Dormmade

Prologue

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 18:56:00 +0000

I tune into New Yorkers fiction podcast when I am doing mindless workout. Through the ear buds a story leaks into me, erasing any issues and stress, allowing me to retract into a world of my own. Each recording ends with the reader's reflection of the story, and on one of the issue it briefly talked about Madonna of the Future written by Henry James. The story is about a painter whose dream is to paint the perfect Madonna. He finds a model but never start the painting in fear of not being at the ability to draw the Madonna in his mind. The model grows older and eventually his vision is buried beneath the time and idealism. The story was talking to me about my stress. It was about my fear of telling a story about my journey to find the ideal food system.

Food is personal. It has been a medium that has helped my family to overcome the culture shock in U.S. for the last ten years. To keep a part of home in our life, my mother cooked Korean food using American ingredients. In an effort to broaden our tastes, she sometimes took on the challenge of incorporating a foreign grocery items into our familiar bowls of rice, preserving parts of Korean culture while introducing new American flavors and textures. As we dined, my mother described the ingredients and preparation of the food, telling us traditional stories related to our meal, and shared nutritional knowledge from her experience as a nurse. Food, for me, became a way of illuminating a population’s behavior and health outcomes as well as the hidden connections between various cultural systems, as the daily dinner table at my house helped me establish my identity. Probably its importance in my life has set my interest to take a 5-month journey around the world, with nothing but the support of friends and family and bit of guts.

Food is controversial. It is ever evolving subject in its variation, flavor, technique along with introduction of science and technology. It motivates people to work and pleases them when its awarded. It is the insurance our healthy body and mind, yet it is easy to be the basis of any disease. It divides people into class, stereotypes, and culture. Food sets a perspective or unite the difference on one table. It is a double sided concept that seems benign in our daily lives until its threat is brought into a careful observation. The vitality of food is not solely based on consumption, but to question and make independent judgment based on experience and to know the another level of world of food.

For five months I was at farms, markets, factories, households, kitchens, and various streets of developed countries working and talking to people. What we know from being at our home eating organic food, reading Omnivore's Dilemma, and watching Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me should not be a movement of setting new hobbyist with available wealth to support such life style. If such produces and media are putting attention into what we eat then it should be spoken to everyone in culturally adequate language with consideration of each population.

I am dedicating my blog, Dormmade, to be your source of knowledge that I hope to become your flash and bone. I am not a critic nor have ability evaluate a performance of our current food system and culture in United States with correct grammatical skill. The trip was based on limited budget and access within the network of friends and their family members, that I must confess what you will see is only a layer of a giant onion-like concept. As a recent graduate of college with a focus on Public Health, and being a 1.5 generation immigrant are another factors that I had to fight while making observations during this trip. However, as in Henry James' short story there is perfect Madonna that you imagine in your head, but one we create can surprise us beyond what we have imagined before. So I ask, share what you know and let us be surprised. You are always welcome to discuss your experiences, questions, and honest insights with everyone who will visit this blog.

Lastly, before I begin to unfold my journey I thank you, readers who waited with all their patience, mentors who guided me with their care and attention, and to everyone who shared their time and thoughts opening up personal passage that is now going to be everyone's journey around the world. I pinky promise.

Where Juhee is Where Food is - Route

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:49:00 +0000

You can follow the route of my food system tour with the map below. There will be much modification made over the course of time. The map includes location and duration of my stay and the host's name. The map can be directly viewed using following url: http://tinyurl.com/juhee-food2010-map

View Where Juhee is Where Food is in a larger map

Allie and Connor's Wedding

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Mon, 17 May 2010 05:32:00 +0000

Allie and Connor's Wedding was one of the most beautiful and surreal experience.

The Little Prince's author Antoine de Saint-Exupery said, "Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction." For two of my dearest who always share their strength and determination with me, I pray their everlasting friendship and love that they share each other, along with everyone they will encounter in their lives.

April Poo's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:19:00 +0000

I have waited a whole year for this. After sampling over 70 bags I distributed them to my residents and my staff. This one is for you, happy April Poo's Day.

Sarah Magid made her cookies from scratch, but you can easily create ones without a hassle. Buy chocolate chip cookie mix, add unsweetened chocolate melted with butter in microwave.

