Wild Coffee

Wild Coffee is a beautiful cafe on Yates and Broad st in downtown victoria. Their decor, that of a tropical beach house, is set with wooden drift wood furniture and gorgeous wall paintings. It is light and open with indoor and outdoor seating.

This cafe is owned and operated by the lovely Marla Donaldson. After coming here a number of times, I can honestly say I have only had the best of service and food. If whomever is at the bar is running around they always have a smile and there is a light atmosphere about the place that leaves customers feeling welcome.

The food. The selection of sandwiches, soups, breakfasts and desserts is small and affordable and simply delicious. They have a selection of celiac friends options that are tasty.

I go here for the London Fog. I've sampled a number of beverages from Wild Coffee - a refreshing Iced Piña Colada Tea, their smooth white coffee, a variety of their teas and coffees - but nothing beats their delicious and perfectly sweet and flavourful London Fog. Made with free trade organic tea, it is served with the tea bag still in the cup. Light steamed foam milk sits delicately on top and adds warmth and the finishing touch. The taste is simply and otherwise unbeatable.

To sum up, I love Wild Coffee for the company, the space, and a perfect London Fog.

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Left Over Make Over ~ Haggis Poutine

Some people might be still eating the delicious Haggis from Robbie Burns day, but want to spruce it up a bit. This is my contribution:

One Potato or Two, about a handful, scrubbed and cut into fry shape.

1/2 cup semi melted cheese (traditional curds or other preferred cheese)

Club House Poutine Gravy. 

Haggis - left over. For cooking instructions of Haggis please see google!

Heat deep fryer to 330, put fries in for about 3 minutes. Take out and let stand for 15 mins. Raise the temperature of the deep fryer to 350.

after 15 minutes are done and fries are about ready to go back in the deep fryer. Double frying is called blanching, and it makes the fries SUPER delicious - trust me!

after about 15 minutes, put a cup of water into a pot onto the stove, mix in the gravy mixture and turn heat on. 

while the gravy is being made, your fryer should be now up to 350. Put the fries in a second time for about 4 minutes. 

Stir gravy. Microwave or fry up your Haggis until it is nice and warm. 

Take the fries out of the fryer and into a bowl DO NOT SEASON. the gravy is salllllllty, so check first before adding any more. 

So, 

put fries in bowl,

add cheese and haggis

smother it in gravy.

enjoy :)

Strawberries and cream

One of THE easiest, most delicious, absolutely scrumptious things to eat when you are peckish is a nice bowl of washed strawberries, sliced, in milk or cream. Add a teaspoon of sugar or more (depending if you have a sweet tooth like me) and there you have it! A delicious snack!

~Strawberries? Milk? Yum ~

Let me ask you two serious questions:
1)Do you like strawberries?

If the answer is yes continue.

2)Do you like milk?

If the answer is yes that you're in luck! For here is an easy recipe for that delicious strawberry milk you have secretly been craving!

3 strawberries - the greens removed
2 cups of milk (any %)
1/2 cup of sugar.

Blend...

Pour...

Enjoy :)

Oh My Goodness Easy Tartar Sauce ~ Perhaps for your fish cakes?

You will need:

1 cup Mayo
1 Pickle, finely minced.
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar


Mix.
Dip.
Enjoy

Fish Cakes Fish Cakes ~ Rolly Polly Fish Cakes

I love potatoes. They are great fried, deep-fried, baked, microwaved, boiled, broiled you name it. One other really great use for potatoes is as an additive.

I also love fish: cod, pike, salmon, halibut (... the list goes on), and tuna. Tuna is like potatoes in that they go well with so many things! In this case, I just combined the two together to get delicious fish cakes. Yum.



What you will need:

Oil or Butter for frying.

1 egg

4 big potatoes, peeled
and quartered.

Half an onion, minced.

1 can of tuna

Spices to taste:
I like italian or oregano,
but many prefer parsley
and pepper.

Bring pot of water to a boil, then put the potatoes in. While you are doing this empty your other ingrediants into a bowl and stir them well :) Once they are in a paste you just need to wait for the potatoes. 12-15 mins of boiling should do the trick. When you poke the potatoes and the blade slides easily through drain your water and mash you potatoes.

