loveliness.

Tag: food

• eat all the things- nyc edition

  Posted at 8:36 am by jasminedesirees, on April 25, 2016

  My trip to NY last month was basically just a blur of meetings and rain, it was pretty miserable the whole time I was there. But luckily I had a whole Saturday with decent weather to kill before I flew home, and I knew exactly how I wanted to spend it.

  I had gotten recommendations from everyone at work for the best places to eat (read: best desserts) in the city, and also done some reading up myself, and had a solid plan to visit as many of the places as I could.

  

  I started first thing in the morning at Levain. It was pretty cold out so early in the morning, but it was only about 5 blocks from my hotel, so I decided to walk.

  Levain was voted best cookies in the city by almost everyone I talked to and everything I read. It’s a tiny little basement bakery with a tiny sign and a bright blue door. It’s at the very edge of a residential street leading to the park, so if you didn’t know it was there (or see the long line out the door) you would probably walk right by it.

  

  I got a walnut chocolate chip cookie, which is supposed to be the best kind, and a cappuccino, and grabbed one of about 3 stools in the corner to enjoy it. The cookie was really delicious, it was also about half the size of my face so eating it first thing in the morning was probably not the smartest idea, I felt sick almost immediately. I do wish they had a chocolate chip cookie without walnuts, I don’t even like walnuts, but I still thought the cookie was amazing, so that should give you some idea of how good it was.

  

  After my cookie, I walked all the way back through Central Park clutching my cappuccino for warmth, and hopped on the subway to head to SoHo for the next stop on my list. I always think I am an expert at getting around on the subway, and most of the time I can get around fine, but just when you think you know where you are going there is construction, or a track change, or a train that only goes to a certain place from 7-9 pm every third Wednesday of the month.

  

  I eventually made it to SoHo. I had to get off 3 stops early, but I didn’t really mind. It’s such a neat area, and there are soooo many amazing stores. I didn’t go in any of them because I knew I would buy all the things and I didn’t want to carry a bunch of bags around with me for the rest of the day.

  

  My next stop was Dominique Ansel, because I really wanted to try their shot class chocolate chip cookie filled with milk. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize they don’t start serving it until 3:00 pm, and I was there at about 9:00 am. The vast array of gorgeous pastries and desserts kept me from feeling too disappointed, and eventually I decided to get a cronut (oh yeah, they also invented the cronut) and an egg sandwich since I was still feeling kind of sick from my cookie sugar rush earlier.

  

  The cronut was just OK for me, I loved the actual pastry, but one of my least favourite things on the planet is a surprise filling, and there were layers of surprise raspberry filling inside the cronut. It was a little bit tart, so it paired really well with the super sweet icing on top. Objectively, I could see why people like the flavour combination, but surprise filling is the devil’s handiwork, I’m almost sure of it. The egg sandwich on the other hand, was absolutely delicious. I barely even like egg sandwiches, and it was one of the most delicious things I’ve ever had.

  

  After Dominque Ansel, I walked around SoHo some more, wandered through Little Italy, then set out for the Brooklyn Bridge. I must have walked 20 miles in total so I really didn’t feel bad about eating everything that entered my field of vision. Walking across the bridge was really cool, and something I’d wanted to do since my first trip to NYC, but it was really cold out that day. By the time I got across the bridge and wandered around the Dumbo area and the waterfront,  I was frozen and starving.

  

  I set off in search of sustenance, and came around a corner to see two restaurants with lines of people waiting in the cold to get in. I looked them both up on line, they were Juliana’s pizza and Grimaldi pizza. Apparently the owners of Grimaldi, which is a very famous NY pizza place, sold Grimaldi years ago, but didn’t like the way the new owner was doing things, so they opened up a new restaurant called Juliana’s to compete with them. It was a battle of the pizzas, and that is something I can always get behind.

  

  I ended up picking Juliana’s and ordering a glass of wine and a margherita pizza. They had a sit up bar to the pizza chefs, so I got to sit up there, eat my amazing pizza and watch them work. I was absolutely frozen when I got in there, so sitting right beside the wood fired oven with a glass of red wine was probably pretty close to what heaven is going to be like. I was so comfortable I almost fell asleep.

