Okay, technically not FOOD-food… but hey, the pumpkin is edible! I just had to show off the very-cute Hello Kitty carving that we did for Halloween! It’s the first pumpkin I’ve ever “carved”…. and I am putting that in quotes because Chris did most of the work! I did help in cleaning out the pumpkin guts, but he was the knife master.

We printed out a Hello Kitty picture (found via Google Images), then looked at how other people had carved HK. There were so many variations. Chris came up with his own style!

I think it came out awesome! I loveeeee it! And I love him for making it just for me!

The pumpkin in the light… you can see the rough tracing that we did.

Went over to Bro#3’s house on Sunday for his son’s 1 month celebration. His in-laws had brought some take-out dimsum from Chinatown and there were a ton of leftovers!

I nibbled on a few pieces, yum! Chris, on the other hand, still did not enjoy these morsels of delight!

Hargow, with some soy sauce drizzled on top.

Shumai!

I can’t remember how it started, but this past week, Chris and I were discussing our favorite candy bars. His was Snickers and mine…..well I don’t really have one. I don’t like caramel or the coconut mush that seems to be in most chocolate bars.

Hehe but anyway…while grocery shopping, I decided to surprise him by bringing him back a couple of bars. I first picked up a regular one, then saw the specialty Dark. He loves dark chocolate, so I had to get both.

Looks good…. but it still did not do much for me!

Our healthy breakfast on Sunday morning! Cheerios with sliced up strawberries and bananas (they are underneath!) with light soy milk.

The tart strawberries were an awesome addition!

Behold, this is Chris’ Super Special Chili Dip! The first time he offered to make this for a get-together, I shook my head and told him that I didn’t think it was a good idea. It just seemed so… processed and unhealthy. But he made two tins of the dip and everyone gobbled it all up!! Shows what I know!

It is basically layers of the following (from top to bottom) in a small tin cake pan:

- Grated extra sharp cheddar cheese
- Salsa (medium or hot)
- Hormel’s Spicy Chili w/ Beans
- 1 bar of Philadelphia cream cheese

Then, it just needs to be popped into the oven at 350′ for 30 minutes. Then let it sit for 5-10 minutes to cool and set. Put it out with a bag of Tostitos Scoops and it is such a crowd pleaser!!!

We’ve done slight variations, like using turkey chili and adding chopped up green peppers/jalapenos. They are good too.

A photo of the dip, pre-oven:

We brought this one over to a UFC party Saturday night and most of the compliments were along the lines of, “This is the most amaaaazing dip ever!”

I still shake my head, but it is definitely a crowd pleaser.

Since I’ve been feeling under the weather for the past few weeks, canned and takeout soup have been my savior. But I was really craving home-made chicken soup… which I finally got around to making this weekend! Instead of concocting my own recipe (which usually comprises of me simmering a whole chicken, throwing in a ton of veggies/herbs, and just going with how it tastes while cooking), I decided to follow one from AllRecipes.

I chose the recipe because aside from a few of the vegetables, it was composed of completely different ingredients….like chicken thighs, tortellinis, spinach, and green pepper!

Chicken Soup Recipe

Measuring out my thin egg noodles!

And a closeup of the soup (photo didn’t turn out so well, but I was tired from cooking at this point). I sprinkled some grated parmesan on top. The soup itself was pretty decent. I liked the flavor of the added tortellini in each spoonful. This recipe will definitely go into my binder of ‘tried’ recipes that will be cooked again.

Nothing beats homemade soup!

We both woke up late again this morning and decided to be lazy with making food. I picked up breakfast at a local bagel shop instead.

My breakfast: 2 eggwhites, turkey, cheese on a roll with salt+pepper+ketchup.

Chris’ breakfast: egg, bacon, cheese on an egg everything bagel with salt+pepper+ketchup.

My apologies for the lack of updates! I lent my macro lens + external flash to my brother and did not get them back until yesterday. Never realized how important those two pieces of equipment were to me until they were out of my possession. I tried taking pictures with my regular zoom lens with the built-in-flash… and well, UGH! I’m not a photo snob by any means, but I just could not put up those photos when I knew they were not up to my own par.

Ok, now back to what I love doing….

Here’s breakfast that my darling made for me this morning: eggs over toasted english muffin He cooked them PERFECTLY! Just the way I like them!! I have to really give him credit because he’s been practicing to get it right for me.

Look at the yolk dripping out… MMM!

Chris’ plate… he likes his eggs not-so-runny and with melted cheese on top.

And to help us wakeup, Maxwell instant coffee with Stevia + nonfat milk.

While grocery shopping the other night, I found a row of these Weight Watchers meals in the cold deli aisle (not frozen). Not sure if it’s new, but I had never seen them before. Decided to pick up the 5pt Mac & Cheese one for dinner…

On the right hand side, I added leftover tofu slices for additional protein to the meal.

