For the record, I rocked Alex’s bridal shower today.

I say this only because I spent all week stressing about it, and hours prepping for it, and still on the way there today I was freaking out that I didn’t bring enough favors or my games would suck or whatever. But no, it went great, and everyone there was lovely and seemed to have a good time, and most importantly, I got to surprise my “sister” and bring a huge smile to her face.

:)

So, reminder to self: you always worry about planning things for other people, but it’s usually/mostly needless. Chillaxathon!

And now, continuing with the Best of 2009 Challenge

December 12 New food. You’re now in love with Lebanese food and you didn’t even know what it was in January of this year.

That’s an easy one. Korean food is a 2009 discovery for me, and it’s fabulous! Well, fine, I first tried it in 2008, but I didn’t realize how much I liked it until 2009. That counts, right?

Me and Andy’s fave in Cincinnati is Korea House, up in the Mason/Montgomery area. Might be a longer drive for some of y’all (especially my friends in TX lol, or Pseudo over in Hawaii!) and maybe a little pricier than some Asian places (although it’s definitely not expensive) but it is so, SO good.

For anyone who hasn’t tried Korean food yet, it’s not all kimchi and spicy-hot pickled stuff. Trust me. I don’t do spicy-hot. Or pickles.

My favorite two dishes are Kal-Bi, which are tender marinated beef short-ribs, and Dolsot Bibimbap, a delectable mix of rice, veggies, egg, and meat (beef or chicken) served in a hot stone bowl (which makes it crispy!). Another popular dish is Bulgogi, which is basically a slightly less awesome version of Kal-Bi.

A key element to any Korean meal is the array of side dishes that comes with (or before) your entreé. Yes, kimchi is usually one of them. But there are also yummy things like fruit salad (tart), pickled squid, steamed tofu, seasoned spinach, or my favorite, sweet potatoes (as in, potatoes that are sort of sweet, not the cousin-of-yams). Honestly, I know some of these things sound weird or look kind of… squidgy. But I recommend trying them all! (So long as they don’t have mushrooms, yuck.) Because many of the ones that seemed the grossest ended up being my faves. (There’s probably a good life lesson in that, huh?)

Crud, now I’m craving Korean food… Go have/try some for me, okay?!


14 responses to “Bride and Bulgogi both start with B…”

  1. Kimberly Franklin Avatar

    I hate planning events, for others or myself, period. It seems like the whole time all I do is worry, worry, worry. And nothing EVER goes right or as planned. But, isn’t it funny that even though you might have been worrying or even in total melt down mode (which happened to me on the day of my wedding–made complete with family fights and sickly flower girls.I was so over my own wedding month before it even happend, which isn’t a good thing to be…LOL) as soon as that party or event begins everything just falls into place and turns out to be GREAT!!!

    I’ll have to try the Korean food. I always know how much I will hate stuff before I even try it, but usually end up liking it in the end. That’s usually the way it works though, right?

    Hope you have a great weekend!

  2. Sonja Avatar

    I’m a big fan of Asian food in general, but I don’t know if I’ve ever had Korean food. My favorite restaurant in Philly is a Vietnamese place, and I love it there so much that I never ever have the urge to go anywhere else (this drives my partner crazy!). Upon your recommendation, though, perhaps I will try a Korean restaurant. I don’t know if we’ll make it in 2009, but I’ll put it on the list of things to do for 2010. Really, your post is a gift to my partner, who will be very excited to eat somewhere besides Vietnam Restaurant.
    .-= • Recent post by Sonja: My neighbor’s story is better than mine =-.

  3. sam Avatar

    I love asian food but I don’t think I have had korean! Unfortunately josh doesn’t like asian food so the only time I get to eat it is with my girlfriends. But I will try to make it to a korean restaurant soon! :)

  4. Aurora Avatar

    cannot believe you’d never had korean food.
    .-= • Recent post by Aurora: Why I love Taylor Swift: a call to radical optimism =-.

  5. Kristan Avatar

    Sonja-
    Lol I hope Majka enjoys her present then! And you too, for that matter!

    Sam-
    Yeah, Andy doesn’t like Japanese so I don’t get to eat much of that. But Korean is closer in nature to Chinese, I think. So Josh still might not like it, but maybe you will.

    Aurora-
    What can I say, I’ve been sheltered and deprived. :P

  6. Alex Avatar

    Yes — you did rock it. Everybody’s been commenting on how awesome it was, thanks to you! Mom did the food, but you made it REALLY special. :-D Thank you so much! (Also, I’m not sure who had my camera at what point, but someone got some fun shots of you showing off your skill at corralling people…)

  7. Jon Avatar

    You have to come to Koreatown in LA some day. So many Korean restaurants! Have you had Korean BBQ? I’m sort of veg, so I haven’t, but I hear it’s really good!
    .-= • Recent post by Jon: LA Theatres: A Film Buff Nerds Out =-.

  8. Kristan Avatar

    Alex-
    Hehe, I definitely want to see those pics. ;)

    Jon-
    I don’t think I’ve had Korean BBQ… “Sort of veg” lol.

  9. Les Avatar

    Squidgy is an awesome word hahaha. I love exotic food, I think my fave was a Moroccan place where you sat on the floor on cushions and ate with your hands, and oh my god it was amazing, I almost died I ate so much. I actually haven’t had Korean but I’d be more than willing to give it a go. Just have to convince Rob, he’s a meat & potato kind of guy ;)

  10. Kristan Avatar

    “I almost died I ate so much.” LOL well if that isn’t an endorsement, I don’t know what is! I’ll have to check that out. I did have “African” food at Disney World, which I really enjoyed, but because I don’t know how authentic (or not) that is, I didn’t want to name that. (Oh, plus it was back in 2008.)

  11. Angie Avatar

    Aww yays! I’m so happy for you and of course Alex!!

    WHAT? You didn’t eat Korean food before 2009?
    .-= • Recent post by Angie: Let’s cook: Try to bake some holiday cookies =-.

  12. Kristan Avatar

    Well, technically 2008, but no, I did not. You know where I ate for most of my life, lol, considering how much of our school lives we spent together.

  13. Pseudo Avatar

    There’s a Korean take out place in every strip mall over here. And they are all good. But if you want to sit in a restaurant and grill your own meat, there’s that too. Hubs favorite food is Korean, so if you make it over here we will show you and Andy the best ; -)

    My favorite is vietnamese btw. Make that your next new thing….

  14. Kristan Avatar

    Ooo, I hope we get to take you up on that offer!

    You know, there’s a large Vietnamese community in Houston, so I’ve had… well, I’ve had pho. And that’s pretty good. I’ll have to do some more investigating, broaden my Vietnamese cuisine horizons a bit. Any recommendations?