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Did you know that last year around September, I kept checking the Vancouver Magazine website because that was the month during which they had released the 2008 and 2009 Best Things to Eat and Drink in Vancouver lists. It would happen that when I was so diligent, it was the year they skipped.
This year, at least at this time, I do not call Vancouver home but I will be back and so I am still eager to tear apart the 2011 list that I pounced …

2 eggs
2/3 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp melted butter

Add eggs, milk, flour, sugar, and salt to the mixing bowl.
In the pan you will make the crepes, melt the butter and add to the mixing bowl.
Beat together the ingredients until it is smooth, no lumps.
In the pan on the large element at heat ~4, ladle the batter and immediately swirl the pan to spread it into a circle. (That is, don’t put down the ladle first!)
About 10 seconds after the edges turn brown, flip the crepe …

Vancouver is usually all fine and right and we pride ourselves on being city slickers folk, especially I who aspires for bigger and better. But it took just about half a day of getting away from the same-old, even to a slower pace, to kick ourselves for not striving for out-of-city excursions more often. Last weekend, we spent a few days on Vancouver Island with Victoria as the target. But we took a ferry to Nanaimo instead of planning a Vancouver-Victoria return trip and spent the first afternoon driving down …

During the first year of my past workplace, I kind of followed my boss’ example and was a bit reclusive, aloof. The three researchers (two males, one female) stepped out of the office together every lunch. They walked by my office on their way out but a pattern had been established. Frankly, I was afraid that with the three of them, “shop talk” would dominate and that’s not my idea of a lunch break.
Halfway through my first year, a lot of students completing internships came through my department, some of …

What was I thinking when I was shopping in Walmart, Target, and Trader Joe’s a couple weekends ago? Five of the food items I bought fall into some kind of Blue Theme:

Archer Farms Buffalo Macaroni & Cheese (made with real blue cheese and spicy cayenne red pepper sauce)
Archer Farms Midnight Blend popcorn with blue corn kernels
Summer Oreos, seems to be the original flavour but the stuffing is dyed blue
Laughing Cow Light — Blue cheese wedges
Trader Joe’s Blue Granite Jack Cheese slices

 
Blue Granite Jack Cheese Slices
The obvious one to start with …

Last weekend we went to Bellevue for a two-night stay. Since getting the hang of Priceline for great hotel prices (4* Hyatt for $90/night at the last minute), getting older and appreciating more the “Stateside getaway”, and perhaps not wanting to dash so much, and–dare I say it–wanting go somewhere else longer, I like the entire-weekend trip. There is a de-emphasis on shopping and a focus on relaxing, which might lead to a new emphasis on eating… and that’s not too bad, is it?
Bob’s Burger and Brew
We’ve seen this burger …

On a lunch-hour walk between Granville and Cambie on West Broadway, I must have ducked into a half-dozen potential lunch spots: Pizza Cono for cone-shaped organic pizzas, Chiffon Patisserie, Saravanaa Bhavan for $5 4-item lunches, and Whole Foods hot food section. I was just hoping La Taqueria at its new Broadway/Cambie location would be open and worth passing up other good food… but not quite yet.
I was marveling how La Taqueria is going to be able to give Chronic Tacos, a California-based chain that arrived in Vancouver last year, a …

Source: Wish Magazine (now defunct), March 2007
3/4 cup margarine, softened, plus 1tbsp for greasing pan
2 cups frozen cranberries
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup cranberry or orange juice (I used fresh squeezed orange)
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6 eggs
1 cup chopped bittersweet (dark) chocolate, melted
1/3 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate, melted
3/4 cup plain cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp orange zest

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease and line bottom and sides of a 9- x 13-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
In a small pot, combine cranberries, 1/4 cup sugar and juice. Simmer over …

I thought I would take a gander through my Flickr photostream (double-checking my tagging system works, you know) to see if I had photographs from meals each time on the same day in June for the past five years. While we are ultra-practical when it comes to most dining out (read: Chinese diners), for special occasions we tend to end up at a French restaurant. It’s not too odd in the grand scheme of things but I find it cute how NPY so loves his Chinese food… and then we …

(At least not in Vancouver from what I can tell.)
When I was in Toronto over Easter, I promised my friends LV that I would bring them a splendid Riesling NPY introduced me to: Dr. Loosen Riesling. It’s so light and sweet. But I couldn’t find it anywhere (i.e., I called LCBO and Wine Rack, both of which were close by, and neither had it). So I drove over to the Wine Rack in Loblaws to pick whatever inspired me.
Inspiration was easy to find when the first thing I saw was …