Kimchi

 I love kimchi.

The first time a tried it, I didn't like it, but while we were living in Korea, it grew on me, and now it is one of my favorite things to eat. It's just really refreshing. And it has a lot of health benefits too. If you've never tried it, or have tried it and didn't like it, don't give up on it. You may just become a kimchi addict some day. And if you make it yourself, you can keep adjusting the recipe until you get it just right. Of course, there are a lot of other great foods out there, so I'll stop trying to pressure you into eating kimchi. I just had to put a plug in for it since I've got an entire post here about how to make it. :) 

I was so happy when my friend at church, who is Korean, asked me if I wanted her to teach me how to make kimchi. I told her that I most definitely did, so she brought all the ingredients over one morning and we made a big batch of kimchi, which hub and I ate within a week. I guess we'd been kimchi deprived for too long.  It's hard to find good store-bought kimchi around here. It was actually not that hard to make. I made another batch the next week and took step-by-step photos. So, just in case anybody else out there happens to want to make some kimchi, here's how to do it.

*Keep in mind, this is not an exact recipe. I can't tell you the exact amounts of everything... it's just all to taste. And everybody's kimchi tastes a little different and may have some different ingredients.

 The ingredients:

1 Napa Cabbage

1 Asian Radish (optional)

About 2 T. grated Ginger

A few cloves of Garlic

Hot Pepper Flakes

Kosher Salt

Sweet Rice Flour

Fish Sauce (or Soy Sauce)

not pictured:

Onion (white, green or both)

You can also add carrots, leeks or other veggies if you want.

You will also need one very large bowl, one medium bowl, a small saucepan, a cutting board, a knife, something to grate ginger with, and an airtight container that you don't mind not be able to use for anything other than kimchi ever again.

 This is what the hot pepper flakes look like. You probably won't find them in your regular grocery store. If you live in or near a bigger city, try to find an Asian grocery store, or even better, a Korean store. You will probably find the pepper flakes there. I haven't had to buy any yet because my friend gave me enough to make a few batches of Kimchi, but she told me that after you buy it, keep it in the freezer or it will go bad soon.

 After you have washed and chopped your cabbage, sprinkle salt all over it. Mix it up with your hands to make sure that all the cabbage leaves have salt on them. Don't worry about using too much salt... you are going to be rinsing it off later. Let it sit in the salt for about 1 - 2 hours, until you can bend a thick cabbage leaf in half without it breaking. I've also read that before you do this step you can soak the chopped cabbage in cold water for awhile and it will help speed up this process. Just be sure to drain it before you add the salt.

 Chop your radish however you want to, just keep in mind that the thinner the pieces, the quicker they'll be ready to work with. Thin strips would wilt faster than these half circles. Now add some salt and sugar to your radish. You won't be rinsing them off, so you want to be a little more careful with how much you use in this step. You want to create a flavor that's salty and sweet, but not too salty or too sweet. You are going to use the salty/sweet water that is drawn out of the radish in your spicy sauce. Let the radish sit for about as long as the cabbage, until the radish is flexible and you have some water at the bottom of the bowl.

 Now make your sauce.

Put 1 1/2 cups water into a saucepan and whisk in 1/4 cup Sweet Rice Flour. Cook until thickened to pudding consistency. If you want a little more sweetness, you can also add some sugar or honey to it. Then just let it sit and cool, whisking occasionally to keep a film from forming on top.

 While your sauce cools, and your cabbage and radish wilt, grate your ginger (my friend has this handy little Japanese ginger grater, that made it so easy... I want one), mince your garlic, and chop your onion (and other veggies if you are using them).

 Once the cabbage is nice and flexible, rinse the salt off. Taste it to see it if tastes too salty to you or not.

 See the nice sweet and salty water at the bottom of the bowl?

 Once your radish is bendable, and your rice flour sauce is cool, add this sweet/salty water to the rice flour sauce. Again, it doesn't really matter how much. Just hold the radishes back, and dump the water in.

 Also mix the ginger, garlic, and onion (and other veggies), and fish sauce or soy sauce into the sauce. For the fish sauce or soy sauce, you really don't need very much. Maybe a couple tablespoons, but you can adjust it to taste. I don't like a fishy flavor, so I don't add much fish sauce. If you're really sensitive to fishy flavors or want to make it vegan, use soy sauce.

 Now for those hot pepper flakes.
 You want to add enough to make the sauce a nice rich red color. But, the more you add, the more spicy it will be, so of course this step is not exact. Just add a tablespoonful at a time until it is nice and red, and then add more if you want it really, really spicy.

Now for the final step. 

Mix the cabbage and radish together and then dump the sauce over it. Mix it with your hands until the cabbage and radish are all well coated with sauce. My friend told me that it is a good idea to wear gloves to do this mixing because your hands might burn later if you don't. I haven't used gloves because I don't have any, and so far I haven't had a problem with burning hands. Maybe because I don't make mine super spicy.

Put the Kimchi into an airtight container and leave it out for several hours or up to a few days to get the fermentation process going, then store it in the fridge. If you'd rather have it fresh (I like it both ways), just put it in the fridge immediately. Either way, as long as you keep it in an airtight container, it should last for weeks in the fridge. Oh, and just so you know, whatever container you use will forever be your kimchi container because it will forever smell like kimchi... forever. I use a large Ziploc plastic container and haven't had any problems with my entire fridge smelling like kimchi, which is also a good thing to try to avoid.

Happy kimchi eating!

We're Ready!

We've got the baby clothes all washed and put away, the car has been vacuumed, the family blog is finally caught up to the present, and I'm constantly cleaning the house and getting our homeschool plans organized for the year (nesting is exhausting, I tell ya),  and we're so excited for our little guy to make his appearance. He seems to be a little acrobat, though, and isn't staying in the right position for birth. I was scheduled for an ECV last week, but the night before the procedure, I thought I felt him move his head down. I couldn't tell if he was still head down the next morning, but when we went to the hospital they did an ultrasound, and sure enough, he was. So we didn't have to do the ECV after all. Unfortunately, I think he only stayed that way for a couple of days. I'm anxious for my next appointment, so we can find out for sure what position he is in now. I have a feeling he'll be keeping us guessing right up until the last hour. But however he ends up in our arms, we're just excited for him to be in them!

More of our Summer

It's been a great summer, but it has sure gone by fast! Although, this last month sure doesn't seem to be going very fast, but I guess that's just what happens when you're almost 38 weeks pregnant and you can barely move and your clothes don't fit anymore. Anyway, here's a short summary of our summer.

The kids found a slug and decided to make him a pet. The named him Froley. You can't see him in this picture because he was caked with dirt. He lasted for a day.

We got a lot of yummy raspberries in our backyard this year. Once they started getting ripe, the kids loved going out to pick them. Grandpa helped too.

Even my little boy got in on the raspberry pickin' action. But he wouldn't eat them. 

The kids did lots of sidewalk chalk art on our back patio... when it wasn't raining.

My girl made a yummy side dish to go with our dinner one night. She found the recipe in a cookbook, made a shopping list, and then I helped her make it. It was called "Polka-dot Rice" and it was yummy.

We visited the Cologne Cathedral, and got in our workout for the week by climbing about a million stairs to get to the top. It was worth every step, though. The bells actually started ringing while we were in the bell tower! The kids didn't like that so much, so hub took them out, but I stayed for a minute, which was about all my ears could take. 

We had our traditional flag toast for breakfast on the 4th.

Hub and I went to a concert where I accidentally spit chewed up food on the Flammkuchen we were eating before the concert started. It was disgusting, but made us both laugh really hard. We were probably the only people there not drinking alcohol (this is Germany, after all), yet I'm sure I appeared to be the one person there who'd had a bit too much to drink. Embarrassing. Anyway, hub caught me with the camera between laughs.

We went for walks in the beautiful countryside around our village. This was a walk we took with Grandpa one day. 

My girl built a "fairy house." This was a really fun activity. Go visit www.fairyhouses.com for some fun pictures of fairy houses.

The kids got to be little archeologists and dig up some of our stuff that I buried in the sandbox. My girl is learning about ancient history this year, so that week we were learning about how archeologists learn about the past. They loved it, and keep asking to do it again.

A couple things that I don't have pictures of: swimming lessons, and trips to a couple of really fun parks in the cities near us. My dad was the photographer for those activities, so I'll have to steal some pictures from him.

So, that is just a little glimpse into our summer so far. I'm still waiting for some pictures from my brother from their visit. I'd better start nagging him. :)

Laundry? What laundry?

Whew, it's been a busy couple of months! I finally decided to just ignore the huge pile of laundry that needs to be folded, let my boy and girl play (and fight it out) on their own, stick a movie in for my little boy (he hasn't been feeling well today anyway... constipation issues... poor guy, he deserves a movie), postpone making a pizza crust for dinner tonight, and instead, just sit in front of the computer and do some blogging. I am so prone to writing run-on sentences, by the way... in case you hadn't noticed. Anyway, here's some of what we've been up to the last couple of months.

We found out that we're having a boy! I love this picture of his cute little hand. I'm 30 weeks along now, but feel like about 39 weeks. I can't believe I still have 10 more weeks of growing to do. My belly got huge very fast this time. Maybe it will just stay the same size from here on out? Yeah, probably not.

Hub has been gone a lot for about the last five or six months. He was going to be gone again for our anniversary (apparently we chose the wrong month to get married), so before he left, we took a quick trip to Italy. We went to Pisa. We were there for a total of about 24 hours, but it was still worth it because it was a cheap flight and a lot of fun! We couldn't resist doing the typical tourist thing and take pictures of us holding up the leaning tower, only we thought it would be even better if my baby belly did it. Looking at this picture, I'm amazed at how much more enormous my belly is now. I can't believe I felt like it was so big then... it is SO much bigger now.

I turned 30, and the nice ladies of the Relief Society presidency gave me this giant cupcake, which the kids and I enjoyed very much. I must say, that at 30, I feel a lot like this cupcake looks... round and droopy, but full of happiness... because everybody knows cupcakes are full of happiness.

We had this for lunch a few times. Rice cakes with peanut butter spread on top, raisins for the eyes, nose and mouth, and fruits and veggies for everything else. A favorite lunch around here now.

We went to the Black Forest one day, and came home with a cuckoo clock. It's hanging on our wall now, and whenever the kids hear it start to cuckoo, they race over to watch the little bird come out and flap its wings. I was happy to find out that the cuckoo can be turned off, so at night, we turn it off and make that bird stay inside its clock. It's amazing how loud that cuckoo sounds in the middle of the night.

Daddy came home from his final work trip (at least for awhile), and then immediately left again to attend his great-grandmother's funeral. When he came home, he brought some toys from his great-grandma's house that he used to play with as a child. The kiddos especially loved playing with the legos.

We finally put some sand in our sandbox, and the boys were in heaven. They got to play in it for probably just a few days before it started raining a lot. We hadn't had any rain for weeks before that, as you can tell from the yellow patches of grass in the picture. But now that the sun has come back, the kids have rediscovered the sandbox. My girl loves it too, although for the last couple of days, she has been more interested in looking for slugs on the underside of the sandbox lid, than actually playing in the sand.

We watched bees on the flowers. I think the bee flew away before I took this picture.

Snowflake learned how to open the door of her cage outside. Luckily, the hutch was attached to it, so she didn't escape. By the way, Snowflake has been a pain lately, but that's another story for another day.

I turned our unused coffee table into a bench. I wanted to take our rocking chair upstairs for when the baby arrives, but that left us with very little seating downstairs. I decided we might as well put the coffee table to good use, instead of having it just take up space in our house. It's not the most comfortable place to sit, but it works.

