Dinner tonight

Check-check it out! Korean-inspired but still mostly-Chinese home-cooked dinner. I've been on a little Korean food kick. First, I read Sacramento's Edible publication with a three-page feature on our mini-Korea-town-strip, which I haven't frequented even though it's right down the street from me (The feature also made me want to try so many Korean items I have yet to taste...mmm). Then we had build-your-own bibimbap at small group, which was surprisingly simple: Amy had the meat marinated and cooked,  Diana had a griddle of sunny side up eggs, then the rest of us just brought one or two of the vegetable items. Perhaps what tipped it was my visit to Ranch 99 last Sunday, when I bought myself my first bottle of kimchi. After adding it to my dinner a few days later, I definitely wondered why the heck it took me so long! I've been meaning to pickle some vegetables to keep as small sides for the meals that are a bit more sparse, and kimchi could fit that category. It's also so delicious that I'm over halfway through the bottle in less than a week...

Anyway. The above: kimchi from the store, but the rest home-cooked. I couldn't attempt real bulgolgi since the beef I had on hand was a thick cut, but I was proud of myself for marinating it all afternoon! The beansprouts are stir-fry Chinese style and everything's over rice, then I borrowed the raw egg from bibimbap. On a visual note, I was shooting my usual angle shot but it didn't look right. Then I stood on a chair and voila! Photo and meal to be equally proud of (do the non-horizontal lines bother you? sorry. Darrell would probably say I shouldn't have pointed it out; no one else notices these things...).

Shootdangit. I say it over and over, but sometimes I get so darn proud of my kitchen. And so happy that I can make delicious food. And then proud of myself again, and happy enough to eat the same meal three times straight. I have other wonderful photos of food I've never posted about too.