May 23, 2013
by Mipa
1 Comment

Vegan Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

You know, there is nothing quite like the smell of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the morning. It’s not exactly a healthy breakfast, but sometimes you gotta indulge your gut.

I made these vegan cinnamon rolls a while ago. I was testing cinnamon roll recipes for the Bakery Monthly magazine, trying to come up with one that worked best~ I submitted the recipe and was going to wait until the magazine was published to share the recipe with you guys, but I’m just too impatient, so I’m sharing it now, except with a twist! Instead of making cinnamon rolls, I used the same recipe to make pull-apart bread! Tadaaaa~:

대 to the 박. This is seriously probably one of the best things I’ve baked in a long time… Do you ever have those baking moments where you surprise yourself because you didn’t know you had it in you? This was that kind of moment for me. I rarely bake things that require yeast because after all these years, it still intimidates me. And so for it to turn out so deliciously, I was kind of in awe. ‘Ahhh, the baking gods have favored me today~~”

Now admittedly, making cinnamon rolls or pull-apart bread isn’t exactly a walk in the park. As much as the optimist in me wants to be all like “You’ll be amazed at how easy this is!”, it’s actually is a bit of work. Even though a good chunk of the time is waiting for the dough to rise, you should still keep an eye out on it and make sure that the resting temperature is right, etc. And if you’re like me, you’ll keep coming back for a peek, fussing with it, and stressing over whether the dough will really rise. So yea… it’s a hassle, but you gotta trust me on this one. It will be worth the effort. And you’ll feel like a badass when you achieve success.

Vegan Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread with Maple Glaze
makes 2 small loaves

For the dough:
45g warm water (around 45C)
15g organic cane sugar
8g dry yeast
60g non-dairy vegan butter (brand: Nuttelex)
110g organic soy milk

45g organic cane sugar
4g organic pure vanilla extract
2g salt
280g all purpose flour (plus more for rolling)

For the cinnamon filling:
60g organic cane sugar
5g ground cinnamon
25g non-dairy butter, melted
20g raisins
20g walnut pieces

For the maple icing glaze:
70g powdered sugar
20g non-dairy butter, melted
0g organic soy milk
2g maple extract
1g salt

METHOD:
1. Place the warm water and 15g of sugar in a small bowl. Let the sugar dissolve. Add the yeast and stir for a few seconds then set it aside for about 10 minutes, until the yeast has bubbled up and doubled in size. if the yeast does not expand, then the yeast is dead or the water is not the right temperature, and you will have to try again.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat up the butter just until it has melted. Remove from heat and mix in the soy milk, sugar, vanilla and salt. Add the yeast mixture (after it has been proofed), and stir.
3. In a larger bowl, sift the flour. Pour the wet mixture in and mix everything together. After a while, use your hands to knead the dough for about 5 minutes. The dough will be a bit wet and sticky, but still manageable. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour. Next, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel, and set aside in a warm place for at least 1:30 hours, until the dough has risen and doubled in size. I heated my oven at the lowest temperature for about 5 minutes and then turned it off and placed the dough bowl in there to rise.
4. Once the dough has risen, punch it down and turn it out onto a floured table top. Knead a few times and then let it rest again for about 15 minutes, covered.

5. Preheat oven to 170C. Line baking pans with parchment paper.
6.On a floured surface, roll the dough out to a 45cm x30cm rectangle.

7. In a small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon. Drizzle the melted butter over the rolled out dough and brush evenly until the surface is all covered. Generously sprinkle the cinnamon sugar all over. No holding back. Add the raisins and walnuts on top (if using).

8. Using a sharp, floured knife, cut the rolled out dough into four even strips. Layer them on top of each other and then slice those strips up into 8+ squares.

The size you cut the squares will depend on the size of your bread pan. My pans are quite small, hence the thin strips. If you are using one larger bread pan, then maybe cut 3 strips and then cut those layers into 6 squares.

9. Carefully arrange the layers into your baking pans lined with parchment paper. Some of the raisins and walnuts will no doubt try to escape, but just stuff them back in later. Cover with a cloth and let the dough rest and rise in the pans for about 15-20 minutes.

10. Bake at 360F or 180C for about 20-25 minutes, until they are golden brown on top. If they start to become too brown before they are fully baked, lower the heat slightly and place a sheet of foil over the top and continue baking. Let cool about 10 minutes before adding any glaze.

Fresh out of the oven! The cinnamon-sugar aroma is glorious and all the layers are happily sandwiched together. You can enjoy this just as is, or you can go all the way and top it with some sweet maple glaze.

11. To make the glaze, just mix all of the ingredients (powdered sugar, soy milk, melted vegan butter, maple extract, and salt). Drizzle evenly over the warm cinnamon rolls.

This is best enjoyed while still warm and peeling apart the layers is half the enjoyment of eating this bread. You simply cannot stop at one layer… just one more…. and another… and another. Until it’s all gone. No regrets though.

So sexy, so seductive… :P

The cinnamon-sugar goes so well with walnuts and raisins, but feel free to add whatever fruits/nuts your heart desires. Even chocolate chips!

They also make the most adorable pressies~ And you will no doubt impress the pants off of everyone. Enjoy~

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 20, 2013
by Mipa
6 Comments

Cafe Mashil book event & random eats!

Last week Botton cafe hosted a book launching party for Jaebom Shim, author of a coffee travel book ‘Cafe Ma-shil’. He worked for an airline and got to travel around the world and visit some of the best coffee shops and roasteries, so he compiled them all into one fantastic book. Looking through it makes me want to travel again and go cafe-hopping. It was a big honor to be a part of this author’s book event and he seemed really excited about the vegan desserts too. :)

Because the event was at Botton, Yona and I got to cater the event with our desserts. I made carrot cake, earl grey cake, red velvet cake, chocolate cookies, coconut macaroons, and lemon drop cookies.

The red velvet cake didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped and it was a bit messy to arrange with the frosting. I hope people still enjoyed it though~

Yona made almond florentines, and her beautiful strawberry pie, egg-orange tart, and deep dish quiche. And Botton provided all the coffee and drinks. The spread was quite a sight!

The awesome Botton crew hard at work.

Another lady also provided some savory food like homemade kimbab rolls, fried dumplings, and salad. At the start of the event, the author gave a speech and all the other noteable attendees introduced themselves before everyone dug in. :)

People hanging around outside once it got too crowded inside. So many fancy people~ :) I’m so glad the event went well, and I wish nothing but big success for Jaebom Shim and his book!

And now onto some daily random eats:

I’m still making green smoothies, and even more so now that it’s basically summer. This one was made with a banana, orange, almond milk (a special treat I ordered from iHerb), wheat grass powder, chia seeds, cacao nibs, cinnamon, and some ice. Deliciously refreshing, especially right after a workout.

Made a last-minute, one-day trip to Cheonan over the weekend and my parents and I went out for dinner at this countryside Korean restaurant. They had boribab (barley rice), and a bunch of banchans– my favorite kind of restaurant.

I always want multiple servings of all the banchans… but sometimes I feel bad about asking for banchan refills, even though most places are fine with it.

Cold mook soup

Barley bibimbab.

I also recently got lunch at a new Thai restaurant by Shinnonhyun station. They didn’t have many (if any) veggie options, so I asked them to make a vegan pad thai for me with just a bunch of veggies. It was about half noodles and half sprouts! hehe. Tasted pretty ok… but drowning in a bit too much oil though.

Found this new veggie ramen by Nongshim! I was so surprised to find it at my small neighborhood convenience store, because usually you can only get vegan ramen at big stores like Emart or Homeplus! It’s great that this is becoming more widely available, even if it isn’t the most healthy thing to buy.

Nongshim has (or had? not sure if they pulled it) another vegan ramen, but this one is different in that the noodles have not been fried, and it is much fewer calories. It will make you feel a little less guilty about eating salty junk food. :)

Ingredients label. The warning section says it was made in a facility that also processes buckwheat, peanuts, seafood, pork, milk, eggs, and tomatoes. It’s made by Nongshim, so this isn’t surprising.

Here it is all cooked up. I added the tofu and zucchini~ The ramen was just what the doctor ordered. :P

This month’s issue of Bakery Monthly magazine. My contribution is a hummingbird cake with coconut-brown rice topping and walnuts.

