christmas in california

every other year, the dane and i fly to america to spend christmas with my family instead of his. this year was our second time spending the holidays in california. it's always a strange feeling with the sun nearly constantly shining and the temperature sitting around a balmy 21°C/70°F. but the gaudy decorations are still all over the shops and the crappy songs are playing 24/7 on the radio. we don't celebrate christmas in the traditional way with caroling or the roast goose/duck/ham/turkey. meat actually plays a fairly small part in the korean diet compared to americans. but this was definitely not a traditional korean meal either.


galbijim! in a slow cooker! the dane told me that though the meat looked dry, it was very tender and delicious. my aunt alice made this. hopefully she'll give me the recipe soon so i can post it >here<. (;




soba salad! light and fresh, perfect for a sunny day like... christmas eve?!



my aunt silvia's delicious fish. top salmon with a mixture of mayo, pepper, and fish eggs. in the oven and there you go! if you add salt, i'd only use very little since the fish eggs are pretty salty. everyone went nuts over this, especially us 'kids.'



a nice assortment of veg. my grandma grew the leaves on the top left, dried them, and stir-fried them with garlic and soy sauce. she said it is kind of like collard greens. then we have some spicy water spinach(?) and pickled radish and carrot.



sorry, this ddeokbukki was not made in the slow cooker. it was only used to keep the dish warm after it was stir-fried. it was very moreish with rice sticks, fish cakes, bell peppers, and some little bits of meat.



my mom's japchae! she topped it with some egg strips this time. i don't know why, but every time i make it, it doesn't taste nearly as good as hers or my grandma's. (;



epic rice is epic. chestnuts and beans come together in this rice cooker to make a great cold-weather dish that really sticks to your bones. too bad there was none of that cold weather around.



poor copper... my aunt's dog was kicking up quite a ruckus seeing all these people and smelling all the good food, but not being let into the living room. we did let him out into the backyard after this pathetic pose and later they took him on a walk.


here is my wonderful christmas lunch plate! i know, it looks full... but it is mostly vegetables, grains, fish, and a little bit of meat. also, i didn't get seconds. i wasn't able to get any decent photos of the acorn jelly salad or the chicken wrap in their serving trays, but you can see them here. delicious!!


while we were eating outside in the lovely weather, we spotted an uninvited guest! a bird of prey swooped down in the backyard and caught what i think was a mouse. it landed in a tree and started digging in with the rest of us. what kind of bird is that?


and then the desserts came out... madeleines with plump blackberries and powdered sugar. these were so good that i ended up eating two. i tried not to think about how much butter went into them, even though it was my aunt alice herself who gave me the recipe, along with two madeleine pans.


this chocolate trifle was probably my favourite, although it was probably the least labor-intensive out of all three desserts. there is just something about the combination of pudding, cake, whipped cream, and crunchy toffee that is so comforting.


the irish cream cheesecake was good, though i could only manage a sliver of it. it was thankfully not as rich as the typical new york cheesecake. my aunt alice, the queen of sweets in our family, made all the desserts! though my mom is a great cook, her baking is nothing to rave about... sorry, mom!

so that is how we spend christmas eve in the kim family, or as my dad calls it, the kim dynasty. it will be another 2 years before we spend the holidays like this again, but i'm looking forward to celebrating a traditional danish jul with the dane's family again next year. maybe i can even bring a dish of my own to add a little korean to the table, hah! hopefully there will be some snow on the ground then, and it will feel like a real christmas. ^^