Recipe: Scrambled Eggs Nest

This long weekend, I decided to "celebrate" Easter through food. After looking up a couple Easter themed recipes, I came across this recipe from the Disney FamilyFun website. 

Preparation time: 10 minutes 

Total time: 35 minutes 

Ingredients: 

1 bag of curly fries (substituted for shredded potatoes) 

1/4 cup vegetable oil or unsalted butter 

1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon pepper 

6 eggs

2/3 cup milk 

1/2 cup finely diced onions

1/2 cup finely diced red bell peppers

3/4 cup diced cooked breakfast sausage 

1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese 

Not Quite ImPrestoned...

In an attempt to move out of my comfort zone in Downtown Vancouver, I rounded up a couple of friends and headed over to Prestons. The interior is very modern chic, but it did kind of remind me of the casual dining chains like Joey's. Despite the modern decor, we were seated at this sort of tree-table, which to me kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. It basically looked like somebody had sliced a tree lengthwise and made it into a countertop. Anyways, enough about the decor, onto the food!

Free Range Chicken $21

The free range chicken was very tasty! The chicken itself was nice and juicy but the thing I enjoyed the most was the risotto. Although I'm not a fan of creamy foods, the butternut squash and truffle risotto was very nicely done -- buttery with a hint of sweetness.

Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Bread

I am a huge fan of bananas and I like them when they are less ripe and still fairly hard. One day, when I realized I had neglected my bananas for too long and that they were too ripe for me to enjoy, I decided to look up recipes for banana bread. 

While in search of a plain banana bread recipe, I came across Naked Cupcakes' recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip bread and decided to give it a try. I mean, you can't go wrong with chocolate, right? 

For some reason, I had always assumed that banana bread was hard to make. To my surprise, it is one of the easiest things to bake! 

Macaron Heaven at Soirette

The macaron frenzy really has been sweeping through Vancouver eh? To be honest I never thought much about macarons until it became the newest "it" dessert. So, being the bandwagoner that I am, I had to come down and try out Soirette, the latest addition to the macaron scene!

Macaron Selection

Soirette had such a wide range of flavours that I ended up standing at the counter, half panicing because I couldn't decide quickly enough 1) how many to get and 2) which ones to try. I especially liked how they're putting out more innovative flavours instead of just sticking to the conventional ones.

Well Done, CinCin

This Valentine's day, I took it upon myself to make a reservation for a well-known Italian restaurant, CinCin (according to the waiter, it's pronounced "chin-chin"). I love pasta and wanted to go somewhere special for the occasion so CinCin was pretty much the perfect venue.

To get to the restaurant, you have to go up a set of stone stairs, which whisks you away from the busy streets and into the warm, inviting interior. CinCin has great ambiance; it feels laid back while still maintaining a sense of classiness. The glow of the earth-toned decor made me feel very comfortable the moment I walked in the door. 

Calamari $15.50 

I was a little scared that having calamari would stifle what CinCin really had to offer in terms of food since it's such a simple appetizer, but I am really glad we did! This was one of the the best calamaris I've ever had. The chewy squid tops were stuffed with with crumbly, smoky chorizo, bringing together a magnificent composite of textures and tastes. The tentacles were wonderfully crispy and kept the classic calamari touch. I'm not sure what kind of sauce it was but trust me, it was really good.