white spot: take out

hello hungry people! 

again an older post but I used to get the family pak take out from white spot which is a pretty good deal. for only $32.99 you get 4 orders of fries, 4 orders of caesar salad, 4 small coleslaws and a 2L coke bottle. (I don't think the deal is quite the same anymore according to the website menu but its worth checking out!)

 I subbed one of the regular fries for yam fries this time. 

 the rest of the fries

a not so good picture of the burger

but as always, the white spot burgers were delicious with a whole bunch of triple-o sauce and you can even customize your toppings like onions and tomatoes when ordering online! 

nishiki: expensive but okay rolls

First Restaurant Review!!

Nishiki Sushi Bar

A while back, I used to visit Nishiki all the time just because it was close to where I lived and honestly, I think the food is pretty good. The rolls are overpriced for what you get but the taste is fine to me although I don't have the highest standards.

Since this is my first post, you'll soon get to know me and I think that almost ALL food is good. This visit, I ordered takeout, getting the Alaska roll (Top) and the Cambie Roll (Bottom).

They have a huge selection of special rolls and being as unauthentic as I am, I LOVE THEM. The Cambie Roll I thought was delicious with the tempura still warm from the deep fryer and although a bit one dimensional, it was delicious. As for the Alaska roll, I actually hate cream cheese in my sushi and this WAS NOT on the menu so I was disappointed.

All in all, Nishiki is not the best value for okay food but honestly, I have yet to get good rolls in this area so I guess this will have to do!

Eat happy foodies!  

(Healthyish) Banana Bread - Recipe

As you can probably tell now, not only do I love eating, I love baking too. But since it is summer and I'm wearing shorts all day, I try to tweak every recipe to make it just a tiny bit healthier. For this banana bread, it wasn't too hard since obviously the main ingredient is bananas. These turned out better and more moist than I expected so I encourage you to try it out as an semi-healthy dessert or treat! :D
Happy Baking!

Banana Bread:
4 bananas (ripe)
3 tablespoons butter (melted)
3 tablespoons applesauce
1 egg (slightly beaten)
1/4 - 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used approximately 1/4 cup)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350F. LINE LOAF PAN(S) WITH PARCHMENT PAPER OR SPRAY/BUTTER
1) Mash bananas. Then stir in butter, applesauce, egg and brown sugar.
2) In a separate bowl, mix together flours, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
3) Combine both wet and dry ingredients, DO NOT OVERMIX!
4) Add chocolate chips if desired and stir (or do what I did and pour 1/2 the batter into a loaf pan then mix chocolate chips into the second half of the batter and pour into second loaf pan)
5) Put loaf pan(s) into oven and bake for 45-50 minutes
6) Let cool in pans before removing and slicing.

UBC Cinnamon Rolls - Recipe

Hello food lovers (: 
So this weekend was August long weekend and i decided to celebrate with a little baking! 
Unfortunately, I didn't take as many pictures as I liked but here's the end result of my UBC CINNAMON BUNS!  

It wasn't as delicious as the ones at UBC because I decided to cut down on the sugar and butter but overall, the dough was very fluffy. In the recipe below, I changed a couple things from the original and have written in more details to the instructions but there is a link to access the original recipe!  Remember to leave a whole chunk of the day to prepare these because there is a lot of rising time and I hope you have a chance to try this one and then the ones at UBC because they are absolutely AMAZING. 

Until next time bakers! 

UBC Cinnamon Rolls: (Adapted from http://www.alumni.ubc.ca/about/faq/ ) 

(1/2 of the original recipe)

Dough

1.5 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water 
1 package active dry yeast
1 large egg
2.5 cups all purpose flour (about)
2 cups whole wheat flour

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter, divided

Heat milk. Stir in butter, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt. Cool to likewarm

Dissolve 1/2 tsp sugar in lukewarm water. Sprinkle yeast over water mixture and let stand in warm place for ~ 10 minutes; stir. 

In a large bowl, combine milk mixture and egg. Stir in dissolved yeast. Add 1 cup flour and 1 cup whole wheat flour. Beat well for ~ 10 minutes. Gradually add enough of the remaining flour to create soft dough mixing with wooden spoon. Turn dough out on a light floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed. Place in a greased bowl and roll dough over to grease top. Cover with damp cloth and let rise ~ 1 hour or double in size. 

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine sugars and cinnamon. Set aside.

Punch down dough and turn out onto light floured surface. 

Roll out dough into 18x9-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Place remaining butter in bottom of a 11x7x2 inch pan. 

Sprinkle sugar-cinnamon mixture evenly over dough then roll up tightly starting from the long side. Pinch seam to seal. Cut into 2-inch slices and arrange cut side down into prepared pan. Cover loosely with greased wax paper and let rise ~ 45-60 minutes or until double in size.

Bake at 350 F for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately invert on to serving tray. 

Makes 9 large cinnamon buns.

New Blog?

Hello internet universe (:

The last couple months I’ve had an obsession with reading food blogs (and there are plenty in Vancouver). Then it came to me…WHY DON’T I HAVE ONE OF MY OWN??
So on this lovely August day, I have created a food blog of EVERYTHING that I eat.
When I say everything, I don’t just mean restaurant reviews but recipes and product reviews as well! Hopefully I’ll be able to get started very soon but for now, have a happy Sunday!

Happy Eating (: