If Korea celebrated Halloween, this is the candy you would find in your bag.
Break me off a piece of that Kic Ker bar. Look familiar?
Jjang Shyuh Yo, cola flavored, sour gummies.
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cookies & bars
Haunted House and Chocolate Milk Cookies
Halloween is a holiday I always look forward to but never seem to enjoy when the actual day arrives. I love seeing all the Jack-O-Lanterns and ghost shaped cookies but never get around to doing them myself. I especially procrastinate when it comes to putting a costume together. I’m that crazy person who goes to the costume store on October 30th to find the cheapest item and combine it with random clothes from my closet. On the one day “too much skin for a not so skinny girl” is acceptable, I find the most modest outfit and go bundled in scarves and jackets. I’m probably more provocative in my everyday clothes, which is saying something.
It’s really a shame though because the one year I want to really do something is the one year I’m in a city that doesn’t celebrate. Before I left and before I knew I was leaving, my friends and I bounced back different ideas from Peter Pan to Wicked to Alice in Wonderland, and even Star Trek. I was really enthused about the idea of finding the perfect character. Sigh, it’s probably just one of those reverse psychology situations. What you can’t have you want. I probably would’ve ended up digging through my closet, last minute, and resorted to being Mulan or something. I mean, I’ve got that Asian part down.
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Blueberry Crumb Bar Cake
There was dessert! How could a picnic end without something sweet? Before planning the picnic, I read an article in Martha Stewart’s Living magazine about how to prepare a picnic. By chance I have a subscription to the magazine. I think it came as a package deal with something else I ordered or it was a secret friend who thought I would enjoy it, but in any case, I was surprised when I kept on receiving an issue month after month. There were a lot of cute ideas there, including the tomato hand pies that inspired my roasted tomato sandwiches and sour cherry crumb cakes for dessert. I decided to follow the article and make a crumb cake because it’s easy to transport, and the picture looked so scrumptious.
From the time I read the article to the time I went to the grocery store something in my mind changed and I believed that the article talked about raspberry crumb bars instead of sour cherry crumb cakes. I set out to find raspberries and didn’t even look at the cherries. However, when I found the raspberries I was totally shocked at how expensive they were. Half a pint was $4 and since I would have to buy at least three of them to make the bars I would be spending a grand total of $12! It might not sound like a lot to some people, but for a recent college graduate, it’s quite a sum. So, after a good ten minutes in front of the berry stand, I decided to buy blueberries, two pints for $5, instead.
I was really happy about my choice of fruit and could not wait to start baking. When I opened the magazine to read the recipe, I realized that I the whole time I was thinking about crumb bars and that I couldn’t make the crumb cakes anyway because I didn’t have any buttermilk or an acceptable substitute on hand. I quickly scanned the indexes of all the cookbooks I had and searched online for a blueberry crumb bar recipe and found one at AllRecipes.com written about by Smitten Kitchen that was easy and simple. Yay!
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Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
I grew up mostly in Seoul, Korea. I attended an international school where I was taught entirely in English. The world I lived was very normal to me, but when I really think about it, it was a little bit strange, unique, and pretty interesting. I lived in an Asian country, in the land of my ethnic origin, but was primarily immersed in a Western based society that followed American pop culture. My background is a fusion of both American and Korean cultures. I watched Full House, had a crush on Zach Morris, and learned about terminal sicknesses and everlasting love through Korean melodramas. I ate tons of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Korean takeout Chinese noodles, and these chewy treats. I usually had two Thanksgiving breaks, first in early-mid fall and later in November. I was fortunate to experience parts of both cultures and am really glad I grew up the way I did.
While I was in Korea, I think the most exotic and foreign part of America was its food and food products. It was easy to find out about American music and movies but a box of Sun-Maid Raisins and Betty Crocker Cake Mix, not so much. One of the products I found so fun was Quaker Oats. I know! It’s a sort of mundane, everyday brand here, but back then, that cylinder cardboard container was special. I probably bought them for well over their normal price at the black market where they sell American food items. I’m not sure why they call it the black market in Korea because those place are not illegal. Maybe it’s because everything is ridiculously expensive but people still find the need to buy them.
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