This was our 2nd trip to Lotte World, an amusement park here in Seoul. This park is great for the young and old alike; it is good on rainy or sunny days, hot or cold. Lotte World a pretty good size park that has rides inside and out. Inside is geared more towards the little kids, where outside more towards the big kid in all of us. The day we went it was raining cats and dogs so we stayed inside, this was fine though as we had the three little monkeys with us. This is them on Boy 3's favorite ride. Having fun while waiting in line. One thing I love about Korea is that when you go to an amusement park, sporting event, zoo, just about any place, and you are allowed to bring your own food. This is great especially if you have a family our size, or if you have picky eaters. With that being said, we did not take our own food. We love experiencing what Korea has to offer in the food section, (well sometimes) and the prices are so much more reasonable than in the states. For example...Peanut Buttered Roast Squid is only 2,500 won, only about $2 USD! What Peanut buttered Roast Squid? Next time I find this I promise to try it and give you guys a full update, this time we skipped it. Sorry guys. Peanut Hotdog? We had no idea what this was, but had to try it. Girl LOVES the peanut hotdog. It is just like a corndog, but instead of corn bread on the outside they use peanut bread. Yes, peanuts in the bread, and oh so greasy. Taco & Burrito set? No thank you, I will pass. This is why Korean children are so well behaved. Boy 1 was such a trooper this trip as it was all about the little ones. He helped me so much, and seemed to have a good time doing it. Here they are in the 'hot air balloon'. Boy 1 loves to ride rollercoaster’s, the scarier the better, but put him in this 'hot air balloon' and he wanted to cry. He is so cautious, and over thinks things. He was worried about a cable snapping and us all falling to our deaths. He cracks me up. I love that kid! This picture was taken from the 'hot air balloon' ride. See the 3 little dots (yellow, blue and orange) just under the blue ledge? Those are the balloons. We were trying to figure out how to get into the Ball Battle pit....this sign wasn't much help. After a little while I realized it meant the entrance is on level 1. Boy 3 & Girl on the 'Merry-Go-Barf'. After hanging out at Lotte World for most of the day, the kids and I headed upstairs to Toys-R-Us for a little shopping! Waaa---hooo!! The kids were totally excited to see this place!
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All my friends have been RAVING about this Mad For Garlic place, so I figured it was about time for us to take a field trip to check it out. On a recent Saturday night date with hubby, this is where we went. There are several locations here in Seoul, we chose to go to the Sadang restaurant in Pastel City. This location was super easy to get to from post. Go out the visitors gate (the one with the dog kennel), hop on the subway, take it to Sadang subway stop, exit 12, go to the 2nd floor (I think) and sha-bang- there it is right in front of your face! Now, I love garlic and I love Italian food, so this combination sounded just wonderful to me! We started off with cheese fondue with roasted garlic – I know, not sounding so Italian anymore. Cheese fondue? Even though I enjoyed the cheese fondue with roasted garlic, it wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, and Hubby agreed, leaving our introduction to the food was a bit wobbly. It did look pretty though. For dinner we shared a bowl of mussels in a spicy white sauce, and a margarita pizza. The mussels were good & spicy, but nothing to write home about. The sauce on the pizza was a bit too sweet for my taste. So, the question is, would I eat here again? Yes, if I were out and I happened upon a Mad For Garlic and I was hungry, I would eat there. But for good Italian food, I will just walk down the street to CasAntonio or La Travola in Iteawon.
Doesn't that look YUMMY?! I just had to share this classic picture with you all. This is one of the only drawbacks of living in Korea; it is hard to find decent Mexican food here. The only place we have found that we LOVE is Johnny's Taco Stand in Iteawon.
On my way home from the flower market one day, I looked to my right and this is what I saw, a bus so close to me it was almost touching my side view mirror. I moved over a little, and then grabbed my camera for a shot..... This is just normal every day driving here in Seoul.....
