a week of food

such a busy week!

on tuesday night my workmates and i ate dinner a hapa izakaya with a co-worker from our toronto office. unfortunately the restaurant was having technical difficulties in the kitchen that prevented them from making the enoki bacon maki and the asparagus bacon maki. i was very bummed :P but, we managed to fill ourselves up on the other food.....ebi chili omelette, avocado ebi salad, gyoza, chicken karaage, one of the rice dishes in a stone bowl, beef tataki, sablefish and a few other dishes i can't remember. as usual everything was delicious!

on wednesday night i had such a busy day at work that i just wasn't in the mood to cook. but i persevered and i pulled a meal together. we had garlic mash potatoes, brocolli and chicken roasted on eggplant and tomatoes (from donna hay, the instant cook). it was ridiculously easy and tasted really good!



1 eggplant, thickly sliced
1 tablespoon oregano leaves
sea salt and cracked black pepper
4 chicken breast fillets
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese

preheat the oven to 355F. line a baking tray with baking paper. place the eggplant slices and on the tray and top with the tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper. top each pile with a chicken breast and sprinkle with the parmesan and mozzarella. bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the chicken cooked through. serves 4.

after i was finished cooking, i had to start my ice cream for girls night on friday. pris had made a request for something chocolatey, so rather than make plain chocolate, i found a recipe for cappuccino chocolate chip ice cream (from a passion for ice cream by emily luchetti).

8 large egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup coffee beans
2 cups whole milk
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped medium fine

in a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the salt. coarsely crush the coffee beans with a rolling pin or the bottom of a saucepan. combine the milk, cream, the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, and the coffee beans in a heavy saucepan. cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost simmering. slowly pour the liquid into the egg mixture, whisking as you pour.

return the cream mixture to the saucepan. cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175F and lightly coats the spatula. cool over an ice bath until room temperature. refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and put it in the freezer. strain the ice cream base through a sieve, discarding the coffee beans. churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. place the ice cream in the bowl with the chocolate and fold together.

better drivers - men or women?

Better driver study
January 19, 2007 - 7:41 am By: Mike Lloyd

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The "who is the better driver debate" is one question that may be a touchy subject for some. Are men or women the better driver? A major US road risk study is shedding some light on their driving habits this morning. Some men today are actually admitting women are better drivers. One man says women are better because they are more patient and men are too eager to get mad.

You better let your wife or girlfriend drive if you want to minimize your chance of a fatal car accident! The study, which is out of Carnegie Mellon University in the US, says male drivers actually have a 77% higher risk of being in a bad accident, which is based on miles driven.


hehehe, i always end up driving when it's me and chris, and when he complains about my driving, i just tell him to go to sleep :-) what he doesn't know won't hurt him!

amazing race all-stars!

whoo-hoo!

season 11 of amazing race is set to start on february 18, and i'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces back on the tele!

link

so much going on!

i swear, life just couldn't get any busier right now! between planning our upcoming ski trip to big white (hehehe, i just took my skis in for a tune-up today!), researching accommodations for our trip to the maritimes w/geoff and sunny, anticipating either a 9-week or 12-week old shoelace-chewing puppy for the upcoming weekend, working out at the gym (i went again today!), dinner w/an out-of-town co-worker, finding a 2nd controller for our ps3, and getting our nintendo wii tomorrow night, my brain is running on overdrive! oh yeah, and somewhere during the days, i have to get some work done, too!

yikes, i'm in pain!

wow! after a VERY long hiatus, i finally made it back to the gym. for reasons unknown to me, i was inspired to go the gym. i did 1/2 hour on the elliptical trainer followed by 1/2 hour on the treadmill. i'm taking it nice and easy, so i don't overexert myself. i did my stretching before and after, but i'm still in some pain. i think it's due to my poor posture....i tend to hunch forward. to aid in my posture problems, i'm sitting on my rollling ball-chair.

unfortunately my shoulder has been acting up the past few days, so i wasn't able to do any weight exercises. i was hoping the pain would magically go away on it's own, but it's getting progressively worse, so i might have to suck it up and go see my physiotherapist. blimey, it's only january 13, and i'm already dipping into my benefits plan - there's still 11.5 months to get through!

and while i'm on the topic of pain and benefits, i went to see an oral surgeon this past week for a consultation re: my wisdom teeth. my dentist has finally advised me that they need to come out and i'm actually convinced of it, given the pain i suffer more regularly. so, on june 11 i will say goodbye to these "wise" teeth.

usually i would do anything to get out of any potential painful situation or anything that requires needles, but after talking to the surgeon, he assured me everything would be fine. isn't that what they all say? i warned him about my inability to freeze properly, my fear of pain and needles, and my non-existent veins. so he's recommending that before they approach me with any needles, i'm going to take some valium :-) i've never taken anything stronger than tylenol, so this should be fun! i've told him to give me whatever drugs he's got, as long as i recover by june 14 when i return to work, i'll be fine!

