Wraptcular Dish Call!

Post what you're bringing! I'll be making either Momfuku-style bo ssam, or Chinese lettuce (AKA crystal) wraps -- probably the latter.

Cocktacular 5 Dish Call

Post what you're bringing! I'll be baking up some Brazilian Cheese Bread (Pao de Queijo) and stirring up a jug of Coco Cabanas (cachaca, rum, coconut cream, Malibu, pineapple and strawberries...phew!).

Leaftacular Round-up!

Can you believe that Leaftacular was the 24^th spectacular ‘Tacular?! Sara and Dan were our lovely hosts as we celebrated all things leafy and good. Here’s what we enjoyed:

• Laura prepped Jamie Oliver's easy sexy (and delicious) salad -- with Mission figs, prosciutto and burrata cheese on arugula
• Special guest, Allison (!), tossed up a light and fresh salad of baby kale, tomatoes, goat cheese and walnuts
• Jeremy and Mei sliced up fragrant tea-smoked duck served with a mango and shiso leaf salad -- no smoke alarms were set off during the making of this dish, hooray!
• Sara and Dan rolled up some Greek domades (rice-stuffed grape leaves) and grilled us a yummy cilantro-marinated flank steak
• Ian and Kate brought Genovese-style tagliatelle -- made with fresh pesto (mmm...garlic) and potatoes
• I brought packets of sticky rice steamed in lotus leaves (AKA lo mai gai) dim sum style -- filled with chicken, Chinese sausage and mushrooms, bamboo shoots and dried shrimp
• Jenn and Daniel scooped out homemade strawberry basil ice cream -- a deliciously unique combination...served in sugar cones no less!
• James brought fresh pineapple and raspberries and two kinds of sorbet, served with a refreshing mint salsa-ish topping and a sweet vanilla-ginger syrup
• Sara and Dan baked up gooey mint brownies (while yummy, some folks were kinda secretly hoping they'd been baked with a different kind of 'herb'...) 

Oh, and we drank a bunch too! In addition to wine, we sipped Dan’s 'lowbrow' sangria and minty mojitos.                                                   

 

Pictures can be accessed via the "'Tacular Memories" link on our homepage.

Ayako, Marco, Karina and Christian...we missed you!

 

Our next ‘Tacular will be Cocktacular 5 on Saturday, August 16th at Jeremy and Mei’s. There will be a Brazilian theme, so get ready to don some thongs and get out your Havaianas!

Leaftacular Dish Call!

Tell us what you're making! I'll be attempting to steam up some lo mai gai (i.e. dim sum style sticky rice with tasty fillings wrapped in lotus leaves).

Beertacular Round-up!

For our 23rd spectacular ‘Tacular we gathered in my little abode for an evening filled with beer-flavoured goodness. Hoppy times!

First, there was beer! Thanks to everyone's contributions to the beer fridge (AKA the cooler), we enjoyed many different types and styles of beers throughout the night. To get us started, we sipped Fragolinas – Prosecco and strawberry Fruli. Refreshing!

Then, there was food! For nibblies, we enjoyed some cheese made with beer (OK, except the one made with cider), ale and cheddar pretzel bites and weird beer-flavoured Jelly Bellies (thank you Mei and Jeremy for hauling those back from New York for me!). I believe it was the McMompsons who brought a creamy veggie dip – was this made with beer?! Not sure...anyone?!

Jenn and Daniel stirred up an ooey gooey fondue in a brand spanking new fondue pot purchased just for Beertacular (now that’s dedication!). Made with, I think, Gruyere, beer and garlic. It was creamy, hot and good. (Oooh, that sounds kind of dirty...)

Ayako and James baked up a tangy beer bread with sundried tomatoes and olives, served with an olive tapenade. Lovely loafy yumminess.

Kate and Ian slow-cooked up delicious chicken beer tacos with a jalapeno slaw. Scrumptiously saucy.

Marco finished up the prep for Carne Y Cebollitas a la Parilla which Laura had started at home. Wait, what exactly did he make? Grilled steak marinated with Spearhead beer, wrapped with grilled scallions, jalapenos and guacamole. Well done, Marco--that was a lot of slicing and dicing but worth all the effort!

