Happy Birthdays!

This past weekend was the weekend of birthdays.

We drove up to the City on Saturday to celebrate the Not My Cousin Daniel's Birthday. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures!
Happy Birthday to Not My Cousin Daniel!

On Sunday, we celebrated Piglet Eugene's 2nd birthday. I made Martha Stewart's Monkey Cake, and Cyndi helped me to frost it up and make it look like a piggy. Piglet Eugene wasn't feeling well, so his mom requested a cake sans frosting. We disobeyed...but we did make him a plain cupcake decorated with a bit of decorating gel.

Happy Birthday, boys!

Banannalog Bread

Most Korean apartments (or at least officetels) do not have ovens. I have to resort to baking in a toaster oven. The toaster oven is great for my Pop Tarts, but it sort of takes the fun out of baking.

A few months back, Heng got a pretty awesome oven by Hauzen (Samsung). It not only serves as a electric oven, but it also can microwave, steam, and dehydrate food. It can probably do your taxes as well.

If my suitcases wouldn't be filled with clothes and Korean stationary, I'd seriously consider investing in a Hauzen oven.

Fortunately, Heng lives across the street from us, so we can bake at her house any time we want. Literally. Cyndi secretly memorized her pass code. :)

We decided to try out my cousin Nani's banana bread. Her banana bread was one of the best that I've tasted. The loaf had a nice crunchy crust, while the bread was soft and flavorful, without being overly sweet.

I asked her for the recipe, and it turns out that she bungled the recipe a bit. Nonetheless, the bread was delicious.

Heng didn't have any white granulated sugar, so we used brown sugar. This change in sugar altered the final product, but our version of the bread was still yummy, if I do say so myself.

The three versions of the banana bread recipe are listed after the video. I recommend Nani's version, but the Banannalog Bread ain't bad either.


Banannalog Bread from Annalog on Vimeo.


Original Recipe (as dictated to me over the phone)

• 1 1/3 cup of flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 5 1/3 TBS unsalted butter (at room temperature)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup of bananas (mashed)
  

Nani's Version

• 1 1/3 cup of flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup of unsalted butter (melted)
  
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 ripe bananas (mashed)
  

Banannalog Bread Recipe

• 1 1/3 cup of flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 cup of unsalted butter (melted)
  
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 3 ripe Korean bananas (mashed)
  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (approx. 148 degrees Celsius)
2. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl (flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt), and set aside.
   
3. Cream the butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
4. Combine the dry mixture with the butter using an electric mixture.
5. Mix in 2 large eggs.
6. Fold in the mashed bananas.
7. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
8. Bake for 50-60 minutes.
   

The recipe is deliciously simple. It seems pretty hard to mess up.

Props to my sister for bringing me her handheld electric mixer. It makes baking a lot easier, but I do miss my Kitchen Aid mixer.




Joyce, you better be taking care of my baby!

A Cold, Cookies, Cafe, and a Park

I got my first Korean cold -- and it sucks just as much as an American cold. Don't worry. Thanks to my regimen of Tylenol Cold, streaming episodes of ABC's Brothers and Sisters, and lots of sleep, I'm feeling much better. I'm just glad that I brought those cold capsules. Koreans favor the powder form of medication, so I'm glad I didn't have to force any packets of cold medication down my throat.

While I was stuck at home, I finally got around to baking with my toaster oven. I actually shelled out around $80US for this little doodad, because I could adjust the temperature (even if it's in Celsius). I think it's going to take some experimentation before I get used to baking with a toaster oven, but all in all, I think this oven was a good investment and worth the long (heavy) trip back from Yonsan.

I didn't have the proper ingredients to bake a batch of cookies from scratch, so I used a chocolate cookie mix from my local supermarket. The baking instructions were all in Korean (duh, Anna) but thanks to a few helpful illustrations, a Korean dictionary, and some educated guessing, I managed to figure it out. Based on the texture of the cookie batter, I suspected that the cookies would turn out a little dry, so I threw in some M&Ms for safe measure. That was a good call. The resulting cookies weren't terrible, but I'd give them a C+ plus at best.






























Here are some additional photos from another outing in the Hongdae area.

After some 찜닭 (jjim dalk), stewed chicken, in Hongdae, we checked out a cute little cafe called Kira Kira Hikaru. Though the drinks were a little disappointing, I adored the eclectic, vintage vibe of the cafe. The furniture doesn't match; the decor is scattered with faux antique toys and thingamajigs; and the bookshelf is filled with interesting, odd little books. It was all very hip and Japanese-esque.















This little guy greets you at the cash register at Kira Kira. So kawaii. Now I'm on the hunt for one of my own!





















































































I'm not a big coffee drinker, but it's quite lovely to spend a nice, fall afternoon at a cafe. That's something I never really did in Sunnyvale.

The cooler weather also marks the appearance of some new street food (new to me that is)!

A mini version of Cyndi's favorite, 붕어빵 (선생님: Thanks for the corrections!), warm fished-shaped buns, filled with a sweet bean paste.















I don't know what these are, but they look like andagi, Okinawan donuts.
Edit: My tutor told me that these are called 찹쌀 도넛 (chapssal donuts), glutinous rice donuts. That means that they're not Okinawan donuts, which are more cake-like. Thanks, teacher!














I think these are called 새우빵, shrimp-shaped buns that come with two different cream fillings -- sweet or spicy.














My favorite new find, 고구마 빵, warm, semi-crispy cakes, filled with sweet potato. Yum.














Chestnuts roasting on a not-so-open fire. I love that the vendors peel the chestnuts for you. So convenient!














While in Hongdae, we met up with Hyeyoung's friend, Moon Soo. She's a writer for KBS documentaries (PD specials). I told her that 우리 어머님 두분이 팬이예요. I didn't mention that Korean documentaries are also one of the reasons why our moms are so worried about the dangers of living in Korea.

M.S. 언니 let us walk her energetic dog, 통키 (Tong Ki). Tong Ki is like Henney, but with a greater case of A.D.H.D. He is very friendly with humans (he's scared of other dogs, even the little ones), likes to sing along with ringing cellphones, and can't sit still long enough for a decent photo. He's great!

Tong Ki took us to a great park along the Han River, called 선유도 (Seonyudo). From what I saw, the park is quite beautiful. I can only imagine how nice it is in the daylight. It's quite large, offers a great view of the Han River, and full of great walking/biking paths and well-manicured shrubbery.

I find that in an urban metropolis like Seoul, Koreans take great care in the design of their parks. It may look a little overly manicured and purposefully aesthetic compared to the natural plant life and forestry found along the West Coast of the U.S., but I think it offers a a nice break from city life. You can even rent a bike (one-seater or two-seater) starting at 3000 won an hour.

My camera battery was just about to die, so I didn't have time to properly catch the beauty of the park. Here's what I got:

"통키 앉아!"














Tong Ki and his mom.










































You need to take this bridge to get to the park.