Korean Food

Midlife Crisis List #7:  Try new recipes.

My daughter, Jessica, spent a few weeks in Korea recently.  She was visiting her dad, other mom, youngest brother and younger sister.  I was excited for this opportunity for her to see and experience another culture, but I gave her an assignment while she was there.  She was to find a food she loved and bring back a recipe so we could make it.  I loved reading her blog while she was gone (http://mytravelingsuitcase.blogspot.com/)  and knew what I food I wanted to make, even before she came home:  Korean Pancakes. 

I started searching, and found a recipe on this site:  http://www.maangchi.com .  (By the way, there are several other recipes I will be trying from this site.  They look very yummy!)  The picture that looked most like Jessica’s picture was “Sweet pancakes with brown sugar syrup filling” or “Hotteok.”  It looked easy enough, so I bought all the ingredients and waited.  Finally, Jessica’s schedule and my schedule lined up and I took a trip to her house.  I could have made the pancakes at home, but then Jessica wouldn’t be able to tell me if they tasted right!

The dough is very soft.

We used a generous amount of flour when we divided the dough into pieces.

The filling—Yummy cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts!

Finished product.

When you fry these, the brown sugar in the filling melts.  It is very yummy!  The best part is that Jessica pronounced them a success. 

The website had other fillings.  I tried this one because it was the one Jessica said she liked, but I am definitely going to try different fillings when I make this again.

New Haircut

I am learning new things for this blog--such as how to put a picture in a blog!

Jessica and I had both gotten haircuts, so the weekend we got together to make Korean food, we took a picture.  

Why were we making Korean food?  Check back next week to find out!

Welcome to my Fabulous Midlife Crisis

About a year ago, my daughter and I were talking about age.  She is turning 25 this year, and mentioned that she might want to have a quarter-life crisis.  I laughed, and said maybe I should have a midlife crisis because I would be turning 50.  The conversation that followed was filled with laughter and planning—because a well-planned crisis is the best kind!  And so, my midlife crisis—and the list that goes with it—was born.

#1 on my list: Quit ALL my jobs.

I had never intended to have multiple jobs; it just sort of happened.  It started with a teaching job to support my family.  Then I added a job as Title I Director (working with a couple of federal grants) for the school.  After that, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time and was offered a job as Adjunct faculty for the local community college. Since it was something I was excited about and it didn’t take too much time from my family, I accepted the job.  A few years later, becoming a Math and Language Arts Curriculum Trainer became an option, and I started doing that.  Finally, I got a summer job at a convenience store.    For every extra job I got, I thought about it.  If I thought, “That sounds like fun!” my answer was usually, “Yes, I will take the job!”  I was having a lot of fun doing a wide variety of jobs.  My life was very full, but it was full of things I enjoyed. 

This last school year, it seemed like several things in my life expanded, and I was left with an extremely over-filled life.  Something had to give—so I gave up all of the jobs!  I now have one job, which started in August.  Even with driving 40 minutes to work instead of the 7 minutes I have been driving, l have been getting home two or three hours earlier than I did last year.  I am having fun with the new adventure!

#2 on my list:  Cut off all my hair.

I have never had short hair, but I decided it was time to try something new.  My hair is thin and fine, and by the end of the day, it just felt messy and stringy!  When I woke up in the morning, my hair would be wrapped around my neck like it was trying to strangle me in my sleep!  I made an appointment with someone I didn’t know and now my hair is very short.  I don’t know why I didn’t get it cut this short sooner!  It still takes me less than 5 minutes to do it in the morning (a prerequisite for any haircut for me) and I don’t hate it at the end of the day!

These are only the first two things on my list.  I plan to have a very full, fun midlife crisis.  Stay tuned for the adventure!