I’ve been developing an interest in learning how to cook Korean food.  I don’t know why I never took the time to learn this earlier, especially since it’s the most accessible to me.  Maybe I resisted it to a certain degree.  Here’s the new year’s meal my family made.  I’m really impressed by the aesthetic of Korean food–lots of blocked colors and unfussy plating.

mung bean pancakes

side dishes.  the three mounds of vegetables on the right side make for a pretty picture.

mama cho

penny being super korean.  little does she know koreans eat her kind!!  haha. shhh, don’t tell any of the other koreans I said that, they’ll get really mad at me.

rice cake soup

for the most part, the catering half of sprout & the bean is in hibernation mode–i predict some sort of reincarnation in a near future–but for every once in a while saeyoung and I exercise a little catering muscle.  Last weekend we made food for the opening of Abject Expressionism at PMCA.  Many thanks to Emma Jacobson-Sive for thinking of us.

these are some of my favorites

broccoli apple slaw

i can’t remember the last time i had a full day all to myself.  i’ve gotten into the habit of calculating/quantifying/managing my time down to the minute that i had to really remind myself to go slow today.  i was walking in silverlake and found myself walking so fast that i nearly kicked the heels of the person in front of me.  i think it’s true that i am somewhat oblivious to the hazards in front of me because i’m just forging ahead.  i’m trying not to be this way.  i tried really hard to do unnecessary things today.  i sat down on a street bench but then realized it was gross.  i downloaded a couple  iPhone apps.  I took detours.  I drove the long way home.  And my favorite unnecessary task today was making rosemary simple syrup.

i’m really in love with rice salads lately.  putting “salad” at the end of any food lets me pretend it’s healthy.  in this case, i’m sure it is.   the other wonderful thing about a rice salad is that it really is quite difficult to mess up.  rice is a remarkably flexible back drop for pretty much anything you have in your refrigerator.  unless you have sea cucumbers in your refrigerator.  nothing goes well with that.

i brought this for a little get together at dear mar’s beautiful house in santa monica.  thank you for hosting us mar!

actually doing some writing with a small something to peck at.

the requisite massive cheese plate

miso green beans

a staple: shrimp and capers

brussel sprouts in anchovy vinaigrette

mom and papi’s crab mold

tri tip

this is how much corn we used

squid in red pepper sauce

eli and penny

saeyoung and minhee–matching

Two of my dearest friends, Ani & Kate were my first guest to my new home tonight.  I’m a little obsessed with the idea of only filling my new home with good energy and I can’t think of two ladies with better energy.

Wine, a little catching up,workshopping, and yummy snacks.  Ani made ridiculously good vegan chocolate chip cookies.  (I’ve eaten maybe 4 tonight)

My contribution was this quinoa salad with grapes, pecan, asiago cheese, and mint.   I always feel like a superhero after eating quinoa and it feels like an appropriate summer to fall transitional food.

I made these cookies for the writing workshop this week.  Weekly workshop is my favorite thing ever, mostly because of the talented ladies whose work I get to read on a regular basis.

These cookies are adorable.  The yellow from the lemon zest, the bright cranberries, the specks of thyme–it makes a pretty picture.

I used a good amount of vanilla extract to mute the tartness of the lemons and thyme just helps that lemony flavor along.  These have been the best cookies I’ve made in a while.  I’m considering the addition of cornmeal next time.

The recipe follows the pictures.

Ingredients

2 sticks of butter

12 oz flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

10 oz sugar

12 oz flour

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

zest of 4 lemons

1 tablespoon thyme

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. preheat oven to 375

2. combine butter, sugar, and lemon zest and beat

3. sift together the salt, flour, thyme and baking soda

4. add the eggs and vanilla to the butter/sugar lemon mixture and beat

5. add the flour mixture and mixuntil there are no lumps

6. add the cranberries

7. spoon tablespoon sized balls onto a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes