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.

Friendship is Magic


We’re lucky to have a few wonderful babysitters that we use regularly.  This is Adara, one of our favorites, in a My Little Pony costume that she created all by herself. Isn’t she amazing?!!

Below is the dress Adara based her costume on–it turned out spot on. She entered her outfit in a regional sewing competition which she won and then last week she won again at state! We’re so proud of her.

Image by Felix-KoT

I think My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is one of the best kids’ shows out right now. Mimi and E both like it and I like watching it with them. The show has actually attracted legions of sincere adult fans who call themselves bronies and have an active community, including conventions. I think it’s awesome.

There’s a documentary out about the whole phenomenon.

Happy Valentine’s Day, Supreme Computer Overlord!

Happy Valentine’s day! We’re keeping it pretty low key today: E is having a party at preschool so last night I dutifully wrote his name on a bunch of Cars-themed valentines and made him some dairy-free, egg-free treats so he would have something fun to eat.

Having a two week-old baby kind of put a damper on any plans to go out on the town so tonight N and I will probably get some take-out, hang out with the kids, and then settle down and watch Jeopardy!

Even though we’re total geeks we actually don’t habitually Jeopardy! but beginning tonight N’s brother Ken is going to be playing against IBM’s Watson computer. Who will win–my snarky brother-in-law or our future supreme computer overlord (or the other guy Brad Rutter)?

Check your local listings and watch to find out!

Watching Veronica Mars

Since I’ve been stuck at home with the baby I’ve been watching more TV lately. In the first few months after E was born I burned through the complete Jeeves & Wooster (loved it!), Firefly (liked it a lot), and Gilmore Girls (sometimes I liked it but sometimes it made me want to smash my head against a wall).

Picking a show to watch when I’m up early with the baby is a bit tricky because it needs to be 1) something not horrible and 2) something that N isn’t interested in watching with me. Since we have fairly similar tastes it can be a little difficult to find something. Right now I’m working my way through Veronica Mars.

I’ve seen about 12 episodes so far and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. Kristen Bell plays Veronica Mars, a 17 year-old girl trying to solve the murder of her best friend. Her dad’s a private detective and she helps him out on cases and solves other mysteries on her own. The writing is decent and since Netflix has the entire series available via streaming I can watch an episode whenever I want which is convenient.

I also get a kick out of the face that Kristen Bell looks quite a bit like my friend and neighbor Stephanie.
Pretty similar, right? Stephanie is an intrepid Girl Reporter in her own right – she’s a Health Department inspector and gives us the skinny on the local restaurants to avoid. Apparently she’s going to be on the local news (FOX 13) tonight at 9 pm. Here’s a preview of the story.

Your ex-lover is dead

One of my favorite routines on So you think you can dance? last night was set to one of my favorite songs by Stars, a Canadian indie pop band. I was excited to see a song I really like get good exposure.

About the song, I like the lushness of the music, the he said/she said structure, and how the lyrics capture the awkwardness and heartache of running into an ex. (Yeah, it sounds corny, but it’s a great song! I’m not really that good at writing about music, that’s N’s department.)

But check out Stars, they’re great. On the show they had to trim the song down for the dance number so here’s the whole thing.

“Your Ex-Lover is Dead” by Stars