sweet persimmon spiced hazelnut cake with white chocolate ganache

just the other day i sent ryan to the grocery store to pick up some tomatoes for the cilantro lime chicken soup i was going to make.  he came back with a bag full of "tomatoes" that were orange and soft and lacked the squeeky feel of tomatoes.  it turned out they weren't tomatoes, they were persimmons.

so here i was in a tiny kitchen, preparing a pot of soup with persimmons at my side.  i had never worked with persimmons before, but i assumed they were often used in dessert-like dishes.  the only reason i assumed that is because i have owned candles that had the word persimmon in the flavor description.

i decided to whip together a sweet persimmon spiced hazelnut cake with a white chocolate ganache.  it turned out lovely.

screen golf

screen golf has become our new hobby.  when it is cold outside and we can't play frisbee or badminton, our friends and us often opt to go play screen golf.

it is impressive how much like real golf it is.  first we usually hit around at the driving range for 10-30 minutes.  there are a set of pretty nice golf clubs in the room to choose from.  often times they will even have the option of choosing lady clubs.

after we warm up on the driving range, we get to pick a digital golf course to play.  we usually pick the golf course that is located on jeju island because of how pretty it is and it's low difficulty rating.  (we would love to play the real course in jeju island one day.)

the platform that we stand on to hit the ball will tilt forward, backward, left or right depending if the ball lands on a hill on the golf course.  there are sensors surrounding the platform that gage how hard we hit the ball, in what direction and how high.

the best part for me is that it only takes ryan and i about 45 minutes to play 9 holes and 1.5 hours to play 18.  this is good for me because i usually get bored playing real golf after hole 5.

it only cost 10 USD to play 9 holes and about 15 USD to play 18 holes.

this was our best version of our "game faces".

ryan needed assistance with his putting.

skiing

we went skiing a few weeks ago.  the weather was beautiful; the snow was glimmering in the sun, sweat was glistening on our brow, and the cool breeze rubbed up against our faces as we (not me), gracefully glided down the slopes.  my skiing looked a little less graceful than ryan's.

i must say that skiing in south korea is a little different than in the states.  since this entire country is crowded, you can only imagine that the slopes were packed shoulder-to-shoulder, ski-to-ski and snowboard-to-snowboard.  it was a little terrifying for me to make my way down the slopes with so many people fighting their way through the clusters of children and adults alike using a slope that is too difficult for them.  every time i made it to the bottom of the slope i would be shaking and on the verge of tears just because i was so happy to have made it down without being knocked out.

the good thing was that it is way cheaper to ski in south korea than it is in colorado, (my roots).  and we were able to rent snow pants and a ski jacket while we were there.  the total cost for our trip was $110 for two of us to ski for six hours, rent clothes, a board, and skis.  you just can't beat that.

larabars in korea

when we were in the states we loaded up on larabars for snacks.  we even filled a good portion of our suitcase with some.  but as it would happen, we ran out.  so we attempted to make our own and we have had a huge success.


above are three flavors.  these are not larabar flavors, they are our own flavors that we made up.  from right to left is blueberry cookie, chocolate lemon truffle and chocolate almond butter.  my favorite is the one of the left, chocolate almond butter- of course.

all recipes make a whole batch.  we cut ours down to half or a third in order to fit in other flavors into our container.


chocolate almond butter bar-  
the goods:

• 2 cups whole, pitted dates 
• 1 cups raw whole cashews 
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate
• 1 tablespoons natural almond butter (or peanut butter)

chocolate lemon truffle

the goods:

              2 cups whole, pitted dates

              1 cup raw whole cashews

              zest of half a lemon

              juice from 1/3 of lemon

              1-2 tablespoons cacao powder

blueberry cookie

the goods:

            2 cups whole, pitted dates

            1 cup cashews

            1 cup dried blueberries

            1/2 cup dried cranberries

method:

blend dates until a ball forms.  

remove from blender and place in a bowl.  

blend cashews until fine.  

add in other ingredients except the dates.  

once well mixed, add in dates.  

scoop from blender and place in a container of choice.  

press firmly into the container.  

cut into bars.

i hope you enjoy and come up with your own signature bars.

