Louisiana shrimp boil

photo by Jimmy Myung gu Kang

     Louisiana Shrimp Boil

Happy weekend everybody!

I wanted to introduce to you, my friend Jimmy's all time favorite dish, the Louisiana Shrimp Boil. My husband and I love having him come over for dinner, and when he comes, we feed him as fast as we can, so we can use his expertise to fix our computers or any other electronics in our house. He's a computer genius. So here's for you, Jimmy, and for all of you who want a little getaway this weekend.

Ingredients

10 red potatoes

8 corn on the cob

1 bag of large shrimp (uncooked)

1lb Mussels 

1lb Crawfish 

1 kielbasa sausage (cut into 1 inch pieces)

1 bag of Zatarain's shrimp boil seasoning

3 Lemons quartered (1lemon in the pot, and two other for use after it's done)

5TBSP salt

1/2 onion

Fill pot about 2/3 full of water

Direction

1. In a large pot, put potatoes on the bottom, corn, sausage, 1/2 onion, 1 quartered lemon, seasoning bag, and salt, and pour water. Bring to rolling boiling.

2. when it starts to boil, cook for 15-20minutes, until potatoes cook through.

3. add crawfish, and cook for another 10 minutes.

4. add mussels cook it for 2 minutes.

5. turn the heat off, add shrimp, and soak it for 2 minutes or until the shrimp turns to pink.

6. drain. serve it on a big plate or as they do on the bayou, dump it all on top of some newspapers on a table, then dig in! put 2 quartered lemons on top, and garnish with parsley as desired.
**since we live in the Midwest, it's hard to get fresh seafood ingredients, so I used frozen seafood. I know it won't taste the same as fresh seafood, but I hope you enjoy a little taste of Louisiana this weekend;)

Mission Impossible

Dishwasher loaded. Checked.
Kids in bed. Checked.
Husband's belly rubbed, and zoned out in front of the TV. Checked.

It's almost like another Mission Impossible sequel every night. I'm tiptoeing around the house, Jake and I are using emphatic hand motions to communicate. And at this point, making a cup of hot lemon tea without making a single noise seems harder than following my Mom's most complicated kimchi recipe, since all the measuring was done by a 'little bit of this' and 'little bit of that'.
But I am very determined to make it tonight; it was long day. And I know that the first sip of hot lemon tea will do it all. I know the first sip will kindly tell me, "I know what you went through today." Now I'm bringing my tea upstairs to my favorite spot in our place. My Bed. I gathered every single pillow in our house, and piled them around me. Surrounded by these pillows, deciding what I'm going to read tonight from a stacked up pile of books beside my bed, and then taking the first sip of my hot lemon tea. Mmm... It told me again. It never disappoints me. Total peace and quietness...is there anything better than this?
This is my comfort zone, and when I am in my comfort zone, nobody dare to bother me. Because I will hiss at you like a cat protecting its warm milk. "Hiss!-"

Not too long ago, a great opportunity to serve international students in a local college was presented to us. The task was pretty simple: transporting international students to Wal-mart every week. But I have to be honest, at first, I didn't think I could do it. It was way out of my comfort zone. After meeting with pastor, my husband being who he is, said "Yes, we can!".
He would make a great politician. With his great smile, and positive attitude, along with two thumbs up, and saying "Yes, we can!" "Yes, we can!" He could be the next president of the United States.
I stepped back, then slowly arched my back to a hissing position. I was getting ready to defend my self, and my territory. I don't think he noticed what he was about to get. He just was a happy lamb jumping  all over the green pasture. Poor little thing.

Fully loaded. About to fire. Then, my husband said something that made me ponder.

He said that he has been waiting for this kind of opportunity, and amazed at how God has been prepared us for this chance for service.

I put my claws back.

"Have I been sensitive to notice God's calling?"
When the opportunity was presented in front of us, I wasn't ready.
Since I have been walking in my flesh, my comfort zone, I couldn't hear when God called me.
How many times have I missed out on the blessing, because I chose to walk in flesh rather than in the spirit. How many times have I rejected Him when He wanted to come in to my daily life, and bless me. I've been trying to squeeze Him in to my schedule, instead of letting Him take charge of my daily life.