The kids and I also painted some shoe shelves that we bought at the hardware store to make shelves for their toys. I wanted to utilize the space under their loft beds, instead of having their toys taking up space in their Schranks (German closets).

One of these shelves was totally crooked when we put it together, but it still works great for holding toys.

My girl made me this sugar scrub at girl scouts one day. It was my Mother's Day gift. I'll have to post the recipe. It was nice.

And last but not least, my brothers came to visit. They just left earlier this week and we really miss them. We had so much fun with them here! I'll have to post the pictures from their visit later because I let my brother handle all the photos, since he had his camera out all the time anyway. It was nice to not have to juggle my camera along with my kids for a change. I'm excited to get a disc of pictures from him in the mail soon... hint, hint... if you happen to read this, J.

Even though it was sad to see my brothers go, we are so lucky because my dad came too, and he's actually here to stay. Since my mom got a job here and will be staying for awhile, my dad decided to come on over and get a job here too. I've got such lucky kids... they get to see two of their grandparents all the time. It's too bad we're so far from the other two, though.

Hub and I are lucky too. In fact, I better go get that pizza crust made so the kids can have a pizza party with Grammy and Grandpa tonight while hub and I go on a date. How great is that?

Just one of the reasons I love my mom...

She's so fun. She comes up with such fun things to do with the kids... like what they did after she got home from work the other day. She went outside with a container of water and asked my little boy if he wanted to make dandelions curl. Pretty soon the older two came over and for the next little while I heard lots of laughing and excited little kid voices in the backyard. They had such a good time splitting the dandelion stems, then putting them in the water to make them curl up. My boy was so excited to show me "this teeny tiny" that he was holding in his little hand. I'm sure that the first time they got to make dandelion stems curl will be a fun memory and something they'll want to do again and again.

We've been very blessed to have my mom living with us since last fall. She's been a big help with homeschooling. She makes up fun worksheets for the kids, and also bought a workbook for each of them to work on in the evenings when she is home. She calls it "Grammy School," and the kids really look forward to it. Hub and I have also been able to have plenty of date nights, and even went on an overnight trip to celebrate our anniversary. The kids had such a fun time with my mom while we were gone. They went to the park in our village with some sand toys and played in the sand for hours. My girl started finding nails in the sand, and she and my mom kept looking and ended up finding 26 rusty nails in that sandbox! The park is a much safer place now because of my mom and my girl. :)

 My girl has been telling me about it over and over again ever since. I know that they made a memory that day that she will cherish for a long time.

I couldn't ask for a better mom, and am so thankful that my kids are able to know her too!

Pets

The kids, especially my girl, just LOVE having pets. My girl can sit and watch them for a long time, and she's always looking out for their well-being. She often says things like, "I think Snowflake wants to get out of her cage. She keeps looking at the door." Or, "It's a pretty warm day. Should we take the pets outside?" Or, "Should we give the pets a carrot? They haven't had any carrots for awhile." I'm so glad to live in a place where we can have these pets. Our landlords don't want us to have a dog or cat, but a bunny and guinea pigs are ok. My girl is so caring and concerned. I think having something to take care of is a really good thing for her. She and my boy each carry a guinea pig whenever we take them outside. My little boy always wants to help too, but I don't think that would end well. :) But before we leave here, he should be old enough to carry them around. Hub and I are looking forward to the day when we can have some chickens and goats, but a bunny and two guinea pigs are a good start.

Edible Nests

Here is one more birds' nest activity, and this time it's edible. I got this idea from Discover the Joy of Easter, and tweaked the recipe a little bit. 

Crispy Nests

1 cup chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips

1/2 cup peanut butter or Nutella

3 cups crispy rice cereal or chow mein noodles

Combine chocolate, butterscotch, or peanut butter chips with peanut butter or Nutella.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth.

Stir in crispy rice or chow mein noodles.

Spoon into greased or paper-lines muffin pan and press against the sides to make a nest shape, or grease your hands and form into a nest shape by hand. 

Chill until set up.

Add egg-shaped candies to your nests.

