Traditional Korean New Year's soup (떡만두국), Spokane, WA.

This soup, traditionally prepared and eaten for Korean New Year, is made with Korean rice cake. We will also include Korean dumplings (만두)! This is Pat's favorite! :) Above, we are defrosting the Korean rice cake (떡).

You boil it in a big pot with chopped green onion, egg and some salt and pepper and the dumplings.

And you top with some dried seaweed flakes (김). I put mine in the bowl before pouring the soup so they are peering through on the sides. :)

Wish you were here, Pat!

Honey Nut Cheerios with banana slices, Spokane, WA.

This is what I've been eating for breakfast every morning. :) You know, along with quadratic equations.. ;)

Making bulgogi (불고기) with my parents, Spokane, WA.

When my parents make bulgogi they make a ton of it and freeze it. It's a big process so it's easier that way and it freezes very well. This time we were working with 25lbs of cross rib meat, sliced as thin as possible.

Trimming the fat.

And into the huge bowl.

I finished before daddy! Haha.. only because I had a lot less to trim. :)

Leeeeeeeean.

Now onto veggies! We have white onions, green onions and the carrots are hiding under there.

In another tub we mixed the veggie with the sauce. This included: soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, garlic, ginger, sugar, black pepper, water and beer!

Mix mix mix!

And then combine the meat with the veggies and sauce.

All mixed and ready. :)

Now for the taste test!

Cooking.. cooking...

And delicious. Not too salty; not too sweet.

We set aside some in tupperware to eat tomorrow for dinner with guests, and then bagged the rest. We had 18 Ziploc bags that we will let marinade overnight and then freeze for later. :)

Simple Korean spicy fish and side dishes, Spokane, WA.

Basic Korean spicy sauce (양념).

Fish in pan. (We used Swai fillets.)

You put the sauce over the fish and cook on the stovetop for about 5-7 minutes.

Ready and delicious!!

With my mom's current Korean pickled side dishes (반찬).

Making Korean traditional birthday soup (미역국) with my Mother, Spokane, WA.

Making an anchovy (멸치) broth.

Ready.

We let the seaweed soak overnight and here we are straining it.

Then you quickly sauté the seaweed with a little bit of oil in another pot.

Then you blend up some grains and soak them in the anchovy broth through a fine mesh sack to give it the milky color and a "nutty" (고수한) taste. Sorry some of these translations are hard and don't make the most sense.

Then you transfer the broth into the other pot with the sauteed seaweed, being careful to not transfer the anchovies.

And boil!

Mmmm delicious Korean birthday soup for me! (Next month is my birthday!) The long length of seaweed is a symbol for long life. :)

Food & Wine Annual Cookbook, 2009.

Just another gift from my wonderful mom.. :)

It looks like a great book. The chapters are as follows: starters; salads; soups; pastas; poultry; pork & veal; beef, lamb & game; fish; shellfish; vegetables; potatoes, grains & beans; breads, pizzas & sandwiches; breakfast & brunch; pies & fruit desserts; cakes, cookies & more; sauces & condiments; drinks; wine pairings.

Everything in there looks and sounds soooo goood! Excited to try some of it out..

Mini cupcake pan.

I've been looking to get one for awhile now and Momma Ko was so kind as to get one for me! :) Awesome. I can't wait to get back to SF and make some mini muffins!

Top notch brownies from my Top Gun uncle, Five Mile Heights, Spokane, WA.

My uncle...

Was a Top Gun.

And he happens to make excellent brownies!

Mmmmmm...

Auntie's Korean dinner, Five Mile Heights, Spokane, WA.

Korean pickled bean sprouts.

Kalbi.

Kimchi soup.

Here we added veggies to cook with the chicken.

Spicy chicken dish!

I love my auntie's cooking. Mmmmmm.

Kimchi fried rice with brown rice and dried seaweed, Spokane, WA.

Kimchi, onions, sesame oil.

Add eggs, brown rice.

Plate and serve with toasted dried seaweed on top!

Things I'm taking back to SF.

Yay for sprinkles and yeast and cream of tartar, etc. This is some stuff I had at home and I'm bringing it down to SF with me. :)

Godiva chocolate flower from my dad, Spokane, WA.

I'm home! In Spokane, WA! My dad brought me this chocolate flower when he came to get me at the airport--so sweet. :) I haven't eaten it, but it sure looks nice!

