Homemade Strawberry Pie-Cake!
December 24, 2013
March 5th, 2013. Lifegroup~ 
homemade strawberry pie-cake
It doesn’t feel like a complete week without our weekly lifegroup evenings 🙂
Carmi is so sweet and always makes a point of having some sort of goodies when she and Evangel host. Tonight she made this awesome Strawberry Pie-Cake! Looks like a pie, but it’s cake inside~ 😀
homemade strawberry pie-cake
Indulgent but light, delicious and fresh, hot out of the oven goodness! I don’t know how she has time to do this after a full day of work, but she’s a super-woman! Thank you~
homemade strawberry pie-cake
Sharing life, shooting the breeze, praying together and eating delicious snacks? All good things, in my book ;D
Lunching at Earls ;)
September 4, 2013
September 8th, 2012. Lunching at Earls 😉
earls (langley)
Enjoying the sun as I lunch on the patio at Earls in Langley. What to order? Why, some Fish Tacos, of course!
earls (langley)
Grilled lime and coriander marinated wahoo with a mango & avocado salsa and a spicy crema over grilled flour tortillas served with a spicy roasted tomato soup. Mmmmmm~~ blasts of flavor, ripe avocado and mango, great fish and delicious soup. Satisfying and perfect on a sunny day!
New Years’ Dawn at Denny’s ;)
October 3, 2012
January 1st, 2012. Breaking New Year’s Dawn Ritual at Denny’s 
denny’s
Despite a brief Denny’s boycott we’d had due to being kicked out for no good reason years ago we’ve inched back in. Because really, in a place like Langley, which is literally a suburb of a suburb, there’s nowhere else to go late at night except Denny’s!
denny’s
And of course, we MUST have our traditional New Year’s breakfast at Denny’s after New Years Eve midnight service. Yes, we complain that the food is not healthy and the service is hit and miss…not to mention we are such a large party, which can be hard to seat….but I know deep down inside we love it 
denny’s
Sure it’s 3am in the morning, but eat we must! And when you’re with such great friends how can you feel guilty about what’s going into my tummy 😉
Sunday Starbucks
May 5, 2012
November 6th, 2011. Sunday Starbucks
starbucks
Nothing like a good cup of coffee to keep the day going in between services. Took a quick coffee break with Youn-Ho, my TA in IMPACT, Hebron’s English Youth Ministry. He’s never had a Whoopie Pie before so we got one of those and I had a delicious White Chocolate Mocha. Mmmmm~~~!
Empire Garden Szechuan & Cantonese Chinese Restaurant – Langley
January 18, 2012
August 14th, 2011. Sunday Lunch Dim Sum~!
empire garden chinese restaurant
Dim Sum is always best with more people! It was about time we had another dim sum meet-up…what’s better than Sunday lunch? We went to Empire Garden in Langley – our good ol’ dim sum standy by And there were so many of us we took up 2 of their big tabels!
First up we have the Baked Mini BBQ Pork Buns. A sweet crumbly coating on the exterior and sweet chinese bbq pork inside an almost donut like coating. It was a bit dry in the mouth, but not terrible.
empire garden chinese restaurant
The BBQ Pork Pastries were really flakey..like, it’s impossible to eat these and be neat! But the bbq pork was deliciously savory sweet, just how I like it!
empire garden chinese restaurant
Of course we can’t skip out on Sticky Rice Wraps in Lotus Leaves! Chinese sausage, preserved yolk, sticky rice all wrapped up in a lotus leaf gives a great woody flavor! Never a let-down 
empire garden chinese restaurant
Someone ordered the Steamed Squid in Curry Sauce. I wasn’t a huge fan of this one, but at least the squid were cooked just right 
Not rubbery and nice and tender.
empire garden chinese restaurant
Steamed BBQ Pork Buns. Do we love BBQ Pork? I guess so! One of my favorite dishes. Fluffy exterior and steaming bbq pork nestled inside. Love!
