birthday treats

For some reason we ended up at Panera's Bread again for my birthday brunch this year

Of course I had to save room for my favorite cookie - the red velvet crinkle

We roamed around downtown and ended up at St. Lawrence Market - look what we found?? 

  

 We will have to do this for the Holidays next year with Ritu!!

Had a nice dinner with my family - and an awesome cookies-n-creme ice cream cake, even though it was slightly melted!

Little pick-me-ups

I know I was supposed to be shopping for gifts but that's when I came across these deals... a lip butter for 4 bucks and nail polishes 3 for 5 dollars... Plus some of these will probably find a new home as part of a gift... hence my purchase of yet another bunch of nail polishes are justified!!

Food for a ninja

made rice, then added a packaged seasoning mix from Japan, then into the molds they go...



add some pressure...


et viola!



Food for a ninja!!

seafood hotpot @ seoul garden

Recreating a childhood favorite

Fried egg with beef and tomatoes

swatch: bourjois eye pencils

I've finally gotten a chance to play with  my new eye liners from Bourjois which I'm super excited about - I love the fact that they are essentially two products in one which means that they would be perfect for keeping in the purse and for travelling!

These khol & contour shadow and light eye pencils have a shimmery shade in lighter colors "to illuminate and open up the eyes" on one end and a matt darker shade "to sculpt and intensify" the look.

The color combos included in this limited edition set are black and white; grey and pink; brown and caramel; and lastly, blue and silver - versatile colors that can be worn with pretty much everything.

There isn't a huge difference between the black and the grey and somehow the blue appeared the darkest out of all 4 khol shades.  The pink and the caramel contour shades are absolutely gorgeous especially when worn on the waterline but I'm sure I could find some use for the white and the silver shades as well.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by the staying power of these eyeliners - usually khol eyeliners smudge and fade in no time but you can still see a trace of these ones after I tried to wash them off with water.  The contour shades were all gone though and only left behind the glitter.  I had to remove them with a cleansing oil.  These are definitely keepers!

Lisa's warehouse sale 2013

I wasn't going to go to this winter's Lisa's warehouse sale but then I saw several blog posts about finding great deals on Anna Sui,  Stila and China Glaze there,  so I ventured out in the cold in the last day of the sale,  waited 30min in line and battled the throng of inconsiderate shoppers who pushed and shoved...  and come out with:

Kotex @ 2.49 ea
H2O de-stress marine gel mask @ 12 ea
Andrea eye makeup corrector pre-moistened swabs @ 2.99 ea
Marcella hydra-c cleansing wipes @ 3
China Glaze nail polish 3 for $10

... among other miscellaneous stuff.

Sadly there weren't anything good left from Stila nor Anna Sui in terms of product and shades,  so that dramatically reduced the damage to my wallet this time around.  Next year though we will have to make a point of hitting the sale earlier before all the goodies get sold out.

date night: little bangkok on main street markham

looked to urbanspoon when it got too late to cook and found generally favorable reviews on this little restaurant on Main St. Markham right across from the GO station - nice atmosphere, yummy mango salad and pad thai but a bit overpriced for the portion size and the rushed service - I don't hate it enough to write a review on urbanspoon to warn others of the over-hype but I'm not sure if I liked it enough to visit again

Happiness is...

Happiness = LoL + surprise treat just because I mentioned that I had a craving for a taro milkshake

steamed ribs and taro in black bean garlic sauce

taro turns creamy when steamed and becomes the perfect compliment for savory pork ribs

Chocolate chip cookies madness

Note to self: never quadruple a recipe again without first reading through the ingredient list to see how much batter it will yield.

Lessons learned: no mixer we ever own will accommodate 4 cups of butter plus 8 cups of sugar plus 12 cups of flour.   Unless we go commercial.  But we will always find a way around it.  Like we did last night with 4 people struggling with 2 huge bowls of dough and came out with over 8 dozen of cookies

out to save the world

...one product launch at a time

more gruesome treats

shortbread cookies rolled into logs then shaped and marked with blanched almond attached by strawberry jam

Boo!

