Fork in Food

Dinner at Congee Queen

2010-04-25T21:36:00.006-04:00

I've been so lazy lately...we've been eating out way too much. Lately our favourite place is Congee Queen. I love the ambience and the food is so tasty. And can you believe all this was less than $40 after tax and tip?

Soya sauce beef fried noodle

Deep fried squid
Dried Oyster and Pork Congee

Sweet and sour pork

Funny Faces - Birthday Cupcakes

2010-04-18T20:02:00.005-04:00

My girlfriend asked me to make her son's birthday cupcakes this year since she was expecting her third baby and didn't know when he was going to make his debut. She didn't want the stress of wondering what would happen if the baby arrived so close to his birthday that she wouldn't have time to arrange anything.

Well she supplied me with the loot and this is what I came up with. She found some funny face Easter eggs from the dollar store and we filled them with finger lights, stickers and balloons. I added the funky hair and here is the final result.

And this one is my favourite...

More birthday cupcakes...and an attempt at cake pops...

2010-03-23T13:51:00.004-04:00

It was a big birthday weekend!! My niece turned 3 and my big son turned 11. I always make her cupcakes so this year we decided on something simplier since we were having both parties on the same day. I decided on flower lollipops on grassy cupcakes. She loved them and I loved how easy they were to make. I bought the cute lollipops at the local dollar store. What a deal!!

Now for my son's party I decided to make something new. I was inspired by Bakerella's cake pops (check out her site for the recipe) but they looked alot easier to make then they were. As you can see I couldn't get them perfectly round so they ended up looking like alien heads insead of smiley faces. And for some reason my edible marker didn't write very well on the candy coating and I ended up dipping the tip into food die to make it look darker. They tasted great...very rich...but I don't think I will make them again for a very long time...

Another year...another Barbie cake...

2010-02-17T20:01:00.006-05:00

My neice had her 7th birthday on the weekend and as always she requested that I make her a Barbie cake. Luckily I've made so many of these that it's actually quite a breeze. Colour and slather on the icing and then make some embellishments and voila!

And here is the cake for her 6th birthday...

And this is the Barbie cake from her 5th birthday...

Hmmm...wonder what kind of cake she will want next year....

Homemade Pizza

2010-01-18T19:13:00.005-05:00

It's been a week and I'm still loving my breadmaker. I've only made the sweet dough but on the weekend I tried making pizza with the kids. I love this sweet dough recipe. It makes delicious dinner rolls and now I've discovered very tasty thin crust pizza.

Here are the results...

Half pepperoni and half cheese

Chicken with bbq sauce

My eldest son said it was even better than store bought pizza...perhaps I can give Delissio a run for their money!!

Brand new Cuisinart Breadmaker!

2010-01-13T16:14:00.009-05:00

Happy New Year!! And good eats to all!! I've been so busy the last couple of weeks so there's alot to catch up on. I'll be posting my delicious holiday meals soon...even if it is a bit late...

Anyway, I certainly wasn't planning on buying a breadmaker. I've always wanted a breadmaker but was wary about the cost. Also the thought of another appliance on the kitchen counter made me cringe.

However just before our trip to Florida I bought a double screen portable DVD player and after returning it twice due to malfunctions I decided that I would exchange it for something else. It was a difficult decision...Ab Rocket...Cuisinart Convection Breadmaker...hmmmm...my love of carbs won out and I skipped happily out of the store.

I tried my first recipe today and was shocked and happily surprised at the results. I decided to make a sweet dough. I measured out all the ingredients carefully and followed the intructions.

Here are the results.

Dinner rolls

Cinnamon Rolls

The kids loved the cinnamon rolls and I gobbled a couple of small dinner rolls as soon as they came out of the oven. I can see this becoming a love/hate relationship. Love the rolls but hate my waistline.

Here is the recipe straight from the Cuisinart Owner's Manual.

Basic Sweet Dough

3 Eggs (Room temperature)

1/4 Cup plus 3 1/2 Tablespoons Water

6 Tbsp Sour Cream

6 Tbsp Butter cut into 1/2 inch pieces

6 Tbsp Granulated Sugar

4 1/2 Cups Bread Flour (I used all-purpose flour and the results were great)

1 Tbsp Yeast (active, dry, instant or bread machine)

Please all ingredients in order shown in to the bread pan with paddle. Select Dough/Pizza dough. Once the machine goes through the cycle, remove dough from pan, punch to deflate and let sit for 10 minutes. Use dough for your favourite breakfast/brunch breads.

Merry Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-24T21:32:00.002-05:00

What's Christmas without a turkey on the table? This is my first EVER turkey. My cousin told me the secret to a moist turkey is bacon so I decided to give it a try. I'm a true believer now!! Slow cooking and bacon is definitely the way to go.

Anyway, wishing everyone in foodie world a very merry Christmas and a happy, happy new year!!! Eat well and drink lots for the new year.

Fabulous Give-Away!!

2009-12-08T17:58:00.003-05:00

I'm so excited!! Screamin' Mama is hosting a contest.

FabulousSavings.ca is a fantastic online Canadian coupon and discount site. They have been so generous and have offered up a $50 Walmart Giftcard to one of my loyal followers!

What a perfect gift just before Christmas! So if you are a Canadian and would love to win the $50 giftcard then hurry on over and enter. The contest will last for two weeks and will end on Tuesday, December 21st at noon.

Good luck and happy happy holidays!!

Who Who's Birthday? - Owl Cupcakes

2009-12-06T08:43:00.009-05:00

It's another birthday for my daughter and son born one week apart. They always get ripped off because they have to share their birthday parties. I'm lucky because I only have to prepare once. It's getting hard to think of new ideas for their birthday cakes since Dora and Power Rangers are too baby for them now.

Luckily my sister gave me "Hello, Cupcake!" by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson as a thank you gift one time after making her daughter's cake. I browsed quickly through it to get some ideas and picked one of the easier ones this time

Owl Cupcakes

These cupcakes were quite simple to make.

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake Mix
Chocolate Canned Icing
Oreo cookies
Yellow Smarties
Heart shaped sprinkles

Microwave the Oreo cookies for 15 second to soften the creme to make it easier to separate. Cut the Oreo cookie side without creme with a serrated knife into thirds. Using the rounded edges for the ears.

Frost the cupcakes thinly with icing. Place the Oreo cookies with creme for the eyes and the Oreo cookie thirds for the ears on the cupcakes. Ice feathers for the ears and around the eyes. Place Smartie sideways for the beak. The book uses brown Smarties for the eyes but since I didn't have enough I just iced eyes with the brown icing and found some heart shaped sprinkle to place in the middle. Voila!

I made a one layer cake and placed the cupcakes around. Here is the final product.

Hot Chicken Sandwich

2009-11-20T22:15:00.002-05:00

When I was a little girl my dad used to make us a hot chicken sandwich for lunch. What a great and tasty variation of the leftover chicken sandwich. I haven't had one of these sandwiches in about twenty-five years. I don't know why I suddenly had a craving for this but as my family ate their chicken with rice, I decided to re-visit an old childhood favourite. It was delicious!

I roasted my chicken with the usual seasonings of Montreal Steak Spice and Garlic Plus. I made my homemade gravy with the drippings and roux and used Wonder Bread as my base. I think this will become one of my family's favourites too since the kids kept begging for bites off of my plate. Next time we'll all be having the traditional hot chicken sandwich.

Another Birthday Celebration!

2009-11-08T21:40:00.013-05:00

Another birthday celebration and this time I offered my place and my cooking skills. I slaved over the stove for over six hours and here are the fruits of my labour.

Chocolate Cupcakes - love Duncan Hines Mix and Icing Sweet Cornbread

Butternut Squash Soup Roasted VeggiesPrime Rib RoastMy friend Mark made his special Vancouver Crab DishBanana Nutella Waffles with fresh Whipped Cream

Strawberry Waffles with fresh whipped cream and chocolate sauce

My friend Jerry's Banana Bread

Halloween Cupcakes

2009-10-29T21:13:00.009-04:00

I just spent three hours making cupcakes for my three kids' Halloween parties tomorrow. I didn't think it was going to take so long. I like to use Betty Crocker cake mix and Betty Crocker canned icing. I didn't plan appropriately and discovered at the last minute that I didn't have black colouring for my icing. Darn!

Here are my "masterpieces"...

Mini Jack-o-lanterns

Spider webs

Spooky faces - I decided to do these as exhaustion set in...I couldn't bear to spin another web...

I really hope they remember the labours of my hardwork as they devour these in less than ten seconds flat...

What happens when you don't read instructions...

2009-10-19T19:44:00.004-04:00

I was in such a rush on the weekend and in my haste I didn't read the instructions on my Pillsbury Pizza Crust properly. It was a last minute attempt to prepare some sort of lunch for the family before heading downtown to my sister-in-law's for a belated Thanksgiving Dinner. I grabbed the Pillsbury Pizza Crust and cracked it open just like their crescent rolls. I've never used this pizza dough before so wasn't too careful and ripped the dough in half. This is when I tried to read the instructions off of the ripped wrapper...trying to piece it all back together. I was completely confused. I decided that I would just squish it down, add the tomato sauce and a cheddar/mozzerella mix of cheese and hope for the best. It's not too pretty but still edible. I'll know better next time....

