Cooking Challenge #1: Red Bell Pepper Bisque

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am shit in the kitchen.  I burn pretty much everything I make.  I set things on fire.  I create a mess.

All that aside, yesterday I was able (for the first time in my life) to successfully make a heart-healthy and  homemade bisque (basically just a fancy name for soup.)  It consisted of red bell peppers, onions, garlic (oh how i love it), chicken broth, celery, carrots and fancy schmancy yogurt all the way from Denmark.  Now, you may be wondering why I used yogurt in a soup but believe me when I say that it literally tastes exactly like sour cream (near to impossible to find here) and has 1/4 of the fat and calories.  Healthy improvising at its finest.  You can actually find my exact recipe here if you're eager to try something super easy and shockingly satisfying.

My first successful bisque (fancy soup) creation

Becoming Domesticated

So I have a little favor from anyone that reads this thing. If you find something amusing that i've written give me a lil' comment. I'm a little cut off from the people from home and a comment every once in awhile would sure brighten up my day. Just a wee suggestion.

Ok..back to those Koreans we've all grown to love.

#14: Koreans hate snow. Today in Pohang we got about 2 inches of snow. In the Midwest 2 inches isn't enough to stop a football game or cause delays in travel of any kind. In Pohang its enough to cancel school, cause delays in all forms of transportation and be basically a pain in the ass. The city does not have any kind of snow removal vehicles so what do they use? Construction bulldozers. Yup. Bulldozers. The things that tear down buildings also have the dual purpose of acting like a snow plow. Koreans are ingenious.

#15: Koreans will wear the same outit multiple days in a row. In Korea there are washing machines..but not dryers. The lack of dryers forces people to reuse clothing more than once because to wash and dry it takes time. Lots of it. In America a kid wouldn't be caught dead wearing the same outfit to school multiple days in a row. In Korea it's kind of unusual to NOT see a kid wear the same outfit over and over again.

Today was a big day for me. I went on my first solo outing to Home Plus and didn't get lost. This coming from the girl who gets lost in Indianapolis (her home of 15+ years) and who ends up in Michigan when trying to get home from South Bend (and yes that actually happened). It took me the better part of an evening to get to the store, do my shopping and then find the bus to get back home...but I did it. All by myself. And I bought Sushi for dinner and made rice.

I'm becoming all domesticated and shit and I love it.

Making Rice

#10: There are no gender colors. Boys wear pink. Girls wear blue. It doesn't matter. It is very common to see men walking around in bright "female" colors. Men are very fashionable and wear pants that are tighter than their girlfriends, necklaces, earrings and coordinating MURSES (male purses) just to name a few. It's an entirely different fashion culture here. This would never fly in America!

Soo...sidenote...back in America I am known as the girl who can't cook. I try but somehow I just end up ruining things or setting apartments on fire. Yup. I once caught my apartment on fire when trying to make macaroni and cheese. It can be done. Trust me. I've done it. Last night I decided to make rice. Thats right. Me. Make rice. Drum roll please....I did it! I know it doesn't seem like that big of a feat...okay so she made rice. For me this is huge. I can now make one of the Korean staples. Go me.

First step: Rice. Next step: Fried Rice.

Maybe I should buy a fire extinguisher just in case.