"Merry Christmas & Happy New Year "

"Merry Christmas & Happy New Year "

Dear friends, wishing you a very Merry Christmas and wonder Happy New Year ! May all your dreams for the coming year be fulfilled ~~

亲爱的朋友们，恭祝大家圣诞快乐， 新年愉快 ！ 在这即将来临的新年，祝大家事事如愿 ~~

단팥죽 /（红豆羹/粥）/Red Bean Puree " Patjook"

단팥죽 /（红豆羹/粥）/Red Bean Puree " Patjook"

With my best  wishes for "Happy Winter Solstice" to all of my friends ~~
恭祝大家 “冬至愉快” ~~

Red Bean Puree with glutinous rice balls is served on the winter solstice, we call it "Patjook" in Korean.

每一年的 12月22日是冬至（동지 )，韩国人也在这一天庆祝这节日。华族在这一天搓汤圆，韩国人则在这一天煮红豆羹/粥庆祝冬至。。。。

The Winter Solstice Festival or The Extreme of Winter (Chinese and Japanese: 冬至; Korean: 동지; Vietnamese:Đông chí) (Pinyin: Dōng zhì), (Rōmaji: Tōji), (Romaja:Dongji) is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the dongzhi solar term on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest; i.e., on the first day of the dongzhi solar term.
The origins of this festival can be traced back to the yin and yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù (復, "Returning").
Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get togethers (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, as pronounced in Mandarin Pinyin: Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion.
In Korea, similar balls of glutinous rice (Korean: 새알심) (English pronunciation:Saealsim), is prepared in a traditional porridge made with sweet red bean (Korean: 팥죽) (English pronunciation:Patjook). Patjook was believed to have a special power and sprayed around houses on winter solstice to repel sinister spirits. This practice was based on a traditional folk tale, in which the ghost of a man that used to hate patjook comes haunting innocent villagers on the winter solstice.
(source : Wikipedia )
Recipe is available at http://kkimchi88.blogspot.kr/…/red-bean-puree-patjook_8653.…

My Latte Art

My latte art is not the best yet, I will keep on learning~~

Latte art is a method of preparing coffee created by pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso and resulting in a pattern or design on the surface of the resulting latte. It can also be created or embellished by simply "drawing" in the top layer of foam. Latte art is particularly difficult to create consistently, due to the demanding conditions required of both the espresso shot and milk.
There are two main types of latte art: free pouring (pattern created during the pour) and etching (using a tool to create a pattern after the pour). Free pouring is far more common in American cafés, and requires little additional time in preparing a drink.
The two most common forms of poured latte art are a heart shape and the "rosetta" or "rosette"
Etched patterns range from simple geometric shapes to complicated drawings, such as crosshatching, images of animals and flowers, and are generally performed with a coffee stirrer of some sort. Etched latte art typically has a shorter lifespan than free poured latte art as the foam dissolves into the latte more quickly.
(source: wikipedia)

"Beondegi"/ 蠶蛹 / 번데기

Dear friends, will you try to eat this snack from the street vendors?^-^. In Korean we call it "Beondegi" /번데기

亲爱的朋友们，您会乐于尝尝这街边小食吗 ？^-^。 在韩文，我们称它为 "Beondegi" /번데기。

蠶蛹为蚕到蚕蛾蜕变的中间状态，油炸蠶蛹是一道菜餚，是下酒的佐菜。“清水蠶蛹湯”，有養顏健腎之效。蠶蛹中含有一種廣譜免疫物質，可治療高血壓、高血脂、慢性肝炎，並可防治癌症。中医认为，蚕蛹性平味甘，具有祛风、健脾、止消渴、镇惊安神、益精助阳等功效。蠶蛹約在5-15天後孵出。（质料来源：wikipedia )

Beondegi (Korean: 번데기) is a snack food in Korean cuisine. Literally meaning "chrysalis" or "pupa" in Korean, Beondegi are steamed or boiled silkwormpupae which are seasoned and eaten as a snack. Beondegi are often served by street vendors, as well as in restaurants and drinking establishments. They are also sold in cans in grocery stores and convenience stores, but they must be boiled in water before serving. Beondegi is not always sold in the market and is usually sold from street vendors, although it is possible to buy the live variant for personal preparation.(source: wikipedia)

Cookies ~~

Dear friends share with you the cookies , are exhibited at the Korea Food Week 2015 in COEX, Seoul.

