Cooking

It's been a long time since I've posted anything on this blog but don't take that to mean that our lives have become boring.  Quite the opposite.

Because of Heejong's busy schedule, we don't often have the time to cook a nice meal.  But when we do, we do it right.  Today's post is a conglomeration of some of the things that we have been known to cook.


First, we have our breakfast sandwiches.  This was inspired by our visits to Panera Bread not far from our home.  We improved on the recipe somewhat.

These sandwiches are easy to make and taste quite good.  All you need is some good sourdough bread, which you can buy at most markets in the bakery section, an egg for each sandwich, some bacon to taste, and some jack cheese.  The cheese holds everything together once it melts.  First, start cooking your bacon (or use the microwave) and fry the eggs.  Put the fried egg onto the bread, which you have sliced down the middle.  Add bacon and then sprinkle on cheese.  Put another piece of bread on top, and pop it in the oven at 400 F for about ten minutes so the cheese can melt.  These sandwiches go well with coffee or orange juice.  Enjoy.

Another of our favorites is fried pork belly.  It would be better if we were able to cook it over an open flame, the way that it is done in a good Korean restaurant, but this is the best we can do for now.

This is another dish that is simple to make.  Warm up your griddle to 400 F and put the strips of pork belly on it.  Wait until they darken a bit (as above) and turn them over.  After another couple of minutes the strips are ready to be taken up.

The biggest problem with frying pork belly is that it is messy.  Fat gets everywhere.  Our solution has been to place old newspaper around the griddle to keep the fat from getting on the counter.  This makes clean up a cinch.  Also remember to put some newspaper on the kitchen floor.  And always wear an apron.

Serve the pork belly with whatever sides you like.  We usually have rice and fruit.  Heejong likes to wrap pork belly in lettuce leaves and add some soybean paste.  Since pork belly doesn't have a very strong taste on its own (not to me, anyway) it pairs well with most fruits.  Add a beer if you're not going anywhere for a while and you have a nice dinner with little prep and fairly easy clean up.

What else is there?  Steak!

I grew up on steak.  It's in my blood.  So is barbecuing.  Granted, I'm not great at it, but I get better each attempt.

We start with New York cuts.  The first step is to cut off the fat and bones (if any).  This leaves nice pieces of fairly lean meat.  This also saves time on the table since we don't have to cut off anything that we don't want.

Since we don't marinade our steaks, we sprinkle them with garlic salt, a trick I learned from my dad.  This serves to give the meat a bit more flavor without being overpowering.

Some people call this step grilling.  I call it barbecuing.  The point is that you cook the steak over fire.  Real fire.  You get nice grill marks that way.  The length of time that you cook the steaks depends on how rare you like it, how big the piece is, and how thick it is.  I think that these were cooked for something like 4 minutes on a side, but I could be wrong.

And here is the finished product.  Again, fruit is a wonderful addition to a steak meal, as well as good bread (wrapped in the foil).  You can use whatever vegetables you like.  A nice cold beer also hits the spot on a hot summer day.

Something that we haven't made for a while is chicken strips.  These are similar to what you might find in a restaurant, but have the advantage of being home cooked.

What you do is take chicken breasts, cut them into strips, and the apply a breading.  For us, we first dredge the chicken strips in flour, then in a bath of eggs, and then finally in a coating of Bisquick mixed with pepper (because we love black pepper).  The initial flour helps to hold the egg, which holds the Bisquick.  After the strips are breaded, they are placed in a pan with hot oil and fried until golden on one side, then flipped.  The frying doesn't take very long at all.

As usual, add whatever you like as a side dish.  I like to have rice with my chicken, as well as homemade gravy.

Cooking should always be fun.  If it's not then you're doing it wrong.  To help make sure that cooking stays fun, remember to be safe (aprons, pot holders, etc.) and be respectful of each other in the kitchen.  Someday someone will drop something, overcook something, and so on.  Let it go and chalk it up to experience.  Because no one wants to eat when they're in a bad mood.