Waffles, Waffles and more Waffles!!

2009-10-12T15:26:00.008-04:00

I've been loving my waffle maker. I've been dreaming waffles all week. Waffles for breakfast, dinner and dessert. I'm still using Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix following their directions for waffles. It's so easy to whip up a couple extra batches of waffles, throw them in the fridge and then toast them up nice and crisp. I've been sending waffles home with my best friend, making extra for my parents and even brought my waffle maker to my friend's house for dessert. Here are some of this week's waffle masterpieces.

Simply Sweet - Peanut Butter and Sweetened Condensed Milk

Bacon and Eggs with Peanut Butter, Condensed Milk Waffles

Chocolate Fudge Ice cream and bananas

Canned Apple Pie Filling with French Vanilla Ice cream

This is this week's stash of waffles for breakfast.

Easy Carve Ham to Hambone Shlop!

2009-10-09T19:08:00.005-04:00

Last Sunday I made an easy carve ham from Costco. It was delicious and so easy. I usually place the entire ham in a huge pot, bring it to a boil and let sit for a couple of hours...bringing it back up to a boil every half and hour and then turning off the element. It keeps the ham nice and juicy and you don't need to have the oven on for three hours. Then I took the juice from one can of pineapple rings and one cup of brown sugar and reduce down until syrupy. Baste the entire ham and place the ham in the oven for about half an hour at 375F. So yummy!!

Served with the pineapple rings and some corn. Gravy made from the boiled ham water, Montreal steak spice and roux. My kids could just eat steamed rice and gravy if I let them...but I don't.

By the middle of the week we are so tired of eating ham sandwiches, ham and eggs and ham fried rice. There was still so much ham left so I made hambone soup. Super easy I just sauteed some onions, carrots and garlic and then add the ham. I cover with water and simmer for two hours. I like to add pasta or rice so that it's a one bowl meal. Below is what happens when hubby comes home two hours late from work. It's hambone shlop! No more soup...just wet rice, ham and carrots. Oh well...he's the one eating it...still tasted good though.

My new best friend...the Oster Waffle Maker

2009-10-07T21:07:00.004-04:00

A couple of months ago I got my first hand look and taste of homemade waffles and ever since then I've been lusting after my very own waffle maker. I've looked around but since I'm on a spending freeze this year I convinced myself I didn't need to buy another small appliance. However, this weekend, we went to Target in Buffalo and couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this Oster waffle maker for only US$20!! Cheap!! I HAD to buy it!

I used it the very next day and was so happy when my waffles came out perfectly. I used the Krusteux Buttermilk Pancake Mix from Costco and followed the instructions for waffles. They were crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. They were just as good as my friend's homemade waffle batter.

Isn't it so cute?

My first attempt at homemade waffles.

Today I tried the Aunt Jemima Buttermilk Pancake Mix and they turned out even better...so light and fluffy. After trying my friend's homemade waffles and two mixes, I think I will stick to the ease and convenience of the store bought mixes.

Littlest Pet Shop Cake/Froggy Themed Cake

2009-09-19T22:54:00.005-04:00

It was a double birthday party at my friend's house. She had a girly party for her six year old in the afternoon and then a dance party for her eleven year old in the evening. Of course I was in charge of the cake so here are my creations for the day.

Littlest Pet Shop Beach Party

These were made similar to the Teddy Beach Cupcakes. Sand was made from crushed graham crackers and fruit roll-ups were used for towels. I think the little parasols make the cake so much more fun.

Looked great all lit up with candles!

Hoppy Birthday Frog Cake for the big boy!

Happy birthday Zoey and Holden!! The kids had a great time and everyone thought the cakes were so cute.

Who says camping has to be rough?

2009-09-13T20:58:00.011-04:00

Our family went camping this weekend with five other families. Great weather, great company and amazing food. As I packed for the weekend my husband commented about all the comforts of home that I was bringing along...such as rice cooker, electric griddle and butane stove. I explained to him that since there would be electicity on site that we didn't have to really rough it. Sleeping in a tent is rough enough.

Here are some photos of the delicious food.

BBQ Wings

Adult "juice" boxes

Thai Green Chicken Curry
Hamburgers
Nutella Banana Campfire pies (kinda like grilled cheese without the cheese)

Open faced smores

Unfortunately I forgot to take pics of the BBQ ribs, chicken souvlaki and pulled beef...I was too busy devouring these to even remember to take some photos.

Weekend with the girls!!

2009-09-08T20:15:00.010-04:00

What a weekend!! The husbands and boys went camping and the wives hung out together at my sister's place. We had so much fun!! It was like a three day pajama party!! We shopped...we cooked...we ate. What more can a girl ask for?

We did manage to go out for sushi the first night and then fish and chips for lunch the next day. However what I enjoyed most was cooking together. That's the time we really bonded as we chopped, sliced, fried and assembled our delicious dishes. I loved watching the women cook in their own unique styles. One girl loved to slice up everything into pretty bowls...for her it was all presentation. Another just slapped everything together...voila! But no matter how it was prepared everything was delicious.

Here are a few of the yummy dishes cooked up by some very yummy mummies

Make your own omlettes...here was a mixed veggie, spinach and cheese omlette.

Dinner was corn on the cob, butter chicken and korean short ribs.

Keira is waiting to make her own crepe...hmmm...what to choose!

My creation was banana, vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce. Simple but yummy!

"A Day at the Beach" Cupcakes

2009-08-14T15:33:00.005-04:00

My friend is throwing a birthday bash tomorrow at the beach for her two year old daughter. When she asked me for party ideas I suggested doing beach themed cupcakes. It wasn't a complete surprise when she asked me to make them for her. I took up the challenge and here is the completed project.

Teddy Grahams dressed in bikinis lying on fruit roll-up beach towels on graham cracker sand with a drink umbrella for shade.

Happy birthday Maya!! Hope it was a good one!!

Mr. Greek's Mediterranean Grill - Toronto

2009-08-10T18:10:00.003-04:00

I've been so busy lately with friends in town from Hong Kong and Seattle. Busy means eating. I'm so exhausted from late nights going for bubble tea or late night coffees. It's been a week long marathon of food. There is one meal that we must have when my friends come home and that's Greek food. We managed to make our way down to the Danforth for our fix of souvlaki. I had the Original Pork Souvlaki with a side of fries and Greek salad. Delicious as always!

Potluck Pool Party

2009-08-01T00:16:00.006-04:00

The best part of summer is potluck pool parties at my house. My friends and I love to get the kids together to swim and then eat together. I love trying new foods.

Here is what was on the menu tonight.

Biryani Rice - my friend's version since she knew I was craving this.

Chicken in Tandoori Sauce
Costco Mild Chicken Wings

Korean BBQ Short Ribs

I love everything CUPCAKES!!

2009-07-30T08:17:00.003-04:00

I love everything cupcakes! I found this cute fabric button on Etsy and had to share it with you. It can also be made into a magnet. I love how it's handmade and unique.

I especially love that she has a "No thank you" button for those allergic to peanuts.

Check out her site and see what other cool buttons and magnets she has for sale.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=28544781

Biryani Rice and Chicken

2009-07-20T22:33:00.006-04:00

My cousin's daughter planned a surprise party for her mom last week. She's only eighteen so it was a potluck dinner thing. I LOVE potlucks! It's a great opportunity to try new foods and taste other people's "gourmet" dishes. I made some chicken souvlaki. It was delicious! But I had to SELL my dish to everyone. "Have you tried my chicken yet?", "It's really tender and juicy.", "Hey I didn't see you have any of my chicken!".

I'm sure by the end of the night people were turning corners as soon as they saw me coming! My favourite dish of the night was this Biryani Rice dish. I'll call it Sunita's Bestest Biryani Rice. I couldn't get enough of it! I was selling her rice as much as I sold my own. I NEED that recipe!!!

Congee Queen - Markham

2009-07-07T23:35:00.005-04:00

We had a very busy weekend visiting my sister in Orillia, Ontario. Traffic is always bad coming home on Sundays and we were caught in traffic for about two and a half hours. I definitely did not feel like cooking after sitting in the car with screaming and whining kids for that amount of time. We scooted off the highway and hit on of my in-law's favourite places, Congee Queen.

Here is what we devoured...

Minced beef and egg on rice (a raw egg is the hidden treasure in the middle of this dish)

Deep fried squid

Salmon Filet Congee
Deep fried chicken wings

Absolutely satisfying for tired and hungry kids! And heaven for parents to have a moment's peace while they are stuffing their little faces.

The Cheesecake Factory - Buffalo, NY

2009-07-01T20:12:00.005-04:00

We ended the weekend with lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Have I mentioned that I LOVE The Cheesecake Factory? I don't think I've ever had anything that I didn't love!

I LOVE their Caesar Salad...so cold...so garlicky? DELICIOUS!!