In the United States and Canada a cookie is a small, flat, sweet baked treat, usually containing flour, eggs, sugar, and either butter, cooking oil or another oil or fat, and often including ingredients such as raisins, oats, chocolate chips or nuts. Cookies may be mass-produced, made in small bakeries or home-made. Cookie variants include using two thin cookies with a creme filling (e.g., Oreos) and dipping the cookie in chocolate or another sweet coating. Cookies are often served with beverages such as milk, coffee or tea.

In most other English-speaking countries cookies are called biscuits.(source: wikipedia)

Cookies appear to have their origins in 7th century AD Persia, shortly after the use of sugar became relatively common in the region.^[1] They spread to Europe through the Muslim conquest of Spain. By the 14th century, they were common in all levels of society throughout Europe, from royal cuisine to street vendors.

With global travel becoming widespread at that time, cookies made a natural travel companion, a modernized equivalent of the travel cakes used throughout history. One of the most popular early cookies, which traveled especially well and became known on every continent by similar names, was the jumble, a relatively hard cookie made largely from nuts, sweetener, and water.

Cookies came to America through the Dutch in New Amsterdam in the late 1620s. The Dutch word "koekje" was Anglicized to "cookie" or cooky. The earliest reference to cookies in America is in 1703, when "The Dutch in New York provided...'in 1703...at a funeral 800 cookies...'"The most common modern cookie, given its style by the creaming of butter and sugar, was not common until the 18th century. ( source : wikipedia )

                          Cookies are broadly classified according to how they are formed. 

• Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet filling. Fillings include marshmallow, jam, and icing. The Oreo cookie, made of two chocolate cookies with a vanilla icing filling, is an example. ( source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• Bar cookies consist of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan (sometimes in multiple layers) and cut into cookie-sized pieces after baking. In British English, bar cookies are known as "tray bakes". Examples include brownies, fruit squares, and bars such as date squares.(source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• Drop cookies are made from a relatively soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet. During baking, the mounds of dough spread and flatten. Chocolate chip cookies (Toll House cookies), oatmeal (or oatmeal raisin) cookies, and rock cakes are popular examples of drop cookies. In the UK, the term "cookie" often refers only to this particular type of product.
• (source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• Filled cookies are made from a rolled cookie dough filled with a fruit or confectionery filling before baking. Hamantash are a filled cookie. ( source : wikipedia )

( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• Molded cookies are also made from a stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by hand before baking. Snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies are examples of molded cookies. Some cookies, such as hermits or biscotti, are molded into large flattened loaves that are later cut into smaller cookies.(source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• No-bake cookies are made by mixing a filler, such as cereal or nuts, into a melted confectionery binder, shaping into cookies or bars, and allowing to cool or harden. Oatmeal clusters and Rum balls are no-bake cookies. ( source : wikipedia )

• Rolled cookies are made from a stiffer dough that is rolled out and cut into shapes with a cookie cutter. Gingerbread men are an example. ( source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

• Refrigerator cookies (also known as icebox cookies) are made from a stiff dough that is refrigerated to become even stiffer. The dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before baking. Pinwheel cookies and those made by Pillsbury are representative.( source : wikipedia )( This picture has no relation with the narration )

Chocolate / 巧克力 /초콜릿

Dear friends, do you like chocolate ? These chocolates are exhibited at the Korea Food Week 2015 in COEX, Seoul.

Chocolate ⁱ/ˈtʃɒkᵊlət/ is a typically sweet, usually brown, food preparation of Theobroma cacao seeds, roasted and ground, often flavored, as with vanilla. It is made in the form of a liquid, paste, or in a block, or used as a flavoring ingredient in other foods. Cacao has been cultivated by many cultures for at least three millennia in Mesoamerica. The earliest evidence of use traces to the Mokaya (Mexico and Guatemala), with evidence of chocolate beverages dating back to 1900 BC. In fact, the majority of Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Maya and Aztecs,^[who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl [ʃoˈkolaːt͡ɬ], a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

(source : wikipedia)

Several types of chocolate can be distinguished. Pure, unsweetened chocolate contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining chocolate with sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. In the U.K. and Ireland, milk chocolate must contain a minimum of 20% total dry cocoa solids; in the rest of the European Union, the minimum is 25%. "White chocolate" contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk, but no cocoa solids. Chocolate contains alkaloids such as theobromine andphenethylamine, which may have physiological effects in humans, but the presence of theobromine renders it toxic to some animals, such as dogs and cats.Dark chocolate has been promoted for unproven health benefits. ^{( source : wikipedia)}

