Cultivating Thankfulness for a Happy Thanksgiving

8:00 am

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

(Or should I say, Happy American Chuseok! 😉)

Hopefully, if you’re in charge of Thanksgiving dinner, you’ve got everything ready to go for tonight. If you’re still figuring things out (yikes!), here’s a menu to help. Otherwise, hopefully you’re just going to order food and let someone else take care of it.

Or maybe you’re a reluctant guest for the obligatory family get-together. Anyone would have a hard time looking forward to making awkward polite conversation with people they see once a year. Most people would rather be comfortably at home in their sweats watching tv. (I’m raising my hand. How about you?) It’s a bit different from how I grew up. [Read more…]

Once Upon a Time There was a Jar of Kimchi

8:00 am

Once Upon a Time There Was a Jar of Kimchi

Did you know that kimchi makes a sound? I never noticed until one fine Summer day.

I had gone to the Korean grocery store in the morning and dropped everything at home before heading back out to run more errands.

My sister had asked me to get the big jar of kimchi and to leave it out of the fridge so it could ripen more. I thought ‘sure, no problem – I won’t even have to take up refrigerator space for it.’

So I bought her kimchi, size extra large as requested, tightened the lid before transport (I can’t have kimchi juice spilling out in my car. Nothing would ever get that smell out!), and left it in the garage. [Read more…]

A Korean-American Mom’s Korean Lunch Story

6:05 am

A Korean-American Lunch Story

Have you ever been super excited to dig into your lunch because you’re starving or just really looking forward to the deliciousness that awaits? But then you open the lid and it clears out the room. Or maybe you were eating in your dorm room or office and you started hearing people say “What’s that smell?” (If I had a dollar for every time I heard some one say that….Right?)

Come on be honest! It’s so happened to you!

It doesn’t even have to be Korean food. And it doesn’t even have to be a cultural/ethnic thing. It’s just like anyone who reheats fish in the office microwave is going to be universally hated. Strong smelling anything in confined spaces isn’t going to go over well. [Read more…]