... good korean friday ...

I went out to my local Asian food market this week, and it brought back some GREAT memories! As I walked in, the smell washed over me, and I was taken back to my local market in Korea. There's nothing like it in the U.S., except for a market specifically geared toward Asian immigrants. Even U.S. born Asian-Americans don't understand it; unless, they have lived overseas or traveled there often with their families. It's a smell most Americans would cringe at ... a fishy, salty, slightly rotten, sea smell that takes me to a happy place where the words are written in symbols, and the people are so kind and friendly. "Anyong haseo!" I say to the people in the front of the store (obviously the owners). "Oh, yeah, Anyong haseo!" They say back to me. Surprised to hear me speak in Korean. I try to use it--what Korean I still remember--but sometimes, I get nervous that they will think I am fluent and try to start a long conversation with me. But these nice people, just laughed to themselves. Something I remember well about living in Korea--whenever I spoke in Korean, the cab driver would mimic me and laugh; the Ajumas would snicker and pat me on the back. They loved to hear us try to speak in their language. I loved to try!

I was thrilled upon walking through the store to realize that, even though the sign boasted "Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Thai" food, it was mostly a Korean market. I saw things I hadn't in years! I wanted to buy everything I remembered eating ... even the pancake mix! I settled for "moo kimchi", "kimchi", "kim (or sushi wrappers)", and frozen vegetarian "goon mandu". I couldn't even get that in Korea! Vegetarian anything was difficult to come by ... unless you love some "bi bim bop". I got home, and I tried the "moo kimchi" ... it was AMAZING! I hadn't had it in forever, but it tasted as good as I remember. "Moo Kimchi" is my favorite! It's a radish based kimchi, instead of a cabbage based kimchi. So, for Friday night supper, we cancelled haystacks, and we made sushi rolls ... which Koreans call "kim bop", "goon mandu" (which is a fried vegetable dumpling), and "moo kimchi". It was delish! And it made for a very good Friday.

Here is the "moo kimchi". It's soooo good!


This is our dinner. It's complete with wasabi soy sauce (which always makes me want "shabu, shabu").


Earlier on Friday, Colton decided it would be fun to help me lift some weights. So, he brought them over to play with! He's so funny. Now that he can lift them up, he likes to carry them around the house.




One last nutty thing about Colton ... as I was taking pictures of our dinner on Friday night, I hear from the living room, "cheese, CHEESE!" I see that Colton sees me taking pictures and has decided to smile for the camera--even though I'm not taking pictures of him! He smiles when the camera's not on him, and I have to beg him to smile when it is on him! What a nut! But this time he kept his cheesy grin.