off to the races

we went to the horse races and did our best to be professional, but we ended up clearing our side of the stands with our loud squeals and cheering.

there was a group of 7 of us that went and we bet on each race within our group.  every race each person would pick a horse with the best record or, in my case, the coolest name.  we collected the money in an empty cracker box and cheered our way into desolation.  every person that was sitting around us eventually left the area after giving us the evil eye for the duration of the race.  

we all decided to make a professional bet at the arena.  we bet 1-5 dollars and none of us won enough to brag, but it was still worth it.  during this race i was pulling my hair, another girl was screaming, and another girl was even crying, God bless her.  She got herself so worked up that she had tears streaming down her face while she was chanting "Go Fly Girl."

It was a day to mark down in the books.

using up the last of our zucchini

last week our local farmers market sold the last of the zucchini of the season.  we loaded up on a few and decided to make as many meals with it as possible.  here are two:

zucchini pasta with tomato and basil

zucchini bread with chocolate nibs

for those of you who know me, i have a difficult time following exact measurements and remembering the recipes i make up, so a lot of times i just say to add ingredients to satisfy your taste buds.  bare with me.

zucchini pasta

serving size- 2

2 zucchinis

your favorite homemade spaghetti sauce

2 T fresh basil for garnish

take a spiral peeler or any peeler you own and peel zucchini into long pieces. drizzle sauce over zucchini and top with fresh basil.

enjoy this as a side dish or main dish.

*this dish can be made raw or cooked.  i put my zucchini in warm water on the stove no higher than the low setting so as to not cook out all the nutrition.  i did this because ryan says that zucchini has too strong of a flavor for him.

zucchini bread with chocolate nibs

3 c. almond flour

3 c. grated zucchini

1 1/4 c. honey, (or sugar or any other sweetener your prefer)

1/2 c. vegetable oil

3 beaten eggs

3 t. cinnamon

2 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. nutmeg

1/4 t. allspice 

1 tsp. salt

3-4 oz shaved raw chocolate or carob

oven 350F and check with a toothpick until it comes out clean (or if you don't have an oven like me do the pan and metal noodle strainer option)

in a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt and stir.

add vanilla, oil and beaten eggs and mix.

stir in zucchini

fold in chocolate nibs.

pour into pan and check with a toothpick after 15 minutes.  continue checking until toothpick comes out clean.

date night.

ryan surprised me with a secret date night.  all he said was, "i'm wearing a tie."  for him to wear a tie is a big deal, so i knew it was going to be something great.  i dressed up in heels and a dress, because he told me we would barely be walking.  to my surprise we probably walked a mile to get from the subway to the sky tram that took us up to the restaurant at north seoul tower.  needless-to-say, i had blisters on my feet.

the blisters were worth it though.  this restaurant was amazing.  it slowly spins around so that while eating, one can see the entire panoramic view of the city.  it makes a full circle in 50 minutes.

our meal was 7 courses of beautiful and delicious healthy food.  we spent the evening talking about how blessed we are to be living in south korea, traveling around southeast asia, having jobs that we enjoy and getting to hang out with each other every day.

three hours later we went to the outside patio on the first floor.  there are 7 pin trees that are positioned overlooking the city.  on each tree are thousands of locks.  couples write their names or a little note to each other and lock it onto the tree.  while we were looking at the trees, ryan pulled a lock out of his pocket with a marker.  so we wrote our initials and our anniversary date on the lock and placed it on the last tree.  ours is the blue lock.

silent disco

most saturday nights there is a park in seoul that hosts what is called "the silent disco."  this disco is silent because everyone who attends gets a set of headphones.  when the headphones are turned on it plays the music that the dj is playing from his turn tables in front of the crowd.  everyone wearing the headphones is listening to the same song so that people who live near the park won't be bothered all night by loud music.

imagine 200 plus people gathered in a park with balloons tied to their headphones dancing around, wearing wigs, sporting blue tongues with suckers in their mouths, and all singing, "and i said heeeeey yay eyy eeyyy, heyyy yay yay, i said hey, what's going on."  if you can't, here is a video...

one of the most amazing things to do was to take off the headphones and watch everyone dancing to what seemed like "no" music, all on beat, all to the same song.  at times the dj would mix a techno song with a pop song and everyone would be jumping up and down singing along together.  it was also fun to take off the headphones during that part.  

i think i'm going to start frequenting this place.

apple upside down cake with vanilla honey glaze and non-dairy cinnamon whipped cream

fall is here.  the air is crisp, everyone is wearing cardigans, all air conditioners are turned off and windows are open.  everyday when we walk to school i see another green leaf the size of my face laying on the cold cement.  

i like fall weather a lot.  i like dressing for fall weather and enjoying fall activities like playing in the leaves and watching football.  but mostly i like eating for fall weather.  warm drinks, spiced dishes, new produce; just writing about it makes me want to cuddle with my husband and watch a movie with hot chocolate.

all this to say, as soon as we took our first bite of this dessert, ryan and i both looked at each other and said, "it reminds me of fall."

ingredients

3 cups almond flour, (its our alternative flour since ryan's stomach had been bothering him.)

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup oil

3 eggs

1 cup fresh apple juice

2-3 thinly sliced apples or pears

directions

heat oven at 350F, (or if you don't have an oven, like me, create your own by placing 1 pan on the stove, place open metal noodle strainer inside, place batter in a cheap aluminum dish from the market, and place another pan on top to trap heat.)

mix dry ingredients

in a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients and pour into dry ingredients

mix all and set aside.

vanilla honey glaze

1/2 cup honey

1T vanilla extract

pour vanilla honey into pan to cover the entire bottom of the dish.

place sliced apple on top of glaze, (i liked the dish better when i layered the apple slices a little so that there were more apples

pour batter on top of apples

non-dairy cinnamon whipped cream

1 cup honey

1/4 cup water

4 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

boil honey and water for 3-4 minutes until it starts to caramelize 

beat egg whites until peaks form

slowly pour hot mix into egg whites

beat for 7 minutes

add vanilla and cinnamon and mix for another 2 minutes

when the cake is finish, flip it upside down so that the cake comes out of the pan.  

drizzle any extra glaze on top.

place it on a plate with a side of whipped cream and blam!  you will have fall in your mouth.

it's a small world after all

when a child is being told by their parents that they are going on vacation to disney world or disneyland, it can be the best news they think they'll ever hear.  walking the cobblestone, nervously putting an arm around mickey or minnie, being too short to ride rides, or too scared, or just fine.  eating carnival food like hot dogs, corn dogs, and a rainbow of cotton candy.  staying up late to watch the fireworks; nothing is better.  

to my surprise, disneyland is not just for america.  this place is called "everland".  it's the non-creepy, non-michael jackson version of disneyland.  and it seems it is the happiest place on earth for children.  so, of course, we had to go.