Cookies!

Yeah, I bake in the summer. I’m in the kitchen, takin’ the heat!

Fresh baked Ginger Molasses and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies.

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Vancouver Streetfood: Roaming Dragon Pan-Asian

I love streetfood: tasty, no fuss, eat-it-while-u-walk snacks that make my tummy happy without breaking my budget. I especially love the kind of streetfood that’s more than just a snack, it’s a real treat. The sight of a quality streetfood vendor should provoke the same kind of primitive Pavlovian response as the sound of the Ice Cream Man and make me come runnin’ with a handful of loonies. Gingerman and I have found exactly that vendor.

Four Little Dishes = One Great Meal

The Roaming Dragon is like a tapas bar on wheels. They offer a selection of fresh, fun, Asian-fusion goodies that go beyond preconceived notions of “food cart” cuisine. We spotted the truck visiting Kits Point near Arbutus and Whyte, and they have made appearances at Vancouver Farmers Markets. We selected 3 dishes for $15 and took advantage of their “Dragonista” twitter promo for a free Lychee Lemonade. Great deal!

Connect with Roaming Dragon for up-to-date locations and info!

Twitter     @Dragontruck
Website    www.roamingdragon.com
Facebook  www.facebook.com/DragonTruck

Things we love @ Roaming Dragon:

• EVERYTHING! The flavours are there, man!
• Perfect portions for a snack or light lunch.
• 2-3 items + Lychee Basil Lemonade = a nice picnic for two.
• Soba Noodles are vegetarian, and tofu can sub for duck in confit salad.

Lychee Basil Lemonade ~ Cool, tart, sweet, and refreshing.

Nice twist on a summertime standard. Basil is related to mint, and adding it to the mix was brilliant. The drink has unexpected texture, with little chunks of lychee swimming around, and is served with a wide straw. Personally, I’m not a big fan of lychee, but Gingerman liked the drink so much we came back later and bought a second one.

Duck Confit Salad ~ Savory, melt-in-your-mouth duck confit served warm on a bed of young green things with little chunks of pineapple and watermelon.

I loved the addition of watermelon. It gave a completely different contrast in texture and flavour than the pineapple, and both fruits make good company for duck. As a whole, it was nicely balanced and not too sweet. Requires a fork or chopsticks (if you’re the civilized sort).

Short Rib Tacos ~ Korean style shortrib cradled in a tiny soft taco with a little nori, some greens, carrots, and bean sprouts.

Nicely spiced sort of East meets West take on tacos el pastor. This was the dish I most wanted to try, and it was a NUMMY success!

Rice Balls ~ Crispy fried balls of fried rice.

I know, it sounds deadly, but taste was the payoff. The coating was crispy and quite thin, just doing its job at holding the rice in shape. The rice was a little creamy, with an aroma of 5-spice and the taste of soy in the background. On top, a little drizzle of golden sauce with hints of curry—yum!

*Pork Belly Sliders ~ Tender morsel of pork, thin-sliced cucumber, tasty sauce, soft bun.

Char Siu Bau magically transformed into a dim-sum slider! Skeptical at first, I took one bite and was hooked. Ingenious and delicious.

*NOTE: I confess, when Gingerman listed options from the menu, pork belly was not my first pick. I’ve had a few bad experiences with greasy, chewy pork belly at restaurants, and didn’t want to spend our dough on the possibility of disappointment. However, after we paid for our main order, the hubs let slip that I was planning to blog about the food, and Dragontruck threw in the sliders gratis. I thank them from the bottom of my stomach. Totally loved them!

Vancouver Farmers Market: Homemade Homous

Spread it on a cracker ~ Dip it with a chip ~ Slather it on pita

Bean Boy Creations makes Homemade Organic Homous in delicious flavours like Smokey Tomato Chipotle. Our favourite was the Curry Currant shown in the closeup. Smooth texture and vibrant flavour.

Excellent healthy snack treat under $5 and worth every penny.

