Looking Ahead

Happy New Year long lost bloggies! I know I've been MIA lately...it's been tough keeping up with writing/reading blogs and I've actually considered closing up shop. No worries (for any of you still reading!), I'm not ready to do that just yet :)

Lots of changes have been taking place over here and I've been neglecting my kitchen. A lot. I've been exploring a lot of fun new restaurants, but I'm ashamed to admit that I've been Yelping more than blogging about them. Have you had a chance to check out the reviews?

I'm also trying really hard to take breaks from technology. You know, turn off the computer, TV, iPhone, etc. Sometimes you just need to do it.

So, what else has the beans been up to while neglecting the blog?

Reading

I've gotten really into reading lately. I used to read a lot as a kid (so much that I'd fall asleep with books in my bed every night) and now I find myself going through waves where I zoom through books. This recent wave has me reading a ton of fiction...which is new for me. I tend to lean more toward non-fiction (mostly memoirs), but these novels are a nice way to escape from reality.

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The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

I really enjoyed the way this book was structured. I liked that each chapter gave you a new perspective on the situation as it introduced a new character. What I did not like - I felt like it left me hanging at the end. I kinda wanted more from a couple of the characters.

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One Day by David Nicholls

It took awhile for me to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It's easy to get wrapped up in the bumpy relationship between the two main characters. Have you ever seen A Lot Like Love (if you haven't, just wait for it to come on FX or something)? That's what this book reminded me of at certain points. That and City of Angels. Random, I know.

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Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson

I picked this book up at the airport after watching the o so sappy TV movie (o yes, yes I did). It was a nice sappy read, but not as moving as I had hoped. I got a little misty watching the movie and hoped that the book would have me boohooing. Notsomuch.

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

I'm only about halfway through and I really like the book so far! Not only does it explore the forbidden relationship of two teenagers during the war, but it also touches upon the strained relationship the main character Henry has with his father in 1942 and with his own son later on in life.

Traveling and Celebrating

It seemed wrong to head east for a long weekend, so I decided to spend a whole 11 days out there! My east coast tour began in Long Island for our annual family Christmas Eve celebration. Jamie drove up and we cleaned up in yankee swap:

I started out with a shake weight, but thankfully that got stolen by an unsuspecting tot and I walked away with a sandwich maker. LOVE! Do you have any idea how long I've wanted one of these? Insta hot pocket!

Christmas day was a blur, followed by a major white out!

O yes, hey snow storm! So instead of visiting friends in NYC, we stuck it out in the 'burbs and picked up some clothes for Mr. Bear

went into Lego overload

and reunited with a few friends

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Not too bad for a snow day :)

We had plans to head to NJ the next day, but woke up to just over 1 foot of snow! Eeek! Good thing I bought some galoshes and snow pants the day before ;) Hooray for snow fun!

Roads were clear the next day so we began the journey to Manassas. The 10 hour journey. That should have only taken 5.5 hours. Awesome.

The next day we explored glamorous Manassas followed by a day trip to DC (still can't believe we had to get a hotel room) and then I closed out my trip with a stop in Alexandria and Fredericksburg. Whew. Whirlwind tour! So happy to see everyone though.

Noshing

Pre-holiday week, I met up with friends and snacked at some fun spots in the city. Full reviews are on Yelp, but I'll leave you with names: Mamacita (tasty Mexican tapas), First Crush (fun wines and comfort food), Zero Zero (fancy pizza and pasta). They're worth checking out!

During the holiday week, I was determined to visit certain eateries I've been craving since I moved. On the list:

Southern style pho - I haven't found any noteworthy southern style pho yet in SF so I really wanted some Pho 75. Unfortunately that is way far from Manassas. Enter, Pho 234. It'll do.

Potbelly - I miss you Chicken Salad w/hot peppers!

Not pictured because I was just too hungry - Peruvian rotisserie chicken. Not quite EPR, but Super Chicken was Super YUMMY!

Yogging & Biking

Yeah, it's reduced to jogging. :( I'm slowly getting back into things, but I'm super cautious and it's really frustrating. Going from a minimum of 5 miles to maxing out at 2 is rough. Jamie and I did a run on the battlefield over the holiday week and it was a great change of scenery.

What I didn't expect was how exhausted I felt during the run. Ech.

Wining

Just a few new bottles:

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Roederer Estate Anderson Valley Brut Rose - I was nervous this sparkling rose would be too sweet, but it was a very nice balance of dry and sweet! I tried to find a bottle for New Year's Eve, but failed.

