How to Make Sweet and Spicy Shrimp

I adapted this recipe from Skinny Taste (being a 'skinny' blog I don't understand why she didn't use nonfat plain yogurt instead of mayo). A big tub of cornstarch wasn't really on my shopping list so I thought I could try subbing it for something else - which didn't work very well. I used Panko because it was the only thing in our cupboard. Use the cornstarch.

This recipe is delicious. I can't wait to make it again.

What you need:

• 1 lb large peeled, deveined prawns
• 1 cup chopped peanuts
• 1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
• 3 tbsp Thai Sweet Red Chili Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (to taste)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3 cups shredded ice berg lettuce
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 4 tbsp chopped scallions
• a large skillet

What you do:

• combine nonfat plain yogurt, chili sauce and Sriracha
• combine shredded lettuce and cabbage
• coat prawns with cornstarch and blend
• heat skillet and add oil when skillet is hot
• toss in prawns and chopped peanuts and cook for about three minutes
• remove from heat and combine prawns with the chili and Sriracha sauce
• spoon over shredded lettuce and cabbage

serve with a Phillips Hop Circle IPA

Quote of the Week - F. Scott Fitzgerald

My generation of radicals and breakers-down never found anything to take the place of the old virtues of work and courage and the old graces of courtesy and politeness.
(A letter to his daughter quoted in F. Scott Fitzgerald, A Biography by Andre Le Vot)

Vintage Honda Motorcycles

source

Vintage Honda Scooter fan page.

Vintage Honda motorbikes from the archives.

Last Weekend

Picked up this vintage silk screen for our washroom at the highly anticipated annual 

West Vancouver Seniors' Flea Market.

25¢ for a Kosta Boda Zoo owl.

I'm very happy with this score from the WVS Flea Market. The images were on opposite ends of the table, but I spotted them. Voila! A mountaintop panorama—and yes, they're real photos.

Wild Alaskan Halibut season has begun! We poached halibut with ginger and avocado and served coconut jasmine rice as a side. We paired it with a Pinot Blanc. 

More food goodness! The BCLDB released their Spring edition of Taste magazine. Who has picked this free magazine up? You know how good it is.

I first saw Bandit last Thursday night when we were walking home from dinner. He has the cutest sideways scamper. I was lucky enough to run into him and his pal taking a walk on Saturday afternoon. It turns out Bandit is paralyzed. He was trying to befriend a deer on Bowen Island when the deer stomped on his back, breaking it. That was four years ago. Bandit is eight. He can't move his back legs, so his paws drag, hence the booties. I hope to run into Bandit more in the neighbourhood. He has such a good spirit!

Bandit

vintage Pyrex percolator coffee pot and Pyrex glass teapot

If you've been reading Bijou Living for a while, you know how much I love my coffee and my coffee maker. Whenever I find these vintage Pyrex percolators, I have to buy them—just in case I break one of mine, I'll have a backup. I bought these two at a yard sale on Saturday. The teapot has such a great design. $20 for both.

Weekend listening. Willie Nelson, Red Headed Stranger, 1975. 

Favourite track? Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.

These two have been living in our neighbourhood for a few years now—actually, they live next door. Last summer, one scooped up a dog from the sea walk. On Thursday, I opened my curtains to see one dive bomb and fly off with an unsuspecting seagull from the building next door. It was not a sight I wanted to see. I've heard rumblings around the building within the last 24 hours that a dog may have been scooped up again last weekend. 

Great, now I'll have anxiety strolling the seawalk.

Another West Vancouver Home Demolition

Vintage Dior

1980

How to Make a Chocolate Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich

What you need:

• waffle iron - we used our vintage Penncrest
• cake mix - we used Pamela's Wheat and Gluten Free Luscious Chocolate Cake Mix
• chocolate chips - we used Camino Fair Trade 71% Chocolate Chips
• ice cream - we used dairy free So Good Butterscotch Swirl. An espresso ice cream would seriously rock with these puppies.

What you do:

• heat waffle iron to medium heat
• mix up cake mix and fold in chocolate chips
• scoop in 1/4 cup of the delicious batter into each waffle square
• cook for 3 minutes
• gently remove from waffle iron
• let the waffles cool on a cooling rack
• add a scoop of ice cream
• eat
• left over chocolate waffles can be put in the freezer

* I adapted this recipe from Come Together Kids

Recent eBay and Etsy Purchases

Saks Fifth Avenue snake skin bag
from eBay seller fraurjc

cotton gauze dress
ok, this one I bought at the Beggars Banquet thing Friday night

nylon jersey drop waist dress
from eBay seller marcy13

i.magnin silk chiffon tunic
from Etsy

incredible mohair sweater with silk lining and wood buttons
from eBay

Pierre Cardin snake skin shoulder bag
from Etsy

silk shorts
from Etsy seller maisondhibou

I'm currently on a vintage nylon jersey dress, latch hook rug, pilgrim shoe, and Scandinavian brutalist jewelry kick. Here are some of my Etsy favourites (for women). I haven't updated my men's favourites in ages but here's the link anyway. On eBay, I'm edle. According to eBay, I started selling on there 12 years and 7 months ago. Whoa, that's a long time.

Weekend

Spring = spring to my feet and get the dust off everything!

I picked up this clothes storage bag last week at IKEA, (along with some curtains). Why I have not had these bags to store my vintage clothing in for the past twenty years is a moot question. The orange sparkly number is my wedding dress.

All zipped up.

The ocean is cleaning up as well. My, First Day of Spring Beachcombing Expedition, found this washed up on shore. Living on the Pacific Coast - and expecting debris from Japan soon - I find this piece eerie. It's a tsunami wave carrying books and a violin.

Flo giving me the stink eye.

Spring cleaning tunes. A gift for me from Vinyl Records on Hastings. Check out the inscription, it adds all that more. I'd bought a new sealed pressing of Leonard Cohen's debut album at Highlife on Commercial but it was totally warped and the first song - Suzanne - was scratched and inaudible. Another reason why old stuff is better than new. I couldn't get my money back from Highlife. I didn't trust buying another new pressing from them and was uninterested in a CD (I don't even have a CD player). I ended up exchanging it for the worst Tim Buckley album, that I turned around and traded as $2 towards a Bon Iver album at another record store. Highlife should've given me my $30 back.

Another Spring find - Veuve du Vernay minis! Make every excursion a celebration with these portable little fellas.

Design Lover Ris and Selldorf Sunball for Rosenthal

From within your plushly padded shell, you navigate the "sunball" to mirror the orbit of the sun. With the aid of Teflon bearings, you direct its roof to slide open, the ball to swivel on its base in near galactic silence. Accessorize with serving tray and stereo...and a light for night flights by the pool, patio or terrace. Mission done, you lock the sunball for total security. Designed by Gunter Ris and Herbert Selldorf for Rosenthal. From AD, 1977.

Sold September 27, 2007 at Sotheby's London for $49,505 USD

Style Inspiration Braque and Brown

Is that an I.M. Rosen 8800 credenza and Frank Ligtelijn Globe 2000 lamp I see? Good thing they're not Le Corbusier's or we could have some trouble on our hands.

images: Better Homes & Gardens 1975, Georges Braque 1952