Monday, January 12, 2009

Our First Attempt at Korean Cooking

On Sunday, January 11th we had our first experience with Korean cooking. It was fun to follow the recipe... and the dinner turned out great and tasted amazing! We can't wait to make this dinner for our family and friends.

Travis is cutting the meat very thinly.
These are some of the ingredients.
I am drying the meat... just following the recipe.
A close up picture of our meat in the drying stage.
The meat is ready to go into the sauce to marinate for 20 minutes.
Doesn't that look yummy?

The flavors were wonderful!
Or course what is a Korean meal without some rice from our good old rice cooker!

Here is what it looked like right after I took it out of the pan. Oops I forgot I wanted to take a picture of it cooking in the pan. Maybe next time=)
The meal is ready and on the table.
My plate!
Travis getting ready for his first bite.
I am getting ready for my first bite.
We love it-Yeah for Bulgogi! I am glad we tried this new recipe. We are excited to add it to array of dinner options.

Multi-cultural Dolls

A Lakeshore 2009 Catalog came in the mail today and look what I found... multi-cultural dolls for our kids! The page above shows dolls that are about 5 inches tall that can be used inside doll houses. The page below shows bigger more real-life dolls.




Tuesday, January 06, 2009

A Blessing of Treasures

We went to visit the Brunner family during Christmas break and were blessed with several different treasures! Before I explain the treasures it is important to know how we know this family. In April Travis was flying to Denver, Colorado for work. His flight was from Portland to Seattle first, and the from Seattle to Denver. On his Portland to Seattle flight he sat next to a family and soon discovered they were on their way to pick up their son, Caleb from Korea! As Travis talked to the family he found out that they live in Portland, used Holt as their adoption agency, and have the same social worker as us ... is God amazing or what?

So the blessing of treasures included ...

1: a babyhawk carrier (similar to this picture off the babyhawk.com website)
This is a custom designed baby carrier for the style conscious parent. The Mei Tai's (Asian Baby Carriers) are adopted from a Chinese-inspired idea that makes holding your little lovely on your front, back or hip as safe as it is comfortable.
2. A copy of The Seed from the East Book
This is the story of how the Holt family adopted eight Korean War orphans. Intercountry adoption as we know it today owes its beginning to this family.

3. An Opportunity to Taste ... Honeyed Korean Red Ginseng Slices

The side of the box reads: Dosage and Administration

1. Frequency of Administration: 3 times a day
2. Dosage: About 1~2 pieces per administration
3. Direction: Chew it well before you swallow.

All that to say neither Travis or I were a big fan. It was super hard to chew and didn't have great flavor.

4. An Opportunity to Taste ... Butter Waffles

These were very yummy!

5. We are borrowing Korean Cooking Made Easy


We are hoping to make Bulgogi (sauteed or grilled marinated beef)

200g beef (strip loin), thinly sliced

Sauce

2 1/2 tbsp. soy sauce, 1 1/2 sugar, 1 tbsp. honey

2 tbsp. pear juice

1 tbsp. finely chopped green onion

1/2 tbsp. minced garlic

1 tbsp. toasted, crushed, and salted sesame seeds

1 tbsp. sesame oil, 1/5 tsp. ground black pepper

1. wipe beef dry with paper towel to remove liquid.

2. Thoroughly mix all of the sauce's ingredients.

3. Place the beef in a bowl and marinate with the sauce. Let stand for 20 minutes.

4. Grill or saute in a pan without oil.

5. serve on a plate.

The Blessings From Our Suport Letter

Psalm 10:14 says, "But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand. The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless."

Travis and I mailed our support letter to 19 different states and two additional countries. We have had a wonderful response to our support letters. Our family and friends have helped us raise a little over 11,000 dollars! We greatly appreciate everyone who was able to help financially. We are still in need of about 7,000 dollars to pay the whole Korea program fee, but we trust that God will continue to provide for us.