Making Paella

Over the school holidays, a mom from school invited the boys and I over for lunch so I could learn how to make paella. As the boys played with her son out back, we worked in the kitchen adapting her mom's handwritten recipe. It consisted of a list of ingredients, half in English and half in Spanish, and a few key instructions. The rest was pretty much up to us. We substituted chicken for all the seafood, added spices, did a taste test and added some more spice in.

Suddenly, a dish that seemed complex and onerous became easy and enjoyable to make. I love learning how to make traditional dishes from different cultures and learning it from a friend is even better.

Wild Canary

It was a cold and wet day when Caleb and I met a group of our friends at the Wild Canary for morning tea. This little cafe is in the back of a garden centre so the landscaping is lush and beautiful with some very unique mixtures of plants.

If it wasn't so rainy, we would have spent more time looking around. We did manage to take a peek at the succulent section and they had all these gorgeous giant bowls filled with all sorts of succulents. I could spend a long time admiring all the different varieties they have.

On the way to the cafe, I also spotted some raised garden beds. I suspect they were filled with vegetables. It was raining pretty hard by then, so we dashed straight to the cafe and I didn't get a proper look. I think I'll have to make a trip back on a sunnier day to check out what they have planted.

The cafe itself was nice. The menu wasn't long, but it had lots of good options. I started off with my usual chai latte. A perfect drink on a damp morning.

Caleb's breakfast of choice: chocolate pancakes with caramelized banana, strawberry compote and vanilla ice cream. I'll let you guess how much of it he ate.

I had a delicious rice pudding with a side of bacon. I've learned that this sweet-salty combo is a pretty Canadian (North American) thing. I guess it's a little weird, but I love it.

Bread and Meat Co.

Andrew brought us to a new restaurant in the Valley over the weekend - Bread and Meat Co. I don't particularly like hanging out in the Valley but the menu looked good and they had poutine so we had to check it out. 

We had a bit of time to chat with the server since it was taking so long for our food to arrive. She assured us that it's not normally so slow. The restaurant opened about three months ago and is owned by a Canadian couple. Of course. 

I loved this kitchen. If they had a shop closer to my part of Brisbane, I'd be hanging out there all the time. 

We ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich and Beef Brisket Dip (though, now that I'm looking at the picture, it seems like we missed out on the dip part!) with sides of Canadian Poutine and Chili Cheese Fries. 

 

The verdict: We'll be back. 

Nathan loved the poutine and BBQ pulled pork sandwich. Caleb enjoyed the poutine and some of the beef brisket. My boys aren't too picky with their food, which is nice since we like to eat out and try new foods all the time. When they really like something though, it makes the whole experience so much better for everyone. 

Andrew and I enjoyed it all. It tastes just like home.

Shouk Cafe

Whenever we go antiquing, Andrew's first order of business is to figure out where we'll be eating right after we finish sifting through all that "old stuff".  

As we were waiting for the shops to open, we noticed a new cafe that had opened just off the main street and for some reason, Andrew was quite fixated on it. He looked up the menu and kept asking me if I'd be interested in trying it out. I didn't really mind either way, I just wanted to go antiquing, so we decided to go there for an early lunch. 

When I was finally finished shopping, we went straight to the cafe and it turned out to be a really good choice. 

We found a sunny spot in the corner and settled in as we waited to order. Caleb was particularly cuddly that morning.

I had secretly wished we could sit in that cozy corner, it looks like it could be part of someone's house. But, there were people sitting there when we first arrived, and it's more of a coffee-sipping kind of spot and we were here to eat.

After touching all those dusty antiques, I thought it'd be best to wash my hands off and look what I discovered there! The tiles. The basin. The old wood and tap. It was all so pretty.

The food arrived soon after and I have to admit, looking at these dishes my first thought was: uh oh, we're not going to have enough food and we'll still be hungry after. But as we started eating, I could not stop talking about the food. It was amazing.

My stack of latkes was phenomenal. The flavours and textures all worked so well. Andrew's food was amazing. I practically had to beg him for some of his grilled vegetables because even those tasted fantastic. We even shared our food with Caleb and we all had enough to eat.

Here's Caleb's contribution to this post: a close-up of his meal consisting of Andrew's bread and bacon, and my two poached eggs. 

