Yogurtland, Enough Said

Why I love Yogurtland: 

1. $0.35 per oz of yogurt!
2. Lots and lots of different flavors and toppings to try (you simply must try pistachio and toasted coconut!) 
3. Do-it-yourself style! Just grab a cup, go up to the row of yogurt machines, and get started! 
4. Super cute PINK spoons... just another perk! 
5. The water machine has fresh strawberries thrown in... just for good measure. 

Apparently the "yogurt by the ounce" phenomenon is huge in California, Hawaii, and even Portland. It took it's sweet time getting to Seattle though, but now that Yogurtland is here and now... watch out, Red Mango, you're about to be passed over for something better and cheaper (albeit, farther away)!   

Rock n' Wok

Well, the restaurant is really called Rocking Wok... but isn't my spelling more fanciful and memorable? I tried out this Taiwanese restaurant in Wallingford with my pharmacy school ladies this week. It was an incredible find! Who knew a legit Taiwanese restaurant was so close to UW? I definitely consider this a gem discovered.

The 4 of us ordered 1 or 2 dishes each, and got to taste test each other's choices. All the dishes were quite delicious, and cheap! Most of the dishes ranged from $4 to $8.

I ordered the Thousand Layer Pancakes, which was very flaky, melt-in-your-mouth bread, and Beef Shaved Noodle Soup. Yum! The soup was the perfect dish on a cold, rainy, very Seattle day. The noodle soup was about $6, and was a 1 person portion with chunks of beef, generous bok choy, and slightly chewy homemade noodles. Wendy ordered the Stinky Tofu with Chinese Kimchee (yes!) and Ground Pork with Egg over Noodles. Both very Taiwanese dishes. The stinky fried tofu was quite good... it had adequate "stinkyness" that is requisite, and the kimchee was a wonderful pairing. Wendy also quite enjoyed her noodle dish, and I will take her word for it considering how rapidly she devoured it! (I love you, Wendy!) Theresa had the Herbal Chicken (literal translation from Chinese is "Three Cup Chicken" because it takes 3 cups of sauce to make the dish). It smelled and looked delicious! Mel ordered Wontons in Chili Sauce and the Oyster Omelet. You can never go wrong with wontons in delicious, slightly spicy sauce! The oyster pancake, according to my 3 epicureans, was good. I was a bit too full and a bit of a wimp to try it.

I had a lovely experience at Rocking Wok, and would definitely go back soon! The menu is quite extensive, and there are many more dishes I want to try (their Popcorn Chicken heads the list). Though be warned, one dish may not satisfy. I think ordering 2 dishes per person was a great choice (unless you're Eric, then you may need to order 3-4 dishes), and it doesn't break the bank. I can't wait to take Shu and Kyle and my undergrad crowd there. It's almost a second Utopia!

Check out the food pictures (I really love the convenience of having a high-quality camera on my phone! I take pictures everywhere now!), and then scroll to the bottom for my rating of Rocking Wok.

Lovely Wendy with Ground Pork over Noodles and Stinky Tofu

Beef Shaved Noodle Soup

Wontons in Chili Sauce

Theresa's wonderful choice: Herbal Chicken

Oyster Omelet with Sweet Chili Sauce

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Capitol Hill Adventure @ Joe Bar

They say that pictures speak a thousand words. I'll let the pictures describe my Friday afternoon Capitol Hill escapade with Annie and Cassie! 

Idyllic courtyard with gate slightly ajar.
I snuck in to take a quick peek.
Only on my way out did I noticed the "PRIVATE NO TRESPASSING" sign. 

Upstairs seating and menu. 

Afternoon mocha

Sweet crepe filled with Nutella
and fresh strawberries and bananas.

Savory crepe: tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella

Joe Bar was very charming, in an antiquated, hole-in-the-wall way. The narrow staircase fascinated me, and I so wanted to sit in on the upstairs tables! Alas, seating was few and we barely managed to snag a small table right by the door as it was.