  And that is the story of how I ate my way around NY for one day. There are also a few other snaps, including my first ever ramen experience at Ippudo. It was a two hour wait, so we killed time with tequila shots at a bar around the corner, and we didn’t end up getting in to eat until 10:30. They did have vegetarian ramen, which was awesome, but hands down the best part was that you could order another ball of noodles for your soup for only $2. What a time to be alive.

  There are still tons of places that are on my list including almost every single place listed out in here, so I’ll have to start planning my next trip soon.

  

  Posted in food, New York, travel, USA | 1 Comment | Tagged bakeries, cookies, dominique ansel, food, levain, nyc

• vegetarian: an update

  Posted at 8:08 am by jasminedesirees, on March 28, 2016

  

  I will have been vegetarian for two years as of this summer, and I get asked all the time how it’s going, so I decided to do an update on what I usually eat, some of my favourite recipes, and things I want to try.

  Breakfast:

  I make my own granola (loosely based on this recipe) and it’s my favourite thing. I literally wake up in the morning and work out almost every day because if I do I am rewarded with the best breakfast ever, which is fresh berries (I usually do raspberries and blackberries, but strawberries are good too, and blueberries are also a choice someone else might make) with granola and unsweetened vanilla almond milk. SO GOOD.

  If Derek is cooking, he usually makes me an egg, mushroom and onion omelet, cooked dry to the point of being almost burnt. YES.

  Snacks:

  I always have raw almonds and cuties in rotation for snacks, and I keep cans of sweet peas in my cupboard. 60 seconds in the microwave and they are good to go.

  I also love hummus with cucumbers or mini sweet peppers.

  Lunch:

  I eat a lot of salads for lunch, and I usually add nuts or beans to add protein. I’m a pretty terrible vegetarian actually, I hate Tofu or “fake” meat products and I won’t eat eggplant or sweet potato. Want to have me over for supper? I’m really not picky, it’s just that those things are gross.

  Caprese salads are pretty much my jam, and I also eat a ton of soup. I still make this all the time, I almost always have a tupperware of it in my fridge, (sans hamburger) because it’s so delicious and so filling. Derek will eat it all if I’m not paying attention.

  Every once in awhile I’ll have a veggie burger, there are quinoa and garlic ones that I like on the BBQ. I’ve tried making my own black bean burgers and it was a fantastic failure every time.

  Supper:

  Luckily we live someplace where so we can BBQ all year round, otherwise I might actually starve to death. More often than not I chop up veggies (cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, peppers, brussels sprouts) in a piece of tinfoil with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast them on the grill. It’s one of my most favourite things and I never get sick of it.

  Cauliflower Alfredo– I’ve made this a couple of times and it’s seriously so good. I like to add sun-dried tomatoes to the blender as well to give it a little extra flavour, or pesto would work great as well.

  Lentil tacos- Instead of tacos with hamburger, just cook lentils with taco seasoning. I usually make them with lettuce cup taco shells, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, salsa and greek yogurt. Derek likes them too.

  Caprese Portobellos– Sooo good on the BBQ. I soak tomato slices in balsamic, olive oil and salt and pepper, clean and de-gill a portobello mushroom cap, then put the mushrooms and fresh mozzarella into the mushroom caps with a squiggle (it’s a technical cooking term) of balsamic glaze, then BBQ them for about 25 minutes. You have to wait until the mushrooms dry out and deflate a bit, but so worth it.

  Pasta Primavera with Feta- No recipe for this, I just roast veggies (tomatoes, carrots, onion, mushrooms, peppers) in the oven with olive oil, and cook quinoa pasta. When it’s done I toss it all together with extra olive oil, salt and pepper and feta. I had this dish for the first time at Kafe in Ubud, Bali, and I went back and ate there almost every day the whole week because of how amazing it was. I do not grow tired of you (with heart eyes).

  Roasted Veggies with Feta- The same concept as above, but with no noodles. Only slightly less good.

  Things I will try if I’m ever home for more than 5 minutes:

  Butternut Squash Linguine– I actually tried to make this once, but I couldn’t find any butternut squash? But this will happen sooner or later.

  Also, I bought myself this cookbook in a frenzy of New Year’s self betterment, and I have yet to make anything out of it. I’ve been traveling a LOT but I will get my life organized and get cooking this month. Just in time for it to be too hot to turn on the oven.

  Perfect.

