I’m back after a few weeks of going MIA, which in reality was a result of a tax-preparation frenzy, a computer-less vacation, then another semi-vacation. I am not like the other bloggers who prepare their absence in advance

All I have for you right now, while I start to flex my blogging muscles is…

The sun rising from a golf course in Florida.

The truth is, although I have quite a number of photos to share with you, but they are still in my camera. Oh, the camera is 222 kilometers away because I (in)conveniently forgot it.

I have a lot of catching up to do! How is everyone? What did I miss? I hope you’re having a smashing summer!

Here in Vancouver, we are quickly shifting into summer and it is getting HOT. I don’t know if it’s because of this that I am suddenly lethargic, but this has to stop soon because I have a lot of things to do! That includes our newsletter (which is looking more like June would be the next) and the roundup of the virtual Tea Exchange party I hosted. My apologies, dear participants!

Going along this lack of energy theme, I could (figuratively) barely lift a finger to prepare anything that requires cooking these days. I feel like my body’s battery is mimicking the iPhone’s. Ha ha. I haven’t baked or cooked in a while. Perhaps all the eating out has contributed to my body blues? In any case, quick and easy isn’t so bad…

I got the idea to make this from Danielle’s Home-cured Salmon Spread & Endives. She made home-cured salmon, while I used up some leftover lox. And I didn’t follow the quantities of the recipe, I just glanced at the ingredients and made a quick mix of chopped lox, walnuts, cream cheese, a drizzle of lemon juice, a few wisps of lemon zest and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Serve that in crisp endive leaves and enjoy it with a glass of wine or fresh ice tea…mmm. They make a good summer combo.

It’s the easiest thing to make and it was surprisingly filling. Again, there’s no (strict) recipe required, only your imagination and an openness to taste.

I love being inspired by other people’s recipes, especially from food blogging friends. Although we don’t see each other that often (or most of the time, have never met in person), we could share the same feast.

Do you have any other no-cook recipes (or recipes that require little cooking)? Please share!

Guess who got her act together to make reservations for Dineout Vancouver? Yes, that’s right, me! And guess who’s finally in town? Sandy, a good ol’ pal who just moved here from Australia. Love her! We’ve known each other forever but never met until a couple of days ago. That’s the great thing about the Internet. :)

We headed to Bacchus for early dinner last Thursday. I was telling Sandy that I probably should have called ahead to check if we can request a seat by the window, because we ended up being escorted to what looked like the dungeon, the backroom, the place for those who didn’t appropriately dress in the wedding and were being hustled into the tables where people won’t see you. I didn’t even know that section existed because I usually sit by the window when I go there! The “cheapskate” section, Sandy joked. I…was not pleased.

The base price for the Dineout pre-fixe dinner menu was $38. They offered a wine flight for dinner for $14, which I had, and that included wine for the appetizer and main course. I assumed that it was for the 3 courses, because as I recalled in my previous Dineout dinners, I always had wine with my desserts. When I asked how many wines were included, I received an almost stern response that the wine flight was for $14 (reiterated) and it was only for 2 glasses of wine. Uh, did I ask how much it was?

I also ordered the cheese plate. Now if you’ve been following me on Twitter, you might have noticed that since the previous weekend, I’ve been on a cheese binge. On the night of our dinner, it was no different. I wanted some cheese and I wanted it with my appetizer, to which the server asked me several times if I was sure, as if I was a complete moron. Really? Are you kidding me? Does it warrant such rudeness? I don’t think so. Oh my god, I should have ordered a glass of Coke with ice and then we’ll see who gets reported to the French culinary board for (gasp) not following the program.

On to to the menu (and you’ll have to excuse the crappily-lit photos…we were in the dungeon, remember?).

Citrus Cured & Lightly Smoked Lois Lake Steelhead Trout Micro Herbs & Cold Pressed Olive Oil -- 3.75 out of 5 stars -- Salmon was good, but nothing I can't buy on my own.

Navarin of Slow Braised Lamb Shank Potato & Soft Herb Gnocchi, Minted Jus -- 4.5 out of 5 stars -- probably my favorite dish of the night. Fall off the bone, flavorful meat. Gnocchi was not as melt-in-your-mouth as I had hoped.

Goat Cheese & Mascarpone Cheese Cake Rhubarb & Port Compote -- 4.5 out of 5 stars -- Extra creamy cheese cake that I would love to replicate at home.

The cheese plate (no photo) was an additional $12 – 3 out of 5 stars.
We should have received:
Poplar Grove Tiger Blue
3year Old Aged Quebec Cheddar
Little Qualicum Brie

The brie was missing on our cheeseplate and I didn’t notice until I checked the menu when I got back home. The aged cheddar is probably the same one I usually get, except I pick the 5yrs.

We had dinner at Cru last night, and we were comparing the HUGE difference great service makes. Overall, my dinner at Bacchus would be 4 out of 5 at best because of our experience. [The food was good. Sandy commented that her salad greens looked like it came from a pre-mixed salad bag. I hope not.] I usually come back to restaurants after Dineout Vancouver, but I would have reservations going back to Bacchus, even just for drinks. I’d have to say that of all the my dinners around town, my experience last week was probably the worse. I won’t say that you shouldn’t go there, but you should try it yourself and have your own opinion. I was just (ghastly) disappointed, if not utterly repulsed. For a $120+ dinner (not including tax), it’s not cheap and not over-the-top expensive, but I’ve had far better service where my meal cost much less. Yes, I understand it’s Dineout Vancouver, the staff is busy and the restaurant gets full. However, we were there early. There were not too many people seated in the Dineout Dungeon of Bacchus yet. Chalk it up to experience, I guess.

Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge
845 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 1V1
(604) 608-5319
www.wedgewoodhotel.com

Simple. Healthful. Delicious.

I’m talking about sliced asparagus topped with fried pancetta, on a bed of steel cut oats.

Who needs a recipe for something as easy as that? (Some do, if only for the methods, and I will happily oblige at the end of this post.)

People underestimate the value of their taste buds and instincts in the kitchen. I know that too well having been cooking-challenged for most of my life. I didn’t even bother to cook, because I (and everyone else) knew I was incapable. I was the one family members would silently worry about because I had no interest in spending time in the kitchen. Part of the reason for that was because cooking was not only a daunting chore, I was also afraid of the judgments to be made with the way I cook and the end product of my rare culinary attempt. The thought of cooking anything that does not provoke victorious gasps among meal partakers was just too much to bear.

So what changed? As much as I cannot stand to watch Rachel Ray these days, I used to like her pre-pre-Oprah…in her $40 A Day days when extended cable was my friend. Then I caught a few episodes of 30-Minute Meals when it started, when I had Food Network on all day, like…all day. Finally in September 2006, I found the very first recipe in my twenty-something adult life that, for some crazy reason, made me try cooking. It was..drum roll…Rachel Ray’s “You Won’t Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta” [The name of the dish still make me cringe]. Perhaps, I didn’t have to hide under the kitchen sink when asked who wasted all the ingredients with that kind of cooking. It was actually quite good, now that I looked at my blog entry then (not here). I enjoyed it so much that I cooked it again with linguine with sliced beef sausage and ham:

Yes, this is the actual photo I took of the 2nd dish I cooked, back in October 2, 2006 (thanks to Flickr and my blog archive, I don't have to commit everything to memory). It's inspired by Rachel Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long Vodka Cream Pasta."

I’m much more confident in my cooking these days, and can make something out of whatever is available. The kitchen and I, we’re like bread and butter now. Cooking and baking relax me, like meditative symphonies, and the outcome is something that others can enjoy–everyone’s happy.

Ms. I-Don’t-Cook, I am no more. Good-bye to the days of subsisting solely on someone else’s cooking, or making reservations for dinner so I can have my crème brulée fix. Today, I’m the one who misses cooking at home when I travel. I’m the one gently encouraging to friends and family to try recipes, because cooking good food could be so very easy AND delicious. It doesn’t take a magician or a day of labor.

