Moo Goo Gai Pan and Mountain Rabbits

There are probably exactly three things my Dad can cook well... or I would request that he makes.  1.) Chef Pierre's Pancakes (something we named after him... long story.)  He makes these fabulous homemade pancakes and even though I have his recipe I'm still not nearly as good at them as he is!  2.) Egg on Bread.  Nothing real fancy but they are one of the childhood memories I have of him making breakfast for us.  3.)  Moo Goo Gai Pan.  This is a recipe that usually gets busted out once or twice a year... so not often.  When it does though it's a real treat!  I can imagine the reason why it doesn't get made often because of the quantities of food that would have to be made for our size family, but when we do I get so excited!

So, I was craving it last week and I finally remembered to get the recipe from my Mom.  They altered the recipe just a bit, but I like what they do, so I kept the alterations.  The nice part about this recipe is that you can add or take out vegetables or protein that you may or may not like.  Last night I made the recipe as is.  I didn't have any green onions so I just substituted some red... it added some nice color to the dish.  :)  It was just as delicious as I remember it being and it definitely hit the spot.  We ate the whole thing... so we no leftovers for lunch today!  Well, I just couldn't deal with that so I made a vegetarian version of it for lunch today.  I made it with chicken yesterday, and today I added carrots instead.  It's a really quick and easy meal in the wok and the ingredients in it aren't difficult at all.  I realize that with some Asian inspired meals there are harder to find spices and ingredients, but not this one.  I also don't have the electric wok that the recipe calls for, but my Wok that I purchased from IKEA did just fine.  :)

On Thanksgiving while the family was just sitting around the table and finishing off dessert my Dad busts out this CD that he got because it was on NPR.  As soon as it started playing I knew what the song was... it's call San Toki Toki Ya (Mountain Rabbit).  It's probably the most well known children songs from Korea.  I learned it while I was at culture camp and it has cute little motions to go with it.  So while it was playing, and I was stuffed to the gills with Thanksgiving feast, the kids and I got up and had a dance party to it with the motions.  Dad thought that I should take the CD home because there are many many other songs on that CD that are in Korean and he thought that the kids would enjoy.  And... we have been!  There have been many a dance party to this Korean CD.  :)  Another great childhood memory that I'm being able to share with my family now.

JVG