Shrimps and Bananas

Halloween is fast approaching, and I’ve made a new discovery at the candy shop: Shrimps and Bananas. They are adoreable and tasty. I mean, look at the packaging! Funny happy zoo friends having a snack together. Monty Monkey says, “I want bananas!” Ronni Rhino begins to dance around singing, “Shrimps for me! I love shrimps!” Then Gina, the Giraffe who eats anything, decides “Let’s ALL have shrimps and bananas!” Of course, it’s much cuter when you read it with a British accent.

At first, I thought they were a strange savoury treat, but the kid-friendly package design and the ingredient list (sugar, sugar, and sugar) indicated sweetness. When I felt the packet, I could tell the candies were softish, and I began to suspect they might be related to one of my most favouritest nostalgic treats: the Circus Peanut.

Fresh Circus Peanuts are wonderful sugarbombs. Giant orange peanut shaped cousins to the marshmallow. They have a firm and foamy texture, with a post-peanut hyperactivity warning on the label. Just kidding. But yes, they are kid candy. And no, they do not contain peanuts. On my good-ol’-days candy list, they are second only to the Orange Slice (close relative to the gumdrop, and a Christmas grab bag staple).

The bananas tasted very faintly of banana, and the shrimp tasted absolutely nothing like shrimp . . . more like strawberry maybe? Ginger Man declined to eat them because they were shrimp shaped, but his tastes tend to favour the sour anyway. So, my candy-loving fellows, hie thee to yon sweet shoppe and return forthwith avec Shrimps and Bananas that ye sweet toothe might be appeased.

S’mores Day Cookie Bars

Roasting Marshmallows by ninahale

I love S’mores. Melty chocolate and gooey marshmallow sandwiched between crisp graham crackers is a time-honored campfire treat. Countless times, I sat staring into the flames, twirling a big puffy marshmallow on on the end of a hand-picked green stick whittled to a fine point, waiting for the perfect browning. Too close or too long in the wrong spot, and it would burst into flame. Sometimes accidents happen on purpose. Please hand me another marshmallow.

In honor of National S’mores Day (August 10th) and the Girl Scout tradition, I present to you this glorious S’moresel from my kitchen. All that traditional smoresy taste in a convenient cookie bar form. I guess that’d be a S’mookie!

Gimme S’more Squares

The recipe for Warm Toasted Marshmallow S’more Squares @ Betty Crocker is pure genius. No eggs required, and totally EASY! Whenever I find the sugar cookie mix on sale, I like to stock up so I can make quick treats like these. They’re totally delicious, pack perfectly in lunches, and go great with coffee or a big glass of cold milk.

Golden Toasted Chocolatey Delicious

I tweaked the recipe a little to produce a smaller batch with more graham flavour and decided to break out some gourmet chocolate bars for the topping. I used Dagoba Organic Dark Chocolate, but many other flavours would be yummy. Also, try your local store brand graham crackers; Safeway’s grahams have an excellent texture and taste and cost less.

Get Ready

• Preheat oven to 375° and grease a 9×9 pan.
• Chop fancy chocolate bars to make about 1 1/2 cups of chocolate bits.
• Bash or food process about 8 graham crackers to make 1 Cup of crumbs.

Make a Grahamtastic Cookie Crust

1. Mix 1 Cup of Graham Cracker Crumbs with 2 Cups (about 1/2 bag) of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix.
2. Melt 1 stick of butter, stir in 1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract, and add to dry ingredients.
3. Press dough into pan and bake 18 minutes.

Add the Chocolate and Marshmallows

• 

  Lightly browned!

  When the cookie crust is done, turn off the oven and preheat the broiler.

• While the crust is still warm, sprinkle 1 1/2 cups chopped chocolate over top and let it melt. Spread melted chocolate to edges of crust.
• Top with 2 cups miniature marshmallows and return pan to oven about six inches below the broiler.
• Broil until marshmallows are lightly browned ~ 1 min (watch them carefully!)
• LET THEM COOL—I know it’s hard.
• Cut into squares and NOM!

Other S’more recipes:

• S’mores + Peeps = Smeeps!
• S’More Cookie Bars @ Baking Bites
• Chocolate Graham Cupcakes w/Marshmallow Frosting @ Martha Stewart
• Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Cookies @ Food Network
• Homemade Graham Crackers @ Smitten Kitchen
• Homemade Marshmallows @ Martha Stewart

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