Mei and Jeremy made a juicy beer-brined pork loin with drunken cabbage...moist and delicious.

Christian and Karina baked up some chili lime beer chicken wings. Sticky tastiness! I was so excited to try them that I forgot to take a picture. Doh!

For dessert, Jenn and Daniel froze up some awesome ice cream made with coffee porter and served with a homemade caramel sauce. I layered up a beeramisu, also featuring coffee porter, and twisted us up some ale and pretzel caramels.

In between all the eating we played beer trivia! After some kerfuffle about the scores (I believe there a recount), Daniel, Christian and Kate emerged as the winners and were presented with their beer-themed prizes.

Click on the "'Tacular Memories" link to view the pics.

James, Sara, Dan and Laura...we missed you!

Our next ‘Tacular will be Leaftacular. Saturday, June 7^th at Sara and Dan’s.

 

Beertacular dish call

I'm bringing 'Beeramisu' for dessert, and may also attempt to make Ale & Pretzel Caramels.

Cinematacular Round-up!

Our 22^nd spectacular ‘Tacular was graciously hosted by Marco and Laura (and their wee ones!) on a blustery winter evening in January. It was a celebration of dishes featured in (or inspired by) movies, and we filled our bellies with lots of yummy goodness. So what did we eat?

·      Marco and Laura stewed up delicious hearty boeuf bourguignon, inspired by Julie & Julia – I can hear Ms. Child’s warbles of praise in the background

·      Karina and Christian also braised some meat...buffalo to be exact, AKA tatanka for you Dances with Wolves fans; they served their tatanka stew with some buttery mashed potatoes

·      Kate and Ian roasted up a colourfully tasty and healthy ratatouille inspired by....Ratatouille!

·      Sara brought two dishes – minty spanakopita (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and a deliciously flaky (lard!) apple pie (American Pie)

·      Mei and Jeremy simmered up a gumbo and served it with some wonderful hush puppies and herbed rice, inspired by The Princess and the Frog (and just about any other movie set in the South)

·      Daniel enthusiastically served up mini Royales with Cheese (Pulp Fiction) featuring teeny diced onions and all, and brought Pez (Stand By Me) and Dune-ish wine

·      I was inspired by The Big Night and layered up meat, sauce, cheese, eggs and pasta in a doughy shell and baked it all up into a timpano

·      For dessert, Ayako and James brought chocolately good Korova cookies, inspired by the Korova Milk Bar in A Clockwork Orange

·      And finally, Jenn baked a decadent chocolate cake made with almond flour and topped with ganache, as featured in Chocolat

Despite our cinema theme, no popcorn, Twizzlers, M&Ms or fountain pop were consumed. There was, however, Dances with Wolves trivia (courtesy of Karina)!

Dan...we missed you! As always, for photos, click on the “’Tacular Memories” link on the homepage.

The next ‘Tacular will be...Beertacular! Saturday, March 29^th at my place. Keg party!!!

Cinematacular Dish Call!

Who's bringing what? Our lovely hosts are making boeuf bourguignon (Julie & Julia), and I'm baking up a timpano (Big Night).

A Mega-Spectacular 'Tacular Round-up! Pubtacular, Loaftacular, Springtacular & Cocktacular 4 (phew!)

OK, OK, so I’m only slightly behind in my ‘Tacular round-ups of the past (ahem) two years. Remember Pubtacular? What about Loaftacular? Perhaps you recall Springtacular? Who can forget about Cocktacular 4?! My memory may be a bit fuzzy about some of the particulars, but here goes (feel free to add comments if you can help fill
in/correct the details).....

As always, click on the “’Tacular Memories” link at the top right of the homepage for photos.

