Love is not a thought, it is an action. And each loving action that we take infuses us with more energy for loving action in the future.

-Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat

A woman of great taste

It would be too easy if I were talking about myself.

I'm talking about my friend Yasmin (@yasminATlesauce) who runs an amazing food blog at lesauce.typepad.com. She's a true lover of food -- someone who if feeling lazy about dinner would braise leeks as the easy way out. Her blog consists mostly of her vegetarian recipe creations, and she believes in eating well from tomato on toast for lunch to day-long cooking feast for friends and family.

This past summer, she recently resigned from over eight years at St. Joseph's Media working in various marketing roles in the consumer magazine industry to embark on a career that intersects her love for food, photography, writing and publishing. I love when people reach that point where they're ready to leap into the unknown. I strongly have faith in the idea that when you have nothing, everything is possible. (Not to say she has nothing but you get the idea, I hope!)

In any case, after a year of being one of her religious blog followers, I finally pushed my own lazy butt to cook one of her drool-over-the-computer-screen-worthy recipes.

I was poking around my fridge and noticed some parsley that I just knew was going to go bad any day now. Then it clicked in my head -- I remembered I read a post by Yasmin about how herbs never go bad in her house because she uses it in all sorts of creative ways. So a quick search and I found the fried almond and olive pasta with fresh cilantro and parsley recipe.

I was amazed at how simple it was to make yet so, so delicious. I shared the meal with a friend who came over last minute and doesn't even like olives but he was so impressed at how good it was. Below is the photo he took on his Blackberry but it doesn't really give the dish justice, so you have to check her photos out. (P.S. I just used rotini instead of linguine because it's all I had.)

If you're looking for food inspiration, I highly recommend you check out lesauce.typepad.com.

Pause: Subway Love

I stepped on to a crowded subway train this morning. A man drew my attention to a Modern Family banner ad above the doors I came through. "Now that makes my day," he said to his friend.

At first I thought he was referring to the hilarious TV show that was airing a new episode tonight. Then I noticed two subway transfers folded into white paper hearts that were tucked into the ad.

I couldn't help smile at how our world is wonderfully connected -- that in the smallest ways, in places and times we would never expect, we find the light of love.

Yoga for Wine Lovers

 

Bringing together two things I love...

Zouk Dance Break

Before I continue my food adventures in southeast Asia, I have to pause to record the first night I went to Zouk, one of the biggest clubs in Singapore where all the major European DJs play.

 Outside the club...

 Inside the club with 2ManyDJs from Belgium loving the crowd...

 ...and the crowd loving them back.

Oh, those crazy Singaporeans... Or is it the Belgians?

One food/drink-related matter I discovered I like: a popular mixer with vodka in Singapore is room temperature green tea. I was skeptical at first but it tastes like tea! Easy to like.

Brockton General

Brockton General is a new low-key bar on Dundas Street West that opened in early to mid-August. The kitchen serves a simple menu Thursdays through Saturdays, while the bar is opened every day.

The walls are bare, and the tables and chairs look like they were plucked out of a grandmother's basement, but the wait staff and buzzing, laid back patrons makes this place easily attractive.

I came on a Friday night for a drink before a dinner reservation at Enoteca Sociale, which is right across the street. Then spontaneously returned the next night to sample its locally sourced, daily changing menu.

By the looks of the patterns, the China plates seem to have came from the same grandma's basement, but I absolutely love the repurposed old classic English porcelain China sets.

For starter, we shared pickled radishes with fried ricotta, dressed with parsley, a vinaigrette and sliced chilies (pictured above). I've never had pickled radishes before and I'm not a huge parsley fan, but I like the clean, simple, fresh tastes.

We split two mains: a poached egg on brioche toast. And a lovely, lovely lamb shoulder, done pulled-pork style, served atop a grilled eggplant, dotted with goat cheese cream. It was so dreamy and textured, I forgot to take a photo.

For dessert, we tried fried brioche dough, done in a kind of beignet style, with husk cherries (which are these tiny yellow tart balls that are nothing like the sweet bing cherries I love...oh crap, I completely missed cherry season this year!) and a lovage-mint sauce.

We each had a glass of Ontario wine, and it came out to just over $80 all together.

It will be really interesting to see how the place evolves as it's young cooks just doing what they love to eat and play with. It didn't blow me away but I loved the atmosphere and the people.

