Three new things I learned this week:

1.  Beta fish do not seem to mind being pet by a 3 year old.

2.  Beta fish do not die after being fed peanut butter.

3. Sadly, hamsters do die after eating jellybeans.

Date night this weekend: Once in a Blue Moon in Apgujeong, the Beverly Hills of Seoul. If you are on a budget, don't even consider going here.  This is a place where you will want to dress up.  Hubby wore a suit & I wore a sheik skirt with hot boots!   The write ups for this sexy little jazz bar are fantastic. It is well know that this is one of the best jazz bars in Seoul.  Every review was right on, the music was great, smooth jazz, not the crazy hyped up jazz.  It was pricy, but the food was wonderful. Hubby and I had a 5 course meal & a bottle of wine. 

Not surprising to you, I took a few photos...this was Hubby's appetizer. I don't remember the name of it, but it was scallops with an orange sauce.  The scallops were cooked perfectly.  (I have personally been having a hard time cooking scallops, so I was impressed - I really think it has more to do with the type of scallop I am buying here, and not really my technique, but that is another story for another time.)  

My appetizer was not as good...it was pan fried foie gras.  I was a bit hesitant when it said pan fried, but I thought I would give it a whirl anyway.  It wasn't terribe, but I would not order it again. On a good note, the blueberry sauce & the little salad was heavenly!

Next up we had a salad, then wild mushroom soup, then a sorbet.  Now the sorbet seemed a little out of place to us, but this is Korea and things are not always what one would expect.  Not only was this sorbet out of place, but after the first bite it left us wondering just what flavor it really was. I tasted cinnamon & ginger, on the second bit it hit me....SWEET POTATO!  Wow...I can honestly say that was a first for me.  It wasn't sweet at all - more like an icy sweet potato.  It wasn't bad either, just totally different.

For the main course I had lobster tail and halibut, both were equally delicious.  I could eat food like this every night of the week!

Hubby had lamb chops in a blueberry sauce, and if you like lamb chops, you would LOVE these.  Cooked to perfection.  (Sorry, this picture isn't very good.)

So I must admit when we saw the dessert they brought out we both though it was a little odd, but then again, Korean's do love their waffles.  There was even syrup on this waffle.  Surprisingly, it was pretty damn tasty.  Go figure.

 As hubby and I sat and listened to the sweet sound of the jazz band playing in the background, we talked about how hard life in the states is going to be whenever we have to move back. We have been spoiled here in Seoul.  What are we going to do for date night & are we going to have to hire a driver?  I mean come on, you never have to worry about that here, cabs are plentiful! (Not that we have to worry about moving back for quite a while anyway.)  We also talked about what a fabulous place this is. Once is a Blue Moon is one of those places where you want to take guest to, or go to for a special ocassion.  Oh, check out this picture of the piano...isn't it beautiful? Check out the shine. 

So, all in all this was a great night! 

OH, WAIT....it is 2AM...I wake up sweating and feel like someone just punched me in the stomach.  CRAP, do I have to puke?  CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!!!  I jump out of bed holding my stomach, run to the bathroom and make it just in time to barf my guts out!!  Not 30 minutes later, Hubby is right behind me!  NO FREAKING WAY...we have food poisoning!!!  Now, I eat on the streets here in Seoul ALL THE TIME and I have never felt the least bit bad.  We go to a swanky little uptown joint, spend a wad of cash and feel like death warmed over!  WTF?!  So, we are both puking all night...Hubby has to be up by 6:30AM to catch a flight to Tokyo!  Poor guy. He said he was sick on the plane several times.  I was lucky, I got to stay home in the comfort of my own bed, and use my own toilet to puke in, I couldn't imagine being stuck on an airplane feeling the way I felt.  Earlier today I got an email from hubby and he said he still feels bad today (Monday).  Thankfully I was better by Sunday night, but you should have seen my house...the kids were all still in their pj's because they had to fend for themselves, and since Boy 1 is off grounding all he did was make sure his siblings had bags of chips and boxes of cereal in between rounds of war craft on the computer.  Need I say more?

I was sitting here Thursday night thinking about making a coffee cake for Hubby's office.  I always make the same ol' coffee cake. Don't get me wrong, it is good and all, but just a standard coffee cake.  I wanted something with a swirl, so I started searching the internet when I ran across this one.  Now, I have been a fan of the Smitten Kitchen for a while now, so when I saw this recipe on her website, I knew it would be good.  I've adapted it just a bit, as I did not have rhubarb in the house. I couldn't decide on which fruit to put in this cake, blueberry or raspberry, so I just made one of each.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8x8 pan.

For the filling:
12 ounces frozen blueberries, or raspberries, or any type of fruit you would like.  Fresh fruit would most likely taste better, but I only had banana’s on hand, and that did not sound very good to me.
1/8 cup sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
½ tsp ground ginger

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp salt
1 ¾ cup flour
10 TBL melted butter

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

For the cake:
1/3 cup + 2 TBL  sour cream
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
6 TBL softened butter cut into small pieces

In small bowl combine sour cream, eggs and vanilla.