He's developed this habit of asking me for my phone occasionally to take photos of things he's seen me take photos of, like his food, his art, his work. It's such a cute routine.

I can't wait to come back for another meal here. Maybe next time, we'll come for morning tea and enjoy a coffee in that cozy nook.

Or maybe, we'll sit out front and enjoy the fresh air.

The Pancake Manor

It's not often I get to have breakfast with Andrew during the week - I work late, he leaves the house early. So when he has a week off, we take advantage.

The Pancake Manor is an old church building that's been converted into a 24-hour pancake parlour. We've walked past it many times but never really gave the place a second thought until our friend, who recently went, told us the food's actually not too bad.

With that in mind, Andrew planned a morning for us to go to the city just to try those pancakes.

Perhaps I've been seeing too many photos from my friends traveling in Europe but I was a little disappointed when I stepped inside. The decor looked dated and confused so I kept my eyes on the menu.

Service was slow even though the restaurant was pretty much empty. I chalked that up to it being a 24-hour restaurant. Eventually, our drinks and food came one at a time.

Andrew ordered the Pancakes, Egg 'n Hash, I had the Strawberry Patch pancakes and we got a plate of waffles to share. Caleb had a bit of everything off both of our plates.

I was very pleasantly surprised with my pancakes. They were so fluffy and the vanilla ice cream/whipped cream combo with fresh strawberries was divine. Half way through, I was stuffed. There is a lot of food on those plates - a big breakfast for sure.

We'll be back, just for those pancakes. And next time, we'll bring Nathan along.

Making Muffins

When I told the boys I'd be making apple cheddar muffins, they said they wanted to make the apple slinkies and grate the cheese.

They quickly washed their hands and arrived in the kitchen ready to get to work. I thought that meant I'd have double the help in preparing the ingredients.

It turns out the boys had something else in mind. 

Skinny Cheesecake

For Nathan's class birthday celebration, he requested I make cheesecake like we did last year. I decided to try a new recipe as last year's serving sizes were smaller since we brought fruit kabobs as well.

I needed something light and healthy that looked good. As always, keeping it simple was the name of the game so I went with a cheesecake recipe found on Skinnytaste. I managed to squeeze 32 reasonably sized squares out of this recipe.

When Nathan came home, he asked if there was any leftover. Unfortunately, there was not but that gave me the idea to make it again for his actual birthday. This time, I made it in a springform pan. 

This cheesecake isn't quite as substantial as other cheesecakes I make. It has a light flavour and is very short - the perfect guilt-free treat.

SKINNY RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE (Based on recipe from Skinnytaste)

Ingredients
1 box biscuit base
8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
6 oz fat-free Greek yogurt (original recipe uses vanilla Chobani)
2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 oz semi-sweet dipping chocolate
18 raspberries

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350°F and bake biscuit base in a lined tin according to instructions on the box. Set aside to cool.

2. In a medium sized bowl, gently beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth using an electric mixer. Gradually beat in fat free yogurt, egg whites and flour being careful not to over beat. Pour over biscuit base.

3. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until centre is almost set. Cool to room temperature, then chill a few hours in the refrigerator.

4. Melt the chocolate in microwave, 30 seconds at a time until melted being careful not to burn. Use a spatula to drizzle the chocolate all over the top of the cheesecake, top with raspberries and sprinkle with icing sugar.

Notes
I've used this same recipe to make two square cakes, or one round cake. Either way, it's a very short cake - perfect snack size.
If you're going to cut apart your square cake into smaller squares to serve individually like I did, cut it apart before you drizzle the chocolate. 

Eat Street Markets

Brisbane is finally stepping up their street food game with the Eat Street Markets and we went to check it out tonight with a couple of our Canadian friends. 

We arrived shortly after it opened for the night to beat the crowds and secure a decent parking spot. From the moment we walked in, there was so much to take in. This place is full of reclaimed/reused goodness and has a decent selection of international dishes, too.

Taking their cues from Asian night markets, the organizers have transformed the Hamilton Wharf into a food market using shipping containers as mini restaurants and astroturf-covered wooden pallets and cable spools as seating.

As the sun started to set, the beautiful twinkly lights came on and the whole place came alive with chatter and movement.

