chickpeas

Chickpeas are some of my favorite things, people!  And for the first time, I'm cooking them from the dried form. This is because until about two weeks ago, I couldn't find canned chickpeas in Korea.  They recently materialized at Kim's Club - but are rather pricey.*  I don't mind paying a lot for a food like that, since usually a few will go a long way with me (I mainly use them as a salad topping) but since I'd bought a bag of dried at the foreign food market in Itaewon, I haven't yet taken advantage of the newly available canned beans.  Anyway, ha.

I bought the dried chickpeas to make chili.  I made chili, they tasted great in it.  Success, I guess.

Now I'm cooking some I had soaked at the same time as my chili chickpeas.  These were a portion to be set aside for salads, but I just forgot about them in my refrigerator and they ... they started growing.  This makes me think that my fridge is *still* not cold enough, despite the fact that it freezes portions of salsa and tofu.  Must be really uneven air in there, or chickpeas just love growing in freezing temperatures.  Not sure what the case really is.

I am excited about these legumes ~ they smelled great while boiling/simmering.  Even though they aren't quite done, I've turned them off since I'm going to sleep soon, ha, and can't watch them through the night.  Maybe I'll turn them on again when I shower in the morning, haha.

*Kim's Club also recently started carrying cannelloni (they already had kidney) ~~ so if you're a bean fan, you might want to stock up.  Never know when they might disappear.

american boy and korean boys

Hi, peeps!  So, it's Monday!  I had a little work to do today.  But now I am not working.  No, now I am just humming along to "American Boy," so I am going to share it with you.  I support nothing else this woman has done.  Just this song.  And Kanye's opinion on coats.

What?  Embedding disabled? Hmm.   so go here, mmkay?  american boy

Regarding korean boys, ha, they are still just as adorable as ever.  Nothing particularly new to report.  Well, I did go to the YG Family concert, so I got to see some of those famous korean gentlemen (and ladies.)  They were cute.  But, some could not sing.  At points, it was painful.  Not the boys, no, they sang fine - the chicks, though.  Ouuuuch.  Not all could really pull off what they were attempting.

It all reminded me that I don't really dig the Korean tendency to belt things out - I mean, not everything needs a melodramatic crescendo to be cool.  Just my opinion, yo.  Maybe I'll write a more detailed report on the concert later, but probably not, haha.

perks of a small apartment

There are a lot of nice things about living in a tiny apartment.  (There are a lot of bad things about living in a tiny apartment too, but let's think about the positive today.)

Good things that I'm thinking of right now:

• Whenever I need something, it's always at hand.
• My food-related pleasures are only a glance away.  For example, when I make a pie, it has to go on the table or the counter.  That's where it will live until I eat it all.  Its mere presence can make me happy.  Tonight, I'm soaking three different kinds of beans.  Every once in a while, I lean forward in my bed so I can check them out on the counter.  Red kidney beans, white chickpeas, black ... black beans.  Mmm.

Actually, come to think of it, food-related things take up most of my apartment.  Big fridge, oven, kitchen area, microwave.  Microwave is chilling on the floor right now because oven replaced it.  Oven actually has a microwave function, but I'm a little afraid to use it.

My bed also takes up a huge amount of room.  I constantly think how much easier (and more comfortable) it would be just to have a futon of some sort (Japanese/Korean style) but I'm stuck with this bed.  At least it keeps me off the really hot floor, ha.

Today I spent a lot of time cleaning, but my apartment is still not clean. :(  I am slow and messy, apparently.  Maybe I can finish it up tomorrow morning.