Getting out of my comfort zone is not something I like to do. But I learned that when I dwell in my comfort zone too long, I tend to forget where I am suppose to be.

Here I am, laying down on the bed, hearing my youngest son crying. I know I am not ready to get out of my bed. But I know where I need to be.
Feeling this supernatural power empowering me...here I go...one, two, three! I'm up!

Galatians 5:16 "I say then; Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Two Questions.

One Sunday morning, our pastor asked two questions, “What has God given you, and what are you doing with them?”

The first question was easy to answer. There are so many things that God has blessed me with. But I have to admit that one thing has stuck out the most. That is…the fact that God has given me the three most beautiful children Noah, Raine, and Samuel (who’ll be here in 6 weeks!).

But the second question, I could not answer right away. I almost pretended that I didn’t hear the second question. After denying, denying, and denying… Ooh…I felt something really weird in my stomach, and seconds later, I felt that weird thing, you’d probably call that weird thing the ‘guilt’, coming up to my throat, and trying to open my mouth, so I can confess I haven’t used, or in this case, took care of what God has given me. I shut my mouth tight, and swallowed that weird thing.

Nobody noticed.

So the battle began…again.

After denying so many times, I finally said, “I speak Konglish (which is Korean-English), I can’t home school my kids!” You’d probably think, “What does that guilt have to do with homeschooling?”

You see, homeschooling has been on both me and my husband’s minds since I was pregnant with our first son, Noah. But I guess I was just worried too much about other little things…like my English.

I’m a Mom whose first language is Korean, and I am still learning so much about English. I still can’t say the word ‘squirrel’, so I say, “Hey, Noah! Look! There’s a thingy thingy one a tree!”  I still struggle reading Dr. Seuss’s ‘Fox in Socks’ book, and I’m scared to death, when my son picks that book for his bedtime story.

I guess my biggest fear was that one day my children will talk like me. Horrifying!  

On top of that, I know my Mom thinks that I’m just going to make her grandchildren suffer, and ruin her precious grandchildren’s life. And I know that every time I call her, she’s going to tell me to free her grandchildren, but I think…this is what I’m called to do; making my children the disciples of Jesus Christ.

So we started homeschooling.

It’s been 3 weeks, and surprisingly, it’s going really well! There are times when it’s very challenging because of my lack of patients, but I have to say that it’s been a blessing to our family! And of course, I don’t have to swallow the guilt to that second question anymore. :)

So I’m asking for your favor for our family. Please pray for us and with us for our journey of homeschooling. We need your prayer, because like my pastor said tonight at evening service, home is the first place where Satan will creep into.

Will I ever?...

Here I am, eating a big piece of thick white frosting covered cake, drinking a cup of decaffeinated green tea, and typing in Google search engine for one last time…‘How to be a better mom.’

It is two o’clock in the afternoon, both my kids taking a nap, days like today, I should be laying down taking a nap too to prepare for second half of my day, but I guess it is a guilt that let me eating this evil, probably 1000 calories per piece but looking so innocent piece of cake at 31 weeks of pregnancy. I well know that I have a doctor’s appointment next week, and he’s probably going to say, “Everything looks good! ...your weight looks…ok…” Risking all this, the reason why I still can’t resist this innocent 1000 calories is that the way I talked to my son this morning.

My son has been sick, and has been on antibiotics for a week now. No matter how long he’s been on this medicine, it never gets easier making him to take this. I tried to be a fun mom, so I made an airplane sound to feed my son, and ended up spilling half of the meds on my pants. My son started to laugh. I don’t know what was so funny, but he was laughing so hard, I thought he was not breathing. Watching him laugh this hilariously made me think, ‘He planned it all.’ He was still laughing. It was a teasing laugh, and he meant it.

I tried to be calm, but I couldn’t help it. I said to my son, “It’s not funny, Noah.” Well…it was more like, “It’s not funny, Noah!” with both my hands squeezed tight, dropped down to the side like an upset 4 year old.

 One time I read, how we as parents, need to be more responsible in the words we speak, how we treat others, and  our attitudes in front of our children when we face many different circumstances on a daily basis.

Because our children are watching, observing, and learning from us…GULP…

When my husband came home for lunch, my son ran to him, and told him how funny that was to hear me saying that. Both were laughing hilariously, I of course, was mad, and didn’t want to talk to them.

There are so many ladies at our Church I just admire so much. I see how they are with their children, how they are in the words they speak, how they speak…And I wonder sometimes ‘Will I ever become like that?’

Remembering my attitude this morning, and watching my precious son sleeping like an angel made me realize that I don’t deserve this precious gift at all. But He trusted me and gave him to me… “Oh, Father…will I ever become like you?”

“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness and truth.” Psalm 86:15

Bulgogi

Ingredients

Main ingredients

2 lb beef sirloin (thinly sliced)

1 onion (sliced a ½ inch wide)

1 Carrot (julienne cut)

Sauce

1/2 Asian (Korean) pear

1/2 onion

8 Tbsp soy sauce

6 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp chopped green onion

2 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp Sesame seed oil

2 Tbsp cooking rice wine

Pepper to taste

1. Thinly slice beef, about lunchmeat thickness. I recommend cutting the meat when it’s half frozen. Set aside.
2. Finely blend 1/2 onion, 1/2 Asian pear in a mixer to a thick sauce like consistency.
3. In a large bowl, add onion and pear mixture, soy sauce, sugar, green onion, garlic, sesame seed oil, rice wine, and pepper.
4. Add sliced onion and carrot to the meat, then pour the sauce over it. Mix and massage well. Marinate over an hour or for the best taste refrigerate overnight.
5. Cook marinated beef in a frying pan. Serve and enjoy!

* The best cut for bulgogi is rib eye or sirloin, but nicely marbled chuck roast works fine too, as long as the meat is thinly sliced and marinated well.

* Instead of Asian pear, sometimes I use a can of pear. If you are using a can of pear, use a half of both pear and the pear juice of 14oz can.

Every little thing...

 One very powerless morning, after picking up so many socks off the floor, after picking up my son’s very tiny little cars I often step on, after washing my daughter for the fifth time this morning. I was done. Oh, how much I was wishing that I was laying on the white sands of Pensacola beach, reading a book, I mean a real heartwarming novel, not a parenting book, having my ice tea with real honey still melting in the glass, full of ice, and two pieces of lemon on top…all by myself. I was day dreaming when I was washing my daughter. My daughter splashed on my face, and giggled. Major alarm -- 11:45am, it was almost time for our papa to come home for lunch. My son was staring at me all this time in front of the bathroom door, he didn’t say a word, but his 4 years old, ‘I’m a big boy’, eyes were surely telling me, “I guess we are having ramen noodles for lunch.”

As soon as my husband walked in, I had a meltdown. As soon as my husband gave me the sweetest kiss and a hug, and a just little but very caring question, “how was your morning?”, I couldn’t help but crying like my daughter, like when she had  her favorite snack taken away from her. It was desperate crying, death crying.  My husband, being the sweetest thing like he always have, let me rest till he goes back to work.

 My kitchen radio was still on, faithfully playing the nice Christian music like she always has; I just didn’t notice all this morning… she was still there. My husband turned the volume up and said, “Jane, I want you to listen to this song.” My faithful kitchen radio was playing ‘Do Everything’ by Steven Curtis Chapman.

 Have you ever laughed and cried so hard at the same time? Well, I have. It’s a very embarrassing thing, especially in front of your children.  But I didn’t care this time, because my Father told me something.

“I love you so very very much, Jane.”

Yes, He called my name.

 So here I go, knowing that every little thing I do for His glory brings a smile on my Father’s face, I hope this ‘little thing’ I do, sharing my humble recipes and my embarrassing moments with you, brings a smile to my Father’s face. Well, let me say that again. I hope it makes my Father laugh.

I hope He laughs so hard that He cries too.