Verdict on the food: My morning glory chai was not as creamy and filling as I had expected. It was truly more "tea" than "chai." It was quite thin, and not frothy as I prefer it. My savory crepe (not pictured) was also not too appetizing. I don't know what possessed me, someone with a ho-hum attitude to blue cheese, to order a crepe filled with blue cheese, spinach, and red bell peppers. Must've been the attraction of the spinach and roasted red peppers... However, as you know, blue cheese is quite overpowering. While I managed to finish the crepe, I would not order it again. Cassie's sweet crepe with Nutella and fresh fruit was quite good, but she and I both agreed the crepe is also very doable at home and probably not worth the price. Annie had a much better savory crepe with a milder cheese. Yet, as I sat there at Joe Bar, my mind drifted to the decadent crepes we had at Jewel Box just a few weeks ago... If I am going to eat crepes at a restaurant, I expect rich sauces and beautiful presentation. Joe Bar, as much as I wanted to like it, fell short. 

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Varlamos? Yes, Please!

Varlamos is a SCA tradition. If you haven't heard of it or been there yet, I have failed you as a friend. Perfect for group gatherings, Varlamos on Monday nights has half-off prices on their calzones. Must expound on the calzones... Varlamos is renowned for their calzones that are as big as a football (not an overexaggeration!), filled with whatever your little heart desires! The salad that comes with the calzone is pretty darn tasty too... with generous amounts of shredded mozzarella cheese and a delicious honey mustard dressing (or whatever dressing you prefer instead). Tip: If you don't like olives, let the waiter know or ask to have it on the side.

I have pretty much only tried the calzone and salad at Varlamos, and I don't intend to change that anytime soon. I always go for the make-your-own calzone, which allows me the flexibility to choose my own toppings. Pineapple is yummy (and will make your calzone sauce runny), BBQ chicken, and mushrooms. Or maybe red bell peppers, sausage, and spinach. That might be your hardest decision of the week... what to include in your calzone! Sometimes the waiter does mess up the orders, especially if there's a big group and everyone gets a calzone. Check your calzone to make sure you got what you ordered, and not your neighbor's calzone!

Eating calzones can be messy, so be warned! You're better off just deciding to be messy and eating with your hands. Pick up the calzone and chow down! Usually, I know I won't be able to finish the whole thing, so I slice my calzone in half- eat half at dinner and save the other half for lunch tomorrow. Don't be too greedy and go for 2 calzones in a sitting... you will have negative consequences! (Ask Michael if you don't believe me... heroic guy finished 2 calzones within probably an hour, and barely lived to tell the tale.)

The food is great. The price is right. The location is right by UW, so super convenient for students. What's there NOT to like? Book a date with me to Varlamos, and I (probably) won't turn you down!

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Recent dinner with not-so-small small group of girls!

Leftovers- this was half of the football calzone!

Unanswered Prayers and the Long Wait for Rice Pudding

Thank goodness for the weekend. It hasn't been a great week for me at all! Frustrating exams, frustrating people, and no small group to brighten up the week. Argh. I can't even think of witty things to say in this blogpost. *sigh*

Epiphany! I need a vacation. NOW. Something to look forward to and get excited about, because school and work is definitely not cutting it right now. My interest level in school and classes is bottoming out. Right now, I just want to go ANYWHERE out of Seattle! (...okay, anywhere except Cleveland). 

One of the frustrating issues I'm dealing with right now is the lack of response I'm getting in my prayer life. I pray, sometimes even get-on-my-knees prayers, and... nada. Nothing happens. Okay, all of my atheist friends probably think this is true for prayer in general. But in my past, I have had real testimonies of God answering my prayers, maybe not all the time in the way I planned, but a response nonetheless. But right now, I am pretty dejected in my prayer life, because the big issues I'm praying for is still there, the major problems still exist, and hope for any change is looking pretty dim. I'm not a patient person, so having to wait and wait and wait (we're talking in terms of months here) is really discouraging.

One bright note in my life is the food. Another new recipe attempted this past week, and another success! I made a huge batch of rice pudding, and ate almost all of it by myself (12 servings worth...)! Basically, I lived off rice pudding while studying for my tests.

I used my slow cooker (the second recipe I've actually used a slow cooker!), and it allowed me to be "hands-free." I didn't have to stand by the stove, checking and stirring the rice pudding every few minutes to prevent the bottom from burning. However, the slow cooker method does take longer- I left the pudding to simmer for 2-3 hours before it was thick enough. If you don't have a slow cooker handy, you can definitely cook the rice pudding over the stove; make sure you keep an eye on your rice pudding and stir every so often!