We used butterscotch chips and Nutella and they turned out really yummy, but very rich!

If you are a better about controlling your sweet tooth than I am and want to make a healthier version, here are a couple of ideas.

Veggie Nests

Cut carrots or cucumbers (or both) into thin strips.

Pile them up to make a nest.

Or

Use the bottom half of a bell pepper for the nest.

Add grapes or grape tomatoes for the eggs.

So simple.

The next recipe is a bit tricky, but can be a lot of fun, and still tasty, even if it doesn't work out and your nests fall apart.

Rosti Nests

4 medium potatoes (you can also use sweet potatoes, and/or add other grated veggies like carrots)

1 egg

1/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons cream cheese (optional, but helps nests stick together better)

salt and pepper

1 egg for each completed nest

Wash and boil or steam whole potatoes (and other veggies).

Let cool and then peel.

Grate potatoes (and other veggies).

Squeeze out excess liquid and combine with other ingredients.

Form into nest shapes and place on greased baking sheet. Place under preheated (to medium) broiler and broil for about 7 minutes. *Watch carefully for burning*

Carefully turn them over and broil for another 5 minutes.

Break an egg into the well of each rosti and broil for another 4 minutes, or until egg is set and the rosti are golden brown.

More Birds' Nests

Here is the second birds' nest activity we did. I found this cute idea at Chocolate On My Cranium. It took a few days to complete because we had to wait for the nests and clay to dry. But you could also use the kind of clay that you bake to dry.

Here's what to do:

Mix 1/8 cup cornstarch with 1 cup water, and heat to boiling.

Stir constantly and let it thicken a bit, then remove from heat and let cool.

OR

Just use store-bought liquid cornstarch.

I think that using some glue mixed with water would work well too... maybe even better.

Cut pieces of yarn or string into varying lengths.

Wrap some bowls or cups with plastic wrap.

Dip the yarn into the liquid cornstarch and wrap around the outside of the upside-down bowls or cups.

Let dry... it may take a day or two.

In the meantime, make some little birds and eggs to go in your nests. You could make them out of clay and paint them like we did (my daughter even made worms, bugs and seeds for her birds to eat), or come up with another way. I'm sure there are a lot of crafty ideas out there for making cute little birds.

Have fun!

Easter is coming...

...and I'm thankful to have so many reminders of the reason for it. 

Hub showed me this video this morning and I just wanted to share it.

All About Birds' Nests

This week, we learned a lot about birds' nests. It was a fun way to get even more excited about spring. We learned about the different kinds of  birds' nests that there are, and the things that birds use to build their nests. Then, we went for a walk and found some nest building stuff to try to make our own birds' nests.

On our way, we met this snail that was attempting to cross the street. Not the best idea.

My girl immediately decided that the snail needed to be saved from it's very likely untimely death, so she moved it back into the bushes.

Meet Mr. (or Mrs.) Snail.

(When we studied slugs and snails last summer, we learned that they can be both.)

Digging up some mud.

More mud.

Lovely flowers.

Collecting sticks.

Once we felt like we had enough stuff (actually, once baby boy refused to go any farther because he suddenly remembered the scary goat that lives down the path we were walking on), we headed home, dumped our treasures on the table and made some nests.

My boy decided his nest needed some eggs so he went out back and got some white rocks. The long stick poking out the side of his nest is an "animal poker... so bad animals won't get the eggs."

My girl also added white rock eggs, but you can't see them because she put a roof on her nest. Inside, where she put the eggs, she did a bit of interior decorating with a pinecone, some dried leaves, and some flower petals. She also added a leaf to the outside for a door.

I decided to try to build an ovenbird's nest, which is suppose to look like a dutch oven. It kind of worked.

While we made the nests, we talked about how great it is that birds can build these nests so well... much better than we can, even though they don't have hands. We also talked about how great it is that the birds can find all the things they need to build their nests in their natural environment, in the season that they need them.

It was a fun way to spend the afternoon, and for the next two days, we followed up with a couple more birds' nest activities... coming soon.