  I always try to have as many veggies on hand in the house as possible, because it’s SO easy to eat terribly as a vegetarian. Actually the first time I tried it I lived for a week on chocolate, chips and cheese and wondered why I didn’t feel well and concluded that I must need meat to survive.

  The only things I miss about eating meat:

  Crab cakes: Because yum. If I ever gave up vegetarianism I would probably only eat fish which I never actually ate before, but I would become pescatarian to just eat veggies and crap cakes for every meal.

  Xiao Long Bao (soup dumplings): If you haven’t had these, stop what you are doing and go find them. Actually the only time I’ve been sad that something is off the menu. I went to Yank Sing in SF for Dim Sum for the first time in a long time, and I remembered that these existed and almost cried. I tried to find out if there is a vegetarian version, but they need actual bones to make them, so that’s probably a no.

   

  Posted in food, life, other things | 0 Comments | Tagged food, meals, recipes, supper, vegetarian

• guide to phoenix area: restaurants

  Posted at 8:23 am by jasminedesirees, on February 23, 2016

  

  It’s kind of crazy to think that we’ve been living in AZ for a year now. It really doesn’t feel like it, especially since I travelled so much last year it kind of seemed like I was never here.

  I’ve had company for the last 3 weeks in a row in PHX, and since the best part about having visitors is showing them around and taking them to all your favourite places, I’ve had to do some thinking about what those places are.

  What I’ve realized is that I have tons of favourite places, and also places I still really want to try. So I decided to share my list with you all, in case you are ever in the PHX area, and are looking for a good place to hang out, or some really good drinks.

  So here they are, not really in any particular order:

  Culinary Dropout at The Yard– Culinary Dropout in Tempe is one of my favourite places to go, the food is good, the drinks are amazing (I like the Room Service or the Me Before You) and they have yoga (sometimes) and Party on a Bike (spin class) in the upstairs room all week. It’s just a cool spot. The vibe definitely changes depending on when you go. I’ve been there on a Wednesday night when my sister in town; we snagged a table with a built in fireplace, ordered some delicious appetizers (get the pretzels!) and played lawn games, and I took my mom there for a quiet lunch after the Andy Warhol exhibit at the Phoenix Art Museum. I’ve also been on a Friday or Saturday night when all three bars are open, and it is complete madness and there is no hope of finding a place to sit.

  The Duce– Our very first week living in Phoenix we were driving downtown to go skating, and we passed a bar called The Duce. It looked really fun, and I made a mental note to go there, but we didn’t end up going until a couple of weeks ago when my sister was in town. It’s the coolest place I’ve been in awhile. There is an outdoor patio, which is where we sat, but the inside is a pretty big space and it’s divided up into different “themed” sections. There are a couple different bars, and a “Sweet Spot” (pictured above) to get dessert. We went on a Saturday morning for brunch, and it was really chill and relaxing, but I’ve heard it gets pretty crazy at night. They have a boxing ring where you can pay $5 to go 5 minutes against the owner (who is a boxer) and they also do fitness classes on Sunday morning. It is a little bit pricey, the drinks are around $12 each, but they are big, with lots of booze in them, plus they are delicious. We ordered a Bloody Mary, a Berry Side Car and a Margarita, and they were all on the list of the best drinks I’ve ever had. The food was good too, I ordered the smashed potatoes in a jar, and it was basically just butter, sour cream and cheese with some potato, and it was so frigging delicious. D and my sister both got sliders, which are actually huge, and neither of them could finish. Definitely shareable. This is really long, but I have a lot to say. Love this place.

  Chanpen Thai– This is a relatively new discovery. We bought a house and moved to a new area of Phoenix in December and we didn’t have a washer and dryer for a long time. Our weekly ritual became Thai takeout and laundromat night, so we were able to try all the new Thai places around our new place. Chanpen was by far the best, it’s a little further away than some others, but worth the drive. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, and there are only about four tables, so it’s best to order pick up, but it smells like heaven as soon as you walk in. I had yellow veggie curry (my fave) and it was the best I’ve had in a long time.

  Four Peaks Tempe– Four Peaks is basically a Tempe institution. It’s a popular brewery and restaurant, a good place to watch a game or go with a group of friends. I had the veggie burger here, and it was really good, and the spinach artichoke dip is so good (it has jalapeno) that I actually gasped when I took a bite, and everyone thought I was choking. I’ve mostly been here for brunch for people’s birthdays, they mimosa buckets, it’s around $18 for a bottle of champagne and a carafe of orange juice. Also, the brew master at our favourite restaurant in Montana, The Tamarack, went to ASU and used to be a brewer at Four Peaks. Small world.

