpkin Chili! (BAM!) (Sorry, having an Emeril moment)
Ohhh and Don’t forget to bake up some cornbread with a nice pad of honey butter on top. Bob’s Red Mill brand mix with an added 1/3 cup of honey is a fabulous time saver if I do say so myself.
Black Bean and Pumpkin Chili
(Provided via a friend)
Ingredients:
2 medium onions, diced (about 2 cups)
2 red bell peppers, preferably roasted and skinned, cut into medium dice
1/2 a chipotle chili can (canned in adobo sauce) (Watch out, SPICY)
4 Tablespoons olive oil
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes (preferably fire-roasted)
1 Jalapeno (chopped)
1 1/2 tablespoons chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
32 oz canned black beans (rinsed)
4 cups roasted pumpkin or winter squash, directions provided below*
Serve with Cabot Extra sharp cheddar cheese
Directions:
In a large stock pot, sauté the onions in olive oil until lightly golden. Add in the bell peppers and jalapeno, and cook for about five minutes until tender. On medium heat, add the chili powder, curry powder, ground cumin, cinnamon, bay leaves, and salt, and cook for another minute. Then add the tomatoes, 1/2 cup of water and the dark brown sugar, stirring well to incorporate. Cook at a simmer for 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes and adding more water (in 1/4 cup increments) as needed. (You, want to keep things from drying out and sticking to the bottom!).
Add the rinsed beans along with 2 cups of water and cook for another 20 minutes.
Add the pumpkin and vinegar just before serving. Taste, and adjust seasoning.
To roast pumpkin or squash:
Preheat oven to 425F.
Remove the seeds and the fiber from the pumpkin and cut the flesh into chunks, leaving the skin still attached.
Mix the chunks in a bowl with 2 or 3 tablespoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay the chunks on a baking tray, skin side down, and put them in the oven. When the chunks of pumpkin are soft and the edges are tinged with brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool, and scoop out chunks of the pumpkin from the skin with a fork. Measure out 4 cups of the pumpkin and save the rest for another purpose, like a salad or snacking later. Or roll like me and put in all the pumpkin. Why not? Life’s SHORT!
Hope your fall week has been just as delicious!
Homemade Chunky Tomato Basil Soup
I know this is going to sound redundant but I cannot help myself, the weather has been so perfect lately! We drive or take recycling out in the evening and can’t help but notice that the sky is so clear and cloudless and the air is just so crisp . I’m absolutely smitten with this time of the year…as if you couldn’t already tell.
The chill in the air has been delightful and perfect for homemade soups. I have a few new recipes I have found lately that caught my eye, but Mr. B beat me to it this time and whipped up a batch of his homemade chunky tomato basil soup. What a catch my guy is! Now only if he’d do the dishes afterwards.. wink-wink.
Nothing like a hot bowl of soup to soothe the soul.
Around The Table
“It’s about what happens when we come together, slow down, open our homes, look into one another’s faces, listen to one another’s faces, listen to one another’s stories. It happens when we leave the office and get a sitter and skip our workouts every so often to celebrate a birthday or an accomplishment or a wedding or a birth, when we break out of the normal clockwork of daily life and pop the champagne on a cold, gray Wednesday for no other reason than the fact that the faces we love are gathered around our table. It happens when we enter the joy and the sorrow of the people we love, and we join together at the table to feed one another and be fed, and while it’s not strictly about food, it doesn’t happen without it. Food is the starting point, the common ground, the thing to hold and handle, the currency we offer to one another.” ~ Bread & Wine, by Shauna Niequist
F o o d. F o o d is four little letters that make up a word, that is sometimes overrated but often underrated. Think about it, no matter what language you speak, where you come from, or how far you go, food is made as an offering, an extension. Its used when words cannot be expressed due to sadness, or in times of celebration and happiness, or even as simple as when there is a language barrier. Ah food.
I turned my friends down earlier in the week when invited out for dinner because I was just to sad, upset, and feeling guilty to even fathom enjoying fun or enjoy food. I cashed in my rain check this evening and tonight I met around the table with a few good friends. We of course dined and enjoyed Saengsun jun (Korean pan-fried fish). After a really hard week, it was nice to just sit back relax, share memories, chat, and dine together in one anthers company at this dinner table. The older I get (I can say that now with another birthday under my belt as of August 14th) the more I realize how much I love to gather around the table with my family and good friends.
I even took along my camera to capture the moment and share with you all. Enjoy!
Messy
The original mastermind behind the recipe I am going to share with you all stated that this dish looks like the inside of her car. Messy, unorganized, basically a chaotic mess…. I have to say, this dish easily applies quite well to our current state of mind too.
Messy.
We have had a really challenging past few weeks, topping everything off with losing our beloved family pet, Bean cat, yesterday morning. She fell very ill and passed very quickly thereafter. We still can’t believe that she is actually gone, nor do I ever know if we will ever be able to accept the harsh reality of it all.
A gigantic ball of a mess.
I really like that this blog is positive and uplifting showcasing our experiences and the good memories of our life as we live and travel around the world. However, I feel that I, we, are in a really messy state of mind dealing with our loss. I’m not sure how this post is going to go.. I can hardly form complete thoughts from moment to moment, but typing or writing out things in the past has always been therapeutic and added a little peace.
There are still so many questions that we know will never be answered. Still so many things that race through our minds. All of the what ifs. All of the things we are beating ourselves up inside over. The guilt, the remorse, the anger of it all, not getting the chance to tell her goodbye.
Bean holds such a special place in our hearts. We adopted her as a kitten in our home state of Pennsylvania. From Pennsylvania Bean traveled and lived with us through all of our marriage monumental moments. She moved from our first home in PA, to our first apartment in VA, to our first overseas home in South Korea. Gosh she was such a brave spitfire of a cat! She was always with us, no matter what! Always there to greet us when we got home every evening, and always there to wake us up every morning (oh was she was good at that!) she kept us both company earning two Masters degrees with us (Trust us, she earned those two Masters degrees too, she put many hours sitting patiently in our office on the desk or chair alongside of us). When Mr. B would travel for work, or when he moved to South Korea for the first six months without us, she was there with me through it all. She kept us laughing, kept our spirits lifted, and rarely was bad.
Last night going to a place we call home, feels no longer like a home. There is such an emptiness in my heart and in this space. The silence is just so loud and feels so hard to deal with. This is the first time in over five and a half years that I have ever felt so incredibly alone. I know that I have a loving partner who is always there for me, a loving caring family, and amazing friends that are all over the world, however…I am so alone without her here. Everything we do reminds us of her. Any sounds that we hear from our neighbors makes us think its her getting into something or jumping up onto the table, but it’s not.. We went to bed last night so badly wanting to call her in to jump us with us… but we couldn’t.
It’s always such awkward feeling when you have a dear friend that loses a pet of family member. You never quite know what to say to them. You know that no matter what you say never is going to really help, but you offer those words of encouragement, blessings, prayers, etc. However, those words, thoughts, blessings and prayers were dearly appreciated. We truly are so thankful for everything from everyone and want to say thank you to the masses as best as we can. Knowing that you all were sending those prayers Bean’s way and for us meant the world. Thank you all so much.
As I said earlier, messy… perfect dish to sum everything up.
Brown Butter Garden Vegetable Pasta Bake
Recipe slightly adapted from How Sweet It Is.
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat pasta, like ziti or rotini
1 zucchini, chopped
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion, chopped
2 ears of fresh corn, cut off the cob
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 bag of shredded mozzarella cheese, or whatever you prefer
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare water for pasta and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta to cook. Drain when finished.
While pasta is cooking, heat a large pan on medium-low heat. Add in olive oil, then add in onions, zucchini, corn and tomatoes with salt and pepper, stirring to coat. Cook for 10-15 minutes, tossing occasionally, while softened.
While pasta and vegetables are cooking, heat a small saucepan oven medium heat. Add in butter and whisk constantly, stirring until bubbly and brown bits appear on the bottom, about 5-6 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Turn off heat under vegetables and add in pasta. Drizzle in brown butter and add in cheese, stirring well to coat. Put pasta into oven safe baking dish. Pop the dish on into the oven and cook for 10 minutes, or just until cheese is all melted and bubbly. Remove from oven, pop open a nice bottle of champagne or wine and please say a toast in remembrance of our dear Bean cat.
Slow Cooker Pigeons
You don’t have to tell me, I know, I know. I’m crazy and that it’s totally opposite of slow cooker season.
However, I needed some good old Pennsylvania cuisine, plus it’s Sunday, we’ve got a whole rainy afternoon to kill. It’s the darn monsoon gloom, July tends to get bad around these parts.
Pigeons it is!
While Mr. B and I took advantage of some new and old comedy movies, the pigeons were simmering and steaming away in the slow cooker. Gosh, y’all! The house smelled simply amazing and had us both reminiscing of our Sunday dinners at home.
We vegged as the heavenly familiar aromas just wafted through the apartment and then finally at 5 on the dot, we indulged! These pigeons were packed with delicious flavor. Heavy on the pepper, garlic, onion, green peppers, and of course cabbage leaves.
Slow Cooker Pigeons
Slightly adapted from Pioneering Today
Ingredients:
1 small cabbage head
1/2 cup uncooked Korean rice
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. pepper
1 lb. lean ground beef or ground turkey
Sauce
1 15 ounce can Newmans Own marinara sauce
2 Tbs. brown sugar
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Boil a pot of water and add cabbage head, steam for 3 minutes and drain.
Combine the uncooked rice, egg, milk, onion, garlic, green pepper, beef, salt, and seasonings in large bowl. Place meat mixture in center of cabbage leaf and roll, tucking and folding all ends. Place seam side down in slow cooker.
