Summer nights ........ BBQ nights!

It's been a little over 3 weeks since we've moved into our new apartment and not once have all four of us been able to sit down and have dinner together.  I think it has been a combination of work schedules and other various things that have come up, but finally I have a weekday off soooo time to do some cooking!

Thinking about what to make took some time as I rolled around ideas last night and this morning.  I wanted to grill for sure because the day was nice and because we have an awesome gas grill in the courtyard of this complex.  A couple of days ago I was able to get a nice piece of pork shoulder, so my first dish was BBQ pulled pork made in the slow cooker.  Second dish was chicken shish kabobs marinated in ramano sauce.  Third dish, a light shrimp Cajun rice dish, fourth, grilled corn on the cob, fifth apple pie (not made by me but by Fred Meyers), and last and best of all, homemade mango sorbet!

It was a packed menu and took me most of the day to prepare.

Slow cooker BBQ Pulled Pork
 - about 2 lb of pork shoulder
- 1 12 ounce can of rootbeer
- 1 bottle of BBQ sauce ( I like Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle flavor)

• Wash pork and place in slow cooker with one can of rootbeer.  Cook on high for 5-6 hours or until pork falls apart when touched.
• Drain liquid and shred pork.  Pour BBQ sauce over pork and place back in slow cooker for another hour.

  Sweet Baby Rays!

BBQ pulled pork, YUM!

 Cajun Shrimp and Rice
- half to 1 lb of shrimp
- 1 Tbp butter
- 2 Tbp olive oil
- half lime 
- 3 cloves or more of minced garlic
- 2 tsp Cajun seasoning
- 2 plum tomatoes chopped
- 2 bunches of green onion chopped
- 2 cups of cooked white rice
- 3 Tbp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 chopped bell pepper
- half  a cup of mushrooms

• Marinate shrimp in lime juice, olive oil, some Cajun seasoning, and fresh salt and pepper for a couple of hours.
• Heat butter, olive oil, and garlic in skillet.  Add Cajun seasoning and shrimp and cook about a minute. 
• Add tomatoes and green onions then rice along with 1/4 cup of water.
• Stir in parsley towards the end.

 Cajun Shrimp Rice

Ramano Chicken Kabobs

- Chicken breasts in bite sized pieces

- Red bell pepper

- Mushrooms

- Caesar Ramano dressing

- salt and pepper

- skewers

• Marinade chicken in Ramano dressing for 3-4 hours
• Toss bell pepper and mushrooms in olive oil, pepper, and garlic salt
• Thread chicken and vegetables in alternating manner
• Grill on medium heat for about 20 minutes

Kabobs!

Grilling food!

Finally, time to enjoy!

Mango Sorbet
- 3 ripe mangos peeled and cubed
- 3/4 cup of simple syrup (sugar and water in equal parts heated up)
- 2 Tbp fresh lime juice

• Blend cubed mango with lime juice and simple syrup in a blender or food processor until it is a smooth puree.
• Place in ice cream maker.

Hello beautiful mangos!

Make sure you have ripe mangos!

Success!
  

Simple recipes, but just takes some time chopping, shredding, blending, and cooking, but all so worth it. We had a lovely dinner outside in the courtyard under an umbrella.  The weather was nice and cool and tasted even better outside! Can't wait for more summer days!

More Vietnamese Yummies....

More Vietnamese food from Seattle Deli at a get together last night.  Yum yum, I love authentic Vietnamese food! I don't know all the names to the dishes, but here are several pictures for your viewing pleasure.

So much food!!

Love the shrimp spring rolls!!

That is one packed plate!

I was content and very full after eating 2 plates worth of food. I know, how did I ever manage to finish off two plates? Well, it was surprisingly very easy when one thing after another tastes so wonderful! People, Seattle Deli is the place to go for some good food.  Happy eating!

Hiking Adventures in the Pacific Northwest

Today was a beautiful sunny day in Washington state. I had the day off and one of my roomies did as well , soooo what better way to spend the day then to go for a hike!! We had perused the different hiking trails close to the Seattle area and found a trail at Lake Serene- Bridal Veil Falls in the Central Cascades- Stevens Pass West, Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.  The reviews off of the Washington Trails Association were great and we were up for the moderate to hard hike so long as we got to see the beautiful waterfall and lake.

