Eat! Vancouver 2013

 

Another year of Eat! Vancouver has ended. 2012 was my first experience at this annual food festival and had such a good time I couldn't wait for the 2013 dates to be announced. Once the dates were out, I immediately marked my calendar and recruited friends to join me in eating Vancouver.

On a grey Saturday morning, Coconut Crumpet, Peanut Crumpet, and a fellow friend (who has given herself the name of Clumsy One) ventured into the city of Vancouver at 9am to arrive at the stadium on time to see Anna Olson's first show of the day. We got there juuuust before the opening time of 10am and there was already a line up of people waiting to get in!. The line up had already created a 'U' shape by the time we got into the building. More on our encounter with celebrity chefs at the end of the post!

Let's talk about food now...

Kitchening & Co.

Kitchening & Co. Macarons and Chocolate Ginger Cookie

During my visit to the Eat! Vancouver festival this year, I picked up a few goodies from Kitchening & Co. to bring home. I had a few extra tickets to spend and the flavours were appealing so it seemed like perfect chance to try something new. 

I first ate the Chocolate Ginger Cookie. I prefer the soft, chewy cookies over crisp, thin ones, so this one was right up my alley! It was surprising to find chunks, large chunks, of chocolate within the cookie. I appreciate that they didn't skimp on the chocolate (the cookie itself should already have cocoa powder), but I think the cookie would be better without the massive slabs of chocolate. The ginger flavour and texture was just right; it's a delicious cookie, just as I had read from Foodology while eating breakfast the morning of my visit.

Black Sesame Macaron & Toasted Coconut Macaron

The amount of coconut-flavoured products I consumed at the Eat! Vancouver festival was innumerable. Peanut Crumpet and our fellow 'Clumsy One' can confirm that. So, seeing that Kitchening & Co. carried a Toasted Coconut macaron, I couldn't pass it up. Obviously, toasted coconut tastes so much better than just coconut. Just like how toasted nuts are more fragrant that raw ones. Anywho, the smell of the coconut was present before I even bit into it. The taste of the coconut wasn't as strong as the smell, but it wasn't too lacking. I'm not quite sure what the filling flavour was, but I remember it to be a bit tangy. The Toasted Coconut macaron was the better tasting one out of the two I tried.

The Black Sesame macaron let me down. There was no black sesame flavour, or aroma. In fact, it had a bit of a strange taste to it... The filling was too sweet and overpowered the already nonexistent black sesame flavour. If you're looking for a good black sesame treat, this one isn't it.

Despite that one disappointing flavour, I am still interested in trying more of their macarons. Macarons are finicky so the same recipe can yield completely different results depending on the flavour. The macarons themselves were well made and looked cute, small and tall. If you're a macaron fan, Kitchening & Co. is worth a try. They don't have a store front but check their website for events they'll attend or go to any Urban Fare market and they'll carry the macarons.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡

Bon Vivant Fashion Cafe

Having nothing in particular to do on this Victoria Day holiday, my best friend went to find ourselves a place to sit down and chat over lunch. She brought me to Bon Vivant Fashion Cafe inside Henderson Mall. They serve simple foods for lunch, extravagant waffles, a wide range of bubble tea, and supposedly desserts. 

Clam Chowder

For lunch, we both ordered a soup and sandwich combo, plus a cold drink. Out of the four soups available today, we both chose a small clam chowder. A small soup (8 oz.) with sandwich is about $4, plus an extra $0.50 for clam chowder or chilli. This clam chowder is not your usual white, creamy, New England version. Instead I believe it is the Manhattan version. One serving is quite a bit, despite not looking like much. Also, there are a lot of clams in this small bowl. I enjoyed it more than I prepared myself to, so I'm glad it was a worth the money.

Kimbap Cheonguk 김밥천국

Kimbap Cheonguk, meaning kimbap heaven, is a tiny gem located in the heart of Koreatown. Always filled with Korean customers, you know you can trust this place.

I've passed this small complex countless times but never bothered to venture in until Peanut Crumpet and I were looking for lunch at 2pm on a Saturday after visiting the Winter's Farmers Market back in April. With a growling stomach and not much cash left (since we spent it on mushrooms and tomatoes...) we were seated and given a simple menu. 

The interior is very narrow and only holds, give or take, 10 tables. I would recommend going in groups of six or less. It appears to be a family-run business, with the dad and son cooking in the kitchen and the mom and daughter serving. 

