Lately...

... I've been liking-

Batiste Dry Shampoo

I've tried a number of them out there, and this is a fave, so far. The scent is mild, it doesn't weigh my hair down, and the spray doesn't clog (yes, that's important lol).

Bath and Body Super Softening Hand Lotion

I like em thick and this one sure is (that didn't come out right, did it? O.o)

BCBG "Fearless" bracelet (Hudson Bay)

This is a purchase from the last holiday season. Bold accessory + awesome message = win-win.

Claw

I love this dollar store purchase! Mom has it, sis has it, in-laws have it, I gotta have it too! HAHA... Doesn't it just make you...

(via Google images)

*giggles*

Whatsapp

Some close friends are on Whatsapp so it's become one of the most convenient way to keep in touch. For me, it's like the BBM for the masses. Because apparently, I may be the last holdout on Blackberry >.<

Lobster Mac and Cheese from Rogue

Ok, not that I'm liking this continuously, I wish I can. Unless I want to weigh 500 lbs, I suppose...

Outing with friends... ok, not that I'm only liking this lately. Heck, how can you not like the idea at any time, no?

And of course, last but certainly not least...

T25 program (via)

My T25 program! Week 5 and counting! Alpha phase done, moving on to Beta phase. 5 more weeks! Wheee!!!

(I should thank my sis for this idea. Stole this from her blog hehe)


So what have you been enjoying lately?

The Making Of... #2

... Oven-roasted pulled pork:)

This was inspired by this recipe.

From this...

... to this

I added ground coffee for the dry rub. I also used a bit of liquid smoke.

I didn't quite follow the barbeque sauce, so I kinda' played with my own.

Barbeque sauce:
onion & garlic, pureed
ketchup
red wine
red wine vinegar
soy sauce
coffee
peanut butter
garlic powder
dry mustard powder
honey
celery salt
salt & pepper

Slaw dressing:
Dijon mustard
Mayo
Renee's Caesar Salad dressing
honey, a touch
salt & pepper

... et voila!

Hubby and I may just be imagining things, but I thought it turned out pretty dang good, mmmm...

The Beginning of Summer

Over the Memorial Day weekend, not that we celebrate it since we don't live in the US, I ended up making a a classic American eat to mark what people usually associate Memorial Day with, the start of summer, in addition of course to honoring the fallen soldiers, that is. So I suppose we inadvertently kinda' did anyway...

... the beginning of a juicy bacon cheese burger

And I guess you can't have burgers without...

(Garlic) Baked French Fries, my version of

Garlic Flavoring:
Extra-virgin olive oil
Butter (just a tad)
Garlic, crushed
Parmesan cheese
Parsley

(I tossed the fries right into the mixture straight from the oven, then I put it back into the oven for few more minutes to marry the flavor)

The meal did taste like summer. Now if only I can say the same about the weather...

The Making Of...

... a Fish Taco:)

This was inspired by this recipe that I stumbled upon on Twitter, of all sites...

Mango salsa

I made the mango salsa a tad chunkier.

Broccoli Slaw

The dish called for just a regular slaw but I didn't like how the napa cabbage looked at the market and found this broccoli slaw instead.

Cilantro dressing

There was no dressing called for in the recipe but it sounded a bit dry when I was trying to imagine the dish and since I pretty much have all the recipe already, I thought I'd just add this. I used this dressing to dress the slaw and also added a bit more when I assembled the dish.

Cilantro dressing:
Sour cream
Cilantro
Garlic
Lime juice
Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper, to taste
Sugar, a pinch (or agave syrup, if you have, for healthier version)

Rock fillets

The batter called for seltzer. I used club soda instead...

And voila!

Delish!!!

Even hubby, who's a picky eater, loved it. And so easy to make too!

As you can see, you can make so much variation to the dish, which is really good, especially for someone like me who doesn't like following recipes.

Anyhoot, a dish worth repeating for sure... mmm, mmm, mmm...

Matte Effect

Since I seem to be on this dark nail kick lately, I gravitated towards another fave color.

NARS Chinatown

But I thought I'd do something different.

(with Sephora by OPI Matte topcoat)

Not sure why I wanted to have the matte effect, but the more I thought about it, with the matte effect somehow muting the color, I suppose it's almost reflective of my mood lately towards the coming holiday season. Not sure why, but everything seems to have this muted tone to it.

Doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying the build-up to the holiday season, that's for sure...

A nice bowl of wonton soup on a cold day...

Mulled wine to keep the  insides (and hands) warm while walking around listening to Christmas music and enjoying Christmas wares...

... and to help wash down the authentic wurst (with lots of sauerkraut and mustard)...

I'ts beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

The Rest of the Week

Last week could not have finished fast enough. Not because I had nothing to do and time was just dragging. Au contraire, like I mentioned previously, I was so busy, the weekend could not have come fast enough. And on top of that, here we are, already December, Yikes!