And it took Rachel Ray to inspire me to get out of my (non-cooking) shell.

Recently, she and Jamie Oliver have been called out in this article as advertising and marketing “on behalf of the processed food industry.”

Jamie, for one, has promoted real food for the longest time. Both their recipes can be really quick, but they are a far cry from Hungry Man and Lean Cuisine dinners. Quick and easy meals may raise the eyebrows of food snobs, but the bottomline is:

Rachael Ray and Jamie Oliver bring people to the kitchen.

Jamie’s Food Revolution has stirred interest in the school lunches of America, and the way people eat in general. People need to start somewhere, and if these two can bring people home from the takeout/drive-thru line and out with their pots in front of their stoves and to the dining tables, then so be it.

A lot of us in the online food blogging circles take the time to cook, because first and foremost, we already love to cook. I have to constantly remind myself when I write and post recipes that, not everyone is like me. It is so easy to get tunnel vision when you live a certain lifestyle, are comfortable, and have time to ruminate on the good things in life, or how you could be less busy to make meals, but…

People do get busy. And tired. And lazy on some days. I don’t have kids, I don’t have any obligation to cook for anyone or attend to anyone, I work from home, and YET, there would still be days when I am just too swamped with work, too exhausted, and too famished to cook. I speed dial the pizza place. Or I take some French bread, slice some cheese, rinse some fruits, open a bottle of wine and call it Joy’s Awesome Dinner. There would be week-long stove lulls in favor of eating out with friends and re-heating take-outs, meeting work deadlines or riding over the lazy days. I’m sure you’ve had that. I can’t imagine what it must be like for parents who both work and have kids, and no sitter.

And then, there are so many people who don’t know where or how to begin cooking. And this could be for a variety of reasons: they never cooked, they don’t like cooking, they couldn’t care less about cooking, didn’t grow up around people who cook, etc. I  grew up with good food and family and household help who cook, and I was lucky enough to have learned the basics in school, and we even had meal-planning as part of our Home Economics subject. We even had to come up with our own recipe! It was a drag then, I admit. University was a cooking write-off, limited to a one-range stove to make breakfast, boil water for ramen, re-heat take-out, and make the occasional leche flan.

If you told me 5 years ago that I have to learn cooking for my own good, I would have brushed you off (and something worse that’s for your imagination). I wouldn’t see you eye to eye. Someone who loves to cook take joy in even talking about food, while someone who doesn’t would think the food lover needs to shut up about the juicy, garden fresh tomatoes already. Try to feed someone some good, simple, home-cooked meals and at one point or another you could get a conversation going about how easy it is to make and they could make it, too. It’s a process. You can’t push it, but you’ll just have to try and it’s not a chore for you because it’s something you love to do.

I used to avoid cooking at all costs. I progressed from a kitchen miser because of an inspiration. Oh, love! My approach to food is romantic at its very core. I’m not trying to make people cook or bake if they really don’t want to. I would love for people to appreciate good food, if not love it. Food is not only physical nourishment, but a body of more than the sum of all its ingredients–with it comes conversation, momentous occasions, a time to pause and relax, a wink, a smile…memories!

Of course, not every meal could bring butterflies in your stomach or be imprinted on your mind, but it can be enjoyed…alone, with company, to celebrate something, to banish a bad day, or seal a good one. Food can be that good. And it doesn’t have to be complicated, such as Asparagus with Steel Cut Oats.

Here’s the “Un-Recipe” for 2 vegetarian loving eaters, or 3 to 4 people enjoying this as a side dish:

For the asparagus: Wash about 450 grams of medium asparagus spears to make 2 cups, sliced. Slice diagonally, about a third to a quarter of a centimeter in thickness. In medium heat, melt a tablespoon of unsalted butter in a large frying pan until froth starts to turn brown. Saute asparagus for a few minutes until the bottom of the pan is almost dry. Add a tablespoon of water and allow to steam. Add 3 more, evaporating in between additions. Add salt and pepper to taste. Eat as is, with rice, quinoa, or with cooked steel cut oats and top with some fried-till-crisp pancetta or bacon for flavor.

