bump n grind: chocolate peanut butter cups + americanos

bump n grind
corner of commercial + venables, vancouver

i've always kind of hated the name of this place, so i never ever went in. but this past summer i tried it out... and honestly i've been missing out. their americanos are pretty great, but the best thing they have is their chocolate peanut butter cups. and what better then to pair chocolate with coffee? not much, i tell you.

so go. go now and eat a chocolate peanut butter cup. with an americano. thank your barista. then come back here and thank me (and my sister who introduced me to them).


bump n grind cafe
916 commercial drive
mon - fri 7-7
sat + sun 8-7
@bumpngrindcafe

ghost pancakes for next year

i always get great ideas way too late.
here's one to store for next year's halloween.
ghost pancakes!
so cute.

image via petra at zoom yummy

simply breakfast

(photo by jennifer causey at simply breakfast)

if you love breakfast as much as i do and haven't discovered simply breakfast yet, you must remedy this dire situation. jennifer causey is a new york based photographer who has a blog solely dedicated to breakfast photography. she also takes beautiful non-food photography.

one day i want to have a huge window in my kitchen, and a beautiful wooden table (but no varnishes & no oak please!). oh, and 5 extra cupboards just for extra dishes & napkins for props. i don't think this day is coming anytime soon, but i can only hope.

so enjoy your breakfast, and while your at it, visit simply breakfast for some inspiration.

a recipe for delicious baked eggs

i mentioned in my last post that i was giving more energy to my photo blog.
however, when i want to post recipes i will post over here.
somehow, someday, i want to combine the 2 blogs in some way - i like the format over there much better, but i still want to write about food, but i don't want to be double posting all the time when i take pretty photos of the food i write about. that sounded complicated. it is. thereby my wanting simplicity in joining the 2 somehow...

but i digress.

i have for you a recipe of sorts for baked eggs.
a delicious way to eat eggs when you have some extra time on the weekend.

what you need:
(1 serving)
- 2 eggs, preferably room temperature (take them out night before)
- 2 tablespoons cream
- handful of fresh herbs - thyme, sage & rosemary (thyme is the most important)
- butter
- salt & pepper
- toast
- prosciutto (optional)
- ramekin
- baking tray deeper than your ramekin

what to do:
- turn kettle on to boil
- turn oven on to 375*
- chop herbs into tiny pieces
- grease ramekin with butter
- place 1 tablespoon cream into ramekin
- sprinkle with a few herbs, salt & pepper
- crack 2 eggs in
- sprinkle with more herbs, salt & pepper
- spoon 1 tablspoon cream on top
- (optional) add more butter to the top
- place ramekin into deeper baking tray, and fill halfway with boiling water
- place tray in oven
- bake for 10-15 minutes (i don't have the timing perfectly. its a bit tricky to keep the yolks runny while not having runny whites so i often overbake it) until cooked to your liking
- enjoy with a slice of toast and coffee


another variant on this dish is to line your ramekin with prosciutto first, and then proceed with the next steps.

other recipes you can look at:
- seasaltwithfood blog
- simple baked eggs recipe

happy thursday morning

good morning.

have yourself a lovely breakfast.
if not today, definitely this weekend.

if you want to venture out from fried or scrambled eggs, might i suggest breakfast pizza? eggs benedict? quiche? or pancakes?

apologies for being slightly absent lately from this blog.
i'm starting to give more energy to my photo blog these days, come visit me there!
more photos, less words, so it'll be less demanding of you to read.

food + drink | my website

this is a glimpse of my website:

it's new.
i'm fairly excited about it.
:)

you should go check it out. i have an entire gallery dedicated to food.

joeyarmstrong.ca

my chicken fajitas

i'm (still) really horrible at intentional meal planning. this week, though, i decided i wanted to make chicken fajitas at some point. one accomplishment at a time here, lets not get TOO crazy.

so. i bought some chicken (free run, non-medicated, at wheelhouse seafoods), peppers, sour cream, and sprouted grain tortillas.

here they are.

i cut the 2 chicken breasts into strips and marinated them for about 1/2 an hour while i chopped everything else up. for the marinade i used: half a dried chili, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic, and some kind of mexican chipotle chili mix i got from a friend. you can probably use chili flakes or whatever spice you like. (i like to avoid the fajita seasoning packets in the stores, because i'm not a fan of colors, corn syrup solids, modified corn starch and 'natural flavor')

here's a recipe for making your own seasoning: http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/fajitaseasonmix.htm

wish i'd thought of looking up a recipe earlier. oops.

i sauted peppers & onion in olive oil, salt & pepper. until they were soft & caramelized.

then its easy! i grated some cheese, heated up my tortillas in the oven, chopped up some cilantro, & put out my sour cream & salsa. wrap it all up & enjoy.

two related photos HERE on my photo blog!

making noodles & motivational issues

for some reason i find it easier to work on new projects then to work on projects that have been piling up all summer. summer has been busy. also i've been having motivation/inspiration issues lately. so it is not only exciting that i actually wanted to pick up my camera before (& during) eating today, but it is also exciting that i am actually writing this blog with these images right now. you probably aren't as excited as i am. you may have even disappeared because of my horribly inconsistent blogging. but i do hope you enjoy my photos of this half-eaten pasta, and be patient with me as i attempt to catch up on posts. like making salmon on a campfire, my favorite brunch spot in vancouver, and a recently opened coffee brew bar.

at any rate, i made a really tasty pasta tonight. got home from work late, and decided to try my hand at homemade noodles, even though i knew it would take a while, and i knew i was hungry. i think maybe i was excited to use our food processor. slowly loving this machine more and more. (hummus takes almost 5 seconds to make now. this makes me so happy!!)

i was supposed to use 2 cups of flour, 3 eggs, & a teaspoon of salt for these noodles. somehow, though, i used 1 cup of flour, 2 eggs & 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. and a little bit of olive oil. they turned out though. kind of clumpy, but nevertheless tasty. i pulsed it in the processor until it came together (drizzling a little bit of oil in), turned it out onto a floured surface, kneaded it a bit, and covered it in the fridge for 30 minutes. i then used my sister's noodle maker machine of awesomeness, but you can also roll out the dough (with flour), and cut it with a knife or something. less consistent this way, but more rustic - giving your noodles the 'i am most definitely homemade' kind of look.

for the sauce i sauted a chorizo sausage in some olive oil & bacon fat (yes, i keep my bacon fat for further use. it is amazing. you should do this too. if you eat bacon.), added onions & garlic, rosemary & thyme, zuchinni & roma tomatoes, salt & pepper. after the veggies were cooked to my liking, and the noodles were finished cooking (3-5 minutes in boiling salted water with a touch of olive oil), i just tossed the noodles straight into my veggie/sauce, added a 1/4 cup of the pasta water, stirred it all up, and served it with freshly grated parmesan. seriously delicious.

oh yeah and i had to take a photo of this zuchinni because it is hilarious. a friend of my sister's gave it to her from their garden. i love the random shape. and the tomatoes were from our awesome landlords (i also borrowed on onion from them), and the herbs were from our garden, so our meal was relatively cheap. isn't that the best? cheap AND delicious? what's not to like about that?