Jackie Bear

This is what Jackie looked like when we chatted yesterday. I quite like her new hair cut...

cooking and baking.

this weekend i made bulgogi {korean bbq, recipe below} for carolina and myself. I learned how to make this dish from Darryl and his family. Carolina and I went to an asian supermarket and got most of the ingredients. though even THEY dont have EVERYTHING that was necessary. it was surprising because in america the asian markets are very thorough. the bulgogi turned out GREAT. a bit too much soy sauce. ill put less next time. Carolina gave me umeshu (plum liquor, aka Aloo liquor) it was delicious, it reminded me of my childhood, because ive been eating aloos (plums) since i was little. and I could barely taste the alcohol. it was dangerous. actually im just kidding. i didnt even get buzzed.  then Carolina made a delicious salad with sesame dressing and pomegranates and mango and pear and endives. YUM. then today she made thai green curry. it . was. so. good. Ive been having a really good time exploring the kitchen with her. I would like to do some baking next.
we went to the reina sofia today when it was free in the morning. and now the prado is free, so we are going there. I love our dates.

oh we also went to the hare krishna place (once on wednesday and once on friday). Safe to say she's just as addicted as i am 

Bulgogi recipe:
sesame oil
toasted sesame seeds
pepper flakes
chili oil
black pepper
ginger
garlic
green onions
chives if you want
(normal) onions (we only had purple so we used those, but normally i use the yellow ones)
sugar (normally youre supposed to use brown sugar, but I use what I have at home which tends to be white. some people chose to use honey)
soy sauce (not too much, it can get too salty)
kiwi (for really tenderizing the meat)
chicken or beef (i prefer beef but carolina doesnt eat beef so we did it with chicken at it was great)
rice (or noodles if youre craving that, which i generally am)
kim chi

cut meat PAPER THIN. the thinner the better.
MIX ALL ingredients together (...i honestly just eyeballed everything. i have no sense of measurements when it comes to bulgogi. just whatever sounds like it´ll make a sauce to your liking. If this really makes you uncomfortable though, this is a good place to start.) Also it depends on how much meat youre working with. Generally though a teaspoonish of sugar, and for the soy sauce you just dont want the meat swimming around in it... im obsessed with sesame oil so i generally put more than what most recipes call for. and then with the spicy ingredients, get creative. add whatever you want and however much you want. as for the kiwi, i generally do  half a kiwi just mash it up with a fork and add it to everything else. let the meat marinate in this for 2 hours. honestly, i have made this before without letting it marinate, and ya it doesnt taste as awesome but i was starving. With carolina we let it marinate OVER NIGHT and it was amazing the next day.
start cooking your noodles or rice first since i think it normally takes longer to make that than the meat.
then in a pan just dump all the meat and cook it in the pan.
serve the rice with the meat on top. put some kimchi on the side and let your taste buds have the time of their lives!!

still no internet

starting to feel violent about the whole thing. Its ridiculous the sequence of events that have left me without internet for nearly 3 weeks... on a brighter note, I had SUCH a good time though this weekend that i just had to write about it:

This weekend I went to Chatel, France (a tiny village in the French Alps just outside Geneva). I stayed in an ADORABLE chalet with my dear dear cousin Asal, and 14 of her friends to celebrate her 30th birthday!! I love Asal! And all her friends! She and I are so similar and its ridiculous because we have probably seen each other less than 10 times in our lives. And live across the world from each other and still have so much in common. We just saw each other and it felt like we were best friends since birth. Her friends are all amazing, smart, lovely, FUNNY people. You know how I am about people who make me laugh. We spent all weekend just laughing, drinking, and eating (delicious food). It felt like a dream, and EVERYONE was depressed when it was over and we had to return to reality. I was an idiot and hardly took pictures, so I need to get people to send me some. I'd say my highlight of the weekend was the giant loaf of bread that was taller than me (and wider)...and probably heavier. Ok another highlight was the cheese fondue...

to summarize though, i love asal, to PIECES. i cant wait to see her again. i love being so close to family here, just being able to pick up and visit them for the weekend. this is a luxury i never was able to do growing up in the unites states, isolated from everyone, so i'm really really enjoying it now.
x