The menu is limited, with many items being more 'snack-like'. But that doesn't mean you can't make a meal out of it! Their kimbap is the best I've had; the seaweed is still crispy, perfect ratio of rice to filling... I've been craving it since my first visit and dragged my family to go again this past Saturday. Good to know they live up to their restaurant name.

3rd Tier: Mocha Cheesecake Squares, Coconut Muffin, and Green Tea Cream Puff

DIY Mother's Day High Tea at Coconut Crumpet's Home

As a dessertatarian, this is obviously the most exciting tier. The fact that I prepared an excess amount of each recipe didn't really bother me. That meant I would have dessert to last me a week, mwahahaha! There were a few bumps along the way during my baking of these desserts. A malfunctioning convection oven, running out of all purpose flour, burning this, burning that... Nevertheless, the guests didn't notice so let's just keep it between us, ok?

2nd Tier: Quiches, Scones, and Devonshire Cream

DIY Mother's Day High Tea at Coconut Crumpet's home

Not having enough room on this middle tier, there are a mix of sweet and savoury goods here. My massive Lemon Cranberry Scones hogged a lot of room and there was already an overload of finger sandwiches on the lower tier. To solve this space problem, I used a few dinner plates to hold the rest of the servings of food, including the French Onion Crab Rounds and desserts. 

Continue reading for some delicious scone recipes!

1st Tier: French Onion Crab Dip and Healthy Tuna Salad

Need something quick to stuff into your sandwich or a few appetizers for your guests to nibble on? Below are two quick and versatile recipes! 

You never know when you'll get inspiration to create some delicious food. It may not always be gourmet, but it's still a crowd pleaser. My mom got this two ingredient Crab Dip idea from Costco when she was eating a sample. On the day of my Mother's Day High Tea, I forgot to put this together earlier and had to do it as our guests were arriving. Luckily, it literally takes under 5 minutes to do.

French Onion Crab Dip

Yield: ~2 to 3 cups

Ingredients

• 1 small package of imitation crab meat
• 1 small box of Heluva Good French Onion dip

Directions

1. Chop crab meat into very small pieces. About half centimetre cubes.
2. Mix crab meat with dip until evenly distributed.
3. Serve with Mary's Organic Crackers. They are my favourite, and my grandma's new found favourite!

-♡-

This tuna salad recipe is so quick and easy, it's almost ridiculous. I usually make this when there is a big tub of yogurt or assorted veggies that need to be eaten. It's as healthy as a tuna salad can get!

Healthy Tuna Salad

Adapted from an old recipe I found online

Yield: Enough to fill 3 sandwiches

Ingredients 

• 1 (6 oz) can of tuna 
• About ½ cup thinly chopped vegetables of your choice (ex. celery, carrot, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, corn kernels)
• ¼ cup plain yogurt 
• 2 tbsp sweet relish 
• 1 green onion, or fresh chopped herbs 
• ½ tsp mustard Freshly ground black pepper

 Directions

1. Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Adjust consistency and flavours as you mix.

DIY High Tea for Mother's Day

DIY Mother's Day High Tea by Coconut Crumpet

To celebrate Mother's Day, as well as my mama's birthday, I prepared a high tea lunch for her and a group of close friends to enjoy. It took three or four days to prepare as one would never have enough time to cook, bake, and assemble everything in one day. With some helping hands and baking elves, this ambitious project of mine was successfully presented. Even if it was with [not purposely] mismatched dishes and a plastic tablecloth...

Sharing high tea with a group of friends is truly an experience every foodie should have, whether it be at a restaurant or hosting one yourself. It's a rare chance to dress up and act like a bunch of rich old grannies sitting at a beautifully adorned table having quality gossip time. That is the Crumpets' dream life as retirees.   

My love for high tea has grown significantly after this party. I just picked up 3 sets of tiered trays from Costco in preparation for any other opportunities for me to host another high tea. They only have 2 tiers, but hey, it was $6!

Below is the menu for that day's high tea. Recipes for select goods will be accessible through the links. The ones with no links are because there isn't really a recipe, the words you read are all the ingredients used. There just ain't much to it.
 

Open-faced Cucumber Cream Cheese Sandwich

Smoked Salmon Cream Cheese Sandwich

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Bell Pepper, Mushroom, and Cheese Quiche

Shrimp and Avocado Crostini

French Onion Crab Round

Mini Bacon and Cheese Scone

Lemon Cranberry Scone

Devonshire Cream

Mocha Cheesecake Square

Coconut Muffin

Green Tea Cream Puff

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries with Toasted Almonds

Meyer Lemon Custard Tart

Meyer Lemon Custard Tart

It looks like the Hong Kong egg tart's magnified relative. The more tangy one.