dining by candlelight

sigh....how many more storms is vancouver going to suffer through?! we have taken quite a beating this winter season, and it's only january! yesterday afternoon, the talk in the office went from "official work business" to "it's getting really windy outside - the crane is blowing in the wind" to "the lions gate bridge is closed" and then "skytrain is down". lucky for me i was heading to my parents house in richmond for dinner, so the skytrain being down didn't affect me. phew! the bus ride to richmond took a full hour though, as opposed to 50 minutes. not too bad i guess. my mom had called me around 3 p.m. when they lost their power, so i expected a dark walk from the bus stop, but because of the torrential hailstorm, my dad came to meet me :-)

once we got home, i didn't quite know what to do. no tv, no internet, no lights. so i sat on the recliner. and sat. then i talked to keah. then i sat again. and then my mom sat down. silence. talked to my bro for a few minutes. silence. hmmm, this really isn't very much fun. i had my lonely planet canada, but there wasn't enough light to make for a good reading environment. so i just continued to sit. and stare at the candles.

the timing of today was incredible at casa mom & dad. at 2 p.m. chris had delivered 6 chickens to my mom - 4 for keah and 2 for dinner. well, keah's 4 chickens were nicely cooked (yes, she gets roast chicken (minus the skin of course) in the afternoon, so mom did a swap, and we ate keah's chickens, and then she managed to boil the other 2 chickens for the dog. haha! so right before we were ready to eat, my dad ran out to buy french fries from church's chicken, a potato salad from iga and dressing for the caesar salad. and that was dinner by candlelight! of course, since my parents had no power, and they didn't know when it would be restored, we took a bunch of their food from the freezer and the leftovers and stored it at the shop for them. this is becoming a habit since they moved to richmond.

lucky for us our burnaby neighbourhood hasn't been affected much by the storms. phew! i think i would go crazy without power!

BREAKING NEWS.....bc place roof collapses!

good grief!


Vancouver Sun
Published: Friday, January 05, 2007

The roof at B.C. Place stadium has collapsed.

The fabric roof fell into the empty stadium shortly after noon today. The cause was not immediately determined, Vancouver has suffered all morning from a combination of bitter cold, strong winds and heavy sleet.

The roof is held up by air pressure, so even a tiny tear in the fabric could cause the roof to collapse. The stadium is home to the B.C. Lions football club, and its construction was completed in 1983.

B.C. Place Stadium, the world’s largest air-supported domed stadium, holds more than 60,000 seats and is covered by Teflon-coated fibreglass fabric that is 1/30 inch thick but stronger than steel.

Until today, B.C. Place was the world’s largest air-supported domed stadium covering 10 acres in all, with a circumference of 760 metres (2,500 feet), according to the stadium's website.
There are two layers of fabric with a four-foot space between them.

When it snows, like today, hot air is supposed to be pumped between these layers to melt 12 centimetres of snow per hour.The total thickness of each layer of roofing material is only 1/30 inch (0.85 millimetres).

Electric-powered fans keep the air pressure inside the stadium at a higher level than the air outside. There are no beams in the roof -- extra air pressure is the only thing that supported the roof.

If the fans were turned off and the doors shut, it would take four to six hours to deflate the roof - but spectators today said the roof collapsed within minutes.

As well as being home field to the B.C. Lions football team, the stadium has used for concerts, trade shows and concerts.

It has hosted Queen Elizabeth, Pope John Paul II, Prince Charles and Lady Diana and Bill Clinton. The Rolling Stones, U2, The Three Tenors, Pink Floyd and the Beach Boys have played there.

The stadium was slated to play a prime role in the 2010 Olympic Winter Games as the venue of the opening and closing ceremonies.

wii, wii, ps3?!?!

last night i did something a little impulsive. ok, maybe a lot impulsive. i called all the best buy and future shop locations within a 15 km radius of my home in my quest to find the nintendo wii (our x-mas gift from my sisters-in-law that we haven't received yet) and/or the playstation 3 (a joint purchase between me and chris). i found the ps3 at two locations. due to the many calls i had made, i promptly forgot which one i had just called that had a returned ps3, so i tried calling the metrotown store. yes! they have a few ps3's in stock!

so i raced out of the house at 8:15 p.m. and ran into the store in my search for the console. whoo-hoo! they had the 60GB ps3! so the salesclerk grabbed one for me, i asked a few random questions (since i know absolutely nothing about v-games), and then i grabbed call of duty - the only game i know chris wants.

once i got home, i placed the box and game on our entry chair, since i knew he'd see it there. sure enough, when chris came home, i got the "you're the best wife in the world" reaction :-) since i was a bad wife last year and didn't buy him a b-day or x-mas present, i figure this more than makes up for it, plus i told him it's an early 30th b-day present for him.

