Thursday, October 30, 2008

Thinking about Christmas in Korea

My Oven toaster Turkey
I t tasted great .
If I can cook it in Gangjin anyone can.



Christmas
Every year I am here I cook a TURKEY . My first year I had a great big Dining table and chairs In my apartment in Gangjin I had 12 over for dinner. I have to say it was one of the best Christmases I ever had .In this Picture: Nichole ,Riann, My self, Stuart Dae-Han-Min-Guk Discoveries, Brian Brian in Jeollanam-do Micheal(Gangjin,Hof owner) Sara,Rob Homebrew Korea,Chris and Marc


On the menu
Was smoked salmon and cream cheese, Carrots and dip
Turkey cooked in a toaster oven. We had to cut the ends of his legs and his ass off but he fit in there. Stuffing, Gravy, Veg
Trifle, Rum Balls and pudding (my mum sent me )

Riann

Last year again I did Turkey Stuffing mash roast and scalloped Potatoes, Salmon in cream cheese
Cheese cake and Butter tarts I managed 12 people into my tiny little place.

This year Christmas In Suncheon
This year I want to spent it in comfort with everyone I have become friends with so

I have set up a facebook event
Pot luck Christmas to be held at Elvis
I Know its early to be thinking about Christmas ( I cant help it ) But many of us Elementary teachers Have vacation this year from December 19 (until March 1st ;)
So I am putting it out there early so you have choices .

In this Picture Chris, Riann and Rob(Homebrew Korea)

Where might we get a turkey and other christmas supplys from
http://ezshopkorea.com/
Or the
Gwangju Underground food store

サツマイモ豚肉巻き/satsumaimo butaniku maki

30 oktober 2008, kamis sore,

Hari selasa kemarin, Mei ada kegiatan di skulnya, imohori, nyangkul ubi di kebun.Pulang pulang dapet deh tuh satsumaimo 4 biji...da dari kemarin minta dibikinin makanan. Yah uda, nyempetin browsing di inet, dapet resep ini...gampang.

Sebenernya mo dijadiin Pr, tadi ditolak coz kegampangan..hahhaa... gpp gw tulisin aja disini deh...
Bahan
1 bh satsumaimo/ubi merah
12 lbr daging babi, iris tipis
garam gula, sedikit
tepung secukupnya
1 sdm sake

Bumbu
mirin, gula, kecap masing2 1 sdm

Cara
1. Cuci bersih ubi. Potong 5-6 mm, masukkan dalam pring tahan panas yg brisi air, susun ubi didalamnya. Tutup dengan rape, 3^4 menit panaskan dlm microwave, tiriskan
2. Daging babi dilebarkan, taburi garam lada, tepung.
Susun ubi di dalamnya, lalu gulung
3. Panaskan minyak di ferifan, Susun no 2, bagian akhir gulungan taroh di bawah, dibalik balik mpe matang. Masukkan sake, tutup, masak dgn api kecil lalu api sedang
4. Masukkan bumbu, api kcil, masak mpe tercampur. Sajikan dlm piring.

Ace Cracker Day


Happy Ace Cracker Day
Like Pepero day where you give and receive beautiful gifts of Pepero.
Today is the day to give and receive gifts of Ace Crackers

Hayride pictures.


My friend Amy and I at the hayride/bonfire a couple weekend ago.


Our friend Chris, leading out in song service.



My brother Phil and his girlfriend, Katie.



The Cody boy.


The bonfire got pretty big!!

dugaan-Nya

semalam...
sy gembira. ketawa. sungguh. semalam sy banyak ketawa. sangat banyak. tp bukan sy seorg. kawan - kawan lain pun. terhibur melihat telatah mira melatah sehinggakan dia keletihan dikacau kami. ape tah lagi kami, tidak kering gusi ketawa melihat gelagatnya. kelas hari rabu, dr tgh hari sampai malam. memang letih. lebih - lebih lagi ade presentation. dgn pakaian formal hingga ke malam. agak merimaskan. sy letih. bertambah pening memikirkan ada kerja yang perlu dibereskan sesudah sampai ke rumah kelak. walaupun hari sudah malam, kerja masih perlu diselesaikan. itulah tugas pelajar, sepertiku ini. namun, ketika membetulkan tudung di tandas, jari sy tercucuk jarum. luka. mungkin petanda, benda yang tidak elok akan berlaku? tapi. ketika itu sy tidak menyedari petanda di sebalik kejadian itu. sampai saja di rumah, mandi dan solat. dan meneruskan kerja dr pukul 12am sehingga 7am. pukul 9am sy tidur sebentar sehingga 11am.

hari ini...
sy sempat mencuri masa tidur selama 2 jam. sudah mencukupi. nasib agak baik kelas bermula pukul 3pm-10pm hari ni. namun, sy harus bangun. study utk test media society hari ini. akhirnya, pukul 3.oopm sy, mira dan salghee keluar dr rumah. berjalan kaki ke kelas. ketika itu, kambink telefon, dan sy bercakap dgnnya ketika perjalanan ke kolej. namun. malang tidak berbau. ketika sy berjalan di belakang mira dan salghee, sy terkejut. terkesima. trauma. salghee diragut. benar! pukul 3:15pm yang cerah, salghee diragut. hilang segala benda yg penting seperti ic, kad-kad atm, handphone, dan duit. sungguh. sy terpaku. tidak sempat melihat no motor peragut itu. tak mampu untuk berbuat apa - apa...

salghee. jgn menangis. sy tau, kepentingan semua itu. betul semua itu sangat penting. tapi, sy hanya dapat menolong mana yang mampu. kita ke kolej. dalam ketakutan itu. kita meneruskan perjalanan ke kolej. sy pinjamkan hp sy, utk salghee call family. di kolej, sy hantar assignment kita dulu. sy jumpa miss sha, minta excuse class utk buat report ke pondok polis setiawangsa. kita buat report. kita ke maybank utk blok atm card. dan kita minum utk berehat seketika. sy telefon afiq. sy minta tlg afiq bawa kami ke balai polis tmn melawati utk dptkan cop pengesahan report polis utk buat ic sementara. tapi balai polis tmn melawati ttp utk cop. jd kita ke balai polis wangsa maju. alhamdulilah. kita dapat cop tu. esok, senang lah kita utk ke pejabat pendaftaran. afiq, terima kasih sbb sudi dtg menghulurkan pertolongan. mungkin itulah gunanya kawan, membantu ketika kita kesusahan. sy doakan awk dalam final. =]

sampai kolej semula, kita bertiga ambil test. lepas tu sy pergi ke kelas law comm. dr pukul 6 sehingga pukul 8 setgh malam. lepas tu kita balik rumah. tp naik kereta, dill hantarkan. sebab, sy dah trauma nak jalan lg. apa tah lagi malam - malam. biarlah sy buat muka x malu menumpang daripada sy trauma lg. alhamdulilah. sy selamat sampai rumah... malam ni. broadband sy pula sedikit bermasalah. sgt susah utk connect. entah kenapa. sy benar - benar berharap, broadband ni x rosak. terlalu banyak yg telah sy rosakkan tahun ni. bukan kehendak sy, cuma mungkin tuhan tarik rezeki sy. ahad...sy perlu pulangkan laptop mama ni. mungkin, sy akan jarang on9. sehingga sy balik bercuti sem mungkin? atau mungkin sehingga sy dpt laptop baru? abah, mama, maaf. sebab laptop sy rosak. sy pun tak tau kenapa sampai motherboard tu rosak sehingga laptop sy x dpt diselamatkan. anyway, i'm gonna miss u my dearest 'rainbow of memories'.

malam ni juga. seorg sahabat lelaki.
meluahkan kesedihan dia dkt sy.
dia kawan lama sy.
agak rapat, cuma jarang berhubung.
kerana semua sibuk dengan
tanggngjawab masing - masing.
dia punya kekasih. kawan baik sy juga.
sudah 4 tahun mereka bersama.
tetapi, kenapa kini perempuan itu semakin berubah.
sungguh. sy sedih mendengar ceritanya.
kerana, kedua - duanya kawan sy.
sy kesian dkt dia. sy syg perempuan itu.
kenapa, jd macam ni.
tapi lelaki ini, masih setia.
dan berharap, sy sudi membantunya.
insya allah, sy bantu.
mana yang mampu. kata kawan? =]


tapi. hari ini. baru saya sedar.
malang itu tidak berbau.
manusia juga boleh berubah.
sentiasa berbubah.
tapi. kenapa perlu ke arah negatif?
bukankah sepatutnya kita ke arah positif.
sungguh. menyedihkan.
melihat mereka yg kita sayangi.
menjadi org yg tidak kita kenali.
kita punyai akal.
fikirlah~

Food for Free - Hawthorn Fruit Leathers

I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while but a near constant stream of things seems to have got in the way including a minor run in with a large bus (funnily enough, the car came off worse) and a couple of days spent down on various farms chatting with pig breeders and turkey farmers, amongst others (full reports to follow shortly, I promise).