Using your mixer, combine flour sugar, baking soda, baking powder & salt.  Add butter, and about 1/4th of the sour cream mixture, mix on medium speed until flour is moistened.  Add remaining sour cream, increase mixer speed a little, mix until well combined. 

Pour ½ the batter into your prepared pan.  Add fruit mixture, dollop remaining batter over fruit mixture, it does not have to be even.  Top evenly with crumb topping.  (You may need to break apart crumb topping with your fingers)

Bake for 50-55 minutes.

This months Cooking Light magazine is right up my alley, it is chalked full of seafood recipes!  Can you say YUMMY?!?!  I got my March issue of Cooking Light on .... get this ....25 March!!  AUGHHH, one of the only things I don't like about living in Korea, it takes FOREVER for my magazines to show up, and then I feel behind.  Anyhow, on March 26th, I headed for the Noryangyin Fish Market to pick up some yellowfin tuna so I could make this delicious looking salad!  So, here is where my adventure started....

(The pictures from the fish market are from my own personal paparazzi that follows me around...thanks, Liz)

 
My tuna...

Purchasing tuna from the lady with the pink apron!  I just LOVE the pink apron!  Check out the guy behind me, he is sneaking a feel of Boy 3's hair while I am not looking!!  ;)

Check this big chunk of tuna out (just over 2 lbs)....only 30,000 won for this! That is about $22 USD, for sashimi grade yellow fin!  OH BABY!

Isn't she pretty? 

First, you salt & pepper this lovely lady, I like LOTS of fresh ground pepper.  Heat your pan over med-high heat with about a half a tablespoon of olive oil, make sure you pan is nice and hot before you put your tuna in. Cook on all sides for about 2 minutes each, or until desired degree of doneness.  I cooked mine for about 2 minutes on each side and it was perfect!

Transfer to a cutting board and let rest for a few minutes.  Then slice against the grain into thin slices to top your salad with.  My mouth is watering just looking at this!!

OK, OK, on to the salad portion:

4 cups cabbage, sliced
1 cup thinly sliced cucumber
½ cup matchstick cut carrots
1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 navel orange, sectioned and cut up into small pieces
1 TBL sugar
3 TBL fresh chopped cilantro
2 TBL fresh squeezed lime juice
2 TBL rice vinegar
½  tsp dark sesame oil
¼ tsp chili paste

Combine cabbage & next 4 ingredients (through orange) in a large bowl.

Combine remaining ingredients (sugar through chili paste) in a small bowl stirring well with a whisk.  Reserve 1 TBL dressing.  Drizzle the rest of the salad dressing over the salad and toss gently.  Divide mixture between 4 plates.  Arrange tuna over salad mixture, drizzle reserve salad dressing over tuna.  Serve with a crunchy pepper cracker on the side. 

This salad is DELIGHTFUL!!  It is also very fast and easy, great for a sports night.  I think it took maybe 30 minutes to prepare. 

Happy Birthday Mom! 

Another year older, although if you ask her, she will tell you she is still 39.  She was 29 for about 30 years of her life, and then jumped to 39.  I know, I know, she is going to kill me for telling her real age, but that’s ok, she has to realize we cannot be the same age, IAM her youngest child. Some of you think I am crazy having 4 children; well my mom takes the cake on this one.  She had 10 children and lived to tell the tale.  TEN, can you believe that?  Yes, out of her body, and seven of them were BOYS!!  No wonder she is a little crazy now.   Now, at 80, she sits with 10 children, 32 grandchildren, & 30 great-grandchildren (or there about). 

 So Mom, I know I wasn't there to plan this big day for you, (we all know I am the organizer of the family...they say bossy, I say organized) so I hope my siblings didn't goof it up!  I hope you had a fantastic 80th birthday & that you ate way too much!  I'm sure Kathie baked a cake for you......hahahhaha!!  I know that was funny. ;)  I wish I could have been there, but we will be back before you know it.  

I love and miss you!  

Your favorite child.

Are you kidding me?"  I ask the lady, but she didn't understand me.  I continued speaking in English, but this time with hand gestures.  "I can just put my kids in there... (pointing to my boys, then into the play area), and go shop?"  (Again using hand motions showing I am going away.)  The lady behind the counter is shaking her head yes.  My eyes are as big as a bull frog waiting to catch his prey.    The very nice lady that was going to take my children while I shopped then said "cell phone and names" and pointed to a piece of paper and 2 sticky circles for the boy's names.  I'm in totally shock, thinking she must be misunderstanding me but I go with it anyway.  I give her hubby's cell phone number write the boy’s names on the sticky circles, and put them on their backs.  The very nice lady about to take my boys gives me a key and says, 4,000 for 2 hours.  My head is swirling, as I am realizing we are getting to leave the boys in this play area for 2 hours while we shop!!  YA-HOO!!!  And the 4,000 won is for both boys...dude that is less than 2USD per child!!  Again..."are you freaking kidding me"?!?!?  I took the key, put their shoes in their locker, turned around and RAN to the escalator! 

