Once we arrived at Sol Beach we headed out to the local fish market.

There were so many food stands with shrimp tempura.

Stuffed squid

Grilled scallops with green peppers and hot sauce.

Fresh sashimi

While we were looking around my dad was taking pictures.

Crab, the reason for our trip to the market.

with my sister and my dad

Korea continued...

First of all, happy Friday!

Saturday was my cousin's wedding.  Korean weddings are interesting in a fun way.  I did enjoy the fog, the bubbles, the four tenors, and the paebaek which is a traditional Korean custom after the ceremony that includes bowing to the relatives of the groom and several other activities. 

The wedding hall.

my cousin

the bride

I forgot to take pictures at the reception.  I was so disappointed that they did not serve wedding cake.  That's one of my favorite parts of a wedding.  Looking at the design, tasting it etc.  There was one that they cut for pictures, but then it disappeared never to be seen again.  Anyways, the rest of the day was spent helping out my aunt. 


The next day we headed out to Sol Beach for a quick getaway.  On the way there we dropped by this restaurant which looked liked someone's house for buckwheat noodles.  

Spicy buckwheat noodles.  I can go for some right now.

Their pork belly was very tasty as well. 

 I think this was the hotel side of the resort.  The resort was pretty big. 

 The cafe in our building.  Loved the ocean view.

Coming up next time...outside marketplace

It's almost 10pm and my house is silent.  Daughter is sleeping and E is out as well.  Very unusual.  Everyone fell asleep around 9ish.  It's nice to have some peace and quiet to myself.  I've caught up on blogs, emails, bills, noted family/friend's birthdays & important date in my new calendar.  It's no secret that for several years E and I celebrated the wrong wedding date...I admit I am horrible with dates and numbers too.

 I want to find this mug.

{via Aurevoir Paris}

just because.....

a video about The Sartorialist 

  

More of Korea

After I went to the morning market with my dad we ate lunch (sorry no pictures, but I had Korean cold noodles). My mom wanted to take me to this bakery/patisserie.

We went to Myung Dong.  We also stopped by Shinsaegae dept. store, but they wouldn't let me take any pictures :(

Outside street vendor.

Passion 5

Lovely macaroons...right after I took this they told me no more pictures.  Thank goodness my sister had already taken a ton!

Selection of what we ate.  Vanilla bean gelato and yuzu gelato.  Cheesecake, mushroom on focaccia bread, and UFO bread (yes that is what it was called).   My favorite was the cheesecake.  Korean cheesecake is different then in the states.  It's not as dense and there is no graham cracker crust rather a nice thin layer of sponge cake.  Also the yuzu gelato.  I love yuzu...sweet yet tangy.

In honor of my Motherland and because I miss Korea....

Recipe for mandoo aka Korean dumplings. 

List #1
1 pound of ground beef
1 block of extra firm tofu (squeeze as much water as you can out of the tofu)
1/2 medium onion minced
2 medium sized zucchini julienned
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 bunch of Korean chives (buchu) or you can use green onions

List # 2
2 Tablespoons of soy sauce
1 Tablespoon of sesame seed oil
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
pepper

List #3
1 package of wonton wrappers
water in a small bowl to seal the wrappers

Put all the ingredients in list #1 a bowl.  Mix well.  Then add the ingredients from list #2 mix well.  Then place a Tablespoon (possibly more depending on what brand of wonton you buy) of the filling in the middle of the wonton wrapper.  Using your fingers wet and seal the edge of the wrapper, fold and press to seal the wonton wrapper.

These freeze well.  I sprinkled flour on a sheet pan (see above picture) and froze them.  Once they were frozen I threw them into a ziplock bag.

I took a trip to the motherland last week.  Where is the motherland?  Korea.  I was there for one week.  It was too short.  But I had a great time seeing my relatives, hanging out with my family, and seeing old friends.

Layover in SFO.  If I had one more hour there I would have gone to the Ferry Building.

My dad picked me up at the airport.  Can I say weather shock?!  I went from a zip up sweatshirt to full length wool coat in 12 hours. 

The next morning, I followed my dad on his early morning market run.  My gramps has a restaurant in Korea and my parents help him run it.  Food it's in the blood :)

 Onions, onions and more onions.

 Yes, those are gallon bags of garlic.

See that man on the right in blue?  This was a fruit auction.  It was quite interesting even though I didn't understand a word he was saying.  

Strawberries, the sweetest I've had in a long time! 

yummmmm

My dad walking back home with a case of strawberries.  The rest of the produce was sent to the restaurant.

More to come....

I am out of town so blogging will presume at the end of the next week.  :)

Friends part 1

This past weekend, we took out a friend of mine.  We taught together about 11 years ago in Tashkent, Uzbekistan for a year.  We had a great year together.  We suffered through Russian classes together, taught English classes, caught a lot of cheaters, and ate our share of lipioshka.  Almost every morning we would walk to the back field and buy a stack of lipioshka then slather it with fresh raspberry jam. 

This is how lipioshka is made...in a brick/clay oven.  Dough is shaped and then thrown on the inside roof of the oven.

I think together we consumed the countries supply of Lions bar. Have you had a Lion bar lately? It's a caramel, crunchy bet yet chewy, nutty bar of goodness!!!  See how everything always goes back to food for me :)

She decided to go abroad to teach English again.  I guess teaching at USC wasn't exciting enough.  Some of us took  her out for brunch and coffee. 

Dutch Apple! YUmmmmm :)

Then off to the Ritz for coffee.  

Flowers in the lobby do not disappoint.

Coffee, tea, desserts, and fries!

Happy Friday!

I love Fridays! I am just happy that the week is over. Poor Daughter has been under the weather and missed 3 days of school. Last night I stayed up until who knows when trying to help her go back to bed. She was all stuffed up. I don't remember what time it was when she finally fell asleep.

Evening tube watch. I love the Olympics. I have fond memories of watching the summer and winter with my family. These nights I have been staying up watching.

I love reliving great Olympic moments!


The next cookbook I am planning to read....

I have it on hold at the library. Makes me miss the bay area. I realized we didn't make it up there this year...must make some traveling goals for this year!

On a side note, anyone read this?
http://www.npr.org/2011/01/02/132477830/cupcakes-are-dead-long-live-the-pie

Tonight, I will be having dinner with some college friends. So thinking of something sweet to eat after dinner!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Oat Bran Muffins

I'm watching what I'm eating especially since I have to go in and get my cholesterol checked again. But I always have a craving for something carby in the afternoon. I was on a mission a while back to make healthy baked goods, but because of the holidays it got put on hold. I'm back on the saddle again.

Throw your dry ingredients into a bowl.

1 cup whole wheat white flour (I get mine at Trader Joe's)
1 cup oat bran
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Mix it around with a whisk.

Measure all the wet ingredients and throw it into a big Pyrex cup or bowl.

1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (I used maple syrup)
1 cup yogurt (this time around I used Trader Joe's lowfat yogurt I had better results with non fat Fage Greek yogurt)
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 ripe banana mashed

1 big granny smith apple chopped into small bits.

Pour the dry ingredients into the wet and then add the apples. Mix. So easy!

I make these muffins in my mini muffin tins. Grease the muffin pan. Make life easier and use an ice cream scoop to put the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes.

Tada!

**I just realized that the print on my pictures are a tad too small. Sorry for making you squint!