Owner of Aerilyn Books. I am a biracial Korean American mom of 3 kids and we live in Hoffman Estates, IL. I work as a graphic designer, illustrator, and author. I'm an all-around crafty person and I enjoy learning new things, spending time with my family, and eating a variety of delicious foods.
Easter has just passed and all our beautiful dyed eggs are sitting in the fridge, waiting to be eaten. Every year, we make egg salad, deviled eggs, or just slice them to enjoy on salads. But there are so many other ways to prepare them! This recipe for Korean-style marinated eggs is simple, delicious, and can be enjoyed warm or cold as a side for lunch or dinner.
2 tbsp brown sugar (can substitute honey or agave, if desired)
1 green onion (chopped)
DIRECTIONS
Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved.
Reduce heat to medium-low and continue to boil until reduced to about half, stirring frequently.
Remove from heat and pour over 6 peeled eggs in an airtight container. Sprinkle additional green onions over the top, if desired, before sealing the container.
Place in the fridge for a couple of hours to marinate.
Enjoy within 3 days!
Enjoy Gyeran Jangjorim (계란 장조림) warm or cold, as a side with lunch or dinner.
This side dish should last in the fridge for three days (if you don’t eat them all before then!) and goes well with rice or noodles. The eggs can be enjoyed warm or cold, but I think they taste best at room temperature. However you choose to enjoy them, these are sure to be your new go-to for post-Easter eggs!
It’s been difficult to process everything that has been going on in this country. The pandemic obviously has changed the way most of us live our every day lives, but it hasn’t been the only thing disrupting it. Last year was full of insanity I never thought I’d see in my lifetime, but there was something that wasn’t entirely new to me: racism against Asian Americans.
We definitely went through heightened racial divide with the Black Lives Matter protests and I can say my heart was broken for our Black communities. I am not about to get into politics at all, because I am not an expert and I just don’t have the emotional strength to get into that conversation right now. But I am no stranger to the experience of racism.
I am half Korean and half white (European mix), and have lived in a sort of limbo my whole life. Not white enough. Not Korean enough. Being outcasted by both sides, basically, until around high school and even then it’s not like things were suddenly amazing. Just better. Slightly. As an adult it became a little bit easier to dodge circumstances where I was on the receiving end of hate and stereotyping, by surrounding myself with truly good people. But I was faced with the cruel and harsh reality that I couldn’t protect my kids from it when the neighborhood kids – kids my kids considered friends – told my children they couldn’t play with them, because “No Chinese allowed.” I didn’t even find out about it until we were in the car on our way to Target and it felt like a lump of hot lead dropped in my stomach. My kids didn’t understand what the other kids meant by that, and had responded “But we’re not Chinese, we’re Korean” to which the kids said “well, then no Koreans allowed.” The message was a clear “you are not welcome” and I had the task of talking to my kids about racism, building up the courage to knock on the doors of my neighbors and confront it, to advocate for my kids while trying not to cry right there on their doorsteps. Unfortunately, this is something I have to do for the rest of my life. Something my kids will have to do for the rest of their lives. It’s not a conversation or an experience we get to opt out of.
At the very start of the pandemic, my youngest son was sick with croup and a double ear infection and I was taking him in to the doctor. We got on an empty elevator, but I could hear rushed footsteps behind me, trying to catch up, so I held the door open for them. The person looked at my face and their smile dropped and they put up their hand and said “Nah, I’ll just wait.” Even though I have experienced so many racist and vile things in my life, this particular moment hurt. Bad. It scared me, honestly. It brought back the all-too-familiar feelings of being unwelcome in my own town, but at a level I wasn’t expecting to have to live through again as an adult. We’re supposed to grow, right? Things are supposed to change for the better, aren’t they? I was reminded that is not the case and could feel things were going to get bad. And they have.
