Tag Archives: Seoul

Strawberry Pie

It’s early Wednesday morning, our home is very silent, very still, very peaceful. Only the stir of Bean cat can be heard. On a day like today with the tension so high in North Korea, silence and peace are truly a blessing.

Today is really like most mornings here. I wake up earlier than Mr. B so I have that morning 30 minutes to an hour of me time all to myself. I start-up my little K-Cup coffeemaker, fix my breakfast and sit at the bar in our kitchen. Sometimes I check work e-mails, I know its sick but I like to know what I am walking into for the day, sometimes I catch up on my reading, other times I pull up my fellow bloggers, or even muddle through my personal e-mail. I am telling you, that box is almost a lost cause at this point.

This mornings me time includes, enjoying a slice of my grandmothers strawberry pie topped with coconut whipped cream. I like to live on the edge every once and awhile. Shake up my fruit and oatmeal routine. Eat my favorite course first thing in the morning, dessert!

I might have mentioned this in the past, but I was told my late great-grandmother liked to enjoy her dessert before her actual dinner. She said that she wanted to enjoy it and make sure that she had room to for her favorites first. Not only was she a dearly sweet woman, but she was completely onto something! Truth be told, I feel 100% the same way! There is no written rule that says we have to have our salad served first at dinner, right? So, why not have a nice slice of pie at breakfast? Plus its fruit pie, making it even more 100% perfectly acceptable in my book.

So if you are like me this morning and you are planning out the meals for the following week. Go ahead and add this little recipe to the list! Make sure you live a little on the edge too, throw caution to the wind and have a slice for breakfast.

Oh and feel free to dabble a little coconut whipped cream on top too! MmMMmmm…Cheers to a savory me time wherever you are!

Strawberry Pie

For: 1-9″ Pie

Ingredients:

1 9″ Pie shell
1 Cup water
1 Cup Sugar
2 Rounded Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Small package of Strawberry jello
5 Cups Strawberries

Bake pie crust in oven until brown. *You can use a pre-made or frozen pie shell.. or my grandmothers to add a little junk in your trunk. (We are talking crisco and all!)

Cook until the following come to a boil:
1 Cup water
1 Cup sugar
2 Rounded Tbsp cornstarch

After ingredients come to a boil: Put 2 Tbsp strawberry jello in a cup and add 2 Tbsp HOT water to dissolve the jello. Then pour into boiled mixture above. Now let everything cool completely.

In the meantime start cleaning your 5 cups of fresh strawberries. Cut the strawberries into pieces.

Once the stove top mixture has cooled completely, place the strawberries into the mixture and coat well. Then pour all into the bakes pie shell. Keep it in the fridge until ready to enjoy.

Coconut Whipped Cream

Ingredients
1 (14 oz) can of Coconut Milk (I used GOYA)
1 Tsp vanilla extract
1 pinch of pure sugar cane

Directions:
Place the can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight.

Following day, open can and spoon out the thick, semi-hardened white part off the top, leave the watery remains behind in the can.

In a large mixing bowl put your coconut, vanilla extract, and sugar together. Whip ingredients on high until medium/firm peaks form

The whipped cream will last a few days, may need re-whipped for nice peaks.

Grandma L’s Pie Crust
*Makes 5 single pie crust (freezes well too!)

Crumb the following ingredients together with your hands:

5 Cups of flour
1 3/4 Cup of crisco
Sprinkle of salt

Then add in 1 cup cold water.

Again mix ingredients together with hands to make balls; flour surface, roll our thin. Flour as needed. Roll out round then afterwards fold in half and lift into your pie plate. Then take a paring knife and cut off the extra around the edges. Then pinch the crust.

Bake at 400 Degrees for 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it gets a nice golden brown color, but not burnt.

Nibbler

Are you a nibbler? Okay, let me further explain. I am talking nibbler in the sense of, when you are cooking in the kitchen you are nibbling along the way. It might be that perfectly ripe tomato, that just out of the oven bread loaf, or even a teeny swoop of that freshly whipped cream you made. So, with that said, do you consider yourself a nibbler?