Orange Cornmeal Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:24:00 +0000

Since the blizzard swamped over East Coast and gifted Johns Hopkins University with now a week long snow break of the institution history (that even made Hitler upset) I have been sick, towered by heaps of workload, physically dried up like a piece of gum on the asphalt from no sleep. Yet, these are multiple factors that somehow worked as a blessing in disguise to help me stay with my own promise of "going cold turkey baking." I miss baking. Few days ago I threw out three dried up oranges that I never get a chance to eat, and they were in passing condition to be made into something delicious as orangettes. Without looking back I trashed them. So here is a recipe for my bitterness on myself. I present you Orange Cornmeal Cake.

It's a something that I have developed as a habit of making for any gathering occasions. I accidentally bought cornmeal instead of cornstarch one day, and regretted myself for making such scatterbrained mistake until I determined to use it all up by fishing out good recipes. Orange Cornmeal Cake is dorm-friendly food. Easy dish work, no fancy grocery market in need, perfect to bake in toaster oven. This is from Simply Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Check below if you are unfamiliar or skeptical to ingredients and terminology.

Orange Cornmeal Cake

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan
* 2 large eggs
* 1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for the topping
* 1/2 cup orange juice (or dry white wine)
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* Zest of 1 large orange

Method

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan or pan that fits into your toaster oven with oil (can use butter or spray for this too); line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper or aluminum foil(this can be skipped if you are not planning to take the cake out from the pan as a whole), and brush the top of the paper with oil.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, 1 cup of the sugar, and orange juice until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and orange zest; whisk lightly to combine. If you whisk too much the gluten in flour forms tight network and makes the baked product to have bread-like texture.

3 Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan up to little less than an inch below an edge. You might need to bake left over batter in smaller container. ; sprinkle the top evenly with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Divide the sugar if you have two pans. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes.

4 (For those who have lots of patience)Cool the cake in the pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to separate it from the edge of the pan. Invert the cake gently onto a plate, and remove the parchment paper. Re-invert the cake onto a rack to cool completely before serving.
(For those who enjoys life as it is)Cool the cake in the pan long as you can. Run a knife around edge of cake to separate it from the edge of the pan. Cut them in many portions as you wish. Fork it out and eat it warm.

Ingredients Review

* 1 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan (Use Pure Olive Oil, what you have is probably Extra Virgin Olive Oil which is low in acidity and stronger in its flavor which we want to avoid. The star of the cake is orange and cornmeal)
* 2 large eggs (The size of eggs do matter for majority of the baking but it doesn't weigh so much for this cake. If you are making gluten-free use 2 Jumbo eggs to increase binding and airiness)
* 1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for the topping (To bring out orange flavor stick with white sugar, for topping use white sugar to create smoother and cleaner flavor)
* 1/2 cup orange juice (or dry white wine)
* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (don't pack your flour into a measuring cup, instead scoop with a large spoon and sprinkle into a measure cup; for gluten-free substitute with same amount of flour and add appropriate amount of xantham gum)
* 1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal (Find stone ground cornmeal but if you want it smoother and less corn-bread like use steel ground cornmeal(complete removal of husk and germ) I use stone ground.)
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt (Use fine type of salt for even distribution of saltiness. Avoid fancy seasalt or Kosher salt)
* Zest of 1 large orange (There are multiple types of zester. For me I use one that is cheap and versatile. It looks like a tiny hole cheese grater.)

Sex Think

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:30:00 +0000

I asked my 42 residents near Valentine's Day "What do you(guy/girl) expect guy/girl to be in a relationship?", and asked them to fill out two white sheets with words or description that they first think of in their minds. For example, I define myself as a girl would fill out one for what I expect girl(or myself) to be in a relationship and another for what I expect a guy to be in a relationship. Thinking that I knew my residents well beyond their name and major I was surprised to see of their inputs. What pops up in your mind?

Silisgualagua

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:23:00 +0000

5/27/09 Silisgualagua, Honduras
A young mother waits in line with her child to receive their prescribed medicine after meeting with a doctor from the JHU-Elon Global Medical Brigades. The majority of patients visiting the day clinic are young mothers, children and elderly women who explain having multiple symptoms and signs of various illnesses, when in fact, they are not ill. However, because there are no hospitals or pharmacies in the immediate region, they attempt to gain supplies whenever possible for future illness. The clinic's presence is also a rare occurrence for mothers and their children who have little or no knowledge of necessary maternal and child health and nutrition.

Brittle

noreply@blogger.com (Juhee) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 03:11:00 +0000

First time making brittle. Adapted from Katie Zuckerman's The Sweet Life.