Tag Archives: Spring

Yeouido Hangang Riverside Park 여의도 한강공원

I feel like TOMS and potbingsu pretty much sums up a spring or summertime dream here in Korea.

You know, I’ve been thinking about friendships again lately. With life, friendships come and go. In an expat community this is rather typical and pretty much the norm. One of the best parts about being an expat with a new-found friendship is that you have another connection to a different world. A world that you might not be familiar with and luckily you get to experience that little piece of the world through your friend.

What about you, do you think that each of our friendships with individuals represents a world in us, a world still forming or possibly not even born until they arrive?

This past weekend I met Kelsey at Namdamun Market. Unfortunately it was Sunday and I failed to realize that the buildings where we really wanted to go were closed. Oops… sorry Kelsey.

It wasn’t a total bust, we picked up some kumquat, watermelon and Ya-chae Ho-tteok stuffed full of jap-chae noodles. After walking around the market a bit, we headed to Myeongdong because it was so close to walk to. Kelsey showed me a few little boutiques that she visited the week prior and wanted to share, and then I shared the Artbox store with Kelsey. The Artbox is a cute little store with all sorts of stationary and wacky little gifts. Kelsey was on the hunt for a hot water tea kettle and she was able to pick one up in the Artbox for only 11,000W practically $11US Dollars. Score!

After visiting the markets, Kelsey asked if I wanted to check out a park that she also went to the prior week with a friend. The sun was shining and the day was absolutely gorgeous, so of course we went! We ended up at Yeouido Hangang Riverside Park 여의도 한강공원. Also known as Korea’s Manhattan, or the financial district. A very clean well-groomed part of Seoul. It was very easy to see why this area is so popular with its lush parks and attractive riverfront area.

We grabbed drinks and a potbingsu to go at a local convenience store/cafe. We found a nice quiet spot where we kicked back, slipped of our TOMS, dipped our feet in the cool water, took photos, talked and people watched (prime people watching territory… check out all of the couples wearing matching outfits, or riding tandem bikes!). All ranking high on my top list of things to do! We’ve made plans for a near future picnic too, now all I need is to locate a good picnic basket. Guess you will have to stay tuned in until next time.

Backpackbees

Addresses:

Namdaemun Market
49, Namchang-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Subway Line 4 at Seoul Station → Exit No. 5 in Hoehyeon Station
Closes every Sunday/Open 09:00 ~ 19:00
Namdaemun Market Tourist Information ☎ 02-752-1913
http://www.namdaemunmarket.net/

Myeongdong Market
Transfer to Subway Line 4 at Seoul Station → Exit No. 2 in Myeongdong Station
Myeongdong Tourist Information ☎ 02-774-3238

Yeouido Hangang Park
330, Yeouidong-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
서울특별시 영등포구 여의동로 330 (여의도동)
Yeouinaru Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), Exit 2 or 3.

Secret Garden

You know, spring really is magical.

Everything is finally cheerfully waking up from their long winter hibernation. Even on my grayest of days, I still find myself feeling happy inside when admiring the beauty that surrounds me. It takes my mind off the reality of adulthood and the complexity of pressures and stress, much like a self fulfilled mini-vacation since I haven’t done much traveling as of late.

This past week every day on the way to work I continued to admire from afar this one magnificent tree that pokes out from behind an abandoned restaurant very close to our complex. Each morning I would think I need to see this tree up close. It was practically begging to be photographed. Today was Friday so after work with no time schedule or plans I finally walked over to admire it up close and of course snap some photos to share with the rest of you. I cannot help but to feel like Mary Lennox from The Secret Garden.

Backpackbees

Quiche.

Quiche. Baked.

Google describes a quiche as a savory, open-faced pastry crust with a filling of savory custard with cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables. Google hit the nail on the head with its description! A quiche is just so versatile!

