Strawberry Lemonade

I've been making a lot of cold fruity drinks to combat this hot, humid weather lately, so I thought I'd share with you my recipe for one of my favorites: frozen strawberry lemonade. Honestly it's pretty simple, but I thought I might mix (quite literally) it up a little on this dysfunctional blog of mine. The other drink I've been making a lot is this yummy strawberry-mango smoothie. If you'd like a recipe to that one too, do tell me!

When life gives you lemons and strawberries...

Ingredients (serves 2):

• 3 lemons
• 3 strawberries (or more if you want it to be more strawberry-y)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1 cup of ice cubes
• 3 tablespoons of honey (add more or less depending on how tart you want it to be)

Instructions: Roll out the lemons around under your hands to get the juices flowing. Cut lemons in half and juice them. Halve the strawberries. Add all ingredients into blender and blend. Serve while cold.

How's the summer heat treating you lately? I can take heat, but humidity is just AWFUL. Stay cool, ladies! :)

I Made a Cake!

So, I'm really not a baker. Every time I tried to make cookies from scratch, they'd end up as biscuits. My baking is pretty much limited to funfetti cake mixes...which is really bad. Clearly. But with proper guidance (a recipe book and a very anal friend), I (along with a team of friends) was able to bake a beautiful cake for one of our best friends for his birthday. I got quite a workout on my right arm from all the mixing.

I was in charge of decorating the cake, and I gotta say, I'm pretty darn proud of it.

The fork is my sword!

Practicing the icing on a plate of leftover zucchini (from our barbecue).

The finished product!

It was a 2-layer vanilla cake with chocolate ganache frosting. We put a layer of the frosting and sliced strawberries on the inside. The little chocolate "trimming" and what not is just melted dark chocolate.

The candles are in the shape of a K.

If my architecture dreams don't come to fruition, I guess I can become a cake decorator, aha! I'll work on the baking, though.

NYC Food Adventure!

This past weekend, my family and I decided to embark on a less-than-24-hour food excursion to not only celebrate the new year, but also because my parents' vacation time was winding down. They picked me up right afterschool on Friday and we drove to New York City. We stayed for one night at the Strand Hotel (which is so swanky, damn) and left Saturday afternoon. For our little food fest, we ate a dinner at Sik Gaek and a lunch the next day at Momofuku Noodle Bar.

Sik Gaek was quite an experience. The waiters all wore ahjumma pants (which was hilarious and cute at the same time) and yelled/blew horns/hazed people with a giant black afro if it was their birthday. There were three victims the night we went. We sat in long shared tables with tall plastic stools. The place looked so purposefully rundown. It was pretty...pretty...one of a kind.

Complimentary self-fried fried eggs.

Hung our jackets on floating coat racks in the middle of the restaurant.

The stools we sat on.

Complimentary tteokbokki.

Live Octopus Sashimi!?! I was too scared to try this, it was MOVING.

Kimchi pancake.

HUGE Seafood hotpot. HUGE.

The claw kept clamping and unclamping over and over again.

Night//Morning - perfect view of the Empire State Building from our hotel window.

Times Square Disney Store -- hadn't been in one in years.

Times Square! The ball was still up.

Momofuku Noodle Bar was a lovely little lunch (hah, alliteration). The famous pork buns were heavenly, the ramen had the perfect soup-to-noodle ratio, and the noodles were perfectly cooked. However, I hate to say it, but it was just a tad overpriced. I did love their restaurant design! The bright wooden (I'm thinking bamboo) furniture was on point. I would go back with friends one day, though, when we can all split the bill. But I will have to find a cheaper alternative to get my ramen fix next time!

Their menus change everyday.

Those famous pork buns!

Momofuku Ramen.

And that concludes my family's mini food feast this past weekend. It was compact but still so complete. With a little advanced planning and a GPS, we can fill our bellies with delicious foods we can't find in Boston! Have you ever gone on a one-day food trip (or just a one-day trip) before? If you haven't, you must! It is quite an experience. Have a great week! :)

Giving Thanks

Today was Thanksgiving for us Americans. My relatives came over to our little apartment to take part in my mom's annual turkey feast. The air was filled with warmth, conversation, and laughter. I always look forward to this day every year. I'm so very thankful for my family, friends, food, and the roof above my head. 

