Saturday, November 13, 2010

Date night?


What's a simple meal that can satisfy your significant other?

For me- I can be won over easily by steak.
So, I decided to cook a peppercorn steak for my boyfriend, with a few grilled potatoes rubbed in olive oil and herbs.



Recipe for peppercorn sauce:

  • peppercorn
  • ground pepper
  • salt
  • soy sauce
  • oyster sauce
  • onion (a quarter of one)
  • garlic
  • flour
  • olive oil
  1. dice the onion and garlic into small pieces
  2. heat the pan on medium heat and spread a dollop of olive oil on the pan
  3. first place garlic in the pan, and once it's browned place onion
  4. once they are both caramelized, add water (depending on how much sauce you want to make) I usually just guess how much water I want, because you can always add more later
  5. Just like the water, you can decide on how much soy sauce and oyster sauce you want to put in. But if you're unsure, just add 2 table spoons or soy sauce and 1 table spoon of oyster sauce
  6. add black peppercorn and ground pepper


A visit from a Parisienne


After waking up from a nightmare, I decided to make myself one of my favorite dishes.
Crepe.

It's so simple, versatile and yummy.




The Parisian Crepe:

Serves 8-10 crepes

Batter:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 &1/2 cup water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup milk
You want the mixture to be smooth with little chunks and more runny than pancake batter

Filling:
  • mushrooms
  • swiss cheese
  • dill (dried or fresh)
  • red onions (thinly sliced)
  • 1 small egg (or half of a large egg) - beaten
  • salt
  • pepper
  1. mix batter ingredients
  2. pre-heat pan to medium heat
  3. spread butter on pan
  4. pour a thin layer of batter on pan and spread
  5. when batter is slightly cooked, but still soft, turn it over with a spatula
  6. spread scrambled egg on top half of the crepe
  7. place swiss cheese on top of the egg
  8. place red onion slices then mushroom
  9. sprinkle with salt and pepper
  10. add pieces of dill to finish
  11. fold crepe with a spatula and serve
Bisous,
mooncake

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Take the time...



Sometimes I enjoy baking, sometimes it takes too long and drains me.
But the best part is taking the time to make something :) Even if they aren't the most beautiful creations.


bisous,
mooncake

p.s. congrats The Way

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Cute little bakery in town...



This little cafe (Nadege) is adorable :)
And I happen to love macaroons.

Nadege patisserie is located on 780 queen street west. enjoy!


Bisous,
mooncake

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Su Shimi! :)



I felt like making sushi today! So... my boyfriend and I forced our other friends to come over so we can make sushi- hehe :)

bisous,
mooncake

p.s. we made way more sushi than the pictures above... hehe

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Mix it up!


I got a stand mixer from COSTCO !!
What shall I bake!?!
Kind of excited... not going to lie

bisous,
mooncake

Life Is...

I read this off the wall of the BRAVE belt company here in Toronto.

LIFE IS A CHALLENGE _________________ MEET IT

LIFE IS A GIFT ______________________ ACCEPT IT

LIFE IS AN ADVENTURE ________________ DARE IT

LIFE IS A SORROW _______________OVERCOME IT

LIFE IS A TRAGEDY ____________________ FACE IT

LIFE IS A DUTY ____________________PERFORM IT

LIFE IS A GAME _______________________ PLAY IT

LIFE IS A MYSTERY _________________ UNFOLD IT

LIFE IS A SONG ________________________ SING IT

LIFE IS AN OPPORTUNITY _______________ TAKE IT

LIFE IS A JOURNEY ________________COMPLETE IT

LIFE IS A PROMISE ___________________ FULFIL IT

LIFE IS A LOVE _______________________ ENJOY IT

LIFE IS A BEAUTY ____________________ PRAISE IT

LIFE IS A SPIRIT _____________________ REALIZE IT

LIFE IS A STRUGGLE ___________________ FIGHT IT

LIFE IS A PUZZLE _____________________ SOLVE IT

LIFE IS A GOAL _____________________ ACHIEVE IT

Amazing... no big deal... haha

bisous,

mooncake

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day



It's mother's day today...
Which calls for the traditional breakfast in bed for my mom, and I am always reminded of Klimt's Mother and Child...

bisous,
mooncake

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

A Trip to Little India

On my trip to Little India in Toronto...



I stuffed myself with Indian food at the new Haandi 2000 - the food is very reasonably priced, and they have amazing naan and butter chicken! Say... $10 for a lunch buffet? yum.



Later...
I paid a visit to RANG - a beautiful Indian home decor store


And tried out something new...
It tastes like fresh mint with sweet molasses...
Not a huge fan... but at least I was adventurous...

bisous,
mooncake

Food shown above: gual ab jamun (Indian sweets), butter chicken, daal (chick peas), pappad (crispy bread), paan (betel leaf with areca nut and slaked lime paste)

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Coupons Coupons...

I want to be able to shop like that!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQNvdKNTZUg&feature=player_embedded


bisous,

mooncake

Friday, April 9, 2010

Wrap me in Space


If you like doing DIY projects, and you dislike having the same accessories as someone else, why not tie dye your own scarf?
Tie dying has a stigma of being tacky or hippie- but if made with the right colors it can look elegant.

The scarf above was made by my mother and myself.

A How-To post will be uploaded this summer.

bisous,
mooncake

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

For when you get lazy...


Buy a small can of cream of mushroom and chicken breasts.

Ingredients for chicken:
  • salt
  • pepper
  • dried herbs (optional)
You fry/grill the chicken, warm up the cream of mushroom and voila!

bisous,
mooncake

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

For Our 1 Year Anniversary...



My boyfriend got me red roses...
I made him food...

<3

bisous,
mooncake

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Home Sweet Home





Feels great to be back home for the Easter Weekend...
And it feels even better to receive delicious goodies from friends!

