Korean Style Cold Bok Choy Why practice

For KY - you continually challenge me and make me try harder.

Ive been on a bit of a quest recently to improve the quality of practice, everywhere I have a chance.  Mostly this means that Daughters and Son are subjected to some strange experiments, but it also bleeds over into my work volunteering at schools and in Sunday School.  What is the goal?  Be more efficient in practice.

Ive been reading the book, Practice Perfect, and I havent even gotten that far in it (Rule 2 out of 42) but I keep going back to the one point daily.  The rule is to "Practice the 20" which according to the book is about deciphering and analyzing which 20 percent of the things that are most important are you going to practice 80 percent of the time.  In the books words, "...to become great, you should focus more on practicing the 20 percent of things that most create value than the other 80 percent of things you could plausibly spend time on" (29).  Now, this looks like a lot of things to a lot of people, so Ive been thinking and mulling over what it means for me and those with whom I have the most contact. (Children and students.)

I decided to apply a little of the book to Daughters swim practices, because I am currently their teacher.  It makes for more flexible scheduling and allows me to take advantage of the pool when it is less busy.  Daughters have been doing tons of laps with me, over and over and over again, and in my mind, I figured, yes, this is practice.  But repeatedly I kept on seeing the girls not improve their stroke, but rather deteriorate in their stroke, and as I am not a swim teacher, I couldnt figure out HOW to help them.  I was good at getting them into the water and forcing them to swim their 800 to 1200 yards when we had a chance, but in terms of refining and perfecting their stroke, not so much.  I questioned, WHY ISNT IT GETTING BETTER!!!

The book challenged me to rethink what I was asking them to do.  I wanted them to get better at the complete strokes, the complete movement across the pool, but what I needed to do was to break down those strokes into small drills to force them to improve on tinier parts.  I had assumed that since Children "knew" how to swim, that they no longer needed to practice the smaller parts of each individual stroke since CLEARLY (not) they had already learned the stroke.  The problem I didnt realize was that knowing and MASTERY are two different things and I needed to move them towards mastery.  The way to mastery?  Practice 20 percent of the important things they need to do 80 percent of the time.  I wasnt clear what that was, but I challenged myself to rethink our 40 minutes in the water to make it more efficient.  What I came up with was it wasnt the distance that we did in 40 minutes, but it would be how we would use the 40 minutes to be better.  32 minutes of our 40 minutes would be spent on drills, which would essentially distort and focus individual swimming techniques and make Daughters strengthen specific areas.  8 minutes, I decided to just have them swim as they normally had, full complete strokes.

I researched a few drills and brought them to the water today.  I explained to the girls the math behind the practice - 80% spent on working on smaller parts of the stroke and 20% on practicing the full stroke itself.  What was so interesting is that as an experienced swimmer, there wasnt a significant difference in my doing drills versus the full stroke.  Of course I felt more stretched and pushed, but I didnt flail on the drills. Daughters however, despite having been proficient and good on whole strokes STRUGGLED through the drills.  In one, I asked them to swim on their side and kick  with their heads relaxed and one arm pointed straight up in the water and the other relaxed at their side and neither of them could swim straight across without swerving.  It took 5 lengths of that drill in order for them to figure out how to position their bodies and get their legs and arms long and balance on their side and still kick.  We ran through a few other drills and then I allowed them to swim the whole strokes.  After months of no improvement, I could clearly see improvement in their overall strokes.

Its a lot more work trying to figure out the smaller pieces to work the practice. but I can say that from this small experiment (and there have been many tiny little ones this week as well) that Im ready to alter how I view practice.  Encouraging and pushing mastery of the small fundamentals truly impacts the overall growth and improvement.  This totally also applies to cooking.  Mastery over smaller things - choosing the right produce, chopping, boiling, sauteeing, blanching, all work together to make a great meal.

Ive decided to focus on (drill) a particular Korean technique, a classic Korean technique for making many green vegetables - blanching and then squeezing out the excess liquid.  I love this method of cooking vegetables because it can be made ahead and then seasoned at the last minute.  Its the same technique I use to make the spinach side dish, ubiquitous at so many Korean restaurants.  I applied this technique to bok choy, with the idea that I could make a side dish that would have a similar feel as spinach, but just done with bok choy.  The results were great and Children and friends gobbled it down.  There is room on seasoning, by adding soy sauce or other things to make it fit the flavors youre looking for, but the technique of blanching and squeezing out the liquid is one worth learning.  

