Chocolate Fruit and Nut Cases - You can't have just one!

Some years ago, my OH gave me 'The Delia Collection - Chocolate' recipe book for Christmas. I loved pretty much everything in the book but have only attempted a few. The recipes are relatively simple, nothing very exotic beyond Marello Cherries. She does use prunes a lot with her chocolate cake recipes but I suppose it would add a bit of texture to the cakes.

One of my all time favourite recipes was discovered in this book! When I was young, one of my Aunt used to make these chocolate cornflakes that she would freeze in a baking tin and then cut them up into large pieces that we could eat till there was chocolate all over our face. Needless to say that when I saw the Chocolate Fruit and Nut Cases recipe in this book, I went... well a little NUTS. : )

This is a sure win, no nonsense, right for all occassions, gurantee hit with kids or adults! You're thinking... yeah right! I kid you not, I can gobble up 3 or 4 in those mini cupcake cases at a go, more if I want to feel guilty after. If in doubt - try it. Here's the recipe.

Extreme close up

Word of advice...
I have had my batches of chocolate sauce seize while using the double boiling method. There are several reasons for this.

• You could be overheating the chocolate
• Don't let the pan/bowl holding the chocolate touch the water in the pan below
• The ingredients asks for you to add butter and maple syrup, if your butter was sweating before you put it in, this could cause the chocolate to seize too. To avoid this, you could keep the butter out of the recipe (I tried that and did not loose flavour or texture) and/or mix the golden syrup only when you are mixing the cornflakes and the chocolate together
• Any trace of water will cause the chocolate to seize so make sure your utensils are DRY before using them to melt the chocolate
  

Shopping in Karosu-gil

After I arrived in Seoul, I read about Karosu-gil and wanted to explore, however it took me some time before I actually went there. I wasn't disappointed though, I went with one of my best friends who also has a taste for a good shopping experience!

Not the best picture I know. Will try to take better shots at the next trip.

S came from Malaysia and wanted to dive into Korean fashion. So handbag in tow (with our trusty credit cards of course) we headed to this little shopping street. The directions we got were to head up the street from Sinsa Station and take the first left after Paris Baquette.

Much has been written about Karosu-gil and it's chic shops. Although the name means 'tree-lined street', I think there are actually more trees in Samcheongdong-gil. But let's not take away the 'quaintness' of this place. You will be hard pressed not to bounce from one side of the street to the next as you see some attractive window displays beckoning you to enter the cozy stores.

We were disciplined (sort of) and proceeded down the left and then made a U-y at the end to come back up the street.

At the top end of the street there is a rather large cafe called Coffee Smith, you can't miss it. It's designed with wood and steel so it's got a warm inviting look about it yet staying well away from being rustic with the steel beams. It's 2 storeys and seems pretty packed on the weekend.

There are a few stores that I would label as favourites on that street. One of them is Understar which is next to Coffee Smith. It's underground and has a cool selection of thights/leggings, gloves and mufflers. You will find plenty of styles for these along the street but I find the quality and colours from Understar the best. My top buy from Understar are their leggings with the zipper detail at the bottom.

They are also carrying some cool hoodie capes. Hard to describe. They are knitted hoodies but it only comes down to your shoulders. There is a zip opening to one side which sits nicely as if it was all was meant to be there! Totally not designed for warmth but for fashion!

A few doors down is my favourite store called Brush. It's small, white and always has the most attractive thing on the window and on the rack closest to the door. I always end up buying something there! Their designs are simple but unique and tend only to have 1 size. You can't always try on their clothes so be prepared to be disappointed if you don't have a 'regular' body shape.

I picked up a nice long red turtle next sweater with snap button details at the end of the sleeves there but also fell in love with a grey dress with butterfly sleeves and zipper details at the hips as well as a latte coloured dress with opened sides from shoulder to waist and a woven metal detail at the waist.

I also walked away with a stunning piece of jewelry last week. It's a gold short necklace with what looks like tiny metal beads on it. So hard to describe but it's a beautiful accessory. That one cost about KRW69,000 but really well made so definitely worth the dosh. In general I find their prices very reasonable. Better quality than what you generally find in Doota (Dongdaemun) and not your typical high street designs like Zara, Gap, MNG etc...

Other worthy stores to note for clothes are (on the same side of the street as Brush) About Some, Barbara Shoes (although I always feel they are overpriced), Jiny's Closet and something more familiar Kate Spade at the end of the street. On the other side of the street I like E-At Home, Farmer (hair accessories for special occasions... or not), and the jewelry store next to Farmer whose name I can't remember. That store has the most delicate necklaces at very affordable prices. You will find something for yourself or a gift for a friend at the drop of a hat.

There are also some nice restaurants and cafes along the way. I particularly want to try Deux Cremes as they are suppose to have the most deletable tarts. Will try that the next time.