It doesn't get much better than this. Remember the strawberry stuffed french toast? Well, blueberry stuffed french toast is WAY better, even though the picture is not. (I also tweeked the recipe a bit). These are simple yet delicious. Last Friday I catered a promotion reception for a good friend who was just promoted to LTC....he was going to have a big sub from Subway with cans of beer, (OK, the 'cans' of beer was my touch, but didn't it sound just awful?) However I couldn't stand for that, so I jumped in and forced my services upon him! I got this recipe from the cookbook Barefoot In Paris, by Ina Garten, but adapted it just a bit. Either way you make it, they are fabulous. Try doing it with different cheeses and spices, you won’t be disappointed and your guest are sure to be impressed. 1 box frozen pastry puff, (2 sheets) defrosted overnight in the refrigerator.
1 large egg 1 TBL water 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 1cup grated Gruyere cheese 2 teaspoon basil leaves (dried and crushed) Ina used thyme leaves & less of them. 1 tsp kosher salt Freshly ground black pepper Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out each sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface (to about 10x12). Beat the egg with 1 TBL water and brush the surface of the pastry. Sprinkle evenly with 1/4 cup of parmesan, 1/2 cup of Gruyere, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp salt, and some freshly ground pepper. (Freshly ground pepper is SO much better than the pre-ground stuff....trust me.) With your rolling pin, lightly press the flavorings into the puff pastry. Cut each sheet crosswise with a floured knife or pizza wheel, cut into 11 or 12 strips. Twist each strip and lay on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned and puffed. Turn each straw and bake for another 2 minutes. Don't over bake or cheese with burn. Cool and serve at room temperature. The first time I had this salad, I was moving from Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas (my 2nd favorite duty station behind Seoul), to Ft. Hood, Texas. We were actually heading to the Great Wolf Lodge for 5 days, then on to Texas. Why is this important you ask? Because I remember eating this salad the parking lot of the Great Wolf Lodge with my fingers, and I had a really hard time sharing it with Hubby. My friend and neighbor Amy made this for our car trip, as soon as I could call her for the recipe, I did. Thanks for this Amy, it has been a staple in our house every since. OK, so I must apologize up front, as there are not real 'amounts', I will guess the best I can, but you need to adjust according to your own taste.
* I box of Tri-Color Rotini (cooked according to the directions on the box, and cooled) * 3 boneless skinlees chicken breast, sprinkle with lemon pepper and bake. (Or you can use any leftover chicken you might have laying around) Cut up into bit size pieces. *1 cup chopped carrots *1 small container of grape tomatoes cut in half *1 cup or so of green grapes *1 package of feta cheese, crumbled *1 bottle of Leo’s Italian salad dressing- the only place I have ever seen this sold is Jason’s Deli. Now since I can’t get that here, I use 1 package of Good Season’s Zesty Italian. (Go ahead and follow the directions on the package and actually make the dressing, don’t just throw the seasoning in there). Mix all ingredients together, chill & enjoy! And we love Commencer! Thanks to them Boy 2's college fund is growing by leaps and bounds. Since his first photo shoot with Commencer over a year ago when we first arrived here, boy 2 has been in their catalogues and on their walls every season since! Here are a few pictures from his latest shoot.... Here are a few pictures from one of the stores we found at the World Cup Stadium. I just found the pictures on the website from the latest shoot....they are so cute! Check them out here.
This photo shoot cracked me up! Boy 3 was the only child at this photo shoot, but check out the room he shot in..... I mean look...there are dresses hanging on that rack! I was a little nervous at first thinking they thought he was a girl again. I was happy when they dressed him in jeans and this Macy's t-shirt. Whee.... So, the cool thing about this photo shoot ~ I got a phone call a couple of days later and this is what I heard (through Konglish)... "need copy of passport, visa, blah, blah, blah...extra money...blah, blah, blah, big posters in E-Mart" ....Whoa, hold on....my kid is going to have big posters at E-Mart?!?! WHAT?!? Now for those of you back in the states, this would be like your kid having big posters in Wal-Mart or Target!!! This kid’s mug is going to be all over South Korea! Holy smokin' Joe!! That is if I understood everything correctly. We have already started the passport stuff, got some extra $$ and now I am just waiting to see that big picture of my boy. I can't wait to take his picture by it, and I don't even care if it is in the pink room! ;-) I will update you all when/if it happens!
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AuthorProud Army wife and mother to 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We just got orders & are heading back to the states in March 2010. I'm bummed that our time has been cut short, but proud of Hubby for the reason why. Archives
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