i LOVE homemade dumplings!
April 5th, 2010 by admin
made beef with vegetable dumplings and just vegetable dumplings. I really loved the vegetable dumplings. I didnt follow any recipe I made up the recipe as I was cooking… which is how I cook most of the time.
beef dumplings…
vegetable dumpling
steaming them… but i actually liked them more when i fried them in oil.
check out an older post for full homemade dumpling recipe.
experimenting w/ SPRING: White Grape Gazpacho
April 1st, 2010 by admin
I saw this recipe on TV. It looked super simple and sound tasty, so I wanted to give it a try. The best part is there is no cooking. You just put all the ingredients in a blender and let it do its job and in 5 mins its all done. After following the recipe I’ve adjusted the recipe little. I always like to play with recipes to my liking.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups seedless white grapes, plus more finely chopped or sliced, for garnish
1 1/3 cup regular soy milk, chilled
1/2 cup blanched slivered almonds (in a small bowl cover the almonds with water and let it sit for 5 mins)
1 scallions, white and green parts, chopped, plus more thinly sliced, for garnish
1 lime, juiced
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Directions
Put the soy milk and almonds in the jar of a blender and puree until very smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. With the motor running, slowly add the grapes, scallions and lime juice; season with salt and pepper and puree until well blended.
To serve, pour into a small bowls and garnish with chopped or sliced grapes and sliced scallions or almond.
*try tablespoon of cilantro for more refreshing taste. also you can sub the soy milk with other milks like almond or rice milk. I used black bean soy milk and it was very nutty and yummy.
refrigerate it if you can before serving, taste way better cold.
ENJOY!
&
Happy Spring!
Colorful dinner
March 25th, 2010 by adminMENU: walnut chicken breast and mashed purple potatoes, with a beet and orange spinach salad.
WALNUT CHICKEN
I breaded the chicken with panko and chopped walnut.
1 .5 cup panko & .5 cup walnut (for 2 chicken breasts)
don’t forget to season the chicken with salt and pepper.
MASHED POTATOES
I got purple potatoes from a market. I feel like they have more flavor, or at least they taste a little different than regular potatoes.
boil them in water until cooked, then drain. add butter and cream (or milk) to the potatoes and start mashing. season with salt and pepper to your liking.
SPINACH SALAD
for the dressing i mixed spanish olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, salt, and black pepper .
washed baby spinach.
dice an orange.
julienne a roasted beet.
mix everything together in a big bowl and toss.
*if you have seasoned the chicken well with salt and pepper i feel like you don’t need a sauce. but if you are a sauce person like me, dip in a sauce that’s citrus-based or a good fruit-based salsa, like pineapple salsa or even chutney.
sweet petite is here~!!!
December 11th, 2009 by admin
http://sweetpetite.bigcartel.com
Regardless of quantity purchased, 50% of every sale will go to the International Justice Mission.
will be taking orders until December 15, and will re-open the store after the New Year.
hair clips with purpose by Cheryl
November 6th, 2009 by adminby Cheryl
I started stitching over the summer when I was looking for a creative outlet. I never considered myself a crafty kind of person (I don’t paint, draw, knit, etc…), and up until that point, my experience with a thread and needle was limited to sewing buttons, and rather poorly. So I thought I’d expand my sewing horizons by making hacky sacks for my son. And when I got bored of making those (one can only create so many hacky sacks), I moved on to the girly stuff… Like hairclips!
My daughter received a felt hairclip as a gift, and it looked simple enough to create on my own. Best of all, no sewing machine necessary! Raw materials are basic: contour hair clips, wool felt, embroidery floss, needle, and scissors, and most of the stitching involved is even more basic. The toughest part is the detailing, but I love how so much cuteness can fit in just a little over an inch.
