Korean Day & Everyday Foodie is Six!

I've been on the scene for six years!

Everyday Foodie turned six years old yesterday, and like any good foodies we celebrated with Spam:

Okay, stay with me.  There's more to it!  I haven't gone off the deep end.

Since Korean is our favourite type of ethnic cuisine we decided to have a couple Korean meals yesterday.  For lunch we had tteokbokki.



Then for dinner we decided to whip up budae jjigae.  Budae jjigae (army or soldier stew) became popular after the Korean war when food was scarce in Seoul.  Many people made use of canned surplus foods from army bases (Spam, ham, beans, etc.) and mixed them with Korean flavours such as gochujang and kimchi.  This dish is still popular in Korea, and it is a mixture of modern American ingredients such as instant noodles, American cheese, macaroni, and hotdogs, with tofu, a Korean broth and spices, rice cakes, and vegetables.

It starts with making and then straining a simple, quick broth.  In the broth are dried shitakes, dried shrimp, dried anchovies, onion, and kelp.

Then you saute some onion, carrot and garlic.  Once softened you top the vegetables with sliced Spam, sliced hotdogs, sliced tofu, rice cakes, and kimchi.  You can add different things too - Google a few recipes if you're interested.

You pour the broth over everything, and bring it to a boil ...

Then you add a spice mixture of gochujang powder, gochujang paste, soy sauce, and rice wine.

After cooking that for about five minutes, you add some instant ramen noodles, and cook until those are done.

Then, in case this hasn't been strange enough for you so far ...

You add a couple processed slices of cheese.

Stir that in and then dig in!

The verdict = It was too Western for us to be honest.  It tasted fine, but almost a little bland compared to what we're used to with Korean food.  We like to tell people that we're part Korean, and although this is a popular Korean dish, the addition of all the Western ingredients made it taste not Korean enough.  It could have used way more spice too.  We had fun making it though!

It's hard to believe that I created this blog six years ago.  I remember it perfectly, sitting in the spare room, on a desktop computer at a corner desk.  I had started blogs before, but never stuck with them.  This one I wanted to commit to.  I bought the domain name that day, and got started, never imagining where it would end up.  Within the past year alone I've partnered with some big names, such as Canadian Living Magazine, Sobeys, Circulon and Menchie's!  What a blast!  I'm so excited to see what the future holds for Everyday Foodie.

I'd love to learn more about my readers!  

If you have a minute, leave a comment (you don't need an account or anything like that - anyone can leave a comment) and tell me:

1) Your name
2) Where you're from
3) What keeps you coming back to read
4) What you're up to this weekend!

5 Year Bloggy Birthday

Everyday Foodie has reached a milestone - 5 years on the scene!!  It's hard for me to believe it's been five years since I started this blog, and yet it's so fun to reflect back on.  Even in the past year, I've had a lot of new and exciting blogging experiences.

Christopher and I were invited to a pre-opening tasting at Wild Sage Kitchen and Bar, which was ridiculously fun, and absolutely scrumptious.

I got my first paid writing gig, and then partnered with Canadian Living Magazine, and continued to be paid to write.  I still can't believe this.  This was never something I expected or was even aiming for; but I feel honoured and appreciative that I can earn a little money doing something I am passionate about.

I had so much fun being a judge on Best in Chow: Pizza Wars, and they made me their Super Streeter (local expert).  This show will air in September.

To celebrate 5 years of blogging, Christopher took me out to try Siam's lunch buffet, which I've been wanting to try for a while.

I will go on record and tell you all that ...

 Siam has the best buffet I've ever eaten.  Anywhere.  Ever.

I was blown away, and also shocked that a buffet could be so good (better than ordering off menus in expensive restaurants).  The bill for two came to $20.  Nice! 

Thanks to those readers who have been around since the beginning, and those who have joined my journey along the way.  I appreciate every, single one of you, and look forward to sharing more foodie adventures with you in the years to come. 

Thank you to my lovely readers.  Please leave a comment and tell me your name, and/or something about you!  (You don't need an account or anything to comment, just click anonymous).  Cheers!

4 Year Bloggy Birthday

 

Four years ago today I sat down at my computer, bought the domain name everydayfoodie.ca, and decided that I was going to start a blog and commit to it.  I had started a few blogs prior to this one, and had never kept up with them, but I knew this would be different.  I chose to blog about what I was interested in and passionate about, a topic that allowed me to be creative and adventurous.  I began blogging about every single thing that I ate, and eventually it morphed into less of a daily food log, and more of a food/life journal; I began creating recipes and documenting dinner parties.

Blogs like birthday cakes too!

Cake recipe here (I "thirded" the recipe)

In the past four years I have eaten such a wide variety of foods, and have tried hundreds of new recipes.  I've documented my foodie adventures in other countries and cities.  I've made online friends through blogging, and have met many of them.  I traveled to San Fransisco to join other food bloggers at a festival, have been interviewed for a magazine, and got the opportunity to interview one of my favourite Food Network personalities.  It has been a crazy adventure and I don't plan on it ending any time soon.

I appreciate my readers.  Some of you have been around since the beginning, others are new to everydayfoodie.  I'd love to get to know you a bit more, so if you feel so inclined, please leave a comment below (everyone can comment even without an account - just click anonymous and leave your name in the body of the comment if you wish).

I'd love to know ...

Your name

Where you're from

Anything else you like!

I hope to hear from some lurkers out there!!