I didn't know how to cook. I didn't want to learn how to cook. I moved out and lived on my own. At this point, it was to my advantage to cook. Eventhough I was living right by Davie St and there were many restaurants to choose from, it was nice to stay in sometimes and on top of that there were times I was too lazy to go out to get food. Since then I have learned to cook a little bit. It's been fun and adventurous. If I have to cook for myself, I have to plan on my menu for the rest of the week. I have to buy produce that can be used in a multitude of dishes. It doesn't make sense for me to buy something for one dish. I don't know when the next time I will be cooking that dish and that food will go bad and I will have to throw it away.
I dated a chef a few years back. It was a good experience because I learned alot about cooking. He had his own catering company. When he cooked, I would ask him about cooking techniques. It was kinda like free cooking lessons. Since we are not together anymore, I have to pay for cooking lessons. :P..
One of the items on my bucket list is to learn gourmet cooking. I am not sure when I will start that yet. I don't really like cooking for myself. I think it's more fun and satisfying when I cook for others. There have been a few potlucks where I brought a dish I made. One entree I made was actually pretty good. I have never made it before and I just made it up. It was like a pasta casserole. It was macoroni and cheese on the bottom layer. Then the next layer was green peppers, I think there was mushrooms too, and onions. Then it was salmon. It was topped off with cheese and baked in the oven. Last week I brought a dessert I just learned about. It was a Philipino fruit salad. It was super easy to make. It was pretty good. It is a mixture of cream, evoporated milk and fruit cocktail. I adjusted it a little bit and added jackfruit and toddy fruit.
In terms of baking, I used to make cupcakes. I thought it was delicious. But now I think it's too fattening. Buttercream topping is made mostly from sugar and butter. I need to watch my calories as I get older and globs of sugar and butter won't help. Every once in awhile I will make my signature cupcakes. They are mini cupcakes topped with chocolate and have letters on them. Some of you have seen them at a birthday party or at another occasion. Tonight I just did some more baking. Ok, it's not really baking. It was a non-bake raspberry cream pie. I went to Superstore to get the ingredients. Raspberries were super expensive. Blueberries were cheaper. It now became a blueberry cream pie. I couldn't fine creme fraise so I substituted it with dessert topping (like Cool Whip). It's in the fridge chilling now. We will see how it turns it out tomorrow.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Day 272: Bouzyos
Best Greek food I've had so far: http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/bouzyos.html
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Day 271: Outdoor Go - karting
My friend organized to go outdoor go karting. When I got the invite, I was excited because go karting is on my bucket list. I read the details of the invite and wasn't so excited. It was at 10am on a Sunday and in Tsawwassen. I wasn't keen to waking up early on a Sunday morning to head off to Tsawwassen. I told him I would come a few days ago. But this morning, I woke up and it was a gloomy and wet Sunday morning. I thought it would be dangerous to be go karting in the rain. I messsaged my friend to see if it was still on. He was really eager to go go - karting so it was a go.
Tsawwasen seemed so far away. In the morning I checked my iphone maps to see how long it would take for me to drive there. It told me 30mins with traffic. Sometimes these maps judge the time inccorectly. I left my house late so I thought I would be late. It took me 30mins to get there so the iphone map was right. I got there at 9:58 am and even got there before the staff. We went outdoor go karting at F440 in Tsawwassen, across from Splashdown Park.
There was four of us that went go karting. Two of them rides motorcyles. The track had a lot of turns and it was a bit challenging. I had a feeling that the motorcyle riders will go on the track faster than myself. I felt like a grandma on the track. I was scared to go really fast. The first lap I was going really slow. I had to get used to operating a go kart. Then I had to get used to going on that curvy track. Then I challenged myself to go faster. We raced three sessions of 15mins each. In each session I was last :(. The first session was so uncomfortable for me. It was drizzling so my helmet was wet. I pushed my visor up a little because I couldn't wipe off the rain drops. But once I did that, dust particles were flying in my face. By the third session, I was comfortable with using a go kart in the rain and going on the curvy track but my kart wasn't going as fast as I would like it.
Overall it was a fun experience. Maybe I would go faster if it wasn't drizzling. It was a bit expensive but I had an Entertainment Coupon and I saved myself a few dollars.
Tsawwasen seemed so far away. In the morning I checked my iphone maps to see how long it would take for me to drive there. It told me 30mins with traffic. Sometimes these maps judge the time inccorectly. I left my house late so I thought I would be late. It took me 30mins to get there so the iphone map was right. I got there at 9:58 am and even got there before the staff. We went outdoor go karting at F440 in Tsawwassen, across from Splashdown Park.
There was four of us that went go karting. Two of them rides motorcyles. The track had a lot of turns and it was a bit challenging. I had a feeling that the motorcyle riders will go on the track faster than myself. I felt like a grandma on the track. I was scared to go really fast. The first lap I was going really slow. I had to get used to operating a go kart. Then I had to get used to going on that curvy track. Then I challenged myself to go faster. We raced three sessions of 15mins each. In each session I was last :(. The first session was so uncomfortable for me. It was drizzling so my helmet was wet. I pushed my visor up a little because I couldn't wipe off the rain drops. But once I did that, dust particles were flying in my face. By the third session, I was comfortable with using a go kart in the rain and going on the curvy track but my kart wasn't going as fast as I would like it.
Overall it was a fun experience. Maybe I would go faster if it wasn't drizzling. It was a bit expensive but I had an Entertainment Coupon and I saved myself a few dollars.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Day 269: I feel so rejected!
Today I had an appointment with the Canadian Blood Services (http://www.bloodservices.ca/) to donate blood again. I was early for my appointment. They let me proceed eventhough I was early. After I checked in with the receptionist, I went to the next counter where they checked my iron level. To check the iron level, they poke your finger and collect a few drops of blood and put it in a machine and the machine spits out a number or it says yes or no. I'm not exactly sure what it says, but the attendant then tells you if your level of iron is acceptable. If your level is acceptable, then they give you a long questionnaire to fill out. You are only allowed to fill out the top half at this stage.
The questionnaire is another screening process before you get to actually donate your blood. You have to respond truthfully in this questionnaire. It is beneficial to the Canadian Blood Services to make sure they have clean (untainted) blood. In the questionairre there were questions such as if you have had sex for money in the last 12 months, if you were in Africa in the last 3 months, if you had any dental work done in the last 3 days, if you had any tattoos or piercings done in the last 6 months and other similar questions. After you finish that questionairre, you go into a small room and you see an attendent (I think it is a nurse). The nurse then asks you the questions from the bottom half of the questionairre. There are questions such as if you had used drugs with a needle in the last 12 months and other similar questions. While in the room, the nurse takes your blood pressure and your heart rate. The blood pressure and heart rate has to be a certain range for them to let you proceed to donate blood. My blood pressure was fine. My heart rate was a bit high. The nurse asked if I was nervous. I was nervous because I remembered the last time I donated blood. I remembered I felt the needle in me and it felt uncomfortable for the 10 minutes the blood was coming out of me. The nurse tried to calm me down a bit then took my heart rate again. The first time it was 107. The second time was 104. I asked what it had to be for me to proceed. She said it had to be 100 or lower. She said I can come back tomorrow or another day I am free. I was rejected from donating blood because my heart rate was too high :(
The questionnaire is another screening process before you get to actually donate your blood. You have to respond truthfully in this questionnaire. It is beneficial to the Canadian Blood Services to make sure they have clean (untainted) blood. In the questionairre there were questions such as if you have had sex for money in the last 12 months, if you were in Africa in the last 3 months, if you had any dental work done in the last 3 days, if you had any tattoos or piercings done in the last 6 months and other similar questions. After you finish that questionairre, you go into a small room and you see an attendent (I think it is a nurse). The nurse then asks you the questions from the bottom half of the questionairre. There are questions such as if you had used drugs with a needle in the last 12 months and other similar questions. While in the room, the nurse takes your blood pressure and your heart rate. The blood pressure and heart rate has to be a certain range for them to let you proceed to donate blood. My blood pressure was fine. My heart rate was a bit high. The nurse asked if I was nervous. I was nervous because I remembered the last time I donated blood. I remembered I felt the needle in me and it felt uncomfortable for the 10 minutes the blood was coming out of me. The nurse tried to calm me down a bit then took my heart rate again. The first time it was 107. The second time was 104. I asked what it had to be for me to proceed. She said it had to be 100 or lower. She said I can come back tomorrow or another day I am free. I was rejected from donating blood because my heart rate was too high :(
Monday, August 2, 2010
Day 268: Powell St Festival / Chinatown Night Market / Van. Vietnamese Restaurant
Powell Street Festival
This festival took place from July 31 and Aug 1 at the renovated Oppenheimer Park. We couldn't go on Sat, July 31. We ended up going on Sun, Aug 1. We didn't get there until 4:30pm. It ended at 7pm. There many events happening in and around the park area. We parked close to the Japanese Language School. We found out later that there was an exhibit on the atomic bomb and some historic information on the Japanese people in Vancouver.
We walked on one end of the festival and they were selling food; BBQ salmon, sno cones, corn on the cob, spam sushi. We wanted to walk around to see what else the festival was offering in terms of food. We walked across the park viewing some of the merchandise the vendors were selling. Once we got to the other side we saw some more food booths. They were selling octopus balls, gyozas, dessert with red bean filling and tofu items. We were lining up for the red bean desserts when we saw our friends (Hi Laura and Carlos ;) ). They were lining up for the octopus balls. We made a deal with them. We gave them money to get us the octopus balls and they gave us money to get them some red bean dessert. While we were eating our dessert with red bean and octopus balls, there was a drumming performance on the main stage. After that food, we were on a search for more food. We walked to the other side to see what else we felt like eating. We saw a friend of mine and he said there was an exhibit in the Vancouver Buddist Church. We walked in to see what it was all about. The most interesting thing were some minimalistic flower arrangement (see attached picture).
