Spring is in the air! Plus a new dining discovery.

All of my body's sensory systems are being bombarded by signs of Spring:

- Fully and pink cherry blossoms

- The smell of food wafting from open patios at restaurants

- Seasonally-appropriate Refreshers from Starbucks

- Slipping into Toms every day

- Tired and heavy footsteps during outdoor jogs

 I am struggling to determine if the end of classes (a) was perfectly-timed with the beautiful weather or (b) liberated my mind and allowed me to fully embrace the impending season and all of its glory - either way, it has been lovely.

21 years of life - completed by MM!

We enjoy mason jars over the
traditional glassware.

Block Party/MM's birthday was fun this year! Many friends, amazing weather, and lots of dancing - followed by vegan s'mores on the beach (highly recommended). 

Post-Block Party consisted of more birthday celebrations! And the beginning of studying. While the weather does not seem conducive to studying, it does lift my spirits and has served as inspiration to earn my time outside! Following an afternoon of studying, I had a nap to prepare to socialize more at The Afghan Horseman - a new dining discovery with delicious food! I had the Vegan Plate from their Vegetarian Dishes (pictured above), and zombied my way through dinner before collapsing into bed later that evening.

The following day, GD and I moseyed down to experience The Juice Truck for the first time! This is something I've wanted to do since stumbling across their Instagram account. After sharing two very fulfilling smoothies, we grabbed some free ice cream from Leonidas at Waterfront (a Hot Chocolate Festival location!) for wishing one of their employees a happy birthday.

After all of these birthday and food-related events... We had another birthday AND food-related event! On JS's birthday, and to celebrate a triple-birthday week, I attended a birthday dessert potluck. Wu-Wu and I supplied healthy, vegan chocolate chip cookie muffins! Topped with coconut whipped cream and blueberries, we feel that they were definitely a baking success (thanks Chocolate-Covered Katie for the recipe!).

Before further birthday celebrations continued the following day, I celebrated a belated National Grilled Cheese Day by making vegan grilled cheese (Daiya cheese) and homemade soup with GD, as we had neglected so far to eat dinner. 

Finally, to cap off this entry, the sister and her fellow came over for dinner! We made vegetarian stir fry with a special sweet and sour "pork" recipe from the Calgary Farmer's Market, alongside some homemade mango guacamole supplied by our guests. It was a good birthday dinner for GD and a good day overall!

Now I am delving into studying before my 12-day exam break, where I hope to have more adventures that I can document and write about - until then...

UBC REC full-team selfie!

Weekend of March 14 - 16: Wine, Pie, and Comedy

Appetizer dish with
Moscato D'asti - Batasiolo Bosc 11/12

The weekend began with Vine Fest - GD's wine-tasting event which featured four wines and an array of cheeses, breads, meats, and fruits to snack on and pair with the drinks available. 




As it was March 14 (03/14), it was also a night to celebrate pi(e)! To do so, he and I made our way to Aphrodite's Organic Cafe and Pie Shop to indulge in a small dinner and amazing dessert; I was finally able to try one of their chocolate pies! I always miss the boat on those ones by the end of the day when they have sold out.

(Vegan) Gnocci with sunchokes and hazelnut pesto.

(Vegan) Chocolate pecan pie!

In the rain on Saturday, NT and I made our way to the Vancouver Winter Farmer's Market to indulge in many-a-sample item and purchase a couple of treats from local vendors with their seasonal specialties up for grabs!

How to choose?

 

I didn't feel too hot on Saturday for the day's entirety, so some kitchen therapy resulted in a triple batch of Chocolate Covered Katie chocolate chip cookies and a happier spirit (to make up for both a less-than-content stomach and an achey head).

Homemade plantain chips!

We finished off the weekend with a comedian's show downtown and walked in with a beautiful sunset backdrop to the downtown nightlife just beginning to shine.

Last Weekend: Food

Last weekend was one full of delicious meals and baking adventures. I shall summarize below:

Marble Swirl Chocochip Banana Bread (CCK Recipe) - baked
with AA while we caught up on life and drank tea.

A sushi-filled double date with the sister and our novios!
Sushi Topia is captained by a pleasant man who makes
very delicious food - even for us veggie-heads!

It was Waffle Gone Wild!'s 1-year anniversary event -
we just happened to stop by for brunch on the right day!

We were allowed to burst a balloon to find a giveaway
inside - we ended up with free ice cream.

J and M both ordered the Banana
Nutella waffles - mmmm, chocolate.

Delicious Bombay Chai tea.

 

I went for the Cinnamon Apple option!

(Not quite the weekend...) On Monday, I baked vegan cookies for my council meeting! Which was followed by my first full staff meeting as a future advisor - I got to meet my future team! It was very exciting, and all of my future colleagues seem like fun and kind people. The cookies were also great - adopted from a CCK recipe with added Ener-G Egg Replacer to see if they would fluff up. They did!

A tour around campus to take some
photos the other day led me to what
I consider a sure sign of impending
Spring - blooming daffodils! =D

HoCho Fest Day 26: Bacchu's Dream

The penultimate day of the hot chocolate festival is upon us! I took this opportunity to make a quick trip down to Cocoa Nymph before other evening obligations came upon me.

Bacchu's Dream: Made from 72% dark chocolate with red wine
reduction and apple ginger compote.
Served with walnut shortbread (vegan).
($6.65)

 This particular beverage was made with coconut milk (though I ordered almond - this works, too!), and I thought I could detect an aroma of red wine before I even took a sip of the drink. 

WHOA. I definitely could smell it before I sipped it - I realized this upon actually sipping it, and tasting what turned out to be a very strong red wine flavour. My expectation had been to experience more of a red wine undertone, rather than a half-wine half-chocolate drink. This was slightly distressing as I am not a fan of wine, so the taste was overwhelming, and I struggled to detect anything else about the drink for a few sips. Eventually, though, I was able to pick up on some of the apple ginger compote, as little pieces of apple made their way to my mouth as I sipped.

Now that walnut shortbread cookie - that was amazing! It was chewy and had texture from the walnuts in it, and would be perfect to dip in a less wine-y hot chocolate or some tea in the morning, I think.

It was a nice night with a big moon in the sky as I left, and it felt like the week would be ending on a good note. Valentine's Day, big birthday, and the beginning of our reading break - I would expect no less from such a day!

I just couldn't finish it...