Warm Feet, Warm Heart

Heated bed pads are 35,000 - 115,000w.

There are tricks to living in the cold.

Here is one I've often used.

When I was in Alaska 

I did it with a sleeping bag and a dog.

However, in Korea I use 

a comforter and a heated bed pad.

First, turn your bed heater on a low setting.

Second, take your fleece trousers and a lovely sweater,

fold them up nice and place them where you sleep.

Third, place your woolly slippers next to your clothes.

Mine were felted for me by my Aunt in Alaska

and I love them with every inch of my heart.

But I digress...

be sure not to stack everything 

or make it into a ball.

It needs to be laid on in a line for best results.

 

Fourth, cover the little, lovelies with the comforter.

When you arrive home 

your bed, your clothes, and your slippers 

will be toasty and delightful.

Since most of us don't keep our 

apartments heated during day in winter

this makes coming home just delightful.

It also doesn't run your electric bill up,

so win-win.

Ketchup On Your Chores

Tonight I went out with some girlfriends

to see a late showing of Les Mis.

Rolling Into the house around midnight,

I was hungry so I threw together some

artichoke bolognese pasta

to cure the rumbling tum-tum.

Delicious

Of course, that gave me a little

time to kill, so I pulled out the ketchup

and started polishing the silver...

This is why you don't leave your silver unattended.

No this is not a weird dream sequence,

it's just Thursday night.

I turned the every few minutes to get a full soak.

I know what you're thinking,

"Why are you using ketchup?"

Ok, let's be honest,

you're also thinking,

"Why are you making bolognese at midnight?"

"Why are you carry silver around the world?"

etc.

Since these questions are trickier to explain,

I'm going to stick to the ketchup 

as the weirdest part so... 

Tomatoes plus oxygen eat metal.

Which why you should never leave them in a can

or metal pot in the fridge, and why they say cook 

tomato sauce with non-metallic spoons.

Ketchup is a smooth tomato paste.

It rubs on easy and I use it to also

create a polishing bath

which takes some of the work out of the process.   

My poor babies need a lot of love.

I still need to do the last bit for work 

to really make them shine,

but they are well on their way to recovery.

So remember,

next time the silver in our backpack 

is looking a little drab

just ask the natives for some ketchup.

  (keep in mind, ketchup cleans all metals.

So if you have antique things 

or old crusty metal fixtures, 

this is a safe cleaning agent to try.) 

As for me,    

this summer I'll be enjoying

my morning espresso on the roof

with jam and crumpets.

    

Just because I live abroad,

is no reason to live like a savage. 

What's the matter? Chicken?

A gift from a parent that would never fit in my fridge.

 For folks who love to cook but have small fridges,

there is a secret you need to know.

Are you ready for this?

Hold your breath, it's a big one.

If you buy your eggs from the market

you don't need to refrigerate them!

Honestly, 

nobody outside of North America

gives a rats ass about refrigerating their eggs

because they buy delicious ones 

laid by real chickens on real farms.

So unclench thee buttocks,

get thee to the local market,

and leave those eggs out with wild abandon,

(for up to two weeks)

you aren't going to die.

Don't believe me?

Feeling like a pansy?

Well, just google it why don't ya?

Read all the arguments,

and make an informed choice.

I find that I need the space in my fridge

more than I need to be freaked out

by rules created for industrial farmers

for their frankeneggs.

If it helps you feel more confident,

it's easy to tell if your eggs have gone bad.

Just drop them in water, 

a fresh egg don't float.

For that matter,

if it floats it's also a witch.

All Quiet on Set

In the first season, you will remember

 the main character of My Drama spent a lot of time alone.  

This year, however, the set has been re-designed

to make room for all the new plot lines.

Check out the hot new photos!

