OK folks, sorry it has been a while.  I have been crazy busy, which has made me SO tired that I have not been waking up at my normal 5:30AM blog time.  Please forgive me.  Hubby's promotion to LTC is today and I have been preparing all week for it.    I am decorating the room, not really much to do in decorating, I mean - this is the army.  We will have a few flowers much to hubby's protesting.  I have also planned the menu with a little help from a friend, and I am preparing it all myself.  Now this might stress some of you out....if so get a caterer, there is nothing wrong with that, but for me, I enjoy the planning and the cooking!  Today I am putting the room together and plating the food.  I have someone taking pictures of the ceremony, so I should be able to share some great photos with you soon.   

Well, I'm off.... I must run Boy 3 to preschool, hit the commissary for those last few items, set up the room, iron the kids clothes, figure out what I am going to wear...................

Or in the English language....HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  (Lunar)

Korea rocks!  Not only do they celebrate New Year's Day here, they also get to celebrate Seollal, the Lunar New Year! Seollal is the favorite holiday of many Koreans.  Most people go back to their home towns to perform ceremonial rites, and pay respect to their ancestors.  What this means to most Americans is they get a long holiday!  The kids I talk to on the phone have been out of school from Dec 24th, and they do not go back until the beginning of February.  From what I understand, the Lunar New Year is more like the American Christmas.  (Christmas in Korea isn't NEARLY as big of a deal as it is in the US.) Koreans prepare for Seollal weeks to months in advance.   Koreans are very traditional.  They prepare much of the meal the day before, a friend of mine told me that Seollal is a hard holiday for the women because there is so much work to be done.  They prepare 20 plus dishes, and they all have to be up to par because the are honoring their ancestors with the meal.  On New Year Day, Seollal, everyone wakes early to dress in Hanboks, traditional Korean clothing, and pays respect to their ancestors.  'According to Korean tradition it is believed that ancestors return to enjoy the holiday food prepared for them. An ancestral tablet is placed on the rites table along with all the dishes and drinks. This is to show appreciation and respect for late ancestors. The ancestral rites also symbolize the descendants’ prayers for a good new year.'

After the family eats the meal together (this is the part the kids REALLY like), it is time for the children to bow to their elders, to show respect...for the kids it is just to get the cash!  :)  When the children bow to their elders, each elder gives them good wishes and then gives them 10,000-30,000 won!  They may only bow to each elder one time, but depending on how many elders they have, they can score a nice chunk of change.   After bowing to their elders the family participates in traditional games. 

So, there you have it, my interpretation of the Lunar New Year, Seollal, with a little help from this website and my friends. 



Earlier in the week we were invited to a Lunar New Year office party.  We attended at the ROK (Republic of Korea) Military Post.  Here are a few pictures from that.  In this first picture kids are playing traditional Korean games played on New Year's Day.  Some of the children are wearing Honboks.

I swear, Boy 2 thinks he is a rock star!  Women are constantly fawning all over him.

Boy 1 having a great time....again.

The MajGen passing out shots to the B-Boy, breakdancing group after their performance.

Hubby passing out shots to his friends....

Boy 3 thinks he is a SUPERSTAR!

Me and my Girl!

And this is my favorite picture of the night.....

OK, so I drank a little of it before I took the picture & I didn't garnish it.  It doesn't matter though because it is FABULOUS!!!

I got the original recipe here, I adapted just a tad.

1 oz amaretto
½ oz Patron tequila
½ oz triplesec
2 oz sweet and sour, recipe follows

 Prepare glass by rubbing an orange slice around the rim of the glass, and then dip in superfine sugar, fill glass with ice.

Put all ingredients into a shaker, shake well, and pour into prepared glass. Garnish with a orange wedge and a cherry.

Sweet & Sour Mix
2 parts water
2 parts sugar
1 part lime juice

Heat water and sugar, still until sugar is fully dissolved and mixture starts to thicken.  Add lime juice.

 
Many thanks to my friend Lara who found this link to a clone of my favorite poultry magic!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
dash cumin

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Store in a covered
container. Sprinkle on any poultry to taste.
Makes 4 teaspoons.

Remember when I took S to Osan for a little purse and blanket shopping? Well, here is the cashmere coat I had made!  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!

Many moons ago I worked at Dave & Busters in Dallas,  while there this was my favorite thing on the menu.  I begged the cook for the recipe.  Over the years I have modified it and it has become one of the favorite dishes in our house.  Now, I am going to try my best to give you accurate measurments, however, I just toss stuff in, so play with it a bit if you would like. 

