Some nights you start making kimchi at 10 o’clock and wonder if you’ve finally lost it.

And then your cat looks at you like, “Yeah… this is definitely above my pay grade.”

That’s when you remember: you’re not crazy — you’re just living honestly.

This isn’t the step-by-step recipe (that one lives in the previous blog).

This is the reality version — the late-night kitchen, the cabbage rinsing, the blender chaos, and the quiet moment when everything suddenly feels okay again.

If you needed a sign that you’re doing life right, even when it feels messy… this is it.

SECTION 1 — Before We Begin

“This is the moment when my kitchen still believed it had a future.”

SECTION 2 — Prepping the Napa Cabbage

“Salt, water, and the quiet hope that I know what I’m doing.”

SECTION 3 — Cutting the Aromatics

“Everything on this board is judging my knife skills.”

SECTION 4 — Making the Kimchi Base Sauce

“Blending vegetables at 10 p.m. should qualify as cardio.”

SECTION 5 — Washing the Napa Cabbage 

“The cabbage is cleaner than my thoughts.”

SECTION 6 — Mixing Everything Together

“This is where things get emotional.”

SECTION 7 — Packing the Kimchi + Aftermath

“Kitchen: destroyed. Spirit: restored.”

The Little Rituals

“The quiet steps no recipe ever mentions.”