Busy times

Well. I have been busy. Wednesday tripped up to Whistler to check it out. Had a really great meal at Elements in the Summit Lodge. Great tapas place. Tastsy Caeser Salad with crispy capers and an amazing roast Duck Breast with cassis cranberry sauce, spiced yams, asparagus and red pepper. Portions were large and inexpensive and the wine list had a good BC selection with glassess from $6-$10. The most spectacular dish was the jumbo Arctic Scallop with a chorizo and white bean mash(casselot style) and kalamata oive tapenade. Will definitely revisit.

Thursday was a gin tasting a Nu. Sponsored by Plymouth. Ended up choosing the Beefeater of all things. Food was not as good as it could be. A little more flavour is needed here. Went to Joe Fortes for a couple more drinks afterwards and managed to stay mostly out of trouble.

Friday we went to Pair Bistro for dinner. Once again, the food impressed. Nice fresh Oysters and a lightly dressed Spinach Salad to begin. Shared the variety platter of venison, salmon, sausage and grilled vegetables. Company and food were great! Stopped at the Gramercy for a drink on the way home.

Saturday was a running day and clean up the home day. Headed downtown to go to some grey cup parties, but they were a bit too rowdy and insane for me. Had a better time chatting to some people in Indigo over drinks and made it a fairly early night.

Sunday brunch at Joe's Grill on 4th Avenue - shrimp, mushroom, spinach and cheese omelette - good comfort food. Did dinner at home with a girlfriend and watched a lot of TV. Salmon Cakes from the Martha Stewart, organic greens with olive tapenade dressing and roasted garlic pita bread.

Now it's Monday and I better get some work done! Hospitality Fair this afternoon. Will post later.

Fogged In

Vancouver is still covered with fogg and I stayed in today to finish a newsletter for the Gramercy Grill and clean up the masses of papers taking over my apartment.
Went out to dinner to Wild Garlic Bistro on Denman Street. Blue Cheese and Pear salad was missing BLUE CHEESE and the short ribs were very dry. But, my friends black bean muscle dish had some good flavour and the halibut was perfectly cooked with a lovely morel sauce and a variety of vegetables. I had to ask though, where was the garlic? Strangely absent apart from the mildly garlic flavour in the wonder bread. Not again.
Saw the movie Water - what an amazingly well done film. Centers around the plight of widows in the late 1930's in Indian. Left us hoping things had changed, but knowing not enough.

Ran a 1/2

It's Sunday and fogg is covering the ground and suggesting that we all stay sealed in our homes for the day. It was not so! I rose at the ungodly hour of 5:30 am and after figuring out who I actually was, slurped down some oatmeal and tea and headed off to the races.

Literally, the races. 1/2 marathon at UBC. Went well, did it in 1:46ish and looked up the results from last year, which would have put me about 12/110 women in my age category. We'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I just finished edits on the newsletter I have due tomorrow, so feel extremely successful. This feeling usually lasts about 10 minutes, and, yes, it's gone.

I'm on my way down to Robson Street to a family friends for dinner with Mom and Dad, and, of course the family friends.

Day one of my blog

Holiday Season is upon us!

Well it is day one of my blog and I sit here wondering what I have to say. I am eating gnochi topped with butter, parmesan and chives, which is remarkably good for prepackaged. Carb loading for my 1/2 marathon tomorrow morning.

I am trying to get ready to present the wines at an exclusive private dinner tonight, but keep getting distracted by the mess of my apartment and the urgency of my emails.

Check out the menu:

Bread and Cheese Platter with BC Artisan Cheeses and Baked Camembert in Puff Pastry with Fig Jam and Sage

Red Curry Marinated Butter Poached Prawns, Ginger Kaffir Lime Dipping Sauce

Tokay Pinot Gris

Lettuce Liner, Shrimp, Avocado, Watermelon Radish, Belgium Endive, Japanese Vinaigrette

Sunset Road Sauvignon Blanc 2003

Butter Poached Lobster Medallion, Pea Shoots, Flowering Chive, Lemongrass Broth Butter Broth

Mission Hill Pinot Gris

Miniature Yorkshire Pudding, Shaved Roasted Lamb, Horseradish Creme Fraiche, Pink Sea Salt, Chive

Don Melchor Cabernet

Duck Confit Spring Roll, BLACKBERRY BALSAMIC AND FOIE

Tommasi Ca' Florian 2000 Amarone

Stilton Brulee, Blue St Agur and Poplar Grove Tiger Blue, Fig, Grapes, Fruit Bread

Smith Woodhouse 1983 Vintage Port

Spent most of the day doing some research on the wines and getting some other writing together for the Edible BC Newsletter I write for www.edible-britishcolumbia.com.

Feeling a bit stressed as this is my new life as a freelance writer and I am still not sure how I will make this work so I can actually pay the rent. BUT! I have faith and I have attitude and a remarkable streak of confidence flowing through my veins. Onward into the night!