Truth, I’m a nibbler. Yes, I admit I am guilty of nibbling along the way of my meal preparation. I always wondered if it was a hereditary thing. You know if your mother, or your grandmother, or your great-grandmother did it, you too picked up on the habit and were doomed to become a nibbler. Thinking back it makes sense to me now. There were times when I was a child where I remember my mother or grandmother cooking and preparing a nice meal only to eat a teeny if any bit. Why? Because she had to be a nibbler! HA HA! I’m not totally sure that is the case, but its my conclusion and I am sticking to it.

The weeks have been lengthy and I have found myself running against the clock. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to catch up from when I was away in Cambodia. I have been struggling to find that even balance with housework, me time, being a good spouse and loving wife, to being a good employee and team member, to being a great best-friend and equally great sister and daughter as well. Whoever said being a million miles away from family made it easier had to be joking. It’s not easy! Oh and throw in a little drama from our neighbors to the North on top of it all. Oy vay. Suggestions on being able to find balance again are greatly welcomed. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and wisdom.

Do I have you scratching your head wondering what the correlation and connection between being a nibbler, playing catch up, and being superwoman is? The connection is that I am finally able to sit down and post a blog post and communicate to the masses that we are A-Okay over here. Really! Well, in this moment that is. I mean, would I be using my downtime to focus so much emphasis on focus on cooking healthy meals for the hubs and I? Not to mention baking my grandmothers strawberry pie complete with her homemade pie crust too! We are talking PIE here…serious stuff (recipe to come soon).

Oooohhh…Speaking of healthier dinner options, I’ve got a treat for you! How does sweet potato black bean burgers sound? (recipe below)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Recipe slightly adapted from Healthy. Happy. Life. 100% Vegan lunchboxbrunch.com
makes 9-10 medium patties

Ingredients:

2 Cans black beans, drained
3 Medium/large sweet potato, already baked, peeled, and mashed
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 Tsp honey
2 Tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 Tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 Cup wheat flour
A few dashes of black pepper
*I don’t typically season with salt, but you can certainly add if you need to.
2-3 Cups of Panko crumbs
1-2 Tbsp Safflower oil for frying pan

(Optional)Burger toppings: avocado, Dijon mustard, onion

Directions:

1. Take your already baked sweet potatoes. Peel off the skin, set aside in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained black beans to sweet potatoes. Mash the beans and potato together. You may need to use your hands and mixer to get the beans and potato to the right consistency.
3. Toss and mash in the lemon pepper seasoning, cayenne pepper, black pepper, flour, Tahini, and honey. Your mixture will be quite soft and tacky. No worries, you will be able to form the burger patty.
4. Heat up the 1-2 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form the burger patties from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Cook until burger is browned on both sides.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.

*As noted on the original recipe, the patties may crumble a bit while you are eating. However they are still absolutely delicious and that factor will make up for it in itself. Enjoy!

Sashimi House 횟집

Hoejip (횟집), means “sashimi house” in Korean. This weekend I was invited out to dinner to enjoy fresh raw fish, or sashimi as we mostly call it in America. In Korea, the fish is sliced a bit thicker than that of the Japanese style, and the fish is known as hoe. Like almost all meals in Korea, the sashimi is served with complementary side dishes.

It was a lot of fun to see and compare the differences in ones dining experience when it comes to enjoying sashimi. We have eaten at a few restaurants in Korea that serve sushi rolls and sashimi, but nothing where it was the full-blown Korean Hoejip.

The restaurant was located very close to the Ganeung subway station. Very small, only housing roughly five tables. Two of the tables were tables with chairs, the rest were dining on a raised platform where the floor was heated for your bum. Thought the space may be small, the restaurant is very plain and very clean. I was told that this particular restaurant was well-known for its freshness and quality of fish. Also, if you didn’t have a reservation for dining chances are that you may not be able to get in most nights.

