Korean Pancakes

When I opened the box from Sophia, this was one of the things I was most excited about. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect. I saw "Hot" and I saw "Sweet." I thought it would be like a sweet batter with a spicy filling.

The photos on the back are adorable. Why can't our American packages have cute little cartoons showing us how to cook each step!?

I saw the brown spoonful of filling and thought perhaps some sort of bean paste?

Well, needless to say, I was wrong! First, you mixed water, an included packet of yeast, and the pancake mix in a bowl and kneaded for 5 minutes. You rolled this mixture into 10 balls.

Next, you rolled out the dough into your hand, put a spoonful of the mixture, and sealed it. You placed it in a hot pan with a little oil. After the bottom browned, you were instructed to flip it over and mash it with a spatula. Then, you cooked each side an additional 1-2 minutes.

I anxiously broke into the first one and promptly burnt my mouth on the molten hot filling. Turns out, it is like a cinnamon sugar mixture. It melts down to this gooey, maple syrup kind of jam with little bits of nuts in it. Sinfully delicious! Thank you, Sophia!

Welcome Package

Sorry guys, it's been crazy around here lately.

Johnny and I packed the moving truck with help from our friend Goran on Wednesday and Thursday. Friday we left a lot later than expected and drove all day and night from IL to NC. We got here about 10am with a 16' moving truck and my Jeep on a car tow behind.

We rented a 16x20' storage unit and unloaded everything into there. At this point we'd been up about 36 hours. It was exhausting. Some of the stuff I moved into my parents' house, where I'll be staying for a couple of weeks. It's a confusing, scattered mess. Some of my stuff is in IL, some is in the storage unit, and some is thrown in boxes and suitcases around here.

I heard from work I didn't have to start until Friday, the 10th, so I took a short road trip to my God daughter's house, about 3 hours from here. It was so nice to be close enough to family and friends for a change!

Now I'm back at my parents' house, but the A/C upstairs is on the fritz. One second it'll be nice and cool, then without any warning it won't come on and raise up to a blistering 88F! I moved into their downstairs guest room, so now my stuff is scattered even MORE.

I'm using my mom's laptop to post this. Hopefully the apartment will be ready soon and then I'll be able to sort through my stuff, officially unpack, and hook up MY computer. Thanks for hanging in there through all this!

Sophia, the sweetheart that she is, sent me a care package to my parents' house. It was here waiting for me on the table when I got back from visiting my God daughter.

I was just expecting these - fruit chews she had a photo of on Facebook.

But no, she sent a whole slew of goodies!

Also soup, which I broke into right away for lunch. It was spicy, I went through three tissues while eating it! So delicious, and had a separate vegetable packet, not like our Americanized ramen!

Thank you Sophia, you rock!

I'll try to be better about posting! Either from my mom's laptop, possibly my iPhone (if I can figure it out), and definitely my computer once I get it hooked up.

I have a lot to show you guys! The house photos, pictures from my trip, and of course food!!

Valentine Sweet Swap

Laura of Hey What's for Dinner, Mom? proposed a home made Valentine's exchange between a handful of bloggers! I enjoy being crafty and receiving mail, so I happily said yes!

My doily Valentine from Laura!

My paper art valentine from Monica of Lick the Bowl Good!

Thanks guys!

It was fun to re-visit an old favorite of making Valentine's by hand, which I haven't done in ages!

Green White Elephant Gift Exchange!

A few weeks ago, Laura at Hey What's for Dinner, Mom? proposed a blogger gift exchange. But this just wasn't any blogger gift exchange. This was a green white elephant gift exchange!

White elephant gifts are those that you were given and cannot use yourself. Why hang onto something that isn't your style, when somebody else might love it!? Green because we're re-using something and giving it a new, appreciative home instead of letting it go to waste!

I loved the idea and emailed Laura the answers to the 5 questions she asked of all participants so we'd know each other a little better. In a few days I was given my recipient, Cole of All the Small Stuff! A new blogger I'd never heard of, so I was excited. Off I tip-toed to her blog and spent a few days reading and getting to know her better. She's a really sweet girl with adorable puppies, amusing, endearing stories, and friendly recipes! I packaged up a box for her and her puppies and sent it on its way! You'll have to head on over to her blog to see what I gave her!

Now, lucky me, somehow scored Laura as MY exchange benefactor! I got my box the same day as my giveaway win, but had to keep quiet about it until now! Boy, was that tough!

Loaded in the box for me was a pie tin with holes for a crispy crust, apricot preserves, a mini funnel, VIA instant coffee packets, mints and a silicone baster, brush, injector all-in-one guy! Again, Laura showed eerie mind-reader abilities in her gift giving!! I was secretly browsing Bed Bath and Beyond and Amazon for silicone brushes and tools!

Corky received two bags of Newman's Own doggie treats from Laura's dog, Cami! I tried desperately to capture a picture of him as I opened these and brought them in the kitchen to no avail. He kept turning out as a little blur of energy as he jumped, sat and pawed wildly, and did his signature "spin" for a trick. He knew there was something in it for him, clearly!


Now, let's focus on this for a minute! When I first opened the box, I saw a wrapped present that said "To: Johnny, From: Laura" I tossed it to him to open and after getting over the excited confusion that he got something out of it, too, he opened to find this! The knork! I instantly knew what it was. In case you don't know, here's the explanation:


Get it!? Like a knife built into a fork = knork! Fantastic! I knew what it was because I was contemplating getting it for him! I'm telling you - MIND-READING ABILITIES! I even had it bookmarked, I'm not pulling your legs!


(Yes, I know I have odd categorizing for my bookmarks, but hey, it works for me! ie: "shopping" is the folder where I put cool sites for future reference, or specific items I have in mind for people's gifts.)

Thank you so much, Laura! Not only for hosting this fun exchange, but also for being my gift giver! It was such a blast to participate in, and I got to swap a box of not-so-me goodies for a box of eerily-perfect goodies!