Culinary Escapades

I've been trying new recipes and restaurants recently and happily have found winners in both categories. And when I think about it, mostly I have my friend Susan to thank! Susan and I met last spring and she is one of the ladies I traveled with to Bali. I call her my "worldly" friend because she grew up in Canada and has lived all over the world in her adult life. A few months ago, she joined our Pilates class so Karen and I pick her up on our way to class and I've really enjoyed getting to know her better.

I recently discovered a bar cookie I never knew existed until Susan was describing a Canadian treat that she adores. Susan doesn't possess a sweet tooth. She never orders dessert when we're out to eat but she mentioned one sweet she cannot resist: Nanaimo bars. As soon as she told me the basic ingredients I knew I had to make a batch. So, for Susan's birthday, I gave her Nanaimo bars as a gift and of course, I made a test batch ahead of time to make sure they turned out well. My husband, who also is lacking in the sweet tooth department, loved them. He loved them enough that after dinner now, he mentions that he could sure go for one of those "Nylabars." The bar has three layers - the bottom layer consists of graham crackers, cocoa, coconut and nuts (I use pecans). The middle layer is a creamy custard filling and the top layer is melted semi-sweet chocolate. You refrigerate them to let everything set and then enjoy. They didn't last long in our house. Why did I never hear of this Canadian gem before moving around the world? I'm delighted to add them to my dessert repertoire. In addition to being thankful for Susan's friendship, I'm also happy that she introduced me to Nanaimo bars.

In addition to discovering new desserts, I have been exposed to new restaurants in the past month and it's great to have more places to frequent now. Brian and I joined Susan and her husband Dennis and Karen and Jason for dinner at Khansama's in Little India. While I never considered myself a fan of Indian food, our meal there was delicious. I am excited that I now have a few items that I can order next time that I know I'll enjoy. Brian is likely pleased with this development as well since he likes Indian food and it was always off-limits on date night.

Susan also recommended a Thai restaurant within walking distance of our condo so Brian and I tried it this weekend. We got a late start to our evening as we didn't even leave our place until 8:30pm. After walking for 15 minutes, I was beginning to wonder why we were trying this place when I was tired, hungry and not very pleased about eating dinner at 9pm. When we arrived at Suan Thai restaurant, they handed us our menus that showed two locations in Singapore - the other location is in a mall we can see from our living room (less than a 5-minute walk). All we could do was laugh at that point. Everything we ordered was delicious and Susan has since assured me that while that location is further from our condo, the nicer atmosphere is worth the walk. :)

My last success story involved making won tons for the first time. I was feeling creative in the kitchen a couple weeks ago and decided one afternoon to fry some won tons. The first thing that amazed me was that, aside from a quick trip to buy fresh minced pork, I had everything else required already in my kitchen. That's when I realized I've gone a bit Asian in my food tastes. Just the fact that I had cabbage for the filling already in my refrigerator reflects a shift in my palette. For a girl who can't stand coleslaw and rarely eats sauerkraut, I have discovered that I actually like cabbage. Leave the extras out of it and I like it just fine, raw or cooked. Amazing. Back in Texas, I also wouldn't have spare shrimp waiting to be used in a recipe either. Anyway, my first experiment with won tons turned out fabulous. They were filled with pork, shrimp, cabbage, green onion and various spices and the entire family devoured them.  I was delighted to have a new treat in my cooking arsenal that everyone liked as that so rarely happens.

It's always fun to discover new foods with family and friends!