If you're in Toronto, try this patisserie!

bisous,
mooncake

Friday, April 2, 2010

Sugar Pop


Craving something sweet? Try making sugary popcorn.
I made it for the boys for a movie night at home.
Pop your favorite popcorn then...
melt a bit of butter, cinnamon and brown sugar in a small sauce pan and drizzle it over your popcorn! Simple, no?



bisous,
mooncake

P.S. you can also add little diced pieces of walnuts, peanuts or any kind of your favorite nuts while you're at it!

Odd things to order at Bubble Tea


Usually I settle for a milk black tea with tapioca, or a mango mix... but for some reason I wanted crepe and my friends settled for waffles.
Nonetheless they were delicious!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Flowers over Boys

While walking around a market in Tel Aviv, Israel last summer I couldn't stop but notice the flowers. Wouldn't it be wonderful to give and receive flowers to and from someone without needing a special occasion? They may not last long, but they certainly make you feel weak in the knees when you get them.


And these roses are from Frankfurt, Germany- one of the prettiest color of roses I've ever seen. If you want to freshen up the look of your room, buy a few white roses that have a tint of green near the base of the petals- they're mom's favorites.

bisous,
mooncake

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Proteins vs Veggies


For some reason I didn't want to have any rice or bread so I had some buttered spinach with Korean egg roll.

Egg roll mixture:

  • egg
  • salt
  • pepper
  • sliced green onions

Put some oil in a pan and when it heats up pour a thin layer of the egg mixture. When the egg is a little cooked start rolling it, but make sure it's not entirely cooked so that the egg roll can stick naturally when it fully cooks.

Buttered spinach:

  • lemon juice
  • spinach
  • butter
  • garlic

On a pan melt butter and place chopped or sliced garlic and cook until the garlic slightly browns. Add spinach into the pan once the garlic is cooked and it only takes a little while for spinach cooks. Add some lemon juice and strain then later strain the spinach and serve asap.

bisous,
mooncake

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Brunch after a Night Out

After a fun night out a lovely brunch with my girls is the best!
Scrambled eggs with English muffin with goat cheese, diced tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms and potatoes.


trick to fluffy scrambled eggs: add a little water and milk

bisous,
mooncake

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Green Onions and J.T.



J.T: Eww why would you grow an onion... That's so sketchy...

That's what my roommate's boyfriend said about a week ago when he saw me place my red onion in a glass of water.

I told him that I was tired of buying green onions and wanted to just grow them myself. I learnt this trick from my mom and the Food Network. If you don't want to buy green onions, just stick an onion in water and watch green onion grow. In the picture you can see a little purple, that's from the red onion that I later peeled off after the green onion started growing.

bisous,
mooncake

P.S. the green onions on the left are my roommates' she wanted to grow her green onions after seeing how great mine turned out! And the guy in the picture is J.T. my roommate's boyfriend who now LOVES the green onions-

J.T. : zero , mooncake: one :)

Yummy Yummy Yummy I got Love in my Tummy!



Turns out that not everyone enjoys waking up to a chocolate-filled crepe and their patient blinking Blackberry - actually I at least got a huge smile out of it.
Anyways, today I made crepes, one with chocolate and the other was Crepes Florentine- crepes with orange juice, sugar and orange liqueur, but mine had no liqueur in it.
Crepes are really easy to make and I've been addicted since I first had them in Japan (will post pictures later) - surprisingly not France...

Here's an easy recipe for crepes:
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • a pinch of salt
and I add a bit of pancake mix and water... I don't know why, but I just like it.
All you need after that is a bit of butter on your pan and heat and medium-high and you're set to make yummy crepes!

It makes enough crepe for 2 people !

bisous,
mooncake

P.S. everything seems so much cuter when you add heart shapes to it! For example try cutting round discs with you carrots or potatoes and cut them into heart shapes.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Tortiglioni with Bolognese Sauce


I went grocery shopping and couldn't resist but buy some pasta (all pastas were on sale for $1!)
So, I bought some ground beef and decided to make bolognese sauce.
My roomies were off to a gala and I once again made too much food as per usual and we had a pleasant roomy dinner :)

enjoy!

bisous,
mooncake

Note to self: I should do some other blogs that doesn't have to do with food- perhaps something crafty?

Friday, March 19, 2010

Crunchy Garlic Chicken





After being inspired by Julie & Julia one of the things I wanted to start was a cookbook challenge. I love cooking, and it's relaxing when I do. So, yesterday I started my first project- go through the recipes in a cookbook, however I obviously have to resort to dishes that I can make in a school residence setting. I have some ingredients and some cooking utensils but not enough to be the perfect basic kitchen... So every dish I go through is going to be altered to what I have or can acquire.

Anyways, I chose a cookbook by Jamie Oliver, because I love watching his shows on Food Network. And so began my journey to make his 'Crunchy Garlic Chicken'. I didn't have a food processor so all the crushing and mixing of the crumb mixture was done by hand and I had to get slices of lemon and margarine from the cafeteria condiments section.

Don't you love it when you can't get to the grocery store without taking a 30minute bus ride?
-sigh-

At least my chicken turned out great! I wanted to have some comfort food, which is why I made the chicken- but I ended up tempting all of my roommates and had to make extra because they wanted more. Sharing food and spending time with my roommates was a lot of fun, even if it means that we procrastinate a bit more from school work...

bisous,
mooncake

Invisible to the 'I'

I got lost - and now it's time to make some effort to fill in the parts of my life where I have the chance to do the things I want to do.
Once, a Little Prince said, "It's only with the heart that one can see rightly, what's essential is invisible to the eye." I hope to slowly see what my heart wishes me to see little by little.

bisous,
mooncake