Chinatown Night Market
We left the Powell Street Festival and were heading towards Main Street for some dinner. We drove by Chinatown and noticed that the night market was just starting up. We decided to check it out. Our first destination was bubble tea. While drinking the bubble tea, we walked the whole market, which was only a block long. They were selling the typical night market stuff: ipod / iphone covers, belts, toys, underwear, shoes, clothing, DVD's and Chinese food. We were only there for about 20mins. There was a stage there but we didn't stay for any of the performances. It was dinner time and we were hungry.
Vancouver Vietnamese Restaurant
Full review : http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/vancouver-vietnamese-restaurant.html
This festival took place from July 31 and Aug 1 at the renovated Oppenheimer Park. We couldn't go on Sat, July 31. We ended up going on Sun, Aug 1. We didn't get there until 4:30pm. It ended at 7pm. There many events happening in and around the park area. We parked close to the Japanese Language School. We found out later that there was an exhibit on the atomic bomb and some historic information on the Japanese people in Vancouver.
We walked on one end of the festival and they were selling food; BBQ salmon, sno cones, corn on the cob, spam sushi. We wanted to walk around to see what else the festival was offering in terms of food. We walked across the park viewing some of the merchandise the vendors were selling. Once we got to the other side we saw some more food booths. They were selling octopus balls, gyozas, dessert with red bean filling and tofu items. We were lining up for the red bean desserts when we saw our friends (Hi Laura and Carlos ;) ). They were lining up for the octopus balls. We made a deal with them. We gave them money to get us the octopus balls and they gave us money to get them some red bean dessert. While we were eating our dessert with red bean and octopus balls, there was a drumming performance on the main stage. After that food, we were on a search for more food. We walked to the other side to see what else we felt like eating. We saw a friend of mine and he said there was an exhibit in the Vancouver Buddist Church. We walked in to see what it was all about. The most interesting thing were some minimalistic flower arrangement (see attached picture).
Chinatown Night Market
We left the Powell Street Festival and were heading towards Main Street for some dinner. We drove by Chinatown and noticed that the night market was just starting up. We decided to check it out. Our first destination was bubble tea. While drinking the bubble tea, we walked the whole market, which was only a block long. They were selling the typical night market stuff: ipod / iphone covers, belts, toys, underwear, shoes, clothing, DVD's and Chinese food. We were only there for about 20mins. There was a stage there but we didn't stay for any of the performances. It was dinner time and we were hungry.
Vancouver Vietnamese Restaurant
Full review : http://lisa-restaurants.blogspot.com/2010/08/vancouver-vietnamese-restaurant.html
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 267: Kids Say the Darnest Things !
My mom is currently visiting my sister and her family. She is spending a few months there to help my sister take care of her kids during the kids' summer break. I talked to my mom and my sister earlier today. My mom told me about a situation that happened recently.
My mom is pretty old school. She was raised in a 3rd world country and food was scarce. There was no wasting food. It was about living in a large family and every morsel of food was spoken for. If you didn't finish your food, there was someone else in the family that was more than willing to finish it off for you.
The kids (my niece and nephew) are 'Americanized' (if that is even a word). They were born in California. They were raised with numerous fast food joints in their surroundings. Of course there is always the odd visit to a fast food joint (with a coupon, of course). They live in a very comfortable house with a swimming pool. Each of their parents has a car. They have closets full of clothes. They have lots of toys. They live in the suburbs so they always have to drive every where. Because they live fairly close to Anaheim, there are frequent trips to Disneyland.
My mom and the kids were sitting eating pizza. The kids didn't eat the crust of the pizza. My mom said to the kids 'you have to finish off all your food'. My mom followed up by saying that there are many kids in Africa who don't have food to eat. My nephew, age 3, said to my mom 'then they can go to Costco to buy their food'. My mom and niece giggled at that comment. They know that African kids can't just drive to Costco to get their food. That comment from my nephew shows his innocence and Americanization.
My mom is pretty old school. She was raised in a 3rd world country and food was scarce. There was no wasting food. It was about living in a large family and every morsel of food was spoken for. If you didn't finish your food, there was someone else in the family that was more than willing to finish it off for you.
The kids (my niece and nephew) are 'Americanized' (if that is even a word). They were born in California. They were raised with numerous fast food joints in their surroundings. Of course there is always the odd visit to a fast food joint (with a coupon, of course). They live in a very comfortable house with a swimming pool. Each of their parents has a car. They have closets full of clothes. They have lots of toys. They live in the suburbs so they always have to drive every where. Because they live fairly close to Anaheim, there are frequent trips to Disneyland.
My mom and the kids were sitting eating pizza. The kids didn't eat the crust of the pizza. My mom said to the kids 'you have to finish off all your food'. My mom followed up by saying that there are many kids in Africa who don't have food to eat. My nephew, age 3, said to my mom 'then they can go to Costco to buy their food'. My mom and niece giggled at that comment. They know that African kids can't just drive to Costco to get their food. That comment from my nephew shows his innocence and Americanization.
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