2013 Update!

Happy new year to you!! The end of 2012 went by in a blink for us and the whirl wind of the holidays have come and gone. We have a few bits of exciting news to share with you all! First things first, I have finally finally completed my bachelors degree and certification. It has been a very long 5 1/2 years trying to get my degree done with all of the adventures and moves we have had during that time period. But I am so relieved to be done! And now as equally as exciting, we are moving to Germany in the summer! Up until the last couple of months we thought we would be staying in Korea for at least another two years but things come up and opportunities presented themselves and we are very much looking forward to moving to the EU. I am in the process of renewing my EU passport and still can't believe we are getting the opportunity to live near all of my family in Europe! 

I am also looking forward to being able to blog more now that I have lots of free time between learning to speak German and my new project, cooking through our cook books! I thought it would be fun to blog some of the recipes that I encounter and find interesting. Currently I have just started cooking through Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food: Version 2.0" I figured this would be a good place to start since it discusses various cooking techniques.

 Aside from my cooking adventures we plan to visit and share some of our favorite places in South Korea that we will miss when we leave. I still can't believe we will be leaving the ROK in less than six months! We have knocked a few things off of our bucket list recently that I will blog for you all in the coming days. Until then, I leave you with my lesson in searing from last night:

I cooked with the pan I fear the most, the cast iron skillet. I don't know why I have feared it and left it in the bottom of the cabinet but now I see its true purpose, to sear! I got a cheap cut of skirt steak, brought it to room temperature (very important!), and rubbed it with some peanut oil, salt and pepper. I then heated my skillet over high heat for about 3 minutes, set the steak on the hot pan for another 3 minutes without messing with it (also..very important!) and flipped for another 3 minutes. Once you have seared both sides, let it rest on a rack for no less than 5 minutes, slice and voila! Perfect skirt steak and so easy! 

I chose to pair my steak with a simple salad of arugula, red onion, cherry tomatoes and bleu cheese. I feel that this salad paired really well with the vinaigrette that I mixed up which included:

1/3c Olive Oil

2tb Red Wine Vinegar

1tb Dijon Mustard

1/2tsp Honey

1/4tsp Worcestershire

A piece of advice with searing however is to have your exhaust fan ready because your kitchen will get smokey and if it doesn't, well.. you must be doing something wrong! Don't be intimidated by the smoke but use your judgement to decide whether it is "yeahhh im searin' now" smoke or "oh shit I think I might burn the house down" smoke. 

Let me know your favorite dish to use skirt steak in or if you try this salad! You won't be disappointed! :) 

Thanks for reading, be back with more soon!

xxx

Fussen, Germany

The last stop on my Euro-family visit was Fussen, Germany! This was the first time I had ever been to Germany and the city my uncle lives in is so picturesque. We only stayed for a few days but I would have loved to stay longer. The Alps were magnificent to see and we also drove through part of Austria (which is just around the corner). These photos are taken just down the street from my uncle's home: 

My mom and her brother 

Mom and my cousins :)

Ah, nothing better than a good German beer after the lack of good draft beer in Korea.

My cousin Wolfgang! 

The street my uncle lives on, pretty unbelievable how beautiful it is. 

Fussen, Germany is a very touristy area because it is home of the Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles of King Ludwig. The Neushwanstein Castle was being renovated but it was still breath taking to see in person. 

Here I am with my Uncle Ian and his wife Katarina at the base of the mountain my uncle jumps off of with a paraglide just about every day for a living:

That concludes my travels through Europe, I cannot wait to go back and see everyone again! It is truly an awesome feeling to know that I have family all over the world. But just as I have time to wind down again Zak, Pip and I are escaping Korea's monsoon season and heading across the Atlantic to begin a 2 month long journey through the states to see all of our stateside family and friends! 

I am looking forward to sharing the fun times we have ahead, thank you so much for reading!

xx