Fassolada (Greek Bean Soup)

For today’s South Arm Older Adults Community Kitchen, we made cookies for the annual South Arm Fund Raiser for the Richmond Food Bank. Of course, we also whipped up a simple meal of soup and salad for the participants.

Michelle shared a quick and easy Greek Soup recipe called Fassolada.

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This soup can be versatile in a way that you can add more broth for an extra helping. Some crusty bread and a side salad will made it a complete meal.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 stalks celery, chopped
  • 3 carrots, chopped
  • 3 cups of diced tomatoes, can or preesrved
  • 2 cups of vegetable broth (we used an organic bouillon cub dissoved in water)
  • 2 to 3 cups pre-cooked or can white beans (if using can beans, rinse and drain)
  • 3 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon dillweed, or 2 tablespoons fresh dillweed
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chooped parsley for garnishing

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Source: South Arm Older Adults Community Kitchen

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Man Ri Sung on Westminster Hwy, Richmond

This is just a casual weekend lunch. The boys wanted to go to Banzai. There was no parking at that ever busy strip mall. The only parking spot available was reserved for Man Ri Sung. So, we split up for lunch, Ben and I went to Man Ri Sung while the boys went to Banzai.

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Ben opted for a hotpot for 2. It was spicy pork back hot pot. There is option for rice or hand slice noodle. We picked the latter.

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The usual banchan which comes with a Korean meal. (more…)

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Lemon Dream Bars

I made this Lemon Dream Bars for a Christmas eve dinner with friends.

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These Lemon Dream Bars have a rich coconut aroma. The tangy and sweet custard like filing makes it very appetizing.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used Marie cookies)
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 egg (slightly beaten)
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice

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Source: this recipe is adapted from an unknown source.

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Penang Fall 2012: Goodies from Penang

Both of Ben’s aunts visited us at the hotel around 10PM to pass us some Penang goodies for us to bring back to Kuala Lumpur to share with Ben’s families. They got the best of the goodies from their favaourite stalls. They are very sweet. Thank you so much.

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Not sure of the name in English; direct translation from the Chinese name is Sun Cookie.

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Heong Peah.

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Another version of Heong Peah; Penang style. (more…)

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Penang Fall 2012: Hawker Center Dinner

After the round island tour, Ben’s aunt brought us to visit another of Ben’s cousin. He is the oldest in his generation. He is 20 years older than Ben.

He was delighted to hear that Ben has been working in Beijing. He shared his experience during his business trip in Beijing while he was working with Lin Ho. He also shared his experience visiting  the village where their ancestry came from China.

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For dinner, we met up with Ben’s cousin sister and family again. They brought us to another hawker center.

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A BBQ stall with seafood and vegetables.

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We had grilled fish again. (more…)

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Penang Fall 2012: Fruit Snacks

After the visit to the Tropical Spice Garden, we continued our round the island tour.

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The white sandy beaches are so tempting but we were not prepared to get wet.

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Along Teluk Bahang, we came across a lot of durian plantations. Ben’s cousin sister’s husband asked us to look out for durian fell along the road. It’s finder keeper.  We were so lucky that we found two along the way. Look at the happy finder.

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We decided to stop at a fruit stop to enjoy the durian we picked from the road side. (more…)

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Penang Fall 2012: Tropical Spice Garden Tour – Part 3

There is even cooking class conducted inside the Tropical Spice Garden. It is RM200 (CAD70) per pax where three dishes will be taught. We were invited into the class to have a brief look.

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We found a jack fruit tree with jack fruits hanging almost near the ground.

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A huge reptile in our way.

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More pond scenery. (more…)

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Penang Fall 2012: Tropical Spice Garden Tour – Part 2

Our self guided tour turned our pretty good as Ben’s cousin sister and husband are quite knowledgeable about herbs as they have a herbal tea shop. They recognized a number of the herbs in the Tropical Spice Garden.

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They pointed out to us a fruit from a plant that tasted very sweet as shown below.

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He asked to suck the sap from it and after a while take a sip of water.  We were amazed that the water tasted so sweet in our mouth.

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Bamboo growth along the way. (more…)

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