Combine the potatoes to the tuna mix.

Bring a small pan up to medium temp. While that is warming up pick up a glob of your delicious tuna mixture and form it into a small hockey puck shape.

Fry the tuna cakes.

Eat the tuna cakes.

Eat them up yum.

Left Over, Make Over! ~ Lamb

I don't know about you, but I sometimes find myself with almost nothing left in the fridge to make dinner a fresh :( Last Tuesday I looked in the fridge and saw a container of last nights Lamb, a bag of red and yellow peppers, an onion, and some cloves of garlic. First I thought YES, the perfect ingredients for a nice stir-fry.... only I had no rice, I had no appropriate pasta, and I didn't have time to run to the store. 

What luck that I remembered all those long wooden things that act as kabob skewers! Oh yeah... they're called skewers.

ANYWAY. what you will need is:

A random vegetable, - in my case red and yellow peppers

Another random vegetable - in my case sliced onions

Wait for it... ANOTHER random vegetable - in my case garlic

and some left over meat - in my case lamb!

pop em on the skewers and pop them in the oven at 350 for 10 mins. 

VIOLA, delicious, quick and easy kabobs for everyone!

I

Three-Cheese Mac N Cheese

You will need:

5 Cups of Macaroni
1 Cup of Goat Cheese
1 Cup of Medium Cheddar
1 Cup 0f Old White Cheddar
1 Cup of Milk

Preheat oven to 350'.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Pour in your pasta and boil for 10-15 - or until you can see that the center of the pasta is no longer white.

While the water is boiling, grate all of your cheese into a bowl and stir the cheese till it is a nice mixture. In a small sauce pot, bring milk to a boil.

Once the pasta is ready, drain the water and move to a casserole dish. Mix in most of the cheese until it is evenly spread throughout the pasta, then pour the milk over everything. Next, top the dish with the remaining cheese :)

Bake at 350 for 5-10 mins, or until you see all the cheese melted thoroughly on the top of the dish.

Take it out and let cool for 15 mins. Serves 4.

Nom Nom Perogies!

I thought up a really great combo with my parogies last night: Candied bacon perogies!

You Will Need:
1 Bag of Perogies - you're favorite kind
6-10 Slices of Bacon
1/4 Cup of Honey

First, bring a pot of water to boil. While you are waiting you can get all your ingredients ready :)
In a frying pan over high heat, place slices of bacon and wait for a few minutes for the frying pan to heat up. Once the natural bacon fat is bubbling, poor in you honey and stir it into the bacon fat.

You will know your perogies are done when they start to float. Turn off the element and drain the water out of your pot. When the bacon fat is bubbling black, mix in the parogies with the bacon. wait a few minutes for the perogies to turn brown then take off the burner. Serves 2-3.

Jazzy's Secret Ingredient Cookie!

If you love cookies you will love this recipe. I bake a couple hundred cookies every year for separate events; anime conventions, pax prime, and charity organizations. It's a lot of work, but it is made so much better with the help of my awesome friends! Thanks to Cai and Tracey for helping me prep for Tsukino-Con this weekend :) You guys are the best~

1 Cup of Unsalted Butter
2 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of White Sugar
1 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/4 Tsp of Salt
1 Tsp of Baking Powder
(optional- 1 Cup of Chocolate Chips)
and the secret ingredient: 1/2 Cup of Achmed's Aromatic Earl Grey Tea Leaves!


Mix thoroughly by hand until it is soft. Roll into balls and bake at 375' for 10 minutes, take them out and let sit for 5 mins - or until cool.

Fun Halloween Time Treat - Kryptonite Glowing Candy!

All of my prayers have been answered: Iced London Fog

So I have travelled all over this city asking for crazy unspeakable beverages before, so I am unsurprised that people say no; however, it came as a shock when people refused to even think about an Iced London Fog.

It happened one hot July day that I happened to wish "wouldn't it be awesome to have a COLD london fog?" So I asked. I asked cafe's and restaurants and coffee shops, all in vain. Everyone either shook their head or looks conserned before refusing.