When stressed, some people can't even think of food. I happen to be the opposite...

Shrimp ball wrapped in sugar cane (Phnom Penh)
... finger photo-bombed:p

Fried chicken wings

Buddha's Feast (Congee Noodle House)

Pea tips with garlic

Deep fried tofu

Fried chicken wings

(Keep in mind, shared with friends, ok? hehe)

At least, I got to do some good deed despite the hectic schedule. I managed to get together with some friends at work to do our regular blood donation.

And earlier, I decided last minute to go to a mall I don't usually frequent. What can I say, shopping relaxes me. Ok, maybe not in this particular mall. It was huge, and there were so many people, I just got a headache. Nevertheless, I was relaxed. HAH!

All Over the Place

Today, yes, literally! A colleague and I had to visit various offices to talk to people about a pending major change. We ended up visiting 6 offices spread throughout the city. It didn't appear to be much work, but having to talk to every single person at every office and maintaining a certain level of energy all day, boy, I was just pooped at the end of it. The best part, we do it all over again tomorrow, wheee!!!

And to add the weekend that just passed seemed all over the place as well, heck I guess my thoughts have been scattered around for a good few days now...

Anyhoot, with the Black Friday that just passed, Canadian retailers have now figured that they should participate now as well so Canadians wouldn't find the need anymore to cross the border to get advantage of sales. I didn't think it would really make a difference but I guess I was wrong. The mall that I went to was buzzzy! It's like Boxing Day, but only in November. It was cray cray! Fortunately, I didn't get carried away...

Bath & Body anti-bacterial hand soaps

Needed to refill our stash so the deal couldn't have come at a better time.

American Eagle jeggings

I had to recently dispose of 2 black jeans thanks to that common(?) problem of thinning out and ripping at the inner thigh (is it just me? eeep). At 40% off, I figured, again, the deal couldn't have come at a better time. And that was it! Whew!

Then, yesterday, I decided last minute to recreate the steak dish I had at the wedding I went to last Friday night.

Ribeye steak with broccolini on a bed of mashed potato

I thought it was just as delish as the wedding steak, albeit not as nicely plated and the portion is a tad(?) bigger. I learned it takes a great deal more butter than I anticipated to make it just as delish, but you're definitely not gonna hear me complain, nope. Hah!

And since I painted my nail that nice dark wine color last week, I couldn't resist going even a bit more dark this time.

Nicole by OPI in Razzle Dazzler (sorry, this is before clean-up)

All over the place, aren't I?! And like I said, we get to do it again tomorrow, so looking forward to it! *snort*

Halloween Dinner

No, I don't have my dates wrong. I know it's now November. And what's Halloween dinner to begin with? Actually it wasn't. On Halloween, we celebrated a friend's birthday, that's why... nyek, nyek, nyek...

I did end up wearing my pink wig to work, in the spirit of Halloween. I almost chickened out but like hubs reminded me, why did I buy it to begin with?

And since I knew for a fact that I had a wig hair underneath for wearing that pinkness all day, I really had no choice but to wear it thru dinner that night... hehe...

And of course, dinner was at this nice French restaurant. Not appropriate? Well, it was Halloween after all, so meh... HAH!

Ris de Veau (sweetbreads)

Bouillabaisse

Creme Brulee

The evening's mascot
(not endorsing smoking, for sure)

Not counting the fabulous company, loved the food and loved the ambiance of the place, for sure!

Like we were discussing over dinner, in addition to word of mouth, isn't it interesting how social media is all a good resto need these days to get its name out there, and they don't even have to do anything about it. Well, they have to make good food at least. Thanks to Instagram, Four Squares, blogs, whatever, people readily tell their friends (or readers) where they were and post pictures of the food to confirm to their friends (or readers) how good the food was.

Providing of course they have friends, or readers...

HAH!

Scrumptdiddlyicious

Not really a big fan of turkey in the past but on special occasions, I would make it, especially since hubs like it. And like I said, normally, I would roast it myself, but this year, for some reason, we wanted to have turkey for Thanksgiving but not make it ourselves.

So we ordered it. In an Asian market at that!

The meat was tender and it was really flavorful. What did surprise us, in a very good way for sure, was the spices used. We were ready to taste the usual flavor but no, they used Asian spices (Asian spices, Asian market, why were we surprised, I have no idea). We tasted primarily Chinese 5-spice, garlic, and ginger. Even the "gravy" that went with it was Asian. It was more like Chinese bbq sauce style. How about that, eh? Chinese-style roast turkey. Yummmmy!

I did make the side dishes to go with it.

There was garlic in the turkey, which I didn't know when we ordered it. Then I put garlic in the brussel sprouts and the mashed. Garlic everywhere, mmmm... And no, no garlic lovers here. HAH!