I’m finding comfort in these delicious days where the sun is shining a little longer than the past winter months. Firing up the oven baking a quiche is just the thing you need to showcase the springtime vegetable abundance. Think fresh tomatoes, asparagus, artichokes and garlic. Mmmhmmmm…

I’m such a sucker for a savory quiche, let’s be honest the topic of brunch in general. What’s not to love? This quiche is snap to make, impressive to serve, plus isn’t it a delight to eat? Think about serving at your next brunch with your girlfriends, or eat for dinner like I did. Couldn’t resist. To reach that full springtime nirvana why not try serving with a side of fresh spring greens. Enjoy!

Zucchini Quiche

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini, grated
1 large onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup shredded carrots
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Ham or bacon, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup self-raising flour
1/2 cup of oil
5 eggs
salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Combine zucchini, onion, bacon, flour and cheese in a large bowl. Add oil and lightly beaten eggs and mix. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste . Pour mixture into baking dish.

Bake for 35-40 mins until golden and set. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Vegetables options are endless with your imagination! If you are worried about vegetarian guest simply leave out the meat.

Do you have a favorite brunch recipe? Go ahead and share!

Backpackbees

What’s in the Box

Today I skipped down to the gate guard to pick up our last package, before we decide to renew again or not. Part of me was really sad that this was the end of our first run that we tried with the CSA. Okay, maybe all of me was sad…that being said, we’ve got to renew!

The CSA box contents changed and restructured a bit from the past boxes we’ve received. We knew it was coming, WWOOF made sure they let all box recipients last week know, as well as it being emailed and posted on social outlets. Now instead of getting breads and snacks in your box, WWOOF is focusing more on the emphasis of the produce. More green for your green! If you still want to get the breads and snacks, they are add on items. In addition to that there are also going to be more add-on items in the future as well. Talk of organic meats, jams, etc. How awesome is that?

This week we got our standard delicious strawberries, eggs (two unfortunate little guys didn’t make it and were cracked and oozing on the others), potatoes, sweet potatoes, a carrot, spinach, mallow, assorted salad vegetables, perilla leaves, and an onion. Then there was the show stopper, its last but certainly not least and is a new item, bean sprouts!

Let’s talk about the bean sprouts shall we? Bean Sprouts are a powerhouse of nutrients! You get vitamins B, C, B1, B6, K and A all from that teeny little bean sprout. Plus, sprouts are a wonderful source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, potassium, and manganese, and omega 3 fatty acids. Whew! See, powerhouse! Low on energy? Forget that power bar or shake, reach for some sprouts! The sprouts help by giving our bodies a great source of enzymes that increase our overall energy.

I’m not even close to being done with the topic of these bean sprouts. Did you know that these sprouts help prevent cancer, heart attack or stroke, osteoporosis, boost fertility, are great for skin, help aid in losing weight and acne and prevent menstrual disorders and menopause.

Before coming to South Korea, I cannot say that we honestly ever ate bean sprouts. Now that Korean culture and eating habits have rocked our world, we couldn’t imagine a future without them. Almost any Korean restaurant serves bean sprouts often in a sauce or accompanying meat. They are a perfect side addition to a meal, on a salad, or even in soup.

What are you waiting for? Go out and grab some organic bean sprouts NOW!

Backpackbees

Showers of pink petals

I don’t know where it came from…but the flowers seemed to explode on all the trees this past weekend. Just walking in the wind and shower of delicate pink petals painted this picture to me that everything was right with the world in that very moment.

I met up with Miss Kelsey again this past weekend to get my mop cut. Seriously folks it was getting a bit out of control. I don’t want to go there but I will. Can we say business in the front party in the back?? HA-HA. Kelsey wanted to get a trim and manicure too, so it was a perfect excuse for a girls day.

Before heading off to our salon appointment we strolled all around Itaewon. The weather was a bit brisk but it was perfect for walking. You know the kind right? Not to hot, not to terribly cold. Besides, studies show that because walking is a repetitive activity, it helps trigger the body’s relaxation mode that helps reduce stress (we both needed that after the week we had) plus, at the same time, a ten minute walk provides an immediate energy booster and improves your mood. It’s proven to snap you out of your funk (again needed). Research also suggest that you should aim for a minimum of 10,000 steps a day (equivalent to approximately 5 miles), the magic number that keeps most from gaining weight. Here’s what my Fitbit tracked while strolling around the Itaewon area with Kelsey. Not to shabby right? Okay, I will hop off my soapbox now.

