Spring has sprung

As confusing as the weather may be (we've been having scattered showers and yesterday felt like LA winter!), it is spring and spring brings lush gardens and pretty things! A couple weekends ago, I decided to do some intense balcony garden upkeep and figure out why the succulents weren't looking too hot. Turns out they were getting overcrowded, roots were growing like crazy, and they were shedding, desperately needing some TLC.

I never asked for them...they were just kind of forced upon me when my mom found out I was gardening on my balcony. She figured giving me plants that are hard to kill would be the best way to go. I still managed to kill one of the aloe vera plants she gave me, though. These succulents, however, have proven to be very sturdy, and seem to be the gifts that keep on giving!

My mom told me she actually stole her first one from the Golden Gate Park in San Fran many, many years ago. Shhh. They've continued to grow and grow since! See, the way they continue their legacy is by growing little offsets down by their roots, which is where these guys above came from! They were the tiny cute guys I found when I de-potted an entire pot of big ones. Upon discovering them, I decided to put the cute ones in their own pots 1) for crowd control and 2) to give as gifts! This particular one went with Tom to work and has been named Herbert Hoover.

After some confusion and a little investigating, I found out they are a type of echeveria. I can't figure out if they are echeveria secunda or imbricata. I am leaning towards the former. At first I thought they were a type of aeonium. Sorry if that offends any succulent enthusiasts out there!

Cham demo & Kimchi and SPAM pizza

Back in November, I was lucky enough to go to a kimchi-making demonstration at a jeans factory hosted by Cham Korean Bistro. Does that sound weird? I know I was really confused when I got there.


Well, it turns out that Cham Korean Bistro was actually started at this factory, sort of. Let me explain: The CEO of !iT Jeans, Kimmy Song, wanted the workers at the factory to have the comforts of home, since they were spending so much of their time there. Translation: DELICIOUS KOREAN FOOD. So after having much success in pleasing the tums of employees, they decided to start a restaurant, Cham Korean Bistro in Pasadena.

We toured the factory's facilities a little bit and discovered exercise equipment, ping pong tables, Dance Dance Revolution, and of course, the huge kitchen/cafeteria.

(here's a 360 of our "classroom" that H.C. aka LAOCFoodie shot.)

These people have it made! I would definitely want Kimmy as my boss. She was so nice and made sure everyone was enjoying themselves. And that, we did.

They fed us (Oh my goodness, tofu pockets!), clothed us....

then taught us the magic of making kimchi...


...and then they fed us again!!



Our instructor, Martha, walked us through each step and at the end it was our turn. I got a little overzealous and stuffed too many ingredients into my napa cabbage and was scolded by the teacher. Whomp whomp. For the impatient people, there are types of kimchi that can be made fresh. Since it was in season at the time, they made persimmon kimchi. They also made a fresh kimchi with napa cabbage (pics above).

I never really thought about it, but I was really surprised that kimchi is not vegan! These little shrimpy things are the key ingredient in the fermentation process!


For a detailed tutorial, check out Kimchi Pickling 101 with Chef EJ Jeong of Cham Korean Bistro by GastronomyBlog!


So after all that, I got to take home my jar of kimchi, but then I had to wait an agonizing 20 days before I actually got to munch on it. So what did I end up doing with it?

Well, I kind of just snacked on it a little at a time for a while. I knew I wanted to do something with it besides eat the entire thing, which I would've had I not restrained myself. Then I went on this pizza making binge earlier this year, so I decided making kimchi and SPAM pizza would be perfect! Why SPAM? Uh, why not?



(from left to right: 1. opening kimchi, 2. rolling out the crust, 3. adding an 8 0z. package of mozzarella over a light spread of tomato sauce, 4. throwing on the kimchi, 5. adding some onions and the SPAM cubes, and 6. putting it in the oven)

I pretty much always use this recipe from Simply Recipes as a reference but then make it up as I go along. I added a little rosemary to the crust for a little more oomph. I used an entire 8 oz. package of fresh mozzarella because it covers the 12-inch pizza perfectly. Then I just loaded it up with toppings and voila! Kimchi and SPAM pizza.


See more kimchi pics on my Flickr!

Please note: many of the photos from the demonstration were taken by H.C. of LA and OC Foodventures, my partner in kimchi-making crime.