vickichowder: TEA

HWA SUN JI, LA KTOWN

After a I-did-not-know-my-stomach-could-stomach-that-much-food kind of meal, you wonder what the next logical thing to do is. And that is, of course, to take a walk to make enough room for part two of your late, late, lunch, in order to enjoy afternoon tea.

So we took a walk (for a good half hour maybe), where, under the hot LA sunshine, our feelings of itis was elevated even more so than before, and stopped by this tea house in hopes of resting to prepare ourselves for the 36 hour hackathon to come.

When you need something thirst quenching (and this is for the kind of thirst that resides in your throat), this Korean sauna/bathhouse staple drink is pretty damn refreshing. And because you're at a tea house and not a jimjilbang, it's served with slivers of ice in a bowl, and a wooden spoon. It's made with fermented rice, and reminds me of the barley/rice/soy sweet drinks back in Malaysia. Slightly to sweet for my liking. Good

Never understood how people could ever have shaved ice with syrup and find it so delicious now - though back as a child (who am I kidding, I'm still a child) I'd shave my own ice and drizzle of cherry red and berry blue syrups and be all happy in my own little summer bubble - because after bingsoo, you'll want to always have ten thousand toppings on your shaved ice. Including, but not limited to: condensed milk, endless fruits, red bean, kinako, ice cream, mochi, crisps, whipped cream, brown sugar syrup... Good

I thought, okay, green tea can't be that different - I know there's matcha and the leafy green tea and so all the other types of green tea that isn't powder must fall under the latter flavour profile, right? How foolish of me to think that way. This was so good I even went to David's Tea to order it when I came back to Canada. The cup houses a tea filter, and a mini kettle of hot water is kept with you so you can continuously enjoy a cup of steeped tea.

You also get a never-ending serving of seaweed crackers. And a cup of roasted rice tea to bid us farewell

So extremely relaxing, we almost ended up taking a nap here. We had the whole place to ourselves, save the ahjumma who took good care of us, and there was a mini waterfall. She told us that this place isn't as popular during afternoons as it is after dinnertime.

Rose tea

So I came here again on a weekday night (after a different kbbq), and it was extremely busy, as ahjumma had said. Young and old people come here, but mainly only Koreans. I've been blessed with living with a Korean family for 4 months that I can get by as a Korean, but there is also an english menu, and when language fails, you just need to point to what you want.

Science Museum

The night we came here, we took a bus, and the driver was the best. At every stop, he'd declare, not the stop names, but:

Everyone! Mucho good night

Have a mucho good dreams!
Have a mucho good sleep!

Mucho!... (and other mucho - prefixed things)

All the bus patrons were smiling and so were we.

, by vickichowder

BEEF

BOSTON PIZZA, TORONTO

Are you ever so concentrated on something that all your surroundings are muted and all bodily needs (actually I'm just referring to the need to eat and the need to take a break) are shut off?

The other day I ended up coding for 6 hours straight for an assignment and feelings of being tired and hungry did not register at all during that time (if only I could be this hard working all the time).

It's time to eat. After I took all the pictures, boys were getting impatient, sitting restlessly, and only passive aggressively rushed my photo-taking ritual

Another day, we were enjoying the auto show so much that feeling hungry and tired did not cross our minds at all.

Charge your Porsche, change your phone!

But when we finally saw sofas (and a phone charging station!) our legs gave out, and the hunger kicked in.

I don't even like pizza, but I had a three slices (one of each), and even a half of a fourth!

Actually, we ordered two pizzas and a flatbread:

And some beer

Canadian was ordered. Cause we're Canadian.

Chicken ranch flatbread

Buffalo chicken, purple onions/shallots, ranch on some, no ranch on some. Was not very flatbread-like, but more like a thinner crust pizza. The four edge/corner pieces had 1/3 toppings 2/3 crust. Was so hungry I didn't even care though. Bad

Thin crust szechuan chicken

Very appealing to the asians in our table (4/4 of us were asian) cause of the familiar sriracha and sesame taste. But green onions were cut too large, there was too much of it, and made your breath smell too green onion-y. Chicken was bland cause it was breast that tasted like it wasn't marinated prior. Bad

Steak, onion rings, fries

Heavy, rich pizza because of the thick crust (okay, not thick but regular thickness), steak, curly fries, onion rings, several cheeses, sauce. Maybe better on a thinner crust so its less of a mouthful. Okay

Waitresses were attentive, but that was maybe because the place wasn't that full (Thursday night)

Would I go to Boston Pizza again? Probably not.

"Maybe another location?" Nope, not even another location. Was never a pizza fan, and although I did eat more than I thought I would, that would have had to be due to my neglected hunger.

P/S

It's rare I stay in Waterloo on weekends because there's one important reason I go back home on the weekends:
To do a closet rotation.

What, there's new another bubble tea place in Mississauga?

Perhaps this is unknown to some people (my roommate(s) thought it was absurd), but how else will I be able to go through a season's of clothes without having to move my entire wardrobe?

And so the best way I decided was to periodically (weekly, biweekly) bring back all my clothes from Waterloo and bring in a set of clothes that I haven't brought in to Waterloo.

