BJ Alex Volume 3 - Book Review

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

BJ Alex is a completed 19+ BL webtoon manhwa written and illustrated by Mingwa.

The series was published and serialized by Lezhin Comics. It was digitally published in Korean by Lezhin Comics from November 24, 2017 to August 7, 2020.

The series was officially published book format by Lezhin Entertainment from February 25, 2021 to December 31,2021. It was published in English from August 31, 2021 to October 19, 2022.

The series is available in 9 languages, Korea, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Polish.

Every night at 10pm, Dong Gyun shuts himself in his room, tissues at the ready, and tunes into his favourite live cam show hosted by the captivating Alex. To Dong Gyun, Alex isn't just another online performer - he's confident, uninhibited, and everything Dong Gyun secretly wishes he could be.

But one drunken night changes everything. After blacking out at a school networking event. Dong Gyun wakes up in an unfamiliar bed... beneath a shirtless stranger who looks exactly like the from his screen.

When fantasy collides with reality, Dong Gyun's carefully guarded world unravels - because facing Alex in the flesh might be far more than he ever bargained for.

Volume 3 continues where volume 2 left us, and we get to see Dong Gyun wanting to try new things with Jiwon and experiment more in the bedroom to find out what he likes and dislikes are. We see Jiwon let his jealousy get to him, taking it out on Dong Gyun.

We get to see more of Myungdae in this volume as we get to see more of BJ MD, and his pursuit of a new sub for his cam show. In his pursuit we see him meet with Dong Gyun, which again causes a misunderstanding with Jiwon, he again takes it out on Dong Gyun.

We get a little back story too of how MD originally met Chanwoo and how his interest in him began. We also get to see MD ask Chanwoo to be a part of his cam show as his sub, to which we already know that Chanwoo is into that kind of stuff.

Sadly Dong Gyun allows his feelings for Jiwon to take control in this volume by asking and setting up a date for them both, which eventually causes Jiwon to take a step back and re-establish boundaries with Dong Gyun, we also get a little peak into why Jiwon is the way he is when it comes to relationships.

While we see a little jealousy and a little bonding between DG & Jiwon, we still don't get much in character development from Jiwon.

Volume 3 really brings us more with the story, and by the end you can't help but wonder what Jiwon's backstory is and why he's the way he is. I also love that we get to see more of our side couple and how their relationship begins.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Asian Pork Meatballs

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

I'm going to share with you another Pinch of Nom recipe from their Everyday Light recipe book.

Ever since making meatballs from scratch a few years ago, I've never bought them in since. So when I came across this meatballs recipe, I knew I wanted to give it a try.

This recipe can be found in the Quick Meals section.

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

Meatballs:

500g 5%-fat pork mince

1 courgette, peeled and grated

1 carrot, peeled and grated

4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

1 medium egg, beaten

1 tbsp garlic granules

1 tsp onion granules

1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice

1 pork stock cube

sunflower oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp lime juice

sea salt& ground black pepper

Char Siu Ketchup:

250g passata

1 tbsp tomato puree

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp granulated sweetener

1/2 tsp Chinese 5-spice

Start by pre-heating the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.

Put the pork mince, courgette, carrot and spring onions into a large bowl.

Add the egg, garlic granules, onion granules and Chinese 5-spice and crumble in the pork stock cube.

Mix well with clean hands until combined, then shape the pork mix into meatballs. The mixture will make about 16-20 x 2cm balls.

Add a little oil to a large frying pan and place over a medium heat. Cook the meatballs in batches. Once heated, carefully place half of the meatballs in the frying pan. Fry for 5 minutes before gently turning them and frying for a further 5 minutes..

Try not to touch the meatballs for the first 5 minutes of cooking as they will be fragile and will break apart.

When both batches are cooked place them into a roasting dish and pour over the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and lime juice an season with a little salt and pepper.

Place the roasting dish in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes.

While the meatballs cook in the oven, add passata, tomato puree, dark soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, garlic granules, granulated sweetener and Chinese 5-spice to a small saucepan. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over a medium-low heat for 10 miunutes.

Once everything is cooked, you can serve it all together or have the Char Siu ketchup as a dip with either a mixed side salad, spaghetti or an Asian twist with egg noodles.

You can also make it all in advance, allow to cool and freeze both the ketchup and meatballs separately.