Koreans often serve raw fish in a different manner. They usually take a very large fish (mostly whitefish) straight from a tank that is displayed out front of the restaurant. A lot of times they let you pick the fish that you would like to eat. They will then prepare it and slice it into translucent slivers, and carefully arrange it on a very big platter of shredded cabbage, which is then placed in the center of the table for everyone to share family style.

Another difference in eating sashimi in South Korea was the way it should be enjoyed. Yes, even a simple dish of sashimi has it’s own traditional way. You take the raw fish wrapped in ggaenip (similar to shiso leaf) and a slice of jalapeño, raw garlic, wasabi, and some rice, roll it up and shove it in your mouth. Of course one does this as gracefully as she can…haha! Yeahhhh…still feels like I’m breaking all the rules every time I do this, and goes against everything I was taught growing up.

Tonight I got to experience a true Korean treat, hoedeopbap. Hoedeopbap is a raw fish mixed with veggies and rice. It’s like bibimbop but without the rice! What’s not to love? It was delicious!

At the end of the meal, the last course served was a spicy soup called meuntang (매운탕). The soup was all of the bony parts that could not be served with the raw fish, (are you ready for this?) to include the fish head. Eek! Keeping my promise to myself, knowing that I’m only going to live once, I ate it too. It was spicy and pretty tasty!

Traditionally you should enjoy soju or some type of Korean alcohol with your meal too. You will look around towards the end of your meal and see all of the red faces, hear the bottles of soju clinking, hear the loud laughter and stories in Korean. In that moment you will know they are completely unwound from the everyday stressors in their life, and are now able to enjoy the deliciously fun moments of their dinner with their friends and family.

Cheers!

Culturally Aware

We woke up this morning to snow. I had to wipe my eyes and do a second take as a pulled the curtains open across the big living room windows. No mistake. The white stuff was definitely back again. Luckily it really didn’t stick around, and was gone by mid afternoon. We lucked out here. From what I gather the states are not in the same shape as of late.

I usually don’t talk about my work life on the blog. However, I thought this would be fun to share with you all on this Friday eve.

Culturally we are all very different. We all come from such diverse backgrounds. Today at work we broke bread together — each of my co-workers bringing in dishes that represent ‘their culture’ to them: bulgogi, water kimchi, white chicken chili, garden salad, lasagna, garlic bread, mandu, enchiladas, with rice, japchae, pasta salad, mustard eggs, and cupcakes for a special birthday celebration. We all had a blast getting to taste a bit of everyone’s background. I enjoyed explaining a bit about America and how America is a melting pot, much like our team.

On a side note, I now know what true torture is…Yes! It’s giving up sweets for lent and baking your favorite yellow cupcakes with vanilla frosting. The cupcakes continue to get frosting on your fingers as you frost them, and you cannot lick them off.

T-O-R-T-U-R-E! HA HA!

Petra Palace

After a very eventful trip to Seoul today, with my friend Mrs. P and precious baby G, I’m home. Yes, what originally was planned as a fun-filled get out and explore Seoul trip took a slight chaotic turn for the worse. Without getting into all the crazy details lets just say that an unplanned trip to Samsung Hospital unfortunately took up most of our Seoul fun. No worries friends and family, I am doing just fine now.

I can’t write off the entire day, we did find a great place to grab a falafel on flat bread.

Originally we attempted to check out a little French bistro, however after further review of the late lunch menu, we needed a little bit more than snails and a cheese dish to fill us up. We walked up and down the main street in Iteawon. Now, if you ever get to visit this section, you will see there are endless options to eat at. We were just being difficult and could not commit on a place. Searching, searching, searching, walking, walking, walking. . . Finally, we stumbled upon Petra Palace. Frankly the smell is what drew us in. The outside was nothing extravagant. We figured why not!

WOW! What an amazing little gem we found! Petra Palace is a rather small restaurant that serves simple Arabic cuisine. Dishes include falafel, humus, and shawarma. Mrs. P and I each ordered falafel’s on flat bread. The wraps were accompanied with a side of french-fries sprinkled with a delightful spice from Jordan. Final verdict, loved every bite and cannot wait to go back and try more!

Until the next adventure!

Living for the Weekends

“Everybody’s working for the weekend” Do you remember that song? Or, am I shamefully dating myself? Truth be told, I’ll admit… I LIVE for the weekends! Saturdays, Sundays, yeah…all equally loved in my book!

Most weekends I sleep in until 8:00AM-8:30AM-ISH then I hop right up and into making my breakfast. Easy decision for me, due to the fact that I more than likely thought and contemplated what I would make myself in the morning the night before. Wow, I am really showing my true oddballness on this blog post, huh?

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I stroll into the living room with my breakfast and hot tea,(shushhh don’t tell Mr. B, he’s typically still checked out in sleepy land), buried and wrapped by tightly with my blankets I sit in our over sized chair with Bean cat. I then proceed to answer my question of the day book, blog, and eventually Skype with my Grandparents. I love it! I love that I have somewhat of a routine that I look forward to every weekend.

Do you have a weekend? Perhaps you also look forward to and feel comforted knowing the weekend routine is upon you?

Cheers to the weekend!

Balmy in January?

Mother Nature is surly throwing not only we Bees for a loop, but the grass and birds too. We’ve had some very interesting weather here in S.Korea. I think its even safe to use the term “Spring-like” to describe it too! The month of January has went from one extreme, we are talking negative temps here, to down right balmy, birds chirping, bugs buzzing, above average weather! Please don’t misunderstand me for thinking I’m complaining, because I’ll absolutely take these gorgeous days! Even if it only last a day or so. I’ve caught Spring fever! And, it’s bad…..to bad it’s not going to last.

Our sweet little Pennsylvania Punxsutawney Phill has seen his shadow! Hooray! Spring will be here before we know it! However, I’m pretty sure that isn’t going to apply to us here in Korea. Just as fast as I wrote the above paragraph, Mother Nature had the last laugh and dumped 2 inches of snow and counting. Isn’t she just a fickle woman?

Hey Korea, no Paju Phil, or Pyongyang Phil? Just thought I’d throw that out there, food for thought.

Well, what a little more snow this year? I love snow, so I’ll make the most of it while its here. Besides, I swoon for the glowing city night-line covered in a soft white blanket.

Enough with the weather chit-chat. How was your weekend? Ours was busy, but fun!

Fabulous pasta shared with friends mmm…Bellissimo! Homework, making pickled mustard eggs, attending a Pampered Chef party, finding silly Bean cat nesting in my reusable grocery bags, tickets to see NANTA, and enjoying a new favorite find, cinnamon Schnee Pang! Have you ever heard of Schnee Pang? It originated in Rothenburg, Germany about 300 hundred years ago and now it has a home in Seoul. Yipee! Love new little finds.

Let’s go back to the topic of NANTA! I must share with you all how wonderful the show was! It’s been on my list of places to go and see since stepping foot in this country. This year I’m really making a conscious effort to keep one of my new year resolutions and tackle my Korea bucket list. NANTA’ is a non-verbal performance with comedy, crowd interaction, and drum-beat music. NANTA’s main stage area displays a huge kitchen where four chefs, three men and one woman, are preparing a wedding banquet. Two audience members get randomly selected to “get married” during the show. Mr. B was on the edge of his seat fearing they would select him because we were in an aisle seat only three rows away from the stage. Being the good wife I am, I booked the seats knowing they might pull us up on stage he- he. Okay, okay! Truly I’m not that terrible. I made him a deal in the end, I’d go up for him if selected. While the chefs cook, they turn their pots and pans, dishes, knives, chopping boards, brooms and even one another into instruments! It’s so creative, a ton of laughs, and was enjoyed by all ages! We highly recommend catching a show if you ever find yourself in Seoul.

