Cooking- Apricot-Whiskey BBQ chicken

This Saturday, I met up with Marie, Albert and Aaron to try out a recipe that's on The Pioneer Woman.  This woman is amazing and she has great recipes with simple explanation and great step-by-step photos. I have around 10 recipes that I want to try out and post this summer and let's hope that I can get around to it!
 I first saw the recipe for peach-whiskey barbecue chicken last year and have been wanting to try it out.  We decided to meet up last minute to cook together because we haven't seen each other for awhile.  The original recipe uses peach jam and Jack Daniel whiskey but the store nearby didn't carry peach jam so we went with apricot.  Also, we didn't want to purchase a new bottle of whiskey so we just went with Crown Royal that was in Albert&Aaron's house.  It says on the recipe that any whiskey will work so you can substitute Jack Daniel to any whiskey of your preference.   For the original recipe, please press "peach-whiskey barbecue chicken".  My friends and I tweaked the recipe a bit by using chicken legs and thighs because chicken thighs alone were $5 for 3 pieces and we didn't want to spend that much. I'll bold the ingredients we've altered underneath.

Twisted Fork Bistro

I met Olivia and Stacy last week and we were just wandering around Downtown and we couldn't decide on where to go for dinner. We didn't feel like going to our usual izakayas and then I thought of Twisted Fork Bistro on Granville.

 Twisted Fork on the menu

The menu at Twisted Fork is divided into No Forks (appetizer), Small Forks and Big Forks.  Small Forks are basically small portion of food so you can share with other people and big forks are main meal size.

There were so many choices to choose from and it all sounded delicious. 

It's not big inside and the biggest table they have is for 4 people.  I think they do put tables together to accommodate bigger groups.

Mini haul- Laura Mercier hand cream, J.crew, Zara

I went out shopping with Oliva and Ben last weekend!  I haven't shopped in ages because I stayed in my tiny room for final exams for about 3 weeks and also I didn't have money to do so.  My last exam started at 7pm on the last day  (Hooray!) and I realized that I had a fever when I was writing my exam.  Oh boy. What a great way to start the summer.  Thankfully, my cold got better and I was able to go out to roam around.  

My first stop was Holt.  Last weekend they had a special event where 15% of what you spend on cosmetics and 25% on clothes will go towards a gift card.  Quite a neat deal!  I went to holt with the sole purpose to purchase Laura Mercier's Crème de Pistache Hand Crème.  

 

Crème de Pistache Hand Crème and J.crew bangles in the background

When I first smelled it, I absolutely hated it.  I was like "UGH what is this super strong and creamy scent!!!" it  definitely was not the type of smell that I liked.  After about a year, I was at Holt with Olivia and I decided to smell it again. Strangely, it wasn't as bad as last year and after about an hour of putting the hand cream on, I couldn't get the smell out of my head.  A week later I still thinking about the smell which meant that I had to get it... (just so I can smell it again of course).  Crème de Pistache Hand Crème has grape and olive oil so

Après-Midi Teahouse (Closed)

THIS CAFE IS CLOSED NOW 

My friend brought me to this place last time but I didn't end up ordering anything because I was in a hurry but I've always wanted to come back for a cup of tea.

 This place is definitely special.

 I don't drink coffee very often and I would describe myself as a tea person so I was quite happy to find a place like this.  It's in the middle of gastown and it's quite difficult to find at first because you have to go through several alleys but if you come straight through the Blood alley, you'll find it easily.

Après-Midi has over 80 kinds of loose leaf tea from all over the world and people working here were very knowledgeable about their teas.

Variety of choices

You can open these cans and smell the tea leaves and choose the one you like.

My favourite type of tea is rooibos or red tea.   Everywhere I go, I always get rooibos tea.  Rooibos is Afrikaan for red bush and it originated from South Africa.  The rooibos plant is used to make herbal teas which pertain high levels

Acme cafe

I have been a hermit for about 2 weeks now and it felt great to go out for a day and hang out with my girls.  We decided to grab brunch at Acme cafe which had great reviews on urbanspoon.  I really wanted to order breakfast but we went to the cafe at 3 o' clock and I was disappointed assuming I won't be able to get my eggs and potatoes.  Fortunately, Acme serves breakfast all day on weekends!  Lucky me!

 

The menu

The ice cream float and milkshake sounded good but we wanted to go grab dessert somewhere else.  

Acme cafe has a cozy feeling it to it with white walls.  Loved the minimalistic/ diner interior design.

 

Random photo of Olivia and I with our gorgeous mustache

April randoms

Another random post with random photos from different places!  Let me know if you want a review for any of them.

Ddeokbokki made from an instant package purchased from H-mart- with vegetables and cheese

If you don't know what Dduk bo ki is, check it out by clicking the name!  Despite these being packaged, it was delicious!  The vegetables definitely made a difference but overall, not bad.  I ate this around 11pm with a friend and I didn't regret it at all. (I can work out the next day right?)  We also put some cheese on top which makes it less spicy and the melted cheese really goes well with the dish.  Please do try it with the cheese if you cook it at home!

Korean spicy hotpot - Bu dae stew.  This dish has spam, tofu, sausage, some vegetables and green onions.  Bu dae stew is basically a cheap man's dish because it's made from

Korean Pork belly *RESTAURANT CLOSED*

*RESTAURANT CLOSED*

Korean Pork belly also known as "sam gyeop sal" is a popular dish that is cooked on a grill. It's commonly eaten for dinner and people usually eat it with some soju on the side. 

The word "sam gyep sal" translates into 3 layered flesh.  I always call it the Korean bacon and since it produces a lot of oil from the fat, it's always eaten with variety of vegetables such as lettuce, pepper, radish, green onion salad and etc.

In Vancouver there are many places where you can eat sam gyeop sal, but the most inexpensive way to eat sam gyeop sal is at home.  It's not complicated at all and you can purchase sam gyeop sal in Korean stores such as H-mart!  You can also purchase the side dishes at H-mart as well.  My friends and I often go to a place on Denman called "Westender Korea Restaurant" when we crave for sam gyeop sal. 

You are expected to cook your own meat which is normal for Korean BBQ places.  I think a lot of people avoid going to Korean BBQ places because of this but... THAT'S WHAT KOREANS DO!  It's definitely not a big deal  and we usually have a designated person that cooks meat.  One thing I dislike about Korean BBQ places is how the smell lingers in your hair and clothing.  So if you are going to a Korean BBQ place, don't wear any clothing you fancy!! (i.e. expensive peacoat?)

The grill

I liked to take one piece of meat and smear it on the grill so there will be some oil on grill when I put other pieces of meat. (It might be just me that does this)

Pork belly with vegetables

"Ban-chan" side dishes including kimchi, pickled radish, pickled bean sprouts and salad.  The brownish red chunk