            

           

for the love of paper

while visiting portland, (my old stomping grounds), i had to visit my old work, oblation papers & press.  i didn't realize until after leaving how unique this place is.  i fall in love every time i walk through the doors.  since i didn't have a lot of room in my suitcase and couldn't buy everything there, i picked up a few essentials.

most of these cards are letterpressed which makes them wonderful, and they are created by local artists which makes them even more wonderful.  if you are ever in portland, oregon check out this store.

winter reads

being back in korea means more time for reading.  because i don't have a car, my main means of transportation is the amazing subway system in korea.  i actually like the feeling of not worry about a car; filling up gas, checking oil, wondering what "that sound" is.  i also love it because it means i get to catch up on my reading.  

it's such a relaxing feeling to be able sit down on a heated seat, (if i get lucky enough to snag an open spot before an old man pushes me down to try to beat me to it), set my purse on the ground, open up my book and let my mind wonder into another world.

i am currently reading the book thief.  so far i think it is wonderful.  it's one of those books that has amazing sentences ever-so-often that cause me to stop, go back and read that sentence three more times until it has fully resonated because it is so beautiful.  

"he remained shrouded in his uniform as the graying light arm-wrestled the sky."  the book thief

"... she would watch the sky... usually it was like spillage- cold and heavy, slippery and gray- but once in a while some stars had the nerve to rise and float, if only for a few minutes.  on those nights, she would stay a little longer and wait."  the book thief

happy year of the dragon

yesterday was the lunar new year, and this year is the year of the dragon.  we ventured to a traditional korean concert for the afternoon to watch dance-offs, instrument performances and tight rope walking.  all this performed by men dressed in traditional korean folk attire including small hats strapped to their heads and large fans that they waved around during their performances.

this tight rope walker was pretty amazing.  he performed dances across the rope, bounced on one leg for the entire length, walked across with one knee down and sliding his front foot forward, jumped high in the air and with straight legs touched his knees to his nose and landed back on the rope, and finally, (guys, bare with me here because he must have been wearing some sort of special cup down there), but he jumped in the air, straddled the rope and landed on it, then bounced back up turned in the air and did it again on the other side.

meanwhile we are standing in the crowd of koreans and chinese alike freezing our toes off because the high for the day was 28F.  we didn't last very long and ended up getting drinks and playing quiddler for the rest of the afternoon.

below is a picture of how ryan dresses up before he goes outside in the winter time in korea.

we came back home and had a nice meal of spinach and feta stuffed zucchini with a garlic squash drizzle.

what better way to start of the new year with a healthy meal.  since we have been on the specific carbohydrate diet we have been more excited about eating healthy and more cautious about what we feed our bodies.

the goods:
-two hand-fulls of spinach, washed and torn apart into smaller pieces.
-two zucchinis cut lengthwise
-1 kabocha squash
-1 can chicken broth
-3-4 cloves of garlic
-1/2 onion
-2-3 T of cumbled feta
-1 chicken breast, (optional.  we used it cause we had it already cooked from the day before.)
-1 t olive oil



method:
-place squash in a pot of boiling water until slightly tender.  this could take about 30 minutes.  once tender, cut in half and scoop out insides and discard.  in batches, break squash into pieces and place in blender or food processor with portioned chicken broth.  blend with garlic cloves and onion.  place in pot on stove to heat.

-after you cut the zucchini, scoop out the insides and place them in a pan on high heat along with the spinach and olive oil for about 10 minutes.

-after 10 minutes add feta to the spinach mix for 5 minutes.

-scoop mixture into zucchini boats and bake for 10 minutes at 350F.

-pull from oven and drizzle garlic squash on top.

-enjoy

*this recipe make a lot of garlic squash sauce to be used in other recipes.  i am using the rest of ours tonight as a base for a soup.