Rustic Apple Cake

OH MY GOSH I just made and ate the most amazing apple cake ever. I'm not a baker, so I usually stay away from making pies and cakes and such... but after several successes with this blogger's recipes, I decided to have faith in myself and in the simple-looking recipe. Want in? 

Go to Eat Good 4 Life's Rustic Apple Cake. I promise you, if someone like me can bake a successful apple cake, so can you! I didn't change anything in her recipe so I won't bother writing the steps and ingredients down (all the more incentive for you to check out her blog!). Just one piece of advice: eat it with unsweetened, un-creamed black iced coffee. It is To. Die. For.

I've tried other things on this website that also turned out really well, but after this apple cake.... It's official. You've found a loyal fan, Ms. EatGood4Life!

City Living

Philadelphia Art Museum, October 2009

Philadelphia. This city just keeps growing on me. When I first moved here in 2009, I told myself that this would not be my home for long. But 3 years later, here I am... still in Philadelphia and loving this city more and more!

I fell in love with my city during the 2 years I lived here before med school, when I had the time to roam around and explore places like Fabric Row, Rittenhouse, Chinatown, Clark Park, you name it. My friends thought think I was crazy for choosing to walk the 50-minute trek home from work. But that was how I made Philly my own.

I had to put 50-minute walks on hiatus when med school started. But now that we're on vacation, I'm determined to coax Hubs to come with me on some exciting Philly adventures! I hope he's up for the walk(s)... ;)

We sure enjoyed our city last weekend. We stumbled upon random neighborhood events like an all-day reading of James Joyce's Ulysses (left) and the weekly Rittenhouse outdoor market (right).

We found a cafe selling $1 mango iced tea (mmm!), which recharged us for a little more city strolling. When we got tired of walking, we popped over to a nearby theater to watch Avengers!

And then we finished off the night with some scrumptious Indian food at... you guessed it, Indian Restaurant.  ;P

Do you see why we love Philadelphia? Please come visit! We'd love to show you around! And Hubs makes amazing real-fruit smoothies. His most recent creation is shown above: pineapple banana orange. :)

With all joy and peace

source: Pinterest

Let me share something with you. I may be a fully grown, married 24-year old woman; but at my very core I'm still a shy, timid little girl. A girl dealing with insecurity and low self-esteem. A girl that struggles to place the fullness of her hope and joy in her Father. 

And yet, God chose me to be His daughter. He decided that I would be a recipient of His incomprehensible, unquenchable, amazing grace. Do you know just how huge that is?? Our God is a perfect, pure, holy God. No one can be as righteous and holy as Him. I am a sinful, broken girl who doesn't deserve a single speck of His love or forgiveness. But God didn't just grudgingly give me a little bit of Himself, he freely gave all: through His only son Jesus, an overflowing stream of forgiveness, love, eternal life... and joy! Such deep, satisfying, soul-quenching joy. Have you experienced this before?

Knowing this should fill my heart with an overwhelming desire to get to know my Savior and His Word more intimately; a desire to tell others about this peace I've found, which I haven't found in any other pursuit of this world; and a firm sense of security in my identity, because Christ loved me just as I am. And sometimes, it does!

But sadly, there are other times when I forget the goodness of God's grace. There are so many things my world tells me to do: to find identity in my strengths, to spend my life seeking things that will pleasure me. Being the sinner that I am, I foolishly try to chase these dreams. But they're all such dead-end pursuits. I come out feeling more insecure and unsatisfied.

It's in those times that I desperately need to remember what God has done in my life, and throughout history. On a daily basis, I need to remind myself of the Gospel. So although I write this partly to share with you God's work in my life, I also write this for me: when I'm overcome with discouragement and insecurities, I will read this and remember God's faithfulness.

So I'm going to write out my testimony here, gradually and part by part. I never want to forget what the Lord has done for me, and how He's allowed my heart to experience such peace, joy, satisfaction.

