Hey good lookin', what 'cha got cookin'?

I'm still enjoying things here in Korea, and don't worry - I promise I'll be posting an update before the end of the week with some pictures from the weekend.  

But I've been dreaming about all the things that I'll be able to bake when I come back to the good ol' US of A.  

Last night was my first attempt at a roast on the stovetop.  I am not sure if it was due to the cut of the beef, or if I didn't cook it long enough, but it definitely wasn't as tender as I'd prefer.  It had excellent flavor though, it cooked in a mix of tomatoes, onions, red wine and some beef flavoring in place of a proper stock.  I added some carrots and potatoes for the last 45 minutes or so. Mmmm.  I could barely keep away from the roasted vegetables while it was cooling enough to go into the fridge!

I've been perusing this website A Year of Slow Cooking today and I must admit that the idea of using my crock pot every day sounds lovely!  I'm always pleasantly surprised at how delicious things smell and how well they usually turn out.  Hopefully my friend Jaime is taking good care of my crock pot and that my mom won't mind letting me take advantage of hers often before I find a new apartment!  

It doesn't seem like it's so far away, but yet it might take forever to happen!  Just try to remind myself to treasure each day, because you can never get it back!

Merriment and Tricks

I apologize for the lack of photos in my posts below.  It is a problem that I am trying to get sorted, but I haven't had a response from Blogger yet.  I may have to figure out some other option for my photos if it continues.  :(

 

Our trek towards Gwangali beach on Saturday was cold, wet and disappointing.  We ended up at Angel-in-us for the bulk of the afternoon.  When the fireworks were canceled, we devised another plan which included dinner and drinks!

 

Dinner and drinks.  Kiwi soju blended right at the table!

 

We played with some of the Halloween decorations at Thursday Party.  

 Yesterday I went to the Trick Eye Museum here in Busan with some friends.  It was a fun time, trying to figure out how the photos worked and posing with funny faces!

 

I had heard that there is a Charlie Brown Cafe in Busan, but not been there yet.  For those of you who are not from MN, you may not know that Charles M. Schultz was born in Minneapolis and grew up in St. Paul.  According to Wikipedia his cartoon Peanuts first appeared in 1950.  So, I had to check out this cafe, and my friends were good enough to join me for coffee.  :)

 

On Friday, October 26th, Tom Rhodes made his first appearance in South Korea.  My friend Dan was one of the openers, and they both made me laugh so hard my face hurt.  After the show I got a chance to speak with Tom Rhodes and was surprised when he talked of how much he enjoys Minneapolis and tries to do a show there every year around September.   It was a great night, and I can't wait to see him at the Acme Comedy club next year!

 

The benefit of squat toilets in winter.

As the winter cold edges closer, I have heard my friends tell of using the bathrooms at school, where they often have the windows open.  My school is no different, the hallways are chilly and there is usually a window open in the bathroom.  But in my school, there is an advantage.  We have squat toilets.  This means that even though the room is cold, I never have to sit on a cold toilet seat!  It also means that I have become very good at using them, which was not the case when I came to Korea.  :)

To help you learn to use a squat toilet. (This helped me!)

This week was Halloween!  I like Halloween, but it is not my favorite holiday.  Therefore I generally try to do something, tag along with a friend to wherever they are going or make some sad attempt to come up with a costume.  This doesn't generally call for purchasing a cheap flimsy costume from a store, my crafty mother brought me up to create an original flair with my costumes.  The big night out here was on Saturday the 27th, and it was supposed to be the night of the Busan Fireworks celebration.  We woke up to rain, and it only got worse from there - progressing to high winds, lightening and thunder.  My costume was to be an angel, and it consisted mostly of a headband with a halo on it.  Alas, by evening, I was too soggy to even care about putting it on.  We had spent all afternoon in a coffee shop, moving on to dinner and drinks after that.  It was a crazy night, disappointing because the fireworks were postponed and tiring from the rain.  

On the day of, the 31st, I decided to stay in and watched a scary movie with a friend.  I made homemade tomato soup.  It was a combination of two recipes, one for homemade chicken stock and another that is my favorite recipe for tomato soup from Michael Chiarello of the Food Network.  

As you can see, I didn't fully blend the soup and I didn't add the cream.  I prefer some vegetable bits in my soup and cream doesn't treat me very nicely.  Cream is also very expensive to obtain here in Korea, so it is easier on my pocketbook.  :)  I also added some extra carrots, to make up for the celery that is missing.  I miss celery!!!

Delightful Chicken Stock/Noodle Soup Here

My favorite Tomato Soup Recipe

While I'm on the subject of food, I wanted to share with you one of my new favorite things.  Persimmons.  I have tried these before, many years ago.  But having them again here in Korea is delightful.  They gave us some as a treat last week at school, and also shared a bunch that were cut up for everyone to eat.  At first they seemed a little strange, but after going back to get more several times, I realized that I'm hooked.  The persimmons that they eat here are typically hard, similar to an apple.  I believe you can eat the skin, but I'm not entirely sure.  So, I trim the skin off and cut it up to have as a snack at work!  

Persimmons!

I used to play MASH with friends on the bus home from school and decided to play it with a friend of mine here. I forgot how much fun it is to imagine that I will get married to Bruce Willis, live in an apartment, be a firefighter, wear a black wedding dress and have 6 bridesmaids in green!   There was a bit more in there, but I forgot the rest.