In comic, photographs

Wanted: The Korean Ajumma

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In cooking,

Bread Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Allrecipes.com has been redesigned and I really like how they've added an ingredients calculator. You just plug in the number of servings you would like to make and it will recalculate it for you. Check out the site here.

www.allrecipes.com

Simple Whole Wheat Bread

SUBMITTED BY: Nita Crabb PHOTO BY: MommyFromSeattle

"Simply a great-tasting and easy-to-make whole wheat bread."

RECIPE RATING:

The reviewer gave this recipe 361 stars. This recipe average a 4.8 star rating.

Read Reviews (301)

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PREP TIME	20 Min
COOK TIME	30 Min
READY IN	3 Hrs
Original recipe yield 3 loaves

SERVINGS

(Help)

Servings

METRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

1-1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons honey
2-1/2 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon and 1-1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons honey
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1-3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

This recipe's Ingredients were scaled to yield a new amount. The directions below still refer to the original recipe yield of 3 loaves.

In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In events, radio

Meet up- TBS efm and Seouleats

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In Food, video

Posh Nosh

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In cooking, events

Traditional Korean Cooking Class

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In Food, h

Response: Where to get fresh herbs

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In atlanta, bon juk

More Pictures

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In food porn, hongdae

Quick Pics

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In cooking, friends

Merry Christmas Everyone! AND Welcome Amy!

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In american food, Castle Pines

Make Christmas Cookies Tonight!

Merry Christmas! Like me, most of you are probably working today -- boooo!! On the bright side, a little pre-planning and a trip to your local grocery store can give you a Christmas Eve that's bright and merry!

Want to make sugar cookies tonight? Simple--all you need is some main ingredients and voila!

Toaster oven: Can't make cookies without this staple item. I got mine from Gmarket.co.kr, but you can get yours at E-mart, Lotte, or any big department store. A good one will run you about 50,000+ but you can get a pretty decent one for about 30,000.

My school bought mine and it's a Tefal "Cook 'n Toast." I DO NOT recommend this type of toaster oven. Why? It has a strange feature of a cooktop. Normally multitasking items are a good thing but the drawback is the heat is leached out through the top (plus there's a gaping hole where the cooktop sets on top of the oven itself). It's difficult to regulate and takes a little more cookie-sitting compared to the other models. You can see my toaster oven here: http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=132510847&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=toaster+oven

I recommend getting something that looks (and acts) more like a convection oven. The difference between the toaster and convection ovens is that the latter has a fan to distribute the heat while the former does not. Toaster ovens work just fine. Something like this: http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=116306417&pos_shop_cd=SH&pos_class_cd=111111111&pos_class_kind=T&keyword_order=toaster+oven

Now, once you get a toaster oven, everything else is simple! I used Alton Brown's recipe on the Food Network website because it's simple and yields quite a few sugary beauties! It's located here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/sugar-cookies-recipe/index.html

Here's where the trick comes in: Rather than purchasing a bunch of cutters that you will only use once, roll the finished dough into a log. Refrigerate for an hour and slice cookies to your desired thickness (thick for soft cookies, thin for crispy). You can use powdered sugar for the decoration rather than having different shapes!

You can find everything at your local department store. If you are willing to wait until Christmas break--if you're a schoolteacher, it should start this weekend, you can order powdered sugar and decorations from ehomebakery.co.kr.

Baking in Korea is all about trial, error, and having an open mind. I tried snickerdoodles last night and they did NOT work. Haha, I'm not too proud to admit my culinary mistakes! Getting together with friends is one of the best ways to fight loneliness during the holidays away from home. And, if you're the adventurous type, invite some Koreans over to learn with you.

A pot of mulled wine helps create the Christmas atmosphere to try something new. I hope all of you will give it a go! Check out my blog for pictures of my cookies and more tips on baking: http://navigatingcultures.blogspot.com

Happy Holidays!