For now, though, I end with this: my earnest prayer for myself... and for you.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  
- Romans 15:13

Light & Healthy, Part 2 and 3

It's no secret that I am neither a master chef nor an expert blogger (blogress?). So when I wrote Part 1 of this series (if you can even call it that.. ha), I thought dishes 2 and 3 merited their own individual posts because it all tasted incredibly delicious and I wanted to feature each dish! But sitting here with my iPhoto open, I have come to the sad realization that I didn't take enough pictures to make two whole "recipe" type posts. Also, the salad is really just a combination of arugula, pear, and vinagrette from TJ's... he he. So Parts 2 and 3 have morphed into one post and... one recipe. I'll get better at this blogging thing, I promise :)

Couscous Salad 

*Note: I got this recipe right off the box of the whole wheat couscous I bought from Trader Joe's. I rarely use box recipes, but this one seemed like a definite hit so I decided to try it out - wiiith a couple tweaks. 

You need:

• 1 1/4 cup dry couscous (I used whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup water
• 3 Tbsp olive oil (this is half of what the box called for, because I don't like oil and fat)
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/2 bellpepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• Generous handful of cilantro (or parsley..whichever you prefer)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Boil the water, then reduce heat and mix in the couscous. Add the olive oil and lemon juice, and stir well. 

Turn the heat off; cover and let sit for 5 minutes.

Transfer to serving dish and fluff with a fork. Then add the rest of your ingredients, and refrigerate for 15 minutes. 

Voila! Your couscous salad is good to go!

Things I would change: 

• Honestly? Nothing! I loved this dish and I will definitely make it again and again... :)

Light & Healthy, Part 1

This weekend was a weekend of gluttony for Hubs and me. Too much eating out, pizza (albeit homemade), barbecues, and junk food; and not enough fruits and veggies. We decided that Sunday dinner had to be a healthy one.

It was tempting not to eat out again, especially with the huge African-American Odunde Festival right down our block in South Philly. The smells from their cookouts kept wafting into our apartment.. mmmm. But I stuck to my plan of a healthy Sunday dinner, and it worked! All it took was a little rummaging in the kitchen and a quick trip to Trader Joe's (thank goodness it's just a 20-minute walk away).

Our menu for the night, to come in three parts:
Part 1. Pan-Seared Scallops, seasoned with salt & pepper and lightly dipped in soy sauce
Part 2. Couscous Salad
Part 3. Baby Arugula and Pear Salad, drizzled in orange muscat champagne vinegar

Pan-Seared Scallops 

*Note: this recipe was a combination of several recipes I found online. I wasn't satisfied with any single one (which is often the case), so I just learned from the general "themes" and paved my own scallopy path. Good thing scallops are easy to cook with.

You need:

• 1 pound sea scallops 
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter
• 2-3 teaspoons olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste (I used lemon pepper)
• Soy sauce to taste

Rinse the scallops and pat them dry with paper towels. It's important for the surface of the scallops to be dry when searing them. Apparently, excess moisture is an enemy of searing since it produces a steaming effect.

I seasoned both sides of the scallops with salt and lemon pepper, and left it for about 30 minutes. Then right before putting them on the pan, I poured some soy sauce on the plate so the undersides of the scallops would just briefly get soaked.

Put the butter and oil in your pan and turn it on high heat. You want to sear your scallops at high temperatures so it doesn't overcook, and the outsides get crispy while the insides stay moist and tender.

Once the butter and oil starts smoking, set the scallops on the pan, soy sauce side up!

The timing here is crucial. I seared each side for about 2 minutes, and only flipped once.

The result was wonderful. It paired so well with the couscous, and hubs kept commenting on how tender and flavorful these were!

Things I would change:

• I didn't expect the oil to start popping like crazy when we first put the scallops in. Good thing hubs was hovering around me, so I got him to quickly find a pot lid to shield ourselves from the oil. Next time, I'll have that shield ready so my arms don't get burned!
• Soy sauce is salty, and so is salt. (How profound.) Next time I'm not gonna salt the side that receives the soy sauce. 

