christmas countdown: #10

There are exactly 10 Music Mondays until Christmas, so it's definitely the appropriate time to begin a top 10 Christmas song countdown. I took out songs that are obviously great (Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Bing Crosby classics, etc.) and went for songs that I was happy to discover.

We start off with #10, an honor that goes to the Vince Guaraldi Trio's interpretation of "O Tannenbaum." Yeah, it's an instrumental, but this is the coolest version of this song you will ever, ever hear.



It picks up with the drums coming in around 0:37.

When I was teaching, my kids loved hearing some music in the background while they worked so I played the Vince Guaraldi Trio's Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack to 1) celebrate the holiday without getting in trouble (no lyrics!) and 2) help my kids to concentrate.

I fell in love with the whole album, and it's one of the few holiday albums that is definitely worth buying.

milk bar

We finally got a new camera. Here are some pictures of our weekend adventure to Momofuku Milk Bar!

Even with all the hype, David Chang's pork buns are surprisingly delicious!

Pork buns + sriracha sauce = crazy delicious!

I'd heard a lot about the crack pie (TM), so we had to give it a try.

It was so rich! So caramelly!

What adventures await us next week??

haircut!

Before

After

more pet peeves

More Starbucks pet-peeve fun!

It's frustrating when...

- A customer has been in line for several minutes during rush hour, and when it comes time to make her purchase, she spends a full minute searching her purse for her wallet. Seriously, couldn't you have done that while you were in line?

- A customer wants to pay in cash and hands me a crumpled ball of bills. And they're damp. And warm. It's disgusting. It happens at least once a day.

- A customer slams down a handful of change on the counter and then walks away without saying a word before I count it.

- A customer shoots off a list of five different drinks and three pastry items without pausing and gets annoyed when I ask them to repeat anything.

maangchi

In my cooking adventures, I've been really dependent on my Food & Wine 2009 Annual Cookbook, Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics, and the indispensable How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. I also get some recipes from online food blogs like Serious Eats or Smitten Kitchen. Overall, I've been the most adventurous with my western-style cooking because I've had these great resources with really dependable recipes. In the past year, we almost always had to get rid of our leftover kimchi that would go bad if we didn't make kimchi jiggae out of it. We didn't eat much Korean food.

But I came across this one food blog through her YouTube channel: Cooking Korean Food with Maangchi. She doesn't make the most professional cooking videos (she never ever mentions how many servings her dish makes), but her recipes are solid! It's hard to find reliable Korean cooking recipes. Even the go-to Korean cookbook, Vignette of Korean Cooking, seems a little suspect (She never uses real garlic! What's with this garlic powder stuff?).

But Maangchi's stuff is awesome! I'm planning on making some galbi jjim for Cyrus's lunch next week. Here's the recipe I'm gonna follow:



Are there any other great Korean or Asian recipe resources that you live by?

music monday: "love sex and magic" cover by jane lui

I hate this song, but it's awesome seeing a nerdy Asian girl singing it with a really cool arrangement (Whoa, wine glasses!).



It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I heard about Jane Lui through someone I strictly know through Yelp. He's helping promote her album release party here in New York at the Rockwell Music Hall next month, and I'm thinking of going!

How can I resist a female, Asian, singer-songwriter? That's the trifecta right there. The triple threat. I was doomed to love her.

I like what I've heard of her original music so far. Definitely check out some samples on her website!

stupidphone

My desire for a smartphone is growing and growing and growing. I thought I was cool with my phone that opens both ways so I can text on a QWERTY keyboard, but now I think I need to have apps and email on my phone to be actually cool.

I got an email from a friend after I got home from meeting her. "We're here at the restaurant. Are you guys close?" What happened here? Instead of texting me, she sent me an email. I think because she probably thinks I'm reasonably cool, she assumed I had a smartphone.

Having a smartphone would also make my need for little slips of paper scrawled with maps and directions obselete. I used to have to purge my purses of useless crap every couple weeks. But now I have to do it every few days because of all these scraps of paper! This is what makes me think that smartphones are also good for the environment.

Hm.

Oh! It's Music Monday. Let's see.... I'm currently listening to the theme song of the best game in the world: Plants Vs. Zombies (full version!).