Archive for December, 2013

2013 Soba

December 31, 2013 at 8:21 pm · Filed under pasta & noodles ·Tagged , , , ,

I’m having a hard time believing that it’s already time to adieu 2013. Well, I prefer even numbers, so I’m ready to get this show on the road.

To usher out the year properly, and to wish for long (but not thick) life, we followed the Japanese tradition of eating soba on New Year’s Eve.

As usual, the soba was dressed with a nice variety of toppings: natto, mashed avocado, eggs with slightly runny yolks, raw green onions, nori seaweed cut into strips, and of course, wasabi and tsuyu (soba sauce).

Fantastic.

[UPDATE: just a note about the eggs: they’re hot springs egg style (i.e., soft yolks). The key to this is to bring water to a boil FIRST, then add the eggs and cook for seven minutes.

Also, this wine.

soba

New Year's Eve rosé

New Year’s Eve rosé

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Tapateria

December 27, 2013 at 5:30 pm · Filed under restaurant

It’s now officially ages ago that we dined (or rather lunched) at Tapateria in Colorado Springs with a very-much-missed friend (JC).

I found the resto by Googling vegan “colorado springs”. The location is excellent, in Old Colorado City, and even better, there was tons of stuff for me. The menu is advertised as 100% gluten-free, 50% vegetarian, 25% vegan. Yay.

Below are our tapas selections:

  • Spanish Chorizo Chips (Y only)
  • Grilled Padron Peppers
  • Garlic Mushrooms
  • Dolmades
  • Verduras Tower (had cheese; oops)
  • Tuna Carpaccio Salad
  • Baby Calamari

Lovely ambience, lovely food.

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Plaetzchen

December 21, 2013 at 5:49 pm · Filed under dessert

Yusuke was jealous of my sister-in-law’s baking pics, so we decided to make chocolate plaetzchen (plätzchen?). Not sure if the name matches an actual German word, but that’s what they’ve been called as handed down in family history.

Ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, grated chocolate, shredded coconut, vanilla, baking powder.

They don’t look like my mom’s, but they taste ok. We avoided our usual baking fail! Plus, we have the satisfaction of having made them without an electric mixer (or even a hand mixer). Many hours of labour…I’m not sure why people bake for fun more than once or twice per year! 😉

cookies

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Spanish omelette 2

December 4, 2013 at 11:29 am · Filed under general veggie dish ·Tagged , ,

While we were visiting my parents, Yusuke whipped up this very lovely iteration of his Spanish omelette recipe (aka tortilla espanola or tortilla de patata). The veggies were:

  • Potatoes (pre-cooked a bit in the microwave)
  • Bell peppers (green and red)
  • White onions

The veggies were sauteed first. Next came the eggs poured in, which had been beaten with a bit of soy milk.

Yusuke prepared other delicious meals during our sojourn, but this dish was particularly blog-worthy in its crispy golden veggie goodness.

Spanish omelette

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