The Best Ice Cream Sandwich in the World?

April 24, 2015May 1, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

Cookies are something I have a weakness for. Many moons ago, when I was entered into the Miss Chinatown beauty contest, I was about 10 pounds heavier than I wanted to be, so I went on a 5-day-liquids-only fast. On day 4 of this fast, a friend left a pear in my sight and I felt like Eve beholding the forbidden fruit. I held the pear in my hands as if it was a new-born baby. I brought it up to my nose and inhaled its intoxicating, heady “pearfume”. I was playing with fire! Before I knew it, I brought this devil fruit to my lips and almost sunk my teeth into its flesh….then I came to my senses. Close call! When I made it to the end of the five days, can you guess how I broke this fast? Not with a delicious juicy pear, no, it was with a Chip Ahoy cookie, and then another, and then another, until I had polished off several. It was not the proudest moment of my life. And neither was the actual pageant, but I will save that for another post.

Continue reading →

Lemon Sunshine Cake

April 3, 2015April 10, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

Easter is upon us. For me, it is a reminder that we can all have a fresh start. After days and days of grey, gloomy wet weather, that stretch into weeks with nary a ray of sunshine, you think you can’t bear to put on your trench coat and rubber boots yet again. Then, all of a sudden, the days grow longer and the sun pokes its head out more; tulips, daffodils and fragrant hyacinths are in full bloom. And that is when I feel the stirrings in my heart of new possibilities.

Continue reading →

Valentine to a Golden Birdie

February 13, 2015March 12, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

It wasn’t love at first sight, not even second sight. My “date” was quite verbose, but I was seduced by his vulnerability, the ease with which he stripped his….heart bare (clothes stayed on). Once I fell into his grasp, I fell hard for him. My husband knew of this love affair, and was fine with it because the object of my affection is a book, The Goldfinch. I devoured it for hours at a time, good thing I don’t have kids, otherwise I would surely have Child Services knocking on my door. I was swept away by the raw beauty of Donna Tartt’s writing, and how the main character wooed me into his inner life. The story unwound itself page by page and wrapped itself around me in sensurround. The Goldfinch in the title of the book refers to an actual painting that became very dear to the main character, but please go read it for yourself if you haven’t already.

I wanted to make an edible Valentine to The Goldfinch, and thought something lemony would be fitting. I decided to create golden cupcakes that are tart and sweet, which is one of the book’s messages, that is – even though your life may be sour, sweetness can still be found. Because the book is so substantial in content and length I wanted my cupcakes to be dense and substantial, almost like a pound cake quality. For the love of The Goldfinch, below is my Valentine cupcake recipe.

Continue reading →

Gastown Grazing

January 30, 2015March 12, 2015 / Kake2Kale | Culinary Travel Adventures

One of Kale’s favourite foodie activities in Vancouver is hanging out in Gastown for a progressive dinner with friends. They hop from restaurant to restaurant for different courses throughout the evening. It can be called a dine-around or dinner crawl, depending on their mood; but the places are spontaneously selected and no two evenings are the same. That’s the fun part! For those of you less familiar with Vancouver, Gastown is a stylish, historic neighbourhood in the city centre and considered a hub for unique dining. Since most of Kale’s gastronomic experience of Gastown is nocturnally-driven, she thought a progressive lunch would be a good Kake2Kale challenge. And, to up the ante, Kale wanted to find comfort dishes, with superfoods, that can be eaten in a bowl. At first, I was skeptical and thought we could only eat pasta and soup. But Kale convinced me to be open and surprised by what we might find. I’m glad she did, and without any plans, here is how we grazed our way through Gastown on a rainy January afternoon!

Flying Pig
The Truffled Cauliflower Gratin with 4 cheeses on the menu of the Flying Pig restaurant peeked our interest. Kale and I knew we HAD to have it. As we were giving our order, the server suggested we order the brussel sprouts as well. They were served in boats, which was bowl-like enough for us. Wow, the brussel sprouts were outstanding. They were roasted with capers, which brought a brightness to the earthy flavor of the sprouts. The cauliflower, however, was a little underwhelming as they were under cooked. Please bear in mind I am not a restaurant reviewer, but I do know what I like. The cheeses were yummy though – white cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan. Cauliflower and brussel sprouts are both cruciferous vegetables which have indole-3-carbinol and promotes a healthy balance of good estrogen. They also have anti-tumour properties and are high in fibre. So we were off to a good start!

Jules Bistro
For a romantic meal where you feel like you’ve been whisked away to an intimate, pretty, little jewel (pun intended) of a restaurant in France, Jules Bistro is the place for you. More importantly, the food is delicious as well! We ordered a bowl of mussels with a leek cream sauce, which turned out to be light and flavourful. The sauce was sooo delicious, and I couldn’t stop dipping chunks of baguette into it. We went in search of our next course after being fortified with protein, Omega 3’s as well as minerals – like calcium, zinc and iron – from the mussels. Continue reading →