Korean Style Cold Bok Choy
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 lb bok choy
¼ teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon crushed sesame seeds

Method
Fill a large pot with water and add a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil.

While water is boiling, prepare bok choy. Trim the base of the bokchoy, cutting off the stem, so that the bokchoy separates into individual leaves. Wash well.

Once water is boiling, add bok choy all at once and stir, mixing into the water, allowing to cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and drain all the water.

Arrange bok choy in a ring in your colander,so as to promote cooling of the bok choy.

Once bok choy is cool enough to handle, take a handful, and squeeze, removing excess water from the bok choy. Repeat until all bok choy has been squeezed.

Lay bok choy out on a cutting board and cut into 1 inch sections. Bok choy can be chilled at this point and dressed before serving OR can be dressed and served immediately.

Over bok choy, sprinkle salt and toss well. Taste and add more salt if desired. Drizzle sesame oil and add sesame seeds and toss together again. Serve immediately.

Printable recipe

If youre interested in the book on practice.

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Mapo Tofu with Korean Slant Aging with your glasses

I went to the eye doctor today, just for my typical check up to make sure that my prescription for my contacts were good and up to date.  I dont look forward to my eye doctor appointments, because invariably I end up in that situation where the optometrist begins asking the series of questions, "Is A better than B?  Do you like one or two?  B or C?  This one or this one?" and my head starts swimming as I try and make sure that in fact, B is more clear than C and 1 is easier to focus with than 2.  I hate making tiny decisions.

Today, I decided to complicate matters further because I was trying to figure out if I should update my glasses, which are officially 13 years old. I know - they ARE old, but bear in mind that I wear my contacts far more than my glasses, so glasses arent that big of a priority most of the time.  As Dr. T examined and tested my vision, I explained that it was harder to see at night and drive with my glasses and at the same time, it was getting harder to read smaller print.  She ran a series of evaluations for me and then determined that yes, in fact Im not seeing that great far or that great close.  The curse of aging.

Then came the series of complex decisions as to how to best manage this eye/glasses/contacts/prescription dilemma.  She explained progressive lenses (fancy word for bifocals with no lines), progressive contacts (fancy word for bifocals just stuck to my eyeball) and reading glasses (fancy for old lady in the room).  I started with my original goal of glasses that I would be able to see better with at night, should I need to drive, and we experimented with a few options, which ended up compromising my ability to READ at night with the same glasses.  Again the option of progressive lenses came up, to which I responded, "But cant I just TAKE OFF my glasses and read at night which is what I do already?"  She nodded, but given that Dr. T is all of 15 years old and no idea how aging women have issues with their eyesight, I dont think she was impressed with my practical solution.  (For the record, I am impressed with my low tech solution of REMOVING my eyeglasses.)

After the decision for the appropriate prescription, came the ever-harrowing decision of choosing a frame.  I spent about 15 minutes looking at a few, and after the series of decisions I had to make regarding HOW I was going to correct my vision, deciding WHAT I was going to look like in said glasses suddenly became so overwhelming that I began my shutdown process, which happens whenever I am confronted with too many decisions.  "Im going to come back, with my husband so he can help me decide" I told my Doc.  

"I can help you decide if youd like," she kindly offered.

"No.  I think I need my husband.  Hell have a strong opinion and itll help me decide," I said.

And with that, I walked out, eager to get away from the one hour long series of tiny decisions that ultimately just proved that Im getting old with bad eyes.

I ran home, to throw together, what has become my familys favorite quick dinner dish, Mapo Tofu with Korean Flavors.  I love it because I dont have to make decisions. I just MAKE it.  And when I MAKE it, the family just EATS it.  No decisions.  No complaints.  Just a complete quiet take down of a hearty meal that comes together so quickly that actually I should make it far more often.  Its mildly spicy (you can control it), savory, and just goes so well with a bowl of hot rice.  I flavor it with more Korean typical flavors like sesame oil and gochujang, and it just works.

More mapo tofu. Fewer decisions about my eyes.  That would be my ideal day.

Mapo Tofu with Korean Slant
Serves 6

Ingredients
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 lb to 1 ¼ lb ground beef (I like organic ground beef from Costco)
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (or 1 tablespoon if you’re worried about spice) Korean chili pepper paste (gochujang)
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Two 14-ounce package soft tofu, finely diced
1 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
6 scallions, finely chopped
White rice, for serving

Method
Heat a large skillet until hot. Add both oils, followed by ground beef and garlic. Season with salt and cook over high heat, stirring and breaking up the meat, until crumbly and lightly browned, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the Korean chili pepper paste, hoisin and soy sauces, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Gently fold in the tofu. In a small bowl, whisk the cornstarch into the water. Add to the skillet and simmer until the sauce thickens, 2 minutes. Stir in the scallions and serve.

Printable recipe

Yes.  Please.

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Korean Style Red Bean Shaved Ice Patbingsoo 팥빙수 Obsessions come home

There was a summer during college, when I went to Korea in order to figure out if teaching was what I wanted to do.  My aunt helped line up a series of students for me to experiment on, and I landed in Korea and had my own tiny little room in another aunts house.  I spent my days teaching and my evenings hunting down Seouls best version of their summer time dessert, patbingsoo, or red bean shaved ice.

I actually remember the first time someone offered it to me and I was immediately put off by the idea of red bean and ice.  WHAT?  Weird!  Its like refried beans that are cold?  Gross!  No way!  But when my cousin insisted that I try it, I did and I was so hooked I became obsessed.  My cousin suggested that we attempt to eat one red bean shaved ice each day and compare our favorites and find out which we liked the best.  It sounded like a great challenge and Id even skip dinner some nights (as it was super hot anyways) just so I could go out and hunt for a great shaved ice with my cousin.  We ate cheap ones from mini corner stores that had a ton of fruit cocktail dumped on top, to fancier versions in hotel restaurants that had expensive and beautifully cut fruit arranged on top, much like one would decorate a cake.  We would eat them in bakeries and we would hunt them down in bookstores.  It became a ritual to hunt down another place where we could have them and we fulfilled our daily intake of shaved ice that summer.

While living in Korea, I also would occaisionally grab one during the summer, but for some reason I wasnt as crazy about it as I used to be.  Perhaps it was my anti-bean husband who didnt much care for it, or the fact that its one of those dishes I associate with solitude and peace, and children dont equal solitude and peace.  For whatever reason, I didnt eat it much.

Last week, on the 4th of July, I had some friends over, and my friend brought this dish as a dessert.  There were a good number of people over, but she prepared an awesome selection of fruits and toppings and brought it over to share.  I shaved ice for folks and people got to decide what they wanted on their patbingsoo.  It was Childrens first time ever seeing a manual ice shaver (yes, weve never been to Hawaii) and it ended up being super exciting for them.

In short, I had to go out and get everything so that I could begin my love affair with patbingsoo again.  I tried grinding the ice in the Vitamix as an initial solution, and it kind of worked, but not as well as I wanted.  I went and got a manual ice shaving machine from our local Ranch 99 along with a bunch of other ingredients readily available at the market.  Children became experts at creating the shaved ice dish of their dreams and I began creating the shaved ice versions from my own memory.

I personally favor the simpler shaved ices, which focuses more on fresh fruit and fewer toppings like this one.  With shaved ice, watermelon, red bean, mochi, and a little scoop of sweetened condensed milk its the most refreshing one that I enjoy.

 Some people like a more complicated, more topping-filled one which has a variety of fruits, nata de coco (coconut jelly), lychees (canned), mochi, sweetened condensed milk and a sprinkling of cereal.

There is also the option of a scoop of vanilla ice cream to add to your shaved ice.

 Then you have my nutty kids who refuse to eat the red bean (which is sort of the whole point of the dish) and proceed to enjoy their shaved ice with a ton of fruit and a ton of syrupy soaked toppings.  Go figure.

The range of choices is super wide and people seem to have their own preferences of what they like so you can set out a bar of choices and let people construct them.  The key is to have cold everything - fruit, canned items, and condensed milk.  The colder everything is, the less ice meltage you have, which is the desired effect.  Prepare and wash your fruit and cut it and stick it back in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

The important ingredient is the ice itself.  Ice shavers come in a variety of permutations, but the best ones are simple to use, simple to clean, and simple to replace.  I found one for $11 at Ranch 99, and a lot of Asian markets will have one for less than you can find online.  In addition, try to find one that includes the ice molds so that you can create large disks of ice that shave the most efficiently in your ice shaver.  You can also find them on Amazon for a little bit more money, but if youre not close to a Chinese or Asian market, it may be your best option.

 As for my canned ingredients, here they are.  The red beans, although probably even tastier if I made them myself, taste very lovely in this dish from a can.  Sweetened condensed milk is the final sweet and creamy touch on top.  Nata de coco are coconut jellies and are currrently the obsession of both Daughters.  They also like the lychees in syrup, even though Im not a huge fan.  All these I got at my local Ranch 99, with the red beans and condensed milk coming in at above $3.

Some people even like a little sprinkling of cereal. I think the tiny bits of mochi, which are at your local Korean market or Japanese market, are the most important.  But choose what you like and arrange cold toppings on a tray or a table and let your guests go to work!

My obsession at home!  Im ready to mix this up!

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Korean Kale Soybean Paste Stew Kale Doenjang Jjigae 된장찌개 On giving the rice cooker the night off

Since Husbands return to regular hours with the family, Children have been slightly disgruntled, as they say,"Its ALWAYS rice mom."

Husband loves his Korean food and it seems that since hes spent a majority of the past 10 years in Asia, that desire for a hearty Asian meal is not at rest.  It is, in fact, more fired up than ever, and what he wants ALL the time and asks for ALL the time is some sort of soup with rice and kimchi.  Every. Single. Night.

I cant even handle the daily rigor of a full Korean meal for dinner as I often dont have the ability to pull one out every single evening, and Children are also just DESPERATE for something different.  "Anything mom, just not Korean."  Ive taken to batch cooking some Korean comfort dishes and preparing some non Korean dishes on other nights, so that Children get a break from the onslaught of Korean meals.  Husband will come home, and on some nights ask, "What did everyone else eat?" and Ill tell him and hell politely say that hed like both menus - Western and Korean.  Sigh.

On a recent weekend, after I had not gone to the market to replenish a variety of supplies, Husband declared that he needed to have some sort of soup with his dinner that evening, which I was trying to keep simple for the sake of simplicity.  I held in the exasperation because on some level, its rather reassuring that Husband thinks that I can bang out dishes at his request.  Only this time, I didnt have very much to make and so I began scrambling for ingredients, and what I came up with was kale, tofu, onions, and a bit of meat.  I wasnt sure how it would turn out, but I was pretty sure that a kale soybean paste soup had great potential to be tasty.

Turns out - very tasty.  And Children happened to really like the kale in the soup (with Son declaring that he ATE IT ALL loudly) and the picky Husband slurped the soup like it tasted good.  Daughters even enjoyed it despite their protest of Korean AGAIN, and it was a great find.  Ive taken to making a large pot of this so that I can have it at the ready should Husband need his daily Korean fix and the kids are in rebellion mode.

Korean Kale Soybean Paste Stew (Kale Doenjang Jjigae ????)
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
1 tablespoon sesame oil
¼ lb of steak, or some sort of lean meat, chopped into small pieces
1 large onion, chopped into 1 inch pieces
4 scallions, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 jalapenos, sliced
1 teaspoon crushed sesame seeds
1 bunch of kale, tough stems removed, and roughly chopped
½ cup of Korean soybean paste (??) - but there is great variances in the flavor of doenjang so you may have to adjust accordingly
6 cups of water
1 large block of firm tofu, cut into chunks

Method
Heat a heavy pot over medium high heat and sesame oil, meat, onion, scallion, garlic, jalapenos, and sesame seeds.  Saute and cook until meat is browned, onions, translucent, and entire mixture is fragrant.  Add chopped kale all at once and begin wilting kale until it is slightly softened and more pliable.  Add Korean soybean paste and stir until it is mixed throughout vegetable meat mixture.  Add 6 cups of water, and cover, reduce heat and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes, until kale is tender.  Add chunks of tofu and bring to boil again.

