One with smiles and laughs.
웃음이 가득찬 주말 보내세요.
We're not growing anything in our garden this year but our neighbor, an elderly Korean lady, is an avid gardener and she is always busy watering, harvesting, re-seeding and hanging to dry scraps of some of her vegetables to turn into soups and other delicious meals. We smell her cooking and it reminds us of our mothers and our grandmothers and those happy dinner time rituals we had in our own homes growing up.
She often gives us some things she makes and also some of her freshly picked harvests as well. Just the other day she gave us two beautiful cucumbers and a bunch of green peppers. We finished the green peppers during dinner last night which we had with some pork loins and one of the cucumbers we had chopped up and put it in some cold buckwheat noodles we made for lunch. Yesterday we used the other other cucumber to make a great summer snack - cold cucumber and seaweed soup.
It's a great summertime snack because of the cold soup base and also the crispness of the cucumber, which leaves a refreshing taste in your mouth. It was my first time making it and I'm always wary of how it'll taste (not that great in the kitchen, but I am always willing to try). I'm happy to report that it turned out pretty ok!
Here's what you'll need (this is good for two people to finish in two meals or four people in one sitting) --
- 1/4 cup of dried seaweed (we buy ours packaged at a Korean grocery market)
- 2 and a 1/2 cups of cold water
- 1 cup of ice
- 1 cucumber, chopped matchstick style
- 1/4 of an onion, thinly sliced
- 4 small baby carrots (or as many as you like), chopped matchstick style
- 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (soy sauce for making soup is preferred but we were out if it and just used regular soy sauce)
- 3 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar
- 2 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds
- 1/2 tablespoon of minced garlic
Directions --
01 // Take about 1/4 cup of dried seaweed and soak it in cold water for about 20 minutes. Try not to get tempted to use a whole lot because once the dried seaweed soaks it expands in size considerably. It may look like you are starting out with too small of an amount, but it will be plenty once it rehydrates. After 20 minutes, squeeze the excess water from the seaweed and then chop into smaller pieces. It doesn't have to teeny bite sized pieces, but small enough so that you're not struggling to eat it. Set aside.
02 // Chop your cucumber matchstick style and put in a bowl. Pour two and a half cups of cold water and add a cup of ice. Set aside and let it soak.
03 // Take your seaweed and place into a mixing bowl. Add your onions, carrots, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, sesame seeds and minced garlic. Mix together.
04 // Pour the cucumber, with the water and ice, into the mixing bowl.
05 // Stir and serve.
It is very simple to make and is quite a delicious, cool and refreshing mid-day snack, but also a good accompaniment to your meals. We had ours at about 3 pm yesterday for a quick snack and then again for dinner last night.
Happy eating, or as they say in Korean, "Jal muk get seop mi da!"
// Recipe adapted from here (Korean language blog site)
Our summer so far has been hot.
It has been heartbreaking, promising and challenging.
Confusing.
Clear.
Sleepy.
Tiring.
Lazy.
From one end of the happiness spectrum to the other end of sadness,
It's been fluctuating.
우리의 여름은 무지 덥습니다.
마음도 아픈 여름입니다. 약속도 많은 여름이기도 하고 힘들기도 했습니다.
혼란습럽고.
또렷했을때고 있고.
피곤도 하고.
개으르기도 하고.
한편은 무척 행복하고 반대로 너무 슬플때도 있었습니다.
그렇게 항상 왔다갔다.. 반복됬었죠.
How is your summer going so far?
여러분에 여름은 어떤가요?
It has been heartbreaking, promising and challenging.
Confusing.
Clear.
Sleepy.
Tiring.
Lazy.
From one end of the happiness spectrum to the other end of sadness,
It's been fluctuating.
우리의 여름은 무지 덥습니다.
마음도 아픈 여름입니다. 약속도 많은 여름이기도 하고 힘들기도 했습니다.
혼란습럽고.
또렷했을때고 있고.
피곤도 하고.
개으르기도 하고.
한편은 무척 행복하고 반대로 너무 슬플때도 있었습니다.
그렇게 항상 왔다갔다.. 반복됬었죠.
How is your summer going so far?
여러분에 여름은 어떤가요?
For a while, I presume that a lot that goes on in my daily life will remind me of Bartles.. just as when Bartles came to live with us, many things still reminded me of Piri.
Yesterday, when I was getting Lady and our guest dog Hank's dinner ready, it reminded me of the times when I had guest dogs and I would quickly get their meals ready and feed them first so that I can feed Bartles last, near his bed so he won't have to move too far. It was when he still got around ok but had a harder time than all the other dogs that came through our doors.
But just as I was ready to give our guest dogs their bowls, I would see Mr. Bartles round the corner into the little hallway to our kitchen. The careful, slow steps and hops, the curious face of his wondering what everyone was doing. He would then waltz into the kitchen and either his legs would give out and he would slowly lay down and just chill... like the only thing he wanted was to be in good company. Other times, I carried him back to his bed so that there wouldn't be so much traffic in the kitchen and I can make sure that dogs aren't eating off of each other's bowls. He would quietly wait there or make another attempt in coming back to the kitchen.
Everything that Bartles did was adorable to me, but at the same time it tugged at my heart. I didn't want him to feel like he was being left out. There were many times when I felt bad wondering if he thought we were excluding him in play sessions in the backyard, cuddle time upstairs in the bedroom or meal times in the kitchen.
I know I probably looked tired while I was caring for Bartles. When one of our guest dogs' owners came to pick them up one time, she took one look at me and asked, "Are you sick?" I wasn't. It was just the lack of proper sleep that made me look that way.
I know people felt bad for me or they wondered why in the world I would go through this trouble. Or why in the world would I put him through the suffering. And I recall the tough days... and those days were pretty tough. But, I didn't mind them. And I always thought that Bartles too never thought his life was that big of a burden to want to just die. Yes, there were frustrating moments (which I feel so terrible about now) but in the end, I wanted to do this for Bartles. I just felt that he deserved it and more. I guess it's something that could only be felt if you were with him on the daily.. every moment of the day. You couldn't help but want to give him more, to give him that chance.
My heart hurt for Bartles so badly yesterday and I cried over the what ifs with him. That's what gets me so sad - all the possibilities that I couldn't with Bartles, especially because I am doing them with now with Lady.
Bartles crying and howling was one of the hardest things to hear because they sounded so mournful and it broke my heart. And lately I've been hearing them in my head. I think I even miss his cries.
This morning I woke up still with a heavy heart. While getting the dogs' breakfast ready, Yangkyu joined me in the kitchen and asked if I was ok. I said, "If someone was to ask me if I would do it all over with Bartles, I would say yes. I know it sounds crazy and I'm getting sleep now and sleeping in my own bed, which is great.. but I would trade it to care for Bartles again."
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