One ingredient you must have is Chef Paul Prudhomme's Poultry Magic.  Sometimes this can be hard to find, especially if you live in Korea!  If you live here, have a good friend send some to you.  :)  State side HEB & Kroger typically sell it.

Ingredients:

1 TBL olive oil
2-3 minced garlic cloves
1 (8oz) package mushrooms, sliced
2-3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1-2 tsp Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic

 2 TBLS olive oil
3-4 minced garlic cloves
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces
Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Poultry Magic 

For the sauce:
1 pint heavy whipping cream
¾ cup chicken broth
About 4 oz grated parmesan cheese
About 4 oz grated pecorino Romano cheese
1-2 tsp Chef Paul Prudhome’s Poultry Magic

1 package of your favorite pasta cooked per instructions on package.

Directions:
Heat 1 TBL olive oil in pan, add garlic sauté for about 30 seconds, and add mushrooms. Sauté for about 3-4 minutes or until mushrooms are nice and soft, add tomatoes, and sprinkle with about 1-2 tsp poultry magic and cook for another minute or two.   Remove mushroom, tomato mixture from pan and set aside. 

Using the same pan, heat 2 TBLS olive oil, add garlic, sauté for about 30 seconds, and add chicken.  Sprinkle with a crap load of poultry magic.  (Normally I use about ½ the bottle)  Cook until chicken is no longer pink.   

For the sauce:
In a sauce pan heat 1 pint heavy whipping cream & ¾ cup chicken broth – DO NOT BOIL.  When whipping cream and broth are hot, add cheeses, 2 ounces at a time, stirring with a wire whip constantly.  When the sauce is at the consistency that you like, stop adding cheese you may need a little more or less than the amounts I put down.  I like my sauce to be a little thinner than the normal alfredo sauce.  Add 1-2 tsp poultry magic, mix in.  
 
Pour sauce over pasta add chicken, mushroom & tomato mixture to pasta, combine. 

Hubby and I took the kids to Namsan Seoul Tower that past Monday.  The little ones have never been.  They were not too impressed with the observation deck, in fact Girl took her camera, but when we got to the observation deck she put it away. The picture below is of Boy 2 and I looking at the view before we went into the tower.  OH....did I mention I am a brunette again? 

Boy 1 was so happy to be with us....

Things they did like about our adventure:

The teddy bears....

They also liked lunch.  We ate in the tower, at Sobahn Korean Restaurant.  It is a Korean buffet, you order your main dish, then go to the buffet for all your soups, salads and side dishes.  The buffet was wonderful; I could have not ordered a main dish and been completely happy.  If you go for lunch, the prices are pretty reasonable for what you get.  The price for adults is 22,000 won & kids are 7,500 won. 

Boys 1 & 2 really liked the ribs....

And the other thing they really enjoyed was the bus ride...well, Boy 1 didn't really like much of anything (except the ribs).

Oh baby, this is good!  This recipe comes from my friend Lara at Feed Your Kids.  I have changed it just a little to accommodate our family & so we can have a little left over for lunch the next day!  The original recipe is here. 

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast
9 cups chicken stock
about 1 Tbsp oil (canola or olive)
6 cloves garlic, peeled and run through a garlic press
3/4 cup finely chopped white onion
4 Tbsp. chili powder
½ tsp of ground cumin
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
½ tsp of pimenton (smoked paprika)
2 cups tomato sauce
1 (15oz) can corn
1 (15oz) canned black beans, drained and rinsed
½  cup masa harina flour (check the hispanic foods aisle at your supermarket)
½ bunch of finely chopped cilantro
one small can of chopped green chiles

For garnish:

Corn tortilla chips, I make my own, but you can buy the bag if you would like.  J
Grated cheese (a blend of jack and cheddar, or whatever you have on hand)
guacamole
sour cream
cilantro

Boil chicken breast in 9 cups chicken broth. (I don’t know how long this takes…maybe 30 minutes?  Just check them…..) Remove chicken breast when done, reserving chicken broth.  Dice chicken into bite size pieces

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and sauté until softened and translucent. Add 8 cups of the chicken stock, tomato sauce and spices and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat and simmer while adding c chopped chicken. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove about 1 cup of the broth and place in a bowl with the masa, whisking or stirring to blend completely. Pour masa-broth mixture back into the simmering soup and allow to simmer for a few more minutes stirring occasionally, until soup is beginning to reach desired (slightly thickened) consistency. Add more broth, if necessary. Add beans, corn, chiles and cilantro. Stir gently until beans & corn are warmed and all ingredients are well incorporated and then serve!