Rice Pudding
12 servings

1 cup uncooked rice (long-grain preferred, but I used whatever I had, which turned out to be jasmine short-grain rice)
8 cups milk (8 cups = 1/2 gallon)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup milk
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
Cinnamon and nutmeg, to taste

Directions:

1. In large saucepan, combine rice, milk, and sugar. Cover pot loosely and bring mixture to boil, occasionally stirring and scraping bottom of pan to prevent burning. (Watch the pot carefully! If you're not keeping an eye on it, the mixture may boil over, leaving you a sticky mess to clean up.) 
2. After mixture has come to a boil, transfer mixture to slow cooker. Set slow cooker on high setting, and simmer for about 2 hours, or until the mixture is to desired consistency. (Note: This step will determine how thin or thick your rice pudding will be! If you want the pudding to be thicker, leave it in the slow cooker for longer. After this step, the pudding will not become thicker.) 
3. While the rice pudding is in the slow cooker, beat together eggs, 1/4 cup milk, salt, vanilla extract, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg. Set aside to bring mixture to room temperature. 
4. After the rice pudding is at desired consistency, temper egg mixture by mixing a scoopful of hot rice pudding into egg mixture. Then add the egg mixture into the rice pudding mixture slowly (to prevent curdling of the eggs). Stir the rice pudding, and continue cooking in slow cooker for 3-5 minutes (in order to fully cook the eggs). 
5. Transfer rice pudding into 9x13 inch pan or equivalent, loosely drape plastic wrap over top, and cool to room temperature. Sprinkle cinnamon over pudding. Then, tightly cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled before serving. 

The Real World

I'm realizing how sheltered I truly am. This past week I overheard snippets of conversations around me (in public areas, to clarify) that were at the same time laughable and shocking.

The Worst
Location: Thai food with Kyle on Wednesday at Banana Leaf.
Since Banana Leaf was packed, we were squished into a tiny table inches away from another table, with 2 college boys. So we overheard everything, not by choice. Their conversations about their relationships (not that I would really call them that) was completely superficial and completely not-appropriate in a very public lunch setting. One of the guy's statement that "he could totally get laid this weekend if he wanted to" almost made me laugh out-loud. (He was NOT cute, either.) Plus, he went on to describe his ideal mood lighting, because he "wants to see something at least when doing it." Kyle and I definitely had a hard time keeping straight faces... As the conversation proceeded, I was shocked (outraged! disgusted! annoyed!) by how they were describing girls, and just how casual sex was to them.

The Laughable
Location: Bus #372 going home on Friday afternoon
On the bus today, while intently updating my Words with Friends account, I was interrupted by voices that sounded exactly like John Chen! In fact, it was such a close match, I looked up and expected to see John sitting next to me on the bus. Instead, I became the pedestrian to some Asian wanna-be gangsta boyz' (yes, with a Z) conversation on BIGNESS. "How BIG are you?" "Have you seen [insert name] recently?! He's huge!" "I really want to get big." Boys' fascination with their weight and "being big" is ridiculous! And this exchange did not end there, it continued all the way from UW to Lake City. Is that ALL they know to talk about? Talk about superficial. Well, then the conversation moved onto girls- high-maintenance girls, girls with big eyes, girls they would date, girls they wish they could date. As I got off the bus at my stop, I concluded, with absolute finality, boys are dumb and dumber (Mary, you're so right!).

My taste of the real, real world has been a complete turn-off. So glad I am surrounded by Christ-loving, moral people in my life!

Lemony Lemon Bars

I adore lemon bars. They add a nice splash of brightness in otherwise cloudy and gray days in Seattle. Speaking of the weather, it feels like we're in this never-ending, eternal funk of dreariness. The sun teases us with brief, momentary sunlight, and the next moment the sky is overcast and it's raining again. There's nothing romantic about the rain in Seattle. It's a constant drizzle, especially annoying when you forget to bring your umbrella that morning! Hmm this reminds me of a Bible verse (Bible Trivia!)... What verse in the Bible relates constant, dripping rain with an quarrelsome person (woman)?

So the story behind this recipe: I've always used the Bake Sale Lemon Bars (on Allrecipes) in the past, and they do turn out great. So, one evening I'm at Ann's, and we're baking together. When Ann told me Rich has an awesome lemon bar recipe, I have to honestly say I was a bit hesitant. Thoughts that ran through my head: "I have a great recipe, do I really want to try something new? What if they don't turn out?" Turns out, Rich's lemon bar recipe is from the exact same source (Bake Sale Lemon Bars), with a few personal modifications that makes the lemon bars more tart and delicious!