20140407-215933.jpg

Perhaps all those steps made up for the lunch we had? Softree for a magic lamp. It’s magical all right! Organic vanilla soft-serve with caramel swirls and a fine crushed nut topping. I took notes from my late great-grandmother and do cover the important parts of meals first. Dessert. We then followed up with a chicken pita and greek salad from Greek on the Grill. Delicious and cheap too.

Check them out and let me know what you think.
Directions:

Greek on the Grill Restaurant

마포구 와우산로 66 (본점), Seoul, 121-837
소프트리 SOFTREE Ice Cream Shop
용산구 이태원로 208 (이태원점), Seoul, 140-893

Backpackbees

Bonjour Croissant

You know, I’ve got to say the French certainly know how to do food, whether it’s foie gras at dinner or a buttery croissants in the morning paired with a café au lait. Unfortunately I am defiantly not in France this morning, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t enjoy my Monday morning croissant any less.

I am sitting here pondering this toaster we purchased at a local department store, Emart. Much to our surprise it came complete with a special croissant and roll toasting feature. I guess we totally missed the fact that Korean’s are HUGE consumers of croissants. Pardon my sarcasm. Honestly most Korean homes still lack a conventional oven let alone a toaster.

Interesting…

Backpackbees

Driving to the DMZ for Local Honey

As odd enough as this sounds, I spent my Saturday morning driving to the DMZ for local honey. Perhaps I should digress?

While Skyping with my grandparents one weekend morning we got on the topic of seasonal allergies. My grandpa specifically minds certain points during the Spring season and sought relief outside of the typical Claritin or other over the counter drug on the market. He found out that his gut wasn’t happy. Ha Ha! What does that mean? Well it means that he wasn’t getting the right kinds of bacterial into his stomach to fight off the bad ones. So the journey began….how does one make their gut happy he asked? I’m sure thinking of all the sugary goodness he treated it with. Surly those treats have to be making his gut happy, because he felt happy while savoring them in the evenings. Wrong…he found out that he needed to get some probiotic and live culture in his diet. The easiest form being yogurt. Next he needed to take bee pollen pills daily as well as find local honey. I know what you might be thinking and no local honey is not the mass-produced stuff that comes from the cute little bear on the shelf in your supermarket. Luckily my grandfather has found relief with his regiment.

While out to lunch one afternoon with some girlfriends we got on the topic of allergies and local honey. My friend stated that she suffered from allergies since moving to Korea but was able to find local honey. She asked if I wanted her to pick some up when she went on her next trip, I eagerly said yes! Best decision ever! I’ve used the honey in my tea, Greek yogurt and oatmeal. It’s sooo delicious and flavorful.

Fast forward to the week before Kelsey came to stay. While texting one evening she told me that she was suffering from allergies and it was driving her nuts. So of course the conversation about local honey occurred again. Kelsey stated she was absolutely willing to give it a go!

Saturday morning I picked Kelsey up from our local train station, she hopped into the car and I asked if she wanted to venture out to find the local honey? Kelsey stated eagerly yes! Isn’t it so gratifying to find a kindred spirit? With brief directions on my phone from my friend, we headed North on highway 3 towards the DMZ, North Korea. We drove for about 50 minutes one way passing more farms and brown fields than people. Even with the haze and gray sky, Kelsey stated that she enjoyed a different perspective of Korea and the feeling of being able to breath and not feel so crammed with people.

Eventually we made our way to the end of highway 3. Directly in front of us, two guards stood armed with rifles not allowing anyone to proceed North anymore on highway 3. The option was to turn left or right. We turned left then took the first right leading us to the Battle for White Horse Mountain memorial. We parked in the large parking lot and proceeded into the only building on the property that resembled a store. Once inside an older Korean woman greeted us and two South Korean soldiers were sitting at the table with three children chatting and eating. The back wall was covered in jars and bottles of honey and two small shelves with various local items. You could tell they were slightly intrigued that two American women were visiting and discussing the wall of honey.

