The Hunger Struck - Confessions of a Food Fanatic.

I have an addiction. No, it’s not cheesecake, chocolate or a certain muffin at a certain favorite coffee shop, it’s much more serious than that. For the past I don’t know how long, at lunch time, when most people I know grab a sandwich or a salad, I can only think of one thing I would like for lunch and its always the same: Pho.

I’m not sure exactly when this started but it’s safe to assume that it’s been many years. I would say at least 5. What’s even more serious about this addiction is it knows no bounds: it’s in no way seasonal. Yes that’s right, it could be 95 degrees outside and I would still want Pho for lunch over a salad any day of the week, rain or shine, arctic weather or extreme heat.

Ridiculous I know.

There’s a Chinese restaurant about an hour outside Vancouver in Richmond called Northern Delicacies that makes my absolute favorite Dan Dan noodles. They have a rich peanut broth flavored with chili oil, sesame seeds and soy and they are absolute magic. There is nothing I would rather eat during the winter months and I think everyone needs to try these ASAP. I have been thinking about attempting to reproduce this dish at home for quite some time because I’m not always so enthusiastic about the drive involved to get to Richmond and with the amount I crave this amazing bowl of Chinese magic it really just makes sense.

Last night I finally decided to give it go. With giant rain drops falling outside in normal Vancouver fashion, it was all I could think about eating and I knew I didn’t have the courage for the 45 minute drive to Richmond. I wasn’t feeling that confident at first, as I was sure there were some fairly complex flavor combinations behind my favorite soup that weren’t going to be easy to reproduce.

It feels like a long time has passed since I last posted. It’s been a challenge to be away from my kitchen for almost 3 weeks now, I feel a little anxious to get back there, there’s just something about the evenings that doesn’t feel quite right without it. But I have to admit, it’s been a nice change to have someone cook for me every night of the week. There’s something so nice about walking in the door after a long work day and not having to do anything, I know I’ll be missing this.

In an effort not to leave the pages of this website outdated for too long, I managed after some persuasion, to push my way into the kitchen over the weekend and whip up my favorite kale soup. I even managed to pick up some of that fabulous Poilane bread you can buy in Vancouver that’s shipped all the way from the Poilane Bakery in Paris, something I must confess I have done several times since it’s become available. Fancy, I know, and maybe slightly ostentatious.

This dal recipe comes from my mother-in-law and is as close to perfect as I’ve ever come with making Indian food at home. For me, Indian food is one of those things that is generally always better in restaurants, for some reason despite how closely I follow a recipe it never turns out quite right in the end. While many Indian recipes seem to be fairly straight forward, I was always suspicious that there was a secret ingredient I didn’t know about that was present in Indian cooking, which was preventing me from being able to enjoy making a recipe at home that would not disappoint.

I’ve been neglecting the huge stack of new magazines purchased over the past few months and have been feeling somewhat guilty recently because I have made no effort whatsoever to rectify the situation. I’ve come to a point where the pile has become somewhat intimidating – there are just too many of them and I don’t know where to start.

I have a small disorder that prevents me from making this process any easier where I have to make recipes in chronological order starting from the first magazine I bought to the last. I won’t go into too much detail here because it’s actually quite sick. Let’s just say that when you start experiencing strong guilt issues with objects you may need to reevaluate a thing or two.

This becomes especially problematic in this situation because the first magazine I bought was entirely dedicated to really fancy cakes off all shapes and sizes, the sort that requires time I currently don’t have. Not to mention that it wouldn’t hurt me to cut down on the cakes of all shapes and sizes… I have to confess that I made that truly amazing Harvest Butternut Squash Loaf again yesterday, twice in 4 days, that has to be a record.