Overall review…. EH. There was not much taste to the pasta at all. I had to even add a pinch of salt just for a little ooomf. I wouldn’t get these again. The frozen ones are better!

A barbecue pork bun that my brother brought home the other night.

It was sweet and savory, with little bits of pork inside.

Very fluffy and yummy!

As we were checking out of our hotel on Sunday, Chris’ sister sent us an excited text message, exclaiming that that she & her BF had located a Sonic’s nearby. I had never been to one before so figured that we’d try this fast food joint out.

It was pretty cool to actually “drive-in” and have the food rollerkskated to us.

The tater tot sides…

I wanted to try something “different” other than a regular burger, so I got their new toaster sandwiches. It was decent, though the “toast” could have been more toasted. It was a little soggy from the pickles, tomato slice, and BBQ sauce. Good, but nothing I would ever get again.

We also got some ocean water, which I thought tasted like 7UP. Turns out, it is 7UP mixed with coconut syrup! We should’ve tried one of the limeaids… apparently that’s the “it” thing to get from Sonic…

I really do regret eating all that fast food though. It gave me a tummyache later and even worse, I looked up the nutritional information and it made me want to cry! Thank goodness I didn’t eat much else the rest of the day (except a small snack late at night).

This weekend, Chris and I took a mini-roadtrip to Philadelphia to take a walk through Eastern State Penitentiary’s “Terror Behind the Walls”. His sister had invited us to come along and after reading that it was voted the #1 most scary walk, we had to see it for ourselves!

The penitentiary was definitely very interesting — a MUST-SEE! The terror walk-through was a little scary, but the atmosphere of the prison is what really made it even more spooky. Anyway, by the time we were done, it was already past 11pm but we were famished.

So we drove to Pat’s King of Steaks to get some original Philly cheesesteaks. How could we go all the way to Philly and not try them out…!? Especially considering that none of us had ever had a cheesesteak from Philly before and this highly recommended spot is open 24/7.

So we finally get to Pat’s and it’s definitely a sight to take in — the long line stretching around the stand and the bright neon lights glowing from their competitor (Geno’s) across the street (proclaiming that they were the best cheesesteak). Hehe, definitely made the experience. After waiting 30 minutes in line, Chris and I ordered an original with onions + Cheez Whiz (mine) and an original with onions + provolone (his), and a side order of fries to split.

We got them to go because it was a little chilly and no one wanted to sit outside. Plus, our hotel was only 10 minutes away.

Dun dun dun… the cheesesteaks on our hotel bed, ready to be consumed.

The gooey Cheez Whiz goodness!!!

The Cheez Whiz got all over the wrapper as we drove home. Messy, but still so good. I guess you can’t really go wrong with tender thin slices of beef, processed cheese sauge, and bread.

Some up close shots…

Sooo so so good. I didn’t take any clear shots of Chris’ provolone cheesesteak… think I might have liked his a tad better than mine. He liked mine better than his though =P Overall, still the best cheesesteaks we’ve ever had!! Well worth the long wait!

With the Mid-Autumn Festival coming up, my parents have been bringing home many different tins of mooncakes. I haven’t had a chance to try any yet, but found a quartered piece in the fridge yesterday. Perfect opportunity to take a nice innard shot of the yolk (my favorite part).

Look at that delicious egg encased in the lotus paste, yum!

Actually…I really would like to try snowskin mooncakes. Those look so interesting!

There have been a lack of updates lately due to 1) forgetting my camera @ my cousin’s 1st birthday party this past weekend, 2) becoming quite ill the past few days.

But luckily, my parents brought home the camera and I am feeling so much better today. Still coughing and not exactly up to par, but I’m no longer feeling on the cusp of death!

And now, some foodie pictures from the aforementioned birthday party where I forgot my camera!

Shrimp + Broccoli + Noodles, made from scratch by my great-uncle. It was very yummy, especially with the abundance of blanched broccoli!

Fried rice, another dish made by my great-uncle. He is quite the chef! The rice was very flavorful with tiny bits of chinese sausage, dried shrimp, and chunky bits of egg.

And the bane of my Vietnamese food existence…banh beos. Sigh. So sick of these!!! Once upon a time, I didn’t mind these little ‘cakes’ so much, but having them at single family get-together (not to mention, having a spoilt batch once) has ruined the taste for me.

There were lots more food, but I spent more time taking pictures of the birthday boy instead. :)

While grocery shopping earlier this week, I spotted packages of golden raspberries alongside the regular ones. Never had seen such an oddity before… I told Chris it was like seeing an albino raspberry. So of course my curiosity was piqued and I bought a pack — it was the same price as the regular ones.

Well, aside from being golden, these raspberries taste exactly the same as their more colorful counterpart! :-)