Give this a try! It's so simple and tastes so good :)

A great start

Summer 2012... Oh, how I have longed for you.

In medical school, the summer between first and second years is infamously dubbed the "last summer of our lives". After this, vacations will be few and far between until our long years of training are over... for some (ie. aspiring neurosurgeons), this means a decade more of training; for others (like me, maybe a pediatrician?), six.

My first free Saturday was the perfect way to kick off the summer. I can't think of a better way we could have spent it! :)

Saturday Part 1

Spontaneity. That's what I loved so much about my afternoon with Claire, BFF from my high school days in Germany.

She texted me in the morning, asking if I wanted to bake some macarons with her. Uh, of course I do! My friend is an amazing baker and chef, and I love being in the kitchen with her. So she came over, and our unexpected afternoon was born.

It was my first time witnessing a macaron creation, and I had no idea how temperamental a macaron is. Everything has to be just right - the temperature of the eggs, the humidity, the mixing technique. I was going to record the recipe and our steps on this blog, but since I really didn't know what was happening, you must wait until Claire launches her own blog (very soon!) to see in detail what we did. Don't worry, I plan to feature my friend on this blog once hers goes live ;)

If you've noticed the time stamps on my photos, you probably figured out that this whole process took us 5 hours. According to master chef Claire, that is double the normal time to bake macarons! The humid weather and my lack of appropriate baking tools (I'm.. not a baker) offset the time by just a little. But at the end of the day, our macarons were beautiful and oh so delicious!

Saturday Part 2

It's just how boys roll. To commemorate the end of our first year, our friend Brian organized a BBQ party at my place. But! He didn't actually have a grill for this party until that very afternoon. Thank God for random flea markets that sold him a grill for $5, right?? :P So I guess that's how boys roll - on the spur of the moment! In any case, the party was a wonderful success.


This group of girls (plus 2 more, who couldn't come) has been such an immense blessing to me. We are all so different, but God sovereignly brought us together. We'd all separately been praying for Christian sisters in our class with whom to share the struggles and joys of our walks with God. What a powerful answer to prayer. I'm so thankful for all of the intimate times we had sharing, crying, and sharing Bible verses on our hearts. Love y'all!

It was a great time having this grill-out with the guys' accountability group (the male counterpart of our group!). I pray that the Lord has been blessing you men as well through your meetings!

Saturday Part 3

Family. And what better way to top off the night than to chill with some good ol' Cornell friends? The ones we can show our ugly sides to, and not be shunned. The ones who experienced with us the amazing church, fellowship, and spiritual discipleship we were so blessed with at Cornell. Our good ol' good ol' family.  :)

And the blogging begins...

Source: etsy.com

Welcome to my new blog!


I've been thinking recently about picking up blogging again. I blogged with Xanga in high school, then met Tumblr in college. But I want something more.

I want to keep friends and family up to date on our lives. Since our families are literally spread out across the world, I hope that my blog will connect me to you in China, Korea, Vancouver, Michigan, Kenya, New Jersey, and beyond.

I also need a way to keep track of all my adventures in the kitchen! I have had quite a few of them since I became Mrs. Jeong 11 months ago... Some successful, others not so great. But it's hard to learn from your mistakes (and from your successes) if you don't record them!

Most importantly, though, I want to use my new blog to record my journey with God. The lessons I've learned, the new ones I'm struggling to grasp, and the heart that God is growing within us for His people across the nations. I have my own private (paper) journal, but I have been so encouraged lately by other bloggers who share their walk with God online. It would be such a humbling, wonderful privilege if my weak little stories and blog posts can point one more person towards Jesus and His amazing, sacrificial love.


So without further ado, welcome to the Jeongs' [online] home! Please stay and read for a while :)