Comments..

http://rubyrin.blogspot.com/

= Yea, I see rice everywhere, too. Many restaurants offer at least one entry that includes rice or you could order rice for side dish. And I am happy that I could still order rice in numerous restaurants despite the fact that I am living in America. When I first came to California, I could not really enjoy the rib entry I ordered because I did not order rice as a side dish. It was too salty and I felt like something was missing. Because I am Korean, there always has been rice for my meal at home. Yet, it is amazing to see America’s uniquely developed rice culture, which was mixed with various rice cultures from all over the world.

http://dshort44.blogspot.com/

=I agree that water is the best drink. I often buy water out of so many other drinks that are packed in three or more refrigerators in stores. It is because other flavored drinks, such as iced tea, coke, and sprites, would never work for me compared to pure water. But, even to choose water I have to stand there for long time to choose one from various brands. I find it interesting that there are many brands and distinctive tastes on pure water. But, prices only go higher when the taste of water becomes manipulated and fancy by added vitamins and minerals.

Madeleine!!

Madeleine, the famous French shell shaped cookies, is my favorite cookie. Every time I go to Starbucks or The Coffee Beans & Tea Leaf, I notice a jar filled with Madeleine right in front of the cashier. I often grab one and eat them with my coffee. Because I do not like other cakes that are extremely sweet, I love plain cookies like Madeleine. When drinking coffee or other tea, madeleine compliments the taste of tea perfectly since it will not affect the taste of the drink. I enjoy the softness and the full taste of butter when eating Madeleine.

This great friend of tea, Madeleine, is incredibly popular all around the world. As I was researching some articles about Madeleine, I found countless blogs that introduce their love for Madeleine and their unique recipes, and hundreds of comments under them. They bake Madeleine for party and gift. Interestingly, most people reminisce about their childhood when eating, baking, and writing about Madeleine. Sharing the varied recipes and love for Madeleine, people contribute themselves to spread the taste of Madeleine, which has a great length of history with its presence since 18^th century, to the next generation.

A novel written by Marcel Proust, Remembrance of Things Past, made Madeleine even more famous. In the novel, Madeleine reveals the memory of childhood to the main character. Because of this novel, the word “Proust’s madeleine” is created to indicate something that reveals the memory of the past.

Obviously, it has known as one of the most famous tea cookies in Europe. In addition to its role as tea cookie, Madeleine functions as decorations as well when presented in tea parties. The shell shaped side of Madeleine can emphasize the graceful atmosphere of tea moments.

Also, Madeleine offers simple recipes and preparations compared to other cakes. It requires only several tools and ingredients to bake. For example, you only need flour, eggs, butter, sugar and vanilla in order to bake madeleine. The plain madeleine would only take about twenty minutes to bake them. So, many people find themselves baking it at home with Madeleine pan that creates the shell shapes.

Ramen!!

Nowadays, I realized ramen became popular not only in Asia, but through out the world. Even in the school here in California, I see other students eating ramen in front of the beach hut, on grass, inside of the library, and on benches. Like other students, I eat ramen at least once a week.

My family is huge fan of ramen that we almost are addicted to it. When we are eating ramen together, we fight over who could cook ramen the best or whether we should put eggs in it or not.

Specially, on rainy days, ramen tastes better than anything. The hot soup warms my body and it is just perfect to eat the ramen watching outside raining. In Korean market, there is huge section for ramen including cups and plastic packaged ramen. It always makes me happy to choose the ones I love or even to try new ones. There are various ways to cook ramen by adding more ingredients, such as cheese, eggs, and vegetables. In Korea, people even eat ramen like snack; before opening the plastic packaged ramen, they break the noodle into small pieces, and they open it to put the powder into the plastic package, and shake it well. Then it becomes like some type of chips. I used to eat ramen like that with friends during class in Korea like I used to eat spicy cheetos during class in California.

Adopted from Japan in 1960s, ramen quickly became popular in Korea. Throughout the decades, Korean ramen companies developed their unique tastes that would satisfy Korean people who love spicy foods.

One of the advantages of eating ramen is that it is cheap. Also, ramen offers quick and easy preparation that will allow you to complete the cooking process in about five minutes. This feature of ramen forced itself to be one of the stereotypes for low class in Korea. Also, many Korean people consider ramen as something u must have in the morning after drinking the night before. They believe it would be one of the ways to relax their stomach.