Between March of 2020 and February of 2021, there have been 3,795 reports of hate crimes against Asian Americans – an increase of 150% – and those reports only make up a fraction of the actual number of incidents that actually occur. Innocent people being physically assaulted in public places, spat on, verbally abused, and blamed for the pandemic just for looking a certain way.
Why We Should’ve Seen the Atlanta Shootings Coming | The Daily Social Distancing Show
Asian Americans are referred to as the “model minority,” expected to keep quiet and not to make waves, but we need to speak up and advocate for ourselves and our children, our families, our friends. We have become invisible when it comes to matters of race. We need to say something, do something – we shouldn’t just sit back and take it and process it in silence. Everything is a joke at our our expense and people like to say Asian stereotypes are too “complimentary” to be racist, because they will not acknowledge the pain and consequences of these “jokes” and stereotypes. Your words, your “jokes,” and your actions have real life consequences, whether or not you have seen them yourself.
Daniel Dae Kim testifies before Congress about rise in anti-Asian American hate in America
Whether or not you have Asian American friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances… be aware of what is going on in your communities. Do something to help, be present and supportive, rethink the jokes and comments you make, reevaluate why hearing non-English languages make you uncomfortable – not just for the Asian American community, but for all our different diverse communities, because no one deserves to feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods or to be judged unfairly by their skin color or spoken languages. It’s one thing to not be racist, and another to be anti-racism.
#StopAsianHate apparel on aerilynbooks.com
I encourage you to donate to non-profits like Stop AAPI Hate, which tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Right now, there are t-shirts, tanks, and hoodies branded with the #StopAsianHate hashtag in the Aerilyn Books online store and 100% of the proceeds from those sales are donated to Stop AAPI Hate. In less than 24 hours, we were able to donate $100 – THANK YOU! Please keep it going, or skip the apparel and donate directly on the Stop AAPI Hate website.
Please, hear us. Be there for us. Be the change. Make the difference. Stop the hate. #StopAsianHate
새해 복 많이 받으세요! Happy New Year! Last year was an interesting one, to say the least, but we are grateful for our many blessings and look forward to what this new year has in store for us. Lunar New Year is only a week away and I wanted to share a sweet and simple Korean recipe that is a favorite in our house!
Honey Bread (허니 브레드) with Strawberries and Sliced Almonds
Honey Bread (허니 브레드) can be found in many Korean cafes and goes perfectly with hot tea or coffee. It is technically a dessert, but I must admit that I enjoy having it for breakfast on Sunday mornings – and so do my kids. Although you can find it at almost any Korean bakery or cafe, it really is so easy to make at home and top it with anything you like. Our favorite toppings are strawberries and sliced almonds, with chocolate drizzle and whipped cream. (Try it with mango and shredded coconut in the summer – it’s AMAZING!)
Honey Bread with Strawberries and Sliced Almonds Recipe
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place desired number of slices of Brioche bread on parchment.
Score the face of the Brioche slices with a knife, in a # formation, being careful not to cut all the way through.
Drizzle each slice with honey and allow to soak into the bread. We use about 2 tbsp of honey per slice, but you can adjust the amount depending on how thick your slices are.
Spread 1 tbsp of softened butter over each slice, right over the honey.
Place in the center of the oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Be careful not to over bake.
While baking, wash and slice desired amount of strawberries. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle with a small amount of white sugar and let them macerate until honey bread is done baking.
Transfer honey bread to a plate and top with strawberries and sliced almonds. Add whipped cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce.
Enjoy while hot!
Enjoy Honey Bread (허니 브레드) with Hot Tea or Coffee
Note: You can make this with sliced white bread or Texas Toast, too, if you do not have Brioche. Try it with a variety of different toppings and have fun!
This delicious treat can be topped with whatever you like – the possibilities are infinite. Next time you’re hosting a get-together with your friends, try having a Honey Bread (허니 브레드) bar with a selection of different fruits, yogurts, and sauces. It’s sure to become a favorite!
