Basil-Lime Martinis 07/13/2009
If you have never experienced the sheer joy of a basil-lime martini, then you need to run, don't walk to my house and have one tonight! I know the sound of it is a little funky, but trust me, basil, lime and vodka is a divine combination.  I got this recipe from my friend Lara, here is her recipe for just one martini at a time, I have increased the size. I like to make a LARGE batch, as these store very well in the freezer. I store the recipe below in a ‘Simply Orange, 1.75 liter bottle’ orange juice container, they fit perfectly. Basil-Lime Martini 15 – 20 large basil leaves 1 ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6-8 limes) 1 750ML bottle of GOOD vodka – Tito’s is my favorite, but since living here I can’t find it so I use Grey Goose 2 cups water 1 ½ cup sugar Make simple syrup by simmering sugar and water together in a saucepan until all sugar has dissolved and syrup get a tad thick. Turn heat off, throw in all basil, and muddle (smash) together until leaves are well bruised. (This is much easier if you have ‘real’ muddler, but you can also use a wooden spoon or potato masher, etc.) Let cool. Once cooled, pour basil simple syrup through a strainer to remove all basil leaves. Using a funnel, pour the basil simple syrup into the storage container, add lime and vodka. Put the lid on and shake. If you want one right away, just add ice to a cocktail shaker add a martini and shake. If you are making these in advance for a party, they will last a very long time in the freezer – when you pull them out of the freezer just shake and pour. Ahhhh…… Day 1, Mackerel Lady & Woodstock 07/12/2009
When you arrive here, day one is pretty much a wash, first off, guest are always jetlagged. Since we live on a military post, we have to in-process them, which mean we have to fill out paperwork, (which I do early) show copies of their passports to some higher up official whom I don't know. He approves them to stay with us here on post and then they are allowed to get a temporary ID card. This process is really painless; it just takes a bit of time. After we in-processed them, we took them (just Twin & SIL) to our favorite little restaurant, you all know which one I am talking about, yes, that is right, the Mackerel Lady. Now, I have to say, I did not think this was such a great idea for their 'first Korean meal' but Hubby really wanted to do this so I went along. You ask why? Well, for some people Korean food has to grow on you a bit, and I thought this might be true for SIL. I thought she might kill over with a heart attack when we walked by the Mackerel Lady and she was standing outside with her plate of mackerel in the sun, with no ice on it.....SIL did great, although she questioned this practice several times. The in-laws also thought it was quite odd that we were eating in the Mackerel Ladies house. We just accept this as an added treat.  Later in the evening Twin was feeling up to going out to explore just a bit, so we took him out into Iteawon to one of our favorite little dive bars with live music...you remember Woodstock don't you. Bob wasn't there, but it still proved to be fun. A vendor walked through selling these hats, so I had to buy one for myself and SIL to wear to the mud festival the next day!   As for all first time visitors, day one proved to be fun, relaxing, tiring and overwhelming. Just wait to see what we have in store for them the next day...... Family Fun 07/11/2009
Although I welcome monsoon season, I was happy it stopped raining before Hubby's twin brother and his family arrived on Thursday night. I will call Hubby's twin, Twin and I will call his wife SIL, (short for sister-in-law) the kids will be Boy Cousin & Girl Cousin. Got it? Come on, keep up. Twin, SIL, Boy Cousin & Girl Cousin.  SIL & Twin, I think you can figure this one out.  Boy Cousin is a fun loving 10 year old, almost 11. He loves to play soccer and just made it onto a competitive league! Way to go Boy Cousin!  Girl Cousin - is a sweet & beautiful 7 year old, she and Girl are only 20 days apart in age. Girl Cousin amazes me as she is good at everything I have seen her do! Monsoon Season 07/11/2009
Monsoon season has arrived, and it was in full force on Thursday. I woke up at 5:15AM and it was pouring. It continued to rain ALL day, with the rains ending around 5PM. For those of you moving to Yongsan, especially this time of year, don't forget your rain gear, including your rain boots. Monsoon season is predominate in July. I personally enjoy monsoon season, most days it does not rain all day, just a few hours here and there, and that is a welcome rain as it cools things off! Here are a few fun pictures I took while out running errands on Thursday!   And this was a couple of hours after the rain stopped. Is water supposed to come up like that? Humm.....  Potato Chip Cookies 07/07/2009
 OK, so here it is the long awaited potato chip cookie recipe. Some of you have been asking for it F O R E V E R!! I'm sorry about that. I really wasn't trying to keep this recipe from you. I've been making this recipe for a few years now, thanks to my good friend Molly, the one that NEVER leaves comments on my blog anymore. Molly doesn't cook much, but what she does cook is always fabulous! Here we go.... 4th of July Bash! 07/05/2009
All the cooking (actually I didn't do much this year) and cleaning (ok, I didn't do much of that either) for our 4th of July party was totally worth it(especially since I didn't do much)! We had a great turn out with lots of great food, good company, the band rocked the house and the kids had a ball! We got started around 2PM....here is a picture of the band (2 guys) set up in our back yard...  The kids really got into the 'cookie decorating'....     This one wins the prize for most sprinkles....  The party started about 2PM, and did not end until around 11 or so. I think the kids had the best time, the huge playground behind our house, cookie decorating, swimming pools (you know the plastic ones),we had sprinklers going, popsicles, candy, XBOX & they all got to stay up late....what more could a kid want? Here are some of my favorite kid pictures of the day.... I love the little bit of drool about to drip off little Ryan's chin....   Tyler gets the award for the most patriotic!       The big kids had a good time as well....live band, food, beer, food, wine, my special cherry lime-aide, more food pomegranate cosmopolitans, and great company! I love this picture of Misuk & Rand - i!!! ;-) Misuk was our grill girl for the day, she ROCKS!!  Me & my girl Monica  Boy 1 left the couch for food & I grabbed him for a photo op!  Party goers...  Two of my very handsome boys!   Me with more of 'my girls'...   Hope you all had a great 4th!! Preparing for the 4th of July.... 07/03/2009
This will be our 2nd annual 4th of July party. Here are a few things we did to prepare:   We went to the flower market and picked up about $30 USD worth of flowers. Seriously, all the flowers below cost about $30!! Can you believe that? I still cannot get over how cheap the flowers are here!  We unpacked our goods from the oriental trading company, played with them, then decorated the house. It looked like a RED, WHITE & BLUE bomb exploded in our house!  Happy Independence Day!!! Thomas the Train and Two Cute Boys 07/02/2009
About a week or so ago I took Boy 2 & Boy 3 to see Thomas the Train at the Korean War Memorial... (go figure). I planned to stay only for a couple of hours, but two hours turned into four hours because the boys were having such a great time AND they were getting along so well! Hubby and I always try to do 'date nights' with each child individually, but this double date turned out to be fantastic! My boys got along so much better without distractions from the other two. Boy 2 even turned into the 'protector' (instead of the beater) of Boy 3. I made a mental note; now putting it down on the computer....I need to take Boys 2 & 3 out together more often.  Picking Toby's nose.....  Hangin' with Percy...  Seek & find...can you find my kid? I found this funny...I had no problems keeping up with my kids this day. All I had to do was seek out the white head. Check out the poor girl working - she is the one in the orange shirt with her hand on here head thinking "what have I gotten myself into"?!  Ridin' on Thomas....  Building 3D puzzle trains.... (Boy 3 took this picture!)  Brotherly love...(makes my heart melt)  Rollin' around in a big plastic thing....I so wanted to do this but they told me that I was too big. Bummer!  Spoiled boys for a day....   | AuthorProud Army wife and mother of 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We will be living in Yongsan, Korea for 2-3 years. I will be documenting our adventures here. ArchivesNovember 2009 CategoriesAll Friends, Family and Fun reading: |
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