Author: Faith

TV: Korean Food Made Simple

Our family has started watching a new cooking show which N’s mom recommended to us, Korean Food Made Simple with by Judy Joo.  N and I both grew up with Korean food and our kids love it too so we all enjoy the show.

Photo via cookingchanneltv.com

Each episode features a segment of Joo touring Korea exploring a native ingredient or dish and then cuts back to Joo cooking a few dishes in her kitchen.

Judy Joo has an interesting and impressive résumé (Bachelor’s in engineering! Gordan Ramsay protégé! Legit restaurant experience! The only female Iron Chef UK!) and she’s an engaging host and talented chef.

I have a few minor quibbles with Joo’s tv chef persona.  Sometimes she speaks in a British accent which seems a bit affected (she moved to the UK in 2007 after being born and raised in the states)  If you grow up calling popsicles “popsicles” do you really start calling them “ice lollies” after living in the UK for 7 years?  Meh.

The other thing is that sometimes she acts really flirty, lots of little sidelong glances and suggestive smiles.  But she is the executive chef at the Playboy Club so maybe it’s just part of her professional persona?  I dunno. I don’t want it to seem like I don’t enjoy the flirting BECAUSE I DO, it just seems a little odd.  

Korean Food Made Simple with Judy Joo airs on Cooking Channel and you can find some of the recipes here.

Round-Up Parade

At the Parade from Faith on Vimeo

One of the fun things about Utah is that almost every towns has a summer festival/celebration with parades, concerts in the park, activities for the kids, etc… My town hosts a professional rodeo every summer and apparently rodeo-wise it is a BIG deal.  (Last year I took some relatives visiting from Korea and it was really interesting.) 

There are 3 parades every year (one just with horses, one with mini floats, and a grand parade) and this year we decided to bite the bullet and attend the main parade for the first time. One of N’s coworkers’ parents live right on the parade route and she graciously saved us front row seats.The kids had a blast and went nuts every time a float threw candy their way.

Around the interwebs

Just a few things I saw around last week.

Loved these portraits of mixed-race families.  Growing up in a mixed-race family means that things like this catch my eye.

Crayon Pop, one of my favorite K-pop groups, has made it big and is opening for Lady Gaga!  Here’s a nice write-up about them.  Sadly, Crayon Pop isn’t opening for when the tour comes to Salt Lake, if they were N and I would probably try to go.

The Trauma of Parenthood – I think our culture is starting to talk more about this but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.  Pursue kindness over ideology. For a person whose suffering has been met with judgment, a sympathetic ear can make all the difference.

Our weekend was nice–our town had its been rodeo celebration.   One night at the rodeo I  volunteered in the concession stand slinging nacho cheese and on Saturday we took the kids to the big parade.  I’ll post pics soon!

I want to remember this

My sister Jan and I took the kids to a splash pad this afternoon.

The weather was hot but the water was cold so the kids would take breaks to sit in the sun wrapped in towels to warm up before running back into the water.

My kids love to push each other’s buttons and every day I have to mediate more little disagreements between the two of them than I can count.  It can be exasperating!

But when I catch a glimpse of the love between them I’m bowled over with gratitude that they have each other and that I have them.

Adventure at Topaz Mountain

Sibling togetherness!  (Also, photobomb by N.)

A few Saturdays ago we took the kids to Topaz mountain, something we’ve been wanting to for a long time.  It’s a mountain range out in the west Utah desert with deposits of topaz and other semiprecious minerals.  It’s public land and you can take home whatever you find.

Topaz mountain is in the middle of NOWHERE and about 2 and a half hours of driving from our house.  After you turn off the main road the last few miles is rough going on a dirt road.  I kept cringing every time our minivan scraped over another large or pointy rock.  We had caravanned out with N’s parents which was fun and it was fun to spend time with them.  It was also nice knowing that if we got a flat tire or had a mishap that we wouldn’t be stuck out there all alone since there’s no cell reception.

I had kind of thought there since it’s a public site there would be some facilities, at least a pit toilet but nope!  Both of my suburban kids fussed about having to pee behind a bush but they got over it.  They were really troopers about the whole thing.

Mimi at Topaz mountain
Mimi, now one with the desert, post outdoor-pee.

N hanging out in a rare patch of shade.

