kitchen experiment - 파김치 - pa kimchi

파김치 - pa kimchi (green onion kimchi)

 

 

Something new, something different and onions. I love cooking with onions and my new favorites are green onions. I have to admit that I made two half batches of the recipe, because in one I skipped the fish sauce, the other one I optimisticly added it to try the fishy taste because we hardly ever eat fish here. I eat fish very seldom and usually avoid anything that smells like fish. Leland is not much better. There are a few weird exception. But this will be a nice addition to the bulgogi that a favorite on our table by now. Enjoy.

 

Pa Kimchi

• 6 bunches of green onion
• 3 tbsp pickled shrimp  - I skipped it
• 1 tbsp garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/2 cup of hot pepper paste
• 1 tsp roasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp of fish sauce
• 1 – 2 tsp salt

Step 1: Wash green onions well, and cut in the middle if it’s too thick. Slice into about 3-4" lengths.

Step 2: Lightly sprinkle with salt evenly, and set aside for about 10 minutes. When it looks like a little bit of water has been removed, rinse quickly in cold water and drain.

Step 3: Mix in a bowl with with pickled shrimp, garlic, sugar, hot pepper powder, fish sauce and sesame seeds. Taste, and adjust salt.

Step 4: Put in a jar and press down firmly. Leave at room temperature for 1-2 days, then put in a refrigerator.

Seven am one morning in January

- 7 am in West Ft. Hood , TX -

Since two years , twice a week I am on my way to the next town with Soren in tow in the morning before he goes to school. We used to take the country road behind the airport, no reception and all, cows on the road, now we drive through town, school drop off and the back way through post - West Ft. Hood - quiet, we still have to stop for the free roaming Texas cows - but the road got busy. However we get beautiful sunrises every morning with clear skies or once a while coming through slowly in the fog and eventually we took pictures.  

 - Copperas Cove, TX -

 - Copperas Cove, TX -

김밥 - kimbap

Somebody ate the prepared beef in the fridge. Guess who? It wasn't the dog.

김밥 - kimbap

However after change of plan and with some chicken, cucumber and carrot strips and the last eggs prepared I finally got to my kimbap experiment.

It is quite easy to make. Husband liked it. Kids not so much. Me. Hmm. The seaweed is definitely a taste that needs to be acquired and I don't like seafood. Even after I made a whole box full of kimbap I still had leftover fixes the next day, so I thought I try a version my kids might prefer. Instead of seaweed I rolled all the ingredients in tortillas. Voila. Happy kids and nothing left.

They are already asking for more.

Perhabs we should wrap the seaweed inside the tortilla?! Okay, it's a silly idea.

{ weekend wonders }

three minus one = no fighting but hugging

cucumber kimchi or where is the cat?

It was definitely not the right time for sewing yet. I am still missing the ONE right fabric I have in mind for my little project to make it work perfectly. That it always such an issue if you want something specific andd it is just simply not there.

Until then we deal with the broken laptop - third time in three month - it just came from the second repair in a row and worked for mmm a week. I also try to stack the dirty laundry nicely in a corner next to the broken washing machine with the huge amount of estimated rapair costs and the not known ones and next the the new one the bounces all over the floor. However our cats love their life and the brandnew installed catflap to the garage, and it it is truly entertaining to get them to go through  in and out for everybody with treats and tricks. And where is the cat?

The day didn't go as planned. Not at all. Not even dinner, but instead of the easy quick meal I planned I spend a few hours trying out new recipes.  We ended up having dinner a little bit late with bulgogi, rice, fresh cucumber kimchi, gamja jorim, yaehobak boekkeum.

 

오이 김치 - cucumber kimchi

 10 pickling cucumbers

1 onion, chopped

3 green onion, chopped finely

1 carrot, shredded

4 garlic cloves, minces

fresh ginger, minced

Korean red pepper

1/4 cup salt

2 Tbsp sugar

1. Cut the cucumbers in 4cm lenghts and slit-cut the cucumber sections lengthwise several times.
2. Boil water and disolve the salt.
3. Put the cucmbers in a bowl and pour hot salty water over it until they are fully covered.
4. Drain water after 30 minutes, but keep the liquid.
5. Add onion, green onions, carrots, ginger, sugar, red pepper to the cucumbers and mix well.
6. Pour liquid over the mix until they are almost covered.
7. Cover with a tight lid and let stand at room temperature for 8 - 10 hours.
8. Refrigerate.
 
 

{in the morning}

The sewing machine has collected dust in the last weeks, months. Even I am alsways open for ideas, actually putting my ideas to work , just did not happen. The funk went deep, because I did not even got tempted passing fabric to take a look. Until this morning. These four made it home with a little project in mind.

