She wore a raspberry beret The kind you find in a second hand store

I love thrift stores. The  hunt, the savings, and  never knowing what I might find; is heaven to me. I snagged an especially good haul today. Thought I'd share with the class.

-brand new Fox Run  English muffin/Crumpet Rings 2 sets of 4  $1.49 each

- a super fancy water proof/insulated rolling pinic carrier. (It only came with the plates, untensils, cheese board, cheese knife, & wine opener shown in this picture) $6.74 ( retails for almost $200)

- a great quality vintage cookie jar $3.01

- Cookie cookbook $1.12

- Huge 21 quart Granite Enamel Ware Stock pot ( I was having problems finding anything big enough to salt cabbage & mix all my Kimchi at once) 5.20

$19.05 + tax well spent, eh?

I hear acceptence is the first step. Hello my name's Nik(o) and I'm a thrift bitch. lol

Read More

What a melon!

I have a weakness for Trader Joe's samples. Even if it's something I know I loathe, like beets *shiver*, I just can't help but try it. This lack of willpower led to a wonderful discovery.

                                               Watermelon salad!

OMG soooo yummy. I'm religiously against fresh fruit in salads. But it was so savory, with just the right of cooling sweetness.  The perfect addictive salty/sweet combo. I'm going to start testing recipes, so I can make it for a picnic this weekend = ).  I want to play with how different herbs  (basil, mint, cilantro, and thai basil) alter the taste. I'll keep you guys posted on my results.

Read More

Hello There Stranger

Hi I'm Niko-Kitten.  I'm a twenty something Hapa/of mixed race: Black, Asian (Korean and Chinese), and Caucasian. I've appreciated foreign languages/culture. media, and  international cooking all of my life to some degree, but I've never truly explored it much. There's always something more pressing to do or not enough folks in my daily life that have even the slightest interest in these topics. Also, if I'm being honest, I've previously been very gunshy to show too much interest in Asian things, because it would lead to complicated explanations since I neither present phenotypically as Asian nor do I really associate myself as such (Ok well I do partly, but not intensely and not to the point where I'd choose to  bring it up in conversation. A post on this is in the works).

 But  Korean language and media blew me away in 2011. The throaty phonetic quality, the polished snark-like  poetry of  the Korean language, lurking in what might appear bland sentences, and the addictive music, movies, and shows blew me away in 2011. And I've chosen to get over myself and  pursue learning the language and exploring Asian culture, media, and cooking seriously as of this Summer 2013. I want to share this bumpy ride with other curious bystanders, other Hapas, or  language learners/ kind fluent speakers willing join me. Other topics will likely appear, most likely my crafts or daily life updates; hopefully they'll amuse.

I'm  currently studying Korean and Japanese, with Polyglottery being the long term goal, and exploring the object of my passion until further notice. 

Nice to meet you. 始めまして。만나서 반갑습니다. (^-^*)/

Yours,

Niko

Read More