I have also been trying to help my friend find forever-homes for the kittens that he rescued from the street a while back. They have grown up a lot and are just so cute and full of energy. Out of 6 total, 4 have already been adopted and there are just 2 left, waiting for someone to take them home. If you or anyone you know is interested, shoot me an email! aliensdayout at gmail dot com. Just think of all the hilarious cat photos and videos you can post to reddit. Instant karma, yeah!

Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur~ happy kitty, sleepy kitty, pur pur purr~~

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 16, 2013
by Mipa
1 Comment

Brick Oven New York Pizzeria @ Gangnam Station

If you’re in the Gangnam area, there is only one place where you should go for pizza: BRICK OVEN! This is where you can get huge, authentic NY style pizza, without any of the weird Korean toppings like corn, and sweet potatoes. The two owners James Yu and Dan Cho have made it their mission to make delicious pizza that tastes like you’re back home.

The co-owner Dan is a Korean-American gyopo and a good friend of mine~ We used to work together at a hakwon waaay back in the day when we were young, wild, and free. He’s got a big personality, tons of heart, and is one of those guys that everyone knows. He can get along with anybody and he’s a big happy-go-lucky guy, but also a smart businessman and now a great pizza maker. I admire his work ethic and people skills.

It’s so awesome to see him making pizza like a pro, and to see him achieving his dream and pursuing his passion.

A bunch of our mutual friends got together at Dan’s restaurant to reconnect. Most of my old gyopo friends and old hakwon coworkers have moved back home, but there are a few of us left here, doing different things outside of the hakwon scene. It was so great to catch up and share what we’re up to now. And Brick Oven was the perfect place for us to convene– it’s got a lively, upbeat atmosphere, and large tables to accommodate big groups (make a reservation for large groups in advance). Oh, and the waitstaff are all fluent in English so you don’t have to mime your order.

Garlic fries. They have a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, but I’m sure they could make it without for the vegans.

Garlic bread knots.

All the beer glasses come out chilled for the most refreshing taste.

One of the pies got split in half with one side vegan for me, and the other side basil pesto & cheese. They don’t currently have a vegan pizza on their menu, but there is a vegetarian one, so you can just ask them to leave out the cheese, and the dough is totally vegan. Dan is super accommodating to veg*ans.

Aww yiss~~ veggie pizza! The pie is huge, but the crust is fairly thin so you can enjoy several slices before you get stuffed. There was no way I could eat that whole half-pizza myself, so other people got to sample it too~

Delicious. Probably the best vegan pizza I’ve had in Korea. The crust is just how I personally like it– a little on the thinner side (very fold-able if that’s how you like to eat pizza), and they load it with veggie toppings: marinara sauce, mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, garlic, onions, bell peppers….

Dang, looking at these photos is making me crave pizza again.

So wot you waiting for? Go get your pizza on~

Directions to Brick Oven:
Gangnam Station, line 2. Exit 11. Come out the exit stairs and walk straight along the main road. When you reach the CGV theater, turn right and walk up the hill. Walk straight up for about 5 minutes (you’ll pass several coffee shops/restaurants) and Brick Oven will be one of the buildings on your left. You can’t miss it.
Location: 617-4 Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 2nd Floor
Tel: 02.508.1325
https://www.facebook.com/BrickOvenPizzaSeoul

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 15, 2013
by Mipa
4 Comments

Mandu Dubu Jeon-gol

Here’s a recipe for Mandu Dubu Jeon-gol that my mom made when I was visiting Cheonan a while back. Jeon-gol is a spicy hot Korean soup dish that is made in a big shallow pot. The ingredients are usually arranged neatly in the pot, along with the soup stock and spicy sauce, and then everything gets cooked right at the dining table on a portable gas stove. As the soup continues to boil, the flavor becomes more intense~ It’s one of those dishes that is so comforting and craveable because of its salty spiciness and smorgasbord of ingredients such as various veggies, mandu, and/or tofu.

Bubbly goodness.