My friend from Ft. Meyers recommended that we try their new summer pasta, Crispy Chicken on a bed of Basil Pasta topped with Prosciutto and Arugula. I'm not a big pasta lover but this was very good.

My favourite is this combination...Steak Diane and Chicken Medeira with garlic mashed potatoes. I can't get enough of this!

Of course we also had a slice of cheesecake. We forced ourselves to share the White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. I forgot to take a photo...

I always leave The Cheesecake Factory feeling so satisfied. Mouth is watering just looking at my pics!

Over the Border - Cranberry, Pennsylvania

2009-07-01T19:40:00.009-04:00

Last but not least of the birthday celebrations. My friends took me to Grove City, PA to shop at the Prime Outlet last weekend. What a treat to shop and eat all weekend! Our first dinner was at the Ponderosa in Butler, PA. It was good but in all the excitement of eating there I forgot to take pictures.

The second night we had dinner at Over the Border, a Mexican restaurant. It was really delicious. I rarely eat Mexican food except the occasional Taco Bell Soft Taco and Fries Supreme so it was nice to sit down and actually eat a great Mexican meal.

We started off with tortilla chips and salsa. The chips were so fresh and the salsa had just the right amount of kick. We couldn't stop eating them! They even gave us a refill and then packed it for us to bring home.

We then shared three entrees...

Chicken Enchiladas

Beef Fajitas Pulled Pork Fajitas

This is the side dish for the fajitas. We had two of these since we ordered two different fajita entrees. Rice and Beans.

Dim Sum at Best Friends Seafood Chinese Restaurant

2009-07-01T19:00:00.017-04:00

Happy Canada Day everyone!!! It's a holiday here in Canada. There's nothing open except restaurants and tourist attractions today. My husband thought it would be a nice treat to bring the kids for some dim sum. We haven't had this in awhile and he wanted me to try this new restaurant that he had gone to with his parents. I don't know how or why the Chinese always pick odd names for their restaurants...perhaps it's just a direct translation of the Chinese version but I don't think I would have chosen this restaurant based on it's name.

Dim sum is usually served on a cart but here we had to tick off what we wanted on a little paper menu. I think restaurants prefer this method because you tend to order too much. The food came steaming hot and I have to admit it was pretty tasty.

Here is what we ordered...

Shrimp Spring Rolls

Steamed Tofu with pork filling

Fish and thousand year old egg congee
Shrimp Dumplings (har gow)

Pork Dumplings (Siu Mie)

Shrimp in Noodle (Cheung Fun)

Beef in Noodle (Cheung Fun)

Spicy Beef Tendon

Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves

This is what it looks like unwrapped

Pork ribs on steamed rice

Egg tarts

Can you believe that all this food was for just the five of us?

Potluck Birthday Feast with Cousins and Friends

2009-06-20T21:13:00.009-04:00

And the celebrating continues...

I had lunch at my cousin's house on Friday and had a feast! The spread is always amazing but it was even more so this time since we were celebrating my birthday. I'm so grateful that I've been blessed with such great family and friends. It really made this milestone birthday unforgettable.

Here is what was on the menu...

Birthday cookies

Sushi Platter
Broccoli Salad

Lemongrass Chicken with steamed rice

Lichee cupcakes with Coconut Flavoured Icing

Tapioca Dessert with Mango Puree

Mango Puree with Tapioca Dessert

Chicken Souvlaki - Birthday Dinner

2009-06-20T21:03:00.003-04:00

I'm a bit behind in my entries. Sorry. I've just been so busy celebrating my milestone birthday, 40! Hubby was away on business and didn't get home until dinner so I decided that instead of going out I would make a homemade dinner. I'm shocked to say that I'm actually kinda sick of eating out...I've been doing way too much this month.

I marinated my chicken breast in President's Choice Memories of Greece for about an hour and then grilled it on the bbq. I had bought President's Choice Tsatziki Sauce to go with it. I LOVE tsatziki sauce. I can't have Greek food without it. I have to admit it...it was pretty delicious. Great birthday meal even if I had to cook it myself!

Another birthday celebration!! Casey's - Toronto

2009-06-17T17:05:00.003-04:00

There has been way too much eating this month. I've been eating so much fabulous food but it certainly has not been too kind to my waistline. Thankfully I haven't gained any weight but I didn't lose any either. Boo hoo!

My friend took me to our favourite place for nachos and wings on Sunday. Casey's definitely has the best nachos in town! Love all the toppings and generous amount of cheese.

Here's something to make your mouth water!!

Best nachos in town!!

Wings - Medium dusted

Goldfish Goldfish Goldfish!!

2009-06-09T19:09:00.003-04:00

I love Target! Whenever we go to Buffalo we always make sure we hit the Target store. My cousins always tell me about the Goldfish crackers and how you can't get all the flavours here in Canada. I think we only have original and cheddar. It just so happened that when we were in Buffalo for my birthday this weekend they were on sale and there was a coupon too. The bags were only $1.25 each so I picked up one of every flavour. My friends thought I was crazy but I had to try them!I was able to pick up Pretzel, Xtreme Pizza, Rainbow, Nothin' but Nachos, Chocolate, Honey, Monstrous Mozzerella Stick, Racing Ranch, and Baby Cheddar. My son loved the Racing Ranch Flavour and my daughter thought the Rainbow ones were so cute. I actually like the chocolate flavoured ones. I really think there is now a Goldfish for everyone! Which one do you like?

Birthday Celebration - The Cheesecake Factory - Buffalo, NY

2009-06-08T18:53:00.011-04:00

My friends and I took a weekend trip to Buffalo this weekend to eat at my favourite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. It's a big birthday this year. I'm turning forty so everyone wants to celebrate. The eleven of us shopped 'til we dropped but made sure we made it to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I have yet to find anything that I don't like there. This was certainly a birthday to remember!

Here is what we ordered....we didn't order too much because we wanted to make sure we had room for cheesecake.

Caesar Salad (best caesar salad I've ever had!!)

Roadside Sliders (Mini burgers that were so tasty)
Thai Lettuce Wrap

Nachos

Hand battered Onion Rings

Farfalle with Chicken and Roasted Garlic (love roasted garlic!!)

Ordered a selection of cheescakes with extra whipped cream

This is my choice - Adam's Peanut Butter Cup Fudge Ripple (oh so decadent)

Another of my favourites - Snickers Bar Chunks and Cheesecake

Yogurt Mess!

2009-06-01T20:24:00.008-04:00

I've recently started a program my sister and I call the "Ten Pound Challenge". We are trying to lose five to ten pounds before the end of June. I know it's a lot of weight to lose in a month but we are going to try. I really don't care if it's "water weight" or real weight...I will be ecstatic if I can actually do it.

I was telling my cousin about this delicious concoction that I discovered and she says that in the food blogging world it's called a "yogurt mess". Messy or not it's DELICIOUS!!

Here is the recipe to my new breakfast....afternoon snack...late night snack...and even dessert...

One cup of Activia Yogurt
Two tablespoons Mandarin Magic (mandarin oranges and peaches) by Del Monte
Handful of Organic Daybreak Organic Cereal by Nutritious Living (bought from Costco) A crunchy blend of honey-coated puffed whole grains, crispy rice, rolled oats and fibre sticks

This is a perfect snack to satisfy my sweet tooth!

The Royal Chinese Restaurant - Toronto

2009-05-28T18:00:00.012-04:00

Whenever my sister is in town she and her husband always crave Chinese food. We went to my dad's favourite place last night. The Royal Chinese Restaurant is very busy and there are always people waiting in line for a table. We usually arrive early so that we don't have to wait.

I am never disappointed in the food. It comes out fast and piping hot. Everything we ordered last night was full of flavour and fresh.

Here is a rundown of what we devoured!

Complimentary pork bone and dried vegetable soup - you can see the reflection of all the specials posted on the wall.

Deep fried little fish - I'm not sure what this is called in English

Boiled shrimp served with sweetened soy sauce concoction - the shrimp was so sweet!

Sweet and sour pork chop

Spicy eggplant, chicken and tofu hotpot

Hollow vegetable with fermented bean curd - this is one of my favourite summer vegetable dishes.

Deep fried oysters with spicy pork

Chinese veggie with fish

Deep fried crispy whole chicken

Frankie Tomatto's - Toronto

2009-05-27T12:45:00.007-04:00

I'm baaaaAAaak!! I don't know if anyone noticed but I've been MIA the last couple of weeks. My grandmother passed away and we've been busy with arrangements and family things. I didn't feel it was appropriate to be blogging about funeral food.

Monday was hubby's birthday and he got to choose where to eat. He mentioned Frankie Tomatto's and when I called to make reservations the bonus was that kids eat free on Mondays! Or should I say you get one free kid's buffet with every adult buffet. We have three kids so we had to pay for one child.

Unfortunately I wasn't very hungry because I had a big lunch celebration at my cousin's house but I still managed to scarf down two plates of dinner and two little plates of dessert.

Here is what I had...

Beef spareribs, rice pilaf, calamari (that was my absolute favourite thing there!) eggplant parmesan, pasta in cream sauce, grilled sausage.