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, by Amy

In chinese food, dessert

Quick Pics: Edamame, Jjimddak, and Sandwiches

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In christmas, events

More Christmas Dinners

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In christmas, d

Rocky Mountain Tavern Christmas Dinner

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In Seoul Living,

Surviving Seoul: Living Tips

In this first part of Seoul Survivor I want to go over some helpful tips that I think will help make your lives a little easier. Instead of talking about just one subject, The first part of Surviving Seoul is going to cover a variety of different topics. In the second part of Seoul Survivor, I am going to talk about how to take import your pets overseas. Here we go.

If you have received gifts of kimchi this year from friends and it is simply sitting in the refrigerator in a large Tupperware container, then I suggest you take the kimchi out and turn it over for a bit to let the spicy kimchi juices re-hydrate the top layers of kimchi. Contrary to popular belief, kimchi can go bad; but if you keep it hydrated, it can last for a long time.

If your parents or friends are trying to send you gifts from America, they will save a whole lot of money just using regular international shipping from the postal service versus a commercial service such as UPS or DHL. Now this might also be from other countries as well. Recently, I received a package and it took only 8 days to arrive from America using just regular International shipping and the sender saved almost 50 dollars using regular international posting versus special airmail from a commercial service.

For those baking cookies, you can substitute real maple syrup in place of vanilla extract in making cookies. I know how expensive and hard it is to find vanilla extract in Korea. Also, you can sometimes find real vanilla pods in Bangsan Market that is near Eujiro 4-ga. It is cheaper than the fake extract and you can use the empty pods to make your own extract.

For those with kids, big department stores and many family restaurants have free baby-sitting services. You simply take your kids to these areas. Trained personnel will then watch your children while you can enjoy a couple moments of quiet.

Many Internet and Mobile Phone providers are starting to package their services. You can often save a lot of money simply by signing up for a service that package your mobile phone and Internet plan together. There are even plans that will even package your cable television and landline for even more service. Contact your service provider for more details and get BBB to help you work out arrangements.

Writing a person’s name in red is considered rude so try to have another colored pen available when you are taking names. Writing a person’s name in red implies that you wish that person would die.

If you are trying to have people call you from overseas, then they should dial 82 for the country then the last two digits of your mobile phone number and then your mobile phone number. For example if your phone number is 010 1234 1234 then the person is calling you then they should dial 82 10 1234 1234.

If they are calling a landline then they should dial 82 + 2 + number. For example if your landline number is 123 4567 then they should dial 82 2 123 4567.

You should always get a receipt when making a purchase in Korea for a couple of different reasons. It makes sure that the sales person is taking account for the sale and not hiding the sale to evade paying taxes. It also if you have a problem with the item that you bought then you will be able to return it because you have the proof of purchase. To ask for a receipt say 영수증을 주세요. Again it is: 영수증을 주세요

On Tipping. It’s customary not to tip, but on snowy days or rainy days, I often round up the fair to the nearest dollar or give an extra 1000 won to the taxi driver. It encourages better service from the taxi driver and it’s so uncommon that the taxi drivers will often get giddy from excitement. Also think of other foreigners. If all the foreigners gave a little extra money for their service then they might start treating foreigners better and they’ll start picking us up on these cold or dreary days.

If you want to take a picture of someone, you should say 사진을 찍어도 됩니까. Again, that is 사진을 찍어도 됩니까.

That’s it for today. If there are any other tips that you have learned that have made your lives easier, please contact us so we can pass them on to others. (GIVE CONTACT INFORMATION)

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In itaewon reviews, mexican food

Los Amigos

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, by Daniel Lee Gray

In New York Times, photographs

Pogue’s Photography Tips and Tricks

I thought this was very enlightening and awesome. I love the lampshade trick and the shaky picture trick.

Here's the permalink.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/18/technology/personaltech/18pogue-email.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Dan

December 18, 2008

From the Desk of David Pogue

Pogue’s Photography Tips and Tricks

By DAVID POGUE

It's a crazy time of year to be finishing a book. But in between present wrapping and tree trimming, that's exactly what I'm doing. It's a book on digital photography, which, as you probably know, is among my favorite hobbies.

As I write, I keep coming across these important tips and saying to myself, "Man, this is what people REALLY need to know. I should pull them out into a special list at the back of the book called, 'The Best Photography Tricks of All Time,' so people can't miss it."

So that's exactly what I'm doing. Thought I'd send you the list as it stands today, so you'd have it when you unwrap that shiny new digital camera that you get as a gift. (Most of these apply to consumer cameras, not S.L.R.'s.)

THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TRICKS OF ALL TIME

1. Half-pressing the shutter button (to prefocus) eliminates shutter lag.

Everyone hates shutter lag. That's the half-second delay between the time you press the shutter button and the time the photo is actually snapped--during which your child, pet, or action photo slips away. (Pocket cams have shutter lag; S.L.R. cameras don't.)

Shutter lag is the time it takes the camera to calculate focus and exposure. Thing is, you can make it calculate that stuff ahead of time. Aim the camera, anticipating where the subject will be, and half-press the shutter button. When you hear the beep, you've locked in the exposure and focus. Keep the button half-pressed; now you're ready. When the subject appears, push the rest of the way down. Presto: no shutter lag!

2. For the blurred-background effect, back up and zoom in.

In technical terms, what you're looking at is a limited depth of field. That's a geek-shutterbug term meaning, "which part of the scene, front-to-back, is in focus." Subject yes; background, no.

That beautiful, professional effect is easy to get if you have an S.L.R.; it practically happens automatically. (Dial up a wide aperture--a low f-stop number--to accentuate the effect.)

On a pocket cam, choose Portrait mode. Move your subjects away from the background--the farther, the better. Finally, use the back-up-and-zoom-in trick. That is, stand away from your subjects--the farther, the better--and then use the camera's zoom to "bring you" back up close. Thanks to a quirk of optics, zooming in helps create a shallow depth of field.

You may look like a weirdo, backing way up like that. But it really works.

3. Force the flash outdoors.

It might not occur to you to use the flash when you're taking pictures of people on a bright, sunny day. It certainly wouldn't occur to the camera.

Problem is, the camera "reads" the scene and concludes that there's tons of sunlight. But it's not smart enough to recognize that the face you're photographing is in shadow. You wind up with a dark, silhouetted face.

The solution is to force the ﬂash on--a very common photographer's trick. The flash can provide just the right amount of fill light to brighten your subject's face--without affecting the exposure of the background.

It eliminates the silhouette effect. Better yet, it provides very flattering front light. It softens smile lines and wrinkles, and it puts a nice twinkle in the subject's eyes. (It also means that you can ignore the old "rule" about taking photos on a sunny day--the one that tells the photographer to "Stand with the sun behind you.")

4. Exploit the magic hour.

Hate to break it to you, but serious photographers don't get a lot of sleep. Show me an award-winning, breathtaking landscape--a pond shimmering in the woods, golden clouds surrounding a mountain peak--and I'll show you someone who got up at 4:40 am to be ready with a tripod as the sun rose.

That hour after sunrise, and the hour before sunset, is known as the magic hour. The lower angle of the sun and the slightly denser atmosphere create rich, saturated tones, plus what photographers call sweet light. It's an amazing, golden glow that makes everybody look beautiful, every building look enchanted, and every landscape look breathtaking.

It's a far cry from the midday sun, which creates much harsher shadows and much more severe highlights. Landscape shooting is more difficult when the sun is high overhead on a bright, cloudless day.

5. Use a lampshade socket as a tripod.

Another chronic problem with pocket cams is getting blur when you don't want it--which is just about any time you're indoors without the flash. Yeah, yeah, we know: "Use a tripod." But come on: for the average person on vacation or at school events, buying, hauling around, and setting up a tripod is a preposterous burden.

Often, there's a wall, parked car, bureau, tree, pillar, door frame, or some other big, stationary object you can use instead, to prop up either the camera or your arms.

But here's my favorite trick: It turns out that the threads at the top of just about any lamp--the place where the lampshade screws on--are precisely the same diameter as a tripod mount! In a pinch, you can whip off the lampshade, screw on the camera, and presto: You've got a rock-steady indoor tripod.

People might think you're a genius, a nutcase, or a genius nutcase, but never mind. It works.

There you have it, folks: five tips that can save you from throwing your pocket cam out the window. Happy shooting--and happy holly days!