Vegan Mandu Jeongol

For the spicy sauce /marinade:
2 Tbs soy sauce for soup (국간장)
1 Tbs red pepper flakes
1 Tbs crushed garlic
pinch of pepper

For the Jeongol:
8-10 vegan mandu dumplings. (or as many as you want)
5-6 cups vegan soup stock
4 shittake mushrooms, sliced
100g enoki mushrooms
1 onion – sliced long
1 block tofu – sliced
minari – cut the stems to about 7cm
1/2 spring onion shoot
1 green pepper sliced diagonally
1/2 red pepper (optional, depending on how spicy you want it)

Prepare your vegan stock in advance. Make the spicy marinade by just mixing all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Set aside. Next, begin arranging the jeongol ingredients. Place the same items on both sides of the pot, across from each other. Or you can go rogue and throw them in any which way you want. Pour in the stock til the ingredients are just covered and place a spoonful of the spicy marinade sauce in the middle. Start with one heaping tablespoon. If you want it more spicy, you can always add more later after you taste it. Place the defrosted mandu in the middle and bring everything to a boil. Once the ingredients are all cooked, enjoy!

Premade vegan mandu dumplings, ready for cooking. If they are frozen, set out to defrost at room temp.

The soup we made was pretty light and mild, compared to most jeongols that you get at restaurants. We prefer to keep things less spicy and salty, but you can add more of the pepper sauce for a more intense, spicy jeongol. Enjoy with rice and plenty of banchans. :)

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 13, 2013
by Mipa
0 comments

Rescue Team Bake Sale Fundraiser

Hi Seoulites!

My friend is hosting a bake sale fundraiser this weekend at Bao restaurant in Noksapyeong. She is raising money to help bring a North Korean defector in China, over to South Korea. Stop by the bake sale on Saturday if you can~ you’ll be helping someone in need and you’ll get to enjoy some vegan/gf treats! :)

Directions to Bao:
Noksapyeong Station (Line 6), exit 2. Walk straight down the hill to the underpass. Cross under and exit left from the underpass. Walk straight to the traffic light. Bao is across the street in between Noxa Lounge and Kolon Motors BMW.

May 10, 2013
by Mipa
5 Comments

TaiLor Coffee & vegan cakes @ Hongdae

This post is way overdue~~ I’ve been meaning to blog about one of my fave cafes in Hongdae for ages. You guys might remember last year I blogged about a hip little coffee shop called ‘Forest Coffee Roasters.’ Well near the end of last year, the owner closed down that shop and reopened his cafe & roastery in a new location, under a brand new name: TaiLor Coffee. It has the same roaster, same barista, and same delicious coffee, but it’s got a completely different vibe from the previous Forest shop. It’s classy, sharp, and so much more spacious.

Interior shot.

The coffee shop is in the half-basement, and then directly above it is where all the roasting goes on~ There is even an open area that is the perfect place to chill and be productive when it’s nice outside~

Hard at work. Everyone here is super kind and friendly, and they also understand English so don’t be shy to ask them questions to get exactly what you want. :)

The menu board. Lattes, flat whites, dutch coffee, and more. It’s Hongdae, so the prices are steeper than average… you just gotta think of it as paying extra for the hang-out spot. And you get 2,000 discount if you get it to-go. There is no soymilk option on the menu yet, but I’ll let you know if they add it.

In addition to the change of location and name, here’s another exciting big change: they are now selling ADO vegan cakes!! :) Yup, so now in addition to Botton in Itaewon, you can now get cake in Hongdae, at this lovely coffee shop. I’m incredibly grateful to them for wanting vegan desserts, over all the other omni options out there. It means a lot~ :)

Vegan earl grey tea cake.

Vegan lemon blueberry cake, half-eaten. :) The dessert/cake flavor will change day-to-day, but hopefully there will be a steady supply of vegan cake every day of the week.

Ice Americano and a baggie of ground beans (Purple Rain blend) for me to enjoy at home. Delicious.

The bossman who does all the roasting and when he’s available, he’ll pour you a delicious cuppa joe too~

Here’s the barista John, looking scruffier than usual. I made him pose for all his fans out there. If you want your coffee brewed by this handsome face, go to Tailor coffee.

Cold brew, their tasty dutch coffee.

Directions to TaiLor Coffee:
Hongik University Station, Line 2, Exit 8. When you come out the exit stairs, turn right and walk straight. Turn left at the small roundabout, crossing the street so that you are on the sidewalk. Walk to the next roundabout and turn right, after the bbq restaurant on the corner. Cross the street and walk up (slightly uphill) for two blocks. At the second block, turn left into the alleyway (there is a realtor agency on the corner) and then make the first right, after Sim’s Tapas restaurant. The cafe will be on your left. 5 minute walk from station exit.

