Taking the path of most resistance... one step at a time...

Summer is gone. And the girls are back to school. First grade for Lauren and Fifth grade for Emma... Emma seems excited and has started writing her stories again. Lauren got a "warm fuzzy" her first full week for good behavior. Go figure. We have had a couple nice days... with evening temperatures that tell me Fall will be here soon enough. It was a very hot sticky Summer and I am ready for foliage and Halloween and baking. Bella likes the cooler days too. She sprawls on the deck at dusk enjoying the cool air. Keeping all potential trespassers out of her yard... this includes cats and squirrels!


Brad's tomatoes are getting bigger and bigger,but still are green
as can be. Hopefully some nice red ones before the first frost. I had dehydrated some tomato slices about a month or so ago and we put them in garlic and olive oil and put them on a pizza. Luscious and rich, the flavor really magnified. I want to do some
more. maybe roma tomatoes.


Up to this point I do not think I have ever had "real" Korean food. I mean, sure, I know the flavors... soy, fish sauce, garlic, sesame oil, chili sauce, ginger etc... but I had never gone to a restarant. Friday Khalil, my work partner, and I went out for lunch. We chose this little Korean place around the corner and Khalill got kimchi and rice. Which I thought would be disgusting. The idea of kimchi always making me a little squeamish. It came out sizzling in a stone bowl and smelled amazing. Having flavors and textures that made me wiggle in my chair and hum as I tasted it. It was so good. When I got back to work, I called Brad to tell him how awesome it was. I must have said it several times...

Saturday I was still thinking about how surprisingly good I found kimchi and the rice that had crisped to the bottom of the stone bowl.

Sunday Brad and I were out and went into a really nice Asian market, catering to Chinese, Japanses and Korean. They had the stone bowls or "dol sots". So I bought one and we proceeded to get the ingredients needed for the dish... Dol Sot Bi Bim Bap or a stone bowl with rice and other veggies and meats.

We got Korean Black Glutinous rice... which when cooked is a gorgeous indigo. Came home and put the dol sot in the oven to get it piping hot. I made a spicy ground pork with ginger and chili sauce and soy, chopped up some kimchi, steamed some bean sprouts and julienned carrot and radish slices.



When the dol sot was hot, I put a little toasted sesame oil in the bottom and the rice... it began to sizzle immediately. Then in a circle I put the pork, the kimchi I had warmed up, the sprouts and the carrots over the rice. Topping that with a fried egg.




We at it with soy and white vinegar. And it was incredible for a first go pulling it from my head.

The rice gets crusty and caramelizes
to the bottom of the stone bowl.
Yummy and crunchy... tasting
so good with a little vinegar
and the chili garlic heat of the kimchi.
I will definitely do it again. And now
feel confident enough to
experiment a little more next time.
A very good $25 investment
in the stone bowl. I think the kids
will like it too...
Brad said over and over
how delicious he though it was.
Which made me happy.