6 Things About Korean Food Culture (w/ Video)

In my 5 day trip to Korea, I learned new things about this country that I wouldn't have learned if I didn't have a local travelling with me. My favorite part is hearing the local's perspective on the city of Seoul and their way of life, other than reading about it from a tour book. This is a piece not about great food in Korea (I don't need to explain that any further, it's good!) but about the interesting things I noticed about food culture in Korea. Here are six (not five!) fun things about food in Korea.

1. Koreans share everything during a meal...your spoon, my spoon, our soup.

Chinese Couplet Cookies Remake! With video and revised recipe. 春聯餅乾食譜

It’s that wonderful time of the year again. No, not Christmas, but Chinese New Year. In some cultures and places, Christmas may be the most important celebration; in Chinese culture, it’s Chinese New Year. You can also call it Lunar New Year since it’s the new year based on the Lunar calendar, meaning the date changes every year, or you can call it Spring Festival. It’s a time where families get together and relatives travel from afar to gather at usually the house of the most elder person in the family. In my case, it’s my paternal grandparent’s house. It’s a time when you can buy all that junk food and eat it, get money without working (this only applies to the youngsters), eat all day, watch TV specials, and hang out with all your cousins. It’s a time when stores blast that New Year’s music, big sales happen, red colored décor starts appearing everywhere. If you’re lucky you get a five day vacation to eat and drink and play cards and give money to kids. The center of all of it however, is family.

Cream Puff Video from Last Year Posted Now...Why?

I made a batch of cream puffs, and decided to make a serious video while making them. Meaning I spent time putting on some makeup, taking out my tripod, and deleting files from my phone to make space for the long video files to come. It's been about three months since I uploaded that video to YouTube, but until today did I make it public.

Mel Makes Apple Pie (Video)

Apple pie, what could be more classic American. If I had to pick one baked good to represent America, it would be Apple Pie. Actually, maybe it would be a tie with the chocolate chip cookie. For the coming Thanksgiving, I went in to pie baking mode and had to peel and chop 16 apples. But the pie turned out so nicely so it's all worth it. I made a video about pie making fun and you should watch it (and like my FB page).

Soybean Milk Recipe (with Video)

I love soybean milk. I used to have every morning, sometimes I like it so much I get for lunch, too. I've read a lot about the benefits of soybean milk, it's rich in protein, minerals, vitamins, and most importantly, it tastes good. Since coming to U.S., I haven't really had any good soybean milk. Sure, you can find Silk at your local supermarket, but it's just not the same, or as good, as the soybean milk breakfast shops in Taiwan would make fresh every morning. Therefore, I thought I'd make my own, and it turns it out to be, it was pretty easy, and I am very pleased with my soybean milk, it's just the way I want to be, and when you make it, your kitchen smells delightfully warm and sweet. The smell of fresh soybean milk.

國慶酒會--國旗蛋糕食譜

在美國，如果十月十號沒和其他的台灣人一起過，就像任何的一天。今年決定要召集在學校的台灣研究生，讓十月十號變得不平凡! 想台灣駐各國使館在國慶日都有國慶酒會，但從沒機會參加過。那時還沒到捷克做交換學生時，看到已經在捷克做交換學生的同學在問有誰要去國慶酒會，我也好想到布拉格吃國慶酒宴，但根本人都還沒到歐洲。所以現在我要再次在國外，決定自己來辦國慶酒宴!

Chicago: Bar on the 96th Floor and Chinatown (Video)

This weekend I went to Chicago for official business, but of course I took time to enjoy myself at the Windy City. Chicago is just as beautiful as ever, and I got to sip cocktails and admire her beauty from the 96th floor. I also took advantage of Chinatown for good dim sum and stocked up my Chinese cooking supplies.