1. Wrote 691 Blog Posts on Seouleats.com
2. Appeared on 48 episodes of the Steve Hatherly Show for TBS eFM.
3. Was the dining editor for Eloquence Magazine for 5 months.
4. Became the dining editor for Groove Magazine.
5. Appeared in an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.
6. Helped organize and market the 7th Annual Tteok Festival in Seoul for Dr. Yoon Sook-ja.
7. Met Chef Rachel Yang when she came to the Tteok Festival
8. Met Robyn Lee from Serious Eats when she came to do a story for the Tteok Festival.
9. Met the 9-year old guitar sensation Sungha-jung.
10. Appeared in Gourmet's Diary of Foodie episode: Korea: Ancient world, modern food.
11. Traveled for 3 weeks in America. I started in Seattle and then went to Philadelphia; Winter Haven, Florida; Utah, and then San Francisco, California.
12. I met Jonathon Kauffman from the Seattle Weekly.
13. I met Chef Anna Kim at the Kimchikhan Documentary filming.
14. Was a featured speaker at the G'OAL Adoptee Conference at Sogang University.
15. Wrote 30+ articles for the Seoul Tourism Website.
16. Featured in an article in the Korea Herald.
17. Appeared in an episode of KBS's 30 Minute Documentary.
18. I took a photography class with Michael Hurt.
18. Went to Chez Panisse.
19. Went to Sandang Restaurant and met Chef Im Ji-ho.
20. Wrote a food brochure for KTO (Korea Tourism Organization) to encourage the Michelin Group to come to Korea.
21. Appeared on KBS Radio to talk about my blog and work.
22. I took 8 months of Korean Classes at Sookmyeong Woman's University.
23. Met Jenny and her husband Matt from the Hummingbird Appetite.
24. Appeared in Donpo News.
24. Met Massimo Botturo, Pierre Gagnaire, and Corey Lee at the Amazing Korean Table Event.
25. Started writing food articles for the Korea Herald.
26. Started to hold weekly Seoul Eats Meet-Ups.
27. Wrote an Illustrated Book on How to Eat Korean Food.
28. Appeared in Korean Newsweek.
29. Went to Junju.
30. Gained 10 pounds.
31. Didn't catch swine flu.
32. Fed and kept Hubble well.
33. Made many good friends.
34. Ate at over 400??? restaurants.
35. Stayed Happy and had fun.
Happy New Years everyone!
Next year, I have even bigger plans.
Dan
2. Appeared on 48 episodes of the Steve Hatherly Show for TBS eFM.
3. Was the dining editor for Eloquence Magazine for 5 months.
4. Became the dining editor for Groove Magazine.
5. Appeared in an episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern.
6. Helped organize and market the 7th Annual Tteok Festival in Seoul for Dr. Yoon Sook-ja.
7. Met Chef Rachel Yang when she came to the Tteok Festival
8. Met Robyn Lee from Serious Eats when she came to do a story for the Tteok Festival.
9. Met the 9-year old guitar sensation Sungha-jung.
10. Appeared in Gourmet's Diary of Foodie episode: Korea: Ancient world, modern food.
11. Traveled for 3 weeks in America. I started in Seattle and then went to Philadelphia; Winter Haven, Florida; Utah, and then San Francisco, California.
12. I met Jonathon Kauffman from the Seattle Weekly.
13. I met Chef Anna Kim at the Kimchikhan Documentary filming.
14. Was a featured speaker at the G'OAL Adoptee Conference at Sogang University.
15. Wrote 30+ articles for the Seoul Tourism Website.
16. Featured in an article in the Korea Herald.
17. Appeared in an episode of KBS's 30 Minute Documentary.
18. I took a photography class with Michael Hurt.
18. Went to Chez Panisse.
19. Went to Sandang Restaurant and met Chef Im Ji-ho.
20. Wrote a food brochure for KTO (Korea Tourism Organization) to encourage the Michelin Group to come to Korea.
21. Appeared on KBS Radio to talk about my blog and work.
22. I took 8 months of Korean Classes at Sookmyeong Woman's University.
23. Met Jenny and her husband Matt from the Hummingbird Appetite.
24. Appeared in Donpo News.
24. Met Massimo Botturo, Pierre Gagnaire, and Corey Lee at the Amazing Korean Table Event.
25. Started writing food articles for the Korea Herald.
26. Started to hold weekly Seoul Eats Meet-Ups.
27. Wrote an Illustrated Book on How to Eat Korean Food.
28. Appeared in Korean Newsweek.
29. Went to Junju.
30. Gained 10 pounds.
31. Didn't catch swine flu.
32. Fed and kept Hubble well.
33. Made many good friends.
34. Ate at over 400??? restaurants.
35. Stayed Happy and had fun.
Happy New Years everyone!
Next year, I have even bigger plans.
Dan
These days I have been cooking quite a bit more. Now before I start, I set a budget of the amount of money I can spend and a time limit. Doing this really helps me to focus. About a week ago, I invited my friend Hoya to my house and I decided to make a roasted pork loin dish. Pork loin in Korea is quite cheap. You can get about 2 pounds for around 6,000 won ($5.50). Strangely, this lean cut of pork is cheaper than the fatty cuts of pork belly. My time limit for this dish was 30 minutes and 10,000 won. My cost for ingredients was 9,500 won.
Here is my beautiful friend Hoya. You can catch her food adventures at www.hoyacooks.com
To make the dish, I first made a cut down each pork loin. I made my slice a little more than half deep. I then seasoned the inside with some salt, some herbs de provence, lots of garlic, and butter. Then I sealed it up but bringing together the edges of the pork and running toothpicks through the ends of pork. (BE SURE TO REMOVE TOOTHPICKS BEFORE EATING)
I then seared the top of it--shaking the pan occasionally so the meat didn't stick. Once the top was seared, I flipped over the meat and threw it into a 200C oven for 25 minutes. Then I cleaned and peeled some potatoes and through in 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 cup milk, 1 tablespoon garlic, and 1 teaspoon salt into a pressure cooker. Oh, I added a 1/4 cup of extra water in the pressure cooker and then cooked the potatoes for 20 minutes. Once they come out, they can be easily smashed with a wooden spoon. The potatoes are silky smooth.
For dessert, I made mango rice pudding.
Instead of spending Christmas at an expensive hotel, I decided to go to an orphanage on the outskirts of Seoul to help prepare lunch.
Christmas dinner isn't what you might expect, but we did have mash potatoes, turkey with grazy, and cranberry sauce. To this we added panini pizza, pickled radish, and pasta. 
So...do you think Korean children like turkey and mashed potatoes? Well...they liked the mashed potatoes, but they didn't really care so much for the turkey. The big hit of the day was pizza and pasta. They kept on asking for seconds.
Here they come.
One was left outside, but we brought him in.
Here is one volunteer making pizza.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Chef Meili's in Itaewon is not well known for his desserts, but he should be. This dessert menu shows his range of skills. His Apple Strudel is the best in Seoul. My personal favorite is the Kaiser Schmarren.
The Kaiser Schmarren is a fluffy Austrian pancake that is topped with apple sauce. The apple sauce at Chef Meili's is homemade.
Here it is. It's a thousand times better (and healthier) than a silly waffle you often find these days in Seoul.
Oh, and have the hot chocolate at Chef Meili's. It's amazing.
Deonjang Penne.
Cakes and Hats are like eggnog and mistletoe in Korea.
They are lavishly decorated. It's like a christmas tree you can eat.
cute, huh?
The decorations on top are made out of hard sugar and I wouldn't recommend you eat it.
Korean Christmas Cakes look almost too good to eat.
Here is Kim Tae-Hee with her hat.
Here are an army of cakes.
Dunkin Donuts even got into the fray this year. They had a polar bear theme.
Baskin Robbins went with penguins.