There it is - my random P/S of the post.
Continuing on with the bubble tea place:

That gives you menus disguised as magazines?

I ordered a warm Hokkaido milk tea. Apparently it comes with no sugar added (you're supposed to add it yourself). Which was weird because when I drank it, friend and I both thought it was sweet.

Yes, it is very much so a magazine

Proof that the menu is more magazine than menu.

Dear readers, what is your favourite menu to flip through?

, by vickichowder

BAKE

RECIPE: CHIFFON CAKE

, by vickichowder

2014

TO MELT THE SNOW OUTSIDE

, by vickichowder

BAKE

RECIPE: BUTTER COOKIES

Let's begin today with the understanding that I just love going to the farmer's market in St. Jacobs. Ever since I knew that we were just about 30 minutes away by bus, I would be extremely eager to finish class and head there for some fresh fruits and meats.

And every time I go, I get my girlfriends to come along with me, just so I don't feel as guilty when eating the delicious pancakes and sausage for breakfast. We like it so much that we ordered the exact same thing - twice.

The milk we buy is pasteurized, so you can drink it right away! The first time we bought it, we found it to be quite light tasting - as the label on the bottle indicated that it was indeed 2%, but it really did taste much more like the 1% kind of milk. But I would still say that it tastes much better than the bagged milk in grocery stores.

But the second time, the milk was incredibly creamy and smooth~

Advertising their milk so maybe they will sponsor me with more (:

I think the difference lies in the after taste of the milk: upon drinking just a sip of bagged milk (because I think Lactancia carton milk is good), I get this milky breath (which I hate), that can only be eliminated if I eat some non-dairy based foods. However, upon drinking cups of the milk from the market, there isn't any milky after taste at all! My guess is that the difference is due to the freshness of the milk. Please let me know if you happen to know why (:

I've been meaning to post this up: sautéed mushroom, grilled beef, on a bed of broccoli.

Milk from the market is now one of the things I buy almost every time I go, and grapefruit is another. After my lovely European friend (I'll have to use lovely every time I describe her because she's just so goddess-like) introduced me to grapefruit, I bought five for $2 whenever I go to the market.

In fact, I happen to go purchase grapes and grapefruit from the same stall so often that the man at the stall would sneak in an extra fruit or round down the price for me *yay*

Oatmeal, oatmeal-raisin in the back, and green tea butter cookie. The peanut butter ones are baking!

Last week, a day after our farmer's market trip, we I suggested that we make cookies despite the fact that it was one in the morning. And we didn't just make one type of cookies - we made three.

But I'll only give you one recipe today! They are one of my favourite cookies because they are super variation-able, and the dough keeps in the freezer very well. Sorry, but I didn't take any pictures of the process - but the recipe for butter cookies is simple and straightforward (:

I put a crushed hazelnut on it prior to baking

~ Ingredients ~

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup caster sugar

1 egg

2.5 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

[Additions]

Green tea powder*

Salt*

Cocoa powder*

Extracts (almond, vanilla, bourbon...)

Chopped/ground nuts

~ Method ~

1. Mix the flour and baking powder, and the addition if it is labelled with *

2. Beat the butter and sugar for 4 - 5 minutes using an electric beater.

3. Beat in the egg and 1 - 2 teaspoon of extract (if using) for 2 minutes.

4. Sift in the mixture from step 1, into the butter, three separate times, mixing it with a spatula.

5. Mix in the nuts if you are using them.

6. Now you can roll it into a log (to get round cookies upon slicing), roll it into a sheet (so you can use your favourite cookie cutters) - and wrap with plastic wrap to put into the freezer for 15 - 20 minutes.

7. When you dough is frozen, take it out and cut into slices or use your cutters! Place it either on a non-stick baking sheet or a parchment/silpat lined baking sheet.

8. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes on 350 F. The temperature and time varies with each oven, so keep a closer watch on your cookies after the 12 minute mark!

9. Let them cool on a rack when their done.

I hope you will make these cookies personalized to your own liking!

My very first croquembouche - hopefully its golden colours will brighten this gloomy day.

MUAH MUAH MUAH

VICKI CHOW

P/S

I've been feeling rather under-the-weather recently. It first started on Monday morning when I oddly had no appetite after a few spoonfuls of oatmeal (and I typically really like to eat oatmeal in the morning!). So I thought,

"Hey, maybe my stomach shrunk!"

and

"I guess I just ate a lot last night and I'm still full from it!"

I just want to cuddle in bed - but the gym is calling

But I was wronged. After going to the gym on Monday afternoon, my appetite didn't come back ):
And I didn't want to eat after yesterday's gym session either, and when I did eat, it's no longer a pleasant feeling like usual. *missing the enjoyment of food consumption*

In addition to this, I'm starting to feel my forehead heat up.

Hopefully my twice-daily vitamin C boost of lemon water and lots of fruits will counter the growth of this sickness!
And lastly, something I've been wanting to say:

Every time I look at the stats of my audience, I feel so happy that to see that there are so many of you outside of North America! Thanks for reading (: