Kimchi

A big part of the reason I am behind on blogging....  cooking new dishes and fika with friends...

Way back in August when we still had daylight and sunshine, my friend, Michelle Lee, agreed to teach me how to make kimchi.  Kimchi is to Korean cuisine what hamburgers and hotdogs are to American cuisine.  Although hamburgers and hotdogs are faster to prepare, kimchi, once made, will last a while!

Michelle uses www.maangchi.com for her kimchi recipe - Napa cabbage kimchi and radish kimchi.  Maangchi.com was started by a Korean woman, living in NYC, who loves cooking and gives instruction in English about Korean cooking. Watch out, it is a time suck once you start looking at all the recipes!

this is the most time consuming part of making kimchi - Napa cabbage - quartered, salted between each leaf, rests for two hours then turned over for another two hours. After four hours rinse the salt off the Napa cabbage really well in a sink filled with cold water. Shake off excess water.

sweet rice flour - the base of the paste

yes, a big measuring cup of red pepper flakes!

giant bag of red pepper powder - Asian stores are the best places to buy herbs and spices in bulk

the best fish sauce according to Michelle

red pepper and garlic are added to the paste...

along with green onions...

carrots and diakon (Asian radish that looks like a parsnip)....

mixing all into the paste

kimchi paste

the messy, fun part - smear kimchi paste between each leaf

pack the kimchi into a container

hmmm... the knife in the sink has nothing to do with how my hands look!

ready to ferment for about 36 hours - Gabby, Audra and Sofia called these jars - 'the body parts'

once the pressure is released (with a towel over the jar) store the kimchi in the refrigerator, it's ready to eat! 

Kimchi can be eaten as is (if it's too spicy some of the paste can be wiped off) or used in many different recipes (www.maangchi.com) - some of the ones I've tried and love:  kimchi fried rice, bibimbap, kimchi soup.  Kimchi soup is so easy... chop and saute some bacon, chop kimchi, add to bacon, cover mixture with water, boil for 30 minutes, serve over rice.  

kimchi fried rice (okay, so Michelle loves to add diced and fried Spam to her kimchi fried rice and I must admit it's good but you still won't find a tin of Spam in my kitchen!)

bibimbap at Arirang in Stockholm

Thank you, tack så mycket Michelle! Kimchi will always remind me of you (and so will Spam!).

Sofia's 8th Birthday

Time to catch up on a few old posts!

October 3, 2014

Sofia's 8th birthday started with presents at breakfast (why wait until after school?!), reading to her class and delivering turquoise merinques for a class treat (thank goodness for my sweet friend, Heidi, who made them... really good to have a friend who loves to bake!).  Birthday girl dinner pick - restaurant Rice nearby followed by 'Anna-Maria's chocolate torte' at home.

this is what happens when you leave your phone laying around unprotected - birthday selfie!

Sofia's new commute to school - too funny that the brand says Atlanta

Aunt Jan reading a book of poems 'written by dogs' to Sofia's class

I love that the students in Sofia's class sang happy birthday to her in - Swedish, Dutch, Italian, French, Korean, Spanish.  We've noticed that each country's happy birthday song is sung in their own language to the American tune... except Swedish which has it's own words and tune. 

class treat - Heidi's turquoise merinques

Anna-Maria's chocolate torte

The next day was the big party, a sleepover and scavenger hunt, with six friends. Thank goodness Aunt Jan, Aunt Suzie and Uncle Sam were visiting because it was all hands on deck!

The scavenger hunt, 12 clues around our neighborhood, was designed to wear the girls out... unfortunately it also wore us out as Gordon and I had to run to keep up with them from clue to clue. Aunt Jan, Gabby and Audra were one step ahead of us planting clues. 

clue #1 written backwards had to be read in the mirror

clue #2 included glow sticks

clue #3 words had to unscrambled

this clue involved buying snacks at 7-11 to eat at the next stop, the cashier held the next clue

snacks on the Strandvägen dock

Fien

Stella

on the clue hunt

Gabby acting as the Drama Theater statue

Drama Theater statue

task - to draw the statue

Östermalms Torg - jumping rope

the scavenger hunt energized them!

glow stick fashion!

6 girls in the elevator

Meanwhile back at the apartment... Uncle Sam prepared dinner, pasta with red sauce, garlic bread and salad while Aunt Suzie made frosting and decorated cupcakes.

Lucy always in position to take advantage of the situation

cupcakes made with American cake mix!!

movie time!

Sunday morning - killing time before parents arrive

Tunnel Run

Saturday - November 22, 2014

The northern link of a massive tunnel construction project in Stockholm is ready to open on November 30, 2014.  Before opening my friend, Nancy J. and I along with 42,000+ people had the chance of a lifetime to run the first 10k Tunnel Run.  An incredibly well run event!

• staggered start times - every 10 minutes 3,000 people would start the race
• no bib numbers, electronic chips attached to running shoes clocked running time
• bands, drums, djs and a military band entertained along the way
• permanent tunnel artwork installations are beautiful (a huge metal tree sculpture, large metal butterfly sculptures, etc.)
• temporary light displays and a winter scene were very fun
• water breaks and a glögg (mulled wine )and pepparkaka (gingerbread cookies) break along the course
• goody bags at the end with a medallion, kex candy bar and drinks

Nancys run together!

Nancy J's pre-race stretching

laser light show

black light lit up our neon yellow vests and gloves

the faux winter scene made us laugh

permanent tunnel art installation

a fraction of the masses

glögg and pepparkaka at km 7