Autumn is here! The air is getting crisper, the leaves are changing color, and we are looking forward to all the traditions of the season! Many of those seasonal traditions in our home involve pumpkins – decorating, crafting, painting, eating… we are all about pumpkins!
A favorite activity for my kids is Pumpkin Exploration. It’s a simple activity that is perfect for kids who like to get their hands messy and can easily allow for some additional education like counting and language-learning. We make a trip to our local pumpkin farm, taking our time to enjoy it and have fun (maybe even take a hay ride or pick apples if still in peak season!) and once we get home, we wash up and get ready to explore.
We used a small pie pumpkin for this activity.
What you need: 🔹 A small pumpkin 🔹 Some newspaper to protect your work surface 🔹 A spoon for scooping 🔹 A bowl for collecting the seeds
What you do: 🔸Cut the pumpkin in half 🔸Explore the inside of the pumpkin, with hands or spoon 🔸Count and remove seeds and place in the bowl 🔸Play with, remove, and discard pulp
My preschooler has fun removing the seeds and pulp with a spoon.
Language-Booster: While exploring the pumpkin, talk about what you see: seeds, pulp, and flesh. This is a perfect opportunity to introduce or review vocabulary, discuss how plants grow from seeds, and think about where healthy foods come from.
Math: Count the seeds you find in the pumpkin, compare quantities (how many seeds were in one half? how many in the other half? which number is greater? etc.), and make number groups (groups of 5, 10, 20…).
After exploring, we make diagrams to record what we learned.
Pumpkin Diagram
After my kids are done exploring their pumpkin, we discard the pulp and clean the seeds, and we make our own diagrams to record what we learned. You’re going to want to keep your surface covered in the newspaper for this activity, too.
What you need: 🔹 A piece of blank paper 🔹 Some orange washable and non-toxic acrylic paint 🔹 A paint brush 🔹 Cotton balls 🔹 Liquid glue 🔹 Clean pumpkin seeds
What you do: 🔸Paint the shape of the pumpkin on paper 🔸Create “pulp” by gently stretching out cotton balls, and paint orange 🔸Glue “pulp” and seeds inside the painted pumpkin shape
My niece had fun gluing seeds on her diagram.
Making a diagram is a great way to retain information and record observations made during the exploration activity, while exercising creativity, and allows your child to look back on the activity at a later date to recall what they learned. It’s a great introduction to the scientific method!
Pumpkin Spice Hotteok
While the glue on the diagrams are drying, we prepare to cook the pumpkin. There are so many wonderful pumpkin recipes out there, so take your pick! This time, we made Pumpkin Spice Hotteok (호박 호떡).
Making pumpkin puree is super easy and can be used to make a variety of delicious foods. Hotteok (호떡) is a popular Korean pancake filled with sweet syrup and nuts, perfect for chilly days – and when combined with pumpkin and spices, is a delicious fusion between Korean and American flavors.
To make the pumpkin puree, make sure the outside of the pumpkin is washed well, sprinkle the flesh with some salt, and place cut-side down on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Roast the pumpkin in the oven at 400 degrees F until easily pierced with a fork and the skin pulls away from the flesh (45 to 60 minutes). Once cool enough to handle, process with a food processor or blender until smooth. That’s it! It’s ready to use in your favorite recipe!
While still warm, we used our fresh pumpkin puree in our Pumpkin Spice Hotteok recipe, and topped it with whipped cream, maple syrup, and honey butter. They were absolutely delicious and helped to close our day of activities!
The kids enjoyed every last bite of the pumpkin spice hotteok!
Taking the kids through all three activities, from whole pumpkin to tasty dessert, helps them to appreciate that journey from farm to table. They get to be involved in every part of that journey with these exploration activities: picking the pumpkin, exploring the fruit, recording their observations, and even cooking! And along the way they practice math, language, science, and art. It’s a well-rounded educational experience perfect for an autumn Sunday!
I hope you and your kids have fun with these activities, and that they can become a tradition in your home, too. Until next time!