BUT NO MORE. I love QV cafe - it has always been a choice hangout - but it warmed my heart that when I shyly asked for a cold london fog my request was met with not only a yes, but an enthused yes from a kindred spirit! The lovely lady made me the Iced London Fog and we tasted it until it was perfect.

So yes, I am right now fullfilling a wish as I type away with one hand, and hold my drink in the other.

Sante Gluten-Free Cafe

The Gluten free Cafe is a cut little place in Quadra Village with the most interesting staff I have ever come across. The food is delicious, the coffee is fine, and they make the perfect Iced Chai for a hot day in summer.

I have to admit I spent more time chatting with Daniel about children's literature than I did noting upon the stylish decor, but I do remember the soft glow illuminating the room and the warm atmosphere making it well worth the trip.

Qoola ~ Your favorite frozen yogurt... or at least mine :)

Jazzy issues a Seal of Approval

To the new yogurt bar in Uptown. No, seriously, check this place out. Sure it'll cost ya 5$, but you get frozen yogurt with candy, fruits, nuts or syrup. 

The premise: grab a container, fill it with yogurt, scoop in delicious toppings, squirt sauce or syrup on it, pay by weight. 

Soooo Good. Here are the toppings:

• Coconut
• Dried Cranberries
• Cinnamon Flakes
• Gummy Bears
• Mini Marshmallows
• Triple Chocolate Shavings
• Bee Pollen (Organic)
• Greens +
• Hemp Seed Powder (Organic)
• Hemp Seed Nut (Organic)
• 100% Maple Syrup (Organic)
• Agave Nectar (Organic)
• Caramel Sauce
• Chocolate Sauce
• Honey
• Marionberry Syrup
• Nutella
• Peanut Butter (Organic)
• Marionberry Jam
• Q*Jam (Organic)

Then they have Mango and Lychee Popper - the most delicious snacks ever. 

Of course, if that isn't enough, they also make smoothies out of their flavored yogurt:

Strawberry Banana

Raspberry Pomegranate 

Cookies and Cream

Country Vanilla

Chocolate

Mango

Peach

Now, I didn't get to try one (I was far to full at this point), but they also make waffles that I hear are tasty. 

 I hope you get a chance to get some of this for yourself. Qoola is one hip place to chill and eat something good.

Qoola Frozen Yogurt Bar
Uptown Center
101-3531 Uptown Blvd.
Victoria, BC V8Z 0B9
(250) 590-6816

mmmm cookie... I mean cupcake.. I mean Monster!

Sca Music is entertaining

A useful tool, and always looking to new material

Yay Cupcakes

~Jackalope Bistro~

Jackalope Bistro, 760A Yates St


Hello darlings. Now, usually I would explain some fun way of other to spruce up your food and parties, but today I'm going to draw peoples attention to this great new restaurant that just opened up downtown. 

Jackalope Bistro is a cute little place over by the Odeon (just around the corner and down that alleyway leading to Dragon Impact). It is owned and run but a fun couple, one of which is a vegetarian. Because, or at least influenced by it, of this there is a great selection of veggie dishes. Not only do they have that, but they also cater to Celiacs, and have a Gluten Free section. 


Another distinguishing factor is just how affordable it is. The burgers are between 5 and 10 dollars, the breakfast items are even cheaper, and it's all still great quality food.

Luckily he and his girlfriend found this spot to open up what I now consider one of my favorite places to eat in Victoria. 

Twas a fortuitous moment of serendipity

Play with Your Food Please

I was browsing online when I came across forgreatjustice.tumblr.com

If you haven't seen this yet, you should open it up and check out all the really cool pictures he has got. I am mentioning this here because while I was browsing his pictures I came across some really fun ways to play with your food, and set up decorations before your friends come over.

It is the little touches that show just how geeky you are.



I like this idea. Grab a colorful candy and make your favorite video characters out of them. I'm going to start making these and leaving them on the dining room table or living room coffee table, so that when people come over they can snack in style!

I don't suggest eating this, but for decoration it would look fun and catch peoples eye :)





these are just some pictures from For Great Justice. Go check out more :)