Manduguk (Korean Dumpling Soup)

Remember that time my New Years Resolution was to blog at least once a week?  Well, here I am, with loads of recipes to share and two weeks of crickets around here.  Oops.

I blame Netflix.  Hubs and I have been binge-watching Stranger Things and it is not conducive to writing!

Anyway, a couple weeks ago (yes weeks), the boys were at a hockey rink campout (they got to watch the local college hockey team, then camp out in the arena), so I took the opportunity to watch this month’s Food n Flix pick, Always Be My Maybe, hosted by Camilla at Culinary Adventures with Camilla.

The movie is a quirky romance.  There’s snooty Sasha, clueless Marcus, and a super weird (yet hilarious) cameo by Keanu Reeves.

Butter Mints

Let’s chat books and this month’s Cook the Books Club pick!  Debra over at Eliot’s Eats chose this month’s book, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

The story follows Victoria, a girl who has just aged out of the foster care system.  As she begins to navigate life on her own, she often expresses herself in the language of flowers; a means of covertly expressing flirtations through flowers (each flower having a specific meaning).   However, because of her past experiences, Victoria does not use the language of flowers in flirtation, but to express her distrust and hatred instead.

I was riveted by the story and fascinated by the language of flowers.  Just before the end, the book was particularly upsetting, but (I’m being purposefully vague to avoid spoilers), it is because the situation is deeply personal to me and upsets me easily.  Despite this, I very much enjoyed the story and can recommend it to others.

Trini Macaroni Pie

It’s time for this month’s #EatTheWorld challenge hosted by Evelyn from CulturEatz.  This month, we’re seeking warmed climates and heading toward Trinidad and Tobago!  Trinidad and Tobago is a Caribbean island off the coast of Venezuela.

When I started researching recipes from Trinidad and Tobago, I noticed that there seemed to be a lot of influences from all over the world. 

The most surprising “Trini” recipe I found was macaroni pie!  I just knew I needed to see more.

As I refined the search to Trini macaroni pie, I found out that there are TONS of variations on macaroni pie.  Some were incredibly simple (pasta, eggs, milk & cheese), while other were more complex (spices, herbs, veggies, and even one sweet version including brown sugar!)

Since I was trying to get my mac and cheese skeptics to eat this, I kept mine on the simpler side, with a nice spice profile but no herbs or veggies.

Jule Kag Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday, I shared a recipe for Jule Kag, after finding out that it was a much loved recipe in my husband's family (on his mom's side).

I shared the recipe for this light, tasty sweet bread, but only hinted at the variation!

A little footnote on the bottom of the recipe noted that one loaf of Jule Kag (the recipe makes 3) could be rolled out and make in to cinnamon rolls.'

Well, that's all I needed!  I love cinnamon rolls!  Rainbow Sprinkle Cinnamon Rolls, Twisted Star Cinnamon Rolls, Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls and so many more!

Jule Kag (Danish Christmas Bread)

Over Christmas break, we packed our bags, boarded a plane, and flew a few states over to milder weather to visit Hubs' family.

As I was chatting with my mother-in-law (MIL) and grandmother-in-law (her mom, let's call her GGP) one afternoon, we started talking about bread (anyone who's been around here much knows I love baking bread!) . GGP was telling us that she is not much of a bread baker, but had fond memories of her mother's recipe for Jule Kag.