More calamari, rotisserie chicken, anti pasta and some peel and eat shrimp.

Spumoni ice cream and baked apples

Butter tart, coconut tart and cream puff

The kids even got a special treat! On Monday's they have a cotton candy machine running and kids each get a stick of cotton candy to bring home. It was a great family night out!

Duff's Famous Wings - Toronto

2009-05-17T11:20:00.009-04:00

I blogged about chicken wings a couple of weeks ago and someone commented that I should try Duff's because they have the best wings around. My curiosity was tweaked and I couldn't get my mind off of these amazing chicken wings. I had to try them!

I'm not claiming that I am a connoisseur of wings...I'm not...but I do know what I like.

As soon as you walk in you see this sign up on the wall. I thought...83 wings? That's it? I could do that! Wings are mainly bones anyway so there isn't much meat. I was starving so my eyes were much bigger than my tummy.

There were three of us and we were sure we could eat at least 15 wings. We ordered the 50 wing special with three flavours...honey garlic, bbq and medium mild. Their claim is that the medium is HOT so we didn't want to burn our mouths.

It comes with celery and blue cheese or dill dipping sauce.

We were hungry so we also ordered the spicy onion petals. They were tasty and just the right amount of heat.

Medium Mild

BBQ

Honey Garlic

I'm not going to say these are the best wings I've ever had. After eating so many wings I don't even think I'm a wing person. After eating 15 wings I felt so full...too much meat...I guess I wouldn't have done well in that eating competition. I still like my wings at Casey's...medium dusted as a side to go with my nachos.

Avocado Salad

2009-05-14T14:09:00.007-04:00

Avocados are just so good for you. Creamy and rich. It's considered a good fat. My sister swears that it's great for brain development in young children. I'm not sure if that is true. I just love eating it for it's flavour and texture.

Av0cado Salad is one of my favourite party dishes. I love it with pita chips, tortilla chips or as a side on a heaping plate of food. I only make it when I'm having a party since I can't eat an entire bowl myself.

Avocado Salad

5 Hass Avocados

1 Can of Summer Crisp Corn

2 teaspooons of chopped garlic

Handful of grape tomatoes (cut and salted)

Handful of chopped coriander

Juice of one lime

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Mix it all together and enjoy.

Mother's Day Dinner

2009-05-10T20:33:00.006-04:00

It's been a weekend of eating!! We celebrated with my mother-in-law yesterday and today it was my family's turn. We decided to buy everything from Costco so that we wouldn't have to run around for groceries. Here is what was on the menu...

Shrimp Cocktail

Caesar Salad
Steak marinated with Balsamic Vinegar, Montreal Steak Spice and Garlic Plus

Salmon seasoned with Montreal Steak Spice and Garlic Plus

Cherry Cheesecake

We also bought a fruit tray with cantaloupe, honeydew, grapes, watermelon and pineapple. It was a feast and a nice change from eating Chinese. I loved how we could compile an entire meal with so little fuss. We just needed to make some steamed rice and bbq the meat and dinner was served.

More Hakka Chinese Food - Federicks

2009-05-08T21:28:00.009-04:00

My friends and I went out to celebrate an early Mother's Day. My Mum wanted Federicks and who am I to complain. It is one of my favourite places to eat.

Here is what we ordered...

Manchurian Fried Rice (It's probably better not knowing what makes this dish so unmistakably orange. Looks like it could glow in the dark. )

Hakka Chow Mein (one of my favourites)Sweet & Sour Chicken (yummy but I usually like mine slightly breaded)

Vegetable Pakoras (This is the first time we ordered this dish. We complained that it looked overcooked but they insisted that vegetable pakoras are always more browned than the chicken or shrimp pakoras. They were tasty but their appearance were kind of off putting.)

Red Curry Salmon on Asian Slaw

2009-05-07T20:29:00.005-04:00

Summer is almost upon us and I'm trying to lose a few pounds before pool season starts. I'm trying to low carb for dinner. It's hard for someone that doesn't eat veggies but as long as everything is full of flavour it isn't horrible.

As an Asian girl it's hard not to eat rice with everything. I've tried cutting out rice completely but my mother acts like it's a sin if I don't eat at least a small bowl. I've tried to explain that white rice is just a filler...no nutritional value but she doesn't believe me.

Tonight I had some leftover red salmon curry from last night. Instead of rice I stirfried some asian coleslaw that I bought at Costco. I just added a teaspoon of oil to my pan and heated at medium heat. Added a couple of handfuls of the asian slaw and cooked until tender.

I served the red curry salmon on a bed of cooked slaw and then added the almond and fried noodle mix that came with the salad as a garnish. I have to admit it wasn't bad. I would call it yummilicious but without rice curry just doesn't taste the same.

Baked Salmon

2009-05-06T19:36:00.002-04:00

We've been eating out too much lately...as you can see from my posts...so I decided to cook something homemade and healthy. The kids love salmon so I decided to bake a slab of salmon from Costco. So simple and so delicious! I just quickly rinsed it and then sprinkled Montreal Steak Spice and some Garlic Plus Seasoning...popped it into the oven for 20 min. at 375F. Perfect!

I love mangoes!!

2009-05-06T18:29:00.004-04:00

I love mangoes! I've noticed that mangoes have returned to the grocery stores lately. I had my first taste this morning and I was in heaven. It was unbelievably sweet. My friend showed me a cute way of serving or cutting a mango.

First wash mango thoroughly and with a sharp knife cut the mango twice along the seed. Score the two sides so that you have a small grid pattern.Holding with two hands push the centre upwards and you will get this cute edible porcupine. You can also cut the squares off into a small dish but I like to serve mine like this.

Of course don't forget to peel the skin off around the pit and eat that in the privacy of your kitchen. It can get pretty ugly eating that pit...juices running off your chin and elbows as you slurp up all that sweet nectar....I usually have to wash my arms and face and maybe floss before greeting my guests.

Roasted Whole Chicken

2009-05-04T22:26:00.005-04:00

I was inspired to make my own roasted chicken today. I've never done this before but was inspired by a recipe on Spoon it On. I bought three whole chickens from Costco today and decided to bake two for dinner. I didn't look at the recipe beforehand and realized just before baking my chicken that I didn't have any of the ingredients that were listed on her recipe. I improvised and hoped for the best.

Ingredients:

One whole chicken

margarine

Montreal Steak Spice

one medium onion

Preheat oven to 350F. I washed the chicken and then sprinkled Montreal Steak Spice into the chicken, put a small dollop of margarine and half of the onion into the cavity. Sprinkled the rest of the chicken with the Montreal Steak Spice. Baked for an hour and a half or until the internal temperature read 185F. Take out of the oven and baste with the pan juices. Cover with foil and let rest for 20 minutes before carving. It was delicious!

Lunch at Skyland de Shanghai - Toronto

2009-05-04T22:09:00.006-04:00

My cousin was sweet enough to treat for lunch at Skyland de Shanghai today. It's another Northern Chinese Food restaurant...much like my favourite, Asian Legend. It's interesting because they actually have a window where you can watch them make the noodles from scratch.

Here are two of my favourite dishes from today...

Red braised beef noodle soup

Fried Rice Cake with pork

Spicy Dragon - Toronto - Hakka Chinese Food

2009-05-03T21:58:00.008-04:00

I was tired from a busy weekend so we decided to go out for dinner. I wanted to try a new Hakka Chinese Restaurant, Spicy Dragon, that got rave reviews from my cousin. Hakka Chinese food is quite spicy and a nice change from the usual.

Tonight we ordered...

Crispy Chicken Wings...this was the kids' favourite.

Hakka Chow Mein...this was perfect tonight...not too greasy.

Sweet & Sour Fish...could have been more sweet and sour...

Chili Chicken

This was my favourite of the night. Crispy and spicy.

Cheapest breakfast EVER!!!

2009-05-01T13:38:00.006-04:00

Running errands today and decided to have breakfast at Ikea. It's so cheap! For $1 plus tax you can have a pretty filling breakfast. It includes scrabbled eggs, hash browns and sausages. All for a dollar!!! In these recessionary times you can't go wrong!

AND...

we stopped off at McDonald's and got a free coffee which we drank before getting to Ikea. McD's is having a coffee war with Starbucks and other expensive coffee places in Toronto so they are offering a free small coffee anytime before 10:30am. I think it may be ending this week.

Dimsum Breakfast at Perfect Chinese Restaurant in Toronto

2009-04-29T21:02:00.012-04:00

Hubby took half the day off work today so we decided to go for Chinese dimsum for breakfast. Dimsum is usually served for breakfast or lunch but the Perfect Chinese Restaurant in Toronto serves it 24 hours a day. I like going with at least four people just so you can order a variety of different foods. Today there was only three but I think we did alright. Unfortunately my friend wasn't adventurous enough to want to try chicken feet or beef inards but we were stuffed by the time we finished. Of course two hours later I was hungry again. Dimsum also makes me sleepy for some reason...maybe it's the MSG...or the excess carbs.