"The intersection of happiness is NOW."

-Philly D, inspirational hip hop yoga instructor, Moksha Yoga Winnipeg

Noodle King in the PATH

Another recommendation from my sister who's worked in finance district for years now and knows a lot of PATH goodies. Noodle King is under the Sheraton and tends to have a line-up that rivals McDonald's.

I've been craving simple broad noodles like this for ages. I went to Kenzo Ramen a couple of Fridays ago and wasn't that impressed.

Today I had pork wontons ($4.35) but will probably opt for spicy beef ($5.95) next time. The dish wasn't the tastiest noodles ever but the simple, clean flavours and sweating over the steaming bowl brought me back to the food of Southeast Asia for a moment... in a good way.

Lawry's The Prime Rib: Singapore

It's been over six months since I travelled to Singapore so my memory is a little hazy. But I do believe the day after arriving and eating at the Newton Hawker Centre (my first hawker experience ever!), my uncle took me, his son Augustus, and Agus's girlfriend to lunch at Lawry's The Prime Rib fine dining restaurant that originated in Beverly Hills in 1938.

My uncle isn't a very wealthy man but him and his family are on the "richer" side of Singapore's population. In any case, I wouldn't have eaten here if it wasn't for his generosity and excellent food taste.

The experience starts off much like any other a la carte restaurant. You order what kind of prime rib cut you would like first from a menu. Though they are called by many different names, the options essentially range from a thick slab to a very thick slab to a very, very thick slab.

Then the experience takes a small (or maybe big) turn. A little while after everyone orders, this huge steel cart is wheeled out by a chef, decked out in the white suit yards, and slices your cut for you right in front of the table.
 

You're also given creamy mashed potatoes with a hefty dose of gravy, and a vegetable side option. I chose creamed spinach. I can't quite remember but I believe I finished my entire plate.

Plus we had a traditional Lawry's salad, some kind of soup, and Yorkshire pudding (pictured above). If you didn't know, turns out Yorkshire pudding isn't "pudding" at all — at least not the J-E-L-L-O kind I'm most familiar with from growing up with those Bill Cosby commercials. Yorkshire pudding is a very flaky bread that's kind of laid out like a pie. If you don't know, I love flaky pastries of all varieties so this was a welcomed surprise for me.

Lawry's was easily the most classiest lunch I've ever been served but what I love about Singaporean style (or maybe just my Singaporean family?) is that we showed up in shorts, t-shirts and flip-flops with no problems or looks at all.

Homemade Chinese Steamed Buns

...by my daddy! A rare treat. The bun itself is so fluffy. Look at all those air pockets. And the filling is sauteed ground pork, red onions, diced carrots, mushrooms.

My dad used to make homemade steamed buns all the time when my siblings and I were kids. Sometimes my childhood food memories taste better than the modern recreations. But this matched the memory.

***UPDATE***

Due to popular demand, I asked my father for this "secret" family recipe and revealing it for all. These are just estimates off of the top of my dad's head, hence the weird yield (17 buns?). I'm not a recipe writer and even though baking is more scientific than cooking, this is technically steaming not baking.

The Buns
8 cups of all-purpose flour
3 to 4 cups of water
3 to 4 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 whole eggs, beaten - if you want a whiter colour, just use egg whites

Active yeast (1 tsp; follow the instructions for proofing)
1/4 tsp of sugar in the yeast

Filling
The Li Family filling is ground pork, and diced carrots, white onions and white mushrooms, sauteed in a pan with oyster sauce, salt, pepper and a little soy sauce. But as my dad says, filling is easy. Make whatever you like. There are some classics but I'm all for experimentation. For a vegetarian substitution, he suggested diced carrots, white onions, white mushrooms, bamboo shoots and chives.

(Okay, the following instructions I know are a major fail because I'm not sure how to write it out, as I just watch my dad do it and know from experience.)

Combine wet and dry ingredients till it forms a soft dough. Let rise two hours.

Knead dough. Form into even-sized "balls" (they won't really be balls because the dough is very soft). Place filling in center of flattened ball, and pinch sides to top to fold in and close. Pat in hands to form back into a "ball." Let rise for another 10 minutes. Cook in steamer for 10 minutes if you sauteed the filling beforehand. Cook for 20 minutes for uncooked meat; and 12 minutes for a veggie filling.

And report back with how it went...