Lava cake attempt # 2

Gooey center still elusive...

Shoppers haul + sample galore

After a particularly rough start to the week and leaving work closer to 7pm only to realize my eyesight had gotten so bad that I really shouldn't be driving,  I decided to splurge and pamper myself a little bit - and came away with so much exciting new stuff to try (hopefully before I go blind!) 

Especially the gorgeous blush called rockateur by benefit -  thanks Mish :)

 

BOURJOIS anniversary limited edition sets, a gorgeous red lipstick and dry shampoo 

 

Set of dual-ended eyeliners (how can I say no to these double-duty makeup that would be perfect for the purse?) 

 

Limited edition blush and powder among other products 

 

  

 

samples galore!! so excited!! 

new treatment: Tactuo

Since my breakout hasn't slowed down despite my new regime using oil-free cleanser and moisturizer - and it's progressed to the point that you can play connect the dots on my face - I couldn't help but to mentioned situation to my doctor,  who, after explaining that it might just be my raging hormones, prescribed a new treatment that is supposedly more effective than clindoxyl. 

 

It being a new drug and all,  the price is quite high -  without any insurance coverage it would have cost over a hundred bucks.   Luckily I have partial coverage but it's still more than what I would have paid for clindoxyl or persagel (which used to work for my occasional pimple before they became such frequent recurrence) 

Apparently it works by unplugging clogged pores then killing off the germs and it could take up to 4 weeks to see results.   It specifically instructs not to spot-apply -  the whole affected area need to be treated.   I am worried that the gel will make my skin dry, which happened when I put persagel  on the same spot for too many nights in a row. I guess I will just have to keep at it for a few weeks to see if it works.

le café michi

date night <

Sukiyaki

 

Unatama (unagi in eggs)

 

green tea mousse cake with red bean 

 

chocolate sake mousse cake 

feeling so spoiled

I'm so deeply touched and feeling spoiled by my friends because they drove all the way from Sauga up to Markham to have dim sum with us (even if I was slightly delusional to think that they did that for my sake)  - and then spent the whole afternoon chilling while sipping on beers on a secluded patio on the quaint Main Street Unionville.  It was warm and sunny - perfect weather for chilling on a patio, which we haven't really done all summer and should have been doing more of.  And now our Thanksgiving trip has been mostly finalized I can't wait to get out of the city - and I'm looking forward to spending more time with these friends I love!!

Pocky imitator?

toffee apple cheesecake

 

new york cheesecake topped with apples and raisins cooked in grand marnier topped with crunchy butter toffee 

date night: apricot tree cafe

crepe du jour (chicken & mushroom in cream sauce)

 

duck confit

 

hazelnut cake 

 

apple cheesecake 

The one thing I love most about driving a smart car

The smart car is pretty awesome on its own (fun to drive,  more fun to park plus grey on gas) but the one thing I love most about driving a smart is the other smart car drivers who always greet each other with a smile,  a nod or a wave -  such friendliness is so refreshing when just about every other car on the road incite disappointment in the licensing system and irrational road rage.   And sometimes that little gesture is all it takes to make my day :)

perfect breakfast for a rainy morning

we didn't want to go out for breakfast in the rain, so i improvised and came up with these toasts with eggs cooked in the middle (must have seen it on foodTV or a magazine) - i wonder if they have a name?

on the menu tonight: braised brisket with daikon radish

1. wash brisket and then blanch with green onion, ginger and cooking wine.

2. cook blanched brisket in soy sauce in equal part water with sichuan pepper, star anise, cinnamon, licorice, dried tangerine peel and a lump of rock sugar

3.  add daikon radish cut into chunks and cook until soft

 4. remove the spices (cinnamon, dried peel, etc) before serving

Good for you

We hadn't been able to find our favorite cereal for a while and now we know why - they have changed their packaging from simple paper bag to a sturdier bag with a resealable closure!