When serving the soup, top with some grated cheese, cilantro, crumbled tortilla chips and a dollop of guacamole and or sour cream.

This company, Mooich, always has fun photo shoots, and the photographer is so patient with the kids.

In the next picture they really wanted Boy 3's picture with him standing beside the boat.  He would have none of that and insisted on being in the boat! 

At the beginning of this next set, they gave both boys bats, which instantly made me fearful for the other boys head.  I was right to be afraid...I stood close to the set because I saw the look  in Boy 3's eyes....I mean come on he is the youngest of 4 & is a very rough boy.   Thank goodness when he swung he missed the boys head, and I was there to take the bat away!  It could have ended ugly...

And this was his favorite set of the day......

When I was a kid, pot pies were a treat.  No, not the homemade pot pie like I make, but those small frozen pot pies, the ones that were on sale.  They could have been Swanson, Banquet or the generic Kroger brand. Kroger is where my mom shopped all the time, and I NEVER got to go with her, although I always wanted to.  It didn't matter to me the brand of pot pie, a pot pie was a pot pie, I love them all equally, well except for the beef.  I have one memory that included a pot pie...I had been playing out side with my sister, l am pretty sure she had just made me eat a mud pieJ.  Mom had just come home from Kroger, my sister and I rushed into the house to help her unload (I loved to help unload the groceries so I could see what she bought), I found the bag of pot pies.  My memory tells me that I ask my mom very politely if I could have one (I must have been 8 or 9), but I am pretty sure it was not that easy, now that I have kids and I understand a bit more how they work.  It probably went something like this:

Me: "can I have a chicken pot pie"

Mom: "No, it's almost time for dinner”

Me: “but please, I’m starving”

Mom: “no, we will be having dinner soon”

Me: “please, please, please, I’m so hungry I didn’t have anything for lunch and I am starving!”….more begging and pleading, until mom gave in and let me have  that pot pie.  (I was the 10th of 10 children and she didn’t have much fight left in her)

You all know the pot pie I am talking about right?  You are supposed to let it sit out at room temperature for some ridiculous amount of time, like and hour, then you cut slits in the top, then cook it for an hour?  Remember I told you in an earlier post how I don't really like to wait?  It was worse then.  I popped that pot pie in the oven, cooked it at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time.  When it was "ready" I took it out of the oven, it was boiling around the edges, and still frozen in the middle. I didn't care. I mixed it all up and it was the right temperature.  Boy that was a good pot pie.  But it pales in comparison to the pot pies I make today.  I don't think my kids have ever seen a frozen pot pie.

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law who has been making it for years.  She got the recipe from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa.  I adapted it from her original recipe.

6 split chicken breast (or one whole chicken - whichever you prefer)
5 cups chicken stock
2 tsp chicken base (you can use bouillon cubes if you don’t have base)
12 TBL butter
1 ½ cup onion
¾ cup flour
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1 cup frozen green beans
1 cup frozen corn
Salt and pepper to taste 

For the pastry:
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup shortening
¼ cup cold butter, diced
½ to 2/3 cup ice water
1 egg beaten with 1 tbl water - for egg wash

In a large pot bring 6 cups water with 2 tbl chicken stock to a boil, add chicken, boil for about 35 minutes, throw in carrots, celery and onion. boil another 10 minutes or until chicken is done.  Remove chicken from pot, let cool.  When chicken is cool enough to handle remove all meat from the bones and dice into bite size pieces.  In another large pot, or Dutch melt the butter over medium low heat, add the flour cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes, add 5 cups of the hot chicken stock (avoiding adding the veggies at this time).  Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute stirring until thick.  Add 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper and the heavy cream.  Add the chicken, and veggies an mix well.

For the pastry, mix flour, salt and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor.  Add the shortening and butter.  Pulse 15 times or till the shortening & butter are pea sized.  With the motor running add the ice water, process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together.  Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

For the potpies…I used 4, 5 ½ inch bowls and 4, 4 inch bowls.  If you want you can make a deep dish pot pie with this as well.  Fill your bowls, whichever you decide to use.    Separate the dough accordingly and roll out.  Brush the outside edges of each bowl with egg wash, Trim your dough to fit just over your bowls….decorating as beautifully as you would like, or not. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

 ***be creative, use whatever veggies you your family like, or make it beef if you prefer....gag!