Parasite's World has moved to https://parasiteworld.wordpress.com/

I've noticed that people are still looking at my blog despite no recent updates. I'm very honoured!!!

Please visit me as I move to WordPress. Here is the link:https://parasiteworld.wordpress.com/

Now that I am on WordPress and found a mobile app, I'll be blogging again. Recently I've just been putting posts on my Facebook. I know it's not the best way to blog but I take pictures on my cell and so it's much easier to upload via my cell than by my laptop.

I hope you will continue to follow me on my adventures. See you soon!

Pizza - No Knead Pizza

I just ate the best pizza crust that I've ever made. I used Jim Lahey's recipe from his book called My Pizza.

Jim Lahey is well known in the bread making world for his adaptation of no knead bread at his bakery in New York, Sullivan Street Bakery.

I made his recipe though I didn't document it because of the blog app that I'm using which only allows pictures at the end of the blog and not at each step.

Anyways it's a very easy recipe!! It's just flour, salt, yeast and water. Let it sit for 18 hours and voilà!!

It's so good!!! It tastes very similar to Grimaldi Pizzeria in Brooklyn. Of course it's not 100% the same but it's close enough north of the border. Trust me, after the pizza in Brooklyn, I can't stop obsessing finding the ultimate homemade pizza crust that tastes similar to that. This dough by Jim Lahey is very close plus it so easy to make.

Here is my pizza with Jim's tomato sauce. I fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and spinach.

Banana Bread

There's really nothing to post on a banana bread since it's just banana bread which is a common baking. But I'm showing this since it's a bit different since I have a strudel topping and bananas. I think it looks very nice. What do you think???

Donut ...mmmmm

I'm not a Canucks fan, I'm an Oilers fan to the end. Yes, they didn't make it to the playoffs but when they do, the cup is ours!!!! For my international followers, I'm talking about hockey, the NHL (National Hockey League).

Anyways, as I was walking home, I saw some Canuck fans eating something blue and green outside of Timmies (Tim Horton is a donut/coffee place that is close to Canadians hearts...kinda like hockey). Well, that piqued my interest.

I looked into Timmies and saw these donuts. I literally made a 360 and purchased the. They are called Canuck donuts.

This does NOT make me a Canuck fan, rather, I'm gonna your win away. Ok that's pretty lame but can't think of a witty comment to jinx the Canucks.

How's it taste? Sweet!!! Too sweet for me. I don't like sparkle donuts so too crunchy!! It does have custard in the middle though.

Wonder if Ottawa have them too for their Senators? If an reader from Ottawa see them at Timmies, can you send me a pic?

If you are in Canada and Vancouver, get them while you can at Tim Hortons. They won't last long cos the Canucks won't last long in the playoffs!!! Very limited time. Hehehe. Don't get angry at me on these comments, I'm just joking with my crazy Canuck coworker who might be at Rogers Arena watching the game.

Beijing Restaurant

Sorry dear readers....I'm quite upset that I cannot blog on my phone and have to use a laptop. I really dislike this inconvenience of having to use a laptop and transfer the pictures from my phone. I'm in between deciding what to purchase next... an ipad, a new smart phone, a laptop or a puppy. I'll eventually get them all but just figuring out the timing.

Anyways, you're here to read about yummy food. During the long weekend, I went to Beijing Restaurant with my family for Alaskan King Crab. It is starting to be the season so it's a good chance to eat this type of crab. To fish this, it's actually very hard and potentially dangerous for the fisherman. "Alaskan crab fishing is very dangerous, and the fatality rate among the fishermen is about 80 times the fatality rate of the average worker. It is suggested that, on average, one crab fisherman dies weekly during the seasons," as mentioned in Wikipedia. Click here if you want more info. 


If you have not had Alaskan King crab, read this article from the Globe and Mail. It talks more in detail about this: Alaskan King Crab is all it's cracked up to be.


So here is a picture of our 13lb King Crab that my family ate. In Chinese restaurants, they like to show you the fresh seafood so that you know what you are getting. Truth is, I only believe this at reputable restaurants. With other places, I always worry that they will show the seafood to you then in then kitchen, change to something that is less fresh. I don't think that this place would do such a thing. 

