I made it to H-mart. It was glorious. I bought a duck. I bought frozen shucked oysters. I bought mushrooms. Best of all I bought banchan, the Korean vegetable side dishes. They had a tray with like 9 of them on it. I should’ve bought more. Our local Korean place doesn’t offer them, and I missed those so much. I need to figure out how to make these in bulk or where to buy them in bulk.
Korean cuisine is a bit special to me. Prior to Gordon joining the army, our income was very limited. I’m unreasonably proud of the fact that despite our meager resources at that time, we never had our utilities turned off for non payment. The kids were always fed, their clothes were always decent and clean, and they had toys, but money was scarce. Needless to say, we didn’t go out a lot. We might have made it to a restaurant a couple of times per year, usually when a family member took us. And honestly there weren’t that many places to eat.
After we arrived to Gordon’s permanent duty station, we quickly crawled out of the financial hole. Our total debt at that point, excluding some student loans, turned out to be much more manageable. After a few months of steady paychecks and careful budgeting, we found that we had money to go out. Almost every base in US has a good Korean restaurant nearby, and that’s where we went. It was more than food. It was proof that we survived, celebrated with grilled meat, sweet and sour radish salad, and soybean sprouts.
So A+ rating to H-mart. 10 out of 10, will go again.
Today is voting day. I voted. Don’t forget to vote. On that note, as far as reminders go, if you are enrolling into ACA healthcare plans, the enrollment is open now. Our health insurance went up again by $250 per month. Again. Damn it.
Somehow my life has become a series of appointments I must keep: annual physical, annual mammogram, annual gynecology visit, annual optometrist visit, semi-annual dentist visit, annual chimney sweeping, annual arborist visit, annual wood purchase, annual ACA enrollment, annual tax review… Adulting. It’s overrated.
Perhaps, that’s why I hide in speculative fiction. I spent the entire day yesterday google driving around trying to get the lay of the land for the small project we’re working on. And then I had to look at boats that could fit a horse. Oy.
I envy the other-world fantasy writers sometimes. They get to write “It was a G’drilian barge with the prized Elvenian pine mast” and move on. Me, google searching: flat bottom barge, aluminum, under 30 ft, for sale. Because if we don’t use an actual boat, someone will no doubt email and explain to us how we are stupid and don’t know how boats work. ::gives side eye to imaginary boat expert:: I found one yesterday. It will do.
Still working on the merch shop. We should launch this month, hopefully. We are working with an awesome designer, Sasha, and her work is great.
We’re ordering samples of most things just to see the quality, so I will be able to share some “life” shots soon. So far we washed the one sample T about 10 times. It held up.
Well, I better get to it. Apparently, Kid 2’s house needs major electrical work, so must make moneys. See you on Friday. I think Mod R said Roman was the next.
I love H-Mart.
My mom and I love exploring grocery stores. I find it interesting to see what is new (to me) and see what kind of items are universal.
Parents both have appointments today. Our reward for all this waiting is kbbq at a small mom and pop shop.
Hi! I’m a long-time, plus-size fan in California. I love love love your work, and I would love to have one of the t-shirts. Please, will you offer them in plus sizes?
Sizes go up to 5XL 🙂
Yay!!!!!! Thank you so much!
Had to Google H-Mart. There’s one relatively close, maybe forty five minutes away.
So – what to get there? I would definitely try sweet and sour radish salad. Allergic to mushrooms and shellfish, so a big full stop “no” for those items. Not a very good cook, so basic, easy recipes. Also, a big fan of salads.
All suggestions gratefully accepted!!
Thanks!!
I like their banchan a lot! And their seaweed salad. We usually get a bunch of frozen dumplings too. Also really like the Honey Citron Ginger Tea that comes in big bottles (like this:https://www.amazon.com/Honey-Citron-Ginger-Tea-4-4/dp/B082XHRK1F). Just add hot water and it’s like sweet tea without the caffeine. Very comforting in the winter!
The tea is great for sore throats and coughs, also works on toast if you run out of marmalade :)!
Agree, they have a wide variety of dumplings and some excellent kimchee (very picky). I like checking out the cookies and sweets too as they are so different. And if you cook with rice regularly, their prices are good. Plus you can find the Asian veg and mushrooms so frequently not available elsewhere.
Adulting is serious stuff. As an underpaid and poor young archeologist, I can remember scrambling under my couch cushions to find enough change to buy a hot dog for dinner at the local WAWA. Payday wasn’t for a couple more days and I was broke all weekend with no food in the house. I was too proud and too adult to borrow from my folks or let my siblings know (plus they lived in the next state). Thank God those days are over and I’m proud that I’ve never missed or been late on a mortgage payment in 21 years of house payments. Never had a utility shut off, but I have missed a credit card payment or two over the years. Eh, what are you going to do? Wishing good times to all and I look forward to seeing the rollout of your merchandise!
Merch? Did you say merch? Faster please
I get very tired of adulting, its never ending! I bought snow tires today, my car hates snow and ice, and did errands again so half the day disappeared. Got home to three 40 lb boxes of kitty litter left at the bottom of my steps instead of the landing (free shipping) because the store didn’t have any. Now I need to tackle finding space for all the stuff I unpacked from four 4 foot tall boxes full of
non-freeze stuff that was just fine in my Virginia garage but definitely not here. I’m not leaving the house Thursday unless the house is on fire.
Early voted! I’m so happy you liked hmart! It’s my favorite so far. I’ll have to look for that tray. Thanks for info! It would be fun to serve with bulgogi and/or dumplings and not have to make them all.
Adulting has always been over rated in my book hehe. As a teen I so wanted to be an adult, little did I know the full ramifications. And I commiserate on the insurance bill. I went from full coverage paid by my employer to a monthly cost with Medicare. Ah well. At least I’m finally retired and not required to rise and shine at a specific time! It IS a joy frankly.
Well the boat sounds intriguing. Looking forward to more tidbits. And I really like the mouse pad! I hate my generic one that took the place of the cat appropriated “toy”.
It seems like everything is going up to compensate for all the added expenses businesses are having to deal with.
I have been giving myself the mental pep talk … you made it through the tough economy in the 80’s and early 2000’s. This, too… I will look back on a say yep been there and done that. On the very plus side… I retired so I no longer have to do outdoor work in the middle of the night. (vendor type work)
Went to get my flu shot and Omicron shot and there were 6 people sitting in the waiting area of my local Safeway store. Bless the pharmacist … she said come in tomorrow there will be more people working. I said big winter storm Wednesday and Thursday. Yep I will be in towards the end of the week.
6 Inches or more of the white stuff on the horizon. Winter is knocking on my door.
Adulting is a full time job and thank goodness House Andrews gives me a great mental vacation. Hot black tea and one honey stick. (the joy of being a senior… stuff you can no longer eat or do)
Boy do I feel your pain.
It’s been such a long week already. Looking forward to Roman’s Friday. I hope he has lots to say. lol
Oo La La, Roman is next ❤️
I agree adulting is hard. So i runaway and hide in the wonderful alternative reality that are IA books. So thank you, because good escapes are so hard to come by.
“I’m unreasonably proud of the fact that despite our meager resources at that time, we never had our utilities turned off for non payment. The kids were always fed, their clothes were always decent and clean, and they had toys”
I don’t think you can be _unreasonably_ proud of this. I think this is a major achievement and you should be as proud as you possibly can be!
Re: Semi-annual dentist visit. I go 3 or 4 times a year to get teeth cleaned. Gum health is so important.
I love Bibimbap! 🙂
I totally get that you want to avoid blow back on decently available researchable stuff, but i had to laugh… there is an actual photo of a person in Texas driving with a tacked up horse freestanding on a flatbed trailer going down the interstate… all I could say is ” that picture would make that horse’s worth skyrocket along with his owner’s insurance. ” Supposedly, he was stopped by highway patrol, his horse trailer was stolen and he worked at the stockyards, but there was no law against it and they had to release him back into the wild per se. (no, I don’t condone this type of idiotic, reckless, and endangering behavior)
So, there are all kinds of experts…
I once read an account by an American visiting Ireland for fox hunting. The descriptions of horse transport were priceless. Six horses, sideways noses to tails, in a manure spreader pulled by tractor was my favorite. Also a very large draft cross that literally crawled into a pony trailer. There were a few other choice ones that have slipped my mind after all these years.