Ready, set, go!

We set off at 8:00 am and after a few wrong turns, finally made it to the trailhead.  The hike started off fairly nice, but soon turned challenging.  We were huffing and puffing by the time we reached the sign that directed us to Bridal Veil Falls.  It was only 0.5 miles, but that half mile felt forever because of the switchbacks and the steepness of the trail.  The end result was well worth it though. We were awed by the spectacular waterfall that roared down the huge granite stones.  It was nice and refreshing to sit by the falls and eat a snacks.  The next part of our hike was the hardest stretch.  We came back down the 0.5 mile and headed up another path to Lake Serene.  It was another 2 miles uphill with multiple switchbacks, rocky paths galore, and cute bridges and pathways before we got to the lake, but oh my Lake Serene was gorgeous! It looked like a scene out of a National Geographic magazine.  The lake was clear and serene with granite slabs that stretched high into the sky with waterfalls in the distance which we could hear clear as day from where we sat.  The sun spread its warmth on us as we sat down for a break and snack and we basked in it for a bit.  God is good!

To Bridal Falls!

Stairs and Bridal Falls!

Gorgeous!

Giant tree that fell & some uphill climbing!

Lake Serene

(check out those granite slabs!

So peaceful

 Ohhhh lunch?

Lunch rock, time to rock out lunch!

Tired feet need a break

Finally we packed up our bags and got ready to head down to the car.  It was an arduous journey and our legs were fatigued already with the uphill climb, but coming down required the use of more calves and quads and boy were we tired! We also had to be more careful because of all the rocks and watch out that we didn't twist an ankle.  An hour and a half later from when we left the lake, we made it back to our car.  It was hot! We saw a bunch of other hikers on our descent and were glad that we had started early to beat most of the heat.  It was a long day, we're exhausted, but happy for the day trip.  Hopefully we'll get more hikes in and you'll see a few more blogs on them!

Until next time!

Lake Serene-Bridal Veil Falls
Central Cascades -- Stevens Pass
WestMount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest

Oh Canada!

I've only crossed the border to oh Canada twice in the four years that I have been here and yesterday was the second time.  The day started off gloomy with clouds in the sky and a gray overcast when the bunch of about 18 or so friends and I turned on the engine to start our 2 hour drive to the northern border.

Waiting to get into Canada

Things took a turn for the better at the border as the sun came out and we got to our first destination.... dim sum at Sun Siu Wah in Richmond.  Chinese food in Canada is what can I say, yum!  Although some of the dishes were just ok, the service was relatively quick in the beginning and our table of 9 definitely had enough to eat.

Dim sum in Richmond!

Siu mai and Ha gao

Mango pancake, chicken feet, char siu bao

My favorite, sticky rice!

Cheong fun

Jin dui (fried sesame ball) & dan tat (egg tart)

Baked tapioca pudding

I was full off of dim sum, so much that we didn't really need to eat anything until dinner time.  The restaurant was relatively full of Chinese people, always a good sign that it is a good place to be.  Instead of the standard push carts with food that I was used to seeing, this place had a list where we checked off the items we wanted and the quantity.  I don't quite remember the prices of each dish, but it was a bit pricier than other dim sum places I have been too. All in all though, I was satisfied with Sun Sui Wah. 

After eating we did a bit of shopping at Aberdeen Centre and then headed off to Queen Elizabeth Park where we saw the rose gardens and some cool fountains.  Most of our time in Canada was spent in Richmond and because of the constraint of time we mostly ate and shopped.  Our last stop before we left was Yaohan Centre where a bakery and food court occupied most of our time before we made the long drive back to Seattle.

Eggballs

Roses!

Cute cakes at the bakery!

Dinner at the food court!

(All this for $6, 4 sides + noodles)

 

It was a long day and I was tired although mostly what I did was sit on my derriere and feed my stomach.  Canada is nice to visit once in a while I realize, but I'm content also to just stay and find yummy things to eat here in Seattle.  Oh Canada, thanks for the good eats and scenery!