Serve with rice and kimchi.

Printable recipe

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Korean Twice Cooked Chicken Wings Understanding my child

I know that the blog post have literally dwindled down to the tiniest trickle of almost non-existence.  Ive been going through a bit of emotional upheaval and stress and it seems that I am under-qualified for motherhood.

My latest stress has been over Daughter #2 and her true nature - an introvert.  In my mind she is this confident, well-spoken, audacious student, but who she really is is quiet, internal, introspective, and introverted.  She spent the first three years of preschool only nodding her head yes or no when asked a question.  She began coming out of her shell her final year of preschool, thanks to the lovely teachers (J and Y) at her school and in kindergarten I began seeing some hints that perhaps she might come out of her shell.

But she hasnt really.  I havent given up hope and sometimes that hope pushes me to force her into situations that I shouldnt be pushing her.  Our most recent situation was the Bible Verse Memorization Festival that we held at our church.  It was our first time hosting it and I didnt give it much thought.  I assumed Daughters (Son is too young) would just do it and it would be no big deal.

Upon receiving their assigned verses, both Daughters flopped into the minivan and on our way home from church adamantly declared that they were NOT going to do it. Daughter #1 was very vocal and protested vehemently.  Daughter #2, I could see in the rear view mirror, was completely withdrawn and in another place.  I just quietly reminded the girls that yes, they needed to do this and they could do it with enough practice.

Daughter #2 proceeded to have four meltdowns for unexplained reasons the rest of that evening, and it became clear to me that something was really bothering her.  I pulled her aside and asked what was wrong and she declared that she didnt want to perform the Bible verse in front of an audience.  I told her I needed time to think about what the right thing to do and would get back to her an answer.

I took a step back and slowly thought about the situation.  I thought of what my objective was and what the desired outcome would be.  I considered long and hard and came up with two disparate objectives.

#1.  Get her to do the required task.

#2.  Help her to learn to do the required task.

They seem similar but they really arent.  #1 really focuses on the outcome of the actual performance.  #2 focuses on the idea that the process of learning is more important than the actual performance.  The tiger mom in me (ROAR) wanted to push #1.  "You will memorize this verse; you will get up in front of people, and you will do it."  But the teacher in me, which generally doesnt turn on around Children, spoke up.  "You know your child.  You know she doesnt easily get up in front of people.  How is forcing her to do it right off the bat going to teach her anything?"

In the end I went with #2, despite the fact that many around me (including Husband initially) felt that forcing her to do it would teach her to do it in the future.  I explained that I saw her doing it in the future, but it just didnt have to be in four weeks. Her road could be a little bit longer to get to the end result.

I explained to Daughter #2 that she did not have to get up on stage and perform her memorization.  She did, however, HAVE to memorize it.  "The only people who are going to care whether you learn it or not are Mommy and God.  Youll have to do it for the two of us.  I will however, give the entrance fee to the festival, and SHOULD YOU decide that you want to recite it on that day, you may.  If you choose not to do it, it will not be because you didnt memorize it, but instead because you choose not to perform in front of others."   Despite giving Daughter #2 an expectation that I knew she could manage (she memorized Psalm 23 in less than two days and recited it for me) her moods were erratic and unpredictable for the four weeks leading up to the festival. There were lots of spontaneous tears, shrieks of anger, a time when I was playing piano for church service only to see a little girl bolt down the aisle and land in my lap as I played, and a variety of unexpected unusual behavior.  I didnt know what was bothering her.

Turns out, it was Big Sister.  Daughter #1 informed Daughter #2, that no matter what, in two years, she would in fact HAVE to perform the Bible memory verse as a 3rd grader.  This two year future event plagued the psyche of Daughter #2 and made her nuts.  I suggested to her that we focus on simply just making it through this year before worrying about two years in the future.  It didnt help.  The only thing that appeased her was the same offer I made for her this current year.

On the day of the festival itself, I still had some hope that Daughter #2 might overcome her fear and get up and try.  Her verse was memorized perfectly and I even found her saying timidly to me, "I think I might want to do it."  She changed her mind several times over the course of the morning, and I tried not to react too much either way.  I clarified that she had fulfilled her end of the bargain and that whatever she chose to do at the festival was up to her.

In the end, she chose not to do it. Truthfully I was a little bit frustrated that she didnt, because other kids made it up there to do it, and you could see the fear in their eyes, but they got up and tried.  And I give much kudos and admiration for that.  I kept on hoping that she would see others pushing through and she would as well.  But I did watch her, silently observing, calculating, and measuring the risks and rewards.  I saw her carefully examine each participants face, and I saw her measuring the looks of pride and joy on the parents faces as their own child performed.  Watching her carefully looking at others gave me reassurance that she in fact did fulfill objective #2, learning to do the required tasks.

Im hoping that after she observed other participants not being eaten up by alligators, not bursting into spontaneous flames, not turning into pumpkins, and not bawling their eyes out, her own worst fears about performance will begin to be alleviated and she too, can get up and try.  Maybe not this next time, but soon.

Daughter #2s favorite thing to eat?  Chicken wings.  She particularly loves this new creation I came up last week and it appeased her for a long while and kept her occupied preventing a couple of meltdowns.  The mix of two types of cooking, roasting and braising, yields a really wonderful texture and flavor.   Its not difficult to make (the roasting part is just merely sticking it the oven) and it can be made ahead by roasting the chicken first and just doing the braising portion right before serving.   Daughter #1 said, "THIS is my favorite chicken." Daughter #2 showed me it was the best chicken by eating 8.  They want it again this week.

Korean Twice Cooked Chicken Wings
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 lbs chicken wings, sectioned off into wings and drummettes (or if you’re lucky only the one part that you like)
¼ cup sake
¼ cup soy sauce
½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons sake
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 inch ginger root, peeled and sliced into thin disks
2 or 3 dried whole chili pepper, or in a pinch, any fresh whole chili pepper will work (thai dragon or jalapeno)

Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Method
Mix ¼ cup sake and ¼ cup soy sauce in a container where you will marinate the chicken. Add the chicken. Cover and marinate - at least 4 hours, if not overnight.

Preheat oven 400. Drain chicken from marinade. Line roasting pan with foil and lay chicken in a single layer and roast at 400 degrees for 1 hour, until chicken is golden dark brown.

While chicken is roasting, begin preparing braising liquid. To a large pan (big enough to hold 2 lbs of chicken wings) add soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, sake, rice vinegar, garlic cloves, ginger, and chili to a large pan. Bring mixture to a boil AFTER the chicken is removed from the oven. Once braising liquid is boiling, add roasted wings to the mixture, reducing heat to simmer gently, until a thin, shiny glaze forms over the chicken. Sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving.

Serve hot with plenty of napkins.

Printable recipe

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Korean Spicy Pork Sandwich ë¼ì§€ë¶ˆê³ ê¸° sandwich Unexpected outcome

 For EK - my first drum teacher, who assured me that if I mastered one beat, I could play drums in praise for the rest of my life.  You were right.

For DK, EBK -your support and encouragment!

I started fiddling with the drums almost 4 years ago.  I got it in my head that long while ago, that given enough practice and discipline, I could be good enough to play in front of my church with our praise band.   Our praise band needed a drummer as there were none, and I was motivated to fulfill this role.  I practiced diligently for a while, then the drums sat idle for a long while, and then recently, in the last six months or so, Ive been practicing far more regularly and trying a lot more to get my rhythms and my coordination together.  But Im very much not that good.  A novice at best and an uncoordinated old lady at worst.  Ive actually played excitedly in front of friends and family before and their immediate response isnt "Youre good" but rather, "Dont you have any other beats or fancy stuff you can do?"  Deflate my ego.

However, because I am stubborn, I kept on practicing.  Still only novice level, but a confident novice.  And on a whim, one day during praise team rehearsal, where I have always been a pianist or keyboardist and sometimes a vocalist, I offered to play the drums while my guitarist took the lead on the song.  Everyone perked up on the team, and we decided to give it a go.  I helped establish the rhythm and I kept the beat for the entire song and the guitarist said, "Youre great.  Why dont you play Sunday for service?"  My jaw dropped.  My face turned red.  My armpits got sweaty.  Piano in front of service was easy, a no brainer, and simple to follow through.  I had no worries when I played piano, but drums was a whole new perspective and I began to silently freak out.  "Can I do it?" I asked the team, and they all nodded encouragingly and said, "You were great!  Do it!"  After rehearsal was over, I asked, "Are you guys only saying to play drums because youre trying to keep me happy or do you actually want me to drum?"  They all said, "JUST PLAY!  Itll be GREAT!"