Hi House Andrews,
I really vibe (yes, I’m that age) with this post. We were both military (in 1985 our combined income was $32k before taxes). We actually didn’t have loans/cc debt because we were too low-income, aka poor, for anyone to extend us credit.
“Proof of life” takes many forms…like the special place in your heart for Korean food. I hear you!
While I enjoy those works that are of a different world completely, I truly appreciate the care that goes into a nearish-our-world scenario.
I’m still trying to get my non-speculative fiction reading friends to understand that the best speculative writing, magic, for example, still has rules…like line-of-sight only, or paid for with an elevated metabolic rate (need for sleep/food) etc.
So, please know that the research in getting it reasonably possible is noticed…Anybody ever watch the show ‘Scorpion’?? It was based on crime-fighting nerd-geniuses, and scientific premises on the edge of possible. Scene 1 finale episode feature a CAT45 cable dangling a few metres from a low flying airplane to make a computer connection. As telecomm technicians (thank you U.S. Army) hubby and I were simultaneously cracking up/booing at the utter ridiculousness.
I remember that scene. I stopped watching the show after that ????
Your pride in managing meager funds well is NOT unreasonable. I know how difficult it is!
+1 Totally. Life is better now but it’s not something anyone ever forgets. Good thing because stuff still happens, *sigh* and we can always fall back on those skills.
Love love H-Mart
Being an older adult does come with increasing maintenance:) On the plus side, the longer one postpones major body work the better the chances are of enjoying those ‘golden years’. Which as not a few folks would explain as ‘when the gold you worked to accumulate/save is spent on maintenance’. The young & healthy tend to think one means on stuff like houses/cars rather than personal care though.
One thing to suggest:
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=4evzpIVnMVs&feature=share
I don’t know if you have your auto or home insurance through USAA, but we have our vision insurance through them. It’s a good deal. I got $100 off my new glasses yesterday, and the exam is covered.
Heh ????. Can’t wait.
PS: I concur – Adulting is overrated ????
I love you guys <3
I want that mouse pad, please. And everything else you have for merch. And I love your writing, of course. That should have been my first sentence.
I want to buy all the merch! Dreams are good.
And Russian Sugar Bears!
Adulting is vastly overrated.
I did not vote but only because I have the Flu A (H1N1 variant – 0 stars, would NOT recommend) that seems super contagious. I did not want to chance spreading it to anyone else, especially the senior citizens who staff the polling places here.
The day I was scheduled to get my flu shot a week ago, my 8 yo daughter began getting sick so I had to rush home. (It was super fast for her. Fine, then boom – severe headache with crying and fever then more symptoms appearing within the next few hours.) As soon as I’m well enough, I’ll be getting my flu shot to try to avoid the other flu strains and I’ll get it earlier next year.
On the bright side (except for the scary moments), since my daughter got sick, we are spending all our time together. She and I have been having a “slumber party” in the guest room (bigger bed and a tv). She has had a SpongeBob marathon, including The SpongeBob Musical (I had no idea there was one!) and related videos like variations of The Best Day Ever in different speeds and styles of music. ???? SpongeBob was interspersed with Dr Binocs learning videos (originated in India, I think) with gems such as “Why Do We Fart?” ???? and switched to Mr. Bean cartoons last night.
And this explains Sean’s Korean BBQ franchise investment…
For authentic korean recipes to make the side dishes: https://www.maangchi.com/ or the korean vegan cookbook is also really great for making no-meat alternatives.
The side dishes are just labor-intense but not actually that difficult to make. And most ingredients can be found at any grocery store but love supporting the asian community.
would not the WW2 landing crafts do? They’re certainly big enough. (I know, there was a dead one in Pearl Harbor (I think…that or Kaneohe Bay on ‘Gilligan’s Island’, as a matter of fact).
What are the chances that Roman gets asked about his love life? Like “I’ve heard your God terrifies the urine out of ladies, how often does this happen on the first date?”
#NotAllLadies
???? Just put me in the ring, coach!
I love H-Mart. I have another large Asian market closer by, but H-Mart is my favorite.
Sounds interesting: I have to see if there is a H-mart near me. All this talk of Korean food has made my tummy growl! It also reminded me of a funny thing that happened when my daughter was still in high school.