  Pizzeria Bianco– This place was voted Best Pizza in America. It’s SO GOOD. It’s definitely more of a date spot, it’s pretty intimate inside with only a handful of tables. We ended up each ordering our own pizza, mine was margherita with braised mushrooms and I am not embarrassed to tell you that I ate the whole thing. It is kind of expensive, it was around $20/pizza, and they really only feed 1 person, but it was worth it. They also own the little house next to the restaurant and they’ve turned it into a wine bar/waiting area where you can sit inside or out on the front porch and play board games while you wait. My birthday is coming up in a few weeks, and I’m fairly certain I’ll be celebrating it here.

  Pier 54– This little restaurant is a perfect hangout on a sunny, lazy weekend day. It’s all outdoors, on a little patio on The Lakes at Tempe, and they have a great deal on mimosas (buy 1 for $8, each refill is $1 after that), and they have the best hummus I’ve ever had. We go almost every weekend, and we always take people there for a chill happy hour. We’ve never been for supper, but they do have a deal where you spend $25 on food, and get a free bottle of wine, so we definitely need to try that one night.

  The Watershed– The Watershed is right next door to Pier 54, but it has a different vibe. It has a huge indoor area with a bar and restaurant, and then an outdoor patio with a view of the lakes and also a game area with darts and corn hole (I hate that name). Some of their outdoor tables have fire pits, but you need to get there early at night to grab one of these. When my sister was here we tried almost every drink on the menu, and I would definitely recommend the Basil Smash.

  The Farm at South Mountain– I’ve only been to The Farm once, on a hung-over Sunday morning after a friends’ wedding, about a year before we moved to AZ, but it was lovely. We actually moved to the South Mountain area recently so it’s pretty close, but we haven’t been back yet. The Farm is a picturesque acreage with areas carved out for different things. There are a few different restaurants on the property; we ate at the more casual one, I had a strawberry and goat cheese salad and fresh squeezed lemonade. They grow all their own fruits and vegetables, there are little goats to look at, and people were sprawled out on picnic blankets all over the lawn, eating and watching their kids play. They were also setting up for a wedding when I was there, and it was pretty stunning.

  San Tan Flat– We went to SanTan Flats for my dad’s birthday last year. It’s quite a drive from downtown Phoenix, but it’s a fun place to go with a big group. Each table has it’s own fire pit, and you can buy s’more kits for dessert. They have live bands on the weekends and a big dance floor. I didn’t love the food, it’s not very vegetarian friendly, they mostly just serve grilled meat, but I still had fun.

  Salut– I went to Salut with a group of girlfriends’ for dinner, and it was delicious. It’s a romantic little wine bar in Tempe, we sat at an outside table on the patio, which was all lit up with string lights. They had a great wine selection, but the best thing about Salut was their entire page dedicated to different types and combinations of bruschetta. Only one person out of our group ordered something different, and I think she regretted it once the food came. The rest of the menu looked delicious as well, but I don’t know if I could bring myself to order anything else.

  The Perch– The Perch is in downtown Chandler, it’s an open, outdoor space decorated with cages of brightly coloured birds. The food was good (I loved the hummus) but the best part about this place is the rooftop bar. It has lot of comfortable seating, and misters for those miserably hot AZ summer days, plus it has a great beer selection, including a grapefruit one that tastes like Orange Crush.

  Places I haven’t been but really want to try:

  Ocotillo– I haven’t been to Ocotillo yet, but I’ve heard from a few people that it’s the best new spot in the valley. Their menus look so delicious, and they also have a little coffee shop that’s open every day. I’ve been thinking of going there on a weekend afternoon to get a coffee to check it out before we head into the restaurant, but we haven’t been home at all lately.

  Top of the Rock– Another place I haven’t been to yet but hope to go one day. This is one of the fanciest/most expensive restaurants in Phoenix from what I’ve heard, but the view looks so incredible that it’s probably worth it.

