Sophia and Jen @ Vermont

About 3 weeks ago, I went snowboarding to Vermont  with some of my close friends. Yes, it was a long drive, but it was totally worth it! At first, we were a little worried, for we saw little or no snow on the way, but we were pleasantly surprised to find quality snow just as we had hoped for. 

As soon as we got there, all four of us knew we had  no time to waste. We drank 2 cans of Redbull each, and snowboarded the whole day. It was so much fun~! If snowboarding is in your interest, I’m telling you that Vermont is the way to go~! keke

Duk Mandu Gook made by Sophia <3

Hi bloggers~!  

Today I’m going to share my very special recipe for Duk Mandu Gook. Duk Mandu Gook is a Korean Rice Cake Soup with dumplings, and it is a Korean tradition to eat this dish for New Years. Yes, it is very delicious and not too complicated to make, so just follow the steps below and you’ll be able to enjoy this exquisite Korean traditional food.  

Ingredients: 

• just a little bit of leftover beef chunks  that you may have in your freezer (if you don’t have any you could just use some beef stock, or if you are vegetarian then you can use vegetable stock instead)
• about 4-5 cups of water
•  rice cakes (found in Korean grocers)
•  1 beaten egg
•  salt and pepper
•  sesame oil
•  1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce
•  frozen dumplings
•  a little bit of chopped scallion or green onion

Directions:  

On a medium size pot drizzle a little bit of sesame oil and cook the beef chunks over medium heat, make sure to lightly season the meat with some salt and pepper. When the color turns brown on the outside add water and turn the heat on high. Once it starts boiling scoop up the foam created on top of the stock, and turn the heat down. If you have the luxury of investing a little more time on cooking, then, you could close the top and allow it to simmer for a little longer, for this will give more depth to the overall flavor of this dish.   

Add the rice cake and dumplings to the stock, and let it boil stirring it occasionally so it won’t stick on the bottom. Add the 1/2 teaspoon of soy sauce, a pinch of salt and pepper, you can keep adding salt and pepper until it satisfies your taste. 

Lastly, slowly pour the beaten egg stirring the soup with chopsticks at the same time. Add the chopped scallion, and if you are someone who takes appearance seriously like I do, then you can garnish the soup with some lightly stir-fried carrots and zucchini like I did as you can see on the picture above. 

This is it~! Now you are ready to dig in~!

@kyotofu

The other night me my brother and two of our close friends went out for dinner, and for dessert we went to Kyotofu. Kyotofu is an award-winning Japanese dessert bar and bakery at 705 9th ave. between 48th and 49th street, and it is one of my favorite spot in New York City. There we had Strawberry Shortcake and Warm Mochi Chocolate Cake paired with some Champagne. It was heavenly~! On your next date or just a night out with your friends how about stopping by Kyotofu and taste a sweet side of Manhattan~!

Japanese school girl

 I know it’s a little late to share about Halloween, but I never had a chance to post the pictures from last years Halloween Day, so here it goes~!

The three of us (me, Yuree, and Lydia) went as Japanese School Girls. We found a japanese website that sold uniforms, so we ordered them online. They were about $60.00 per piece. Yes, we spent some money, but it was totally worth it~! We looked really cute, and everywhere we went people were taking pictures of us. We had a blast~ keke

Lydia, Sophia & Yuree @ Maru

This is a very special space in which you’ll be able to grab a sence of who I am and what I’m made of.  I would like to share a little piece of my world with you, so feel free to visit me anytime~!