Here is what we ordered today...

Har Gow - Shrimp Dumplings

Deep fried Tofu stufffed with shrimp
Deep fried squid

Beef Cheung Fun
Garlic ribs served on rice

Shrimp and snowpea leaves in a dumpling

Steamed minced pork wrapped in fried bean curd

Curry Octopus

Nachos & Wings - Casey's, Scarborough

2009-04-27T20:37:00.007-04:00

Hubby is away on business again and when he's away I usually make it a treat to go to McD's after swimming. However...I was craving nachos and wings...

My favourite place for nachos & wings is Casey's in Scarborough. Loaded with salsa, cheese, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, black olives and green onions...delicious! I think the best I've had so far.

The wings are dusted and mild. Love them...especially dunked and dripping in blue cheese dressing..yummmm...

I was shocked when we finished all the wings and all the nachos...and the kids still wanted more! I was thinking that we would be taking a big doggy bag home instead they were picking the cheese off the tray.

Theatre Popcorn

2009-04-26T22:46:00.004-04:00

Nothing beats a bag of theatre popcorn...with becel topping. We took the kids to watch "17 Again" and we went through two large bags of popcorn and two large Cokes. There really isn't any comparison when it comes to popcorn from the theatre. I don't know why it's so yummy. We usually ask the server to put Becel in the middle and then the top...that way there is buttery goodness throughout.

Honey & Garlic Cuisine, Markham

2009-04-26T22:17:00.017-04:00

Today was the actual day my in-laws were married 50 years ago. We celebrated last week because some of the kids couldn't make it today but during the week plans changed and everyone was available. We went back to the same restaurant as last week. Honey & Garlic Cuisine in Markham. The food is always good.

Tonight we ordered the set dinner for ten and added two more dishes, vegetarian chow mein, sweet & sour pineapple tofu, and snowpea leaves fried in garlic.

Nibbles to start...pickled ginger, pickled cucumbers and honey, garlic taro.

Stirfried fish with crispy skin
Fried tofu with Broccoli
Crispy Chicken with Shrimp Chips

Abalone with Baby Bok Choy

Snowpea leaves stirfried with garlic

Lobster stirfried with garlic and ginger

Crab Claws

Vegetarian Chow Mein

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Tofu

Beef and Mushrooms on a bed of Asparagus

Honey and Garlic Oysters with fried Taro

Warm Tofu with Ginger Soup

Black Sesame Soup Dessert

Asian Legend, Toronto - Northern Chinese Food

2009-04-25T22:08:00.011-04:00

Tonight after an exhausting day at Wonderland we decided to go for dinner at Asian Legend. We decided to go to the one close to home at Brimley and Sheppard in Scarborough. It was busy and we ended up waiting almost 45min. Weekends are crazy there. It's better to go early.

By the time we got a table we were starving. Here is a run down of our dinner.

Appetizers:

Jellyfish salad (Served cold, has a slight sesame oil flavour)

Steamed Soup Filled Pork Dumplings (they are famous for these soup filled dumplings. Caution when eating them because if you bite it incorrectly the hot soup can squirt out)
Glutinous Rice Roll with Meat Floss (one of my favourites)

Onion Pancake

Main Dishes:

Shredded Pork with Pickled Vegetables Noodle Soup

Chunky Beef with Noodles Soup

Chicken and Salty Fish Fried Rice

Dessert:

Crispy Fried Banana with Honey (this is usually one of my favourites but tonight was disappointing. It is a banana fritter dipped in a candy syrup and when it is dipped in ice water becomes like a hard candy shell...much like a candy apple. So it should be a crispy candy shell outside and a warm banana fritter inside but tonight the water wasn't cold enough so the candy coating didn't harden. I was very disappointed.

ANOTHER feast from the weekend...

2009-04-21T17:16:00.015-04:00

How do you show love? By making sure their tummies are full. We ate a lot this weekend. Relatives were in town and it was a time to eat together. Here is our goodbye dinner...another Chinese feast.

Here are all the dishes...

Meat Platter - Soya Sauce Chicken, BBQ Pork, Roasted Duck

Crab balls

Steamed Free Range Chicken

Tofu and shrimp soup

Fried beans with minced pork topped with fried fish

Three types of mushroom and veggies

Sweet & Sour pork

Deep fried pork chop with corn sauce

Braised fish and tofu on a bed of lettuce

Green bean soup for dessert

Almond cookies

Mango jello

50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration

2009-04-20T21:26:00.020-04:00

It was my in-laws' 50th wedding anniversary last weekend so we got together for a Chinese feast at Honey & Garlic in Markham. It was a traditional Chinese banquet style dinner with ten courses. We have a very big family...including children there were 15 people.

Nibbles before dinner...

Roasted pork

Crab claws

Baby spinach with dried scallops

Fake shark fin soup (used chicken instead)

Crispy skin chicken with shrimp chips

Dungenous Crab and lobster

Steamed fresh fish with soya sauce

Fried E-Fu Noodles

Shrimp fried rice

Birthday buns (steamed with lotus paste inside)

We had a choice of two different dessert soups.

We chose Black Sesame Soup

and warm tofu with sweet ginger sauce.

In addition to the ten course meal we ordered two vegetarian dishes for my sister-in-law.

Fried tofu with dried mushroom and vegetables

Three different mushrooms with veggies.

Needless to say we were stuffed by the end...especially after two bowls of the black sesame soup. YUM!!!

Nachos and Wings - Jack Astor's, Toronto

2009-04-15T21:49:00.010-04:00

I've only recently discovered nachos. Can you believe that? I'm almost 40 and I hadn't had nachos until maybe three years ago. My girlfriends and I went to eat at Jack Astor's for nachos and wings on the weekend. The nachos there was alright. I've had better. We ordered two pounds of wings. We like them lightly dusted.

We ordered one pound mild...and the other honey garlic. I have to admit that these wings were pretty good. Loved the honey garlic sauce. Perfect blend of honey and garlic. Mouthwatering good!!

Kenny's Gourmet - Richmond Hill, Toronto

2009-04-15T21:26:00.009-04:00

I'm still recuperating from the Easter weekend. We had a lot of eating and one of the meals was at my friend's home. She ordered food from Kenny's Gourmet (Major Mackenzie, west of Leslie) in Richmond Hill. The food is Hong Kong style Chinese food. I used to work in Hong Kong so I miss this kind of food. Jenny ordered some amazing dishes.

Dungenous crab fried in minced pork and garlic.
Shrimp in an egg white sauce over a bed of fried rice.
Sweet and Sour pork.

My favourite...fried ramen noodles with beef.

Another one of my favourites...portuguese style chicken on a bed of fried rice.

My friend Jerry brought along a traditional Chinese dessert made by his mom called Put Jie Goh. I haven't had this in ages and it was definitely my choice for dessert that night.

Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs

2009-04-14T10:55:00.004-04:00

Easter weekend is finally over and my girlfriend has returned home. I'm crashing down from a sugar high...all those chocolate eggs...all that sugar...now I'm craving more! I still have one more bag of these Cadbury Popping Mini Eggs.

This is the first year I've had them and my goodness are they addictive. They have a crispy candy shell, a creamy chocolate centre and then the surprise at the end, popping candies that snap, crackle and pop in your mouth. It reminds me of when we were little and we would buy little packets of rocket candy. Ah...the memories...

Go for Tea - Toronto - Taiwanese Cuisine

2009-04-13T21:42:00.007-04:00

I've eaten at Go for Tea at least three times last week. It is my friend's favourite place and wh had to indulge her before she left for home. I'm embarrassed to say that too much eating has caused my muffin top to grow another muffin top. It's definitely not pretty...

Of course I had to order my favourite...honeydew slush with bubbles.

Here are some of the dishes that we had on our last trip there.

Fried tofu with garlic sauce...you'll be tasting this for days...

Condensed milk toast. A thick slice of bread with condensed milk toasted until browned. It's yummy but would be tastier with some peanut butter.

Bunny Cupcakes

2009-04-11T11:00:00.008-04:00

Continuing on our eating spree we met at my girlfriend's home for dinner. I made this cute cupcake for the kids to celebrate Easter.

Instructions:

cupcakes (I used a boxed cake mix)
white icing ( I used canned icing)
brown mini M&Ms
pink heart sprinkles
pink sprinkles
marshmallows (cut in three equal parts...when you cut them with a knife the marshmallow will be squeezed making them perfect for the ears.)

Ice cupcakes entirely with the white icing.
Put a round marshmallow for the nose.
Dip the ears in the pink sprinkles and place at the top of the cupcake.
Turn the heart sprinkle upside down and put a dot of icing to keep it in place.
Mini M&M for the eyes.

Very easy to do but with great results. Hope you like them.

Asian Legend - Northern Chinese

2009-04-10T10:22:00.007-04:00

I'm still stuffing my face with my girlfriend from Florida. Yesterday she had five meals...the last one with me when we ran out at 9:30pm to hunt down a large red bean slush. We hit three different places before we could satisfy her craving.

