Perogies. Who doesn't love perogies? It's comfort food to the fullest, and definitely food coma material. And there's so many ways to cook and customize them that there's something for everyone. What's your favourite?

A couple months ago, I set aside an afternoon to spend with my lovely friends K, A, M & G to make perogies from scratch. Yep. It really helps when you have a friend who's grandmother is a perogy whiz and grew up learning to make them with her - one phone call was all it took for us to get the secret recipe. And now I get to share it with you!

I think the thing that scares people the most about making perogies is the dough. Well, at least it was what I was most unsure about. Like, what goes in the dough? Fillings are easy - mash up some potatoes, add your favourite fixins and voila, wrap it in the dough and cook it up.


Fillings for perogies
But surprisingly, this dough has two ingredients. Literally. Flour and sour cream mixed together to achieve a doughy consistency, rolled out and cut to the perfect size. And once it's cooked up, it tastes amazing! With a little prep work and elbow grease, you can make your perogies in the afternoon and serve them up for dinner.

The funnest part in the whole process is getting the hang of filling the dough and shaping the perogies. For the filling, we had mashed up potatoes as our base, and added different components to change things up. One was a cheesy potato filling, while another had green onions, and others yet had some diced up caramelized onions. Want more ideas? Try bacon or mushrooms - whatever makes you happy! Pro tip: K's grandmother suggested using Cheez Whiz to make potatoes cheesy, as it is much easier to incorporate. But I'm sure if you cooked up a quick cheese sauce with your favourite cheese it would be the same.

The bunch of us together had so much fun making the perogies. All of ours looked different from one another, and it was fun making an activity out of it. G went and did some "perogy inception" - he put a small perogy into a larger one. Oh, boys.


borscht
Once all the perogies were folded up and ready to cook, we boiled them, hoping they wouldn't burst open in the cooking process. Together we fried up some bacon, sausages, and onions - the house smelled amazing!

Buns, perogies, sausages, bacon, borscht, and sour cream galore - we had a feast to serve at least 10 people. The process was easy and straightforward enough that I could totally do it again if I had the craving. Homecooked is always the best, as you're able to control what you are making and eating, and you're able to tailor things to your dietary needs.

When K grew up, her grandmother also made dessert perogies. This was something completely new to me, and I had no idea what we would be putting in them. For the afternoon, we decided to fill our sweet perogies with blueberries and strawberries tossed with a bit of sugar. Cooked up and served with yogurt, they were delicious! I can only imagine filling them with other fun things... like chocolate.. or salted caramel.. oh man. So grab some friends and have a perogy feast!


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RECIPE

Flour
Tub of Sour Cream
Potatoes
Fillings of your choice
1. While stirring the sour cream, add flour 1/4 cup at a time to achieve a doughy consistency (you will have to watch carefully and adjust the flour). When the dough is ready, it will be barely sticky to the touch and stretchy. Knead slightly to ensure everything is thoroughly incorporated, and place in the fridge for 30-45 minutes (longer is not a problem).

2. Prepare your fillings for perogies.

3. After refrigerating, roll out the dough to a thickness of 0.5cm. The dough should not stick to the surface it is being rolled out on. Cut with a cookie cutter or a cup with an approximate diameter of 6cm.

4. In your hands, work the dough slightly, thinning out the centre and edges. Place a dallop of filling into the centre, then fold the dough in half, pressing tightly on the edges to seal your perogy.

5. Bring to boil a pot of salted water, and drop in the perogies to cook. The perogies will float when they are ready to eat.

6. Serve them up the way you like & enjoy!

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Super easy, right? Let me know in the comments below if you try this recipe out!

Tonight I went out for a shopping & dinner date with a couple of my lovely friends. What better way to spend a Friday night? :)

For dinner, we headed over to Cactus Club - surprisingly, for 830 on a Friday night, we only had to wait 15 minutes for a table. I was prepared to wait 30 mins! Guess we just had good luck!

To start, we shared the Korean style BBQ pork lettuce wraps - braised pork shoulder shredded,asian slaw, kimchi, chopped ginger and green onion, korean chili bean sauce, spicy yogurt. So GOOD! This is one of the newer signature Rob Feenie dishes, and I think it could be considered a main dish for one person. The meat resembled pulled pork, reminiscent of the flavours found in the sandwiches from Filistix, while the crisp lettuce was refreshing enough to offset the spiciness from the kimchi. I can't wait to have them again the next time I'm there!


Rob's Hunter Chicken



For my main, I deviated from my norm. No jambalaya today! Shocker, hey? I decided to go with the pesto chicken quesadilla to make sure I wouldn't be overstuffed, considering the size of our appetizer. The quesadilla was unique, in that it contained sundried cranberries to give a different flavour and texture. The sweetness wasn't overwhelming, and was actually quite pleasant. My only complaint would be the dry factor of the dish - the tortilla was on the dry side, and I wish there was more cheese melted inside! Otherwise, a very nice dish :)

Can't wait to go shopping with these ladies again! So much fun!