The atmosphere was so good. It was nice to be out on a Friday night again, in a place where we don't have to worry about our boys see drunk people stumbling around them. We had space to just chill out and catch up with our friends, and there was so much food!

Five dishes, two desserts and 1.5L of organic tea later, we were stuffed with yummy food and ready to head home.

This was a fabulous way to finish off our week.

Happy weekend everyone!

Le Papillon on Front

My mom decided that we would celebrate my birthday a little earlier this year, over a nice French meal. She made reservations for us at Le Papillon on Front Street for us to try their Winterlicious menu. I loved that this gave us a chance to see a bit more of downtown Toronto. I miss the old brick buildings and the exposed brick and dark wood interior of this restaurant was just so good.

Unfortunately, Le Papillon is one of those establishments that favour ambiance over good lighting so you'll have to bear with my dimly lit photos.

I started with the chicken pâté. We had pâté before we left Brisbane and it was great so I decided to try it again. This time, it was a little sweet for my taste so I ended up finishing Caleb's soupe du jour, which was a sweet potato and (possibly) peach soup from what we could make out from what the server said. Whatever it was, it tasted good.

After a bit of a wait, we finally got our mains. Nathan, Caleb and my sister all ordered the Crepe St. Laurent which turned out to be an excellent choice. It was scrumptious. 

I ordered the spinach agnolotti thinking pasta would be a good choice but I should have given my tomato allergy a more serious thought because the rose sauce made me feel unwell immediately. 

I ended up trading dishes with Andrew who ordered the stuffed salmon. I wasn't a fan of the white wine tarragon cream sauce, but the fish was good and I quite enjoyed the rice and shredded beet.

And then came dessert. Someone spilled the beans and apparently told the servers that we were celebrating my birthday without my knowing so they came out with a special birthday pouding chomeur for me.

I also got my chocolate mousse which Caleb promptly stuck his spoon into and ate most of. I did manage to sneak a bite or two and it was nice and light.

Our stroll to the car was the perfect way to end off the night.

Tuen Leen Fan

We were lucky enough to be home for Christmas and Chinese New Year this year. One of the best things about being home for Chinese New Year is the food. We had tuen leen fan (sort of like a New Year's Eve dinner) at home with our parents and we had all sorts of delicious home cooked food. 

Boy, it was good.

Smoked Duck Salad

Last night, we went out to celebrate Andrew finishing his exam and what was the first thing I ordered? A salad.

I'm not sure who I am anymore! I used to avoid salads like the plague and over the past few months, I find myself eating them more and actually liking them! Perhaps I'm turning over a new leaf (hah).

Of course, our table was also filled with other delicious dishes as well. I even dared to try calamari for the first time ever. It was the tiniest bite, but small steps, right?

Gingerbread Cookies

We did some Christmas baking with our friends and their kids over the weekend and gingerbread cookies were on the list. I've never been inclined to make gingerbread cookies because every time I've had a store bought one, they're hard and dry and rather tasteless.

But since they requested it, I played along and made the cookies with the kids. After they finished decorating, Andrew and my friend, Darrelyn enjoyed a few. They couldn't believe how good they tasted. I wasn't convinced so I didn't have one.

The next morning, I was feeling a little peckish having not eaten breakfast so I decided to take a nibble off of a gingerbread man's leg. Next thing I knew, I had devoured the entire man.

So even though I've never enjoyed gingerbread, I'm changing my mind and this recipe going into my recipe book.

GINGERBREAD COOKIES (from Cora's)

Ingredients
2 3⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1⁄2 tsp ground ginger
1 1⁄2 tsp ground cloves
1⁄2 tsp salt
1 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 cup brown sugar packed
1⁄4 cup molasses

Directions
1. Sift the flour. Add the baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Mix well and set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, cream the butter. Add the egg, brown sugar and molasses. Mix to a smooth paste.
3. Slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix well. Refrigerate the cookie dough for one hour.
4. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 6 mm (1/4 in). Cut out the cookies in the desired shape using a cookie cutter and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Cook 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies are firm. Cooking time will vary with cookie thickness.
7. Allow to cool and decorate as desired.

Notes
The good thing about baking in the snowy winter is that we just put the dough outside for a little bit to chill. It helps to make the dough less sticky and more firm.