Check out the website here.

Happy Weekending all!

Crunch, crunch, crunch

Greetings from my kitchen, again!

Do you ever start the weekend thinking that you are going to accomplish all sorts of things? Only to realize that you have no motivation, or inkling in your body to get out and do it. Well, that was me. It’s now Sunday and I’m a bit ashamed to report I only left my cave this weekend once, recycling. Hey, at least I’m keeping it green! Haha!

Anywho, I guess I shouldn’t shortchange myself. This weekend wasn’t completely a flop. I did clean up and move around Mr. B’s office space, make Dak Dori Tang, and this yummy granola. Mmm gosh was it yummy! …You know I’ll share with all of you.

Ingredients:

5 cups Oats (I used steel-cut oats)
5 cups Cereal (I used heritage flakes)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup mixed nuts
1 1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk powder
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all of your ingredients up. Spread ingredients on greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes

Stir after the granola is slightly cooled. Seal up the mixture in an airtight container.

Enjoy with your morning milk, on top of Greek yogurt, or handfuls at a time afternoon snack….not that any of us here know anything about that…crunch, crunch, crunch.

I can’t describe the amazing aromas wafting through our home this afternoon!

What are you waiting for? Get mixing! Don’t forget to share your wealth, and recipe too!

A Little Spice

Isn’t the color of this stew is insanely appetizing? Who would have thought that ingredients like a little honey, soy sauce, garlic, onions, Korean red chili pepper paste (gochujang), Korean red chili pepper flakes (gochugaru), and some other key ingredients, would slow cook so nicely?

I made this very popular Korean chicken dish called, Dakdoritang 닭도리탕, in my slow cooker tonight for dinner. Its chicken cooked in a spicy red sauce with vegetables. Ah! I just cannot get enough Korean cuisine. So, what are your thoughts? Would you dare? I’d love to share! If you want the recipe, just let me know.

My “little helper” bahaha! Yeah right. I think the better name would be snoozer.

Splendid Extended

How was your weekend? I hope it was splendid extended weekend!

Ours surly was!

Some of the highlights from the weekend included:

-Juicing. I’m getting more creative, trying to incorporate sweet potatoes, ginger, etc. so delicious! I can’t help myself. Mmm! If you have a juicer, please share your thoughts and favorites with me. Pretty please and thank you!

Sweet potatoes, carrots, pineapple, red grapes, and jeju oranges. ( I loveed this one! )

Apples, cinnamon, and fresh ginger. ( Mr. B loveed this one! )

-Hair trim. Goodness, my mop desperately needed one! Fuzzy ends…need I say more? Pretty typical trip, except….drum roll….I drove myself for the very first time! No train this time around. If you ever get the chance to drive, or take a taxi in Seoul, you will know why this act in itself was quite the accomplishment! Mr. B was so worried about me driving alone for the first time. He made sure I had a GPS hooked up ready to go, with the route pre-programmed in too! What a guy! Thankfully
I also had a co-pilot. My dear friend accompanied me on the journey. (Girls day!). Woo-hoo! We successfully made it there and back, safe and sound!

-Skype session with my lovely Grandparents. My family always makes me feel so grounded. I treasure all the moments I get to chat with them via Skype, almost as good as being in person.

-Mr. B came home from being away on the East Coast…Hallelujah! Miss that guy a smidge when he’s away.

-Tied up some more of the loose ends of the Cambodia trip with Habitat for Humanity in March. Visa, plane tickets, a bit of research…check, check, double-check.

-Cooked up some fantastic homemade beef stew with Mr. B. Sometimes the best creations come from on the whim ideas. We had left over beef stock from a roast, it was just fitting to make soup. Plus, we’ve still got a white winter backdrop here from our little South Korean living room windows.

Here’s to many more splendid extended weekends in 2013!