because it was late when he got home last night, and we had some tv-watching to do, he refrained from opening the box, but at 6:45 a.m. today, he cracked it open and laid it all out on the couch, where it's still resting right now. (sigh) i know what we'll be doing tonight :P i think i might have created a monster.

btw, in order to have room for the ps2 (gotta keep it for the DDR!), ps3 and the future wii, we have to get rid of our vcr. anyone want it?

food, food, food!

it's been a busy week for food! on the 30th, we had dinner at the keg, where i enjoyed my filet classic (it's the bacon-wrapped steak!) w/caesar salad. on new year's eve, we went to chris' parents house for dinner.....roast beef was on the menu! we ate beef, roasted suckling pig, roast potatoes, caesar salad, yee mein, and rice, of course.

then we had sandra, mike, vic and rita over for the countdown to 2007. i actually didn't really know what i was going to serve in terms of appetizers, so i hit kraft canada and entered in some ingredients and came up with a hot crab dip. i also made my teriyaki chicken wings (1 cup japanese soy sauce, 1 cup golden sugar, 2 cloves of garlic - this is good for 3-4 pounds of wings). i was at my parents' in the afternoon where i managed to score some smoked salmon, so i chopped up some red onions and capers, and i was all set!












hot crab dip (from Kraft Canada)

preheat oven to 350 degrees. combine 1 pkg (250 g) cream cheese, softened, 1-1/2 cups shredded swiss cheese, 1/3 cup miracle whip, 1 cup crab meat and 2 chopped green onions, in a pie plate or oven-proof serving dish. (i actually used almost 2 cups of crab meat!)

bake for 15 min., stirring once during baking. garnish with toasted nuts. serve warm with vegetables or crackers. (i'm not a fan of nuts, so i didn't garnish)

sandra and mike brought over their nintendo wii and we had a great time! i think the only sport i excelled at was bowling. sandra totally smashed me in tennis and then TKO'd me in boxing :P i was never an athletic type :P but that's ok.....when i get my wii (hopefully soon?!) i'm going to work on my skillz and then i'll be ready for a re-match :-) but i've always got DDR to fall back on! the only friend who's got faster feet than me is ryan....i'm gonna work on those skillz too!

we rang in the NY with a quail's gate ice wine that Mike brought over. i chugged that glass back....i love dessert wines, they're so yummy! so much for needing the sparkling apple juice. and then as a follow-up, i served green tea ice cream and a lychee sorbet. my first attempt at the green tea ice cream wasn't very successful, so i had to make a second batch. it didn't turn out exactly like what you find at the grocery store, but then again, it's all natural ingredients, no additives or preservatives to give it that fluffy appearance. the lychee sorbet was the winner.....it was sweet, refreshing, and just what heaven should taste like! i'm going to make a few more batches for this weekend :-)

lychee ice cream (the ultimate ice cream book by bruce weinstein)
2 - 20 oz. cans lychees in heavy syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

drain the lychees, reserving the syrup. puree the lychees with 1/2 cup reserved syrup in a blender or food processor until smooth, about 20 seconds. pour through a sieve, scraping with a whisk or wooden spoon to push as much of the fruit through as you can. set aside.

combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan and place over low heat. stir until the sugar dissolves completely. raise heat and boil the syrup 1 minutes. remove from the heat.

in a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the egg white with a whisk or an electric beater until foamy, about 10 seconds. slowly beat in the hot sugar syrup. continue to beat until the meringue cools down slightly. add the lychee puree. cover and refrigerate until cold or overnight. the mixture will have foam on top, but will incorporate into the sorbet when it freezes.

stir the chilled mixture, then freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. when finished, the sorbet will be soft but ready to eat. for firmer sorbet, transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 2 hours.

having an ice cream maker is pretty dangerous. i now have 2 recipe books to experiment with so all my "cooking" will now come from my cuisinart 2 quart maker. good thing i didn't make any NY's resolutions....i'd have to break them all before the weekend's over!

a sad start to the new year

for me, the first day of the new year brings with it some sadness. today is our last day with fraser.....tomorrow night i will be returning him to PADS because they have a 7 p.m. class to attend. even though our holiday adventure started off shaky, we persevered and made it through the 2 weeks. i am now totally and completely in love with this little guy. he's a faithful little companion who will get up and follow you everywhere. he obeys every command without too much physical reinforcement. and above all, he just loves to cuddle.

this is one little guy who i really hope makes it to graduation in another couple of years. i'll be keeping an eye on his progress :-) check out some pix from our time together....

dave's my new best friend!

aren't i cute?

guard dog on duty! you never know when someone will try to enter the 8th floor!

please don't disturb me, i'm comfie!

here i am, hard at work!