Check website for more info

2013.5.9 | 지도 크게 보기

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 8, 2013
by Mipa
18 Comments

Snoop Dogg, Random Eats, and a Pakistani dinner~

Last week I got to bake for a vegan who was part of the Snoop Dogg (now aka Snoop Lion) concert crew that was coming to Seoul! She said that a couple of them were vegan and they wanted to make sure they had things to eat, so they decided to order my stuff! I love it when travelers who are just visiting Seoul order my goodies because it is an honor to be a small, hopefully memorable part of their veg*an experience here in Seoul. So anyway, I truly hope she and the other vegan enjoyed the treats. It’s wishful thinking, but how cool would it have been if one of the cookies somehow made it into Snoop Doggie Dog’s mouth. Fo’ shizzle. And what’s even cooler is that she was so nice and hooked this vegan up with free tickets to the concert!

My friends and I had a total blast. Even though I’m not necessarily a hardcore Snoop fan, I definitely know and enjoy a lot of his songs from way back in the day, and it was so fun to hear them again live. I haven’t gone to a concert in soooo long, mostly cuz I’ve been so preoccupied with other things and concerts are really expensive in Korea~~ So this was a seriously special treat. Thank you T!

And now moving onto some random eats!! The other day I baked some of my favorite Whole Wheat Bran Muffins and I’ve been enjoying them every day for breakfast and snacks too. I shared the recipe a while ago here. They definitely keep things moving smoothly if you know what I mean. sorry tmi.

2 muffins for breakfast~ with blueberry jam on one and raspberry jam on the other. I have too many different jams in my fridge right now (about 6), it’s ridiculous.

I did some cinnamon roll testing, for the upcoming Bakery Monthly magazine issue~ (oops, it won’t be a surprise any more, haha). I think I finally came up with a good vegan version. I’ll share the recipe later, after the magazine issue comes out.

Overnight oats for breakfast in bed.

Dark chocolate & mint frosting cake @Botton. Mint & chocolate is usually a christmassy combination, but I reckon it’s yummy any time of the year.

One of my friends knows a Pakistani family and the mother invited a handful of church people over for a casual cooking class! I’ve always wanted to properly learn how to cook Indian/Pakistani food from a native so this was my opportunity to get an authentic lesson. We learned to make two different curries, roti bread, and a tasty carrot dessert. It took us a while to finish cooking everything and we were all super hungry by the end, but oh man, it was worth the wait because everything was so yummy. I definitely think that besides Korean food, Indian/Pakistani cuisine is my next fave… I love the spices, the bread, the veggies, everything. Pictured above is the ocra-onion curry– probably my favorite of the lot.

Aloo gobi (cauliflower and potato curry). I love ordering this at restaurants so it was nice to learn how to make it for myself! I don’t know if I’ll be successful, but at least I have a general idea of how to make it in the future.

For dessert we made this Carrot Halwa which is sweetened grated carrots with raisins and nuts. It tasted like carrot cake, except it wasn’t a cake. It was super delicious on its own, but I reckon you could enjoy it in numerous different ways, like spreading it on bread, crackers, or even turning it into a pie filling. Mmm~~

My plate with all the curries, some homemade roti, and cucumbers. I loved watching the mom (cook) make the roti on a roti pan~ She made it look so effortless, from rolling the dough to pressing the bubbles down as it cooked, and flipping it over~ I wish she was my personal chef so that I could enjoy her delicious food every day. I may just have to ask her teach me more vegan recipes so I can be confident enough to try it all myself. :)

And here’s your daily dose of Bunny lovin’. She came out of her cubby hole to snack on some hay~ I think she’s glad it’s getting warmer cuz every now and then I catch her doing her happy-dance outside on the patio.

Ok folks, that’s all i got for today~~~ enjoy the sunshine!! xoxo

I love hearing feedback from you guys! Feel free to leave a comment by clicking here~~ :)

May 4, 2013
by Mipa
6 Comments

Simply Spring

Another busy week come and gone, and now it’s already May. A lot of cool things happened last month, mostly all the bake sales, as you can tell from the past couple posts~ but there are some more exciting new things brewing and I’ll be sure to blog about them all soon, once I catch a bit of a breather~ :) I also haven’t been so good about photographing my regular meals because about 90% of what I eat so boring and redundant. But in an attempt to share a bit of my regular daily life, here are some random yummy eats I did enjoy as a vegan in Seoul.