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Altos Malbec 2009 - Cousin brought this to Christmas Eve dinner and it was pretty good...then again, I've never really had a malbec I didn't like.

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Finca Sophenia Malbec 2008 - I really liked this one. They were pouring this as the happy hour red at Vermillion and it was pretty bold at first, but enjoyable. Definitely looking out for this one.

Appetizing

Got to cooking at Jamie's place for New Year's Eve. Lots of fun mini treats:

Wieners in blankets

Meatball Wellington (recipe courtesy of The Food in My Beard)

a bunch of mini flatbread pizzas (a bbq chicken, plain, veggie, pepperoni)

and a HOLEY CARVEL CAKE!

Happy birthday, here's a gaping hole in your ice cream cake!

How did you close out 2010/ring in the new year?

Time out.

Hey guys, it's been super busy around here so I'm going to do a quick photo post. I'm also taking a brief time out from posting since Jamie returns on Tuesday!! He's only here for a week, so I figure I should spend time hanging out w/him and not blogging :p Don't worry, we'll be doing some touristy stuff and I'll have PLENTY to write about later!

Big news first - I MOVED! I finally have my very own apartment :) After a somewhat stressful Memorial Day weekend move, I think I've finally gotten the bulk of my stuff unpacked and organized. One of these days I'll show you the final product!

From now on, I'll be creating delicious dishes in here

And blogging to you from somewhere in here

All while staring at this

Hurrah!

During all the moving/shopping/unpacking, I was able to meet up with Susan for dinner in the Mission. We met up at Limon, a pretty snazzy looking Peruvian spot on Valencia and 16th. From the website:

Limon's menu boasts entrees that offer a bounty of fresh Pacific seafood, hearty beef, succulent pork, and rich savory sauces. Tempting ceviches and masterful tiraditos tempt your palate with the freshest sashimi grade Ono, Ahi Tuna accompanied by flavorful and colorful Peruvian sauces.

So many delicious options on the menu! I settled on the Ceviche Limon (mixed seafood ceviche - fish, calamari, shrimp)

and the Costillas Nikkei (crispy spare ribs with Peruvian style slaw and rocotto-soy sauce)

The ceviche was good, but not as exciting as I wanted it to be. The ribs were deliciously crisp and sweet, but the slaw was way too bitter. Have you ever had cabbage that was incredibly bitter? bleh. Overall, I thought the food was ok, but not worth the price.

The weekend ended with some serious outlet shopping in Napa, where I loaded up on fun accessories. No fun weekday eats since my cabinets and fridge are pretty bare. By the time Friday rolled around, it was time for me to head back east for a wedding in Vermont!

I've never been to Vermont and I was really bummed I'd only be spending a whopping 14 hours in the state that has such awesome stuff, like Ben & Jerry's, maple syrup and Magic Hat!

I wandered around Burlington and loved all the cute shops along Church Street...such a great pedestrian street to stroll!

The wedding was in nearby Charlotte, Vermont (note: it's pronounced shar-loht) and was absolutely gorgeous. Of course I forgot my camera in the hotel room, but I managed to get a few little shots w/the camera phone

The breathtaking view from the reception (held outdoors in the bride's backyard)

no one could resist busting out the phone cameras for this one!

Speaking of Magic Hat...

I was told that the Wacko was a legit summer brew and had to sample one. Two giant thumbs up. It was crisp, refreshing and much lighter tasting than my favorite #9. Big sadface moment of the evening - THEY DON'T SELL THIS IN SAN FRANCISCO! AAAAGGGHH!! At least that's what the location map says :( :(

After a few Wackos and appetizers, we sat down to dinner at this simple and pretty table

Salad was exactly what this girl needed and it was promptly followed by a dinner of salmon and chicken

Not sure how the salmon was cooked, but it tasted sort of teriyaki-ish to me. There was definitely a sweet factor in there.

Then it was time for dancing!

How cute is this setup?? I've never seen the pointy tents before and I like them!

A few hours later, I was up and at the airport for my 6:45am adventure home. Apparently I was so tired that I took a brief nap pre-boarding and a very kind person woke me up as the tail end of boarding took place. PHEW. I eventually made it home with a pitstop in Chicago and Orange County (o hey, John Wayne Airport...I didn't know you existed).

It was a very fun filled weekend, but now I'm so exhausted I can barely move! How was your week/weekend??

jeonju markets and banquets

Aha!  I am back posting to the blog and STILL living in Korea.  Since Karena had big news about her new job and move out west, I decided to hold off on posting so not to steal her thunder.  But, now that she’s in San Fran and settled, I can continue describing my adventures in the ROK.

