A Wainy Wednesday...

It has been so rainy today.  Another tropical storm, Beryl, is making his/her presence known.  As usual, my garden is enjoying it ....

I was planning on working outside this morning, but Beryl was an unexpected guest.  I really should watch the news a bit more, especially this time of year.

I ended up cleaning house and doing laundry.  Along with the schooling and other chores.  It was a semi-nice day.  It is nice to have clean floors and a nice clean bathroom though.  :)

I spent most of my day making one of my favorite Korean side dishes....Kimchi.  Kimchi is fermented vegetables that is usually on every table and at every meal in Korea.  There are as many recipes for kimchi as there are Koreans.  I, myself, have taken two kimchi sauce recipes...combined them and added carrots and Korean radishes and called it mine.  If I have American-ized this dish up too much...I am sorry, but I do love it!  It is really good on a hamburger....yum!!!

I will post a tutorial on how to make it when it is ready for the refrigerator.  I don't want to miss any of  the steps that I use.  I think it is neat that many Koreans actually have a Kimchi Refrigerator for their kimchi.  It is rather smelly and can smell up the cleanest refrigerator.  

It goes from this...

To this...

The total time from the first picture to the second picture take about five hours.  It is soooo worth it...to me.  (4 hours is spent just soaking the veggies in a brine solution. It is not constant work the whole time...) 

Lacto-fermentation is the process that makes kimchi...kimchi or sauerkraut...sauerkraut.  The women of old had crocks of full of pickles, beets, onions and garlic in their storerooms or cellars using this process.  The Koreans had cabbages, radishes and other veggies in their stored away crocks. These dishes are full of healthy bacteria called lactobacilli.  This bacteria is not only great for your bowel by encouraging healthy flora growth, but is an excellent source of enzymes, vitamins and anti carcinogenic substances.   It has a healthy AND delicious result I must say.

Change of subject....

There are days when my emotions are pretty much in check and then something will happen and my emotions become no longer in check.  This happened to me today.  It is very hard to let go of the past hurts when the present is just a repeat of the past. Oh, the names are different, but the hurt is the same.  When my episode occurred-all the past pain came flooding in like a cresting river intermingling with a tributary of today's pain causing a flood of tears for a short while.  Sigh...

I do pray for the gift of forgiveness for those that caused the pain of my past, but it never fails to return when that wounded area of my heart is hit.  I can explain this by comparing it to the wound that Frodo received from the Witch-king on Weathertop.  No matter how much I pray...this wound never completely heals. 

Someday, I know that the Lord will prepare me a table in the presence of mine enemies and I will feast--they (meaning the demons that keep pricking this sensitive portion of my heart) will not.  There must be a way to totally release all this past pain.  Forgiveness...prayer...loving kindness... Hmmm..

I used to be pretty good at hiding my feelings, but here lately that "gift" has left me, or maybe my guys know me better than I think they do.  My son was especially concerned...and my husband brought me "some color" in the form of flowers.  Smiling...at the moment.

Well, enough processing my hurts--- it is time to start my supper.  Today's menu---broiled marinated pork loin chops, roasted rosemary potatoes and garlic sauteed greenbeans.

Sharon