I didn’t have much of anything in my fridge except some tofu and the organic green veggies I bought from Marche@Seocho last weekend. So I made this very green salad with lettuce, spinach, tofu bits, cucumber, sesame seed oil, red pepper flakes, and salt. So. much. fiber.

Snacked on the buckwheat raw bar I got from Marche@Seocho. It was crispy, light, and delicious. Wish I had more.

There is a small tofu restaurant near my house and I’ve gone there a few times. It’s nothing special or fancy, but I go there when I’m craving good Korean food. My friend and I got the dubu jeongshik, which was rice and a various tofu side dishes.

dubu jorim~ spicy saucy tofu.

Plain pan-fried tofu for dipping in soy sauce.

My friend Yunseo came over to hang out and play with Bunny~ haha, Bunny looks huge in this photo.

Made various muffins for some friends at my gym. I used to hate the idea of meeting people at the gym. I was all like “I’m here to work out, not make friends. I don’t want people talking to me when I’m all gross and sweaty.” But now I’m grateful for the friendships and community.

Cherry blossom petals on the sidewalk~~ I’m actually really sad that I missed the best part of the cherry blossoms because I was too busy to go outside and actually enjoy them. My fault.

At least there are plenty of other spring flowers in bloom right now. I visited Boramae Park, the closest park to my house, and it was so calming and gorgeous.

I’m so glad spring is here!!! :)

The view at sunset.

At the Botton Market Day, one of my readers was visiting from the US and she surprised me with this gift of vegan chocolate and poppy seeds! She remembered me mentioning on the blog that poppyseeds are no longer available in Korea and I can’t even have them shipped from iherb. So she brought me some! Super kind and generous~ I shall bake all kinds of goodness with them.

I dug into the raspberry chocolate bar and it was so yummy. I also ended up shaving some of the chocolate onto a cake~

Some friends were having a fajita/taco night and they prepared veggie options like sauteed veggies and grilled tempeh! One of the hosts is also a vegetarian so I didn’t feel completely like the odd-man-out. :)

It was really good and I was so hungry that I ate it in about 5 minutes. Thanks Britt & Co! :)

Grabbed a very light dinner/snack at Casablanca in HBC last week. I love their sandwiches but I wasn’t in the mood for a big hunk of bread, so I ended up getting all of the sides which are vegan. First, the spicy carrot salad.

Lentil soup. This was soooo good, I could’ve easily had seconds, thirds, and fourths.

Mediterranean salad. Super fresh and light.

Finally, last Sunday I went to check out the Window Bakery Collection, or at least tried to. It was crazy-crowded and there was actually a line wrapped around the building with people waiting up to an hour just to get in. Thankfully, I got to skip the line and got shuttled directly inside…. I guess that’s one of the perks of being a previous Window Baker. It was definitely more crowded than last winter when I participated and the space was smaller too, which made it feel like a sauna. But regardless of the uncomfortable conditions, all the participants did a great job, worked their butts off, and generously handed out so many samples. I honestly don’t think anyone can complain about the long lines, considering the whole event was completely free of charge, and this is an event where business give away tons of samples of artisan bread, gourmet ice cream, chocolate, coffee, ddeok, and more. We Koreans go crazy when it comes to free-anything, so I guess no one should be surprised that practically all the foodies of Seoul swarmed to the event. I didn’t take many photos because I couldn’t see above all the people (shortness strikes again). The only one I got was of the Haap table when a space miraculously opened up and I got to enjoy one of the delicious sticky rice ddeoks~ And I got a photo of me with two of the baker-participants that I know.

Well, that about sums it up for now. Stay posted for more news and updates, coming soon~~ :)

Feel free to leave a comment!