There is no rhyme or reason behind the nomenclature other than the fact that I love the French language and that I think it sounds prettier than English. Just for fun, I named them “Petite Fille” (fille, pronounced “FEEY”, means girl), and there are (probably grammatically incorrect but whatever) variations depending on the design… A dessert like bubble tea would be “Sweet Fille”, a city-inspired one called “Urban Fille”, etc. Yay for franglais! Anyway…
A lot of folks have encouraged me to sell these creations, and I hope to do just that in time for the holidays, with 50% of every sale donated to the International Justice Mission – a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of sexual exploitation, slavery, and other forms of violent oppression. The IJM story is of the “good-triumphs-evil” variety that you’d find in a novel. Only this is for real. They organize victim rescue and aftercare, prosecute the perpetrators, and promote functioning public justice systems.
My heart breaks for these victims who are abused beyond measure and who are crying out for rescue. How can it be that centuries after the “abolition of slavery”, there are 27 million slaves in the world today? Most of them children?
These simple little hair clips, fun as they are to make, have become a vehicle for me to pray for the ones whose stories aren’t being told… to spread the word on an issue that gets no airtime in today’s “news”… to incite the able to help the unable. Did you know that it costs $500 to help rescue a slave? The abolition of the modern day slave trade seems worlds away, and I suppose for now I’ll start with a small step of faith.
What do you think?
photograph by Eric Kim
you’ll be able to purchase these clips soon online, we’ll update on the shop soon as its running…
best Tea EVER for cold: Fresh ginger lemon tea
October 22nd, 2009 by admin
last weekend i was sick and in bed, knocked out all day because of the crazy weather. it was sooo cold and working late on the coldest day didn’t help. so for the weekend i kept on drinking ginger lemon tea. i was already sick, but it really made me feel better and i was able to quickly recover. my colds usually go forever, but this time i got rid of it in 4 days.
i love making tea in my teapots, actually, i collect clear glass teapots. this one is my fave but eric accidentally broke the lid this past weekend. =( I was pretty sad about it because i have no idea if i can replace it. hopefully i can.
so brewed ginger is known to help with colds, and also lemons – full of vitamin C – help boost your immune system. these 2 are the perfect combo to drink and fight the cold.
to make the tea you need:
water
fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
lemon
honey
boil the water with ginger. if you are sensitive to spice, i advise you to make it with a 2 teaspoon ginger to 4 cups water ratio. i usually do 2 tablespoons to about 5 cups. it does get really spicy. then add in about 1 1/2 lemons; slice one whole lemon and then just squeeze half of the lemon juice into the pot. and put honey to your taste and your are done.
HOMEmade from scratch: giant DUMPLINGS…
October 21st, 2009 by admin
on monday i made dumplings… and somehow they came out ginormous. i made the skins too big and so i ended up stuffing them with more meat, and eric called them meat-loaf dumplings. hahaha~ so, for over a week i had this urge to make dumplings from scratch, the filling and the stuffing, for some reason. i was searching for a good recipe for the skin and had found two, but both were not working for me so i had to modify it and started to make my own recipe. it was easy because it’s basically water and flour, just varying by how much you add. i think i found a good and easy way to work the dumpling skin dough. i found the recipes from other people to be too dry and hard to work with. so here is my solution…
dumpling skin
ingredients
3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup boiling hot water
1/4 to 1/2 cup cold water
1 table spoon cooking oil (optional)
ok in a mixing bowl pour the sifted flour and add the hot water and stir well with a wooden stick or chop stick. if you have a dough mixer it is much easier, but it can be done by hand; it just takes a lot of work. if you are working with the mixer, keep the speed at slow to medium. when it becomes dough-like add the cold water (start with 1/4 cup) and oil. if you feel it’s too dry add the rest of the water. it should not be too wet, but just enough to work with the dough. stir until you can’t any more. dust the counter with flour and knead the dough. if you have the mixer knead it on the counter for about 3 mins and use the mixer for the rest, much easier. total kneading should be about 10 mins or until the dough is soft, smooth and bounces back when you press with your fingers. wrap the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 30 mins. you should make the stuffing while you are waiting for the dough to be ready. then cut the dough in half, roll on the floured counter into a cylinder shape, to both halves, about 1 1/2 inch thick depending on how big you want your dumplings to be. wrap the one you are not working with plastic wrap so it won’t dry up. in a medium size bowl put about one cup of flour and start cutting the cylinder like you would cookie dough into about quarter-inch wide pieces and coat with flour in the bowl, one by one. with your floured rolling pin, roll it out to dumpling skin thickness… it’s hard to roll it out to store bought thickness, so as thin as you can roll it out. and try to maintain the circle shape.
dumpling stuffing
ingredients
1 1/2 lb meat, you can use pork, beef, shrimp, chicken, or you can even mix the meats you like. good combos: pork & beef, shrimp & pork.
1 medium size onion, diced and caramelized with oil
3 -4 scallions/green onions, finely chopped. also can be subbed with chives if you like.
2 tsp sugar
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp rice wine
1/2 sesame oil
glue
3 tbsp water
1 tbsp starch
fill the skin with the stuffing in the center leaving about 1/2 inch room to close the skin. brush glue around edge of the skin well. after applying the glue start closing the dumpling. you might have to adjust the meat. hold the center edge together first and then start closing the ends. make sure they are sealed well…
after you are done making them you can either steam or fry them, or even store them. put them in a ziploc bag and freeze them in. just make sure to flour them when you put them in the bag so they wont stick together.
dipping sauce
ingredients
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
pinch of red pepper flakes
pinch of sesame seed
mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl and start dipping~
TA – DA~
INto the wild…
October 20th, 2009 by adminkind of… more like into the foliage
i have been super busy these past few weeks with work and being sick. i’ve had no time to sit down and write, but I’m finally getting myself to sit down to write. so, on columbus day i went hiking with friends to mohawk, NY and the foliage was amazing. the climb was kind of intense for some but i thought it was fun. you actually had to scramble on the rocks and climb ladders; it was lots of fun.
yonnie… walking on water like Jesus.
starting our scramble
cheese~ patricia posing for pic
going through a huge rock…
we had beginners with us and had to help each other out. she was a good sport. she freaked out a lot on the climb, but she didn’t give up and finished with us.
walking between the walls of rocks… it was a really small space and we had to climb out of this place.
the view when we got out of the cave… it was worth the climb and all the sweat. so amazing…
we stopped for lunch. yummy… one of the best places to eat lunch – the view was priceless.
my lunch. patricia packed me rice balls with salty salmon and nori… it was so yummy~ and with my barley tea it was perfect…
orange berries i found on our way… really pretty
we can see our destination… the mountain house. the view is so amazing.
friends… having good company makes the experience all the better.
love LOVE this tree… one of my favorite pics i took on this trip.
another favorite pic…
full foliage, where we started off.
the end…
fall GARDENing: mom and dad’s backyard
October 6th, 2009 by admin
So one of my dreams is to become a farmer, growing food to feed others and myself. That has been my dream for a while, which might be because I grew up eating homegrown food when I lived with my grandparents for a couple of years during my childhood; they were farmers.
Last week I went to visit my parents’ house and took some pictures of their backyard garden. The peppers that they grow are really yummy and spicy… and my mom makes pickles with the cucumbers, and they taste awesome. Cucumbers are out of season now though.
peppers~
this is squash…
cucumber plants…
Flowers from bitter greens… We usually eat these with with lettuce wrap. It taste minty and bitter. They are in season during summer usually. I don’t know the name of these greens in English and never saw them in American markets. But you can find them in Korean markets during the summer.
These are sesame plants. They are seeding now, but during the summer before it flowers and seeds, you eat the leaves. You can eat it as a wrap or make it into salad (bahn chahn) with soy sauce and other ingredients. But in the fall when it grows seeds you can cut the plants and dry them in the sun, and take out the seeds by hitting them lightly and you get sesame seeds.
it’s squash~!!!
