Six in Seoul

Hubby's promotion party was a great success; we had a Mexican Fiesta with tons of food, and great margarita!  Thanks to many of my friends that pitched in to help!  I think Hubby is glad all the hoopla is over.  He doesn't really like being the center of attention, and I tend to go overboard sometimes.   

Here is a sampling of the yummy food we had.  Kathie, notice the bowls with the salsa, guacamole, cheese and lettuce?  The bowls with the black bottoms with the blue inside?  Those are the bowls  I bought for you & T....sorry about that!  :)

I played bartender all night....I've never made so many margaritas in my life!  Every time I turned around the pitcher was empty.

Everyone seemed to have a great time, even the dog.  I was a little fearful of what might come out of him (the dog) later because he ate anything that was left sitting anywhere close to the floor.  I even caught him drinking out of a few glasses that were left sitting on the floor.  Don't worry, each time I saw that, I threw the cup out....  Thankfully, he didn't get sick.

And another!  This one has Boy 2 & Boy 3 in the catalogue.

OK, here is another one! This one is of Boy 3, I have taken you to the main catalogue page, just click on the numbers to see more pictures.  When you are done looking through all the numbers just start clicking around and you will find more pictures of him.

Go to this website and look for pictures of Boy 2 & Boy 3!

Check out this website and find pictures of Boy 2!

Now seriously, who could resist a restaurant called 'Sunny Days', especially since the days have not been so 'sunny' here in Korea for the past month or so.  Sure, Mr. Sun peaks out every once and a while to tease us, but then just as quickly as he came out, he goes back and hides behind the clouds again.  I don't know what is wrong with him lately.  Anyway, I had read about this burger joint called 'Sunny Days' a few weeks back on another blog, and this person said this was a pretty good place to get a burger, and something has had me wanting a good burger, actually,  I have been wanting a Denton Independent hamburger to be precise.   So, the other night I decided NOT to cook and take everyone out for a good burger.   This little restaurant is in Iteawon, when you leave post out the walk out gate, it is right before you get to Starbucks on your right.  First came the french fries, they aren't my favoite type of french fry, I like the skinny ones, but these were very good and hot!

Next came the nachos....again, not my type of nachos, but our kids loved them and that is who we ordered them for.

I ended up not even ordering a burger though; I ordered the chicken teriyaki sandwich, which is pictured below.  My sandwich was good & the dressing on the salad was wonderful.  Oh, and the bread was so fresh! 

Then came the burgers....this is the 'sweet chili burger'.   The burgers did not meet the expectations we have set for a 'good' burger.  Yes, Hubby and Boy 1 ate all their burgers, but Hubby said he had to NOT think of it as a burger.  We are pretty sure the meat is not 100% ground beef, and we couldn't pinpoint what we thought it was. 

In conclusion, the staff was wonderful, the owner very nice, and the atmosphere was cozy. I would go back again if I were taking the kids and I would stick to the sandwiches.    The kids love it and it was pretty easy on the checkbook, only 35,000 won (roughly $25USD) for 6 people. 

The second cake was MUCH better as you can see from the picture above.  Check out the inside, super moist and scrumdibleeumpsious!!.  If you love, or even just like carrot cake...try this one, you will not be disappointed!! 

If you have a food processor, pull it out now so you can use it to grate your carrots and apple.  OK, let's go!

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon 

Combine and set aside.

1 ½ cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs slightly beaten
1 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 ¾ cups grated carrot
½ cup peeled and grated apple
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix last 7 ingredients together, add dry ingredients until well combined.

Most of the time I use 3 round (8 inch) cake pans, greased with flour dusting.  Bake in a preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.

Let cake cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick butter (I used salted) – room temperature
8 oz cream cheese – room temperature
1 pound powdered sugar, sifted

Mix together until smooth and creamy.

Or maybe I should have called this blog "over confident".  I tend to think I am a pretty good cook.  I think anyone can be a good cook.  I mean all you have to do is read a recipe, follow the directions and "bam" there is your food. For me anytime I do this, things come out just as the recipe described them. 

I have been making this carrot cake for years.  I acquired the recipe from a friend at Ft. Leavenworth, KS, Celia Baxter - I have no idea what ever happened to this sweet woman.  Anyway, I had been looking and looking, and I mean years of looking for that 'perfect' carrot cake recipe.  I went to Celia's house one night for BUNCO, and carrot cake was on the menu for dessert.  My hopes were not high, as most carrot cakes were dry, and not at all what I was looking for.  To my surprise, this carrot cake was PERFECT!  It was like a little dance going on in my mouth, creamy meet moist, and sweet, with a little crunch.  WOO-HOO!! I was hooked. Celia was kind enough to give the recipe to me (after I threatened her dog…  JK!) From that day on every time I make this cake it gets RAVE reviews and almost everyone always asks for the recipe.    Well, today is Hubby's promotion party at our house, so I thought I would make this cake again, take a picture before I put our name on it, so I could share it with you here.   I waited until this morning to make the cake....I guess because I am so (over) confident in my cooking abilities....  For the first time in the history of making this cake, something bad happened, something very bad......

Never fear, I already have another one in the oven, and I still have 7 hours until the party!

Good mom or bad mom? You decide.  Yesterday I had a “to do” list about a mile long.  I worked about 1/4 of the way through my list, and decided I was done, so I hopped in the van, went to the elementary school and picked up my daughter.  Now I feel compelled to remind you that girl is in first grade, and she is a wonderful student.  I have been promising to take girl for a haircut and manicure for a few weeks now and something keeps coming up.  Today was that day.  She was so surprised when I picked her up from school early (without warning) that she ask if she had a dentist appointment.  J

She got a cute new hair cut, but for some reason the ladies at the salon we go to always feel the need to put her hair up.  She doesn't like this part of it, but she plays along.  Her manicure is adorable...pink with white and red hearts painted on her thumb and pinky just in time for Valentines Day.  After a bit of pampering we headed out to Iteawon to one of our favorite little restaurants, The Flying Pan Blue, where girl ordered hot chocolate and chocolate pancakes for lunch!  Girl was in heaven, with a grin from ear to ear all afternoon.  It was worth taking her out of school to see that smile.

So the picture isn't great for showing you details of the food, but you get the idea.....

For those of you that live her in Korea, you will need to get your friends in the states to send you tahini to make the hummus.  If I am incorrect, and anyone reading this knows where to get tahini here, PLEASE  TELL ME!! I am willing to drive, take the subway, bus or cab! :) 

HUMMUS
***From The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (You will start to see a pattern here)
***Can be made in advance & last weeks in the refrigerator.

4 garlic cloves
2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)
6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
2 tablespoons water or liquid from the chickpeas
8 dashes hot sauce

 Turn on the food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop the garlic down the feed tube; process until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature. 


Roasted Eggplant Spread

***Can you guess where I got this recipe?  That is right, Barefoot Contessa Cookbook!  I adapted just a little.

This roasted eggplant spread is divine! I have had this on my list to make for months, I am so mad I waited so long to make it!  You can server this warm or cold, it is very good both ways, my preference is warm, however I served it cold/room temperature at the reception.   I could not stop eating this, I was afraid I would have to make more even though I had already made a double batch.   You can make this in advance & store in an airtight container in the refrigerator – I made it 2 days prior to serving it.

2 medium eggplants, peeled
3 red bell peppers seeded and chopped
1 red onion, peeled
5-6 garlic cloves
5 TBLS olive oil
Kosher salt (however much you like - maybe 2 tsp?)
Fresh ground black pepper (however much you like - maybe 1 1/2 tsp?)
2 TBL tomato paste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Cut the eggplant, peppers & onions into 1 inch cubes.  Toss them in a large bowl with the garlic, olive oil, & salt and pepper.  Spread on a baking sheet, roast for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are lightly browned and soft, tossing once during cooking.  Cool slightly.  Place vegetables in a food processor, add the tomato paste and pulse till; blended well.  Add salt and pepper to taste.


Semi-Homemade Pita Chips

For these I bought flat pita bread, brushed the pita with olive oil, sprinkled garlic salt on top of the olive oil, cut the bread into 8 triangles and baked at 400 degrees F for about 4 minutes on each side.  Voila...it's that easy.  Store them in a ziplock bag!

You can get creative with your pita chips....instead of garlic salt, you could do a little cayenne pepper, or basil, or a greek seasoning...you get the idea.