The Calm After The Storm

Now that December is over it gets pretty quiet for yours truly. Plus the weather still -- what's the word to describe -- sucks! Sheesh, I can't remember a winter in Vancouver being so intolerable. Anyhoo, there hasn't been much to report. Except ...

I started the next level of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) course -- I am taking Level III Advanced Part 1 with our friend Scotty. This is a pretty intensive course, last Wednesday's class was dedicated to what happens in the vineyard (viticulture) -- how the wine is affected by the soil, climate, weather conditions, pruning, propogation, pests, etc. Next week is all about what happens in the winery (vinification). Pretty facinating stuff, it's quite the science. Every class we try six wines -- this week the standout was a Calera Viognier from California -- a beautiful silky white.

Last night, before the hockey game (Sundin scored his first goal as a Canuck, and a beauty) the Boy and I had a lovely dinner at Chambar on Beatty. Chambar has been around for a number of years and has long been a favourite of mine. Very innovative menu and bar. I was in the mood for a fancy cocktail so they whipped me up a Lucky's Fix -- a cocktail comprised of Earl Grey infused bourbon, Lillet Blonde, orange blossom water and tangerine, shaken frothy with egg white and served up in martini glass. Very good and easy drinking -- probably too easy drinking if ya know what I mean *grin*. For dinner we shared grilled baby octopus served with charred tomato and cilantro salsa, and avocado puree; a braised rabbit cannelloni with morrel jus; and a spiced foie gras terrine with Port reduction and truffled brioche french toast. We followed that up with Chambar's famous mussels in a bacon white wine sauce and pomme frites with mayo of course. And for dessert (ya know I gotta have dessert), we enjoyed a sublime sour cherry and thyme tart with lemon buttermilk sorbet and black pepper creme anglaise. Mmmm-mmh! That lemon buttermilk sorbet was the perfect end to a perfect dinner. The room is funky, always busy, service is excellent AND they have a really good tap with a good selection of Belgian beers. One of the top restaurants in Vancouver if you ask me.

Chambar is also one of the many great Vancouver restaurants that joins the annual Dine Out Vancouver event -- Vancouver's delicious celebration of BC food and wine. Each participating restaurant offers a three-course dinner for either $18, $28 or $38 per person, complemented by BC VQA wine pairing suggestions. This year's Dine Out runs from January 14th to February 1st -- we hope to check out a couple restaurants that we haven't been to yet. Stay tuned ...

The Silly Season

OK, dear Readers, I have been remiss and I apologize. I have broken my own rule about blogging and haven't posted for quite some time now. I'm not usually one to make New Year's Resolutions but this year will be an exception - I will update far more frequently, promise.

So here comes the brain dump from the month of December 2008, are ya ready?!

Annual baking day with the girls – twelve hours of baking resulted in eight different kinds of holiday treats and dozens of each. We have our usuals – traditional Scottish shortbread, rum balls, blueberry mincemeat tarts, butter tarts, chocolate bark and skor bars. We added sugar cookies and ambrosia macaroons to the mix this year. The highlight for me this season were the fruitcake cookies, so pretty in their little gold foil baking cups.

Annual tree trimming – every season we round up all our friends to help decorate the tree. Always so much fun! We do ask that everyone bring an ornament, we have quite a collection now, all beautiful and provide fantastic memories. Of course, the Boy and I put out quite a spread, including his beef tenderloin (OMG, it was good and gobbled right up) and a fantastic red pepper dip that was new this year and will be added to my party repertoire from now on. And, of course, the old standby stuffed mushrooms. A big thanks and a big hug to everyone for sharing in this festive event with us.

Between tree trimming and the weekend before Christmas -- Work, work, blah, blah, got a promotion (!), seasonal functions, Trevor’s jersey was retired, Sundin signed, blah, blah, too darn cold for Vancouver, snowed too much, I ate too much, drank too much, repeat, etc.

Stuff you might not know -- to remove a little bit of cork from a glass of wine, rather than chase it around with a spoon use a straw, the bits will stick to it (and I don't mean suck them out). Question: Do you have to serve the wine your guests brought? Answer: You are not obliged to open the gift bottle, it is meant as a host(ess) gift. Thank your guest, keep the wine and, if you wish, have your friend over some other time to enjoy it. Or open it up, your choice!

Liver, yuck! I tried, I really tried. I consider myself a foodie but you can't be a true connoisseur if you won't eat the offal. But I have my limits, I enjoy paté, liverwurst etc, but straight liver, not so much. I haven't had liver since I was a kid, so when we went to Tapastree, I thought I'd give it another go, ummm, yeah, no. I’m sure the chicken livers were very good to those that enjoy the taste, I’m just not one of those, and I’m now at peace with that. The sauce was good though! Particularly excellent with a glass of Joie rosé.

Wine – many of you know that I’m taking course in wine, I’ve signed up for Level 3 (Advanced), I wrote the exam for Level 2 (Intermediate) – I think I passed but it was tough, cross your fingers! We checked out the new Joey’s wine bar in Bentall 1, excellent selection and all by the glass – with my new love of rosé, I tried the Menage á Trois from California, beautiful. There were so many but another I enjoyed include the aforementioned Joie PTG (their first red).

Miss Kitty and her family, and Reese and his family were over for Christmas Dinner – the Boy again made his fabulous Deconstructed Turkey, so juicy, so flavourful, so good. I made a gingerbread trifle, also yummy. Thanks to Miss Kitty for the crabby appy and the brussels, and to Reese for bucking up for the turkey.

That brings us to today, Happy New Year everyone! May you find lots of things to enjoy, and please don’t forget those less fortunate. Smooches.

tapastree

Those of you that know me know that there are a few restaurants around the city where I will drop everything to go ... tapastree is one of those. So on Friday night when the Boy suggested we go, my answer was a resounding YES! We rounded up our mates and made our way through a torrential downpour to enjoy an evening of really good food and really good wine.

tapastree, in Vancouver's west end, serves up fantastic small plates for sharing with a fabulous wine list to match. They also have a good tap if beer's your thing, and full bar for those nights when a martini is called for. With our tapas, we had two wonderful food-friendly wines, a Pinot Noir from Oregon (Lemelson) and a yummy white blend from BC's Okanagan Valley (Joie Noble Blend). For dinner, we shared the marinated olives, tuna with ponzu sauce, sauteed prawns, lamb chops, root veggies, scalloped potatoes and chicken nuggets (pretty much everything they had on a somewhat limited menu). And you can't leave without having dessert so we shared creme brulee, sticky toffee and apple pie. All excellent. Check out the menu 'cuz the aforementioned list of tapas does not do it justice. Better yet, check out the restaurant ;-)

The service was casual but good and the restaurant was hopping -- surprising on a miserable Vancouver night. So if you do plan to go, I highly recommend that you make reservations (you'll find them on Open Table).

Another great meal at tapastree, hmmm, I wonder what this week has in store ...

When you least expect it ...

Culinary experiences can happen anywhere. I had the pleasure of savouring a Salvadoran traditional food called pupasas while volunteering at the Canucks Family Education Centre last Tuesday (click here to learn more about this terrific charity).


We were working with a class of wonderful Spanish-speaking ladies who were learning English. They were so cute! They worked so hard on improving their conversational skills and then how to write it all down. You have to really admire them -- I didn't realize until that day how hard it must be to leave your homeland, and all things familiar and comfortable, just to immerse yourself in a different country with a different language and different customs. This was their last class, so a couple of the ladies made a treat for everyone.

Pupusas are a masa (corn tortilla flour) flat cake filled with a mixture of cheese, beans and pork -- kinda like quesadilla. It's served with Salvadoran coleslaw and a dab of tomato sauce spooned on top. It seems pretty easy to make, and I should be able to find the ingredients, but I have a feeling it won't taste the same unless it's made by a cute Spanish speaking lady from El Salvador. How do you say tasty in Spanish? Sabroso!

Miss Kitty's Apple Butter

On Sunday, after a wonderful walk on the seawall with Eva, I headed over to Miss Kitty's place for our annual canning day. Every year we girls get together and preserve something -- in year's past we have made jalapeno jelly but this year we tried something different ... Apple Butter ... yum! This recipe comes from my culinary bible http://www.epicurious.com/, I use it all the time. The Apple Butter is super easy to make but a little tedious, nothing like peeling, coring and dicing 20lbs of apples, worth it though. We made the spiced version 'cuz apples and cinnamon just belong together.

To serve, pour it over ice cream or use it as a side with a cheese plate, or pork chops. Or like the name suggests, on toast with a piece of cheese (cheddar would be fabulous). I've also seen something I'd like to try and that's slice a round of Brie in half (top and bottom). Slather your filling on the bottom part (apple butter, chutney, jam, whatever), replace the top, wrap in pastry and bake. I'll try this at home and will share the recipe when I get it right.

Last night was my wine class featuring Syrah/Shiraz and Grenache. I had some exceptional wines, I think this was the first class that I enjoyed them all, I will share the names with you when I get the list. 'Til then, keep savouring ...

Friday Night - Celebrating the Weekend

After a visit to Cardero's (and a bottle of Beringer Chardonnay), we tried a new restaurant last night, a little pricey but very good. Check out Voya Restaurant http://www.voyarestaurant.com/ in the Loden Hotel on Melville in downtown Vancouver. The room is gorgeous, high ceilings, tasteful art, marble bar, crystal chandeliers -- beautiful.

While waiting for our table I tried a glass of the Poplar Grove Pinot Gris, very good and not a winery I have tried before. They are located on the Naramata Bench so I'll make a point of dropping by in next summer's Okanagan wine tour.

Once seated, the boys and I enjoyed some of the shared dishes for the table, impressive presentation, wonderful taste and washed down with a bottle of Joie Chardonnay. Yum!

Overall I give Voya a big thumbs up. The room is gorgeous, the food is tasty, the wine list is well thought out (good local options), and the service was excellent (shout out to Greg). Highly recommended if you don't mind parting with a significant amount of moolah.

Once I clear the cobwebs of all that good wine, the Boy and I have a busy weekend -- in between voting in the civic election, watching the Stamps and Lions (go team!) and the Canucks and Maple Leafs (go Canucks!). And that's just Saturday. Sunday will be another day of culinary delights, coming soon to a blog near you.

My first post

Hey everyone, welcome to my new blog! I wanted to start a place to share favourite new restaurants, wines, recipes, artists, music -- all those things that make life a little more beautiful, and thoroughly enjoyable. Please visit often!