April 30, 2013
by Mipa
8 Comments

Marche@ Seocho for Earth Day (recap)

So this past weekend I participated in the Marche@Seocho! The main Marche is @Hyehwa, but they were having a one-time event at this new location in celebration of Earth Day. I was excited for the opportunity to share vegan baked goods with Koreans, and also because so many of my friends were also participating~ Mellowsong, Etoffe, Dal Dal vegan burgers, and Whole*istic, just to name a few. ;)

This Marche@ was co-sponsored by Basic House, a clothing company. They were selling 100% organic cotton tees and also gave away a ton of eco-bags. Love all the colors.

My friend NaYoung of Etoffe was collaborating with Basic House and was printing silk screen designs on their t-shirts. :)

Fresh, organic, local produce and fruit. Everything was so affordable too– 1,000-2,000won per bag.

Organic spinach? Yes please. I definitely stocked up on the organic lettuce and spinach because it’s so much pricier anywhere else.

The ADO table. I brought pretzel brownies, earl grey tea cake, chocolate pb banana cake, carrot bread, muffins, a bunch of cookies, and also some illustration postcards. The earl grey cake was the most popular and sold out first! At the end of the day, I only had a few cookies left which I shared with other vendors~ so it was another successful bake sale. Many thanks to everyone who stopped by the ADO booth and bought goodies. One of my customers and blog readers even brought me a jar of homemade apple-banana jam~ weehee, i seriously have the best readers. :)

Top to bottom: me posting an announcement on FB after setting everything up, Yunseo my trusty helper, pretzel brownies, and me showing off my Herbivore tshirt which says “Wings are for Flying, not Frying.”

The lovely veggie crew from Dal Dal Vegan Burgers, mid-prep. Jimin (on the left) was the chef at the beloved Macro restaurant that had the best vegan burger I ever tasted in Korea. And the lady on the right is Yoonseo who does vegan and macrobiotic cooking classes in her Hongdae cooking studio. And that’s her husband is in the middle. I actually provided vegan desserts for their wedding last year~ :) They are all super sweet, radiant people. I was so intent on getting a burger this time, but as always they sold out really fast due to their popularity. Way to go DalDal!

Starting to get busy…. What’s great is that this location is so spacious and open.

Two sisters were selling homemade paaht bean jam and peanut butter! Love the packaging, and the flavors are great too. I really liked the red bean jam so I bought one for a gift.

The ever so popular Bici Coffee, the jam sisters, and Whole*istic raw balls! Scrumptious.

Another table selling sweet treats like these multi color foliage cookies. Adorable.

The table next to mine was run by a brother and little sister and they were selling home-grown suuk, baby greens, homemade bread rolls.

They were also selling organic herbal teas and fermented fruit syrups~

We swapped vegan cookies for some of their homemade bread rolls. Chewy and delicious.

In addition to Whole*istic, there was another booth selling raw & gluten-free snack balls and bars. I got a raw brownie ball which I ate on the spot, and one of those buckwheat groat bars for later. Mm, healthy snacks~

Yunseo got this sweet red bean latte from another vendor. Soooo freaking good. It was quite sweet though, so you had to enjoy it in little sips, but it was fantastic.

Another friend bought me this small jumeok bab from one of the stalls. I got so full on just sampling all these different bites. :)

I love the granny in the middle with her stylish outfit. :) She was so cute, checking out all the stalls~

Dried things and sangria.

Some shade for people to sit and enjoy their food.

By 4pm, things were starting to wind down and it was time to pack up my booth and take home all the goodies I bought~ I had a great time and it was a fun experience. I don’t know if there will be another Marche@Seocho in the future, but if there is, maybe ADO will participate again. In the meantime, you can always check out the Marche@Hyehwa, usually every first Sunday of the month. For exact dates, check their FB page.

Feel free to leave a comment!

April 23, 2013
by Mipa
11 Comments

Botton Market Day Recap

This past Sunday was Botton Cafe’s Market Day and it was buckets of fun. Botton gathered some of their friends and partners to have a one-day event where they turned the cafe into an open market with desserts, clothing, artwork, drinks, and more. And awesomely, it coincided with the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale dates~ :) I wasn’t sure if I’d have time to organize, bake, and promote an event by myself this year, so I didn’t think it would happen. But then Botton provided the space and opportunity and all I had to do was bake and share the announcement on FB. Like the one I had at Glam Penguin Cafe, a percentage of my proceeds went to the North Korean Human Rights campaign to safely bring North Korean defectors from China to Korea. With all the drama with NKorea lately, I’ve really been wanting to do something to help North Koreans. Even though the contribution is small, if it can help just one person find freedom and safety, it will be worth it.