Pubtacular! ‘Tacular #18, hosted by Jeremy and Mei, November 2012

In celebration of pub (and bar) foods from around the world, and hey, Jeremy’s birthday too. Woot! Here’s what we ate:

·         Cheesy nachos (chef: Kate)
·         Chicken pasties (chef: Ayako, moral supporter: James)
·         Jalapeno poppers & popcorn shrimp (chef: Jeremy, sous-chef: Mei)
·         Chicken curry on rice (chef: me)
·         Guinness chocolate cake (chef: Sara)

We did not play darts, pool or beer pong, unfortunately. We did, however, have a guest appearance from the King of Beer himself (AKA Mark Hall)!

Loaftacular! ‘Tacular #19, hosted by Kate and Ian, February 2013

Small crowd, big loaves! Loafing is good people, we need to loaf more. Here was the menu:

·         Pate -- people, Mei made pressed meat products all by herself! Jeremy was away, so Mei made pate! (speaking of Mei, she tried to get all x-rated in one of the pics; don’t worry, the censors have transformed it into a family-friendly shot)
·         Pull-apart party loaf -- that’s right, a cheesy par-tay in a big bun (chefs: Karina & Christian)
·         Lentil loaf – legumes in a loaf form can be tasty, trust! (chefs: Ian & Kate)
·         Meatloaf Wellington – hello mushrooms and pastry! (chefs: Ian & Kate)
·         Lemon loaves – I’m pretty sure they were lemon and that Jenn made them (right?)
·         Cranberry loaf – and, I’m pretty sure those were cranberries and that Ayako was the chef (right?)
·         Key lime coconut semifreddo – kinda like classier DQ ice cream cake (chef: me)

All loaves, no fishes!

Springtacular! ‘Tacular #20, hosted by the Fergormans, June 2013

Our celebration of delicious spring ingredients like asparagus, lamb, fava beans, peas, veal, rhubarb and....oh yeah, there was also a diorama made of Peeps! We are weird and awesome. Others may disagree. Our menu:

·         Proscuitto-wrapped asparagus (chef: Ayako, moral supporter: James)
·         Brie, strawberry & basil crostini (chefs: the McMompsons)
·         Quinoa salad with fava beans, goat cheese, watercress & mint (chef: Jenn, moral supporter: Daniel)
·         Pasta primavera with pine nuts & peas (chef: Marco...and I’m pretty sure Laura helped with the prep even though she couldn’t make it!)
·         Veal stew with peas, asparagus and mushrooms (chefs: Sara and Dan)
·         Lamb sliders with beet mayo & champagne mint juleps (chefs: Kate & Ian)
·         Strawberry rhubarb pie (chef: me)
·         Peeps diorama – a replica of Springtacular set in the Fergormans kitchen, with Peeps figures of each of us and mini replicas of our dishes...crazy! (creators: Jeremy & Mei)

We ate a lot. We posed with our Peeps. We took a bunch of pictures (one which involved Karina standing in the bushes...I swear, one of these days a ‘Tacular is gonna get the cops called on us). Welcome spring, indeed!

Cocktacular 4! ‘Tacular #21, hosted by the McMompsons, Sept 2013

Since I’m not a fan of those Fast and Furious films, I was told there was some sort of Mexican theme to the fourth flick which some of us took inspiration from, and some didn’t. In any case, it was another booze-filled Cocktacular, where we ate tasty morsels of food and bashed up a piñata. Ole! What we enjoyed:

·         Mango (methinks?) daiquiris with chips & guacamole (Jenn)
·         Sake mojitos and cinnamon braised beef (Ayako & James)
·         Mexican Gin Fizzes with Mexican braised shortribs (McMompsons)
·         Amalfis with fish tacos (Marco & Laura)
·         Brisk Cucumbers with cucumber salad (Kate & Ian)
·         Applejack Rabbits with apple, caramelized onion, bacon and cheese bites (me)
·         Mexican Mules with some sort of yummy dessert taquitos...is that what they were called? (Mei & Jeremy)

Apparently Fast & Furious 5 has a Brazilian theme. So I predict that we’ll all be sipping caipirinhas while wearing Havaianas (or maybe a beach thong, if you’re so inclined) this summer! Lindo maravilhoso!

(Edit: I just realized I never posted round-ups for Stewtacular, Babytacular or Roottacular. Gah, and just when I thought I was all caught up...!)