My very first carrot cake

slicing up the carrot and preparing everything to be mixed in a bowl...

The mixing part hurt my arms a bit.. but worth it ;)

 So, I used a mixer to help the process along ;) ha!

 and voilá!

mini Muffins & Rye bread

Muffins turned out to be the size of cupcakes... guess that's what happens when you make it in a cupcake tray...

This was my first rye bread... and so proud of myself that it turned out fine!

Movie with MOM!

Yes that was on September 21st.. I'm "a little bit" behind on uploading pics and writing on my blog.. but that's nothing new now is it :(

Well, that was the week of Chuseok(추석). I was going to explain but I think wiki does a better job than me so there's the link for those of you who aren't used to Korean holidays.

Well, usually for Chuseok, which lasts for three days, family and relatives gather around at the eldest son's house but since our family is a bit of here and there and we don't really get together Mom and I went to see a movie and my sister was somewhere in Gangnam studying for her graduate school exam.. The movie was great. It was a Korean movie, which I'd go into details but not really feeling like it so I'll skip the details..

Anyways, when we came out it was rainning, no that's not the correct term, it was POURING and it was really hard to drive. See the picture on the left that's my car's windshield, you can practically see the water flowing down.

After the movie, since we had to wait for my sister to finish up her studies, we went to the bookstore and just spent some time browsing around, killing time.. And like always, I just couldn't resist the temptation. Yes, I laid my eyes on some books and I had to get them. This time they were cooking books. I've been wanting to make some real nice yummy breads and I saw these books, I just couldn't resist.

Drive home was just horrendous, I think it was the longest drive ever. Usually it takes about an hour or less to drive home from Gangnam area but because of the rain some of the roads were blocked because it  was flooded. I think we've made the most u-turns in one trip and when we finally got home it felt like we've been on the road for days and just got back from a long road trip. Lesson learned, NEVER drive in a weather like that.. EVER!

Mushroom Shabu-shabu (버섯 샤부샤부)

I've been going to this restaurant near my place for as long as I've lived in Sanbon. The name of the restaurant is Beoseotchon (버섯촌), which means Mushroom Village. It's a cute name... The owner is really nice she and her husband actually cooks the ingredients that they have prepared and it's to die for!

So, as you can see in the picture here on the left.. we ordered 3 servings though there were 4 of us.. and you may think that might be not enough.. BUT it definitely is enough. See with the soup.. you get 3 servings of veggies you get 3 servings of meat and some side dishes; home made pickles, home made jang-tteok(장떡), which is like jeon(전) but with red pepper paste(고추장), plus don't forget kimchi(김치).

 After you're done eating the soup and veggies, they serve you noodles and then fried rice. No, you don't choose noodles or rice but you get both and without extra cost. And on top of everything.. the price of the food is just 9,000won per serving. Though it used to be only 5,000 when I first went to this place but people, it's been years.. and you know that cost of everything went up.. AND if you were to compare it to the price you pay for a shabu shabu in seoul it's way over 10,000won, actually I think it's more like 12,000.

 You can't beat the taste OR the price.. :D I just love this place..

I know there are many who don't like to soak their food but well, I'll practically eat anything.. (well, reasonably anything..)

a new place

[Sept. 11, 2010]
So, a friend of our family invited us out to dinner and I got to find another great place to eat.
It's always great to find new places and try different food.. I particularly liked this place because on the roof of the restaurant they had a little patio where you can just hang around and have coffee.. ;)
Great place I tell you..

AND the food was excellent...

Their specialty was the ribs.. of course Korean style.. and  Korean Cold noodles (냉면: Naengmyeon, both 물냉면mul-naengmyeon and 비빔냉면 bibim-naengmyeon) Too bad I don't have pictures of them. I'll have to take one when I go next time ;)

 so This is the little patio, you'll see some benches and chairs and tables. It was drizzling a little bit but not a biggie since we were under a little pavilion..