Chow Times

Pane e Fromaggio on 10th Ave W, Vancouver

Suanne — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:00:06 +0000

Polly and I had cake meet at Pane e Fromaggio for another lady’s day out.

I had a hard time trying to recover the photos taken since 31st May as my notebook’s hard disk is dying. I had been painstakingly and patiently copying out my pictures from my dying notebook. I’m currently using a notebook on loan, so there will be no photoshopping for the pictures, i.e. I cannot place the chowtimes logo on my photos.

Pane e Fromaggio is a nice little cafe, not many seats though.

There is a good selection of sandwiches, cakes and desserts.

Here is a glance of what we had.
More after the jump. Click to read the rest of Pane e Fromaggio on 10th Ave W, Vancouver (205 words)

© suanne for Chow Times, 2013. | Permalink | One comment
Post tags: Bakery, Cake Meet, Coffee and Deli, Restaurant Review, Vancouver

Weekend Musings: Creative Engineering

Suanne — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 14:00:24 +0000

Chowtimes wishes all fathers a very memorable and happy father’s day.

Jean sent me some of the best collection of creative engineering photos. Hope you’ll be awed by them too.

A church in Norway.

The Hands vintage sofa.

A masterpiece of bathtub made from wood.
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Le Riz Asian Fusion Cafe on Capstan Way, Richmond

Suanne — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 14:00:11 +0000

I brought the boys out for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. Arkensen came with us because the Dr. Who series had ended for the season.

We went to Le Riz Fusion Cafe as a reader commented about it. It is the recarnation of Coco Chili.

The interior is spacious which we like. Arkensen hates cramp restaurant.

I ordered a new item from a poster on the wall. It’s Korean Pork Bone Noodle soup for $7.95. It came with a few large pieces of pork bones with plenty of meat to pick from.

The noodle used is wide egg noodle. Arkensen commented that the noodle is like Mee Poh instant noodle. There are some fried tofu and bamboo shoot in the noodle soup. I enjoyed it.
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Borscht

Suanne — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:00:31 +0000

The second Ukrainian dish that Joe made in the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen was Borscht.

The above beet soup was slightly tangy and the beets were sweet. I once heard from a commentary by Dr. Art Hister on the Global Morning News that beet root juice helps lower blood pressure and thus helps to prevent cardiovascular problems.

Ingredients

8 cups cold water or chicken/vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, chopped
3 beets, cut into thin strips or coarsely grate
3 medium carrots, cut into thin strips or coarsely grate
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 pepper corns
1/2 cup half & half
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour, optional (to thicken soup if preferred)
1/2 pounds green beans, cut into 1″ length

P/S: the potatoes in the photo above were for the Potato Perogies recipe.

Joe brought along his manual food processor for show and tell in the kitchen. He prefers to use the manual one than the electric food processor. He’s an old school guy.

Source: Joe

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Potato Perogies

Suanne — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 14:00:51 +0000

I have not been back to the multi-cultural community kitchen for a long while. This is because Minoo is having new groups of people, mostly new immigrants and she’s demonstrating very basic recipes which I had mostly covered in the blog already.

Out of the blue, Minoo asked me if I would like to come to the Gilmore Park Church Community Kitchen because one of the member is going to demonstrate a couple of Ukrainian recipes. Of course I’m more than happy to attend. It’s always nice to learn from another culture.

For this kitchen, Joe (the gentleman in the above photo) demonstrated how to make Potato Perogies and Borcht soup. Thank you, Joe for sharing with us.

Minoo served the Potato Perogies with a simple greens salad.

Ingredients

Dough

3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 egg

Filing

3 large potatoes
1 small sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
400g cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons butter

P/S:

missing from the photo are the potatoes. onion and garlic;
ingredients not for this recipe are the lemon juice, ground pepper, half & half

Source: Joe

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Steveston Bakery on No. 1 Road, Richmond

Suanne — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:00:21 +0000

Steveston Bakery is a old timer in Steveston Village. It has been around since 1989.

The sandwich board in front says that coffee is free from 5 to 6pm.

A mural covers one of the wall in the bakery.

There are baked goods from cake, muffin, pastries, cookies, bread and soup. Coffee is self service. We ordered large coffees since it’s just 20cents extra from the regular size. But the server told us that she will charge us the regular size price since refill is free when we dine in.

We ordered four items to share. The bill came to $13+ including the coffees. Price is very reasonable here. Steveston Bakery accepts credit card.
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Weekend Musings: Amazing Photos

Suanne — Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:00:21 +0000

Start your weekend with some amazing photos.

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Gang Nam Korean BBQ Restaurant in Empire Center, Richmond

Suanne — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 14:00:25 +0000

I had meant to bring the boys to Gang Nam Korean BBQ on mother’s day. The address of this restaurant is 2065-4580 No. 3 Road. It has to be somewhere in Empire Center.

We simply cannot locate the restaurant. So, we tried again on the next weekend. We still cant find it in the Empire Center area. We even asked the parking attendant and he has no idea. We decided to look for another place instead. On the way out of Empire Center via Hazelbridge Way, we finally saw the restaurant. Apparently, the entrance of the restaurant is actually facing Hazelbridge Way. But the building that the restaurant occupies is part of the strip mall of Empire Center.

I confirmed with the server that parking is at the Empire Center parking lot which is usually very busy.

High back benches serve as partition for some privacy.

Nanzaro ordered a Spicy Pork Bibimbap from the lunch special for $8.95. You can click on the menu to have a larger view.

The Bibimbap was served in a hot stone bowl. Nanzaro enjoyed it as he said it was like fried rice when it’s all mixed up in the hot stone bowl. He even ate all the vegetables that came with it.

Arkensen did not want to order from the lunch special. He said what is the point of coming to a Korean BBQ restaurant and not order BBQ. So, I had to share with him on the BBQ lunch combo which is meant for two. We had option B.
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Cupcakes with Fresh Fruit Icing

Suanne — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 14:00:10 +0000

Michelle prepared a recipe of Cupcakes with Fresh Fruit Icing for a lesser guilt dessert at the South Arm Cooking Club for Older Adults.

Michelle used strawberries for the fresh fruit icing. Here are some health benefits of strawberries from Besthealthmag.ca.

excellent source of Vitamin C
good source of potassium and fiber
considered an immunity booster”
may promote eye health and help prevent cataracts
may also help reduce inflammation in joints
helps to regulate blood pressure
helps fight bad cholesterol
best health dubs strawberry ‘one of the most heart-healthy fruits you can eat’

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, softened, at room temperature
3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup milk

Glaze

1 1/2 cups berries (raspberries, strawberries or blackberries), plus extra fruit or crystallized flower petals for garnishing
1 1/2 to 3 cups or more icing sugar

source: Jamie Oliver.com

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Ricotta Crostini with Cherry Tomatoes

Suanne — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 14:00:49 +0000

Michelle prepared a Ricotta Crostini with Cherry Tomatoes to go with the simple Asparagus Soup at the South Arm Older Adults Cooking Club.

The Ricotta Crostini with Cherry Tomatoes makes a great appetizer and finger food too.

Ingredients

a handful of cherry tomatoes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 loaf of ciabatta or baguette
1 garlic clove, peeled
1 – 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
room temperature grated Parmesan cheese

Source: this recipe is adapted from Saveur.com

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