Test

I haven't blogged in a while because Blog Press stopped working. All my pics are on my iPhone and needed to be transferred but I hate using iTunes. Anyways, downloaded a new app. Let's see if it works!!!

Oh this only allows pic on the bottom?!?? That sucks!!!

"Bow Ties" (蛋散)

Sorry for not posting anything but Christmas was too busy. Here's the first post of 2012!!!

I'm guessing South African Chinese decided to translate "dan san" (蛋散) to "bow ties" because they look like bow ties. They are amazingly good, at least the ones my mom and grandmother made. The ones at bakeries are greasy or the dough is too thick so I no longer buy even if I'm craving them.

Anyways let me introduce you to my family's bow ties. They are light pastries that are deep fried and covered with a syrup coating. They are shaped into bow ties, hence the name bow ties.

The dough is simple to make. It's just sifted flour and baking powder. You can use vegetable oil but my mom said lard makes the dough more crispy and flaky.




Then four eggs are added.

Candy Cane Sweet Bread Braid

I borrowed Debbie Macomber's Christmas Cookbook from the library because it was a new cookbook. I don't know who she is but as I was looking for a picture of the cookbook cover to put on this blog, I realized that she is an author.





I decided to try two of the recipes in the book and this is one of them.

Cake Pops 2

I decided to make more cake pops since I had some store bought icing left from last time. I thought it was suppose to last 3 months but read the label again and it said 30 days. Darn! Had to throw it out.

Luckily the cake was kinda moist that it held together as a ball so I didn't use any icing. I didn't go out to buy because the icing would be wasted since I'd use less than 1/3 of the icing.

I crumbled a cake that I froze previously and made into balls. I put them in the freezer to firm up.

Roasted Squash Soup with Apple and Brie

I love soup...doesn't matter from where or what country. Give me a bowl of steaming hot soup and I'm happy!! I think it's because I grew up having soup after supper every night and if there wasn't homemade soup, well, instant was better than nothing. I don't have soup after supper all the time now and miss that so soup is a big treat!!

I'm not so into creamy soups because they are too rich. The only creamy soup I like are New England Clam Chowder and Mushroom soup. Unfortunately I don't know how to appreciate rich soups.

Recently I noticed in the last 5+ years, butternut squash soup and roasted red pepper soup are really popular. I've been wanting to make this type a soup for a long time.

What stopped me was when I looked at the recipes, many asked for cream or sour cream to be added to the soup. I know that adding the dairy product will make the soup silkier and smooth but also more calories. One big pot of this would be too much for me to enjoy.

As well most soups are pureed. I didn't own a blender until recently and Magic Bullet for a big pot of soup would take forever. So that was a major deterrent.

So when I discovered this recipe called "Roasted Squash Soup with Apple and Brie" in my The Rest of the Best and more, I was excited.



Even better was that it required ingredients I already had at home. To make it rich and creamy, the recipe asks for Brie, which seemed optional to me.

Nails

I just wanted to show my nails. I went to Bloom Essentials to get a pedicure. At Bloom Essentials, they have a pedicure called Picasso Pedicure, where they draw pictures on your nails.

I've posted my Skull nails before and really liked it. I was pretty sure I was going to get the skull one again.

The esthetician showed me the Christmas designs and I ended up also really liking the snowflake one. I couldn't decide on skull or snowflakes. The esthetician suggested doing both so I had snowflakes AND skulls.








The blue was really cool and wanted to paint my finger nails too at home but Bloom Essential sold out on their OPI "Roadhouse Blues" nail polish. They suggested to go to another spa close by to buy it. But I was walking in flip-flops in the cold that I decided that I just wanted to go home.

Now that my Christmas party is over, I probably won't be buying the nail polish. I don't wear nail polish on my fingers because I bake too often and usually touch the dough. So I didn't want people to accidentally eat nail polish in my food when it starts to flake off.