Pirate Birthday Splash

Mmmh ...okay ... it's already a little while ago ... June 12th.  Soren was so excited and couldn't wait for HIS special day to come and for his PIRATE PARTY. We and EVRYBODY who crossed his way got to hear it.

He got to open his presents from Oma & Opa, Karin, Daddy and us in the morning at the coffee table.

Little and big pirates arrived for the party and with swim wear as planned. Not planned was the ear infection diagnosed a day previous with the birthday boy and not use of the pool for him for a week and the another week and more days literally tomorrow will be his first day again sadly.

So besides the waterslide we already had set up and the itty bitty pool for the tiny visitors, we had to come with something else, because the birthday boy of course kept whining he wanted to go in the pool and was not content staying out.

But what are friends for ...

Thanks Hanks for helping me out and hopping in the first box.

By the way they stayed in their boxes most of the afternoon and did not give them up. lol

Except for some ugly mishaped pirate cupcakes, but luckily Soren okayed them.

Most important - lots of friends - and a few presents, too. Thank You.

And back to the water.

Seriously what else can you do at these temperatures here in Texas and really have fun. :)

summer fun

It's hard to believe but I actually found some time to read lately, perhaps the consequence of the not running computer?! I have to be choose carefully what book I take in my hands, because if I try to sneak in the reading on my favoorite spot the book can get wet. Especially as soon as the kids are in the pool there is lots of splashing and I am just digging old paperbooks out for the airmatress reading time.

The other day while one sick kid was still sleeping in my bed, one dozing in hers and two others camping in the yard I got to sew just a little, a few seams on a little project for Soren. We found right after planning it the perfect fabric for him and he carried the airplane fabric all excited to the cutting table. 'Mine.'

While I was planting and fixing fence around the pool to stop out little dog from jumping over it full of excitement the kids got a lesson from Neva

'How to was a dog outside withe the hose!'

Everybody was already wet after all these activities, either from the water hose or just plainly from sweat. So they simply hopped in the pool afterwards to cool off. Chiara spends more time under water in the there as above.

We did not really leave the house all day. By evening everybody got packed up with blankets, chairs, water and snacks to head for a summer night of  'Movie in the Park' and Karate Kid.

Stop - NO PICTURE!



The girls were lounging lazily, reading or running around until the movie finally started just when it was about to get dark. The starting time was supposed to be an hour earlier, but of course it's way too light. NExt time we take dinner with us or games, .... to cover the time. Or just hop over to Sjules' for a 'Movie Night on the Farm'.

Finally. Soren loved the movie, copying moves, ... but he did only make it halfway through the film before knocking out on the blanket.

lampions in style :: made of fabric

Karin came with a handwritten pattern of simple lampion and a sample of tiered fabric lampion - probably made in china. We talked about trying to make both before she even set foot on the plane here. However we didn't really have much time for sewing this visit. With the kids home on summer break, appointments and other responsibilities time was short. After all we also had to go fabric shopping first to find the right colors for our prototypes.

We choose very different colors and patterns of fabric. Karin went with greens and blues fitting to her living room, mine were matched to the girls rooms with purple and green wall color. However I am not sure if I really can give my prototype up as planned.

The first step took a long time - the zigzag border which was needed twice and made by hand and handsewing.

The next steps were a little faster but we seriously had to make lots of breaks to get some pool time and swimming and a little bit of tan for Karin. Eventually both our first attempts of lampions came together and we love the result. I don't think you necessarily need the light inside, because even without they look pretty neat. I just picked up two cords with the light attachment on a shopping trip earlier this year to Ikea for 99 cents each. I knew I could use them for something.

No there's just the question if one of us is actually making a tiered lampion sometime. We do not have a pattern for that idea, just a simple ebay bought sample and a few pictures online. So here we need lots of planning and measuring out to make it work. Or I could simply wait until Karin did it. :)

a texas treasure :: hamilton pool

we are back blogging  - the laptop is back in working order and so it will take a little time to catch up with pictures here.

A roadtrip southeast of Austin brought us during Karin's visit  to an absolutely beautiful place, Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs. The access to this park is limited to 75 vehicles and requires a down hill hike to get to the pool or hiking trail over lots of rocks. The kids did great and luckily we went there early before it got too hot. We love trails through forest areas after our trees and shady areas here are quite limited. The view that opened up to us was simply amazing. The little beach area filled up fast, but the water felt wonderful refreshing and the walk around the pool through the cave was a must. At other times there is even a bigger waterfall there. We might be able to see that if we find the time to go back there - sometime in fall or spring.