When I left off, my buddy and I were wandering around Jeonju.  We took a quick diversion down Nambu Market, which rambles along a side-street adjacent to the river.  At one point, before we turned into the market, we passed what had to be 75-100 old-timers who were all out playing some sort of Korean board game.  Nothing like Candy Land or Chutes & Ladders here.  Buddy and I stood around and watched and they watched us back…obviously not used to being surveyed by a couple of foreigners.  We left the old folks and turned down into Nambu, which wasn’t very busy.  It was afternoon and the shopping rush was over.  We walked down the aisles of fruits, veggies, plastic containers, shoes, clothes, fish, sticks, twigs, and herbs.  All of the stalls seemed to sell variations of the same thing unless they specialized in a particular item…say plastic bins…in which case the store would be overflowing with enough stock to equip a country the size of Brasil.  Getting hungry, Buddy and I turned into some of the covered stalls.  Here we started to see restaurants with one or two stools outside.  The food smelled pretty good, but the vibe we were getting from the gruff, seedy, and unusually well-dressed gentlemen was not too good.  Nothing better than being looked at like a handful of walking Won!! We decided to head out of the market to see what else we could stumble across.  After about 20 minutes of walking down Korean streets without sidewalks (surprised we made it out alive) we passed what we knew was a restaurant.  This place wasn’t in any guidebook and it wasn’t on any map distributed by the Jeonju City Government.  You may ask yourself “Jamie, you don’t read Hangul, how did you know it was a restaurant?”  Lucky for us there was a small, round sign posted outside that read “Number 1 Jeonju Restaurant.”  At this point we were just happy to find a place we could sit down and eat in…didn’t matter what cuisine it was, we couldn’t understand anyways. 

Buddy and I have adopted an interesting strategy for ordering food in Korean restaurants.  I know general Korean symbols for noodles, rice, kimchi, various soups, and other common items. A lot of times, however, there are additional characters which describe the name of the dish or the way a dish is prepared.  I can only look at a menu or board and say “Okay, those seven have rice in them, those three are cold noodle dishes, and those 12 are stews or soups.”  Buddy and I like to sit down like royalty of the old-days and motion for the wait staff to bring us food. 

 They say something in Korean and we nod back…”Yes, that is exactly what we want!”  Sometimes this works out and sometimes it doesn’t.  For instance, at one restaurant we ordered two set-meals designed to feed two people each.  So for the two of us we ordered enough food for four.  Using this technique, wait staff may also try to give you the most spendy menu options.  This has happened to us on a few occasions.  By all common sense, if an item is the most expensive thing on the menu, it must be the best thing the restaurant offers!  The wait staff assumes that we must have it immediately.  This also adds to the regal dining experience but can cause some shock to the wallet when the bill comes ($145 for two people, wha???).  If we know the name of something the restaurant serves we will say it, but this is not a common occurrence.  It only happens at places we frequent…like my favorite gamjatang restaurant in Gunsan.  I may devote an entire blog post to my love of gamjatang soon.  This is a dish I never tried or heard of back home.  Now I can’t get enough of it.  Anyways, another subject for another time.  We used our “bring us food” line and were presented with Hanjeongsik, a mind blowing 30-dish banquet for two.  It was a good thing we arrived hungry.  I’m not going to pretend like I knew what I was eating.  Yea, there were some identifiable participants: bulgogi, kimchi, steamed rice, acorn jelly, pickled radishes, and mackerel to name a few.  This is when I really wished I had a Korean with me to describe what the heck I was eating.  Here is someone’s nice “before” picture so yall can get an idea of some of the dishes:

And here is my “after” picture:

I really had problems standing up, walking, and functioning after that meal.  Can you tell?  In all honesty, we crushed most of the food in front of us along with two containers of barley tea and a bottle of Hite (ah, sweet sweet Hite).  We thought everything was brought out at once, but the nice waitresses kept piling things on our table.  Buddy and I had to eat as if our lives depended on it in order to make table space for all of the food.  It was all very delicious but we were worried that it was going to set us back 20000 to 30000KRW per person.  When we left our bill was only 9000KRW per person.  HAHA.  GLORIOUS.