Then Sunday came.  I told Children I was playing drums but to keep it a secret from Husband so that he could be surprised when the beats came during our service.  I led a song on the piano, then moved from the piano to the drums and BAM!  Began playing!!!  And it was both thrilling and completely freaky at the same time.  It was only one song, probably about two minutes of beating the drums, but it was one of the most thrilling minutes of my life.  I was focused, concentrated and completely unable to do anything but focus on the two sticks and all the rhythm I was to create.

I got offered another opportunity to play again today, and I drummed TWO songs today.  And still, Im not an expert drummer with fantastic beats or fancy embellishments.  But the praise leader this week made the interesting observation that what is needed isnt the fanciest drummer.  What is needed is the steady beat to help keep the song together and not mess it up with fancy solos.   In my head and in my arrogance I wanted to be the fanciest most spectacular female praise drummer the world had ever seen.  What I am is the steady and consistent amateur rhythm maker who helps keep the team together. Somehow, God used my small ability and used it to do what was actually needed, not what I wanted in my head.  I dont need to be fancy for God to use me.  I only need to be consistent and faithful and God uses me in the most effective way.

Unexpected outcome, but oh what a blessing.

These sandwiches were also an unexpected outcome.  I had made Korean spicy pork (?????) for Husband for dinner, and Girls complained that it was KOREAN FOOD AGAIN.  I quickly grabbed pretzel buns, sliced them in half, and said, "Its not Korean if its on a sandwich. Make yourself a spicy pork sandwich."  Something about the pretzel bun must have intrigued them for they both decided to make themselves a sandwich and within seconds were oohing and aahing at the flavor.  It looked so good to me I threw some Korean perilla leaf on mine and was blown away at the yummy amazing flavor.  They are easy to make and the pretzel bun (which I picked up at Costco) is the perfect foil to the saucy and spicy pork.  Its a great dish to make for a large group.

Unexpected outcome.  But oh so good.

Korean Spicy Pork Bulgogi Sandwich (Dweji Bulgogi ?????Sandwich)
Serves 5 to 6

Ingredients
1 1/2 lbs thinly sliced pork shoulder (also called pork butt) OR you can use pork belly for this (your local Korean market will have the appropriate cut of meat)

1/3 cup Korean chili pepper paste (gochujahng ???)
3 tablespoons finely minced garlic
2 tablespoons ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon hot pepper flakes (omit this to reduce the heat)
1 tablespoon sake
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon crushed toasted sesame seeds
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 scallions, cut into 2 inch lengths

12 pretzel buns (small so 2 per person) (or another type of soft roll)
24 perilla leaves and/or romaine lettuce leaves for serving on top of the sandwich.

Method
In a large bowl, mix together gochujang, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, sake, sesame oil, honey and sesame seeds.  Add thinly sliced pork and using your hands, making sure each piece is evenly coated.

Add onions and scallions and mix well.  Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Heat a heavy fry pan over medium high heat.  It is better to cook this in batches, than trying to cook it all at once.  Cook half the pork until the onions are translucent and the meat is fully cooked, about 6 minutes.  Transfer to a serving plate and cook the other half of the pork.

While the pork is still warm, slice pretzel buns in half, and scoop a nice hefty portion of pork onto the bun.  Add perilla leaves and romaine leaf.  Place bun on top and move sandwich to the mouth.  Chew. Chew. Chew.

Printable recipe

Great outcomes, unexpectedly

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Korean Pumpkin Porridge in the Vitamix Birthdays and being loud

Thank you RB, LB, JL, and DL

I celebrated my 42nd birthday last Friday, with a series of surprises that started from 6am in an early morning workout and ended at 2:30 the next morning with girlfriends talking on the sofa. It was a pretty fabulous day.  I was pampered, loved, celebrated and treated well.

