I Am... Oxtail Pho Recipe
If you've never had pho, you're missing out. Slippery, thin rice noodles, flavourful meat, savoury stock and a bunch of fresh herbs make a bowl of pho something to covet when you're looking for something filling, yet light. It's simple enough to head out to a Vietnamese restaurant for a quick bowl, but if you're looking for a particularly morish bowl of noodles, you should make the stock yourself. Yes, it's a two day process, but this stock is like all good things: all the more sweet because it was worth the wait.
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I Am... Mini Scotch Quail Eggs Recipe
I can't remember my first Scotch egg or even why I decided to try one, but after the first bite I was hooked. How could I not fall in love a perfectly boiled egg wrapped up in a sausage coat? A Scotch egg is all good things about breakfast rolled up into one awesomely hand holdable ball.
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I Am... Best Banana Bread Recipe
I'm a purist when it comes to banana bread: no nuts, no chocolate, no dried banana chips. I like my banana bread to taste like bananas. I love how something magical happens when bananas are baked; the sugars caramelize and intensify, making the bananas taste even more banana-y.
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I Am... Parsley Pesto Pasta with Broccoli and Salmon Recipe
Do you ever just wander around the grocery store until inspiration strikes? Sometimes that means I'm in and out of the store in five minutes, but sometimes it means I'll wander aimlessly for hours.
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I Am... Sweet Potato and Carrot Curry Soup Recipe
State Bird Provisions in San Francisco has been on my radar for a while. I've been meaning to try it even before Bon Appetit named it 2012's Restaurant of the Year. My first attempt at eating at State Bird last April was a utter fail. Mike and I were road-tripping down the Pacific Coast with a wild dream of hopping in for some late-night nibbles, but we arrived a bit too late – by the time we rolled into town they were closed. We didn't try again for another year, but the second try was the charm. Armed with hope and no reservations, we managed to grab a seat at the bar.
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I Am... Heart-Shaped Pizza Recipe
Seems to me like there are a lot of Valentine's Day haters out there, but I will confess right now, I'm not one of them. I'm not the hugest fan – I don't go all out and decorate my house with pink and red hearts, but I do appreciate the large outcropping of heart-shaped foods that tend to pop-up in February. I literally squealed when I saw a heart-shaped doughnut for the first time. Heart-shaped food is just so much cuter than regular shapes.
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I Am... Ranger Cookie Recipe
Mike and I love going on long rambling walks that go nowhere in particular. More often than not, we'll end up in a grocery or kitchen goods store. The other week we stopped into Williams Sonoma where they were sampling their ranger cookie mix. I've never had ranger cookies before but how could I say no to oats, chocolate, raisins and coconut?
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I Am... Raspberry Lemon Cake Recipe
Do you have any friends who don't like sweets? It seems to me that all the people I know don't like chocolate or sweets. What's a girl obsessed with sugar supposed to do?! Its downright difficult pawning off my baked goods. That's why I get so excited when friends' birthdays roll around. I pretty much know they're going to indulge in at least one piece of a homemade birthday cake.
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I Am... Chinese Steamed Fish Recipe
Do you ever have random cravings for food? This happens to me all the time and while I'd like to give in to my stomach's every whim, I rarely do–usually because my food fantasies revolve around elaborate feasts that would be entirely too time consuming to make before passing out from hunger. Thankfully my elaborate feast fantasies don't happen all the time. The other day I had a very sensible, down-to-earth desire for a simple steamed fish.
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I Am... Raspberry Pistachio Pavlova Recipe
Is there anything better than summertime and desserts? The sun has finally been shinning down on Vancouver and the gorgeous weather is perfect for picnics and barbecues. In my books, no picnic or barbecue is complete without dessert – picnics and barbecues without dessert are like summer days without sun.
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I Am... Spot Prawns with Lime and Cilantro Recipe
Spot prawns are Mike's absolute favourite seafood so now that it's spot prawn season we're going to be eating prawns like crazy. We love grilled prawns, but no patio means no grilling so I usually just pan-fry the prawns before tossing them in whichever dressing is tickling our fancy.
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I Am... Crème Brûlée Doughnut Recipe
Have you ever had the creme brûlée doughnuts from Doughnut Plant in NYC? They are hands-down, my favourite doughnut in the world. Imagine biting into a super-soft, fluffy doughnut with a crisp caramelized sugar crust. If the brûléed top isn't enough for you, it's filled with an incredibly silky vanilla custard. Soft, creamy and crunchy, it's everything you never knew you wanted in a doughnut.
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