As a means of preservation, fruit leathers are an ancient art and were traditionally used as a means of transforming a summer glut into something that could be eaten throughout the year. It is a method that almost certainly goes back to the Palaeolithic and is still used by hunter-gatherer societies today.

Throughout September and into October, the fruit of the Hawthorn tree (haws – no sniggering at the back please) is in wanton abundance throughout the English countryside. I was inspired to have a crack at making a ‘haw leather’ (tee hee) by a wonderful post by Nick Weston on his equally wonderful blog Hunter-Gatherer Cook.



I’d seen the small red fruits burst from the branches of the Hawthorn trees that scatter the open land around our house but was wary of the berries themselves. I knew they were edible but having cautiously nibbled on a few raw ones, I wasn’t overly impressed by their rather dull taste and disproportionately large stone. They were far too much hassle to be of any use, surely?

Turns out, unsurprisingly, that I was wrong.

So, armed with my trusty Thai tote bag and an iPod for company, I went foraging in the chill warmth of an early autumn afternoon. Half an hour’s picking yielded at least a kilo of berries, more than enough for a first attempt at making a haw jelly, or leather.

The first step is to transform these little berries into a gloopy mush. I used a large bowl and pestle (or mortar, I never know which is which) and then proceeded to break the bowl thanks to overly vigorous pounding. Thankfully by that point it was time adopt a more hands on approach and so after transferring the mixture, rolling up my sleeves and adding a little water to the now brown sludge, I squeezed and mashed the thick gloop with my fingers. A little more water and a little more mixing and the required consistency was reached without too much effort or any more broken bowls.

Instead of merely forcing the mashed fruit through a sieve – to separate out the stones and bits of twig et cetera – and leaving it to set, I decided to freestyle a little by adding a little apple juice, sugar and cinnamon and heating it gently in the hope that a softer and sweeter taste would emerge.

Being staggeringly high in pectin, haw ‘jelly’ will set without the addition of any sugar or any form of boiling. Within minutes you will notice the mixture thickening and taking on a far more solid feel. After an hour or so you should be able to slice the resultant cake.

After warming the jelly over a gentle heat and adding the extra ingredients, the colour and texture became increasingly fudge-like and the slight bitterness softened thanks to the addition of sweet apple juice and a little sugar.



Once cool, the jelly was sliced thinly and dried out in a low oven overnight to remove the water and give the leathers a near endless lifespan. Traditionally fruit like this would have been dried out in the sun and then offered essential nutrition throughout the winter months when fresh fruits were in stark supply. Things aren’t quite that bad for us, but small pieces of the haw leather stirred into warm porridge should be a tasty treat come the colder months.

www.justcookit.co.uk

How the other half live...

As a writer I tend to spend a large chunk of my time staring in the general direction of the window waiting for the elusive muse to rain down gifts of inspiration upon me. Yesterday as I was doing just that, I saw a pheasant casually padding round our front garden, pecking at the ground and generally minding his own business.

This isn’t unusual in itself but he then made his way round the back and seemed to be as interested in Marx and Eggels, the chickens, as they were in him. I managed to grab the camera and rattle off a few pictures before he ran off into the field. I just loved the contrast of the caged chickens (not that they are permanently incarcerated) and the very much free-range pheasant.

Mandu Mini stopping


Check this out its Kinda funny. A tour of a Korean Mandu store
http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=jdoGwPPVQzo

More Info here
Nearly every country has its own Dumplings Wikipedia has a list here

Limited Edition Shirts

These are my long overdue shirts which I planned to sell a long time ago. Now I am finally selling it. All designs are my illustrations. Color and style of shirts can be changed. Available in Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large. Just email me or post a comment here.


Meanie Joanie
Sidewalk

Better Together