After the banquet we stumbled back into the street and made our way back toward Pungnam-mun, the Hanok Village, and Gyeonggi-jeon.  Pungnam-mun is National Treasure 308-ho and is the only remaining city gate (I believe) in Jeonju:

“Pungnam-mun, the symbol of Jeonju, is the south gate of the four gates of Jeonju-Buseong. It was built by King Gongyang 1 (1389) in the Goryeo stage by Jeolla provincial governor, Choe Yugyeong. It has been well maintained as a gatehouse which is representative of a gatehouse from the end of the Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju Pungnam-mun is a symbol which represents jeonju for Jeonju citizens. Significantly, the name of the main ceremony of jeonju is the Pungnam ceremony.”*

Wandering around Gyeonggi-jeon was pretty interesting.  It is Historic Site 339-ho.  Different from a National Treasure, but enjoyable nonetheless. 

“Gyeonggi-jeon, the symbol of the Jeonju Hanok Villiage, was built during the 10th year of King Taejong’s reign (1410) to show honor to King Taejo’s portrait after the founding of Joseon. It had been destroyed during the 30th year of King Seonjo’s reign (1597) and was renovated in 1614.
There are two secrets in Gyeonggi-jeon. One is Hamabi, right by the entrance on the road, and the other one is the story of Jinjeon’s turtle. “Jichagaehama Japinmudukip” which is written on Hamabi. That means “You must get off from your horse no matter what your class is when you get here and no stranger is allowed in” because of King Taejo’s portrait. In Jinjeon there is a turtle attached to Jinjeon. It is told that the carpenter who built Gyeonggi-jeon put a couple of turtles on the roof to wish that Gyeonggi-jeon will last for eternity. It is a popular place for filming Korean movies and dramas because of its beautiful landscape, especially in autumn.”*

The main hall was undergoing some work, so the kind folks of Jeonju had this nice picture up to show us what the hall looked like.  Remarkable considering the last renovation was in 1614!

The place was actually a very large complex.  There were storage buildings for provincial and royal texts, a garden and small park, and rooms / houses for storage of all the servants, horses, food, weapons and tools.  This may also be the secret turtle from the above quote:

I decided to take a picture for good measure!

After we finished at the shrine, Buddy and I decided to take one last walk up and down the village for trinket patrol.  I needed to buy some stuff for peeps back home…I couldn’t just leave with booze for myself!  Walking up and down the streets we soon found ourselves caught in a type of traditional dance and procession.  People were all dressed in white and colors with facny streamer hats.  They were banging on drums, tooting on horns, and waving the streamers attached to their hats.  The folks in charge of streamers had to tilt their heads from side to side to whip the streamers around in a circular pattern.

After the parade we walked further up the street and you know what…there was a film crew and some people making some sort of TV show or commercial.  People were ALL AROUND the set trying to catch a glimpse of the actresses.  I don’t know if someone famous was filming or what, but people were all taking their pictures to show friends and family they were near the set.  Buddy and I stood around long enough to watch one take.  The two women walked down the street for about 25 feet.  That was enough for us.

As we got back on the main street, we noticed a long line of people stopped at a corner stall getting this thick, grainy, somewhat purple-pinkish drink.  I walked by without giving it a second though, but Buddy decided that he wanted to try it.  I think he had read about it somewhere and he asked the vendor “Moju?”  Apparently, moju is some sort of slightly akaholic elixir.  It is given to people of all ages and we even saw babies and children drinking it.  Buddy asked for two servings but the vendor didn’t agree with that.  I think he thought we wouldn’t like it and he didn’t want to waste his livelihood on two foreigners who were gonna toss his moju away if they didn’t like it.  We split one serving.  It was okay.  I wasn’t hooked after half a serving, but at least I tried it.  The liquid did have an warm ginger-earthy taste.  It helped to fill the small pocket of emptiness left over from lunch, haha.

So with that we walked to the main street in hopes of finding a taxi to the bus station and a ride back to Gunsan.  Next up for you guys: Seonunsan Provincial Park.  Enjoy!

*All descriptions of local Jeonju monuments is taken from the Jeonju City Tour pamphlet, published by the Jeonju City Government*

Bye Bye Vacation

Hm, where did we leave off? Crazy Asian food fest/lazy day, right? It's vacation, why not continue the leisurely snacking?

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous in San Francisco. Perfect weather, slight breeze, a few clouds. Selin got to work on some crazy good short ribs (at 7am - that's dedication!) and I decided to attempt my first run/walk since the National Half Marathon.

FAAAABULOUS adventure along the Embarcadero! Unfortunately, I had an almost crash with a biker...oops. This is why I don't run w/headphones!