Following the culinary adventure inside the EXPO Centre, we headed out to the fairgrounds to stuff our stomachs full of fair food, and to play lots of games.

Hoodie by H&M, Shorts F21, flip flops, sunnies & bag by Coach

When I head to the exhibition, I like to be comfy and prepared! I have recently fallen into an obsession with all things coral. The other day shopping with the ladies, I saw this hoodie in coral.. thinking that it would be warm & comfy to wear for class this upcoming semester, I had to pick it up!



First up on the fair menu was a new addition to ridiculous foods available at carnivals: the doughnut burger. This little phenomenon is basically your everyday hamburger, with the bun being replaced by a glazed doughnut. I must admit I was intrigued by the burger, if you can call it that, but Philippe was the one that took the plunge into the doughnut hole.



Verdict? It was gross. The sweetness of the doughnut was completely overwhelming, and the patty was basically bland. A sweet burger is just a big NO in my books!



After some walking around, we saw another intriguing truck serving 'Those Wicked Waffles'. The thoughts of having a 'waffle dog' crossed my mind, but after having the doughnut burger, I just cringed at the thought of having another savoury food tasting sweet.



One goal in mind for me at the exhibition was to win one of the minion plushies from Despicable Me.. lucky for me I got two that I wanted :)



After a long night of walking around and having fun, we finished off with some fair food before heading home.. can't leave this place without having some fattening elephant ears! Funniest thing ever, was that the guy who ordered his elephant ears after me asked for napkins to soak up the 'puddles of grease'.. in reality, the puddles are the butter they pour on top. Think about that sitting in your stomach.... :)

One of my favourite things to do in the summer is to go to carnivals. The crowds, greasy fair food, and just the ambiance of the environment gets me excited. Not to mention the gambling games and trying to win cute stuffed animals!

Every year, I have to go to both the Calgary Stampede and Capital Ex here in Edmonton. No exceptions! I know that they bring the fair from city to city, but each fair just has its own personality.

Although it was pouring rain in the afternoon, the grey clouds cleared out of the sky, and the sun was back to reside in the beautiful, cloudless blue sky! Earlier in the week, I had contemplated whether or not to check out Taste of Edmonton, since they had a couple new restaurants featured this year. But then again, for the past couple years, every restaurant has offered the same food each year, so I decided to switch it up. We headed to the Sip! exhibit at Capital Ex instead.

The food & wine experience at the exhibition is presented by various liquor companies, as well as Global Edmonton & Capital FM. Unlike the Taste of Edmonton, the food at each station is not prepared by separate restaurants. To tell you the truth, I don't even know who prepares the food! All I know is that the food is appetizing, and definitely worth checking out.

Each station accepts only tickets as payment for each portion of food, at the price of $1 per ticket. Of course most of the samples are overpriced.. but the food is good quality and mostly different from foods that you usually see. I won't do individual reviews as food will likely be different next year, but I can tell you that almost all the food we tried out was delicious!


Coconut, ginger & chili lime mussels (3 tickets)


Shredded jerk beef grilled sandwich
served with mango & bell pepper salsa (3 tickets)




House smoked brisket, pretzel baguette & black bean coleslaw
(self serve station) (6 tickets)


Inspired Welsh rarebit - blue crabmeat, Alexander Keith's
Premium White Ale; Aged cheddar (3 tickets)


Local honey & peppercorn crusted porkloin with Boddington's Pale Ale (3 tickets)


Potato & vegetable samosa with tamarind chutney (3 tickets)


Chicken & baby artichoke pasta with roasted
pepper coulis (2 tickets)


Bruschetta (4 tickets)


Chocolate cake, sour cherries, Kirsch scented cream
& chocolate (3 tickets)


Orchid mango liquer coconut ice cream (3 tickets)

Even though tickets can be a little pricey, I think the food experience at Sip is worth it. The food is yummy, the atmosphere is inviting, and it's a great way to spend time with friends! Can't wait for next year!

Work can be tough. Work can be stressful. But what happens to be the greatest cure of all? Shopping!

Jessica, Lasha & I hit up WEM after work today to shop away our stress and craziness from work!

I think we did a pretty good job if you ask me!

The ladies & I hit up Earls on Bourbon Street after 3 hours of shopping and had some yummy dinner! I think the last time I ate at Earls was about 1.5 years ago! Time really flies by fast..


Fettucine Alla Panna


Santa Fe Chicken Salad


Los Cabos Chicken Tacos

Two grilled white corn tortillas, spiced tomato poached chicken, melted cheddar and jalapeno jack cheese, avocado corn salsa, shredded lettuce and cabbage, honey lime dressing, chopped cilantro, salsa picante

Need I say this? The tacos were so yummy! Skipping the fresh cilantro, the tacos were amazing! The hot sauce on the side added into the taco gave it the perfect kick. The tortillas were grilled to a golden brown, but still maintained their soft texture, while the avocado salsa gave some moisture and creamy texture. Perfect!