Cooking steel cut oats (also called Irish or coarse-cut oats) as a stand-in for rice: Place 1/2 cup of steel cut oats with 1 cup of water in a small pot and cook in med-high heat. Once it boils, lower the heat to medium-low and cook for about 10 minutes or more, until you reach the doneness you prefer (I like it really chewy). Add water by the tablespoons if needed. I typically cook it like this when I am going to eat it for something savory. For breakfast, I go with the 1:3 oats to water ratio.

Do you have any favorite dishes that require no recipes? I’d love to know, so please share them in the comments!

After the recent website troubles, I finally got some decent sleep (aka passing out beside the cat after a hearty dim sum lunch) and now it’s back to things that adults need to do: taxes! Before I get knee deep into that, I thought I’d share with you what has now become a favorite recipe the past 2 weeks, from which I’ve baked 3 successful and well-devoured cakes.

Don't you just love it when a recipe works each time you make it? I do. Not everyone has a backup plan...or a backup recipe for lazy Sundays.

I’d like to keep it simple today. No complications. This cake is straight up mix and bake. Add the syrup if you want to do something a little fancy, but this cake can shine on its own. I love that I have the option to do the least possible work, and add some spark to it when I’m feeling a little fancy. I suggest you make this right now. It’s really easy and you will find it a good complement to a restful and lazy Sunday. Even if your Sunday is hectic, it’s nice to know that with a few strokes of the hand and 15 minutes in the kitchen, you’re all set for a satisfying snack or dessert.

Go. Make it. Now.

I plucked the recipe out of my new favorite food magazine, a new find: Waitrose Food Illustrated. I will talk more about that publication on a separate post, because I love it so. If you’ve ever chanced upon that at your bookstore or magazine spot, know that the higher price tag is worth it.

HAPPY SUNDAY!

P.S. If you haven’t yet, check out the “A(wesome)-List” on the right, where I constantly add recipes and food-related blogs that I’m currently digging. Share the good karma and say Hi to them when you hop over. I think you just might find a treasure and a treat. :-)

   Get the recipe for this Easy Yogurt Cake

After what seems like forever, the site is back up and running. Sorry folks!

For those who missed it (whew), it all happened so fast. The next thing I knew the site was down because of an unknown database connection error and an unknown reason for it to happen (to me) because  didn’t make any change to site (front- and back-end). All I know is that for more than 24 hours, I’ve been told by my previous host to wait for them to resolve it. I’ve called numerous times during the day and I kept hearing the same thing: “We do not have an update yet, but rest assured our administrators are working on it.” Until finally I got: “The issue has been resolved.” And yet, my sites were still down. How is that resolved? I put a temporary page up to notify site visitors of the problem, and two people from the hosting company said that they see my site has been fixed. I rest my case.

I switched to another host and restored most of everything already, but if something doesn’t work, please do let me know! Oh, and one other thing…I lost all comments since March 19. That is actually a more positive prognosis than the original heartbreak I had felt at the possibility of losing all comments. I almost couldn’t continue working when I saw that my most recent database backup did not have comments. It was the worst feeling in the world. Who knew I could be so attached to comments? It was like losing some very important memento. Well, you know what, they are. You are. What would the past 2 years be without all of you?

Moral of this mishap: Back up. Back up your blog/database. Back up your files. And something to note about backing up your WordPress blog: use the Export tool (that exports an xml file) to make your life less complicated should you need to install a new WordPress on your site and restore your blog. I restored everything using my .sql backups, but it would have been much quicker if I had the xml file.

I should have known better. I got lazy at some point and thought my web hosting company could not do much harm. Alas, I was wrong. And what a costly price to pay. Lost comments, and lost sleep.

