In a Tizzy

Author: In a Tizzy

  • A Baking Break

    Today is a busy day, and to alleviate any potential stress on my mind (and my chocolate-infused blood) I have taken to stay closer to campus today and attend a couple different career workshops (which I imagine I will have something to say about later).

    However, without wanting to shock my system by having no chocolate, I will indulge in a bit of homemade chocolate chip banana bread (vegan), adopted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s “Polka Dot Banana Bread” recipe.

    I added almond’s on top and a thin layer of granola in the middle for some texture here and there.

    Vegan chocolate chip banana bread with almonds and granola.


    It is glorious when warmed up and covered in some sort of buttery spread (I use Becel’s vegan margarine), and I imagine it would also be good with something like peanut butter or perhaps jam if you’re feeling more adventurous (I like jam so it tastes good with anything to me).

    Hopefully my next post will contain some insight into future career or educational paths – be it a better idea of what I want to do or a better idea of what I do NOT want to do (both would be helpful). As a side note, I also think I’ll be switching to this font for a while.

  • HoCho Fest Day 4: Aphrodite’s Delight


    This, the fourth day of my hot chocolate adventures, marked the first day I was unable to finish my treat! However, the gained knowledge of this location will surely benefit my happiness in the future, and I will certainly be returning to try another of their Hot Chocolate Festival items in the weeks to come. Today I visited Cocoa Nymph!

    I was instantly comfortable upon entering the tiny hideaway near the street corner: It was cozy, it felt like a grandma’s house, and it was full of handmade chocolate.

    The featured item today was Aphrodite’s Delight, a vegan almond milk hot chocolate accented by a mango-rosemary blend and paired with vegan chocolate fudge (wow)! I had already started falling for the place itself, so I eagerly ordered the day’s treat.
    Made from 72% dark chocolate, with mango rosemary puree and almond milk
    (vegan and dairy free).
    Served with a side of rosemary anise fudge.

    I started with the fudge – it was a thick and chewy texture (yum yum), and was strongly flavoured with the rosemary and anise combination. If you enjoy exotic flavours such as anise, it is a unique fudge in my limited fudge experience! I personally would have enjoyed more chocolate (heh heh).
    Then, I moved forth to the hot chocolate. It was very thick and sat heavy on the tongue with its dark chocolate flavour. There were noticeable, but understated and not overwhelming, rosemary undertones to it. I struggled to pick out any of the mango flavour, and eventually resolved to just continue drinking it!
    Unfortunately, the rosemary undertones in combination with the side of flavourful fudge (small, but fudge generally overwhelms me) saturated my taste buds quickly and rendered me feeling unable to complete the entire treat. 
    While I fear the red wine reduction could leave me saturated again, I think my next Cocoa Nymph treat will be “Bacchu’s Dream” in the last week of the festival! Or something else in between – yes, that sounds good…

    Be back soon!


  • HoCho Fest Day 3: My Funny Valentine

    With books on my back, I traveled today to Blenz Coffee (one of four participating locations) for a new hot chocolate festival experience. The familiar wooden interior and ambience of “studying” greeted me, and I examined my two options: “Mint To Be” and “My Funny Valentine”. I went with the latter as it described dark chocolate and sounded as though it would be yummy with almond milk (my Achilles heel, evidently).

    A 50% dark Belgian chocolate with ginger.
    Served with a mini chocolate croissant. 
    ($4.99)


    Unfortunately, I am unable to speak to the mini chocolate croissant’s contribution – they had run out! I had been looking forward to a cute-sized treat alongside my cup of deliciousness. Beyond that, however, there is the focus of my visit to Blenz: The beverage!
    The hot chocolate was served warm, but not hot – almost past the point of being “just right”, but that is besides the point of taste, as it was very manageable to drink this way. My first taste was potent with ginger flavour and a dark chocolate undertone. My second and third sips introduced more balance in flavours, and the chocolate and ginger began to mesh more effectively as I became more accustomed to the strong ginger. It had a thick chocolaty and gingery aftertaste which left my tastebuds saturated and content. The almond milk worked with this drink as well – I do not believe Blenz uses sweetened almond milk, so it did not add any unnecessary sweetness to the ginger syrup and melted chocolate combination. An artistic touch on the top of the drink and a most excellent job aerating the milk to its fluffy state brought it all together, and would result in me returning for another, but perhaps with only one pump of ginger instead of two.

    I would also be interested in trying the Mint To Be option, but perhaps with dark chocolate if possible!

    What shall day four bring?

  • HoCho Fest Day 2: Call Me A Cab

    Today’s adventure in hot chocolate tasting took me to Terra Breads in Kitsilano. I have only had the baking sort of treat from them, and had no idea there was such a range of specialty beverages and meal items! Along with my hot chocolate, I enjoyed an avocado and veggie sandwich. 



    The hot chocolate is called “Call Me A Cab” – one of Terra’s two items offered for the festival. I vouched for this one as the other was white chocolate and I wished not to test my stomach’s sweetness tolerance for the afternoon. 

    Call Me A Cab: Cacao Barry Extra Brute Hot Chocolate with Cabernet, cinnamon and pear. Served with a pear crisp and a cocoa sugar cookie. 

    I ordered it with soy milk, and found it to be extremely light and fluffy. There was no overwhelming sweetness or intense chocolatey-ness (in a rather pleasant way). I had trouble detecting the pear flavours, but was met with a hint of the Cabernet throughout the whole drink and it finished on a cinnamon-y note which sat on my tongue. The pear crisp atop it was a unique and delicious treat, and the heart-shaped cocoa sugar cookie was yummy and made for good dunking! 

    I quite enjoyed today’s experience and will definitely return to the location for sandwiches that are perfectly-sized, healthy, and delicious. Perhaps for the less-than-$5 soup I saw on the menu as well! I look forward to what tomorrow brings. 


  • HoCho Fest Day 1: Passionista

    Today (actually, yesterday) marked the beginning of the 2014 Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival! I am very excited, and thusly decided to make my first stop Thomas Haas Chocolates. Here, they offered the “Campfire” and the “Passionista” – I tried the latter.

    “Fresh passion fruit-infused hot chocolate with Grand Marnier Chantilly, served with passion fruit Pate de Fruit.”
    ($5.95)

    I ordered mine to be made with almond milk, while my friend Alex ordered the Campfire made regularly (my small taste yielded happy taste buds). The woman who took my order informed me that no one had ordered the Passionista with almond milk yet, and to return with a review for her. This, more or less, is what I said:

    It was very unique! The passion fruit taste was very strong throughout the entire drink and was unlike any thing I had tried in a beverage before, particularly one with chocolate. I found that the almond milk offered a very clear nutty tone to the entire drink, which was not bad! However, I believe that if I had ordered it with soy milk, the greater creaminess of the soy milk would have better absorbed the fruit flavours. The fruit flavours are very unique (in my experience) to have with hot chocolate, and having the almond flavour remain slightly separate from the fruit flavours was slightly overwhelming.

    Overall, I would love to try it again with soy milk, and am happy that I tried one with a sexy name to start off a delicious journey for the next four weeks! The passion fruit jellies served on the side were also delectable. 



  • Dining Discovery: Nuba – Authentic Lebanese Cuisine

    Yesterday, I had the pleasure of sampling a “mezze” lunch appetizer from a restaurant on Broadway called Nuba. For someone such as myself, the appetizer sufficed for a meal – it was the perfect size, and happened to be gluten-free and vegan in addition to being DELICIOUS.

    My particular appetizer of choice was the Garden Falafel:
    “Victor’s secret recipe of organic chickpeas, fava beans, veggies and spices [VE+GF]”


    It was only $7.50 and filled me right up to the brim – with pita to spare (I myself do not generally like to consume a lot of bread anyways). They event sent me home with a generous amount of extra pita – perhaps based on my empty plate… 

    A definite recommendation for anyone – meat- and veggie-eaters alike!

    Click the link to check out their website.

    Until the next discovery,
    Still Salivating

  • "What is intuitive eating?"

    This is an interview with my friend’s mom (who is a registered dietician from Edmonton, AB) – here, she speaks on something that I have been actively trying to incorporate into my life for the last couple of years. I think it is important to listen to your body! Sometimes guidelines need to be set in more extreme circumstances where one’s life is in jeopardy, but on average, I think that “eating intuitively” can be beneficial in the long-term for anyone and everyone.

  • Upcoming Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival: 2014

    This is a very exciting time of year for warm, chocolaty beverage consumers (such as myself).

    Vancouver’s 4th annual Hot Chocolate Festival begins in 6 more days! There are 24 locations and 28 days of the festival, so it sounds like many of my days are going to be painted with warm, brown strokes of deliciousness (the chocolate kind).

    Little did I realize, in my chocolate-induced craze during last year’s festival, that the event is also in support of the Downtown Eastside women’s job skills program – even better! There are many more winners in this than only those who indulge in the magical creations of the chocolate vendors.

    I strongly encourage anyone who has time to visit one location in Vancouver, as there are different types for everyone – even if you don’t like plain chocolate (are you feeling alright?)!

    The promo video has been released, and speaks to only a small portion of what will be offered (Bella Gellateria was a favourite from last year for me – three different types, and homemade banana bread on the side!).

    Click here to watch the promo video!

    Sincerely,
    Already Salivating

  • And so we begin.

    I’m not quite sure how this blog will shape itself yet, but even with that it already is a reflection of my thoughts as of late.

    My mind has been busy in a way that feels quite like trying to rearrange a room that has few possible alternative arrangements: I keep attending to the same items, playing with them, putting them aside, attending to others, then putting them aside, then trying to bring them together in some way that makes sense, eventually retiring to the original design and contemplating what to do next.

    This thinking does not reflect a pattern applicable to all areas of my life (i.e., family, friends, health…), but it is reflective of thoughts of the next five years, the next ten years, of my life. There exist many possibilities I could pursue, and there exist many interests I already possess, but what I feel must exist and is also currently beyond my mind’s visual field is a goal that can drive me forward into the next chapter of my life. Perhaps I do not need to decide upon my life-long career – as I may have anywhere from one to five to ten! – but I do feel I lack a vision towards which I can propel myself in the short-term that could mark the beginning of the journey.

    Today I attended my third UBC Student Leadership Conference; my second attendance as a delegate (versus a volunteer who was unable to attend workshops or presentations). In my third year of studies, I have become more skilled in the art of choosing what sorts of activities will benefit my extracurricular involvements (such as council), and even my transition into a professional – but for this, only in a very general sense. “Network! Learn financial management. Gain experience, articulate it well. Learn project management…” These tips and the specifics that were presented with them are all very useful, but I do not know what direction to head in that I could begin to apply them.

    My biggest takeaway today would be that my journey into leadership and the next phase of life will be ultimately easier to focus on if I understand my priorities, my goals, and do not fear my own greatness (or failure to achieve it). I cannot tell if I truly lack a goal or if I am blinded by fear of being inadequate in the pursuit of something I am passionate about. Recently, I’ve sought out the opinions of friends and family as to what they could see me doing that would result in my own success and, more importantly, happiness.
    Nursing. Small business owner. Photojournalist.
    These all make sense to me, but something is either lacking in or impeding the goal-making process for me. Do I not think these would bring me contentment? Are they unappealing in terms of salary? Do they somehow seem too “small” for me? Am I putting a glass ceiling on myself and in fact too afraid to pursue any of these? Does the idea of going through another Bachelor’s degree simply dismiss them as options?

    Perhaps all of those. I do not know what I want my career to me, but I believe I know these things about myself:

    • I feel a passion for people in a way that can best be articulated as a sense of being fired-up in interpersonal relations with others, in mediating problem-solving between people, in listening and observing and trying to understand individuals.
    • I believe I possess significant emotional intelligence.
    • I think that I want to have an impact on not just a few, but many people; in a positive way. (Part of me struggles with a potential loss of quality of impact in doing so, however.)
    It has felt cleansing to put these thoughts into words I can examine for myself, rather than trying to reorganize them in my mind endlessly. I have repeatedly expressed a desire to have my “ah-ha! moment”, and to feel a “click” in my mind when I consider something that just makes sense to pursue.

    Hopefully I can reach some peace on this matter soon, in whatever capacity that may be.