Apricot Blossoms/杏花/살구 꽃.

At the entrance of my apartment, there is one apricot tree. Here are the apricot blossoms~~
在我家组屋的入口处，有一棵杏树，与您分享杏花之美姿~~


The flowers are 2–4.5 cm (0.8–1.8 in) in diameter, with five white to pinkish petals; they are produced singly or in pairs in early spring before the leaves. (source: wikipedia)

The apricot is a small tree, 8–12 m (26–39 ft) tall, with a trunk up to 40 cm (16 in) in diameter and a dense, spreading canopy. The leaves are ovate, 5–9 cm (2.0–3.5 in) long and 4–8 cm (1.6–3.1 in) wide, with a rounded base, a pointed tip and a finely serrated margin.(source: wikipedia)

                                                                             Apricot tree~~

Peach blossoms / 桃花 / 복숭아 꽃.

Dear friends, do you like to eat peach ? Share with you the flowers of peach~~
亲爱的朋友们， 您可喜欢吃桃子 ？ 与您分享桃花~~
(The following sources are from wikipedia )

The flowers are produced in early spring before the leaves; they are solitary or paired, 2.5–3 cm diameter, pink, with five petals.

The number of flowers on a peach tree are typically thinned out, because if the full number of peaches mature on a branch, they are under-sized and lacking in flavor. Fruits are thinned midway in the season by commercial growers. Fresh peaches are easily bruised, and do not store well. They are most flavorful when they ripen on the tree and are eaten the day of harvest

In Korea, peaches have been cultivated from ancient times. According to Samguk Sagi, peach trees were planted during the Three Kingdoms of Korea period, and Sallim gyeongje also mentions cultivation skills of peach trees. The peach is seen as the fruit of happiness, riches, honours and longevity. The rare peach with double seeds is seen as a favorable omen of a mild winter. It is one of the ten immortal plants and animals, so peaches appear in many minhwa (folk paintings). Peaches and peach trees are believed to chase away spirits, so peaches are not placed on tables for jesa (ancestor veneration), unlike other fruits.

Peach and nectarines are the same species, even though they are regarded commercially as different fruits. In contrast to peaches, whose fruits present the characteristic fuzz on the skin, nectarines are characterized by the absence of fruit-skin trichomes (fuzz-less fruit); genetic studies suggest nectarines are produced due to a recessive allele, whereas peaches are produced from a dominant allele for fuzzy skin

It was in an orchard of flowering peach trees that Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei took an oath of brotherhood in the opening chapter of the classic Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Another peach forest,

A peach tree in blossom, near the weekend farm in Gwangyo, Suwon city.

Apple Flowers/苹果花/사과 꽃...16th Apr 2016.

                                            The proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away",

Dear friends , share with you these apple flowers ! I took this pictures while I was on the way to the weekend farm in Gwangyo, at Suwon city.
亲爱的朋友们，与您分享苹果花的照片。摄于一苹果园，在前往位于水原市，光桥周末农场途中。


                                              

Blossoms are produced in spring simultaneously with the budding of the leaves, and are produced on spurs and some long shoots. The 3 to 4 cm (1.2 to 1.6 in) flowers are white with a pink tinge that gradually fades, five petaled, with an inflorescence consisting of a cyme with 4–6 flowers. The central flower of the inflorescence is called the "king bloom"; it opens first, and can develop a larger fruit （ source: wikipedia)

                                              

                                               A small apple orchard in Gwangyo,at Suwon city.

In ancient Greece, to be sacred to Aphrodite, and to throw an apple at someone was to symbolically declare one's love; and similarly, to catch it was to symbolically show one's acceptance of that love. An epigram claiming authorship by Plato states:
I throw the apple at you, and if you are willing to love me, take it and share your girlhood with me; but if your thoughts are what I pray they are not, even then take it, and consider how short-lived is beauty.
— Plato, Epigram VII ( source : wikipedia)

Dear friends, if you are in Korea, please don't miss the chance to taste the apples in Korea ~~

"Kko Mak Jjim " / Seasoned Blood Cockle / 酱淋血蚶/꼬막찜

In Korean,  꼬막 " Kko Mak " is Blood Cockle or Blood Clam. The blood cockle is the main  variety raised in  , in Jeollanam Do Province전라남도. 

Tegillarca granosa (also known as Anadara granosa) is a species of ark clam known as the blood cockle or blood clam due to the red haemoglobin liquid inside the soft tissues. 

在韩文，꼬막 " Kko Mak "是 “血蚶”（Blood cockle， blood clam）。位于韩国全罗南道的별교읍 (Beolgyo-eup , 筏橋邑）是盛产血蚶的地方。
泥蚶（Tegillarca granosa, Anadara granosa），又名“血蚶”（Blood cockle），英文俗称Ark shell
(source: wikipedia)

Dear friends, would you like to taste this blood cockle with the soybean sauce or the vinegar-red pepper sauce ?
朋友们，您喜欢酱淋血蚶， 还是沾上韩式醋辣椒酱来享用呢 ？

Soak the blood cockles in the salt water, the purpose is to spit out the sand.
将血蚶浸泡在水中，目的是除去其壳内的泥沙。

Boil the blood cockles in the boiling water, quick boiling; remove from the water when it start to open.
在热水中轻拌，当壳开始打开时， 马上从水中取出。

                                     Ingredients for making the sauce
                                     酱料材料

Ingredients :
Blood cockles 2 kg
salt ( for soaking the blood cockles ) 1 Tsp

Sauce (1):
Korean soybean sauce 2 Tsp
Broth from boiling the blood cockles   4 Tsp
green pepper 2 pieces
minced garlic 1 1/2 Tsp
red pepper powder 2 tsp
roasted sesame seeds 1 Tsp

Sauce (2)
Vinegar-Korean red pepper sauce :
Korean red pepper paste 1 Tsp
Red pepper powder 1 Tsp
Chinese plum syrup / or corn syrup 2 Tsp
Sesame oil 1 Tsp
Vinegar 1 Tsp
Roasted sesame seeds 1 tsp
Minced garlic 1 tsp

Method :
1. Scrub the blood cockles in cold water ，wash it clean.

2. Soak the blood cockles in salted water for about 1 hour, wash it clean.

3. Boil a wok of  water, add in the blood cockles, quick- boiling; remove from the boiling water  when they start to open.

4. Please don't throw away all the boiling water/broth, keep about 4 Tsp for making the sauce.

5. Remove one of the shells, make sure that there is no sand/ mud remains on the fresh. Repeat the same process for all the blood cockles.

6. Put all the ingredients in a bowl, to mix it well for making the sauce.

7. Place all the blood cockles on the dish and garnish with the sauce. Or you may eat it by dipping the vinegar- Korean red pepper sauce..

材料：
血蚶 2  kg
盐 ( 用来浸泡 血蚶的）  1 Tsp

酱料 (1)
韩式酱清 2 Tsp
血蚶上汤 4  Tsp
青辣椒 2 条
蒜蓉 1 1/2 Tsp
辣椒粉 2 tsp
芝麻 1 Tsp

酱料 (2)
韩式醋辣椒酱:
韩式辣椒酱 1 Tsp
辣椒粉 1 Tsp
梅汁 或麦芽糖 2 Tsp
麻油 1 Tsp
醋 1 Tsp
芝麻 1 tsp
蒜蓉 1 tsp



做法 ：
1. 在清水中不断搓摩血蚶， 洗净。

2. 在盐水中浸泡 1 小时， 洗净。。

3. 在热水中轻拌，当壳开始打开时， 马上从水中取出。

4. 请不要全扔掉那些热水/上汤， 留 4  Tsp， 用来调酱料。

5. 除去血蚶的其中一片壳， 确定没泥沙留下。 重复这步骤，直到将所有的血蚶处理好。

6. 在一碗内，放入所有的材料，拌均匀。

7. 将血蚶排放在碟子上，在享用前淋上酱料。 或者，您可以沾上韩式醋辣椒酱。