Merry Christmas / 圣诞快乐 / 메리 크리스마스 2020

 

Merry Christmas / 圣诞快乐 / 메리 크리스마스 2020

Dear friends, may your heart and home be filled with all of the joys the season brings. Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year ！ 

亲爱的朋友们，在圣诞和新年来临之际，祝福您平安、快乐、幸福！

 즐거운 크리스마스 되시기 바랍니다 ! 메리 크리스마스 ~~

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.

今年的 12月21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.…

Kimchi/泡菜/김치

 Harvested the Chinese cabbages & radishes , made kimchi~~

将收成的大白菜和白萝卜做成了泡菜~~

Chinese Cabbages/大白菜/배추

 Dear friends, share with you some of my Chinese cabbages from my garden~~ 

亲爱的朋友们，与您分享园里的一些大白菜~~

Radishes/白萝卜/무

 Dear friends, share with you the radishes from my garden~~

亲爱的朋友们，与您分享园里的白萝卜~~

Persimmons/柿子/감

 Dear friends, share with you the persimmons from my garden~~

"Chuseok"/中秋节/추석

 "Chuseok"/中秋节/추석

즐겁고 행복 가득한 추석 보내세요~~

15th of August in lunar calendar, is the Thanks Giving Day in Korea, we call it "Chuseok". Happy Chuseok for all my friends~~

一年复一年，又是共庆中秋佳节的时刻，祝贺大家“佳节愉快”

" Chusok/추석/秋夕" or Korean Thanksgiving Day, one of the biggest national holidays of the year。 For centuries, it has been common to see an entire Korean family sitting around kneading " songpyeon"( a form of tteok or rice cake) while chatting happily,just one or two days before celebrating this holiday.

"Songpyeon/송편/松糕“ is a stuffed "tteok". Depending on the region, some places use potato or sweet potato starch to make songpyeon instead of rice grains. the ingredients used  to stuff the songpyeon also vary from family to family. Some put red beans,chestnut,jujube or sesame seeds.

There are stories that have passed from generation to generation about the making of songpyeon  :

For the mum or grandma， will tell the grand daughter,  " you  will get a beautiful child if you makes the songpyeon in beautiful shape".

For the unmarried, they can find a beautiful wife or a handsome husband when the songpyeon they make has a beautiful shape......

华族赏月饼过中秋，韩族则吃松饼/songpyeon庆“秋夕”（韩国人称中秋节为 “秋夕”/Chusok/추석)，这是一年内最大的节日之一。历经了多少个世纪，依旧可以见到韩国人，在“秋夕”的前一日或二日，家庭的成员们都会围绕的坐在一起，一边做松饼，必变谈笑风生。

"Songpyeon/송편/松糕“是米糕的一种。依地区而异，有些地区的居民用马玲薯粉或蕃薯粉做面团，一般上的家庭都用米粉。 内陷也有差异，有些是用红豆，栗子，红枣或芝麻。

一代传一代，流传了有关“松饼”的故事：老一辈的妇人家，都会对晚辈女儿家说 ”手儿巧，搓个美松饼，将来好生个漂亮的娃娃 “。

对于未婚者，若搓个美松饼，将来会娶个漂亮的媳妇；或嫁个英俊潇洒的郎君。。。

One of the major foods prepared and eaten during the Chuseok holiday is songpyeon (송편; 松편),a Korean traditional rice cake which contains stuffing made with ingredients such as sesame seeds, black beans, mung beans, cinnamon, pine nut, walnut, chestnut, jujube, and honey. When making songpyeon, steaming them over a layer of pine-needles is critical. The word song in songpyeon means a pine tree in Korean. The pine needles not only contribute to songpyeon's aromatic fragrance, but also its beauty and taste

Songpyeon is also significant because of the meaning contained in its shape. Songpyeon's rice skin itself resembles the shape of a full moon, but once it wraps the stuffing, its shape resembles the half-moon. Since the Three Kingdoms era in Korean history, a Korean legend stated that these two shapes ruled the destinies of the two greatest rival kingdoms, Baekje and Silla. During the era of King Uija of Baekje, an encrypted phrase, "Baekje is full-moon and Silla is half moon" was found on a turtle's back and it predicted the fall of the Baekje and the rise of the Silla. The prophecy came true when Silla defeated Baekje in their war. Ever since, Koreans started to refer to a half-moon shape as the indicator of the bright future or victory. Therefore, during Chuseok, families gather together and eat half-moon-shaped Songpyeon under the full moon, wishing themselves a brighter future.
Hangwa.
(source:wikipedia)

Red Chili Powder/辣椒粉/고춧가루

Dear friends, share with you the homemade red chili powders after harvesting the chilies from the garden~~

亲爱的朋友们，与您分享自制辣椒粉。采了红辣椒，风干后，制成辣椒粉~~

 

Common Water.Hyacinth/布袋莲/부레옥잠

Dear friends, share with you the common water hyacinth from my garden~~

亲爱的朋友们，与您分享院子里的布袋兰~~

 

Tomato/番茄/토마토

Dear friends, here are the tomatoes from my garden~~

亲爱的朋友们，与您分享我家院子里的番茄~~