Christmas presents

with pictures, now. Thanks, Chad Edward, for reminding me!

A cold thwarted most of my weekend plans, but the good news is that I'm all better. My friend Rob's flu and my cold nixed our plans for a fun and fancy night out on the town.
To cheer me up, Fred and I exchanged gifts early. He gave me two Korean stone pots with platters to rest them on, along with some other Korean cookware accessories, like a plastic Bento-style box. (Though, not to worry, dear co-workers: I would never bring kimchi to work. I like you too much to subject you to that smell.)
We cured them yesterday (boiled salted water in them, then coated the surface with sesame oil) then made a bibimbap/stir fry type dish with kimchi, tofu, some veggies and rice, with an egg on top.
We actually stood around and waited for the water to boil. You could hear the stone breathing, and we kept checking to see what would happen. We're dorks, I know. But my gift was very much appreciated!
The tofu and the rice were perfectly crispy with very little added oil (maybe 1/2 teaspoon or so sesame oil for taste). The bowls cleaned up quickly, too, despite the caked on egg. I filled them with hot water and a couple of minutes later cleaned them with a soapy dishrag. They're so fun!
Polly and I were talking about how fun it would be to cook non Korean food in them, just to see how versatile they are. I can't wait to make bibimbap for a friend and watch him or her see the raw egg and cold ingredients cook while the dish is tableside.