A Disaster Of A Meal!

Today has been a not fun day. And to top it off, A DISASTER of a MEAL!!! After shopping, chopping,cooking, I even took a picture in case I wanted to put it on the blog  ..... in my husband's words, "a disaster". The 3 of us took a few bites, looked at each other and decided

DQ was the answer.

..... and to remember, take a BIG, DEEP Breath!!!

What I'm Wearing............Right Now!

Everyone  usually wears something each day, that is meaningful to them in some way. I just kind of leave them on and don't give them much thought. And I don't even know what triggered me to think of it today-

So what do you wear everyday that is meaningful to you?

1. Of course I wear my wedding ring and never take it off other than for an occasional cleaning.
2. I also wear a very small fleur de lis, that I got in New Orleans, shortly after Katrina
3. I wear a round disc that I made that says,"Tell me what it is you plan to do with your one wild and precious life." A saying by Mary Oliver.
4. And I wear a cross I got in Korea. It was actually a key chain for about $1.99 with a gaudy tassel hanging on it. I bought a few that I have given to special friends. This one I started wearing when we were adopting Hana and waiting for her to arrive. To me is it worth a hundred times the $1.99.
5. My bracelet AB created and has charms with my grandkids name, birthdate, and birthstone...love,love.love! I plan on having a very heavy wrist someday!

So what do you wear?

Time to try something new--- Korean food

Both Mickey and I have a strong Korean connection- I have 2 Korean daughters, and Mickey has a sister from Korea.
So here goes, if you haven't tried Korean food, it's time.
HOBAN is our favorite Korean restaurant. Korean food is very different from other asian foods.

You can peak at their menu here- one of my favorite things to order is Dolsot Bibimbap, it is rice in a VERY hot clay bowl-topped with veggies, beef and an over easy egg, the rice on the bottom gets really crispy. Really good. I also like Chicken Bokum (good low carb), Chap Chae and start your meal with Man Doo.

This is Chicken Bokum-  you also get all the little fun sides of different Kimchi.

Kim and Young are owners of Hoban- we have known them for years

I've traveled with Kim to Korea a couple times, and have had great eating and shopping adventures.

Piper is a regular here.

If you feel like being adventurous head over to :

HANA MARKET

my kids love these Ramen style soups

as much rice as you will ever need

fun little kitcheny things

Kimchi of many kinds

 This is "Mr. HANA Market"
I think we are his favorite customer! He can help you with any recipe-

Tradition is. Hana (daughter) and I buy kimbahb and eat it in the car on the way home-

If you feel adventurous and want to make your own Kimchi, go for it!

TA DAAAA!!!!        (Laura and Beth, we need to do this again- it was  great!)

Heres's the recipe:

Kimchi

Posted in Korean & Asian dishes on August 3, 2009 by lkbachman

Makes lots

ingredients

• 8 lg. napa cabbage – very large
• 1 handful salt per layer
• 2 bunches green onions – cut into 2 in pieces
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbls. flour
• 7 tbls. minced garlic
• 6 heaping tbls. sugar
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 5 handfuls korean red pepper

Method:

• chop cabbage roughly
• layer with salt
• let set 30 min
• mix on stove, 2 cups water with 2 tbls. flour – bring to a boil
• add to cabbage
• add garlic, sugar, and fish sauce
• add red pepper
• add green onions
• MIX the HELL OUT OF IT!
• leave on counter for 24 hrs to sour

*can be made the same way with white radish cut into cubes
*thanks to Kim from Hoban for the recipe

Winning the Lottery

When Mickey asked me to do a blog with her, I thought, "wow- that would be fun!" I'm not a writer- AT ALL, but i do have a lot of ideas- hmmmm. I just felt honored to even be asked to do one with her-
We started out getting used to the idea and coming up with topics for it. Mickey researched mother-in-law/daughter-in-law blogs, and really could find NONE out there. So we went about posting a few things. As we told people about it we found that there really may be a purpose  and need for this. We have no idea what we are doing or why our relationship works.
 ( Also Mickey loves her sister-in-law Trish, me too- ) We all just really like each other. So we will try to figure all this out and pass along tidbits, without getting too sappy.
 It doesn't even bother me when I post something and Mickey has to change a word or 2 for me, or add my signature at the end. It is helpful Mickey!
 The only thing I am a little concerned about is every time i talk to her we get cut off- and I know it isn't me, and I know she doesn't have AT&T- so she doesn't have dropped calls. Do you think she's trying to tell me something?

About a month ago, my  youngest daughter told me she feels like she has won the lottery in parents- wow- I will hang onto that thought forever!
Well, I also have won the lottery in daughter-in-laws.

Forgot to Mention...

I also love LKB for who she is!

That part of my rambling wasn't clear.



You LIKE your mother-in-law?????

I've heard that a lot.

If you know me in real life, you see that I get along with my mother-in-law. 

(If you’ve had a baby, I’m sure I’ve given you an LKB homemade onesie or hat.  If you’ve complimented something I’ve worn, it was probably LKB inspired, or a gift from her.)

My mother-in-law is seriously cool.  I love that about her, but that is not why I love her.

Just 2 of the reason I love LKB are:

• I love her because she loves Ben.
• I love her because she loves Piper.

My faith and my family (both immediate and in-laws) mean more than the world to me.  I know I’m not unique for counting those 2 things as my pillars.  At the same time, I know countless people that don’t get along with their in-laws. 

That would suck.

Ben and I get along with each other’s families.  No, we're certainly not all perfect and we are not all close.  You won't find our families kissing on the lips, holding hands singing kum ba yah, but I think we do both get the importance of family.  Maybe we both need family is a better way of describing it.

Ok, what I’m trying to say, and am finally now getting to (84 paragraphs later) is that I think LKB and I get along for reasons far deeper than our love for home decor and clothing. 

Here are a few of the key things that make our relationship work:

• LKB and I love many of the same people!  (Heck, she birthed and raised Ben and adores Piper.)
• LKB and I both value family.
• LKB and I want our relationship to work because we value family.
• LKB and I have a lot of common interests!

Does LKB think we have too much junk food in our house.  Yes.  Does LKB send me email links condemning pop.  Ugh...Yes.  Does she tell me about her friend's daughter who has never had real sugar.  Yes, frequently. 

Does that bother me?  NO.  Not at all.  We are family and we both want the same thing -  Great, close relationships within our family.

If I had a mother-in-law who wore shoulder padded blazers, drew her lips bigger with lip liner and was a blue grass groupie, I may not have as much in common as her, but I'd hope we'd find a common love, which would be easy since I married their child.

YOU ARE THE CREAM IN MY COFFEE!!!

Sitting at the computer all morning is
finally making me  s   l   e   e   p   y !!!
My favorite coffee  drink of choice is Starbucks, tall Americano with an extra shot & room.
If you are lucky enough to work from home or have access to hot water and time for a little fussing, I have an "almost as good" recommendation.

1. Heat water

the AEROPRESS   I ordered mine from Amazon. The coffee is REALLY good- if you like strong coffee. Actually you can make it as strong or however you like it. At first it seemed a little putsy- but I have the system down now, and it is totally worth it!

2. grind coffee

3. this is your filter

4. this is what the plunger looks like

5. attach filter

6. add 2 scoops of ground coffee

7.  set aeropress on top of mug, add hot water to the #2 level and
stir for 10 seconds

9. you now have espresso that you can
add as much water to as you want. So boil
a little extra water in the beginning to add
at the end.

8. wet the plunger, and then slowly (for 30 sec)
plunge the coffee into your mug

10. REALLY good and smooth.
Try it a couple times, it takes a little to get the
system down-  definitely worth it!!!
Ok- I'm going to make some now!