She and I love trying new ethnic foods and were at the annual potluck dinner given by the high school’s International Club. Neither of us had tried kimchi before or knew what it was.
Her trickster Korean friend brought some kimchi as his contribution to the dinner, told us it was cabbage “with a fiery red but very mild sauce” and said we should try a big fork full (all the while gleefully waiting for the coughing and eye tearing to begin!)
We both tried it with little reaction other than to say “hey, that’s really good, could we have some more?” We got the last laugh…he did not know that we LOVE spicy foods!! (And now we love kimchi too!) ????
Cool.
Please please please shove a plus size shirt on a plus size person & make sure it doesnt choke or dig into underarms & is long enough to at least mostly cover the butt. So many places just make their shirts wider & dont actually make them plus sized. So many awesome shirts tossed because they arent wearable.
I don’t know about shoving, but the T-shirts go up to 5 XL. I hope this helps ????.
No. As a plus sized person, I can tell you that any bodies, but especially plus size bodies, come in all shapes and just because a T shirt is plus sized and is flattering on my plus sized body doesn’t mean it will be flattering on you.
I need to manage expectations here. We are not fashion designers. We are offering drop-ship merchandise, which is produced, printed, and shipped off site. You are buying at your own risk. What we check on our end is whether the garment holds up after several washes and if the design is faded or off center. That’s it.
Nice story about Korean food
A fun real life snippet
many years ago I was stationed in Korea.
it was an amazing experience on many levels but the food stands out.
so many great flavors.
really too much to mention in the blog.
just want to say that my family also loves and shops at H Mart.
Thank you for sharing your life salad. Very relatable. Glad you are able to engage in a professional endeavor you like (hopefully that is your writing). …. And H-Mart is a great store. Just went there to get take out and Kimchee. Yum.
Wasn’t sure at first when you said you found one if you found a boat or an imaginary boat expert. I live in what people call the Little Korean area of Vancouver. There are two large Korean markets and quite a few restaurants on either side of the main road in the areaby where I live. I think you and Gordon would find a restaurant you would love here in you came to visitAnd the train trip through the Rockies to here is beautiful in the fall. Hint Hint.
In Australia we have a volunteer rescue group called State Emergency Service. They have flat bottom punts that on occasion lay transports horses. Have attached website with horses in rescue boat.
Bean sprouts, cucumbers and spinach are the easiest to make. Kim chi, if you’re inclined to make, or buy a large container since it keeps.
https://www.koreanbapsang.com/15-korean-vegetable-side-dishes/
I lived in Los Angeles during my first marriage. There were a couple of Korean restaurants we ate at occasionally. The “Gut Soup” on the menu at one of them was. No chewier than menudo, though. And it was tasty, in fact.
Adulting and electrical woes. Oh dear.
I love all this talk about international grocery stores. I get the impression that ban chan prep can be somewhat labor/time intensive. Perhaps you can find a Korean household to do food/meal swaps with?
Try Mom’s Taste in Austin off Airport and Lamar for pan chan. Just know-they’re closed Sundays and Mondays.
Is there a Cost Plus/World Market near you? It’s not as awesome as an H-Mart but would do in a pinch for trying out new things or finding some shelf-stable staples.
I’m so excited for merch!!
Also check out 99 Ranch Market, if you haven’t already. Worth the drive, also
I appreciate your effort. I don’t remember the title, but I had a conniption fit not long ago over a writer that had a cast iron tub carted into the room at the inn, and kept the water warm by building a fire under it.
She could have used at least a cursory look at the way thermal conduction works.
Looking forward to the merch- love the mousepad!
I appreciate the thorough research you do for your books! Let the same imaginary boat expert try to write a book ???? If they have enough time to send a critical email, they need to find a new hobby like jumping in a lake.
When I was young, I learned how to do wiring and electrical work when the cottage we purchased had wiring in need of total replacement. It was a great thing to learn. An old electrician acted as the coach, and I crawled all over the place. It cost only a few hundred for his oversight and final hook up, the initial estimate was huge because of all the yucky crawling work in tight spaces that I did. I opted to follow commercial code for fire safety in terms of wires and electrical equipment, so there are no wires to be nibbled by mice because they are in metal conduit.
I only wish I’d had some nice audio books at that time!