Mix ingredients for sauce together and pour over rolls. Cook on low 8 hours in slow cooker.
Rainy With A Good Chance Of Meatloaf
Meatloaf… It’s one of those foods that you either absolutely love, or absolutely loath. There isn’t much argument in the middle. We just so happen to love the stuff! How about you? What are your feelings on meatloaf?
It’s Sunday, it’s been pouring rain for days. Actually, it’s been every day since we landed back in Korea from our world tour over the 4th.
I don’t know about you, but days and days of rain eventually get to me. I start craving comforting things. I start going into a sluggish, lounge around mood. Sometimes a craving happens and you just gotta roll with it. Sometimes it’s weird, sometimes it ends up being FABULOUS! Like the meatloaf I’m going to share with you all.
A little background on our meatloaf situation. We have only ventured away from Mr. B’s mom’s meatloaf recipe ONE time during our married life. BIG MISTAKE! It was icky, bland, gross. There are many other words I could go on using, but I think you get the point. Please also note this attempt was about three years ago or so. I guess you can say we were scarred. We continued to stick to the family meatloaf recipe ever since. Well, that is until now…thank you Eatliverun!
Kicked Up Turkey Meatloaf
(Taken and slightly adapted from Eatrunlive)
serves 6
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground turkey
1 cup cooked black or green lentils (Don’t fear the lentils)
1 large carrot, diced
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups mushrooms, chopped
1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp salt
1/2 T olive oil
1/4th tsp black pepper
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
Glaze:
2 T ketchup
2 pads of butter
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the diced onions and saute for about six minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the carrot and garlic and cook for three minutes. Add the chopped mushroom and cook for another five minutes or so, until the mushroom has turned soft and all the veggies are nice and juicy.
Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Add the cooked lentils, salt, pepper, worcestershire sauce and ketchup and mix well.
In a small bowl, combine the milk and panko bread crumbs. Let sit for three minutes so the breadcrumbs can absorb a little of the milk. Add to veggie mixture.
Add ground turkey and beaten egg and mix well. It’s easiest here to use your hands. Transfer to a greased loaf pan and press down to smooth top.
Spread the two pads of butter on the meatloaf top. Make a nice zigzag line of ketchup on top of the meatloaf. Cover with foil. Pop into the oven and Bake for 55 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees. We typically remove the foil off the top and then pop back into the oven for 15 more minutes. Enjoy!
Positiveness & Pasta
I am going to apologize for my corniness upfront, sorry everyone.
Do you ever think about all of the blessings in your everyday life? Gosh, we just have so many things to be eternally grateful for each day in and out. I’ve said this before and I will say it again, you have to be the captain of your own boat. Positiveness starts within YOU. Now, I am not saying that life is always a bowl full of cherries. Life can absolutely throw you curb-balls out of the left field. In the end what matters is how YOU chose to handle that curb-ball and move forward.
I started reading a book that’s suppose to help transform the way you think in 28 days. Each day I begin my mornings with my breakfast fork in hand and “homework” for the day. Each day I list 10 things that I am grateful for. Each night I use my gratitude rock and go to bed with the most important thing that happened to me that day, saying thank you, counting my blessings. Told you I was going to get very corny on you with this post. No, but really, I am enjoying making myself acknowledge all the wonderful things in my life daily.
As I close tonight, know that you are on my list of things I am grateful for. Your friendships, support, following, and comments are always welcomed and very much appreciate. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Now, who’s hungry for some homemade baked penne rigate with sausage? (Another thing I am grateful for… my amazing chef of a husband who knows his way straight to my heart <3). Go ahead, help yourselves!
Bee’s Baked Penne Rigate with Sausage
Ingredients:
1 Package of (sweet or hot) sausage, we typically use hot.
1 Box of penne rigate pasta, we opt for the Dreamfield brand, or whole wheat
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, diced
8 Mushrooms, sliced (optional)
1 Jar of your favorite tomato sauce
1/2 Lbs of shredded mozzarella cheese
6 Slices of provolone cheese
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Boil sausages until cooked on stove top. Saute onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil until almost cooked and remove from pan, place into large mixing bowl. Next saute mushrooms in 1 Tbsp of olive oil and once cooked place in mixing bowl with onions, tomato sauce, combined with 1/2 of the shredded mozzarella cheese, mix thoroughly. Next boil penne rigata pasta until al dente. Drain and combine with your onion, tomato sauce, and cheese mixture. Now the sausage should be ready to be sliced and put into a pan to be cooked until slightly browned. Once sausage is cooked place and mix in with your other ingredients in the mixing bowl. Pour everything into a 13 x 9 greased pan, level, and place the provolone cheese slices on top. Place into oven for 350 degrees uncovered for 10 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown.
Don’t forget a to pick up a nice freshly baked baguette and bottle of wine to accompany your dinner. Enjoy!