Bloom Essential's website is http://www.bloomessentials.com/
You'll love their Picasso Pedicure!!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fascinator 2

At work, we decided to have a Secret Santa gift exchange. For those of you unfamiliar with this, we pick names out of a hat and buy gifts or write notes to that person. In school, we called it Kris Kringle. Anyways for work, to make it easier, we only did one gift exchange. The gift price limit was $10.

Now I hate buying gifts under pressure and dreaded this. I looked around at shops and couldn't find anything decent for $10. Then I decided to make a fascinator for the person I got.

At first I was going to use a hair comb to make the fascinator but since I was making a small fascinator, I decided it was too big.



I found a smaller hair clip that was unused at home. I decided to use that as my clip.

Meat & Bread

A friend took me to this place around springtime and I LOVED it. I couldn't blog about it then because my phone battery was dead. I was determined that I would come here again because it was is delicious and also to share with my readers.

Unfortunately I tried coming here on a Sunday and found out they were closed. So this time, I went on a Saturday. They were busy!

The name of this sandwich place is simple. It describes what they serve, Meat and Bread.

2011 New Year's Resolution update- FAILED

I just broke my 2011 New Year's Resolution. After working so hard on keeping my resolution for 11 months, I finally failed. I was so close!!!

ABC Restaurant

At the suggestion of an anonymous comment, I went to ABC Restaurant (愛彼茜餐室) to try out their souffle.

The One

After supper, I was very thirsty and didn't want to go home. So where did I go??? Bubble tea!!!

Went to a place called The One Restaurant (美味x係-can't replicate 3rd word)

Why is Christmas Pudding Considered Rich?

I was just talking with a co-worker and she said her husband makes the most awesome and rich Christmas pudding. I love Christmas pudding. Every Christmas, it is a treat that my dad heats up (no he does not make his own) and makes a custard sauce to go with it.

My co-worker described it as "rich". Many people have described it the same. I have always wondered how or why it was considered rich? It's filled with dried fruits, shouldn't it be health? Is dried fruit rich or unhealthy?

I tried looking at recipes to see why it was rich. Is it because it uses a lot of butter? I've seen variations of 1/2 cup butter to 1 cup butter. But cakes also use that much better. OR because of the eggs? But the recipes I looked at required 2 to 4 eggs. Cakes and creme brulees use way more eggs. Some traditional recipes use suet which is beef or lamb fat. Not many recipes I saw used it. But if it did, I guess that would make it rich, right?


OR is because it is typically served with a custard or hard sauce? That is rich. My coworker's husband serves with an alcohol-spiked butter sauce. That would also be very rich! Is this why Christmas pudding is rich, because of the serving sauce?


Why is Christmas pudding considered rich? Does anyone know the answer?

Just a rambling from the mind. (ps. It's so much nicer to blog using a computer than an iPhone!)

Mr Zhang's Karaoke Restaurant

Initially I wanted to have Chinese hot pot for supper but when my friends and I saw that the price was $25 per person, we decided it was too expensive and tried this new restaurant.

It seems that Northern Chinese food is quite popular. I'm not sure if it's because there are a lot of new immigrants from China and not from Hong Kong or it's a trend but many new restaurants are popping up that serve this type of food.

Bel Cafe

Georgia Hotel finally opened up their cafe. Prior to their renovations, they had an amazing cafe with extraordinary desserts. It was called Senses. After they closed, I haven't found many comparable to that. I would describe their desserts like eating a cloud...that luxurious!!!

So when walking home, I saw Bel Cafe opened and walked in to see their desserts. I was disappointed with the selection since there were only 5 items....cheesecake, various pound cakes, lemon tart, dark chocolate hazelnut raspberry vanilla mousse and white chocolate something coconut. And macarons.

I bought a pistachio macaron. It was ok. I think I've had better. It didn't have enough pistachio taste compared to what I had from other bakeries.

I've started to develop a taste for macarons. Though a bit sweet, I love the airy texture. My favourite is pistachio. Actually it's the only one I've tasted since I find it too expensive to try all the flavours and end up always picking pistachio.

Hot Pot Rice

One of my favourite food when I visited Hong Kong in winter is hot pot rice (煲仔飯). I like it when they cook the rice outside the door of the restaurant. Here's a close-up of rice pot made in HK that I found on the Internet.