My Birthday Celebration: Ube and Mocha Cake from Arts to Bakes

I'm loyal to restaurants and even dishes that I absolutely love. For example, in my favourite restaurant, I have favourite dishes that I always order. For my second birthday in a row, I ordered a cake from Arts to Bakes. 🎂

Last year, I fell in love with her mocha cake, so I had to order it again this year, but I wanted to try a different flavour, so I asked for a half ube and half mocha cake.

Half Ube and Half Mocha from Arts to Bakes

Beautiful Cake

Just like last year, both flavours are excellent! Definitely the highlight of my birthday weekend. My younger sister demolished the ube cake like there's no tomorrow, while I sort of did the same for the mocha cake. To say that it's a hit is an understatement. Even my dad, who doesn't like sweets, ate and enjoyed the ube cake.

Ube with Macapuno side of the cake

Mocha side of the cake

Half Ube and Half Mocha Cake

I'm already planning to order an ube cake for my younger sister's birthday next year based on her reaction to it. 

If you're in Metro Vancouver and sell Filipino food, please send us a message on Facebook with your menu. We would love to try your products (don't worry, I'm not an influencer and would gladly pay and support your business).

Bacon, Gouda, and Egg Sandwich for breakfast at Starbucks

Happy Saturday! We had errands to run around Cambie Village and decided to grab breakfast from Starbucks.

We only go to Starbucks when we don't have to pay for it from our salaries. 😂 My hubby participates in research and testing of Android developer tools and as a reward he earns Amazon gift cards (or something). We don't shop with Amazon and would just convert the gift card to one we can use at Starbucks.

Today, we went to the Starbucks location at 2nd Avenue and Yukon Street. I ordered my favorite Toffee Nut Latte. For breakfast sandwich, I chose the lowest calorie one: Bacon, Gouda, and Egg Sandwich from Starbucks.

Bacon, Gouda, and Egg Sandwich

Toffee Nut Latte and Caramel Brulee

Hubby ordered the Holidays drink: Caramel Brulee Latte and his chosen sandwich is Double-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Egg Sandwich.

Week 7 of HelloFresh

I skipped HelloFresh last week but ordered five different dishes this week.

Veggie Chilli with Tortilla Chips and Sour Cream
HelloFresh Description: Simple to prepare, with extraordinary flavours, this delicious chilli will have everyone racing to the table. Your bowls will be filled with beans, bell peppers, and tomatoes. Each bite is tender and comforting. We suggest using tortilla chips to scoop up and enjoy every last bite!

My tip in enjoying this chilli is to reheat the tortilla chips in the oven or air fryer. Then, crush a few on top of your chilli for extra crunch. The heat is minimal, so you can add all the chipotle powder.

Classic Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti and Parmesan
HelloFresh Description: Our spaghetti and meatballs tastes just like Noona's, but takes a fraction of the time! The secret to these leaner meatballs is swapping ground beef for turkey and pairing with a homemade tomato sauce that keeps the dish flavourful.

I enjoyed the dish more than I should. I love the tender meatballs.

Shrimp Chow Mein with Bok Choy
HelloFresh Description: A quick chow mein recipe that's definitely one for the books! This dish is packed with shrimp and veggies coated in a mouthwatering sauce that will have you wondering how this came together in 25 minutes!

The Chow Mein is delicious and has lots of veggies. Definitely in my top five favourite HelloFresh dishes this year!

Cal Smart Turkey Chilli with Lime Crema
HelloFresh Description: Jam-packed with nutrients to keep you going strong, but still delivering on flavour, this recipe proves you can still satisfy that chilli craving you've been having, but ditch the extra calories! This week's cheat day may not need to happen after all! Calorie Smart is based on a per serving calculation of the recipe's kilocalorie amount.

This is better than Veggie Chilli.

Creamy Gnocchi Alfredo with Spinach and Peppers
Golden pan-fried gnocchi add a fun twist to the restaurant classic, Alfredo! Rich cream, melty cream cheese, zesty garlic and savoury Parmesan make a luscious sauce for this vegetarian supper.

I love this dish, and I wish there was more gnocchi. It's such a simple trick to get a creamy alfredo sauce - whipped cream and cream cheese.

I ordered four HelloFresh dishes next week.

HelloFresh Promo Code!

Save $90 with my code HS-PAL5157JZ!

Hopia in Metro Vancouver

Growing up, there are two kinds of hopia - the branded circular one (I'm thinking of Eng Bee Tin) and the half-moon one you can get at your local bakery or from a street vendor.

Hubby and I were discussing hopia and how we haven't had one in a long time. Then, lo and behold, a Filipino entrepreneur based in Richmond posted in the Facebook marketplace that she's selling the hopia we're craving for, and it's even available for delivery!

I sent her a message yesterday asking if she could deliver the following day to our address and how much the delivery fee would be. So after sorting out the logistics, we're all set.

We received one dozen hopiang monggo (mung bean) and a dozen hopiang baboy (pork) before 12:00 NN today. Yay for a reseller who delivers BEFORE the agreed time.

Right: Pork Hopia
Left: Mung Bean Hopia

The Pork Hopia is as I remember growing up - subtle sweetness and thick doughy exterior. I love it! The Mung Bean Hopia was delicious too, but as hubby jokingly said, "Wala kasing alikabok 🤣." Let me provide context for whoever reads this blog from outside the Philippines.

Snacks like these are sometimes sold on the street alongside all the pollution from vehicles. Hubby was pointing out that this is good, but something is missing and what he meant was the "pollution" back home is the flavour enhancer it needs. 🤣

Ready to eat hopia

I can't wait to reheat it in the microwave for a snack and maybe even dinner. Happy Friday!

 If you're in Metro Vancouver and sell Filipino food, please send us a message on Facebook with your menu. We would love to try your products (don't worry, I'm not an influencer and would gladly pay and support your business).

Brunch at Yolks Broadway

Happy Saturday and Happy Halloween!

To start the Halloween weekend, we had our blood taken at LifeLabs as part of our initial visit to our family doctor. After that, we had to do 10-hour fasting. As a result, our last meal was at 9:00 PM the previous night, and our first meal was brunch at Yolks Broadway.

Food coma brunch at Yolks Broadway

Drinks

From the drinks menu, hubby ordered Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate while I had Greens & Almonds Smoothie.

Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate

Green & Almonds
Kale & spinach, banana, almond butter and fresh-pressed apple juice.

I enjoyed both drinks, but their drinks menu is so extensive I can't wait to try the others.

Perfectly Poached Bennies

I have two favourite breakfast items: Eggs Benedicts and Chicken & waffles. Unfortunately, the latter is not always readily available at breakfast spots, unlike the former. However, Yolks just made a dish combining the two! So I would like to introduce Buttermilk Fried Chicken Eggs Benedict served with 1/2 Belgian waffle. I even added double-smoked bacon.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken Perfectly Poached Bennies

This is amazing! Two perfectly poached eggs on buttermilk fried chicken on 1/2 Belgian waffles with hollandaise sauce and crispy hashbrown patty. I even added extra double-smoked bacon. The fried chicken was surprisingly delicious. I remember having their Chicken and Waffle but thinking the chicken was too salty. This is perfect.

Classic

While I love and enjoy my Eggs Benedict, hubby ordered Croque Madame. We wanted to try this dish at a nearby French cafe, but it was too early for their brunch. So now, we can finally try Croque Madame.

Croque Madame
Menu Description: Maple-smoked ham, gruyere cheese, Mornay sauce, two perfectly poached eggs, Yolks-made Dijon on grilled artisan sourdough with a choice of on side (in this case, Truffle-Lemon Potatoes)

The Croque Madame was good as well, but I'm still so hyped with the fried chicken eggs benedict, it's hard for me to enjoy this. I liked the cheese and sauces especially dipping the truffle-lemon potatoes in it, but portions of the bread were burnt, and since I have no point of comparison, I'm not sure if that's part of the charm.

Sweets

To end our delicious brunch, we ordered Beignets. It's served with two dipping sauces. Hubby enjoyed the salted caramel dip while I loved lemon curd. The tartness emphasized the sweetness of the Beignets.

Beignets
Menu Description: French-style crispy and fluffy "donuts" served with salted caramel and lemon curd.

This is a lovely and happy meal for hubby and me since it has been a while since we had brunch at a breakfast spot.

Bola Bola Siopao from Bao Bakery | Best Siopao in Vancouver

I have been craving for Bola Bola Siopao for what feels like forever. Thank God that the office of our new family doctor is in Burnaby, and we could drop by Bao Bakery before heading home.

Bao Bakery

They have the best Filipino siopao ever! It's seven in the evening when we dropped by there, and I got half a dozen frozen Bola Bola Siopao and two of the already cooked ones. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take a picture of the ones we devoured inside the car.

I was saying my prayers quite loudly - thank God that I'm finally having a delicious siopao.

November 4, 2021 Update 

We microwaved for a couple minutes siopao, and it was great. Fortunately, I had it on the fridge (instead of the freezer) the night before I planned to enjoy it.

Tip: I recommend putting a wet paper towel on top of the siopao to create steam and not dry out the siopao bread.

Dinner from Wendy's

Happy Friday evening! We finally have a family doctor in Canada and tonight was our first appointment. After the doctor visit, we went to Wendy's to grab some quick dinner before heading home.

My mom has coupons (lots of it!) for Wendy's and other fast-food chains, and we could use them.

Spicy Chicken Burger Combo

Unfortunately, the burger wasn't spicy at all. Hubby said there's some heat, but not a lot. Somehow, Wendy's is lagging behind the Spicy Chicken Burger battle, which is unfortunate. However, the french fries were legit. I actually liked it more than I thought I would.