Lemony Lemon Bars (with Rich's modifications)


Crust
1 1/2 cups flour
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened (not melted)

Filling
4 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
6-8 tbsp. flour
3/4 cup lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9x13 inch baking pan. 
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and 3/4 cup butter with pastry knife or fork. Mixture should be crumbly, not doughy. Press mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until slightly golden. 
3. While crust is baking, beat eggs and sugar together until frothy. Add flour slowly (to avoid clumps) while continuing mixing. Add lemon juice and mix well. Pour lemon mixture over hot crust. 
4. Return to oven for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until lemon mixture is set. Cool before dusting with confectioners' sugar. 

Crepes Galore

Crepes are easy, as I found out a few Sundays ago. You just wait, reclining comfortably on the sofa, and it's brought out to you, fresh off the stove! I guess I should preface, I had some hard-at-work folks in the kitchen to make this delightfuliousness happen! 

The Crew

The Crepes Recipe

2 eggs

1 cup milk

2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 1/2 tsp. vegetable oil + more for pan (or substitute with butter!)

Dash of vanilla extract (optional) 

Directions: 

1. Blend together eggs, milk, flour, salt, oil, and vanilla extract (if using) using either a blender or hand-mixer. Mix until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. (We didn't have the patience to wait- so chill for as long as you have will be fine.) 
2. Heat skillet with a flat surface (or crepe pan) on medium heat, and spray cooking spray on surface of pan. Pour 1/4 cup batter (batter should be thin) onto pan, tilting to completely cover surface of pan. Cook 2 to 5 minutes, turning once, until golden. Repeat with rest of batter. 
3. Filling: Fill crepes with assortment of cut-up fruit (bananas, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, etc.), fruit sauces (See Blueberry Sauce below), sweetened cream cheese, chocolate chips, Nutella, etc. Drizzle with chocolate/caramel sauces, and top with whipped cream. 
4. Blueberry Sauce: Combine 1 1/2 c. blueberries and 1 tbsp. cornstarch in saucepan. Add enough water to cover bottom of pan. Bring to boil, stirring until desired consistency is reached. Sweeten with sugar if desired. 

The "Everything" Crepe
with mango chunks, bananas, blueberry sauce,
chocolate sauce and whipped cream on the outside!

One of the Fatties (I was the other)

Chocolate Crinkles

Chocolate Crinkles are like bite-size brownie pieces, full of chocolatey goodness! The ingredients are simple, but using a good-quality cocoa powder is important! The recipe below makes about 36 cookies. The cookies turn out really elegant with the confectioners' sugar; it looks like it came from the bakery! Also, the cookies are even better the next day, when the cocoa has time to mellow.

Chocolate Crinkles

1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 c. white sugar
4 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. confectioner's sugar

Ingredients:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt in separate bowl, then stir flour mixture into cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill in fridge until firm. (Original recipe says to chill for 4 hours, but Tiff chilled the dough for only 30 minutes and it turned out fine.) 
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with foil or parchment paper. Rough dough into 1 inch balls. Coat each bowl with confectioners' sugar, then arrange on prepared cookie sheets about 1 inch apart. 
3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet for a minute, then transfer to wire racks to cool. 

Baking Party

I guess I was a bit of an "angry bird" on that last post. I was even about to post an Ode to Burnt Rice Pudding, but thankfully I refrained. But things are all better now! A big thanks to everyone who cared! 

In other news, I HAVE been cooking and baking recently, just not blogging as much! Ever since my computer's keyboard started malfunctioning, I've been slacking on updating my blog. (Although, the Chinese drama and new TV shows may contribute to lack of activity as well...) No fear- I have returned to my bloggin' lovin' self with several posts already planned!

Last weekend, I finally accomplished my dream of hosting a baking party! It was loads of fun baking with 4 other girls, each of us making our own dessert. The tasting part was pretty bomb too!

The menu was as follows:

Ann in charge of Pumpkin Pie

Jess introduced us to Date Squares

Tiff and her Chocolate Crinkles

Mols' Dutch Baby

I stuck with the tried and true- Lemon Bars

I will post recipes as soon as I'm done sampling all the goodies still left in my house, yummy! 

To Do Something Right, Do It Yourself

"I forgot" just doesn't cut it. What's wrong with all the boys these days? I guess I need to spell out exactly what is "unacceptable" behavior for them.

1. Promising to do something, and NOT following through- how do you expect me to trust you in the future?
2. Using excuses to try to justify yourself when you messed up, instead of manning up- I really don't want to hear your excuses... even worse, I don't want you to blame me for what you should have done!
3. Calling for a ride 30 minutes before an event- this is just being irresponsible...

Oh, I'm sure there are more, but I'm too angry to try to remember all those negative memories of when boys in my life have let me down.

Pictures of my disastrous morning to come soon...

Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant, Plus Funfetti Cake

We had to make up for all the past years when never celebrated Kyle's birthday (the downside of having a birthday right in the middle of spring break), so Shu organized a birthday dinner at Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant in the International District. The guys gave rave reviews from their last experience there... so how could we not go? :)

The staff was friendly, especially once Shu started speaking in fluent Mandarin. While the restaurant wasn't large, it still managed to seat the 9 of us without too long of a wait. We decided to do family-style, with each of us ordering a dish. Best idea ever! You really have to go the "everyone sharing food" route at Chinese restaurants. Or else, you just get stuck eating pepper chicken or garlic eggplant for the whole meal, all by yourself. This way we all got to try the full repetoire of the menu.

Some of the standouts:

• Steamed Fish, while not a whole, fresh fish, it was delicious! Or I just may be partial, because I love seafood and don't get to eat it very often.
• Even eggplant haters seemed to find the Garlic Eggplant quite palatable. Although, anything covered in a thick soy sauce is probably good. Another vegetable dish, the Green Beans, was also very good. Delicious, but not the best I've had.
• Spicy Boiled Fish was not as spicy as it looked. The soup was bright red with dried chili peppers floating. You had to "fish" for chunks of fish and napa cabbage. For true "spicy fish" lovers, the dish probably isn't spicy enough, but it was good for wimps like me!

The other dishes we ordered included pepper chicken (fried chunks of chicken covered in pepper), ma po tofu, mongolian beef, and green onion pancakes. The dishes definitely hit the spot in terms of comfort food. Everything smelled and tasted great, and I really don't think we went wrong in any of the dishes we ordered. However, there is a line between "good" and "truly special."

The pepper chicken was a bit of a letdown, especially in comparison to Utopia's version. In retrospect, I can't pinpoint exactly what I didn't like, but it just wasn't as addictive as pepper chicken can be. Maybe the ratio of fried batter to chicken was off. It did seem like the chicken pieces were smaller, and hence too much fried coating, so each bite was too oily and too much friedness (I just made this word up). Also, there wasn't variety in terms of taste between dishes. Even though we ordered some fish, some chicken, some vegetables... every dish almost had the same taste. Lots of soy sauce, probably MSG, and mucho oil. That probably sums up Chinese cooking in general. Lastly, all of the dishes on the menu you can probably find at every other Chinese or Sichuanese restaurant. There wasn't anything particularly special to THIS Chinese restaurant. And while I did list the standouts (in my humble, probably non-authentic ABC opinion), I can't say that there was one dish that was truly amazing and out-of-this-world.

Overall, Sichuanese Cuisine Restaurant served delicious comfort food, however, falls quite short of amazingness. One last note, the prices were also typical, not overly expensive, everything ranging from $8-$15 per dish.

I bumped up the rating to 3.5 stars, due to the service. The people running the restaurant were very nice, especially with a large group of us! They refilled our waters (and rice), and split our check 9 ways.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

And what is a birthday without cake?! The birthday boy requested... funfetti, so funfetti he got! While I personally think funfetti is a kids' birthday cake, I guess some people never outgrow it! Before, I had derided funfetti as "bland vanilla cake with sprinkles inside." Plus, it's "made out of a box!" The horror! Yet, somehow Kyle's Funfetti Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting tasted delicious! I stand corrected.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

I See The Light

I'm in love with a movie, and specifically a song. "I See The Light" makes me want to love someone wholeheartedly, and be loved back. One scene from Tangled has stirred up all the romantic hopes and dreams that I have tried to squash the past few months. This song is on repeat...