The Archives

• Bakeries, Home Cooking, Palisades Park, Restaurants, Ridgefield

  Happy 2013! – NJ

  01.06.13 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  

  Happy New Year! Aside from a slight cold during the holidays, my December was wonderfully uneventful. 2012 was a rough year for me because of certain douchebaggy individuals, so uneventful was actually a good thing. I ate, drank, went to bed, and did it all again the next day. MORE »

• Home Cooking, Palisades Park

  Post Hurricane Sandy – NYC & NJ

  10.31.12 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  

  Hope everyone is safe after that b*tch Sandy came through town. I thought we’d be okay, but we lost power in the East Village as did the rest of downtown Manhattan Monday night. Losing power was bad, but the worst part was losing cell reception, our only source of information. We had no idea what was happening, and had no idea if we needed to evacuate. It’s funny how I grew up listening to those emergency broadcast announcements on TV all the time, but with no power, it’s all useless. David and I decided to just bunker down with candles, wine, and ice cream. MORE »

• East Village, Home Cooking, Palisades Park, Restaurants, West Village

  NYE Weekend Bites – NJ & NYC

  01.06.12 | Permalink | 3 Comments

  As if you haven’t heard it a million times already, Happy New Year! No New Year resolutions for me this year. I decided resolutions are bullsh*t (c’mon, you all know it’s true), so without further ado, let’s talk food! MORE »

• Home Cooking, Palisades Park

  Happy 2011!

  01.05.11 | Permalink | 6 Comments

  

  Happy New Year! Another year is upon us, another 365 days to fill with delicious eats. For me, New Year’s Day began — as it does every year — with a big bowl of my mom’s ddukguk (떡국, rice cake soup). I’ve written about it before; it’s the Korean tradition to have ddukguk on New Year’s Day, and if you don’t eat it, they say you won’t become a year older. (Many bad jokes about ddukguk and aging are abound New Year’s Day.) Now as to why we eat it, there are a few theories. The most credible, in my mind, is that dduk being white (the color of purity), it symbolizes the new year and new beginnings. In any case, I ate a sh*t-load of ddukguk along with tons of grilled Berkshire pork wrapped in perilla leaves and dipped in salted sesame oil. It was a great start to the year. 2011, holla! MORE »

• Home Cooking, Palisades Park

  Happy New Year & Happy Belated Holidays – NJ

  01.07.09 | Permalink | 4 Comments

  

  Happy New Year! I’m a bit late, but better late than never I say. Not sure what 2009 will bring, but as always, I’m optimistic. 2008 is so last year anyway. Bring it 2009!!! Bring it! Now on to the food.

  On Thanksgiving, my family does the traditional American turkey thing, but Christmas and New Year’s is a strictly Korean affair. This year, after the Thanksgiving cooking marathon, I told my mom we should keep it simple on Christmas and just eat some samgyupssal (삼겹살, uncured pork belly) and galbi (갈비, beef ribs). Of course, my mom always cooks up a storm anyway and made a million other dishes, but as requested we ate a lot of galbi and samgypsal (pictured above). Nothing makes me more happy than samgyupsal, except maybe samgyupsal and soju. We eat so much samgyupsal at my parent’s house, that David (who doesn’t eat pork), complains that anything we eat on the table-top grill now tastes and smells like pork after we cook it. Personally, I think this is a good thing. MORE »