  Sweet Tooth Fairy– I only realized recently that this bakery was in AZ, I thought it was only in Utah. I found out a few weeks ago, and then was creeping on their website, and discovered that they make Nanaimo Bars, which are my absolute favourite, and not something I’ve ever seen in America before. I bugged D incessantly to take me there, but when I finally wore him down and he agreed, I called to double confirm that they had Nanaimo Bars, and they were out. They only have them every few weeks. I asked the baker to send me a schedule so I would know when to come in, which is a totally normal and reasonable thing to do.

  Mystery Room at the Arizona Biltmore– There is an actual 1920’s speakeasy in the Arizona Biltmore. It’s only open Sundays from 8-11 p.m. and you need a password to get in,  but it’s cool that they have something like that in Phoenix.

  This post was a lot longer than I anticipated, I’ve been working on it for weeks since I kept remembering other good places and adding them in. Let me know if you have any suggestions for good places to eat or drink in the area, I’m always on the lookout for new favourites!

  

   

  Posted in Arizona, food, travel, USA | 2 Comments | Tagged bars, culinary dropout, food, Four Peaks, Phoenix, restaurant guide, Scottsdale, tempe, The Duce, travel

• seattle: pike place

  Posted at 7:50 am by jasminedesirees, on November 2, 2015

  During our trip to Seattle, one of the places I liked the best was the Pike Place Market. It’s obviously a must visit destination for anyone spending time there, but I expected to spend an hour or so browsing, and then get on with the rest of the trip.

  What actually happened was that we kept finding ourselves back there each day, finding new things each time. It helped that our hotel was just a few blocks away, but each morning when we set out for the day, we found ourselves first heading for Pike Place.

  

  

  

  The main thing that kept us coming back was the food. There were so many amazing places to eat in and around the market that we couldn’t have tried them all in 3 days, but we did our best.

  

  

  

  Our first morning we stopped at a little shop in a back alley near the market and ate the most amazing breakfast sandwiches. I don’t even like breakfast sandwiches, but I loved this place.

  I actually bought all of the ingredients this past weekend to try to re-create it at home (sharp cheddar, eggs, tomato, fresh basil, english muffin), and it tasted exactly the same. I may or may not have eaten one for every single meal for the last two days.

  

  

  

  One of the things I loved about Seattle was how they used their back alleys. Some of the best places we found were tucked away down cute little alleys, and it was such a good use of the space.

  We also tried chocolate hazelnut pastries from Piroshky Piroshky. This little bake shop is right across the street from Pike’s Place, and it’s one of a few places (including the original Starbucks) where there is always a line.

  

  

  

  As we were strolling by I remember thinking that there was no way anything they sold in there could be worth waiting that long, and then I think I must have blacked out because the next thing I knew, I was overcome by the aroma of fresh baking and found myself in line.

  

  

  

  If you do go to Piroshky, try to creep into the little shop before getting in line, so you can get a sense of what you might want to order. I was so fascinated watching them make all of the pastries through that window that once I got inside and it was my turn, I realized I had no idea what I wanted.

  The line moves quickly, and I didn’t want to be the person to hold it up, so I just panicked and blurted out that I wanted “the one with chocolate”.

  

  

  

  Just down the street, right on the corner is a cheese shop, where you can watch cheese being made through the window, and also sneak in for samples. In our case, we snuck in for samples a LOT.

  

  

  

  They also made amazing macaroni and cheese and other snacks, and we bought some and camped out on the curb, people watching and enjoying the deliciousness. There were street magicians, people in all kinds of different outfits, and a man playing dirty songs on piano on the street corner.

  

  

  

  In addition to the food (let’s be real, it was mostly about the food) the flowers they sold at the market were gorgeous. There were rows and rows of florists selling enormous, colourful bouquets for five dollars a piece.

  

  

  Every morning I almost bought one, but it seemed like a shame to buy it to have it sit in the hotel room, and then have to leave it behind.

  

  

  

  We also checked out the gum wall (it’s cool, but if you stop to think about it for any amount of time, it’s horrifying) and made friends with the fish vendor at the farmers market.

  

  

  

  Even with all the time we spent exploring the area, I’m sure there are lots of things we didn’t get a chance to try, but I’m pretty satisfied with our choices.