My mom's never-dry turkey.

Accidentally bought pre-sliced ham this year, oh well.

Surf clam sashimi and garlic + sesame oil-tossed green beans -- there's always a few Asian dishes.

My brother carving the turkey.

My little plate of food.

Almost full!

Cousins brought over homemade creme brulee, yesss!

Of course my brother and I had to do one of those "re-do" photos. I was probably 4 or 5 in that picture. I crouched instead of tip-toeing hahaha. My, have we grown.

It was nice to take a day off and just cook and eat and relax. I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving with your loved ones (that is, if you celebrate it). What are you thankful for?

Instant Happiness

I went to HMart (a Korean supermarket) this past weekend for the first time in forever. HMart is always so generous in giving free samples for customers to try. I went out on a mission to try all their offerings on the floor. I sampled udon noodles, dumplings, more dumplings, some salad, and a bunch of other things. As long as it was food and free, I shoved it all into my mouth. I was in heaven. Delicious, Korean heaven.

And then I found this.
And I sampled it.
And I threw it into my shopping cart.

It? What is it? It is this. This. This is instant tteokbokki. *cue dramatic the heavens have cleared music*

From my experience, actual tteokbokki usually consists of rice cakes, fish cakes, and sometimes cheese and noodles, all covered in a sweet and spicy sauce. It is a magnificent concoction, and I cannot make it. I've tried...and failed so so miserably. So when I saw this, I was immediately drawn to its microwavable (!!!!) capability. Whoever thought up this idea is a damn genius.

The little pack comes with a bowl, rice cakes, sauce, and a cute little fork. The bowl has a lid with a whole in the middle for steam to circulate. Following the instructions on the sleeve, I prepared to devour this spicy, chewy goodness.

First, you dump the rice cakes into the bowl. Then, you add the sauce. I only used half of the sauce packet and that was more than enough. Lastly, you put the lid back on and pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds. You take it out, mix it all up, and dig in!

I can only imagine how healthy this is for you, but all in moderation, right? I shared this with my mom. It's nice to satisfy those occasional, sudden cravings once in a while! ;)

Also, I made a new banner! How does it look? I'd been wanting to make a new one for a while, but never got to it until yesterday. Still not very satisfied with it, but it will do for now until I make one with actual polka dots! Have a great week ahead!

Remember when I went to Puerto Rico?

Remember me? Yeah, I don't either.

Hi! Hey! Hello! Howdy! I'm aliiiiiive! Sorry for the sudden disappearance, everyone. Things started picking up really quickly at my internship and well, the Olympics started so...there was no blogging for me! I'm loving it at my internship, though. I'm soaking in SOOO much. I've definitely gotten a taste of the work world and (hopefully) what my future will be like.

Anyway, back to the post...the long-awaited Puerto Rico travel diary post!!! (Note the multiple exclamation marks. Hence, you should be very excited.)

It's your lucky day because you're in for a bunch of photos!

The gorgeous beach.

Garlic chicken and chili, I believe?

 

I fell in love with their narrow streets and colorful houses.

Old Fort San Juan.

Inside one of the dark halls...it was oh so ominous and spooky (not my cup of tea).

For some reason, there was an iguana roaming around the fort!

Crashing waves are gorgeous, no?

Old men socialize at a cafe during lunch.

An authentic Puerto Rican dish: Mofungo (it was very yummy).

FLAAAAAN!

Gift shops are always so overpriced. I thought these were pretty cool.

And these masks too.

Their water system is quite interesting.

"The Cloud Forest" was eerily beautiful.

L: these newts were everywhere! R: The waterfall was absolutely breathtaking.

Our hike to the waterfall was well worth it!

I just love this shot...not even edited at all! The water lookit lookit!

Had a layover in NYC...no wonder it's called the city that never sleeps.

And looky looky, I made a video too! Experience 5 minutes of my 5 days in Puerto Rico (yeah, I totally planned that). Kind of like a vlog but not really because I don't speak in it, still do watch! Puerto Rico's definitely a beautiful place: full of character and friendly people.

 

I hope you got a gist of my experience in Puerto Rico through this post. If you ever get the chance to, definitely definitely visit it one day. It may be rough around the edges in some areas, but well, any place is.