Fabric Shopping in Seoul – Part 2 (Dongdaemun Shopping Town)

The great thing about Seoul is that everything is pretty centralized if you are looking for a particular item. What I mean is, if you are looking for electronic goods for example, you go to the Yongsan Electronics market where there is more choice than you can count. If you are looking for pets, they are a gazillion pet shops along that one street. Same with music instruments, furniture, sewing machines, lighting, sporting goods etc…

I think the Koreans practice laissez faire pretty well and aren’t afraid of a little competition even if it is right next door or across the street. So this makes shopping around really convenient.

Another great place for fabrics is Dongdaemun Shopping Town which is directly opposite Pyeonghwa Market on the other side of the Cheongye river. If you are using the subway, lines 1 and 4 will take you Dongdaemun station then take exits 8 or 9 and it’s the tall white building ahead of you.

For more information: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SH/SH_EN_7_2.jsp?cid=273734

I tend to get a little lost every time I go there as the stores can seem repetitive after awhile and the pathways are so convoluted. I tend to get my sewing supplies in the basement. There are a few stores there at the edge of the section where the thread stores start on the far left of the building. If you go in through the main entrance, take the escalator down, walk through the curtains/soft furnishings section, past the blankets and knitting sections and you will see lots of thread vendors ahead of you.

Some lace, buttons, ribbons and embellishments on the ground floor

Also found in the basement are batting, vendors who will sew bedding/duvets for you. You can order your soft furnishings like cushions, curtains, table cloths as well. What I found helpful were the ahjumma’s and ahjassi’s who sit there with their overlock machines and will sew your edges closed for you for a small fee. My 한국 語 is not that quite good enough yet.

For cotton and linen, I head up to the first floor and target the A sections. You may find some heavier materials in D section although I find that they have more cotton t-shirt material of different weaves. Have not been able to find felt or fleece yet.

In A section there are also many choices of cotton, silk and polyester although I would just walk around and pick your favourite stores. Sometimes you will see the same fabric in different stores.

Be warned, if you are looking for t-shirt fabrics, most are wholesalers so will not entertain small quantities. I find that the vendors selling cotton and linen to be more open to selling in smaller quantities from 1m. Though, I dare you to ask for half a meter. Let me know how successful you are. : )

There are plenty of choices for lace, trimmings and buttons. Basically there is something for everyone here. I never spend less than 2 hours every time I go and I end up buying lots of fabrics that I have yet to use but they are for all these great projects that I have in mind. : )

Stand by Me - Shinee (Music Sheets) from Boys Over Flowers OST

Finally had some more time to bend my very popular Boys Over Flowers piano book. Here's another song that I like. Also saw Shinee winning some award last night. No idea what award it was but it was right after the SS501 performance. Have you SEEN Hyung Joon's hairstyle??? It's like an overused mop and he looks like an ahjumma! I think his hairstyle in the UR Man video was the best.

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Fabric shopping in Seoul - Part 1 (Gwangjang Market)

I recently got a sewing machine from Singer (read about that experience from an earlier post) so began my search for the raw materials to 'put something together'. I had heard that there is a big fabric market in Seoul, afterall a lot of designer fabrics get printed in Korea (not just China). In fact, Heather Ross who wrote 'Weekend Sewing' has her fabric printed in Korea too!

After a bit of research and wandering about, I found 2 sources of for fabrics and sewing knick knacks. The first place I hit was Gwangjang Shijang (Gwangjang Market). This is close to Dongdaemun, if you take the subway use Line 1 and get off at Jong-no 5(o)-ga. Alternatively, if you are looking for bus routes, check out this site for more options.

When I first got there, I was a bit confused as I came in through the food alley. You will see lots of small stall that are cooking some form of pancake or 'chon'. I never did stop to enquire what kind of chon it was but it did look good albeit super oily.

Food alley

Lady making 'chon'

If you head off towards the area where you see stores selling hanboks and blankets, you are heading off in the right direction. It really depends on which direction you are coming from. I had to ask someone the first time and mentioned 'utt' which means cloth or fabric or clothes. Somehow they understood me, but then they said something like they are closed. Turns out I went on a Tuesday and most of the fabric shops close on that day! Great!

So if you go on another weekday you will see lots of small stores selling fabric, maily cotton, polyester, silks, and blankets. There are a lot of stores that sell, not exactly fabric ends but small pieces of fabric that are no more than say 3m. One good thing about Gwangjang market sellers as compared to the ones at the Dongdaemun Shopping Town (which I will write about later) is that they don't mind you buying 1m of fabric. They cater more to the individual hobbyist than wholesale buyers like the ones that you find in DST.

Special desserts made for weddings

Along the alley where you find all the fabric shops, check out the stores on the left, you will see smaller alleys that go off from the main walkway and in there you will find shops that sell sewing accessories like buttons, knick knacks, lace, thread etc...

Generally the price is comparable to DST, I guess the main differences that Gwangjang Market is:

• Less packed
• Bit more space to move around - you won't have ahjassi's with 1ton bags swiping past you like in DST
• Friendlier sellers
• Easier to buy smaller quantities of fabrics
• Just a tad less intimidating
  
• Heaps less confusing
  
• Much less choice than DST