Im not one to expect many presents on my birthday (after all - the big 40 is over, and Im not 10) but this year, for some strange reason, I got many unexpected presents, including a Vitamix.  If youre not familiar with a Vitamix, its a super powerful, super versatile blender (but shouldnt be considered JUST a blender) that is often demostrated at Costco.  A couple of friends of mine teamed up to get me mine and I first yelled, "TAKE IT BACK" because the gift seemed too extravagant, but then took it graciously, although with some hesitation.  The hesitation lasted all of about 20 minutes, because I opened it up and began using it.

I decided to begin experimenting with the option that the Vitamix has to HEAT foods. Now, this is not a separate function but rather a side effect from such a powerful motor and blade that it eventually warms things up.  When using it, its not noticeable on smoothies, generally because youre not running it for that long and the ingredients are cold.

I decided I wanted to experiment with a Korean Pumpkin Porridge recipe, which Ive done before. Its one of my favorite things to make in fall and winter as its warming and satisfying, and its something that my kids really enjoy eating.  I made it two days in a row, trying to figure out the most effective use of time and the vitamix in order to create the porridge.

Now, be warned, if you were in my house while I was making the porridge, I would SOUND SOMETHING LIKE THIS AS THE SOUND OF THE VITAMIX COOKING THE PORRIDGE IS ACTUALLY NOT THAT QUIET!!  IN FACT, ITS BETTER THAT YOU ARE READING THESE DIRECTIONS INSTEAD OF LISTENING TO ME SCREAM THEM OVER THE SOUND OF THE VITAMIX.

The vitamix is loud.  When it cooks your porridge, its loud most of the time because the motor is whirring on high to heat, cook, chop and smooth the ingredients into heavenly pumpkin nirvana.  Youll have to put up with a bit of noise, but essentially the process is very simple.  Ive tried doing some things to make the loudest part (chopping in the vitamix) a little less long timewise and I think my efforts were well worth it because I bought myself a few additional minutes of silence.

Youll be using boiling water to start out the mixture and youll need sweet rice that has been soaked for at least 2 hours.  You can tell if the rice is ready because it essentially can be crushed in between your fingertips.  Aside from those two minor details, the rest is essentially a hot smoothie made in the blender, the distinct advantage being that it cant burn as this porridge often does on the stovetop.

The final note is that the Vitamix tends to volumize the liquids so that the porridge may feel fluffier and lighter than what youre used it.  I like to let the porridge rest for a bit and then come back to it and it seems to be less fluffy.

As a warning, youll have to make sure your ingredients fit in your Vitamix.  If your squash seems too much or you dont have any room for it all, just take some out and pour water just enough to cover.  I also noticed some orange staining on my container, as I think the squash has a powerful color.

Pumpkin Porridge in the Vitamix
Serves 6

Ingredients 
½ cup sweet rice, soaked in 1 cup of water, for at least 2 hours
1½ to 2 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
3 to 4 cups boiling water
½ teaspoon salt
1 to 2 tablespoons brown sugar, depending on preference and sweetness of squash itself

Method
Once water is boiled, rice is soaked, squash is peeled and cut the Vitamix will do the rest of the work.

Into your Vitamix container add squash, salt and pour hot water, enough to cover all the squash.  The actual amount may vary anywhere from 3 to 4 cups.  Put the lid on the Vitamix container and let the squash sit in the boiling water for 15 minutes.

Once 15 minutes has passed, turn Vitamix on to variable 1, and gradually increase speed until you are at 10.  Once ingredients in container are smoothly moving through, move speed to high.  Blend on high for 8 minutes.  Steam will rise.  Turn off machine after steam rises.

Drain water from sweet rice.   Add brown sugar and sweet rice to Vitamix container.  Cover container and turn on to variable 1, increasing to 10 and then to high.  Blend on high for 6 minutes.  You’ll see the inside of the porridge start to bubble and boil.  Once 6 minutes are up, turn off machine, leave covered for 7 minutes to allow rice to steam further.

Pour from Vitamix and serve.

Printable recipe

This is the one I got, from Costco, where it is $375.  This is a 64 oz container, which is a very nice large capacity.

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