We drove around to multiple sites and hacked away at the mountain for a while but didn’t find anything. But then as we were walking on the side of the road we started seeing little sparkling bits in the dirt.

Can you see the topaz
Can you see the topaz?  Click to view larger.

Topaz on the ground at topaz mountain
Ta-da!  (Yeah, I know.  It’s easier to see when the sun is glinting off it it.)

topaz crystals from topaz mountain
We ended up with a handful of little topaz crystals, these are just some of them.

Finding the crystals was fun.  As you walked slowly you would see little sparkles and then if you retraced your last step you could find the crystals and pick them up.  It was like a zen treasure hunt.  Both of the kids really got into it; Mimi even found a bunch.

This is what happens if you ask them for a thumbs up 😉

Overall, it was a fun day trip and a nice change from our usual Saturday routine.  It’s been weeks since we went and E still talks about it.  On Father’s day we were asking him if he wanted to be a dad when he grew up and he thought about it and said, “Yes.  And when I’m a dad I’m going to take my kids to Topaz mountain EVERY WEEKEND!”  So I guess it was a hit 🙂

We’d like to go out again sometime to look for geodes which are supposedly plentiful nearby.

If you go, I’d recommend doing so on a day that isn’t too hot, taking plenty of water and food and preferably driving an SUV with 4-wheel drive.

Wee Wander Fabric and Quilt Patterns

It was great to receive this bundle of Wee Wander fabric I had ordered in the mail.  Mimi fell in love with it and walked around the house clutching the little bundles to her chest–so cute!  She kept asking if I was going to make her a blanket out of it and how can I resist that?  It’s been almost a year since I’ve made a quilt so I’m looking forward to it.

I’m having trouble deciding what pattern to use.  I received a pdf of this lattice quilt pattern with the fat quarter bundle I bought and I like how I show off the prints but part of me feels like I’d like something with a little more room for creativity.

photo and quilt by Simple Girl 

I like this star quilt by Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew and I think it would be cute to fussy cut squares from the prints for the centers of the starts but I’m not really convinced that this is the fabric to make this quilt with.  

photo and star quilt by Cluck Cluck Sew

I think this pattern, Fussy Framed might be the answer.  I like that allows you to fussy cut the part of the print that you want to feature AND that you can cut out two blocks at once so it will go fairly quickly.  Kate’s tutorial looks great and easy-to-follow.

photo and quilt by Kate Conklin

I have some boring sewing to take care of first (hemming curtains, bleh) but as soon as I get that out of the way I’m going to get started on Mimi’s new twin-sized quilt!

Bionic Woman

All hooked up for a sleep study

This week has been a little strange.  E came down with a stomach bug and was knocked out of it for a few days.  Thankfully, he was with it enough to make it to the toilet/the throw-up bowl (we’re classy!) EVERY time.  Parenthood: when emptying a bowl of vomit into the toilet feels like a victory!

On Wednesday I woke up early (5:20am!) and hiked up to Timp cave again with some friends so I’m 2-for-2 on my quasi-goal to hike it once a week.  Who’s up for going next week? 😉

Later that night I checked in to the local hospital for a sleep study.  For years I’ve been sleeping poorly (grinding my teeth, gasping for air, snoring, etc…) and my doctor recommended a study.  Since we’ve already hit our deductible for the year I figured it was finally time to suck it up and get it done.

It was quite an experience.  It took over an hour for the tech to stick a bunch of sensors on me (15 just on my head!) and then I hopped into a hospital bed and went to sleep.  I was so tired from getting up early and hiking that I fell asleep quickly, but I did wake up a few times during the night to toss around because of the wires.  I’ll get the results in a few weeks; I’m crossing my fingers they’ll be helpful.

Hiking Timp Cave

Me with teammates at Timpanogos Cave

Today I woke up at 5:20am to go hiking with my workout group–I know, I don’t know who I am anymore either 😉

We hiked up to Timpanogos Cave which is quite a climb.  It’s only 1.5 miles but it is STEEP, gaining about 1,100 feet.  I’ve hiked the trail a few times but always in the morning when the cave itself is closed for tours.  I would actually like to go inside sometime.  N and I have been debating whether the kids would enjoy the cave tour and I think we might finally pull the trigger and take them sometime this summer.

I’m going to try and see if I can find some friends to hike the trail with me once or twice a week.  As much as I hate getting up early, it’s an incredibly invigorating way to start the day.