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been super busy prepping for my MCAT exam this past little while, and now it's finally over!! Yay, summer is pretty much just starting for me now, hah!

As my exam was Saturday morning, I decided to head down to Calgary to celebrate for the weekend. Gunning it down the QE2, we made it to calgary in 2h 10m (crazy!!), checked into the hotel & headed out for AYCE sushi at my fave, Sushi King!

Sushi King Restaurant - 320 16 Avenue NW - Calgary AB

Adam decided to order too much food in the end, and it was so painful to try to eat it all without getting charged for wasting food. Want a good tip? This is what Vince does - eat only the inside of things:



GROSS, but effective.

2011 Calgary Stampede

There's just something about the stampede I love. I know that the rides and the games are all the same, but it just seems so much better than Capital Ex up here in Edmonton. Maybe it's the spirit of the exhibition there. They have a real theme - everyone is decked out in their Western gear, and its just so lively! Dangit, Edmonton.



The prizes at the game booths are so cute this year too! Ranging from smurfs, to minions, to Domokun's with costumes, there's definitely a toy for everyone this year! I really wanted to win a minion, but totally forgot and got absorbed into gambling games.. LOVE playing over/under 7!!

Sunny Vietnamese Restaurant - 107 2 Avenue SE - Calgary AB

A couple months ago, my parents raved about this particular Vietnamese joint in Chinatown. Being the Asian parents they are, they brought the soup home for me to try and I was shocked.. of course I had to check this place out!



The interior of the restaurant is brightly lit by natural sunlight filtering through the window in the roof, but the inside of the restaurant is reminiscent of a typical pho place - plain walls and table tops graced with hoisin & chili sauce.



The restaurant offers two different sizes for pho, regular and large, each differing by approx $1.00.. looking at the tables around us, it seemed like the bowls were huge! I went with the regular beef balls pho for $7.50 while everyone else went with large pho dac biet for $9.00 (? I think! Don't remember hah).


regular pho bo vien

My regular size pho was definitely the size of a large that we get here in Edmonton - the broth was fragrant and flavourful, and definitely worth the money in my opinion. The servers are friendly, and the food came out quick.. but I think my favourite in Calgary is still Pho Hoai - the broth is a bit tastier in my opinion, but their servings are not as generous as the ones here at Sunny. Life is tough ;)


large pho dac biet

The Dessert House - 111 2 Avenue SE - Calgary AB



Located conveniently next door to the Vietnamese restaurant, I had to check this little place out. The sign from the outside was so cute and inviting, and my ritual is always to have some bubble tea after my pho. Call me a fatty, I don't care!

It wasn't too busy inside at the time, so all seven of us were able to get a seat together, after maneuvering a couple tables around.



The menu was overwhelming, with hundreds of possible drink and dessert combinations. I went in totally unprepared for what I experienced! They have a variety of hot and cold dishes to eat, ranging from curry fishballs and takoyaki, to dessert soup (tong sui) and shaved grass jelly desserts. Next time I would totally come on an empty stomach in an attempt to try everything out..

I had a chance to meet and talk with the owners. They're a very cute Chinese couple, and they are so nice! We were told that their Edmonton location was slated to open on Tuesday, and that they would be offering the full menu there as well. Upon ordering, we learned about "pop boba", which is basically a flavoured drink bubble.


pop boba

Totally different from tapioca/sago though - its the latest phenomenon from Taiwan, in which the outer coating is similar in texture to a fresh lychee fruit, while the inside is filled with juice. The one I was given to sample was the lychee flavour. The outside is able to hold it's round shape well, but upon popping in your mouth, it releases lychee juice! Yum! It's also available as passion fruit flavoured, and probably goes best with flavoured teas.



I ordered my all time favourite dessert, mango pomelo sago dessert! I'm so glad that this place offers it! Tasty choice back in Edmonton has always had this on the menu, but it was never available everytime I tried to order it. The one here is perfect. The mango puree isn't overly sweet, the tapioca has a bit of bite, and a whole half mango is sliced into the dessert. It was perfectly ripe and naturally sweet.. nothing can beat this!



Vince ordered the fresh mango milk smoothie in the small size. The small was bigger than I anticipated, and was definitely sweeter than the mango dessert I ordered. But it was delicious. Best fresh mango smoothie I've ever had.. for real.

Everything else ordered at our table:


Chrysanthemum tea with lychee pop boba


fresh peach smoothie


watermelon juice with thai basil seeds


fresh lychee milk smoothie


Shaved grass jelly with fresh fruit & strawberry juice

One thing I love about this place is their lack of powdered bubble tea. Everything is made from fresh - none of that high calorie powdered flavouring that is SO bad for you! I fully expect myself to be at their Edmonton location on Tuesday.. yes, I am predictable!