empire garden chinese restaurant
Deep Fried Green Onion Pancake: nice crispy exterior, piping hot inside with the subtle sting of the green onions! The vinegar and soy sauce cut the grease and bring all the flavors together 😀
empire garden chinese restaurant
The Steamed Rice Flour Rolls with Prawns came out and I was excited that the prawns were tender and bouncy, which contrasted well with the super soft rice flour wrapping. Yum~!
empire garden chinese restaurant
We also got some Deep Fried Wonton with Sweet and Sour Sauce. When you deep fry any kind of wrap it just gets tastier…so what’s not to love about these piping hot little nuggets of love? Especially when you have some sweet & sour sauce to dip it in!
empire garden chinese restaurant
So Evangel ordered Stinky Tofu….I was like WHAT tofu???? I love tofu…but what, this stuff smells like feet? Turns out they are pretty delicious and not stinky! Deep fried and seasoned on the outside with soft, silky tofu inside. I like!
empire garden chinese restaurant
How beautiful are these translucent Steamed Prawn and Chive Dumplings. The wrapping is light, not doughyand the prawns are crisp and the chives are flavorful. Delicious!
empire garden chinese restaurant
The Deep Fried Sesame Balls w/ Lotus Seed Paste had a wonderful toasty flavor from the sesame seeds while the paste inside had a nice sweetness to it. Come on, who doesn’t love a donut? Lol!
empire garden chinese restaurant
I loved that these Steamed Shiu Mai Dumplings were not dry like they sometimes can be at other places. Nice and moist, meaty, and the roe had a nice pop to them!
empire garden chinese restaurant
Deep Fried BBQ Pork Buns. Sticky sweet rice dough deepfried with BBQ pork inside. Yum~!!!
empire garden chinese restaurant
So at this point we were stuffed……but somehow got suckered into ordering some dessert as well. James was the only one who wanted the Mango Pudding. They actually poured the condensed milk over it table side!
empire garden chinese restaurant
Aaaaaand the house special dessert of the day….Deep Fried Pudding Balls. Uhmm…complete fail….it was over fried which means it was way too chewy on the outside…and the pudding inside was just meh.
All in all it was a really wonderful Sunday dim sum lunch! As always with dim sum, the more people the merrier and more food to go around for a great price!
Korean-Style Corndog Bites
December 18, 2011
June 11th, 2011. Korean-Style Corndogs!
annual hebron bazaar
We always look forward to the annual Hebron Bazaar. We always end up receiving TONS of donations of clothes, toys, shoes, home stuff and other random items. The major pull of the bazaar are the great clothes and plentiful, delicious Korean food!!!! We always draw a great crowd just by the aroma wafting onto the streets!
This year our College & Career group took the undertaking of doing a carwash. Everything from valet car service, complete wash and even inside detailing if requested! Definitely not an easy task..but almost everyone created great teamwork, made pretty good time and got the work done. The biggest hiccups were getting the keys mixed up…woops!!
annual hebron bazaar
I was introduced to Korean style “corn dogs” for the first time!! small bites of sausage with a breaded coating on a stick! Now what makes this unique is the fact that you take the freshly deep-fried nugget and dunk it in a bowl of sugar…then put ketchup on it!! Like….WHAT??!!
annual hebron bazaar
But trust me…..it’s delicious!! Juicy sausage on the inside, crunchy exterrior, sweet sugar and sweet yet tart ketchup…..You have to try it!!!
Sanford’s Cobb Salad
November 29, 2011
April 30th, 2011. Sanford’s in Astoria
sanford's restaurant
Another late night eating binge. I picked up a Cobb Salad at Sanford’s and brought it home so I could eat it while reading a book on my bed.