Ah, well. Lesson learned.

Back to our regular programming. And for me, time to face the tax papers.

Remember about our Olympic giveaway last month? After compiling all entries from comments, Facebook fans, and (mostly) newsletter subscribers, we ended up with 442 entries. Whew!

So what I did to randomize the process in the fairest manner I could make it, is to have all entries on a spreadsheet.

There were double entries for the subscribers and fans, and single ones for the comments–as stated in the ‘rules’.

I added an additional column for the randomized sequence, which I generated through the Sequence Generator. Then I copied the resulting list into the new column, so that each entry will have a random number assigned to it. Sounds fancy, but it’s really simple.

I picked one random winner through Random.org again…and the winner is — Shawna, a longtime newsletter subscriber!

You will receive an email from me. :) Congratulations!!!

- – - – - – - – -

Now let’s move on to the German Chocolate Cake that doesn’t have anything to do with Germany, but has everything to do with chocolate and caramel decadence.

I'm sorry if I just met you! Clearly it's a sign that I should make up for all the lost years and make you every month. (Good thing my doctor doesn't read this blog.)

Hail be to Samuel German who created Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate for the Baker’s Chocolate brand, for which this recipe was created. Got it? Eventually the ‘s was dropped. [This convolution reminds me of none other than Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Mmm...]

So you see friends, if you are like me, you can stop wondering why in the world Germans have some coconut in their cake. Excuse my ignorance. The first time I ate this cake was right after I baked it. No joke.

It might not look like much, that light brown on dark brown action. I have to say, I have mistakenly underestimated this cake before I took a bite.

Was I the last person to discover this cake? It’s okay. You can tell me the truth. I’m totally fine with that. As long as you think it’s completely alright that I make this several times a month to make you jealous until you make it yourself. If not, head over to Bakery Nouveau in West Seattle which, according to @Lovelylanvin, makes a really good one!

Because. What could be better than moist and fluffy chocolate cake layers with custard-y caramel filling with coconut and pecans?

Four of my most favorite things in the world--chocolate cake + condensed milk cooked with eggs + coconut + pecans--in one life-altering bite.

I just could not stop eating it. I blame the cake entirely. I haven’t been on a scale since this cake was baked, but I’ve gone back to running regularly. That’s how guilty I feel, but oh so good! It’s a required indulgence.

The recipe for this cake was adapted from this lovely, lovely book:

Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum (she blogs!)

I love Rose’s meticulously detailed recipes that hold your hand through the whole process of preparing, baking, and assembling the cakes. I’ve made a few already from this book and I highly recommend it! No, this is not your last-minute go-to cake book. You need to plan ahead, not only to read the recipe carefully and check that you have all the ingredients, but also for making the cakes. They’re not quick fixes, but you will be rewarded with cakes that you didn’t think could possibly come from your own kitchen. They are indeed heavenly…amazing! cakes.
Go get it if you really want to bake cakes that impress.

   Get the recipe for the German Chocolate here (PDF download included)

This is “faux” barbecue pulled pork at its finest. There’s no need to barbecue pork outside for hours, just do it right in your oven! Liquid smoke in brine and spice rub lend those smoky flavors in the meat. Serve it in a tortilla for carnitas, between two slices of baguette bánh mì-style, or with grains (it goes great with rice and scrambled eggs) and you’re good to go. For me, I like it Filipino-style, in soft, sweet pan de sal buns!

I love barbecue pork, pulled pork, bánh mì Vietnamese sandwiches, and the only sandwiches I truly, absolutely enjoy are those with warm meat in between toasted soft buns. I will eat cold cuts sandwiches, but I won’t crave for it. Now the pulled, barbecued kind? I dream of it.

Simply delicious. That's all I can say.

As soon as I saw this recipe on my Cook’s Illustrated magazine (one of the very few magazines with recipes I can rely on), I knew instantly that I have to make it. Dan made it first and said, “Oh god.” I didn’t need an explanation after that, because no sooner was I saying the same thing, perhaps with a little profanity peppered in. Holy ****.

