Tag Archives: September

Sunday Cooking

I didn’t realize until recently that I collect cookbooks. I didn’t set out to do so…it sort of just happened. I can always remember fussing to look at my grandmothers red binder of hundreds of recipes she collected over the years. It’s so silly, I still sort of fuss to see that red binder when I visit her, I chalk it up to being sentimental. To this day I really enjoy reading new cookbooks almost like a chapter book. It might sound a little strange but I can start from the very beginning and work my way to the very end. Each new page making me think of a new meal idea or challenge. I also enjoy books on culinary school…I’m often swept off into a daydream of what if’s and thoughts of wouldn’t that just be incredible to attend Le Cordon Bleu?

I grew up not really knowing how to properly cook. I think it is safe to say that I was fairly spoiled because I always had someone making me a meal. I believe that is where the intimidation of cooking started for me. I loved the idea of end result where the food was served, admired, and enjoyed like a piece of beautiful art. It was just getting to that end result that I lacked for many years.

Thankfully as I’ve grown so have my taste and curiosity to make and create something new. The fear is still sometimes there looming in the back of my mind when a recipe looks very challenging, however I keep that little voice in check by reminding it that I wont get to enjoy or share something that could be incredibly delicious unless I try to make it first.

Can you relate? Have you ever been intimidated by cooking? Do you find it easier and have more confidence to cook with friends rather than alone? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. For now, no Le Cordon Bleu but I’ll leave you with two very simple but delicious recipes that I pulled from two of my cookbooks.

Blueberry Crisp
From: Bread & Wine

Ingredients:

4 Cups blueberries (or any fruit, really)

Crisp topping:

1 Cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 Cup pecans
1/2 Cup almond meal (available at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, health food stores, or made by putting almonds in food processor until fine, but before they turn to almond butter)
1/4 Cup maple syrup
1/4 Cup olive oil
1/2 Tsp salt

Directions:

Pour four cups fruit into 8×8 pan. Spread crisp topping over the fruit. Bake at 350 degrees 35-40 minutes, or longer if topping and fruit are frozen, until fruit is bubbling and topping is crisp and golden.

Serves 4

Basic Hummus
From: The Super Baby Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 Can chickpeas (or the equivalent amount of chickpeas you have cooked yourself)
2 tbsp tahini (omit this altogether if you prefer)
2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 to 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Drain the chickpeas and combine all the ingredients in a food processor.

Blend on a low-speed until the hummus is completely smooth. If the mixture seems very thick, add in some extra olive oil or water to loosen it up.

Let me know how they come out for you. Enjoy!

Backpackbees

Jeju Island Getaway

This past weekend we got the opportunity to again enjoying a brief getaway on the beautiful volcanic island of Jeju, only this time for a low-key friends meet up/ no real game plan kind of weekend.

Summer is officially over and clearly Fall is knocking on the door. Even on the tropical like island of Jeju the much brisk temperatures are starting to settle it. Saturday was dreary and rained, or misted rather, but we made sure we didn’t let the weather stop our fun. We took full advantage of checking out all the places that our group didn’t get to see the first time each of us visited Jeju in the past.

Get ready for some Korean cheesiness. Ready? Jeju Island Teddy Bear Museum….yes… told you.. we are clearly all about the cheesiness here, O’ Sulloc’s tea Plantation, Manjanggul Cave, Cheonjiyeon waterfalls, Jeju Starlight World Park and Planetarium, and Jinjie Cave.

We sipped green tea, coffee, ate some bingsu, ate green tea frozen yogurt, hiked part of the island coast where we got to check out 15 man-made caves ranging 15metres wide and 20metres long leftover from the period of when Korea was under Japanese rule, had the hubby believing that some of the teddies in the teddy bear museum were recovered and came from the Titanic, visited chocolate land where we later discovered we overpaid and were taken on the price of our boxes of chocolate (live and learn), and of course ate the Jeju speciality Jeju Black Pig (heuk-doe-ji). Overall a good time!

So, What were your plans over the weekend?

Feel free to check out photos and follow along on Instagram too!

Backpackbees

Other Side

The original plans were to dive this weekend at the east coast, relax, stroll on the beach and get carried away with a good book. That fickle mother nature had other tricks up her sleeve. The waves and wind were definitely ideal for a surfer, not a diver. We decided to improvise, road trip and meet up with a new couple along the way.

Part of our unplanned road trip led us to visit the most northern point of South Korea’s east coast. The area we traveled was the Goseong Unification Observation Centre. If you recall from past post, we’ve seen the DMZ from the west coast along the 38th parallel, however this was the opportunity to check it out from the east coast. The observation platform is a small educational center about the North with the history about Korea’s divide. I felt like it was much more relaxed and less tense (if that is even possible) in comparison to the west coast observatory. For example you can drive your own almost right up to where you will get to view North Korea!

From the platform you get to see Mount Geumgangsan, Haegeumgang, and islands of the coast in the distance. I stood there for a long time just staring through the telescopes to the other side of Korea. I couldn’t stop thinking about how beautiful the beach and view were but how ugly the other side truly was.

The holiday weekend wasn’t a complete bust, Sunday the sun greeted us bright and early, Mr. B got in some diving while I returned to my original plan of getting wrapped up in my book and taking a stroll along the beach. This day was truly a reminder of how life is good.

Happy Labor day to everyone out there, enjoy! No cookouts on the grill for we Bees this year…but I do see Johnny Rockets in our near future… 😉

Goseong Unification Observation Centre address:
457, Tongiljeonmangdae-ro, Hyeonnae-myeon, Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do
강원도 고성군 현내면 통일전망대로 457

Find out more information here:
http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264161

Backpackbees

Foodie Pen Pal

This month I took a chance and decided to try a foodie pen pal program.

What fun!

I’m so glad that I did! I had a blast gathering up all my Korean treats and sending it out to my Pen Pal to experience. I too was just as eager to see what was making its way over from the states for me.

This month my foodie pen pal sender was Melissa from Quincy, IL. Melissa was so sweet! She sent me a wonderfully articulated card explaining everything she included in her package.

So what was all included you ask?

Melissa decided that she wanted to share her local delicacies with me.

Salsa, mixed nuts, handmade dish towels, some of her favorite hot teas, Sesame sticks, and some other little yummy things.

I could hardly contain myself when I opened the package, I instantly had to Melissa a thank you back.

I cannot wait to see who I get to linked up with in October after such a great experience!

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