  

  

  

  

  Posted in Seattle, travel, USA, Washington | 1 Comment | Tagged food, marketplace, pike's place, seattle, travel, washington

• vegetarian

  Posted at 1:05 pm by jasminedesirees, on February 3, 2015

  I’ve been waiting to post about this for awhile, to make sure that it was really something I could stick with, but it’s been almost 6 months, and I don’t have any plans to stop, so I guess it’s probably safe to share.

  One of the changes I made while we were gone on our trip was that I became fully vegetarian, and completely stopped eating any meat or seafood (not that I ate a lot of seafood before).

  I’ve always been super picky and weirded out by meat, and that always made me feel hypocritical. Like, if you can’t bear to think about what it is without feeling sick, should you really be eating it? So I think it was really kind of inevitable, and it was just the right time.

  Most people when I tell them I stopped eating meat when we were in Indonesia say “Oh I can’t blame you, I wouldn’t eat meat over there either”, but it really wasn’t that I thought it was so much worse than meat we have over here.

  I was almost completely vegetarian by then, but I would still eat chicken once in awhile, until one day when we were sitting in a small home kitchen for lunch. D ordered chicken fried noodles, and a little boy from the family that owned the restaurant ran out to the backyard to bring in one of the chickens so they could kill it and cook it for us.

  And that really freaked me out, but not for the reasons that you might think. I just felt like if I was that uncomfortable eating a chicken that I knew was chicken, and knew exactly how it was going to be killed and cooked, right in front of me, then why would I be OK with eating meat that I don’t know where it came from, and I have no idea (actually I do kind of have an idea, and that’s even worse) how it’s treated and prepared?

  When we were in Australia, I was listening to the radio on our road trip, and a local cattle farmer was being interviewed, and she said that people always came up to her and asked her how she could stand raising animals from babies, and then slaughtering them and eating them? Like how could she eat something if she knew it’s name?

  And her point was, how can you eat something if you don’t know it’s name or where it came from? Which kind of hit home for me.

  So I stopped eating meat, and I honestly really don’t miss it, and I feel great. I actually tried vegetarianism almost two years ago, but when I stopped eating meat I just started eating chips and junk food (because technically that’s vegetarian right?) and I felt awful all the time.

  I decided it must be because I wasn’t eating meat, so I went back to it. This time, I’m actually eating vegetables (what a novel idea), and trying to eat as many different ones every day as I can.

  A few months after I stopped eating meat completely, we were in the Philippines, diving off the island of Coron, sitting in the boat waiting for our divemaster, when a small canoe-type boat pulled up next to us.

  It was a boat from Palawan, bringing live pigs over to sell in the marketplace. There were about 6 of them, enormous full grown pigs, tied to stakes, and tied to each other, and kept that way for the entire 8 hour boat ride. It was very hot that day, and they had no shade.

  The worst part was the sound they were making. I’m not even sure if pigs are biologically equipped to scream, but that’s what it was. They were screaming. It was horrible, I was almost in tears, but I asked D to take a picture so I could share it.

  

  I’ve done enough research to know that compared to treatment animals in some slaughterhouses in America, that probably wasn’t even that bad.

  So that’s where I’m at right now. I’m having fun experimenting with different recipes and trying new foods, and I’m almost feeling up to the daunting task of trying to make my own veggie burgers, but not quite.

  Posted in food, life, nutrition | 4 Comments | Tagged animal cruelty, diet, eating meat, food, nutrition, recipes, travel, vegetarianism

• street food

  Posted at 6:09 pm by jasminedesirees, on April 21, 2014

  One of the things that I’ve always wanted to do in the City since I’ve moved here is go to a Food Truck park. Food trucks are such a big part of the culture here, and I’ve eaten from them a lot, but they have events like Off the Grid, where you can try a bunch of different ones, and get drinks and hang out as well.

  While my sister was here we were driving to Half Moon Bay, and we were hungry. I looked up food trucks on the map to see if any good ones were around that day, and I found one, so we decided to go get some lunch.

  It was a really great surprise to discover that we weren’t just at one food truck, we had accidentally found our way to the SOMA StrEat Food Park, where a bunch of food trucks congregate every Thursday and Saturday nights.

  
  
  
  
  

  It was a really cool environment, with lots of drinks, neat little areas like a barn and a school bus you could rent out for events, and a bunch of food trucks that switch every week.

  We scouted the place out and made our selections, I got beef sliders and crab stuffed wontons, the boy got an amazing pulled pork sandwich, and my sister was adventurous and got ox tail soup, and poutine.