If the looks alone won't hook you, the first bite will. It is just a piece of heaven in sweet pan de sal. We get ours from Aling Mary's.

This will be on the menu again in the near future and the recipe will be doubled, so I can freeze half to enjoy whenever I crave for it.

I just don’t have anything else to say other than: Make it. It’s good for you.

   Get the recipe for Indoor Pulled Pork here (PDF download included)

Raise your hand if you’re a multi-tasker.

I am, too. I think of food, recipes, page design, books to read, to-do list, grocery list, shopping list, or places to travel to during my afternoon runs, or when I’m in the train or bus. I think of what to do next when I’m experimenting in the kitchen, sometimes not watching the stove. At work, my multi-tasking skills have been lauded over and over by bosses, peers, and clients. I can make something good out of whatever chaos they throw at me. Give me 10 completely different things to do and I’ll finish it before the deadline. Because I’m “Super Efficient”. You’d think I was the ideal hybrid car if I were an automobile. Yes, it could be fulfilling. Sometimes. Other times, it takes a toll on my body and psyche. I like being on my toes, on the go. “Go, go, go!“ I tell my nephews when they’re complaining of walking. Because I just go. Sometimes I forget, if I pause for a moment, where I am, or what I’m doing. I’m completely lost!

It seems that over the last decade, multi-tasking has been placed on a pedestal for everyone to look up to and live by. The past few years, however, things have taken a different turn. Now there is the movement urging people to “be in the present moment”. Be here now. Because we’ve all been moving on the fast lane. Mind in another continent. No quality social time. No quality Me time.

In fact, even this multi-tasking has crept and settled comfortably into something fundamental in our lives and families: Our Meals. Eating has now been put to the side while we chat, work, watch TV or drive. Who has time to thinking about eating or what we are eating?

But in fact, that’s exactly what Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheung is trying to get you to do in their new book, “Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful life.”

Savor every bite. Eat mindfully.

"We drink a cup of tea and focus more on the worries and anxieties of the day than on living the moment of enjoying the tea." - Thich Nhat Hanh and Dr. Lilian Cheun

It is not a diet book. It’s a way of living. Living mindfully. Scattered throughout the book it talks about weight problems and losing the extra weight, but make no mistake, this book is much more than that. It’s about taking control not only of your eating, but of your body. Your life. From a spiritual and conscious level.

The second chapter of the book there is an apple meditation. It teaches you to eat and truly savor an apple.

How many of us have eaten an apple in just a few bites and not realizing that we finished it and didn't feel like we ate at all?

I’m on fourth chapter and already I’m learning and applying a lot of what it says. I try to be conscious about each bite I take. I try not to do anything else while eating. And best of all, because I’m savoring the food, I tend to eat less. As a result, I’m actually shedding pounds.

This book couldn’t have come at a better time, especially with the growing problem of obesity worldwide that really can’t be ignored anymore. And if there is one more thing to add to Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, it would be this. Mindful revolution.

I’ll talk more about it after I read and digest the entire book.

In the meantime, I’d love to know– What are you reading? Do you like it? No? Why?
It doesn’t matter whether it’s related to food or not. If you’re into magazines, like I am, I’d love to know, too!

Here are my current reads: Savor: Mindful Eating, Mindful Life and Waitrose Food illustrated.

You know I love Twitter…so I polled people who were up late last night here are the current reads:

• Kristina (@formerchefblog) – Alice Waters and Chez Panisse
• Amy (@amy_i) – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
• Jasmine (@NTFancy) – The Hairy Bikers Food Tour of Britain
• Ovehaven (@ovenhaven) – Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth
• Magnus (@manne) – The Road (Movie Tie-in Edition 2009) (Vintage International)
• Sanya (@SanyaV) – The Rituals of Dinner and The Age of Consent : A Manifesto for a New World Order