I asked one of the soldiers if he could tell what the differences were in honey. The soldier so kindly offered us to taste the honey while explaining the differences. The dark-colored honey was from chestnuts and had a slightly bitter taste, the medium colored honey came from various local flowers and the clear colored honey came from a flower called pronounced “Akasha” here in Korea. I haven’t done any research yet to see what the comparable flower would be in the US.

We each purchased honey and said our many thanks. We then decided to walk up the hill towards the memorial structure and of course curious to see the view. You can find a bit-o-honey, I mean history about the memorial here.
(See the horse icon located on the upper left hand corner? That was our location)
We headed back home for lunch and some meandering around our neighborhood. I wanted to share some of the special places that I enjoy and thought she may too. While walking we were both excited to see that Spring was popping up in little places right before our eyes. We headed to the vegetable stand that we used to purchase produce almost weekly from, plus the guy that runs it is comical (He photo bombed almost all of the shots and threw up his kimchi finger pose in each photo). Of course our favorite coffee cafe as of late for potbingso, carrot cake, grapefruit tea and royal milk tea was on the list. Oh and the cute little greenhouse right down the street with all sorts of reasonably priced succulents and the sweetest owner too.
Having family nearby is absolutely is the bomb diggity… yep.. I just aged myself.

Backpackbees

HA-HA! Wait…does anyone even use the term bomb diggity anymore?
How was your weekend?
Do you suffer from seasonal allergies?
Do you take anything? Any tips, tricks, suggestions?

Some Weekdays call for Wasabi

Wasabi is plentiful here in Korea. You can purchase bags of wasabi powder or paste at just about any supermarket. What am I saying? Gosh, wasn’t that just the understatement of the year? What I am getting at is that really anything with a nice spicy kick is plentiful here! Mr. B and I feel that wasabi is one of those ingredients you either love or don’t. For us, we are addicted to the fiery, nose-clearing unexpected heat that takes over the palate. Yes, we are oddballs.. but oh it’s so good!

We recently picked up a new cookbook by Max and Eli Sussman, “The Best Cookbook Ever”. Cocky title right? We were instantly drawn to the exciting recipes like carrot wasabi soup. If you ever have tasted carrot ginger soup this recipe is very similar only edgier with you guessed it, wasabi.

The soup is rather simple and it has you start off by coating your plump carrots in olive oil and roasting in the over. I feel that this one simple factor truly brings out the flavors of the carrots more in the soup. After roasting you then toss the carrots into a blender or food processor with water and the remaining ingredients, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, and wasabi. The only two adaptations we made to the recipe was we used baby sweet peas instead of sugar snap peas, as well as we would cut the rice vinegar amount in half. Overall Mr. B and I throughly enjoyed the soup and will serve it cold or hot in the future with some dinner guest. Truth be told, I’ve had so much of the soup this week I believe I am starting to get an orangish tint.

Continuing on with our wasabi weekdays kick, we also made salmon sandwiches with wasabi and pickled ginger for dinner one night. What an interesting delicious twist of ingredients on this sandwich! It was light and just a perfect paring for the warmer Spring temperatures we have been enjoying.

Salmon Sandwiches with Wasabi and Pickled Ginger
Slightly adapted from

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup olive oil mayonnaise
1 Teaspoon wasabi paste
2 Cups (14.75-ounce can) canned Alaskan wild salmon, drained
8 Slices of Ezekiel bread, toasted
4 Thin slices red onion
4 Thin rings yellow bell pepper
4 Teaspoons sliced pickled ginger
1 Cup arugula

Directions:

Combine the mayonnaise and wasabi paste and stir until smooth. Taste. Add in more wasabi, if desired, to tickle your fancy. Gently fold in the salmon.

Place 4 slices of the bread on a work surface and top each with the salmon mixture, 1 onion slice separated into rings, 1 pepper ring, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 1/4 cup arugula. Top with the remaining 4 slices of bread. Enjoy!