  
  
  
  

  It was a gorgeous sunny day, the food was delicious, although I was a little disappointed to discover a truck that was selling mac and cheese burgers after I was already too stuffed to eat another bite.

  Saturdays are Sangria Saturdays, where they have bottomless Sangria, and they also sell mimosas and lots of other drinks.

  
  

  I was absolutely in heaven, to the point where, after yet another poetic exclamation of undying love, the boy responded with “Do you? Do you love it here? But do you love it?”, and I realized that I would need to try to be a bit more discreet about the depth of my feelings in case he got jealous and refused to accompany me on subsequent visits.

  But just between you and me, yes, I LOVED it there.

  
  
  

  Posted in California, exploring, family, food, San Francisco, USA | 1 Comment | Tagged bay area, exploring, family, food, food truck, food trucks, Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, travel

• chef

  Posted at 12:02 pm by jasminedesirees, on March 12, 2014

  Last week we had an onsite work training that our whole team flew out for from all over the country. At the end of the second day, we did a cooking class as a group for something fun to do together.

  It was at Jordan’s Kitchen in San Francisco, and it was amazing. It is a full scale commercial kitchen, but they only do group cooking classes, so we had the place to ourselves. The staff were super friendly, and really knowledgeable.

  We arrived, and they had trays of cheeses and smoked meats for us to snack on, and they were handing out wine before we even got our jackets off.  We made mushroom risotto, flank steak with fingerling potato salad and chocolate mousse with sea salt for dessert.

  Our group got to do everything, they taught us how to chop vegetables, season everything, and prepare, plate and garnish each dish. The food was delicious, mushroom risotto is one of my favourite things in the world. I may have gotten a little too deep into the wine because before I knew it I had nominated myself as the grill master of the group, and was picking up the flank steaks with my bare hands, and expertly (ish) maneuvering them around the flaming grill.

  The chocolate mousse was delish, and we had a post-dessert mini-booze bottle pinata, which is not something I’ve done before but may well become a part of my supper routine every night. It was a really fun activity,  and we got a copy of all of the recipes we made so we can re-create them at home. Not promising I will, because even though it was delicious it was a lot more work than boxed mac and cheese, but still it’s nice to have the option.

  
  
  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  

  Posted in food, recipes, San Francisco | 0 Comments | Tagged cheese, chocolate mousse, cooking class, flank steak, food, friends, Jordan's Kitchen, mushroom risotto, recipes, risotto, San Francisco, wine, work

• bent

  Posted at 1:31 am by jasminedesirees, on December 4, 2013

  The last few days have been kind of a blur, Thanksgiving was lovely but I was too sick to be hungry so I consoled myself with tequila and cheesecake. The next morning I got up at 3 am to drive 7 1/2 hours to Oregon to see my best girl.

  The good thing about being an adult is that for the most part you are completely in control of everything you do, there is nobody that can tell you not to do something, but that’s not always a good thing.

  When I was in high school and was too sick to move but would still try to get up to go out to a party, it was annoying, but nice in a way to have my dad there to say “You are sick, you aren’t going anywhere,” whereas now there is nobody but me to tell me not to do things when I’m sick, and I clearly won’t be listening to anything I have to say.

  Aside from waking up in a panic on Saturday morning because I felt like I couldn’t breathe, it was a great weekend. It was really nice to be back in the “winter”, well it was plus 12 most of the time I was there, but it’s as close to actual winter as I’m going to get for awhile.

  We went skating, sat by the fire, drank Caesar’s with pickle juice and ate at some of Bend’s adorable and delicious local restaurants. Why more restaurants don’t have a chicken fettucine alfredo burrito on the menu is a mystery that will never be solved.

  Oregon is sooooo lovely

  gracefullll

  brunch at CHOW in Bend. Go. For real.

  guava mimosas by the fire. I usually have some kind of make up on my hand, but that’s what life is like sometimes

  old books in an antique shop

  there should always be cupcake cafes

  

  way too many craft beer to choose from

  

  new boyfriend Koa

  cute store in Bend called Gypsy Soul. I want everything.