Home sweet home!

Sun Sui Wah

B.C. V6X 3A5

Ph: 604.273.8208

1.866.683.8208

Aberdeen Centre

Richmond, British Columbia V6X 3S1,
Canada‎ - (604) 270-1234‎

Yaohan Centre

3700 No. 3 Road, Richmond B.C. V6X 3X2
Tel: 604.231.0601 Fax: 604.231.0602

Happy Fourth of July! Quiche for Brunch Anyone?

We had our first get together at our new place this morning with an informal brunch for some friends.  My roommates and I put together a spread of food.  I made a quiche along with fried rice to accompany the taro pancakes, apple cake, and fruit smoothies that were served.  This quiche recipe has never failed me each time I've made it and I like it because I can add and adjust ingredients as needed.  It's fairly simple as far as the basic recipe which calls for eggs, cheese, and milk.

Crustless Quiche
- six eggs
- 2 cups of shredded cheese (any type you prefer)
- 4 strips of cooked bacon chopped
- 1/2-1 C of frozen spinach drained or 6 cups of fresh spinach cooked
- half a container of sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 an onion diced
- 1 roma tomato diced
- 2 stalks of green onion sliced
- 1/2 C milk
- salt and pepper to taste

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees C.
• Saute onions and mushrooms and let cool.  Defrost frozen spinach and drain.
• In large bowl beat eggs.  Add milk, shredded cheese, salt and pepper to bowl and mix. 
• Combine well bacon and sauteed vegetables to the egg, cheese, and milk mixture.  
• Pour into a deep dish pie pan and place in oven to cook 35-40 minutes.  

All the ingredients waiting to be used

Finished product!

Quiche, fried rice, taro pancakes, apple cake

 Simple, delicious, and even nutritious! Everyone can make this quiche and its quick to put together as well .  The hardest part may be dicing the vegetables and you might strain a bicep beating those eggs but other then that, it is easy enough.  Happy Fourth of July!

Vietnamese Lunch!

We had a treat today as our friend "made" us Vietnamese food! By made I mean she went to Seattle Deli and bought some delicious Vietnamese dishes for lunch.  I don't know the names of all the foods, but enjoy the pictures.  I assure you that it tasted great and we were pleasantly full.

Part of the spread

Tuna

Stuffed tofu

Spicy Chicken

Mochi Balls

Banana wrapped sticky rice 

with coconut sauce

Seattle Deli

22618 Highway 99
Edmonds, WA 98026

Chicken Curry

Growing up, my Indonesian born dad would make my family this great chicken curry.  I have yet to be able to replicate it, but recently I was over at my cousin's house and she made a version of it in her crock pot.   It was delicious! Since this past week was busy, I thought I'd experiment and try making it as well in my crock pot.

Dad's Chicken Curry
- 4 pieces of chicken thigh
- 1 can of coconut milk
- 1-1/2 Tbsp curry powder
- 3 potatoes cubed
- 4 carrots cut
- 1 onion diced
- 3 pieces of ginger
- 1 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper to taste

• Peel and cut potatoes, carrots, and onion.  Place to the side. 
• Wash chicken and out into bite size pieces.  Saute in pan for a browned edge.
• Mix coconut milk, chicken broth, curry powder, and salt and pepper together.
• Place vegetables in crock pot, along with ginger, and end with chicken on top.  Pour liquids over the top of chicken and mix everything together. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
• Turn on crock pot and let cook for 6-7 hours.

 Everything ready to go!

Turn it on and lets see how it turns out!

As I left for work, I thought that there was perhaps maybe too much liquid in the pot.  There was one can of the coconut milk plus an additional cup of chicken broth.  I was thinking there may not be enough saltiness to the dish as the only extra salt besides the broth was from when I had sprinkled the chicken before searing.  I came home and discovered that yes, there was too much liquid and the sauce did not thicken as much as I wanted and yes, more salt was needed.  It didn't taste bad, but it didn't taste like my dad's chicken curry.  Oh well, I tried.  I think this dish may be better to do on the stove top so that I can adjust according to taste.  You live and you learn and that's the beauty of cooking!