White chocolate, although similar in texture to that of milk and dark chocolate, does not contain any cocoa solids. Because of this, many countries do not consider white chocolate as chocolate at all.^[30] Although white chocolate was first introduced by Hebert Candies in 1955, Mars, Incorporated, was the first to produce it in the United States. Because it does not contain any cocoa solids, white chocolate does not contain any theobromine, so it can be consumed by animals.
(source: wikipedia)

Dark chocolate is produced by adding fat and sugar to the cacao mixture. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls this "sweet chocolate", and requires a 15% concentration of chocolate liquor. European rules specify a minimum of 35% cocoa solids. Semisweet chocolate is a dark chocolate with a low sugar content. Bittersweet chocolate is chocolate liquor to which some sugar (typically a third), more cocoa butter, vanilla, and sometimes lecithin have been added. It has less sugar and more liquor than semisweet chocolate, but the two are interchangeable in baking. ( source : wikipedia)

Apples From Korea / 韩国之苹果 /사과

Dear friends, share with you the apples from Korea. These apples are exhibited at the Korea Food Week in COEX ,Seoul.

The proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away", addressing the health effects of the fruit, dates from 19th century Wales according to Caroline Taggart, author of “An Apple a Day: Old-Fashioned Proverbs and Why They Still Work.” The original phrase, Taggart said, was, ‘‘Eat an apple on going to bed, and you’ll keep the doctor from earning his bread.” In the 19th century and early 20th, the phrase evolved to “an apple a day, no doctor to pay” and “an apple a days sends the doctor away,” while the phrasing now commonly used was first recorded in 1922 ( source : wikipedia)

Persimmon Chips / 柿子片 / 감말랭이

Autumn is the harvest season for persimmons ~~ Persimmons are eaten fresh, dried etc. Today, I am going to share with you these persimmon chips. In Korean, we call persimmon as " Gam" and persimmon chips as "  Gammallaengi"

秋季是柿子丰收的季节~~ 柿子可以拿来生吃或乾吃，等吃法。 今天，与您分享这柿子片。 在韩文，柿子的发音是 “Gam”，柿子片是 “  Gammallaengi"

Persimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or cooked. When eaten fresh, they are usually eaten whole like an apple or cut into quarters, though with some varieties, it is best to peel the skin first. One way to consume very ripe persimmons, which can have a very soft texture, is to remove the top leaf with a paring knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Riper persimmons can also be eaten by removing the top leaf, breaking the fruit in half and eating from the inside out. The flesh ranges from firm to mushy, and the texture is unique. The flesh is very sweet and when firm due to being unripe, possesses an apple-like crunch. American persimmons and diospyros digyna are completely inedible until they are fully ripe.

In China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam after harvesting, 'Hachiya' persimmons are prepared using traditional hand-drying techniques, outdoors for two to three weeks. The fruit is then further dried by exposure to heat over several days before being shipped to market. In Japan the dried fruit is called hoshigaki (干し柿), in China it is known as "shìbǐng" (柿饼), in Korea it is known as gotgam (hangul: 곶감), and in Vietnam it is called hồng khô. It is eaten as a snack or dessert and used for other culinary purposes.

In Korea, dried persimmon fruits are used to make the traditional Korean spicy punch, sujeonggwa, while the matured, fermented fruit is used to make a persimmon vinegar called gamsikcho (감식초).

In Taiwan, fruits of astringent varieties are sealed in jars filled with limewater to get rid of bitterness. Slightly hardened in the process, they are sold under the name "crisp persimmon" (cuishi 脆柿) or "water persimmon" (shuishizi 水柿子). Preparation time is dependent upon temperature (5 to 7 days at 25–28 °C (77–82 °F)). In some areas of Manchuria and Korea, the dried leaves of the fruit are used for making tea. The Korean name for this tea is ghamnip cha (감잎차).

(source : Wikipedia )

                     Put the sliced persimmons on the dehydrator, to dehydrate ~~

                     将切好的柿子片放在食物烘干机上， 将柿子片风干 ~~

                         Should not chose those ripe and soft persimmons ~~

                         不应该选那些已熟或软绵绵的柿子~~