I'm home for 3 weeks, hardcore studying for the GMAT! Lots of Korean food to come..

SF Gate's Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants.

Paul and I are going to try to get through this list, too! I've only been to 6 of them so far!

Restaurants by cuisine

American
Ad Hoc (Yountville) - CHECK!
Bix
Buckeye Roadhouse (Mill Valley)
Cafe La Haye
Canteen
Chow (S.F., Lafayette, Danville)
Firefly
House of Prime Rib - CHECK!
One Market
Range
Town Hall
Wood Tavern (Oakland)

Asian
Betelnut

Barbecue
Barbers Q (Napa)

Basque
Piperade

California
Coi
Farmhouse Inn & Restaurant (Forestville)
Flora (Oakland)
Jack Falstaff
Manresa (Los Gatos)
Martini House
Murray Circle (Sausalito)
Redd (Yountville)
Restaurant at Meadowood (St. Helena)
Terra

California-French
Bistro Aix
Jardiniere
Masa's

California-Italian
Picco/Pizzeria Picco (Larkspur)

California-Japanese
O Chame (Berkeley)

California-Mediterranean
Bar Jules
Bay Wolf (Oakland)
Camino (Oakland)
Chez Panisse (Berkeley)
Coco500
Cortez - CHECK!
Foreign Cinema - CHECK!
The Moss Room
Nopa
Rivoli (Berkeley)
Zuni Cafe

Chinese
Koi Palace
Ton Kiang
Yank Sing

Contemporary American
Ame
Boulevard
Cyrus (Healdsburg)
French Laundry (Yountville)
Gary Danko
Madrona Manor (Healdsburg)
Michael Mina
Spruce

French
Bouchon (Yountville)
Chez Papa Resto
The Dining Room
at the Ritz-Carlton
La Folie

French-Seafood
Aqua

Greek
Kokkari Estiatorio

Indian
Amber India
Dosa - CHECK!
Vik's Chaat Corner (Berkeley)

International
Va de Vi (Walnut Creek)
Willi's Wine Bar (Santa Rosa)

Italian (including pizzerias)
A16
Acquerello
Bar Bambino
Beretta
Bistro Don Giovanni (Napa)
Bottega Napa Valley (Yountville)
Corso Trattoria (Berkeley)
Delfina
Dopo (Oakland)
Gialina
Incanto
Marzano (Oakland)
Perbacco
Pesce
Pizzaiolo (Oakland)
Poggio (Sausalito)
Quince
Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar (Santa Rosa)
SPQR

Japanese
Kaygetsu (Menlo Park)
Sushi Ran (Sausalito)
Yoshi's San Francisco

Latin American
Fonda (Albany)

Mexican
Nopalito

Moroccan
Aziza

Seafood
Hog Island Oyster Co. - CHECK!
Nettie's Crab Shack
Nick's Cove (Marshall)
Sea Salt (Berkeley)
Swan Oyster Depot

Spanish
Bocadillos
Zarzuela

Spanish-French
Gitane

Swiss
The Matterhorn
Swiss Restaurant

Vegetarian
Greens
Ubuntu

Vietnamese
Slanted Door

7x7's 100 Things to Try Before You Die

The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die

Pat is doing this and told me about it so now P and I are doing it, too! Right off the bat, I've tried 11 things. 89 to go--slowly, but surely! :)

Tapas at Lime, Castro, SF.

Fish tacos and sea bass lettuce cups. Mmmmm.

Sliders. We got a total of 10 of these and they were GREAT! Nice and pink in the middle, juicy, cheesy, good buns, just really really good. Although.. I kept hearing about their "special sauce" on Yelp and I'm pretty sure it's just Thousand Island. Yep.

Chicken skewers and fries. I'm on a big frits kick right now!

Ahhhh! Doller dessert bites! What a wonderful menu! We each got one of each: brownie bite with ice cream; chocolate dipped cheesecake lollipop; chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich; red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting.

Devoured. I liked all of them except the cheesecake had a slightly strange tatste and the red velvet cupcake was just bad. It was dry and didn't have any chocolate flavor and the cream cheese frosting was had way too much cream cheese.

Lime totally feels like it's a restaurant/bar that should be on a Virgin Air plane. It's a nice swanky, but casual place with great service and a good tapas menu. We looooove tapas! :)

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