So what are your thoughts are on wasabi?
Do you think you could handle the carrot wasabi soup? (Honestly, it wasn’t that spicy)
What’s cooking in your kitchen this weekend?

Backpackbees

Sob Story

Did you see the latest Instagram Backpackbees photo? Yes… that’s a chair that sits in the lobby area of work that a parent let a little Picasso doodle all over with crayons. Yikes… That’s not even the sob story piece of this blog. It’s been a pretty rough week in general, but never in my twenty something years on this earth have I ever experienced tears while chopping my onions, that is until tonight. Can you believe a teeny tiny shallot was the one to do me in? The tears just streamed down my cheeks as I chopped as quickly as I could. Seriously it was as if I were sobbing. Of course I had to pause intermittently because my eyes were on fire and walk away from the cutting board, but I returned as quickly as I could to get the little guy prepped for our dinner.

What about you, are your eyes sensitive to onions? Intrigued, also waiting for Mr. B to finish up cooking the chicken, I looked it up on the internet and found that the syn-propanethial-soxide that the onion releases as a form of gas when cut into causes the eye irritation to some. It then went onto say that a good onion cry, though not hormonal or emotional, often makes people feel better afterwards. As silly as it sounds, it sort of did….

Wellll….. maybe it was just the excitement and anticipation to dig into this meal? Or, maybe it’s that we realized it’s Wednesday and that means we are closing in on another weekend!

The recipe was slightly altered from Iowa Girl Eats.

Ingredients:

5 Slices turkey bacon, chopped
4 Chicken breasts, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Shallot, chopped
3 Cups white button mushrooms, sliced
6 Cups fresh organic Korean spinach
1 1/2 Cup half & half
1/2 Cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

First cook bacon in a large skillet, cook until crispy. Not much grease, if any is left behind from the bacon, don’t bother wiping out, continue on with cooking chicken breast in same skillet to gather any remaining bacon flavors.

Season to taste chicken breasts with salt and pepper then add to skillet and sauté until no longer pink. Remove off to side and cover with foil to keep warm while you cook the rest of the meal.

Next, melt butter in skillet, add shallots and mushrooms, season to taste with salt and pepper, and then sauté until mushrooms are tender. Throw in spinach then cover and sauté randomly until just barely wilted. Add half & half  and cook until the sauce is thickened, after thickened, stir in grated parmesan cheese.

Last but certainly not least, arrange chicken on your plate,  pour sauce on top and sprinkle with cooked turkey bacon.

We enjoyed with twice baked potatoes and a nice glass of refreshing wine.

Next time we think we will add in some spice to spice it up! Until then, enjoy, check out Iowa Girl Eats, and stay tuned.

Backpackbees

Cheer Up Butternut

As you see, there hasn’t been much backpacking for this bee lately, that pesky groundhog seemed to be right again! The last few days we’ve had very tundra like conditions. Complete with icy roads and all. Spring is all the buzz lately at work. When’s it going to perk up? Brighten up? Be green again? It’s positively hard to stay positive during these cold gloomy winter days. They seem so long, so cold, and just so ….well….gray. The bright side is, we’re in that home stretch, right?

Tonight I baked a butternut squash and covered it with coconut oil and cinnamon. Whoa! It tasted very similar to French toast, but obviously much healthier. Try it out! Thank me later. Next time I might add some red pepper flakes or something to spice it up. What do you think?

Also with all the gloominess and the fact my mood had taken a serious nosedive today, I needed something on the quick no fuss side for dinner. A fun salad!

I can’t believe I’m going to admit this in public, but see the flaky stuff? Looks like tuna, right? Wrong. I ventured out and used salmon from a can. Guess what.. I loved it! Why didn’t anyone tell me it was this good? It’s not anywhere close to the ick factor I once thought would appear in that can. Good source of omega 3 too! However the two pieces of peanut butter fudge I devoured that my grandparents sent us most likely cancelled out that healthy meal. Oops.

Do you add anything crazy to your salads? I’m open to suggestions!

Backpackbees