Happy Halloween

 Happy Halloween from somerville kitchen!

Halloween Catsess

Catsess was snoozing beautifully when we reminded her of Halloween.

Catsess is very smart. Why pay for Halloween costume when a white cat can go outside, roll in the mud and come in ready to scare the neighbourhood.

But despite the scary look, Catsess decided to make herself even more scary by picking up the rawest piece of meat from her dish. The poor Halloween kids.

The poor Catsess, no matter how courageous she tried to be, after 120 kids invading her territory, she decided to stick to her pumpkin patch.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Diwali

Wacky Catsess

Catsess got bored reading the blog yesterday.

She made a proposal to me - Wacky Thursdays is going to be Wacky Catsess this week.

I challenged Catsess for some cuteness to qualify, then we will talk.

Catsess lived up to the challenge. Here's what Catsess deliverd. And Catsess made it to Wacky Catsess.

Catsess wants this to be the most viewed article on the blog, so she scratches all to share around.

(Catsess is now off my back, I can go to food blogging tomorrow so tune back).

Yu Xiang Yuan

When I saw this sign on Fraser Street, I was thrilled thinking Peaceful Restaurant open another location closer to me.

But I guess those signs are a dime a dozen in China and this was for Yu Xiang Yuan Restaurant

Handcrafted noodles for each dish that come in a choice of cutting, dragging, pushing or round noodles.

Once you are over the confusion of the noodle options, the place seems family run with elegant seating, comfortable atmosphere and friendly service.

The menu selection has a mix of dishes one sees elsewhere and some unique options.

Below are the foods ordered.

The Zhajiang Pork with cucumber was my favourite, even though I am not sure the choice of noodles went well with this dish.

The Xin-Jiang Noodles with fried chicken and potatoes was an experience for sure. Overly salty and does not work well with dragging noodles, but the potatoes were excellent.

Pork and chives dumplings were alright - not the best wonton dough in the city though.

I am glad I tried it. I am not sure I will rush back.

Yu Xiang Yuan

6591 Fraser Street

Vancouver BC

Pumpkin Stew

What to do with the pumpkins after all the catsess' posing?

The No. 1 Ladies Detective's Mma Ramotswe came to mind as she makes her husband those pumpkin stews.

To help with pumpkin stew inspiration, I based it on a Jallof Rice recipe.

One interesting part of this recipe was to fry three bay leaves with the onions.

The smell was worth the experiment and I think I will be doing this more often with recipes that ask for bay leaves.

The chicken was added with the pumpkins.

Just watching the pumpkin stew progress felt like I travelled to Botswana tonight.

Then I added the rice and liquid and the dish turned back into a Sierra Leone Jallof Rice.

A fun cooking night indeed.

 

Thanksgiving Catsess

Catsess decided that we were all so busy with thanksgiving that she needed an article on her own, so she posed with the pumpkins and asked me to publish her beauty. Enjoy.

Not So Humble Thanksgiving Dinner

After my humble thanksgiving dinner at home, I was invited to Dockside Restaurant for a not so humble thanksgiving dinner.

To start...Lobster & Butternut Squash Bisque - Cumin Scented Lobster & Squash Bisque with Poached Lobster Medallion & Curried Yoghurt; Excellent

The Dinner...Dockside Turkey Dinner - Maple Brined Turkey Breast, Rolled Leg, Apricot Stuffing, Whipped Potatoes, Glazed Yams, Cranberry Sauce and Pan Gravy; Filling.

To end...Thanksgiving Pumpkin Tart - House Made Pumpkin Tart with Candied Walnut, Spiced Cream and Caramel; Nothing beats Trafiq's pie from yesterday.

 
Dockside Restaurant

1253 Johnston Street

Vancouver, BC

www.docksidevancouver.com

Humble Thanksgiving Feast

Thanksgiving this year was celebrated with a humble meal and my favourite creatures from the human and the feline races.

The menu included a roasted chicken, roasted potatoes and pan fried Brussels sprouts.

And all was delicious.

While humble, we still celebrated in style.

And indulged on the best pumpkin pie to-date, the new invention of Trafiq.

Happy thanksgiving everyone.

Hamburger Cupcakes

Why make hamburgers when you can make hamburger cupcakes?

Cook the hamburger meat with onions until browned.

Butter a cupcake baking tray and line the holes with bread slices (yes, it gets weirder).

Mix the meat mixture with a can of cream of mushrooms soup (told you it gets weirder).

Add shredded cheese (I just cubed it for more colour) and Worcester sauce.

Now pack the meat mixture on top of the bread as you would prepare to bake any cupcakes.

Bake in 375 oven for 30 minutes.

They are way better than you're thinking as you read this.

Next time (and yes, this is a next time kind of recipe), I will add mushrooms as well.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Wacky Pink Drink

One of the nicest gifts I am to receive from my exotic empress - a Pomegranate Flavouring Syrup.

Bored on a Thursday, I decided it was time to try it.

Now a normal human being will add this to sparkling water, to a cup of steamed milk, or in a Vodka drink.

But a wacky human being will find the above boring.

As such, this wacky human being will choose to add the pomegranate syrup to... chocolate almond milk.

It tasted candy like. And it looked beautiful in my favourite drinking glass evern.