Cider, parties and cakes, oh my!

Fall is starting to make its somewhat welcome appearance here in the land of Busan. Normally, Fall is my absolute favorite season, but we had such a dreary, drizzly summer with only a few good beach days that it just doesn't seem like Fall should be creeping its way into the year yet. Regardless, I'm embracing it. I made my first soup of the season tonight (Thai Chicken Soup) and I'm already devising ways I can make homemade apple cider soon, which seems to be ridiculously hard at this point, but I've decided to make it happen even if it kills me (... which it just might).

A quick sidenote on why I should go to the trouble of making apple cider myself: After spending three Fall seasons in Korea, I've realized that apple cider (or even the concept of it) doesn't seem to exist here. SO, I've decided to take it upon myself to make it from scratch and introduce it to those under my influence. (Although, by the time I'm done with it, I might turn everyone off to it completely.)

The weekend before last, a few good friends of ours threw a small "Happy Marriage" party for Ken and me. The party was complete with homemade Indian food (yums!), a homemade wedding cake (yums again!) and an amazing night at the norae bhang (a singing room). It was a whole lot of fun and it made me extra thankful for the friends I have here (and for my recently acquired husband, of course!). One of my favorite things about the whole night was the cake topper my friends Andrea and Meaghan made out of marshmallows.

(You will notice that the marshmallow version of me is complete with a toilet paper veil and a cupcake paper skirt.)
(Here, Ken and I are taking turns being jerks while cutting our cake.)
My good friend from college, Mel, and her boyfriend, Gino, gave us these cute little ducks as a wedding present. Apparently this is a traditional Korean wedding gift, as ducks are monogamous (a fact I was not aware of prior to receiving the gift).

And while I'm posting pictures, I'm going to upload a photo I took of a carrot cake I made a couple of weeks ago. (Geez Louise, I seem to be turning into Betty Crocker!)
It's a healthy cake, made with almond flour and agave nectar, so it's bad-sugar and bad-flour free! Plus, it's the best darn carrot cake I've ever had. And, obviously, my amazing photography skills don't do it justice.

And, without further ramblings about parties and my kitchen experiments, I'm off to bed. I just realized I have to teach in eight hours (groan, moan, sigh).