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ELEPHANT & CASTLE AND THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY

If you've read one of my previous posts, you may know that I was planning to go to Grove City, Pennsylvania - for what? Strictly two things: shopping and eating. Going to the Grove City Premium Outlet was a confirmed destination, but we also went to Millcreek Mall on the way there (where I scored some really awesome deals)

Bourbon chicken in the top right - Our favourite from China Max

Our hotel is located 15 minutes away from the outlet by car, so we spent a good half of two days there. And what better fast food to fuel your body for the fast paced shopping than China Max? Through a friendly conversation in Mandarin with the lady at the counter, we got extra packed rice and chicken *Chinese bias*

Why can't all sales racks (at a bra store, I'm trying to be funny) look like this

Maybe it was because it was near closing and they had time to organize their racks, but this the most organized sale rack ever.

From Peace Love and Little Donuts

The first night, Julie and I experienced a bad evening because we just couldn't find anything after scouring through 4 stores! But after finding this cute doughnut shop that was just about to close, our night was made well. I ordered the strawberry cheesecake, she ordered the strawberry... crème? I don't quite remember *sorry*

We didn't end up buying any candy from this bin though!

A stop at a Walmart in the states is almost as natural as a stop to a McDonald's (where we ordered 20 pieces of nuggets for $5). The rest of this post will mainly be pictures. Enjoy~

I love Hello Kitty, and Winnie the Pooh

The hotel we stayed at had free breakfast = morning buffets

Midnight snack: We bought milk and oranges from Walmart

I've never seen this many variety of Monopoly all together...

Our first dinner was at Elephant & Castle. We've been there before from our previous trip to Grove City, and it wasn't that bad! Plus, I had to go again to try their Baileys Cheesecake which I didn't last time.

Julie and I shared this

Grilled chicken, topped with bacon, cheddar and jack cheese, caramelized onion, mushroom, served with garlic-y potatoes.

Baileys cheesecake

It had no Baileys flavour at all - all I tasted was the caramel sauce, but it was still yummy (: Just a very misleading name.

3 Baileys in the back. And yes, that is Frangelico (yellow label)!

+ 2 here = 5!

I think my family and I have a thing for Baileys. We have five 1-L bottles of it, in the original (3), hazelnut, and crème caramel flavour. And after coming back from the states, we added the 1-L biscotti flavour to our collection *yay*

Deep fried cheese, with more cheese on top

Shrimp with Angel Hair

Shrimp sautéed with lemon, garlic, herbs, with sweet basil and tomato on top of angel hair pasta with a touch of marinara sauce. This is my second time having this dish.

Cajun Jambalaya Pasta

Their most popular pasta dish: shrimp and chicken sautéed with tomato, onions and peppers in a very spicy Cajun sauce. All on top of fresh linguine Their linguine is impeccably delicious! And this too is my second time ordering this dish.

Tiramisu Cheesecake

Coffee + liqueur soaked case base, creamy cheesecake, and mascarpone layer, served with their delicious cream (I ate mouthfuls of it), and guess what? It's also my second time eating this one.

I've been eating at The Cheesecake Factory since 4 years ago, and it never fails to impress or satisfy my each time. You should really go there if you happen to visit the states (this is, of course, directing to my non-USA readers)!

To end this lengthy post, I'd like to point out the start of my coffee obsession. I'm not sure if it's something to be proud of or not, but it tastes damn delicious. My future kitchen will consist of Hario products, which I finally found at Williams-Sonoma:

Hario cloth drip

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

I currently am suffering through an intense headache because I didn't have any caffeine at all today! Instead, I spent my time doing assignments, making an awesome sauce for my bucatini *adds to list of things to blog about*

Hario siphon

I'd love to see one of these in action one day.

Hope that when you have gloomy headache days, a cup of coffee will cheer you up!

, by vickichowder

AVOCADO

RECIPE: KIMCHI STEW

I try to eat healthy foods for breakfast whenever I can, because it feels like the only meal where the choices are the least oily or unhealthy. So what do I usually eat for breakfast?