OK, so that last part was a bit dramatic, we didn't really run, I stood around all dazed and confused for a few minutes, looking in the room, waiting for one of them to cry.  They never did.  Boy 2 took Boy 1's hand and lead him into the play room, then they disappeared into areas I could not see very well through the windows.  When I realized they were going to be just fine without us, we left to go shopping.  Boy 1 was in great despair though...he was so worried something was going to happen to his brothers.  He was not happy about just leaving them alone with" those strangers" and all "those other children".  "What if they needed something, they couldn't even speak the language."  It was all very cute how worried he was.

The entrance to the play area:

When we picked them up, we ask them if it was fun, Boy 3 said "NO!", my heart fell, then he said "It was SUPER DUPER FUN!!"

Just a random post for those of you moving to Yongsan this summer, or anytime really... 

SHEETS - if you like anything nicer than 200 thread count, bring your own!  Beds are still not that popular in Korea, so sheets are hard to find on the economy & the sheets at the PX, well, they are a polliy-cotton blend, 200 thread count.  If you are good with cheap and stiff, you are good.

FANS - housing does not turn the air conditioning on until late May, early June, and the fans at the PX go fast, so if you are arriving during the summer, bring your own.  You can buy them on the economy, but they use 220, and on post we use 110. 

AREA RUGS / CARPETS - The furniture store carries them, but in high season (summer) they can be hard to come by.

OK, you guys might think I am crazy, but I have been looking for a griddle since I moved here (almost 1 year ago), and I just found one this week, so if you like to cook on a griddle, bring your own.  I left mine at home, because I was told not to bring anything I did not find 'essential' for the kitchen.  I didn't think a griddle was 'essential', now I do. Same goes for the ice cream maker....I now have one here and one back in the states in storage.  An ice cream maker is 'essential' in my opinion.

Along the same lines...specialty food items, buy extra and bring them with you. Vanilla bean paste, can't find it here, my friends and family have been so gracious as to send multiple bottles to me (remember I like to make ice cream...I also use it for other things).  I haven't been able to find tahini either, I'm sure it is out there, but I cannot find it.  If you are moving here and you don't love tahini, you can still bring some for me please.  ;)  You can find most basic spices & Asian spices you can find here, but if you want things out of the realm of 'basic' bring extras to last.  (Example of out of the realm of basic, Chef Paul Phudhomme’s – any of the magic spices)  However, Penzey’s spices will deliver here, and they are pretty fast, spices typically arrive within one week.


Oh, another thing while we are on the kitchen.  I entertain just as much, or more here than any other place I have lived.  Bring things for entertaining!!  Party buckets (for ice & drinks) are hard to come by.

I can't help myself, I am a proud mom.  Isn't he just adorable?  And he looks so sweet...

In this picture he was about to jump off the top of this boat...notice the devilish look.

All the kids on this shoot....they all wanted to shoot Boy 2 as he was acting up, making them work longer & he just dropped a shoe in the water, so they all had to wait for someone had to fetch it out!

Just being himself....

Last week Girl modeled Burberry clothes for a magazine.  Isn't she adorable?

Girl being silly.  They told her to watch what he was doing.

I love this look and I am so glad I captured it on film, she gives this look to her dad (ok, and to me too), then she gets anything she wants.

They let her take home as many tulips as she could carry!

My favorite shot of the day....

This cake brings back very fond memories for me.  I always think of my friend Tricia N. & our dinner club in Kansas each time I make it.   Several years ago when we lived at Ft. Leavenworth, 5 of my friends got together and created a dinner club.  Each person had a night, mine was Monday.  Every Monday I would cook dinner for my family plus 4 other families, I would deliver dinner to the other 4 families each Monday night, then I was done cooking for the week.  Every other night, Tuesday - Friday, dinner was delivered to my door by 5:30PM.  This lasted for a year & boy was it fantastic...the only problem is our little group started trying to out do each other, our meals were DELICIOUS, but our bellies started growing.  Finally we had to set another rule....no more desserts!!!

1 ¼ cup sugar, divided ¾ & ½ cups
1 cup flour
7 TBL cocoa, divided 4 TBL & 3 TBL
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup packed light brown sugar
1 ¼ cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Combine ¾ cup sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and 3 TBL cocoa.  Mix well.  Blend in milk, melted butter, & vanilla until smooth.

Pour into 8x8 (9x9 will work too, just reduce cooking time by 5 minutes) pan.

In a small bowl combine ½ cup sugar, brown sugar & 4 TBL cocoa, sprinkle evenly on top of batter.  Pour hot water on top of sugar mixture, (DO NOT COMBINE) bake for 40 minutes or until almost set.

To serve, scoop out & turn upside down on plate.  The bottom of the dessert will be think and gooey, like hot fudge.

Serve with vanilla ice cream!  I make my own, but Kathie, feel free to buy Bluebell's homemade vanilla.  ;)  I'll make some for you when you visit in July!