So we had gone for an auto show up in the valley a few weeks ago – and then head back to town for my favorite crepe with Chez John.  I had a smoked salmon crepe at the Farmer’s market –  they were yummy of course but because the crepe was very hot – they became cooked salmon haha!  So next time I won’t order smoked salmon because i like my smoked salmon too much.  So this was lunch one saturday – for $7 – it was a very filling lunch and we had an awesome auto show – I was very impressed with the black wheels that I saw and thought of a young man from home immediately when I saw it !  I bet he would have gotten the black wheels immediately if he was at the auto show with me.  I have been to many auto shows and these wheels are so prettty !!  i’m so tempted to get PB to buy them too.

Anyhow, back to my crepe – I would prefer a sweet crepe but because I’m diabetic – so I had to choose a savory one instead.  But for those who loved sweet crepes – you should try a combination of fruits and chocolate sauce.  But an auto show and then crepe made my weekend a good one.

Summer is almost over for us here – because the kids are going back to school in just about 2 weeks.  So the grocery store had all these cake for going back to school and they are too cute to give it a missed.  As you can see – Chloe is fascinated with them – so she wants to share with everyone – how talented our bakers are here.

Cute right  - I was thinking of getting this cake for Chloe’s class when she gets back to school – what do you think?

Look at this crayola cake – so cute right?  Chloe wanted to know what was inside and how the baker’s  made the crayola cake and they were so kind – they came out to explain to her – loved the bakers at Sobey’s.

For those who are not aware of this – I spent a few years in Scotland when I was finishing school and one of the best meals I had was the English breakfast.  But as a poor student – one cannot eat out too often right – so I cooked my own breakfast at the dorm most times.   So even now – once in a while I would eat the kind of breakfast I had when I was in Scotland whenever I think of the time I spent there.

But of course, when I started working in the hotel industry – I had a lot more chances to eat the real English breakfast cooked by real chef in the hotel.  But I think i ate the most english breakfast while I was traveling with my bosses and engineers during the last few years in Asia before coming to Canada.  Every single meal was in a hotel – while I was traveling – and I loved my boss – and engineers because they would always make sure we eat well.  I’m not a very good cook – but I definitely loved to eat.  Many years ago – I thought that I would missed Western food if I were to stay in Asia – little did I know that I am craving for Singapore food more than I can imagine.  Life does bring lots of surprises eh.  And once again – this breakfast was cooked like in early July – I cannot afford to eat so richly – if you know what i mean.

This was eaten about 2 months ago –  because I had wanted to check out if Jessy’s Pizza chicken was any good – since Jessy’s is about 3 doors away from us.   So I ordered 2 pieces of chicken and some onion rings – or was it 3 pieces so that I can share it with PB – probably 3 pieces.  I think it came up to about $9 if I am not wrong – but don’t quote me ok – it was so many months ago.  Anyhow, the chicken and onion rings were promptly ready – in about 10 – 15 mins I think – again – please do not quote me – but I didn’t remember getting upset about waiting for food – so I am assuming that it was pretty quick. Chicken and onion rings were sinfully  good – I was also hungry by the time I got the food – as I was undecided since it was a weekend and Chloe wasn’t around for the evening.  But I felt so guilty after eating them – hahahha!! but yes!  I would order chicken again from Jessy’s but as you can see – I don’t eat fried chicken a lot – so if I do have a craving for sinful and yummy food – you know where I will be heading over.

A few weeks ago – I didn’t know what to eat – so I tried something different at the Chinese restaurant downtown – and ordered a combination plate – #5.  #5 consist of some sweet & sour shrimp, Hunan chicken, chicken fried rice and an egg roll.   Usually when I order so much food – I don’t want the egg roll – because I don’t want to waste it.   The hunan chicken was just a little bit spicy and the shrimp was good – but don’t expect too much shrimp in it though.   As usual it was value for money – a lot of food that I cannot finish – I think the chinese restaurant charged me only $8 if i am not wrong.  Yes! i’m truly blessed – they always give me special prices – but I’m a loyal customer too – i eat there practically everyday.

We had lunch at Rudder’s Seafood Restaurant & Brew Pub a month ago – I’m such a slacker – and had put away the pictures and conveniently forgotten all about it because I had gotten busy during the summer.  We haven’t eaten at Rudder’s often – and that’s because we don’t like dressing up for lunch on the weekend – and we thought it was a drinking hole – but we were so wrong !!  it was a casual smart place and you don’t have to drink – if you don’t want to – and Rudder’s is an awesome place to be at during the summer – because they have an outdoor patio.

Rudder’s had been in business for a long, long time too – and I was missing out for this long – you will be seeing me more often at the Rudder’s from now on.   You can’t missed it – it’s the huge yellow building down by the waterfront.

The service was really great – we were offered a roll of bread straight away – reminded me of the french bistro – that I had dine in when I was in Paris La Fontaine de Mars.

And Chloe had her moo – moo cup – that she was thrilled with. – filled with apple juice.

Chloe had hotdog and french fries – because she wouldn’t eat anything else.

I ordered the lobster bisque straight away as soon as I saw that they had some – yummy!

And PB had rotisserie chicken – which was very yummy too – he said.

For my main course I had a fish cake with a pear and raspberry vinaigrette salad – it was excellent but I was too full by then – and only managed to eat one fish cake.

I love the ambiance and the service at Rudder’s – they made me feel so comfy there – casual and happy.

The food was really good – although pricing was a wee bit more than the other restaurants around town but definitely worth it and I would definitely recommend it when I want to bring friends for some good food and good service.  Rudder’s restaurant is located at Water Street and they open daily at 11pm.  They did have sushi night one time many moons ago – but it was only once – too bad they didn’t do it more often.

For someone who doesn’t like to eat birthday cakes nor eat anything sweet – I sure love to see and admire birthday cakes and any kind of confectioneries.  And every year – we received many invites from friends and customers – as well as the extended family – I loved those that are specially made – and those that are home made.  Home made cakes are made with love and professionally made cakes – are made with skills.  Therefore, whenever there is a birthday for us to attend – I’m most interested in the cake – in hope that one day – I will be able to bake one for Chloe’s birthday.

This year – we must have attended more than 20 birthdays thus far and the year is not even over yet.  But each invitation that we received – means someone cares enough for us to invite us and we try to go for each one – unless of course, we already have something planned for the week – or the invitation came too late for us to re-arrange our plans.  But nevertheless – there is a new cake store in town – called Goodies – and there are really lots of goodies in there – Lena Feven – who owns and bakes her own cakes and cookies – is new in downtown – so if you are downtown – don’t forget to go in and welcome her – and buy some goodies from Goodies.

That’s a lot of food !! i hear yer !! it is a lot!  I had to keep half a portion immediately in a doggy bag – because I know I won’t be able to finish it.  And true enough  I couldn’t even finished half – but I tried my darnedest.  I kept the rest for supper – and it was a full size meal then too.  But it was absolutely yummy !  I had this at Peg’s family restaurant – some 4 weeks ago – with PB and Chloe  - and even though I liked  it a lot – the chicken was well cooked and the Parmesan that is on top of it was good.

One definitely will not go out of Peg’s feeling hungry – in fact – I think you won’t be able to eat another bite for the rest of the day.  Good value for money – go to Peg’s – downtown Yarmouth.

As you all know – Chloe had been sick for 10 days – and we have been practically stuck at home the whole time – not able to go anywhere – and shopping for groceries had to be done by PB alone.  And he couldn’t go too long – because Chloe would start whining.  Having Chloe at home – with a fever come on and off – just was a bit terrifying for me.  Thank God for good friends – who came almost everyday bearing food for us to eat – so that we only have to worry about cooking for Chloe.   The sat and stayed with us – and read to chloe and when Chloe was sleeping – they helped me do some housework so that I can get some rest.   After 5 days with the same kind of food – our dear friend decided to make some pizza for us – and stayed for supper – so that Chloe and I can have some company.  We chatted about life – sick kids – school and  also insurance they found on http://www.wholesaleinsurance.net – it was good to have company – when PB wasn’t around at home.

Pizza was yummy!  and they had made the ones that PB liked pepperoni and cheese.

Good friends are hard to come by – but those who comes bearing food, help and good conversation – now those you have to treasure and keep.

So you all know by now that Chloe had been sick for 10 days and thank God – she has now recovered – but still hacking a bit.  Today, we had gone back to the doctor’s for a follow up – and she still thinks that she has a bit of asthma.  So more testing was ordered – and we have to keep her diet light in the meantime.  For days – we had been trying to give Chloe the right food to eat – since she was puking – having a fever and then green poop plus diarrhea.

Finally, I cooked something she liked and would eat and is quite healthy.  Chicken broth with mushroom, fresh green peas, some chicken cooked together.  Thank God for the macaroni – for she loved it now – for the longest time – she wouldn’t eat it – because she associated macaroni with macaroni and cheese – that her daddy eats.  Now that she knows she can have macaroni with soup – she is all for it.  So from now on – I don’t have to fret when it comes to sick food for the brat.  And cooking macaroni with chicken broth is so easy – you should try it  on rainy days too.

I’m always craving for veggies – so when I didn’t know what else to eat one afternoon – I called the Chinese restaurant – to whip me some garlic prawns with veggies.  Now I wasn’t expecting so much food – but boy! was I impressed – it had all the veggies I liked.  So armed with a bowl of rice – I had a very awesome meal – just like home.

There were tons of prawns and lots of veggies for only $8 !  where to find right?  awesome food – from New Century Restaurant – down on Main Street Yarmouth.

I’ve heard many people tell me that they cannot afford to eat healthy – because healthy food are so expensive.  Many a times I’ve seen parents feed their children with french fries and pizza for lunch and supper – or a bag of chips – because they claimed that they cannot afford it.  But truthfully, eating healthy and lean – need not be expensive – nor do one need  payday advances to feed your kids well.

I try and feed Chloe the best I can – and it does not need to be expensive – fresh salmon comes on sale every now and then – and frozen salmon are even cheaper.  Baking a salmon takes about 12 mins – and add in some chopped mushrooms and pasta – and you have a healthy meal there.  The fish cost $3.00 and the mushrooms were on sale buy one get one free – so it didn’t cost that much.   So folks leave those payday advances and loans for emergencies – for feeding your kids healthy and lean – is a matter of planning and taking a little bit of time a day – to cook.   If I can do it so can you.