This is what I do with a long weekend and 2 bags of meyer lemons. Continuing on with my meyer lemon extravaganza, today's meyer lemon recipe had it's pros and cons. The appearance was pretty and I love the vibrant colours of the tart. The flavour of meyer lemons, not just any plain ol' lemon, was dominant and refreshing. The crust was flaky, yes, but far too oily when it came out of the oven. After refrigeration, I found the crust to be a bit too hard to cut through. Not sure if all crusts are like that... Also, my family found that the bottom was ever so slightly soggy. Is that avoidable? Sigh, I still have a lot to learn with pie crust making. 

As you can see, I'm a terrible pie crust maker, and this pie crust was just as successful (or not successful) as all my previous attempts. The crust shrunk a lot after being blind baked, so I had to half the custard recipe to ensure it didn't overfill. So I suppose it looks more like a round lemon bar than a creamy tart. If you're a master pie crust-maker, then double the filling recipe to have a thicker layer of custard. The custard is worth a try as I enjoyed it more than I expected myself to!

Purple Sweet Potato Loaf...That's Green!

I am a firm supporter of eating a rainbow of food. Whole foods to be exact. Not only does it make any dish look more appealing and impressive, it's also an effective way of consuming many essential nutrients. It's easy to incorporate reds and greens, oranges and yellows. But what about blue and purple? Those two colours are probably the hardest to even find.

Purple Sweet Potato

Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Salad with Meyer Lemon Balsamic Vinaigrette

The smell of meyer lemons are intoxicating. I can't help but stick my nose by these lemons every time I pass them at the supermarket. They're the 'sweet and tart' descendant of normal lemons. If you want to make the best out of lemon recipes, meyer lemons are the way to go.

Meyer Lemons

To start off my rainy long weekend, I brought home two bags of meyer lemons. Springtime is the season for these babies, so I feel so festive using them in recipes now. They are super cheap, only $1 for both bags! But that was because they were old stock and were getting squishy and soft. Not going to stop Coconut Crumpet from experimenting with their flavours! I've been itching to cook with meyer lemons for the longest time, due to my obsession with their smell. 

The fastest way to deal with these over-ripe lemons was to start juicing them! There is a large box of mixed greens sitting my fridge still waiting to be cleared, so salad it is! This dressing is similar to my basic honey balsamic vinaigrette, but fresher, lighter, and tangy-er. Even more suitable for the warm season ahead. I can't wait for summer~

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

A quick post today to share one of my favourite salad dressings. I have used this dressing on so many salads as it is a crowd pleaser and can be made in such a short period of time. 

For mother's day brunch earlier today, I made a simple mixed greens side salad involving this Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing. To add some colour, I threw in some sliced strawberries and chopped sweet yellow bell pepper. I actually let the strawberries and peppers sit in the dressing while I attended church and poured it over the greens when it was time to plate. That way, the greens don't get soggy by the time you serve the salad.

Since this is a thin and runny dressing, a little bit goes a long way. Just remember the ratio of balsamic vinegar to honey to olive oil of 2:2:1 so you can use any utensil laying around to measure.

A common combination for this sweet balsamic dressing is with spinach, strawberries, and goat cheese. Maybe throw in a few toasted nuts and dried fruit for more texture. Yum!

Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

Yield: Enough for 8 handfuls of greens

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

1. In a small bowl, add all ingredients and whisk until well combined.
2. If the honey is too solid, microwave for a few seconds to melt and whisk again.
3. Can be stored in the fridge until ready to add to veggies.

Love from Coconut Crumpet's Corner ♡ 

Chocolate Coconut Pudding

Chocolate Coconut Pudding

Yes, another coconut post. What can I do, I am Coconut Crumpet and therefore must live up to my name.

Mango Coconut Mac-nut Bread

Mango Coconut Macadamia Nut Bread and the star ingredients

We have been experiencing near 30 degree weather; summer is near, summer is near! As you may already know, my mood is heavily influenced by the weather. Sunny days make me very happy, which aids me through a week of tests at school. On weekends, it is my time to relax and take a break.

A weekend is not complete without doing some baking (but it can be complete without studying biology...-guilty-). This loaf is my attempt at packing Hawaii into a pan. Hawaii is truly paradise, and I am eager to return there. But for now, this loaf will have to do.