For the first time, I had cake at a bake sale! Three different flavors from top to bottom: Lemon-blueberry cake with cashew cream frosting, Chocolate-Stout cake with peanut butter cream frosting and banana slices in the middle, and Red Velvet with white chocolate cashew cream frosting. Since there was no space in the cafe for people to sit and eat, I had to package the slices individually in to-go cases. I think it worked out pretty well~~

A shot of the choc stout cake before it got packaged up. I also made NYC black & white cookies because they just look so classy. In the past, I haven’t been too successful with these cookies, but I tried the recipe from Chloe’s Vegan Desserts and it turned out great! Definitely my most successful attempt.

For all the cookie monsters out there I had double choc chip cookies, pomegranate-cranberry cookie bites, apple pie jam thumbprint cookies, ginger molasses, and oatmeal granola bars. I also made a bunch of blueberry cookies and coconut macaroons that didn’t get photographed~ Talk about cookie bonanza.

Gluten-free banana choc chip muffins~ I wanted to make more gf goods, but ran out of time. Fortunately, there weren’t many people looking for gf items.

Brownies and zucchini choc chip bread.

Let me introduce you peeps to my friend and fellow independent baker, Yona Koh. She doesn’t do vegan baking, but she makes some beautiful, drool-worthy pies, desserts, and food. She even has a cookbook published here in Korea. She’s adorable and you should remember her name and face. And then there’s me…. yadda yadda yadda, you know me! hehe. (photo credit: Mr.Heebong)

Yona’s gorgeous egg-orange tartes and strawberry pie. So vibrant~ Sadly, they are not vegan so I did not partake in a taste. :(

Yona’s biscotti! Again, I sooo wish they were vegan because they look perfectly dunkable.

Little vials of dutch coffee~ Botton’s dutch coffee is amazing paired with the organic soy milk their use. Even my omni friends preferred the soy version to the dairy milk version. I also made apple spice cupcakes with salted caramel frosting. The frosting didn’t turn out as smooth as I wanted, but the caramel flavor was still there so I was happy~ There’s the Botton sajangnim (Boss Lady), me, and Yona.

In addition to food, there were also several tables of clothing, shoes, and accessories! I wish I had gotten a chance to properly look through all the clothes, but I had to man my booth for most of the time. Gnoa and another barista were busy making aeropress coffee for people looking for their caffeine fix. FYI, Gnoa is an aeropress 2nd place champion in Korea~ don’t be fooled by her adorable, carefree tomboy persona. She’s serious about coffee.

Mellowsong’s gorgeous soy candles! The owl candles all sold out first… they are so pristine. I know~~ i’m always waxing on and on (sorry, couldn’t help myself) about her candles, but I just can’t get over how awesome they are. If you want one, visit her website and shoot her an email.

Curious passers-by.

Hand made silk screen eco bags made by Na Young of Etoffe, an awesome illustrator and artist. She makes silk-screened things, and we have a plan for a collaborative project in the works… :)

I didn’t get to eat breakfast or lunch prior to the bakesale starting. By 4pm, I was so hungry I dug into one of my own oatmeal granola bars. Not bad, if I may say so myself. It quelled my hunger for about an hour and then I was starving again. I was tempted to eat more of my own vegan items for sale, but then someone else wouldn’t have been able to taste it, so I stopped myself. I should really be better at packing my own snacks when I do these bake sales…

People, food, things.

So that about sums up Botton’s first Market Day. Even though it was just a one-time event, who knows, maybe there will be another in the future. And I owe a huge thank you to every single person who came for ADO vegan treats, from the bottom of my heart. I met so many lovely supporters, and even one overseas blog reader who I’ve gotten to know only online, and she is visiting Korea and I finally met her in person which was so rad. I rarely actually get to meet blog readers in person, but it’s occasions like this when I get to meet people face to face, and it’s really uplifting and inspiring to hear where they are on their veg-journey. So thank you to all of you who came out… you know who you are! I hope you enjoyed your treats.

Our Botton family, crew, and friends~ “THANK YOU!!”

May 2013
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Apr
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30	31