추석 잘 보내세요! Happy Chuseok! It’s time to celebrate the Korean Autumn Harvest! It’s a time to give thanks, honor our loved ones who have passed, spend time with our families, and enjoy a large home-cooked meal together. When cool crisp air sways through vermilion leaves and everything is dipped in gold… it’s the perfect time of year for feeling cozy and indulging in warm comforting foods!
Pumpkin Spice Hotteok Recipe
Hotteok (호떡) is a popular winter street food in South Korea. It’s a type of pancake filled with sweet syrup and assorted nuts, that is hot and crispy on the outside and sweet and gooey on the inside. I wanted to take this popular Korean treat and combine it with the American comforts of pumpkin and spice for a delicious fusion of the two cultures. My Pumpkin Spice Hotteok (호박 호떡) recipe is the perfect sweet treat for chilly autumn days and, for me, a harmonious blend of my cultural identities. It’s something I hope my kids will remember fondly and pass down to their kids, as well.
My Pumpkin Spice Hotteok (호박 호떡) recipe is the perfect sweet treat for chilly autumn days and, for me, a harmonious blend of my cultural identities.
To make the dough, add white sugar, vegetable oil, and yeast to 1/3 cup warm water in a large bowl. (Make sure water is not too hot, so you don’t kill the yeast.) Let sit for 10 minutes, until foamy.
Add milk and pumpkin puree to the yeast mixture. Then sift all purpose flour, sweet rice flour, spices, and salt into the bowl and mix together until well incorporated. The dough should be sticky.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled in size (about an hour).
Punch down the dough and reshape into a ball and let rise again for another 30 minutes.
While the dough is rising for a second time, prepare the filling by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and mixing well.
Punch down the dough again and knead. Lightly grease your hands with vegetable oil and tear off pieces of dough, roughly 2 inches in diameter.
Flatten each ball of dough into a flat disk and fill with a couple spoonfuls of the filling. Then bring up the edges like a coin purse and pinch to seal and place sealed-side down on a plate.
Heat enough vegetable oil in a frying pan to fry the hotteok, over medium heat. Flatten filled dough into a flat disk and gently place in the hot oil. Cook on each side until golden brown, then transfer for a plate lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
While still hot, dust each hotteok with powdered sugar (optional).
Enjoy hot!
Note: Hotteok can be frozen for up to 3 months and reheated in a microwave or toaster oven to enjoy any time you like!
Enjoy this Pumpkin Spice Hotteok as-is, or with a variety of toppings.
These Pumpkin Spice Hotteok are delicious as-is, but we also love to enjoy them with toppings like whipped cream, maple drizzle, or even vanilla ice cream – there is no wrong way to indulge with these! I hope you love this recipe as much as we do. Until next time!
Happy Wednesday! It’s been a little bit crazy over here, trying to get into the virtual-learning groove, but now that we are in week three everything is going much more smoothly. I hope you are all doing well adjusting to this new (and unique) school year!
Now that things have settled down a bit, I wanted to share another DIY project for teaching your child 한글 (Hangul).
DIY Hangul Blocks Materials
What you need: 🔹 Chalkboard Blocks 🔹 Chalk Markers (2 or more colors)
What you do: 🔸 Write Vowels in One Color 🔸 Write Consonants in Second Color
Write Vowels in One Color and Consonants in the Second Color
I found these cute chalkboard blocks at our local Michaels Arts and Crafts Store on clearance, but you could easily use plain wooden blocks and paint them with matte paint in any color you’d like – I really liked the chalkboard for these for that back-to-school look.
Chalk markers are great for this project, because you can easily wipe them clean if you make a mistake or want to reuse the blocks for other lessons. Feel free to use paint markers if you want something more permanent.
I used pink to write the vowels and white to write consonants, using a total of 16 blocks so I could include double consonants. I had some extra blank sides, which I filled with more frequently used consonants and vowels. In less than five minutes, they were dry and we were able to get to word-building practice!
