Foodventures: Seoul, South Korea

I don't like my hometown much.

Seriously, with North Korea right around the corner, their sky-high suicide rates, insane academic competition, socially accepted anorexia, and plastic surgery addiction, I honestly wonder how anyone makes it out of there alive (literally). The five or so years I spent there around my tweens was more than enough for me.

But even I have to admit that it's a magnificent place to visit, and I am glad I managed to spend my Thanksgiving holiday in Seoul.

Super simple peppermint brownies

The combination of chocolate and peppermint around the holidays is - to me, anyway - what I would imagine the pumpkin spice latte is to the basic white girl: a must. I've tried many methods of fusing these two flavors, including peppermint leaves and/or peppermint extract in the brownie batter, crushed peppermint candy canes sprinkled atop - but this method is by far the easiest and the most chocolate-y.

This recipe is embarrassingly easy.

But that doesn't mean it isn't any good.

WNTD: Billy Goat Tavern

This is a public service announcement.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the Billy Goat Tavern. For those of you who are not familiar with this establishment, Billy Goat Tavern is an 80-year-old burger joint famous for their "cheezborgers." Considering the history of the restaurant and the number of times I'd heard about it from various people, I figured I should try it out. And I'm glad I did.

Because now I am equipped with the knowledge that I must never go back there again.

Foodventures: New York, NY

Last month I had the pleasure of visiting the city I would be living in had I not settled in Chicago: New York City! For me, travelling is equivalent to a binge-eating spree, with everything in between meals serving only as a way to kill time before I get hungry again. Naturally, I saw this trip as a perfect opportunity to expand my food horizons.

Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me at all times and was forced to take photos with my phone, which inexplicably broke down shortly after my journey; the good news is that though the photos are gone forever, the memories remain, and these undocumented places will not go unmentioned.

Chicken korma

There has never been a cuisine so flavorful and aromatic as Indian. I have had an ongoing love affair with Indian food ever since as a young teen, I broke free of the diet encouraged by my parents consisting mostly of Korean food and began to explore the culinary world. Naturally, when I began cooking for myself, Indian cuisine was among the first I sought to learn; however, I found the exquisite blend of spices to be rather intimidating, and relied on store-bought sauces and restaurant Indian food for the longest time to get my Indian fix.

Chicken Korma