Barkley's 2008 Dine Around

Smoked Chicken with Brie Turnovers

Gross... there are my thoughts on that. Overdone, wayyy too smokey, my mouth was telling me I was eating the burnt end of the stick after a hot dog roast.

Baseball cut Sirloin with "Shoestring Fries" on top of Lentil Ragu

Barkley's last year was fantasic, couldn't wait to go back. This year's servings makes me not want to go back- ever. The steak was cooked well (med-rare) but there was this awful charred taste that ruined it for me. It was like... campfire set with gasoline. And to top off this taste extravaganza... the lentil ragu was chili! Looked like chili, tasted like chili and if there was a lentil to be seen it was hidden amongst the CHILI! I ate the end off of this steak and got it wrapped to go, threw it out the next morning (along with one left over turnover).

Creme Brulee

Should have ordered this first. It was good, really good. Still doesn't beat the one I had at that famous steak chain we have in our city... but was the highlight of my night. I like my brulee to be flat and wide. That way when the sugar gets heated the custard warms up too. The one complaint I have with this particular serving was (and some might not complain of this) that the sugar was so thick it required serious biting and then pulling it out of my molars. I like the sugar to be thin, crisp and melt it your mouth. I can't have everything, I will just say- thank god something was yummy at Barkley's this particular night.

PS: The fact that I set a certain font and size to my comments and they don't appear once I save really pisses me off :)

Peeps On Parade

I LOVE PEEPS.

I don't eat them but I think they're the cutest things!

Blue Crab Bar and Grill

The Best First
White Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding with Honey Frozen Yogurt

This is so good the restaurant now dubs it "Must Have" on the menu. You really must. I can't even tell you that I could have eaten three of them, even though I couldn't even finish my meal. Layers and layers of croissant bread pudding, strawberries, macadamia and a sweet caramel rum sauce. The honey yogurt, though amazing, was very much granita like to me and my BFF. In any case- best dessert I've EVER eaten, hands down.

Rib Eye with Fig Jam

Mister went to the restroom before his plate hit the table, I started eating the steak (Yeah, I'm back on- I just zone out...) before he arrived, BFF started eating his potatoes. Good choice Mister.

Cowichan Valley Smoked Duck Breast and Thigh with Barley Risotto and apple salad

My choice for dinner and it was good, just not as good as I remember having last year, which was a sirloin... I think. Anyway... the duck was really smoky, my taste buds were telling me bacon. I loved the apple salad and barely roasted veggies. The barley risotto was exceptionally good especially the bits sitting in the ice wine pan sauce of the duck. I brought the leg piece home for Maisie, she and her cat will be eating it sometime today.
PS: I love wilted KALE, I should eat it often. Oh, and portions... big.

Petales d'Osoyoos

BFF always picks a good wine, this was no different and for $40 a bottle even our very knowledgeable server Mike agreed that it gave its counter part (the winery only makes two) a run for its money considering the other is $105 a bottle. I'm no wine expert or even slightly going to say I know anything about it, but it was good and I'm not usually a fan of the wine. Go buy a bottle- if you can find it.

Peep Peep!

Peeps on a cupcake

Eggies on a cupcake

Maisie on an ice cream cake

Happy Valentines Day

A Hallmark "holiday"? Maybe, go out and get me a card anyway...

Banana Kisses and Guilt

So...clearly this isn't posting more. I've been baking more, but have also hit a snag in my eating extravaganza. I watched "Fast Food Nation" and then another horrid thing on the treatment of cows at a ranch! I'm not an idiot and am rightly aware of where and how (though once you see it happening...whew...) our meat gets to the market, but my heart really hurt to see these cows being kicked and tossed around on fork lifts (Yeah, you read that right- fork lifts!). Anyhhooo... I've been off the beef for awhile now, had chicken the other night and was ok with it. I'll get back, once I find Farmer Brown who hugs his cows every night before bed and fluffs their hay piles before they lay down... far fetched I know, but sometimes I like to live in a fantasy land.

Bad, Bad Carnivore

Braised Beef Short Ribs

Go to butcher, get a lot, rub them with whatever you want- may I suggest just salt and pepper? Throw around many sprigs of fresh thyme and sage. Sit atop a bed of as many sliced onions you can stand to cut. Have oven set to 300. Put pan in uncovered. Sit and watch tv for 4-5 hours. Little dog has gone to kitchen at this point and sniffed the air a thousand times...

After 5 hours (for me this was 11pm)... do one of two things. A: turn heat down to 200, cover the pan and leave those bitches in there until the morning when you get up or B: put the ribs at the bottom of a crock pot (slow cooker- whatever you call it at your home) and pour everything on top. Which is what I did. I set it on low and turned it off when I got up. Yeah, I nibbled some while waiting for my coffee to brew. And it was so delicious. The onions had completely caramelized and the rib "juice" was good enough to substitute for my morning coffee- but I didn't do that! I packaged a couple of "servings" (for Andre the Giant...) and headed off to work where at 10am... I ate lunch.

You will not be disappointed. I can't believe I don't make more.

Marshmallow- A Visual Journey

One Bite Delight

Petite (I just like the flow of the word) brownies. So cute, so easy, so chocolatey, so easy to forget you've eaten 14 of them in an hour... le sigh....

Make them yourself, eat them all- alone. Know one will ever know and who cares if they find out.

Preheat oven to 350 or whatever your oven thinks is 350. Here's what ya need...

1 Cup of Butter

1 Cup of Cocoa

2 Cups of White Sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/4 Cup of Coffee (mmm...coffee)

4 Eggs (out of the fridge for about an hour prior- if you remember if not oh well...)

1 1/3 Cups of Flour

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

dash o' salt

In a bowl (not your mixing bowl!) add 1 1/3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and a dash of salt.

Melt one cup (yup, one cup...) of butter (I use salted), IN YOUR MIXING BOWL (not to be confused with your flour blend bowl!) blend in one cup of good quality cocoa (mmhmmm...another cup), add two cups (oh yeah, we're doubling...) of sugar and 2 teaspoons of vanilla and 1/4 cup of coffee (I really do use whatever is left over in the pot). Mix well. I use a KitchenAid stand mixer, but if you are really strong and want to do it by hand have at it. Add 4 eggs. ONE AT A TIME!!

Scrape the bowl down, get your flour mixture and now slowly add it in- otherwise... POOF! Flour everywhere...

Spray your mini muffin tins (You will regret it if you don't, oh- mine have a non stick coating too but you will be sorry if you don't spray. Humour me... just do it). With a tiny ice cream scoop (I'm anal and measure...) plop one scoop into each spot. This recipe will make 4 1/2 dozen cupcakes. Fit as many tins in your oven as you can. Bake for only 9-11 minutes. 9 if you life them gooey, 11 if you like them more dry.

I'm sure that's the whole of it... :)

I promise to bake more, update more!

I admit, I've been a tad slack a roni on the updating. The holidays wore me out, which is surprising since I really didn't do much but lounge, cook, eat, sleep...

Truffles on top of the classic vanilla cupcake

Chocolate Cherry Delights!