October 2013 Love with food box!

Wah, I have kind of abandoned this blog for a while.  Sorry about that.  Anyways, recently I have started my subscription for Love with Food.  It is a company that sends you a box of snacks each months for about $10 (+$2 for shipping).  For each box that you purchase, you are also donating a meal to a hungry child somewhere.  Here's Love with Food's link.

So, I was pretty excited about the October box mainly because it is Halloween themed.  Since I haven't tasted the products yet, I'm only going to show you the contents of the box in this post.

When you first open the box, you will be greeted by this adorable Halloween card that says "Scary Delicious" on it.  On the back of the card is a list of the items that are contained in the box for your convenience. 

So, the first item I saw was the "Chocolate Pizzelle Crisps from Silk City Snacks.  They are Italian waffle cookies, and the bag is under 100 calories!  

This is the Toasted Coconut Chips from Dang.  I have had something similar to this that my father brought back from China.  It was super good, so I'm really looking forward to this ^^.

 The next item is the Happy Squeeze from Happy Family.  I'm not sure if everyone gets the same flavors, but mine is "Blueberry, apple, and purple carrot."  Honestly, the carrot part scares me a lot...

This picture shows the Kind Bars from Kind Snacks which has cranberries and almonds.  The two little pink boxes are Glee Gum, Triple Berry from Verve Inc.  Apparently they are mde from brown rice and cane sugar.  I hope it doesn't taste like regular bubble gum >.<

The rest of the box contains some Organic Hard Candies from Torie & Howard, New World Caveman Cookies by Caveman Bakery (contains pumpkin seeds and maple syrup), and Pixa Pearls from Vinaigerie Gingras.  The pearls are apple cider vinegar...kinda weird and I'm not really sure what to use them for.

 Last but not least, you get some coupons.  One is a coupon for a free entree for lean cuisine's "honestly good" line of frozen food.  The others are for the squeeze and gum shown above.  

That's all for now~  I will probably post a tasting entry later on when Stuart and I try all of them :D

Blue Crabs (Explicit content if you are an animal lover >.<)

Ummm...I think it is the season for crabs >.> at least that's what my mother has been telling me.  We paid a visit to Li Ming's Global Mart Saturday to grab some blue crabs for lunch ($2.99/lb).  We did not cook them immediately, instead, we left them out in the garage for one night and cooked them the next day.  Here's our encounter with one of the crabs:

Store-bought BLUE CRAB appeared!

Stuart used HYPNOSIS, but it failed.  

Blue Crab used CRABHAMMER, but Blue Crab missed.

Stuart used CLAMP!

Blue Crab fainted!

and became lunch...

So yeah, basically we steamed them while fresh (note, euphemism.)  

here's the big crab I had

ummm, lots of yummy roes!!!

The cooking process was rather easy, they were steamed for 15min after the water has boiled.  We made a dipping sauce out of rice vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, and sugar.  

Enjoy~

-Mimi

Miel Bon Bons Patisserie & Confiserie

My boyfriend is very sweet, he has a sweet tooth but also a sweet personality.  Last Friday, when I was the only one left in my office working, he brought me a box of French macarons from Miel Bon Bons in Carrboro.  These little sweet cookies made out of almond flour can be flavored with just anything and have the cutest forms.

  

This box of macarons contained assorted mystery flavors, some tasted heavenly (such as the mango one), and others were a little funky (I could swear that one tasted like playdough).  These macarons are probably some of the smallest ones I have had with ~1inch diameter. They are quite pricey for their size (about $2 each), but will definitely make a wonderful gift.  

Miel Bon Bons itself is a very small boutique-styled shop located inside the Historic Carr Mill Mall.  Other than macarons, they also make cakes and other pastries.  

Below are just my amateur attempt to take some pictures of these cuties.  

 Enjoy!!

- Mimi

Baba Ghannouj, Durham NC

Yesterday, Stuart and I went to eat at Baba Ghannouj, which is a Lebanese Bistro located inside the Erwin Square on Main Street.  You can visit their website at http://www.babaghannoujdurhamnc.com/ for their weekly specials.  The one we got yesterday was a free Baba Ghannouj platter with the purchase of one entree and two drinks.  Pretty awesome deal!

Compared to International Delight on 9th street and Mediterra Grill on Erwin, this place is much much better.  First of all, the restaurant was decorated very well: mustard yellow walls, rugs, paintings, hookahs... It had a very welcoming atmosphere.

I ordered a Baba Ghannouj veggie platter with Turkish Coffee, and Stuart had a Baba Ghannouj beef platter with Jellab (a type of drink made from Roses and Dates).  My platter contained a salad, three falafels, two grape leave wraps, baba ghannouj, hummus, pita bread, and tzatziki sauce.  Stuart's almost had the exact same thing except for the falafels.  The salad was very fresh with a little bit too much dressing.  The falafels are the best I have had in Durham, for they were soft and not greasy.  The grape leave wraps were not too acidic like the ones in International delight.  Stuart said that the meat was also very juicy and soft, unlike the overcooked ones in other places.

The price was very reasonable, ranged from $6 sandwiches to $50 platter serving six people.  Perhaps a couple of dollars more than International Delight but definitely worth every penny.  With their coupon, it is a super great deal!

TLDR;
Great restaurant, get their coupon online and go eat there!!