Word-building Practice with Hangul Blocks
My preschooler had a lot of fun making these with me and using them to build simple words! How will you design your own Hangul Blocks?
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Apple Mandu Recipe – A Korean Twist on Apple Dumplings
September is here and apple-picking season has begun! We love going to our local apple orchard, picking our own Honeycrisp apples, and bringing them home to make delicious goodies! Apples are a staple in our home – we go through about 2 or 3 apples a day all year long – but there’s something about picking them yourself and enjoying them at their peak that just makes them so much better.
One of our favorite apple treats? Apple dumplings! And this recipe is a Korean twist on the classic treat. Mandu (만두) is a Korean style dumpling, typically filled with meat and veggies, and they can be steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried. For this recipe, I like them pan-fried, to get that crunchy texture wrapped around the sweet and slightly tart apple filling.
Heat apple on frying pan over medium heat with butter until apple begins to soften. Add lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar and continue to cook until sugar has dissolved and apples are well coated. Apples should still be a bit crunchy and not too soft. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
While Apple filling is cooling, make the Mandu Wrap: Combine flour, salt, and water in a mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. When dough starts to form, knead with hands until well-mixed and soft. Form into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Divide dough into 16 equal pieces and place on lightly floured cutting board. Roll each piece of dough out large enough to cut into circles 5″ in diameter, cut out circles, and place on plate.
Begin Filling the Dough: Prepare the Mandu wrap by gently pinching around the edges so that they are thinner than the middle portion of the dough. Scoop a spoonful of apple filling into center of a Mandu wrap, moisten the edges of half the wrap with cold water, fold in half, and pinch closed to seal. Tuck the corners together and pinch to make a neat and beautiful dumpling. Make whatever designs you like best! Repeat with all Mandu wrap and filling for a total of 16 dumplings.
Cook Dumplings: Pour enough vegetable oil into a frying pan to cover the bottom and heat at medium-low until it sizzles when a drop of water is dropped on it. Watch and adjust the heat if necessary to avoid burning dumplings or having the dumplings soak up too much oil.
Once oil is hot, carefully add dumplings to the pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Allow to cook until golden brown on one side (about 3 to 4 minutes) and flip over.
Once both sides are golden brown, carefully transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to drain excess oil and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar while still hot. Repeat step 6 until all dumplings are cooked.
Serve while hot! Enjoy alone, dip in caramel sauce, or top with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy these Apple Mandu as-is or with vanilla ice cream.
These Apple Mandu are AMAZING when piping hot! We also love them with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. I hope you love this recipe and find it as enjoyable as to make as we do!
We are always looking for fun ways to merge learning activities with play time and the classic children’s game, “I Spy,” is a perfect opportunity to do just that! “I Spy” is a guessing game where, traditionally, players take turns choosing something in the immediate area and reciting the rhyme “I spy with my little eye, something that is…” and the other players try to guess what the object is based on the singular clue.
One of the great things about this game is its incredible flexibility – you can use colors, shapes, sizes, and other adjectives as clues (or combinations of them); play the game anywhere you happen to be; practice target-language vocabulary… there are so many ways you can tailor it to your own personal needs!
“I Spy” Glasses template available for download on aerilynbooks.com
To make this game even more fun, we added a craft element to it. Our kids love to make things by hand, so this was right up their alley! Plus, it provides the extra benefits of strengthening their pincer grip and exercising their creative skills.
Use our FREE Downloadable Template to make your own looking glasses.