Stop number two was Asian Legend , specializing in Northern Chinese cuisine, to pick up some dessert. Look at this perfect pearl made of rice flour and black sesame paste. Served with a sweet gingery soup made this absolutely yummy. It was so smooth in my mouth and the black sesame paste was a sweet surprise as you bit into it.

This is the red bean ice drink that we drove all over the neighbourhood for. That was our stop number three. She said it was so yummy...but I opted for a cold HK style tea instead. Needless to say I didn't get to sleep until 3am!

This was another dessert from Asian Legend. It's a red bean pancake. I would say the texture is more like an Indian paratha. Crispy and sweet. Perfect for a late night snack.

Spicy Chicken Sandwich

2009-04-10T10:16:00.002-04:00

This chicken salad sandwich was absolutely delicious! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture! It's just Kirkland brand chunk chicken with mayonaise. Secret ingredient is homemade pepper sauce. I add just a quarter of a teaspoon and it gave it just enough kick. I used a West Indian bun called a tennis roll. It's slightly sweet. The combination of sweet...salty...and spicy...was amazing!

Chicken Casserole

2009-04-10T09:42:00.003-04:00

I was in a crunch for dinner on Wednesday. I was going out for dinner but I still needed to make something for hubby and the kids. Here is my easy breezy chicken casserole.

Shell Pasta
1 can of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 small can of corn
1 large can of Kirkland chunk chicken
1/2 can of milk
Grated cheese

Cook enough pasta to fill your casserole dish. In a medium saucepan cook cream of mushroom soup and milk. Once boiled add chicken and corn. Pour mixture on top of pasta and mix well. Add grated cheese and mix throughout and then top with more grated cheese. Bake at 375F for 30 min.

Prime Rib Steaks

2009-04-10T09:30:00.005-04:00

Here is a beautiful, tender prime rib steak that we had for dinner on Monday. It was so tender and juicy. I just took slices of the prime rib roast from Saturday and since they were medium rare they fried up quite nicely. Just a bit pink in the middle...perfect for the kids. Delicious!

Bubble Tea - Go for Tea - Toronto

2009-04-05T22:25:00.009-04:00

I can't believe we managed to drink our bubble tea after Japanese Buffet but we did. My girlfriend loves bubble tea and so does my daughter so we headed to Go for Tea. It's our absolute favourite bubble tea cafe. Bubble tea originated from Taiwan and are gelatinous tapioca balls that are added to your drink whether hot or cold. Hot...you eat them with a spoon and cold...you slurp them with a straw.

The bubbles are a bit chewy and sweet. It's important to choose a popular bubble tea cafe because I've had soggy and tasteless bubbles before and it totally ruins the entire experience. Bubble tea can be quite pricey. One large glass of bubble tea can be almost as expensive as a fast food meal. However it's a fun afternoon treat instead of heading to the usual coffee shop.

We ordered our usual Honeydew slush with bubbles. There's an extensive drink menu but we tend to stick to our favourite.

Pictured above from left to right are: strawberry green tea with bubbles, green tea with coconut jelly, black milk tea, honeydew slush with bubbles, and chocolate slush.

Japanese Buffet - Wasabi Toronto

2009-04-05T22:13:00.004-04:00

Japanese lunch buffet at Wasabi in Toronto was a treat. We are on an eating marathon while my girlfriend is visiting from Florida. She craves everything Asian when she comes home and we are happy to oblige. There was way too much food and we left with our belts undone. Should have remembered to wear my yoga pants! Here are some of the yummier dishes.

Japanese wouldn't be Japanese without some salmon and yellowtail sashimi.

Delicious beef ramen noodle soup.

Crispy shrimp tempura.

The food was yummy but I still love my favourite Yang's Kitchen.

Lemon Pistacio Cheesecake

2009-04-05T22:08:00.002-04:00

My girlfriend is here for a visit and we had a potluck dinner at home. I made primerib which was the rave but my favourite of the night was the Lemon Pistacio Cheesecake from Costco. It was divine. It was tart...sweet...nutty...creamy...making my mouth watering good...

What kind of peppers are these?

2009-04-03T10:54:00.003-04:00

Can anyone tell me what the real name of these hot peppers are? In West Indian cooking they are called weary weary peppers. I don't know if I've even spelled this correctly. They are smaller than an American nickel. It would be nice to know the correct name since I will be posting quite a few recipes with this pepper.

Butternut Squash, Okra and Coke Beef

2009-04-01T19:26:00.003-04:00

It was an experimental kinda day today. I didn't have recipes...just words of advice. It was my first time making Okra. I tried it at "Mum's" place a couple of weeks ago and thought it was pretty tasty. Her daughter gave me the steps on how to make it but when I started cutting up the okra I was surprised with the stringy, gooey "juice" coming from the veggie. It didn't look appetizing. However I continued on...hoping for the best. I fried up some onion and garlic and then added the Okra. I thought I was supposed to fry it up on med high heat but in fact it is supposed to be med low. So I finished frying it slowly until it was dry and crispy. It was tasty but I will have to try it again to master this dish. Salt to taste.

My next dish was butternut squash. I quickly sauteed some onion and garlic in a saucepan until softened. Adding the butternut squash, I simmered it until soft. I added some salt and a weary weary pepper to add a bit of heat. This was yummy.

Last but not least I had some frozen beef that was supposed to be for Chinese hot pot but I quickly cooked the meat in boiling water and then in a frying pan quickly sauteed it with some soya sauce and 1/2 can of coke that had been reduced to a thick sugar sauce. The boys liked it but I would have preferred it to be even a bit sweeter.

More doggy cupcakes!!

2009-03-29T11:26:00.008-04:00

It was my niece's 2nd birthday yesterday and she put in a special request for my doggy cupcakes. I love making them. They are so cute and just like dogs, each one is unique and has it's own personality.

Here is a quick tutuorial on how to make these cute cupcakes.

Ingredients.

cupcakes
icing
black jelly beans
mini M&Ms
strawberry fruit roll ups
regular sized marshmallows
pink sprinkles

I use a Wilton #233 tip to get the individual strands of hair. Pipe the icing around the outer edge of the cupcake. Cut the marshmallow in half and then into 1/3 and 2/3 pieces. Place the 2/3 piece of marshmallow on in the centre of the cupcake and continue piping the icing until everything is covered.

Place black jellybean for the nose and mini M&Ms for the eyes. Cut the fruit roll-up into the shape of a tongue and place under the nose. Cut the 1/3 piece of marshmallow in half and dip the cut edge into pink sprinkles. Place ears at the top of cupcake. Voila!

Cupcake Glory!!

2009-03-28T11:15:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited that Cupcakes Take the Cake mentioned my cupcakes!! It's so exciting to see that other people appreciate and love all your hard work.

Korean Pork Bone Soup

2009-03-26T21:18:00.005-04:00

Hubby came home from his business trip today ready for some Chinese Food. However, I am still feeling under the weather so we decided to go to the Chinese Food Court. There is a Korean Food Stall there and I've always wanted to try the Korean Pork Bone Soup. Whenever we go to this particular food court there are at least two or three people slurping the soup and sucking on these pork bones. I'm not a soup person and hate deviating from what I know but it was just too tempting to pass up this time.
The soup was a bit spicy but not overpowering. I hate it when the heat burns my tongue and I can't taste or experience my meal. There were four different pieces of pork bone in the soup and the meat was so tender it melted in my mouth.

It also came with some steamed rice so I grabbed my daughter's egg yolk from her dinner and some bulgogi from my husband's and made myself a tasty side dish. I was surprised how yummy tonight's dinner was...especially from the food court.

Roti with Dal and Curry Chicken

2009-03-25T19:15:00.009-04:00

I went to a West Indian Bakery today and picked up some very yummy baked goods. I couldn't resist buying some Roti. I had some Dal leftover from my son's birthday celebration and thought it would go perfectly with it. In fact my daughter said it was the best Dal she had ever tasted. I think she just liked it because it was served with the Roti. What does it matter as long as she eats it, right?

Anyway, I called my girlfriend and told her how much the kids enjoyed the roti. She immediately offered to drive some of her curry chicken over and I'm glad she did. It was delicious! Did I ever tell you that I think I'm turning Guyanese? I love everything West Indian. I will definitely have to ask her for the recipe.

Corn Twists

2009-03-25T17:32:00.009-04:00

I am totally addicted to Corn Twists!! I can't get enough of them. They are light, fluffy and very salty. In my humble opinion it's even better than theatre popcorn! It's one of my weaknesses. If I have a bag of these delicious, melt in your mouth puffs there's no doubt that it will be finished in a few days. My mouth is watering just looking at this photo...needless to say it was devoured immediately after this photo was posted.

For those of you tempted to run out and buy a bag for yourself...the full name is Chester's Corn Twists made by Frito-Lay.