Siting Room / Dining Room/ Library

 Sofa by:   Road Side Trash

Chairs and Table by:  Ben's Kindness & Harry's Brawn

Bookshelf by: Apartment Recycling

Bedroom / Guest Bed / Lounge / Office / Entertainment Center

Mirror by:   Road Side Trash

Giant Gator by:  Rebeqa

Wall Memory Garden by: A Great Life

Books by: The Best Cousins Ever

Garden / TV Room / Project Area

Dressing Room / Gym / Brewing Area

 Everything is now in it's place and ready for action.

It's already proved to be more conducive to:

Build-Your-Own-Mandu parties

Creating and consuming home brews

Curio gardening (name per Landino)

Law school crisis management

Just because the space is small 

doesn't mean your life has too be!

(Not pictured: Kitchen, Entry, Walk-in closet, pantry, storage, reading area, laundry)

Seedlings First Steps

Step One: Put the seeds in a box.

 The early winner in the curio gardening category is the Arugula.

Weighing in after only two days,

the light a flavorful plant is racing toward the finish line.

Easy to start

Mindless to care for

Fast to grow

Theoretically self sewing

Grows well in cooler weather

 

Day 3: Substantial growth

Want to know more about Arugula? 

http://inmykitchengarden.blogspot.com/2006/04/sublime-salads-for-those-who-are.html

Ginger Beer, Get In My Belly

  

There is just no reason to not enjoy Ginger Beer in Korea.

We have plenty of ingredients and the perfect pots.

What I wanted:

I want to create an alcoholic Jamaican style ginger beer 

with similar qualities too 막걸리.

So read up on different versions and tested one of my own.

Friday I should be able to test and see how close I am to my vision.

 For those of you who want to try this at home.

Here are a few good resources.

http://www.jamaicans.com/cooking/beverages/gingerbeer.shtml

http://www.trinigourmet.com/index.php/ginger-beer/

http://www.girlcooksworld.com/2011/04/jamaican-ginger-beer.html

http://www.forgreenies.com/how-to-make-old-fashioned-ginger-beer

Things to consider before choosing a recipe:

• Alcoholic v. Non-Alcoholic
• Speed v. Flavor
• Yeast v. No Yeast
• Beer v. Ale
• Strong v. Subtle

The Glasses Are Half Broken, I Mean Broken In Half

This is what I awoke to last Sunday.

My beautiful Versace babies finally gave up the ghost.

After seven years of faithful service, my glasses just couldn't do it anymore.  Of course, my biggest concern wasn't sentimental, it was the fact that I'm blind-as-a-bat and it's not safe for me to go outside without some sort of help.  I'd most certainly fall off a cliff or walk out into traffic.

Thankfully I remembered where some tape was and was able to find it by feel.  After doing the best I could to put my glasses back together, I put on pants and went to discover how bad this was going to be.

As I walked down the street with my glasses all cattywumpus, I pondered how this was going work out when there:

• Was a huge language barrier.
• No current prescription to work from.
• $90 in my bank account

I've actually lived in fear of this  happening for a long time.  I haven't been able to afford the $300 - $500 it would cost to replace my old faithfuls, so I've just let it ride for as long as I can.  Of course, on top of the cost there is always the wait.  It takes at least seven days for them to make my glasses since I require special lenses - how I'd get through a week of school was any one's guess.

So, putting all my fears aside I walked to the closest shop I could remember and tossed myself at their mercy.  Thankfully, I found them full of goodness and grace.

PROBLEM SOLVED: They took my prescription from my old glasses.

PROBLEM SOLVED: The most expensive fancy lenses are $55 ($350 in the states)

Twenty minutes later I walked out of the store with an amazing pair of 

glasses that cost a grand total of $73!!!

Now, I have no idea why they were able to turn over a some of the best lenses I've had in my life in a matter of minutes when, back home, they act likes it's a miracle of the gods to get them for me.  Nor do I know why the super compressed lenses with coatings were only $35 and the attractive frames were only $35 as well.  What I can say is that I couldn't have been more happy and thankful.

New glasses in all their wonder.

Of course, one of the funniest parts is that they gave me a glasses cast that perfectly matches my green apartment.  I guess I'm just going to have learn to like this color scheme.