I made my way home this past weekend to run the BC Cross-Country Championships, my first race in a while. I ran at Jericho Beach, which is beautiful, I highly recommend taking a walk along the beach if anyone ever takes a trip to the area. Its surrounded by mountains and you can see downtown Vancouver across the water...it always makes me realize why Vancouver is considered one of the most beatiful cities in the world. The race went well, I got 3rd, but there's still alot of work to be done before I get to Nationals in a month.
The entire trip to the race (at least it felt like it), my parents talked about this place they wanted to take me too once I was done. Now that they have sold their business, they finally have the time to go downtown and spend their days exploring new areas. Well I can tell you that all of the fuss about they made was justified...they found this little place called Mr. Kumpir that serves stuffed baked potatoes...with any toppings you can imagine to choose from. As awesome as a stuffed baked potato can be, it was that. They basically take a giant baked potato, scoop out the insides and whip it up with some butter and then top it with any three toppings you want...for $5!!. I got green onion, broccoli and bacon bits and ate the entire thing. I think you should all take a trip to Mr. Kumpir if you get the chance...and if not, try and make your own, its really easy.
This next part could be a little embarassing, but it happend so I'm going to tell. We walked to the little bakery next door called Beard Pappa's. Can anyone guess?...Cream puffs. They are apparently referred to as the "Cream Puff Kings" so I thought I might as well give it a try. The chain originally started in Osaka, Japan in 1999 and became so popular that its now in Canada and the US. They have vanilla, chocolate and green tea flavored custard injected into the pastry and dusted with powdered sugar. I tried the vanilla. If your a cream puff lover then you will be in heaven.
This is where it gets embarassing...right next to Beard Pappa's was Big City Cupcakes. My mom loves cupcakes so we stopped...I'm going to blame it on her haha. I got carrot cake with cream cheese frosting...really good.
It was basically the day of overindulgences, but it was Halloween so it doesn't really count in my books. The area that we were walking around is called English Bay, just outside of Stanley Park. There aren't alot of houses in the residential areas, mostly appartments, condos and townhouses. I noticed when we were in Mr. Kumpirs that there were alot of parents walking with their kids dressed in costumes...what I soon realized was that the kids were all trick-or-treating in the stores. All of the stores in the area had their employees dressed up in costumes and had bowls full of candy to hand out to the kids...it was a great idea and not something that I had ever thought about before.
It was a great weekend, nice to go home, see my family and spend some time in the city. Can't wait until I get to go back again and explore some more.
Here's a recipe for stuffed baked potatoes. You can really add your own touches to it, I don't always follow a recipe...its pretty self explanatory, but this will be a good starting point.
Hint: if you want to speed up the process, I always cook the baked potato in the microwave instead of having to wait 45-50 min in the oven. It should be cooked until you can scoop out the insides.
Stuffed Baked Potatoes
4 large baking potatoes
4 tbsp softened butter
3/4 cup sour cream (add until the consistency and taste is right)
garlic salt or regular salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 green onions
Scrub potatoes and pat dry. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45-50 min or until cooked through and tender (or use microwave). Cut top 1/4 of potato off lengthwise; scoop out pulp into bowl, add butter, sour cream, salt and pepper and mash. Add cheese and green onions; mix again.
Pile potato mixture back into the hollowed shells. Sprinkle with additional cheese and/or paprika if you'd like. Brush shells with olive oil to have a crispy shell. Bake in 425 degree oven for 15 min or until cheese is melted and potatoes are heated through.
Enjoy.
-Anita
