A little bit about Bongane Korean restaurant

Bongane restaurant was recommended to me by a true Korean, Miss Kkkkkk Lee.
I think it all started when jt and I went to Rangi college and he was told that there are many Koreans in that area. After a spontaneous cold cold swim in Takapuna beach, we saw a Korean restaurant and decided to go the next day. Because I'd never been to one, we asked Miss Kkkkkk Lee for her recommendation (again, apologies for the weird txts you received that night, Lee >.< it was not me, I don't say 'aten', I say 'eaten' like a normal person) kkkkkkk ~~~~~~ ^.^

Bongane is on the corner of Queen Street and Mayoral drive , diagonally opposite the other colorful Korean restaurant and next to Hollywood cafe.

jt and I went for Sunday lunch, I had stir fried beef with vegetables and rice, it was really tasty. Did you know you get free food at a Korean restaurant??

Potatoes, salad, boiled egg and kimchi.

I was also impressed with the interesting Korean chopsticks, they are flat and I find harder to use than Chinese or Japanese ones. I got shown how to hold them properly... but I couldn't move them :P

And the spoons are not as concave as ordinary spoons. I find cutlery and serveware highly interesting...

There were many Koreans dining there too, so that's a sure sign that the food is authentic! :)

Pleased with my first Korean restaurant experience, I took my family there for a Thursday dinner. Parking is free in the city after 6pm, although really tricky to find.

Admiring the interior decor while waiting for food, which came really quickly.

Beef casserole. $12, marinated beef with vegetables and rice in a hot stone bowl. It had vermicelli (glass noodles) in soup.

Spicy barbecue chicken. $12, stir-fried chicken on hot plate

Yukgejang. $12, spicy beef soup with vegetables and rice

Kalguksu. $12, flat noodle soup with seafood. . . I forgot to ask what the octopus tasted like...

Delicious food, good prices and speedy service. I like how they had a basket of bible verses by the cashier.

Next time: Korean bbq.
Thank you again Miss Kkkkkk Lee for recommending this place to me, and don't worry, I'm still on the lookout for a guy for you ;) ~ ~ ~ ~ kkkkkkk ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ^o^

And to conclude,
I am off to Fiji for 2 weeks! Mission tripping with Student Life :D THANK YOU so much to those who have been a part of my preparation journey, you are such blessings. Please keep me in your prayers :)

Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about no-bake oreo cheesecake

There have been a lot of cheesecake posts lately. This one I made for the five-boys-plus-one-girl's flat. I've baked them cookies before, which apparently went down well and disappeared pretty quickly :)

Oreos were on special...

I asked Stef what she would like me to make and she said, "Anything. Oreo cheesecake." How convenient...

Place one oreo on the bottom of a paper case

This is what happens when you bake at 11pm in your pyjamas without an apron...

The mixture should be smooth and light and delicious looking.

Mix in the crushed oreos by hand

Sometimes... I wish I don't have to give away ALL my baking... :P

Pour the batter into the prepared cases and refrigerate.

 Embellish with more Oreos if you wish

This is a super easy recipe and requires NO BAKING. Better than the oreo cheesecake cupcakes I made a while back.

Oreo cheesecake
300ml bottle of cream
250g block of cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp vanilla
whole and crushed Oreos

Beat cream cheese, sugar, salt, vanilla, until smooth.

Beat cream in a separate bowl until peaks form.

Combine cream and beat together both mixtures. 

Fold in oreo cookies.
Place whole oreos in the bottom of cupcake cases and drop spoonfuls of cheesecake.

Refrigerate.

I really enjoy baking for their flat. I always imagine Stef running around cleaning between kitchen and bathroom, but I know you guys help out like good brothers :))

And to conclude, look

what

I

found.

I want a tub of the peanut butter Reese's use

Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about fettuccini carbonara

 I made an unbelievably good dinner the other day.

I invited Lauren over cause she's cooked for me many times (she is a brilliant brilliant cook) and I wanted to repay her kindness and have a girly bffe chat with her ;)

I got this cookbook given to me by Melissa and it's so amazing! My favourite cuisine in hardback, thick quality paper with a satin ribbon bookmark.

I picked spaghetti carbonara because it seemed simple and looked delicious on the picture. We had spinach and normal fettuccini in the pantry, so I used that instead of spaghetti. And low-fat edam cheese instead of parmesan.
I think what made it so tasty was the crisp middle bacon I used.

Tip for cooking pasta: Don't add oil. You would usually add a few tsp of oil in the pot to prevent the pasta from sticking together. But in fact (thanks to Rachael Ray) the trick is the rapidly boiling water; the bubbles are enough to prevent the pasta from sticking and besides, the oil just adds more fat :/

Fettuccini carbonara

(serves 4, or if you found it as delicious as we did, serves 2 :P )
5 eggs
a handful of grated cheese
fettuccini
25g butter
1 Tbsp olive oil
200g bacon, diced and without rind
2 cloves finely chopped garlic (You can crush the garlic or grate it but I don't have a garlic crusher and the grater was in the dishwasher, so I chopped it finely instead)

1. Whisk the eggs and cheese together.
2. Cook the fettuccini in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
3. In a pan, melt the butter and olive oil.
4. Cook the diced bacon until crisp then add the garlic.
5. Drain the pasta, add the bacon and garlic.
6. Stir in the egg mixture, do not return to the heat as the eggs will scramble, but quickly stir the pasta around. The heat is enough to cook the eggs.
7. Sprinkle salt and pepper and grate cheese on top.

I served it with cauliflower, broccoli would also accompany it nicely. Lauren gave it a 9.75 out of 10.

And to conclude, I bought 2 necklaces from the uni Thursday market in the Quad. I love that market and all the jewellery they sell. Makes me feel so happy...

 adds to my collection of necklaces (and these are not all) . . .

Signed,
Elisa

A little bit about waffles and snow ice

I had a $20 voucher from grabone to spend on iS2 Snow Ice, so I thought: waffles with Wally!

If you've been to Chinese Lantern festival, you would've seen Snow Ice, I still don't know exactly what it is or how they make it, but it's delectable nonetheless.

The store is just outside the Atrium foodcourt, Crowne Plaza, sort of across the road from Margarita's

Chocolate banana waffles and Mango and pineapple berry waffles.

Plain waffles with chocolate ice cream, bananas, cream and chocolate sauce $6.90

Mango ice cream, mango pieces, berries, pineapple pieces and whipped cream

Cappuccino snow ice with chocolate pieces, condensed milk and wafers $6.80

It looks like shaved ice, right? But it melts to be quite soft and it's cappuccino flavored. You can also get green tea or chocolate flavor. You'll just have to try it :D We tackled this large one between the two of us

The crepes are good too. Still, I prefer the waffles from Yogoberry... (next coffee date?)

And to conclude,
the sweet soy sauce bottle fell and broke...
*grabs camera* isn't it pretty?

Signed,
Elisa.

A little bit about chocolate chip cookie cheesecake sandwhich

Cheesecake sandwiched between two cookies. Pretty awesome?

I first saw them on Michelle's blog http://effortlessly-beautiful.tumblr.com/post/12359818403/cheesecake-chocolate-chip-cookie-bars-this
And she brought them along to Claire's 21st and I loved them.

First layer: cookie

Second layer: cheesecake filling

Third layer: cookie

Bake, cut and eat :)

Kraft's Philadelphia cream cheese I used
I alterated the recipe to make it simpler, omitting the shortening and the cider vinegar, and used a cookie recipe for the base.

Chocolate chip cookie cheesecake

cookie dough base found here (you can substitute the caramel bits for normal chocolate chips)

cheesecake filling:
1 block 250g cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla essence

1. Make the cookie dough, but do not bake.
2. Beat cream cheese until smooth.
3. Add sugar, egg and vanilla and beat.
4. Line a slice tin with baking paper, flatten 1/2 to 3/4 of the cookie dough in the bottom.
5. Pour in cheesecake mixture.
6. Roll the rest of the cookie dough into balls and flatten, place on top of the cheesecake layer.
7. Bake for 35 minutes or until top is cooked and starting to brown. (mine actually took longer than 35 mins, but it could've been my oven)

I made these for Student Life girls' movie night at Pen's. We watched the best ballet movie ever ; Centre Stage.
Beautiful movie with beautiful people <3

And to conclude, The Word for Today is a free daily devotional book from Rhema Broadcasting. A few months ago I sent in a few photos from my amazing Canterbury weekend to be used on the cover. One of them almost got chosen for the final design!! But it only came second. . .

 so they sent me 'my own' copy with my photo on it!

 This was taken in She Chocolat's cafe in Governor's Bay, Christchurch. The view from the cafe. . .

They had such a cute happy and artistic garden

And good coffee made with real chocolate too :) Good start to an awesome day.

Signed,
Elisa