I absolutely love cobb salads because it’s chock full of delicious meaty protiens! This one has grilled chicken, smoked ham, bacon, rouqefort cheese, sliced egg, avocado and their signature balsamic vinaigrette. Mmmmmm~~~!! So delicious The addition of avocado lends a delicious creaminess, the strength of the cheese doesn’t overpower the salad in general, the dressing ties everything together perfectly and everything is just so tasty! Happy
Lunch Break at Ra Sushi
July 25, 2011
ra sushi
I live close enough to work that I just go home for lunch, have a quick bite and then return. Sometimes I’m so efficient that I can even fit in a short power nap! Today was one of those rare days where I just decided to eat out. I drove over to my go-to Walnut Grove sushi place, Ra Sushi. The locals frequent this place and service is motherly and attentive.
Appetizer: Tuna Tataki. The tuna was okay. It was a bit too soft, but didn’t taste bad.
ra sushi
The Yakisoba is what I really came for. I never get this dish..but for some reason I had a craving. It was not too greasy, a good portion, and the ingredients were plentiful..although too many bean sprouts for my liking.
Good tasting food in a less-than-authentic restaurant at a decent price with good service. For Langley, this is a good place for a quick fix 🙂
Sunday Dinner at Galini Greek Kouzina (Langley)
July 25, 2011
October 17th, 2010. Sunday Dinner @ Galini Greek Kouzina
galini greek kouzina
Usually Sunday dinner is reserved for my Hebron crew. We are all so busy serving at church that we don’t always get to eat, so by the time we’re done we’re ravenous! Tonight we deviated from the normal path that is Kimchi Palace and went to Galini Greek Kouzina in Langley!
galini greek kouzina
My meal started off with some homemade soup. Nothing spectacular..just soup. I think It was a creamy potato soup with bits of vegetables mixed in.
galini greek kouzina
We shared the Spinach & Artichoke Dip appetizer. Your standard dip & pita. I actually liked the pita bread. Nicely toasted exterior, and the interior wasn’t “gummy”, but had a pleasant soft texture. I think the dip could have been warmer.
galini greek kouzina
Entrees are accompanied by a small side of Greek Salad. I really enjoyed this one. The dressing had a good balance of tartness and of course I love feta cheese and olives!
galini greek kouzina
I had the Mousaka. Layered eggplant, zucchini, potato, ground beef, and bechamel creme baked in an oven. Mmmmmmm~ deliciousness! Loved the creamy texture, the seasoning of the beef was just right, and overall was just a lovely dish. Portion was good, too!
Overall, I have no complaints about Galini. It’s clean, uncomplicated food in a nice, well-kept space, the service is friendly and they can accommodate for groups. No huge revelation, but a pleasant place to go.
S’mores Make a BBQ Better!
October 26, 2010
September 2nd, 2010. The Summer’s Final BBQ Blowout!!! 
d.i.y. s'mores
Our final hurrah to what has been a really great summer!! We got Daniel to host one last backyard bbq. This time he pulled out all the stops! We had 2 different types of Samgyeopsal, plus a spicy kind as well as some Bulgogi! Everyone amped the bbq up with even more eats than last time, too, and we had a great turn out! Bryan and I arrived earliest before anyone else, and upon seeing the little charcoal grill I instantly thought “man….this BBQ would be even better with some s’mores…!!!” so we all headed to the store to grab some more beverages and s’mores fixings! So here’s how to do a s’mores
1. Skewer a jumbo marshmallow on a stick (preferably a clean one) and toast over a grill. Rotate Marshmallow periodically so that all sides are evenly toasted and turn a bubbly, crisp brown (this is harder to do than you think!!)
d.i.y. s'mores
2. Rip off a piece of aluminum foil and onto it place graham crackers with chocolate of choice on top (white chocolate rules!!). Place foil on the grill and watch the chocolate develop a light sheen.
d.i.y. s'mores
3. Remove foil from grill and tenderly squish the marshmallow in between the two chocolatey crackers!
4. Devour & be transported to heaven