What you need: 🔹 FREE Downloadable “I Spy” Glasses Template 🔹 Colorful Paper or Cardstock 🔹 Kids Scissors 🔹 Heat Resistant Acetate Sheets (Optional) 🔹 Double Sided Tape (Optional) 🔹 Popsicle Stick (Optional)
What you do: 🔸 Print “I Spy” Glasses Template on Colorful Paper or Cardstock 🔸 Cut Along Solid Lines to Create “I Spy” Glasses
Optional: 🔹 Cut the “Lens” Out of Acetate Sheet and Use Double Sided Tape to Adhere Between the Paper Cut-outs 🔹 Use a Popsicle Stick to Create a Stronger Handle, Taping it Between the Paper Cut-outs 🔹 Decorate with Stickers or Washi Tape
“I spy with my little eye, something that is…”
Use your newly customized looking glasses to play “I Spy” and practice shapes, colors, and vocabulary – your child will love having their very own “magnifying glass” to search for objects around the house! Try playing in your target language, for some bilingual fun, or even go on a bug-hunt – how many activities can you think of for these looking glasses? We’d love to see your ideas in action – tag us in your pictures on Instagram and we just may feature them on our page!
Something my kids and I enjoy doing every year, is watching caterpillars grow into butterflies. It’s a wonderful activity that lasts for weeks, teaches about the process of metamorphosis, allows close observation of the live insects, presents an opportunity to introduce or review Korean vocabulary, and is absolute fun for everyone!
My daughter holding a painted lady butterfly, while releasing them.
Every Spring, I order a cup (or two) of caterpillars from InsectLore.com, and each cup comes with five caterpillars. If you have never done this activity before, I recommend getting a starter kit that includes the temporary housing and information booklet. (This is not a paid endorsement – Just sharing where I like to get our caterpillars!) The kit comes with everything you need to know about the process and how to take care of the butterflies before you release them. Usually, you will also receive some fun stickers or other paper toys.
Some of the butterflies like to stick around close by (on little hands or in the garden) before flying away, like this beautiful painted lady who took a moment to appreciate our flowers.
This year, I wanted to add some additional educational material to go along with our annual observation, so I created several worksheets and puzzle activities all centered around caterpillars and butterflies – and in addition to the worksheets, I created flash cards and a mini book that can be printed right from your computer!
Example pages from Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook
The Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook is twenty pages and can be found in the Aerilyn Books online store. The mini book teaches your child about the stages of a butterfly’s life cycle, in both English and Korean, and the key vocabulary can be reinforced with the flash cards. Your child will also get to exercise their creative skills while practicing numbers and colors and drawing the different stages from caterpillar to butterfly. Don’t feel comfortable raising caterpillars?No worries! It isn’t necessary to get the educational benefits of the workbook! So head to the online store to get the Butterfly Life Cycle Workbook and have fun learning about metamorphosis!
Emotions are high as we continue to practice social distancing and follow stay-at-home orders, in our best efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. Many of us are experiencing feelings of anxiety, helplessness, frustration, and worry – all as a natural response to the stress involved in our current global circumstances. All these emotions can be difficult to navigate, and especially so for children who are looking to us adults for comfort and security while they continue learning from home and are missing their friends and extended family members. It can be difficult to manage such big emotions!
It got me really thinking about some effective practices for managing stress and the negative emotions that often come with it. I wanted to have some activities ready for a moment when any one of my children might need some extra comfort or help with addressing their fears or worries. Dealing with depression myself, I know the importance of being able to talk about my struggles with someone I trust and to be able to level my emotions so I can more easily manage them. I wanted to be able to use some of these techniques in a child-friendly way while also integrating some bilingual education and simple facial recognition activities.
Sample pages from Emotions Workbook
I created a 20 page workbook that’s all about emotions! I’ve included some of the most common emotions we experience from day-to-day, and created some activities for recognizing, discussing, and managing these emotions in healthy ways. Included are social emotional activity ideas, coloring pages, reading and writing practice, drawing activities, illustrative journal pages, and, of course, bilingual vocabulary practice. You’ll have the opportunity to open up to each other and address the big emotions your children (and you!) may be experiencing – and set in place great emotional health practices for years to come!
You can find the downloadable workbook here in our online store. The material supports bilingual education in English and Korean languages, but can be completed and enjoyed by our monolingual friends, as well!
