A Lebonese Meal ... Made with Love

Now what kind of Lebanese meal would this be without fresh finely chopped parsley? We embarked on another one of our cultural themed nights and my friend RHM truly outdid herself. How? By slaving away over the cutting board, slicing and dicing the fine particles of tabouli ingredients you see above so that we luvas could enjoy the true authenticity of our first Lebanese meal in.

While us hungry hippos waited on the main, we stuffed ourselves silly with fresh black olives (the best are from the Parthenon Supermarket I'm told), two types of pita bread, AHM's delicious fresh hummous (RHM's momma whom I had the pleasure of meeting and watching MJ's 'This Is It' with!) and the refreshing tabouli I mentioned above.

Sizzling in the oven was RHM's roasted paprika covered chicken drumsticks. Yum!

Nicely plated and paired with roasted potatoes, and dipped in RHM's special garlic 'toum' sauce (and when I say garlic, I mean 10 cloves of garlic spicy-ness) and with a bit of ketchup, we were well on our way to experiencing a night of wonder and intrigue for our tastebuds.

For dessert, I whipped up a simple and crunchy apple pear crumble. Diced and doused in cinnamon, rolled oats, flour, and brown sugar, my crumble came out of the oven crispy and ready to serve. We also had the privlege of pairing our dessert with Thomas Haas' famous 'sparkle cookie' (the bakeable version). PY picked up this delicious delight from Urban Fare and we popped them into the oven and they came out resembling mini lava cakes. Deemed the world's best cookie, this truffle, dessert, or whatever it is, is rich in chocolate and perfect with a scoop of Vanilla ice cream.

The Perfect Pork Tenderloin

Another lovely meal at my sister's place to celebrate my cousin LW getting on the honor roll for the first time! His special request was scalloped potatoes so it was specially prepared for him along with a few other dishes. Nachos is a quick appetizer that is easily prepared and fun to chow down on. Made with marble cheese, jalapeno peppers and sides of guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Always a fun munchie while watching sports on TV!

I was feeling quite lazy to whip up my own guacamole and opted to buy a pre-packaged one from Urban Fare. This Western Family's guacamole was actually super tasty, but a bit on the pricey side.

A lovely fresh salad is a staple to every meal to compliment the heavy protein and carbs, and to keep you regular! Here we have some spinach tossed with strawberries, goat cheese and nicely toasted pine nuts! (Pine nuts are really expensive, btw.) I love nuts in salads!

And here is LW's prized possession. Scalloped potatoes thinly sliced and layered in butter, marble and Parmesan cheese and milk. Then baked until a bubbly brown crust appears, this side dish satisfies your stomach like no other!

For the main course, LC marinated her pork tenderloin in fresh thyme, rosemary, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste and JC grilled it to perfection on the BBQ.

The middle pieces were juicy and plump with flavor oozing in every bite!

Ta Da! Dinner at LC's never gets boring and there is always more than enough to go around and bring home for leftovers!

My Quick and Easy to Cook Seafood Creations!

This appetizer I'm about to share with y'all is a Phan party favorite! It's super easy to pull together with a guaranteed 'party in your mouth' flavor! Warning, the ingredients are a slight bit on the fattier side so diet-conscious people, watch out! Combine 1 cup of mayo, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese, 1 package of an 8 ounce cream cheese, 4 cloves of garlic, and two cans of crab meat (make sure you select a can with crab legs!), mix together and scoop in a pan or container for baking! At 350 Celsius, bake for 45 minutes until a crispy golden brown on top and serve with tortilla chips, bread or my favorite, Stacey's pita chips. Trust me, everyone will be drooling over this!

Next up is this delicious Atlantic Salmon Salad recipe that my sister LC passed along to me. Again, really quick to prepare and a potluck fave! Lay the filet of salmon out on foil and season with salt, pepper, fresh dill, and slices of lemon (don't forget to squeeze all over as well). In the oven it goes at 350 Celsius just for a mere 30 minutes and you have yourself an amazingly moist and tasteful fish! We love to top this dish off with Olivieri's Sundried Tomato Pesto sauce and served over a fresh garden salad as you can see below! This was my contribution to our DC reunion potluck and the rest of the yummy dishes and photos are yet to come in another post! Happy cooking!

Best paired with Urban Fare's Shiitake Sesame Vinaigrette Dressing, one of my favorite salad dressings that I've mentioned before.

Drowning our Canucks Sorrows in Delicious Desserts

While screaming and shouting for the Canucks to try and redeem themselves after a pitiful score against the Hawks, my friends and I regained sanity with sugar and berries. You might recognize this treat from an earlier post - this is just the gigantic version. The famous fruit flan from Urban Fare. It was a special celebration of the birth dates of two of my piggy friends, JV and PY. And a third piggy was there, the host DC. Seriously, please go out and try this dessert. The best part is the secret layer of white chocolate between the white cream filling and perfect pie crust. For some reason, the mini versions are 'fruit tarts' but the larger pie is referred to as 'fruit flan'. Weird.

I also had to include pictures of this cutely packaged and scrumptious looking homemade S'more from Butter Baked Goods. I can't personally review this dessert because the birthday girls wouldn't open to share. =( However, I am sure it tasted as divine as it looked. Apparently, Butter's 'Homemade Oreo' made it on Van Mag's Best Things to Eat and Drink in Vancouver 2009 list.

Oh and I also have to give a quick shout out to my fellow foodie/piggy cousin JV and her food blog: Foodmatik! Check it out - she is definitely the go-to-girl for restaurant recommendations!

A Salad Ain't Nothin' Without The Dressin'

My new favorite salad dressing. Vidalia Onion by Golding's from Costco. Two 1L bottles for just $6.99 - what a steal! The taste reminds me of a creamier poppy seed dressing with a zesty onion kick. My other favorites are Three Cheese Ranch by Kraft and Shitake Mushroom Vinaigrette by Urban Fare.

Cooking with Korma

mmMMmm, I love homemade lunches. While I am still trying to hone my cooking skills, sauce in a jar works for me! I tried out a korma (cream and coconut) sauce from one of my daily strolls to Urban Fare, and added chicken and sweet potato to it (as you can see simmering nicely in the pan above). And of course, smothered over my staple, Uncle Ben's Rice mixed with some yellow peppers and zucchini. A perfect lunch to split and dine with salad.

Let's Just Face It Y'all, I Ain't Cut Out To Be A Vegetarian

The Foundation Veggie Burger. The 2nd time I've had a no meat burger (1st time from Urban Fare). I'm sorry but I think I just fooled myself. Every time I bit into the burger, I expected a moist, juicy chunk of meat. Beef, chicken fish, anything! And that's why I think I was disappointed. I even tried to coat it with cheese, but refrained from adding the veggie bacon. It ain't just for me and I'm not afraid to admit it. However, their fresh salad with homemade mango/papaya (?) dressing and sunflower seeds was really yummy!

We also shared the Hummous and Yam dips. Generously served in mountainfuls, the yam dip (which tasted like it was straight up pureed) is a must try - Give it a whirl!

Pay the Price, for the Nice ... Fresh Fruit!

Working downtown has many perks. Good shopping, great restaurants, and having Urban Fare on the same block. Although their prices are a bit steep, some of their items are well worth it. 4 Grapples for $5.99 = a price my mom would complain about. However, the juicy grape aroma that breathes from these grapples are heaven. I put them right on my desk, just so that I can catch a whiff of these babies. I also need to point out that I don't even usually like eating apples, but I love apple juice. Paired with raspberry/blackberry fruit tarts (also from Urban Fare), this light treat is perfect for a summer dessert.

PS - The grapples were also featured in my homemade salad below in the Swiss Chalet post. It was divine.