Bubble and Squeek

2009-03-24T16:31:00.003-04:00

I haven't had many pics to post this week. We are still eating Saturday's party food. Today I made "Bubble and Squeek". I had a British friend that had told me about this dish but I had never had a chance to try it. I had a huge dish of mash potatoes left over and I knew the kids would not eat microwaved mash. I've always wanted to try making this dish and this was a perfect opportunity. I heated up my frying pan and added some vegetable oil. I threw in the mash with any leftover veggies we had...broccoli, corn, carrots and green beans. I flattened the mash on the bottom of the pan, waited for it to brown, and then fold it over. I continued to do this until there was bits of crusty potato throughout. I brushed it with some butter and a pinch of salt. The kids loved it. I served it with the leftover prime rib.

If anyone has and actual recipe for this I would really love it if you could forward it to me.

Another 40th Birthday Celebration - Japanese Buffet

2009-03-22T21:07:00.010-04:00

Celebration #2...as my friends and I are all turning 40 this year...there will be tons of eating. Tonight we ate at "Maison du Japon"...Japanese buffet. I wouldn't say this is the best Japanese food I've had but it's tasty. We even got to sit in a private room tonight. I didn't take pics of all the food...there was just so much...

The wasabi and ginger was presented so nicely.

This is Korean tofu and beansprouts...

A variety of sushi rolls...soft shell crab, eel, and salmon rolls...

Salmon and White Tuna sashimi...

White Tuna rolls...

Green tea and ginger ice cream.

Family Birthday Dinner

2009-03-21T22:52:00.009-04:00

It was my son's 10th birthday this week. I usually have a big family dinner to celebrate the kids' birthdays which means cooking for about 27 people. The star of the evening was my Prime Rib roast. It was the rave...plus my dad makes the best gravy. It was only four ribs this time. I usually buy seven but Costco didn't have the entire roast for sale. I usually rub it with some vegetable oil, montreal steak spice and pickling spice and the bake at 350F for three and a half hours. I usually pour 3 cups of water over the roast after an hour. It was medium which was perfect for us.

I usually serve one main meat dish and then a ton of sides. Tonight we had asian coleslaw, fried vermicelli, sticky rice, mash potatoes, zucchini loaf, steamed rice, samosas, and pizza for the kids.

Here are the cupcakes I made. I couldn't decide what to make for my son's 10th birthday. He's getting too old for Power Rangers and army men. I could have done better if I had planned a bit better but not bad for what I had on hand.

I also attempted to make a coconut cream pie. It tasted great but I think it could have been a bit firmer. I'm not sure why it didn't set properly. If anyone can help me I would appreciate it.

The Mandarin - Chinese Buffet

2009-03-19T23:03:00.005-04:00

It was my son's 10th birthday today. It's a biggie! He's in the double digits now...big responsibilities. We usually let the birthday boy/girl pick their birthday meal and today he chose The Mandarin. It's a Chinese buffet. I'm not going to go into detail about what was served since there were more than 100 items...from sushi, to roast beef, to a huge array of desserts. It's good quality food. I really loved it.

I only took pictures of my first two plates of main dishes...I'm too embarrassed to say that I had four plates...but I swear the other two were much smaller and barely covered the plates...

Here are some of the yummy desserts that were available...chocolate covered strawberries, lemon meringue pie, sugar covered dough ball, apple pie, rice pudding...not to mention the huge selection of ice cream and fruit and other cakes and pies. I can't write anymore since I'm coming down from an extreme sugar high and can barely keep my eyes open as I am falling asleep...rolling myself to bed now from an overstuffed tummy....

Chili and Bagels

2009-03-19T22:59:00.002-04:00

Still at my sister's...had chili and bagels for lunch. I'm not a big chili person but it wasn't bad. Pretty tasty in fact. I might even make it for my husband...he likes chili, spaghetti, etc.

Sushi and Teriyaki Beef and Broccoli

2009-03-18T23:23:00.003-04:00

My sister made the dinner tonight. She made California rolls and cucumber rolls as appetizers. They were so yummy.

The main course was teriyaki beef and broccoli. I've never used teriyaki sauce before but she just marinated the beef for an hour, stirfried it and served with with steamed rice. The kids loved it. Another quick and easy meal idea.

Finger Lickin' Good

2009-03-18T23:11:00.004-04:00

It's a tradition that whenever I visit my sister we buy Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch or dinner. We made it up early enough for lunch today.

I've grown up with KFC and it brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. My cousin's grandfather used to work there and he would sometimes drop off a meal after work. It was a very special treat since my parents only made us Chinese food. They don't have it on the menu anymore but you could get an entire loaf of bread already buttered. If I close my eyes I can almost taste it.

My kids love KFC almost as much as I did. I still enjoy it once in awhile. I actually love the popcorn chicken with the honey mustard sauce. It's very addictive.

As you can see my sister tried to make it healthier by serving Greek Salad instead of fries. It's just not the same...

Burnt Pizza and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

2009-03-17T23:11:00.005-04:00

It was the second day of March Break and I was home with five kids. Three of my own and two of my friends. I don't know how I got distracted but I ended up baking my frozen pizza with the cardboard between it and my baking stone. I didn't realize it until I tried cutting it and it was so sticky. I then realized that the cardboard was there. It caused the pizza to be cooked on the top but raw on the inside. I thought I would just throw it back in the oven for another ten minutes and no one would be the wiser but it ended up being overdone and still soggy on the inside...so it was garbage...boooo....

I ended up making grilled cheese sandwiches. The quickest and easiest lunch that I could make under the circumstances. They turned out great! I made sure I didn't walk away from the grill otherwise I might have been forced to take five kids to McD's and I was NOT prepared to do that! I like my grilled cheese flattened until it's super thin. The kids gobbled it up although they were disappointed with the pizza. I offered them the top of the pizza...cheese and pepperoni...but they weren't too keen.

After all the kids ate it was my turn. I was still kicking myself about wasting a whole pizza so I picked the toppings off the pizza and put it on top of my grilled cheese sandwich. You know what? It was YUMMY! It's like having a crispy thin stuffed crust pepperoni pizza. My new invention. I don't know how often I would make this though 'cause that would mean pulling the topping off a perfectly good pizza.

Fresh Raspberries in Yogurt

2009-03-17T12:29:00.002-04:00

I was cleaning our my fridge and found a box of forgotten raspberries in the corner. Luckily they were still fresh. I decided to put some in my Activia Vanilla Yogourt. I'm not a big fruit person but since spring and then summer is just around the corner I thought I better get started on my diet. This may just be my substitute for Coffee Crisp Ice Cream...not...

Tandoori Chicken

2009-03-16T09:02:00.004-04:00

Chicken thighs were on sale last week so I decided last night to make Tandoori Chicken. I love Indian food but it's been ages since we've been to my favourite Indian buffet place. It's hard to get out nowadays with three kids and I would never attempt to bring them along.

I lived in Malaysia for two months when I was working and my favourite memories were of eating at the outdoor food stands. The Tandoori Chicken was baked in a clay oven and practically melted in your mouth. Absolutely delicious!

I marinated my chicken thighs with Patak's Tandoori Curry Paste and plain yogourt for about two hours. I think overnight would be better. The chicken was very moist and quite tasty but because I baked it on a baking sheet it wasn't as dry as you would get it in an Indian restaurant.

As you can see I'm still eating the Greek Salad that I bought on Friday.

Panfried dumplings

2009-03-15T15:06:00.003-04:00

My mother likes to make dumplings, freeze them , and then pack them into care packages for my sister and I. I've only made dumplings once in my almost 40 years and maybe now is the time to start doing the same. It's not hard.

She takes a pound of ground pork, cooked napa cabbage (strained and towel dried), some chopped water chestnuts, handful of shrimp and then season with soya sauce, salt and a bit of sugar. Mix it all up and then wrap with wonton wrappers. There are many different kinds so you may have to experiment to see which ones you like. Dumplings are so versatile. You can add whatever you like...I know some people add dried mushrooms, chinese sausage, green onion...all up to you.

I usually boil my dumplings until they float and then drain and panfry them until they are brown and crispy. Right at the end I put a couple of dollops of oyster sauce and toss the dumplings until they are nicely coated and the heat carmelizes the sugar.

Sunday breakfast

2009-03-15T15:02:00.002-04:00

Sunday morning breakfast today was easy breezy toasted sesame bagels with butter and herb cream cheese. I love how the butter melts and makes the bagel chewy and the ooey gooey melted cream cheese adds the extra bit of flavour. YUM!! Even Spongebob approves!

Vanilla Yogourt and canned fruit...YUM!

2009-03-14T22:46:00.003-04:00

We had to gulp down a quick dinner tonight and rush off to the rink for skating. I don't usually have a late night snack but since I had a healthy dinner of salad and chicken I was starving. I fixed myself a bowl of Vanilla Activia Yogourt and topped it with some canned peaches and mandarin oranges. It was delicious! I could have eaten more but I'm testing my self control.

Hong Kong Style Breakfast

2009-03-14T22:39:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning hubby and the kids like to go out for breakfast. We live near one of the Asian areas in Toronto so there are many options. Today we went to an indoor food court and ordered a Hong Kong style breakfast. I only managed to take a picture of the ham and macaroni soup because everything else was quickly devoured. This is the breakfast special for C$3.45 plus tax. One big bowl of ham and macaroni soup with an egg sunnyside down, hotdog and a slice of HK style bread with butter AND a choice of hot drink. We chose Ovaltine. You can't go wrong and this food stall is busy all day long!

Shake N Bake and Hoisin Chicken

2009-03-13T21:23:00.004-04:00

I bought a tray of chicken thighs for dinner tonight. I thought about making my own breading for the chicken but had a craving for Shake N Bake. I bought the Original blend. I prepared most of the thighs with the Shake N Bake coating but there were two thighs left. I decided to cover the remaining two thighs with hoisin sauce and baked it with the rest. The Shake N Bake chicken was delicious and the hoisin sauce chicken thighs were very tasty too. I served it with some steamed rice and more of that Greek Salad. Again...simple and easy...that's what I love...

Rotisserie Chicken & Greek Salad

2009-03-13T21:07:00.005-04:00

I was sick today and missed potluck lunch with the cousins. Darn. The kids were sick all week and today was their first day back. I was forced to go out and buy groceries since I was homebound for four days.

One good thing about doing this blog is that it makes me more conscious of what I'm eating and feeding to the kids. I realized that we eat out too much and are dependant on ready-made foods. I am really going to try to eat healthier.

Today I bought a ready made Greek salad and rotisserie chicken for lunch. (I'm starting the home-cooking thing tomorrow.) I think buying the ready made salad will force me to eat more veggies since I don't have to spend the time to prepare it.

Hakka Chinese Food

2009-03-12T20:33:00.010-04:00

I had dinner with one of my oldest and dearest friends tonight. We hit Costco and then when we were shopped out and hungry we headed over to our favourite Hakka Chinese restaurant, Fredericks. I only discovered this place last year but supposedly it's well known in our part of the town. We ordered Hakka Chow Mein with chicken and shrimp and Crispy Beef with steamed rice. It was so yummy!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my fortune means that I will be finding loads and loads of money soon!

Hoisin Chicken and Pasta

2009-03-12T20:22:00.004-04:00

I was going out for dinner tonight with one of my girlfriends but still had to make dinner for hubby and the kids. I haven't gone grocery shopping all week since hubby was away on business and the kids have been sick so I was really struggling on what to make. I decided to defrost some already marinated chicken and boiled some pasta shells.

I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Fry them up together with some oyster sauce? And then I remembered I had some chicken broth in the fridge. I stirfried the chicken until it was cooked and then I added some hoisin sauce. I then quickly fried it until the sauce carmelized. Reheated the chicken broth and boiled some frozen broccoli and dinner was ready. Quick and easy...that's the way I like it.

Super simple banana bread

2009-03-11T20:22:00.003-04:00

The kids were home sick today so I thought I would make them a treat. They love my banana bread. Actually it's my best friend's recipe but it has become one of my favourites. Whenever my friends come home for a visit they always ask me to make my banana bread. It's super simple and I love that I always have the ingredients in my pantry. Some recipes call for mayonaise or sour cream to make it moist. This is more like a cake and is so moist. You can find the recipe here. http://www.screaminmama.com/Recipes/supersimplebananabread.html

Another easy dinner...

2009-03-11T19:59:00.004-04:00

So hubby is finally coming home tomorrow. He's been on business since Monday. Thank goodness! The kids have been sick all week and I'm at the end of my rope. It seemed like I had been cooking all day so I was looking for something easy for dinner. Grilled cheese is simple and the kids love it. Spread some margarine on the outside and then slap a slice of cheese in the middle, grill it up and I'm done. The kids like it plain but I like to dip mine with a bit of ketchup.

Breakfast for dinner

2009-03-11T10:06:00.002-04:00

Whenever my husband is away on business it's like a mini vacation for me. I don't have to worry about what to make for dinner. Hubby needs to have a good meal when he comes home from work. The kids and I, however, can have pizza or chicken fingers and we are happy.

Last night we had breakfast for dinner. Who says eggs have to be for breakfast. Bacon and eggs are as delicious for dinner as it would be for breakfast. Simple and easy...that's how I like it.

Chana

2009-03-10T21:18:00.007-04:00

I really think I'm turning Guyanese. I've been craving Guyanese food lately especially since my "Mum" has been on vacation and won't be back for another week. Before she left she made me some Chana and I thought it was pretty tasty. Chickpeas were on sale last week so I thought I would attempt to make some for myself.

Today I had the urge to try something new and thought about those chickpeas. I tried to look up a couple of recipes but they all looked like my Dal recipe so I thought I would just wing it and see what happens. I pulled out some onion, tomato, garlic and some salted codfish. Fried it all up and added some salt, a bit of sugar, fresh coriander and one weary weary pepper. Well...I'm not going to say it was delicious...it wasn't...but it wasn't horrible.

It looked great while it was cooking but once it was cookedt I felt it was missing something...maybe not enough pepper...or not enough salt...I will definitely try to follow a recipe next time. It looked great though...

Cream of corn Chicken and Green Curry Chicken on Rice

2009-03-08T20:59:00.003-04:00

I was looking for a quick meal tonight. I came home from a visit to my mother's house and needed something quick and easy. I was so sleepy since I had a very late night and we lost an hour of sleep due to daylight savings time. I could barely keep my eyes open today.

Anyhow, I took out some frozen already marinated chicken that I had prepared last week and fried that up. Then I separated the chicken into two portions and made Thai Green Curry Chicken for my husband and I and then in the frying pan made the kids Cream of Corn Chicken. Two super simple dishes.

The Thai Green Curry was from a can. I like to use Aroy-D Green Curry since my friends from Thailand tell me that it's the most authentic they've ever tasted. It comes with the bamboo shoots and the basil. I add the chicken and a couple of handfuls of frozen veggies and voila, it's delicous.

For the kids I poured a can of cream of corn into the frying pan with the cooked chicken with a cup of chicken broth. I used Campbells already prepared broth. When it comes to a boil I like to crack two eggs into the pan and then slowly stir for that egg drop soup look. I don't have to add any additional seasoning since the chicken and the soup already has salt. The kids love it.

Party food!

2009-03-08T20:42:00.008-04:00

I attended my first Happy 40th Birthday party of the year. My friends and I are all turning forty this year. It was hosted by my friend Jenny for her BFF Jerry at her house. The spread was incredible. It was buffet style and there was a bit of everything. I can't even begin to list all the food. The plate above was my first helping with fried instant noodles, sweet and sour pork, homemade spring rolls, chicken wings, shrimp, and spicy pork chop. YUM!

The birthday cupcakes...40 cupcakes with 40 candles...took forever to light and almost set off the fire alarm. They were delicious. Chocolate cake with a shortbread cookie.

This platter above is un-named...I have no idea what it is....kind of custardy...jello-y...slightly sweet with cookie crumbs for dipping. It was interesting but I like something a bit more decadent.

This was my contribution. Triple chocolate Ghiradelli brownies. It's made from a mix that I buy from Costco. Everyone always raves about these brownies. I love them 'cause it literally takes 3 minutes to mix and then 45 min. in the oven and you have pure heaven on a platter!

Chicken Fried Rice

2009-03-06T20:04:00.004-05:00

I think the theme this week with the foodie blogs is fried rice. I've seen at least three different blogs with three different kinds of fried rice. I've made it myself twice this week. Fried rice is so versatile...any kind of leftover meat...some fried egg...salt...and some soya sauce and you've got a delicious and quick meal. I usually scramble a couple of eggs with a pinch of salt, cut up the leftover meat in small slivers and quickly fry it quickly to heat. Set it aside. Fry the rice until heated thoroughly and add soya sauce and salt to taste. Done.

Here are two other blogs that have fried rice this week...

Spoon it on - Shrimp Fried Rice

Mochachocolata-Rita - Spicy Green Chilli Fried Rice

Meatballs at Ikea

2009-03-06T18:41:00.003-05:00

My kids love the meatball dinner at Ikea. I love that they eat it without any complaints! I took my daughter there for a playdate this afternoon and was pleasantly surprised that the meatball dinner was only $2.99. What a deal! We ate 'til we were full and it only cost me $5.65. The deal is on for the whole month of March so I guess we'll be eating there at least once a week. Hehehe...

My friend and I like meeting up at Ikea because we can have a relaxing lunch, then throw the kids into the childminding, walk around in peace and then grab ice-cream and coffee before leaving. Btw, snackbar has pretty good deals too...coffee and cinnamon bun $1.00, two hotdogs and drink $2 or a hotdog for $0.50. In these recessionary times how can you go wrong!

Greek Salad and Zucchini loaf

2009-03-05T22:45:00.003-05:00

Had a delicous healthy lunch for a change. I bought the Greek Salad from the Superstore this morning. It was marked down for a quick sale and since I was going to eat it for lunch I decided to give it a try. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it and it was delicious. It was 50% off the marked price so it was only $1.90 and saved me all the work of chopping the onions, cucumbers, and red peppers...and I didn't have to buy a whole container of feta cheese and olives which would have gone bad since I don't usually use feta and don't really like olives. I think this is a great way to get my veggies and save myself the work.