Margins and Such

I was looking at the blog on Heejong's computer and found, much to my chagrin, that the margins are out of whack.  She's using Internet Explorer, I'm using Safari.  If you are reading this and it looks good (or bad) please leave a comment with what you see and tell me what browser you are using.

Thanks.

J. G.

We Got Married!

About a year ago, actually.

Isn't she cute?  This was taken with a new camera, and I wasn't very good at  using the zoom function yet.






Heejong wore this cute little ensemble in lieu of a dress.  I rather like the boots and the dichotomy of the white sweater and the black skirt.

If anyone were to ask, I got this suit for my best friend's wedding, which took place on December 4th (three days after our wedding).  However, I chose to wear it for our wedding since it looks really sharp and fit much better than my other formal wear.

I'm really happy with the way these photos turned out, except for my hair.  I'm even smiling.  That never happens in photos.

These are our rings (and our hands).

So, why wasn't anyone invited?  Well, there are a couple of reasons.  The first is that we were not able to afford the big wedding that we would both really like to have, so we ended up just having a ceremony at a courthouse in Norwalk.  It was simple enough and served its purpose.  The second reason is that we didn't want anyone to able to say that they were present for the first ceremony and the second.  We want everyone to be able to attend the "real" ceremony without feeling like they missed out.

When are we going to have the real one?  The short answer is when we can.  If you would like to donate and speed the process along... :)

Answer

There may be some of you out there who will remark on the title of the blog.

Yes, I know that H comes before J, so the title is not alphabetical, but I made the blog so I got to name it. Ha ha.

Also, even though there are two of us, I chose to call it the Life (singular) because this blog is meant to be an exploration of our combined life, rather than our individual lives. So, using the singular in this case reflects the bond of love between us. Using the plural (lives) would imply a sense of separation.

I hope that clarifies any questions that you might have. Who knew that grammar and semantics could be romantic?

A Study in Color and Mood

I never had sisters growing up, so there are a lot of things that I simply don't (or rather, didn't) know about girls. Most of them are surprisingly fun. One of the really fun ones is seeing the different colors of nail polish that Hee Jeong uses to keep things interesting. Here are some examples:



Light pink is probably my favorite color since it is girly and playful. It is also rather subtle which makes it perfect for everyday wear.






Now, this brighter pink borders on magenta, and certainly stands out. I rather enjoy seeing it on her fingers than on her toes. While it is a fun color, it seems to be reserved for special occasions.




And then there was blue. I haven't seen this in a long time, but it was commonplace when we first started dating. It might have something to do with the fact that it doesn't match some of her newer shoes, but what do I know?




There have been a couple of other colors (yellow and black) but I don't have pictures of those. I'm hoping that will change come Halloween.

Oh, and I don't have a thing for feet, I like the colors. If it were on her fingers, I would be using those pictures instead.

Engagement Ring

These pictures were previously posted on her Cyworld page as well as on my Myspace page. However, I'm putting them up again for those of you who haven't seen them yet.


I had a really hard time trying to catch the sparkle of this ring. As my Dad so eloquently put it, "that thing has some fire to it." But you can't see it here.









If there was anything that disappointed me about this ring it was the size of the setting. It seems to stick out just a little too much.





Do you know what I like best about this picture? That's right: the nail polish. So cute! It matches Hee Jeong's personality perfectly: playful yet elegant.







This is probably the best shot of the ring itself. It actually looks to be a decent size in this picture.







To be honest, the ring is a pretty good match for the anniversary / Valentines gift I gave her. It also matches the Earrings I gave her for Christmas, but I don't have pictures of those.

This is Cool

Hee Jeong is so sweet that even her bruises look like hearts. Can you see it?

Recreation

Before, when we had time on the weekends (see previous post as to the reason that we don't anymore) Hee Jeong and I tended to engage in various activities. While many may seem rather commonplace to most people, for us they were a great source of amusement and a chance to spend time together and strengthen our minds as well.




It is no secret that we are fond of playing chess when we have time.






But back in the day, we were also big fans of billiards. There are three things you need to know:
1) I can't believe I said "back in the day." We've been together for a year and a half, but it feels strange to say that.
2) Hee Jeong is an incredible billiards player. She beats me 4 out of 5 times.
3) I love that skirt (on her).

Three other things you should know:
1) I don't know how to hold a cue stick.
2) I actually do better without glasses. So why am I wearing them?
3) I have no idea what caused those lens flares. Ghosts?



I have a thing for Legos. A bit childish, but Hee Jeong makes me feel a lot younger than I am. And it's an X-Wing that I'm building, so that's pretty cool.

See?

Hottie with glasses. -->








We also did puzzles for a while. We originally timed ourselves, but I can't remember how long it took us to complete these. I think that they are 300 pieces, 500 pieces, and 250 pieces, respectively.







Fun fact: Hee Jeong did most of the work on this. -->








This is actually the first puzzle that we did together. -->







Finally, we have tried various other types of games as well. We play Othello (the board version of Reversi), though not as often because she beats me at that more than she did at billiards, dominos, poker (one or two times), and New Super Mario Bros. (though mostly only world 1-3. She likes Yoshi). That's right. My fiance plays video games. Awww yeah.

What We've Been Up to...

First of all, let me say that Hee Jeong is just wonderful. Seriously. At the risk of embarrassing her, she is truly a great woman who proves time and time again how patient and loving she is despite difficulty and adversity in both her life and in our combined lives. Here is the long and short of it.

Recently my father has been less than healthy, so it has fallen to me to do what I can to help him. In other words, I have begun to take over some of his weekend work which involves taking pictures of buildings which are later published in either a paper brochure or online. I'm not entirely sure how this works, but I don't really ask a lot of questions either. The work can be extremely tedious and not without frustration, as I have discovered. I have a whole new level of respect for my Dad and the work that he does and the speed with which he is able to do it (for the record, I am considerably slower than he is when it comes to getting around).

So, what does this have to do with my wonderful fiance?

Put simply, she not only volunteered to help me, but became nearly indispensable on travels. She serves as navigator and morale officer, keeping my spirits up when I would just as soon turn around and go home.

I won't lie. There have been several times in which I lost my temper and became very upset, not with her, but with the frustration of the job, and I took that out on her. This is very troubling to me since she openly volunteered to assist me when most people would have just said "good luck with that," and send me on my way.

The worst part of shooting photos (aside from having to travel to some unsavory places in the Los Angeles area) is the fact that we aren't able to spend out time together in a quality sense. Despite the fact that we are together, we aren't able to do anything enjoyable. Since she works during the week, the added work on the weekends leaves her completely drained, and I certainly feel bad when I complain to her about it. Whereas before we were able to go out to malls or see movies or simply stay in and do puzzles, we now sit in a car for the better part of the day hoping that we are able to snap off a couple of quick photos and move onto the next stop.

We were able to finish earlier than usual a couple of weeks back, and we spent that time exploring the outlets in Camarillo. Not a bad experience, but we were both rather disappointed with the prices, which we had thought would be lower, and that some of our favorite stores were missing.

Recently, the highlight of our weekend has been kicking back after a long day with a couple of Coronas (complete with limes!) and watching movies on her laptop.

Last weekend, however, all of this extra work, coupled with her already stressful life, finally caught up to her, and Hee Jeong was sidelined for the weekend. I certainly don't begrudge her the time off. Rather, I was quite happy that she was able to take the time to rest. To be honest, I feel a bit guilty taking her time every weekend. I don't know how I will ever be able to repay her selflessness and willingness to help both me and my family through this troubled time.

Isn't she cute?

I know that I don't say it nearly often often enough but, 감사하다, 우리 희정이. 참 사랑하다. And I wish I was studying Korean harder so that I could say something more romantic.

Baking King

Okay, so that may be a little much. I'm not that great at baking, but I like to think that I know my way around the kitchen, or at least the oven. I try anyway.
I have recently been a bit under the weather so Hee Jeong, my own personal nurse, has been taking really good care of me. In addition to the tea that she gave me to quiet the cough that I have had, she has been very supportive accommodating of my condition.

So, to try and make it up to her (which I really don't think is possible, she's that great) I went into the kitchen and decided to make her a set of blueberry muffins. We've been making these for a few weeks now since blueberries are relatively cheap at the Korean markets and they taste really great. As such, we have made everything from muffins to blueberry cobbler. Anyway, I wanted to surprise her with a little something, and I had some blueberries to use up, so I figured "why not?"

It all began with what you see on the right, a whole bunch of basic ingredients. I was lucky because we only had one egg left, which was just what I needed for the recipe, otherwise I would have had to cut it in half, which would have meant few muffins (and that I wouldn't get to sample any!). I had originally planned to make two batches, one for my class and one for Hee Jeong, but that was not to be. Maybe another time.

Despite how much I love baking, and how much I prepared, it still took me a long time (30+ minutes) to get everything mixed together and put in the oven. Part of that is because I was working alone, part of that is because is because I don't know how to prioritize very well. Most of it went off without a hitch, but I did have a little bit of difficulty trying to fold in the blueberries this time around. Usually I can do it without breaking any, but this time several of them broke. It could have been because the berries were a little old, or because I wasn't paying the attention to them that I should have been. Anyway, I ate the bad ones (the three that are on the left).

Thankfully, my gift went over pretty well. Usually I don't like to give food as a gift, but I did like the idea of making something from scratch that she could enjoy. From what I heard, since she took some to work, her coworkers also enjoyed my work, and that makes me extra happy. From what I have gathered from her and a few others, Korean men aren't big on cooking, so I guess I am something that she can brag about. Well, my cooking anyway. I don't know about the rest of it. Ha ha.

Flowerbed Project Part 2

It's been a little over a week, and I haven't killed the flowers yet. I've included another picture so that you can see how some of the flowers are beginning to spread out rather than growing straight up as they were in their cramped little containers.

Some of them look a little better than the others, owing to the fact that the sun hits some of them harder than others. Still, I think that this can be more or less remedied by the correct application of water.

Further, the seeds that we planted in a large pot have begun to germinate! Right now they are pretty small, most only a centimeter or two high. All of them have a couple of leaves on the ends of their stems, but we're hoping that soon they will sprout into wonderful flowers. The sunlight doesn't hit the pot so hard as the flower bed itself, so the soil stays moister, which I think is good for the seeds at this stage. The directions said that we're supposed to thin the sprouts out after they reach about 4 inches, but I doubt that we will end up doing that.
There are a lot of things that we are meaning to add to this blog, so hopefully we will have some new pictures up entries up before the end of next weekend.

Flowerbed Project

This weekend (7/4/10 to be specific) Hee Jeong and I decided to do some renovation of my parent’s flowerbed. We ended up going to the local nursery, wandering around for a while, and ultimately choosing 5 packs of flowers (4 sets of 6 impatiens, and 1 set of lobelias). We started by tearing out a couple of acanthus plants, which is harder than it sounds because of the rather extensive root systems. We went after them with a pickaxe and a shovel. We traded off several times. After finally finishing them off, we began to soak the soil, and turned it several times, trying to get everything wet to a depth of about 8 inches. After that, we added a whole bunch of compost, and turned that in as well.

It was finally time to start planting. Hee Jeong is exceedingly good at planting, and taught me more than a few things. In the end, we had extra space left over, since we had to plant everything several inches apart to allow for growth. We dropped the extras into some extra pots that were sitting around collecting dust.

The final pot, significantly larger than the others, became a receptacle for a pack of seeds that a shipping company refused to send to Hee Jeong’s parents in Korea. We’re hoping that we’ll soon have some Johnny Jump Ups growing in this pot.

Needless to say, we were terribly sore on Monday. Neither one of us is used to such a degree of physical activity. And while we have begun to think about fixing up the rest of the front yard, neither one of us is looking forward to the labor involved. However, we are wonderfully proud of the work that we accomplished this weekend, and I think it was a wonderful couple’s activity as well. Creating something through our own hard work is quite rewarding.

I just hope that the flowers survive under my not-so-green thumb.