This recipe serves 4, so it was perfect for me an Skye to have as a meal, while leaving me some extra to have for lunch at work.

The flavours were amazing, definitely had an Asian kick.

They were really easy to make and I'd happily make them again, even Skye seemed to be a fan of this dish.

If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe books in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

BJ Alex Volume 2 - Book Review

 Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

BJ Alex is a completed 19+ BL webtoon manhwa written and illustrated by Mingwa.

The series was published and serialized by Lezhin Comics. It was digitally published in Korean by Lezhin Comics from November 24, 2017 to August 7, 2020.

The series was officially published book format by Lezhin Entertainment from February 25, 2021 to December 31,2021. It was published in English from August 31, 2021 to October 19, 2022.

The series is available in 9 languages, Korea, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese and Polish.

Every night at 10pm, Dong Gyun shuts himself in his room, tissues at the ready, and tunes into his favourite live cam show hosted by the captivating Alex. To Dong Gyun, Alex isn't just another online performer - he's confident, uninhibited, and everything Dong Gyun secretly wishes he could be.

But one drunken night changes everything. After blacking out at a school networking event. Dong Gyun wakes up in an unfamiliar bed... beneath a shirtless stranger who looks exactly like the from his screen.

When fantasy collides with reality, Dong Gyun's carefully guarded world unravels - because facing Alex in the flesh might be far more than he ever bargained for.

Volume 2 of BJ Alex continues on from volume 1 concluded, and we see what answer Dong Gyun gives to Jiwon to his proposal to help create content for his cam shows. We see Dong Gyun start to question whether he has a say in what they do, where and when to make the content for Jiwon to use. He begins to confide in his friend Chanwoo about the predicament he's in without going into too much detail, with Chanwoo making him see that he also has a say in this deal.

We don't really get much in the way of character development with Jiwon apart from him giving into Dong Gyun's whims and suggestions.

We also get to meet Myungdae that we learn is like Jiwon and has his own cam show under the name BJ MD.

Volume 2 seemingly ends with MD showing an interest in Dong Gyun and interested in asking him to be his sub for his own cam show. Which we see hits a nerve with Jiwon, but I personally feel that at this moment in time it's more because Dong Gyun is his and for his material, rather than him having any feelings for him.

Volume 2 is a good continuation of the story as we get to see more of how each of the characters think and how things could potentially develop.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

Welsh Rarebit Potatoes

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

It's been a while since I posted a Pinch of Nom recipe and I have quite a few saved to share, so I think it's time to get back into it with these Welsh Rarebit Potatoes.

This recipe can be found in the Everyday Light recipe book under Bakes & Roasts.

Let's get cooking!

Ingredients:

2 baking potatoes

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp mustard powder

1/2 tsp garlic granules

75g light cream cheese

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

4 spring onions, trimmed and both green and white thinly sliced

oil

40g reduced-fat cheddar, finely grated

Start off by pre-heating the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.

Stab the potatoes with a fork, then bake in the oven for about 45 minutes until they are soft in the middle when pricked with a fork. You can also use a microwave, baking on high for 7 minutes.

Remove the potatoes from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes until you can handle them comfortably.

Slice the potatoes in half and scoop out the flesh leaving the skin intact.

Mash the potato flesh in a bowl with a for, then add 1 tsp of the Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, garlic granules, cream cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Mix it all together until combined and then stir in the spring onions.

Brush the potato skin with some oil, I tend to use my hand and rub a little oil on each of the potato skins.

Place on a baking tray and then scoop the mixture back into each of the potato skins.

Sprinkle the cheddar over the top of the potatoes and drizzle the other teaspoon of Worcestershire sauce on top.

Place in the middle of the hot oven for 10 minutes. 

When the cheese is bubbling  remove from the oven and serve.

These were really nice and I'd happily make and have them again.

I did find scooping out the flesh a little time consuming as they were still a little hot when I was scooping it out.

All the flavours worked really well together and the potatoes were cooked perfectly.

I served mine with some salad and it worked really well together.

I think this dish would be perfect for a lunch break at work, or even during the summer months when you want something quick and easy for tea or lunch.

If you're interested in any of Pinch of Nom's recipe's then you can buy the recipe books in all major supermarkets as well as online retailers Waterstones and Amazon.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye