My dad hasn't been able to shake off his cold for the past few weeks. Doesn't help that he has other health problems to worry about. So my mom is always trying out different concoctions she hears about through the Korean ajoomah circle.

My mom has been brewing this weird tea lately. It really looks like a mix of twigs and branches and dirt you'd pick up at a camp site. But I guess the tea needs to simmer for a long time, so she'll turn it on low and leave it brewing overnight. (I know, VERY dangerous)

Well, I come home last night to an empty house and I can smell something faintly burning. I open the kitchen door and it's smoky in there. My mom forgot to turn off the tea and the mix of twigs looked like what's left after you extinguish a campfire. My mom swears she turned the stove off after she poured my dad a cup that morning.

I promptly went out that night and bought her a crock pot. It came with a recipe book for all sorts of things. Lilliene says you can make Kal-bi jjim in that thing. So I started getting excited. But I heard my mom say something to the extent the crock pot will be useful to have tea 24/7. Guess no pot roast for me...