1. Mashed banana mixed with milk and all bran cereal and/or flax seeds

2. Plain yogurt with honey and all bran cereal and/or flax seeds

3. Unsweetened applesauce with all bran cereal and/or flax seeds

4. Mashed avocados with milk and all bran cereal and/or flax seeds

Of the four, I recently snapped a picture of the last one:

Mashed avocado with milk and flax seeds

You must be wondering why I have to include all bran and/or flax seeds, and it's because they're super high in fibre! I'm always worried that the foods I eat throughout the day won't have enough fibre, so I try to eat a substantial amount in the morning. Another plus that should convince you to eat flax seeds as well is that they're rated number one in providing you with your daily recommended value of omega 3 fatty acids (132.9% of your daily value, with just 2 tablespoons!).

So after eating a nice meal for breakfast, it allows me to be a bit more guilty throughout the day...

Creamy white sauce pasta with vegetables and Sriracha

I think Sriracha is an awesome spicy accompaniment to creamy or thick sauces. In times of Tobasco desperation (which is exactly what I'm going through right now), Sriracha is my go-to spicy sauce :)

The reason I like Sriracha and Tobasco is because... I love spicy foods! Or any foods with spicy sauce.

So in today's blog post, I will teach you how to make one of the easiest spicy stews, Kimchi stew! I hope to make cooking this as least intimidating as I can make it, because there really is no experience in the kitchen required for this.

Say what?

No, I didn't lie. You can make this even if you've only lived off making ramen all your life.

You'll need (some/all) the following ingredients:

Oil

Sliced onion

Minced garlic

Sliced pork/beef or canned tuna works too

Hot pepper paste

Chili flakes

Sliced green onion

Kimchi and its juice

Sliced vegetables (I like mushrooms in mine)

Tofu

Ramen

Fish cake

Sesame oil

Of course, these ingredients are just outlines, and you can tweak it around/take away the stuff that's not currently in your pantry (I omitted garlic and meat)/add stuff you like, as with almost all cooking - how convenient :)

First you want to sautee the onions and/or garlic until it's fragrant, then add in everything (except for ramen/tofu and sesame oil). Now pour enough water to submerge everything, put the lid on and let it boil on high for 10 minutes, then lower it to medium (lid on still!) for another 15 minutes or so.

A nice tasting

You should always taste your food while you're cooking so you know if you need to add some sugar or soy sauce to make it yummier. I added a spoon of soy sauce to mine because I found it less salty than I hoped it would be.

Open-lid to take a picture of the boiling-in-process!

After the 25ish minutes of boiling, you can add in your sliced tofu or ramen in (I think either or, because I find it weird to eat tofu and ramen together). Boil for 5 more minutes if you add the tofu, and however long it takes for your ramen needs.

The ramen looks like brains. :O

After the ramen is cooked, I also cracked two eggs because I like eggs whenever I eat spicy foods, remember? Oh yes, and don't forget a drizzle of sesame oil (if you have some on hand).

Steaming hot and ready to serve

Maybe you're complaining because there's no measurements, but hey, I said I wanted to make this very simple for anyone to make, and I think measurements are a little bit intimidating and a hassle. So just put however much you think you can eat - or you and others can eat because people will want to eat with you if you make this! (It smells soo good)

There are times where I don't want to cook - which, yes, really happen. These times include making foods that require deep frying with batter, and so when I really wanted to eat pork cutlet (I've been craving this certain food for a week), I went to a Japanese restaurant to fulfill this oddly specific craving.

We are greeted by a friendly purple carnation and a low sodium soy sauce :)

And warmed with a nice cup of hot green tea.

My pork cutlet(s?)

It came with steamed vegetables (and a nice tangy worcestershire-y sauce), to offset the oil, I suppose, but I could care less. I wanted my meat, deep fried in all its glory, and no vegetables would come in my way.

It's funny I say that because, feeling rather guilty halfway through, I ate the veggies (best friend/girlfriend did help) and eventually left the plate free from greens (and oranges - the carrot).

Until next time, take some time to cook delicious food for yourself!

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

I forgot to take pictures of our Halloween costumes...

How could I forget??? Now I'll have to wear them again someday to take a picture.

Anyway, I have recently conquered my dislike towards deep frying things (it uses so much oil, and make you smell like oil after, and gives you burns when it splatters), and discovered something that I make really well!!

It will be in my next blog post, so look forward to it :)