  Posted in food, life, Oregon, travel, USA | 1 Comment | Tagged Bend, food, life, oregon, road trip, skating, travel

• chocolat

  Posted at 11:21 pm by jasminedesirees, on November 13, 2013

  Probably since the first time I watched Chocolat I’ve harboured a secret belief that I was the main character in a previous life and that given the right set of circumstances,  the inate talent that I possessed would emerge and all my dreams of being a master chocolatier, dating Johnny Depp, and wearing my hair in a sassy bob would come true.

  Nobody likes chocolate more than I do, and I firmly believe that (I am eating some even as I write this), but a couple of weeks ago I signed up for a chocolate making class with Rachel Dunn chocolates in Concord, and let me tell you, if anyone likes chocolate more than I do, it is Rachel.

  Rachel has been making chocolate since she was 17, her chocolates are world famous, and she owns her own company that does nothing but make chocolate every single day. They say if you want to be successful in business, you need to do what you’re passionate about, and Rachel is passionate about chocolate.

  She stood up in front of the class and introduced herself, and you could tell that she was thrilled, absolutely elated, to be sharing the art of chocolate making with a new group of people.

  She could barely contain herself as she lamented the lost art of candy making, shared every single thing she knew about chocolate and candy making, and expressed the fervent belief that we would leave the workshop and share what we had learned with all of our friends and family. She truly loves chocolate, and wants other people to get the same joy from it that she does.

  The class itself was great, it was 2 hours long and we made about 15 different kinds of candy, including truffles, chocolate dipped strawberries, English toffee, peanut butter cups, and a ganache tart.

  It was really fun and informative, and the candy we made was delicious. The best part is that she sends everyone home with recipes for all of the things we made in class, so you can make them at home for your friends and family. Or eat them all yourself when your husband is gone to Mexico for a week. There is no judgement here.

  World famous candied applies

  

  

  I may have gotten slightly carried away with the peanut butter in my peanut butter cups

  

  I am practically a professional strawberry tuxedo applier. That’s probably a real job.

  Posted in chocolate, food | 0 Comments | Tagged candy, chocolate, food, learning, Rachel Dunne, recipes

• giving thanks

  Posted at 9:19 pm by jasminedesirees, on October 16, 2013

  Monday was Thanksgiving (I try not to call it Canadian Thanksgiving even though I’m sure some people think I just can’t read a calendar because it kind of feels weird and dis-associative. It’s MY Thanksgiving so I feel like I shouldn’t qualify it, as though I’m saying it’s not REALLY Thanksgiving).

  I haven’t been able to be home for Thanksgiving in a very long time, but it’s become a tradition to celebrate it with friends, food and lots of booze, and it’s far enough away from American Thanksgiving (ha) that I’m not interfering with anyone’s plans with their family.

  I’ve had some very memorable celebrations, the time at our Sheridan St apartment or “the ghetto” as it was less than affectionately referred to by our friends, when we didn’t have any furniture except for a tiny, musty futon and ended up eating and cooking most of our meal sitting on the living room carpet.

  There was the year that my sister made electric purple sweet potato casserole that was way too nasty looking to eat. The year my friends in North Dakota surprised me with a Thanksgiving celebration of fries and gravy (poutine’s cheeseless counterpart), ketchup chips and perogies even though in their opinion, and this is a direct quote “Canadians don’t even believe in pilgrims.”

  And one of my fondest orphaned Thanksgiving stories, my first year living in Honolulu when my room mates who I’d only known for a couple of months surprised me with a KFC picnic in our new dorm room to celebrate. It was my first holiday so far from home and to this day I think it was the nicest thing that anyone’s ever done for me.

  This year was no exception, Derek and I had a turkey cook off (I’m pretty sure I won, ahem) and a bunch of our favourites came over to help us eat it (even though there were 10 of us, we didn’t put a dent in that turkey, in case you were wondering what I’ll be eating for the next two weeks). We had perogies, mashed potatoes, stuffing and some amazing mac and cheese, way too many desserts, and some very intense beer pong matches.

  There was the small matter of a puppy almost getting ran over by a car, but it’s pretty likely that it’s not even possible for horrifying catastrophes to occur on Thanksgiving, and everyone walked away unscathed.

  So as a status update, today I am feeling fat and happy because of all the delicious things I’ve had to eat lately, and also lucky that I’ve had the opportunity to make so many good friends, all over the place.

  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

  
  Posted in food, friends, holidays, life | 0 Comments | Tagged Canada, food, friends, holidays, life, Thanksgiving

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