On the afternoon agenda - BBQ at Crissy Field. As we were driving over, I kept thinking everything looked familiar. Apparently, I ran down here for my very first marathon in 2007...ah memories :)

We set up shop next to the amphitheater and had amazing views:

Everyone brought some tasty treats like these addictive Endive Spears with Herb Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon:

Also on the menu: Quinoa Salad (I drooled when I caught a whiff of it!), Tea Sandwiches (I can't remember which one landed on my plate first), Kielbasa Pasta Salad, and Selin's AMAZING Asian Pulled Beef Sliders with Mango Slaw (accidentally deleted a close up shot of the sweet/spicy/savory beef!).

Some yummy Israeli Couscous and Golden Beet Salad jumped into my belly after that picture was taken...and some Curried Shrimp Salad...and maybe some Sangria...who doesn't love a day of outdoor eating and drinking?? :)

Since this little fiesta was to celebrate someone's birthday, cupcakes and singing were definitely in order!

I want more of this cupcake. Now. You are looking at what might be one of my favorite red velvet cupcakes to date. Perfectly moist, nice flavor and excellent cream cheese frosting (we're talking good texture and flavor). AAHHHH heaven!

Such a great way to close out vacation :)

O wait, vacation eating didn't end there haha. After we got back to Selin's some more snacking took place and then dinner two, was some of this:

Tuttimelon! We walked in and to our surprise, it was now self-serve...TROUBLE! I ended up with my standard Chocolate, Chocolate Chips, Strawberry combo and tossed in some Mochi for fun. Yes, I ate froyo for dinner. Whatever. Vacation!

Ok, gotta run to work...posts are going to be super scattered for the rest of the month. Why? There's a hint on my home page. Check it :) :) Don't worry, more details will follow!!

Vay-cay-shun.

Greetings from gorgeous Northern California! I thought I'd squeeze in some blogging since I actually have a functioning computer :)

After a short, yet ridiculously productive day, I began my long trip to Dulles Airport...via public transportation. Metro to shuttle bus to terminal - approximate travel time: 1 hr 15 minutes. Not bad considering I dozed off for a bit on the shuttle.

Changed into my elastic pants (um, so very necessary!), breezed through security and grabbed a few essentials:

(Not pictured, my giant water) For some reason I was craving dried pineapple. That never happens but I saw the bag and immediately thought 'mmm pineapple.' Impulse shopper!

Btw, that cookie - not good. I took a couple bites halfway through my flight and thought it was too dense and orangy. Blech. To make up for the cookie fail, I cozied up with Season 1 of Arrested Development (thanks, Selin!) and tried to avoid the sleeping dude next to me that kept invading my space.

Settled in and crashed pretty early since I had to pick up my rental car at 6:30am for my little day trip to St. Helena. So here's the thing. I live in DC. Land of the flat. I also don't drive (I haven't driven in a little less than a year, which is why I sold my car). WTF am I doing starting up again in San Francisco of all places?!

Even though I wrote out the directions, I got a little lost (thanks to the randomly placed exit) and found myself freaking out a bit and crawling down steep hills and not knowing whether or not I was allowed to drive on cable car tracks. I will not be driving again during this trip.

Once I got out of the city, I had a beautiful morning drive north. Despite the morning fog, the scenery made me happy and I *almost* didn't notice it was a 1.5 hr drive.

Next thing I know I'm approaching a massive stone building on my left - hello, CIA Greystone!

Check out the view!

I explored and decided to lunch at the Wine Spectator restaurant - where 2nd year culinary students spend approximately 3 weeks cooking/learning. There was a bit of a wait for a table so I opted for the bar, which had a direct view of the kitchen.

Figured I'd splurge for lunch and got a Crisp White and Ancho Chili Braised Oxtail Empanadas (pumpkin seed salsa, cumin lime crème fraiche, cilantro salad) to start. My drink (though I really wanted a glass of wine, it seemed a bit early) was crisp, tart and refreshing!

The empanadas had a great crisp shell and soft inside - great contrast.

However, the filling sort of got lost. I guess I expected a more flavorful braise? One of the CIA instructors had mentioned something about the aggressiveness of filling flavors earlier in the day and I guess it stuck. She said when it comes to fillings, you want to season them more aggressively since they will be inside of something. I had never thought of that before and these empanadas were a perfect example of what she was talking about avoiding. I still polished them off. :p I do heart anything with sauce and/or cilantro afterall.

Because one cannot live on meatpies and juice alone, I ordered the Ahi Tuna Nicoise Salad which was a great acidic contrast to the empanadas.

The server mentioned I should be careful of the olives because they had pits in them, but I didn't see any olives. I DID see some anchovy fillets though :) YUM!

My departing view from the Wine Spectator patio:

Ok, I'm off to meet with an old coworker for drinks in the Mission. More later :)