Manspreading

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Menu Monday - BC Travel

It's been a busy chunk of time for me.  This is a large country and I am on my third trip across it is 3 weeks.  No matter how good the meetings are, how comfy the hotel bed, travel is exhausting.

Can't beat the view in the lounge at Long Beach Lodge.

 

My last trip took me back to my old stomping grounds in BC.  The westcoast is a culinary playground.  Adventurous, quick to adopt new ideas, tastes, flavours and sitting in a confluence of cultures.  To top it off, Vancouver (and surrounding areas) are blessed by earthly riches and the bounty of the sea.  The sum of which is a foodie's dream.

 

Tuesday - Hotel Georgia Lounge for a roasted baby beet salad.  For dinner, before heading to the Canucks game, Omission Ale and halibut tacos.

 

Wednesday - Proved more food for the sole (new shoes!! Fluevog) than for the tummy.  I opted to grab some gluten free bars and fresh fruit from the local organic grocery on the shopping go.

 

Thursday - A beautiful spring afternoon spent on south Granville St at the delightful Heirloom.  I had the soup of the day (carrot and ginger) and Kale Caesar.  Best caesar ever.  My girlfriend and I then walked across the Granville St bridge and had a flute of sparkles on the patio of the Vancouver Art Gallery before I headed to my second Canucks game.  See, it's that paragraph right there that makes me miss Vancouver.

 

Friday - I flew to Vancouver Island via Harbour Air and rented a car to drive over to Ucluelet to visit my sister and her family.  I made a stop in Qualicum to visit my grandparents and then drove my favourite drive through to Ucluelet.  It was perfect: clear roads, no slowpokes, a little bit of torrential rain and the smell of life pumping through the air exchange.  My sister and I ended up having a bite out at Hanks.  And odd little spot, which was a bookstore for years, a few more windows would certainly perk things up a little.  However, the BBQ was very tasty.  I had the Pork Cheeks and they modified my plate to accommodate the gluten free/dairy free.  I had a hankering (get it!?) for some gooey, fall apart meet after all my clean living in Vancouver.

 

This would have been Jeff heaven. 
Instead, I took a little heaven home to him.

Saturday - My sis and I had a girls day, and headed up to Tofino for the afternoon.  Interspersed with shopping and manicures (and a lot of gabbing) we managed a couple of stops.  One was at Wolf in the Fog where I had the soup of the day (a coconut, chickpea curry) and Heather had the amazing looking Albacore Tuna Melt.  We then headed to the Tofino Brewing Co.  Having abandoned Jeff in Halifax with the wiener dogs, I want to pick him up a souvenir.  One tee-shirt, one pint glass and three of their beers carefully wrapped within my checked luggage:  Coffee Porter, Kelp Stout and Hoppin' Cretin.  We then did a quick dash to the Long Beach Lodge for a glass of wine over looking the surfers, and then a pop back in to town for dinner at Shelter.  It was absolutely pissing rain by this point, but we sat on the covered patio with the propane heaters and a couple of fleece blankets.  It was awesome.  Both Heather and I opted for the mussels and frites (they have a dedicated fries fryer); I went with bacon, Heather with Thai coconut curry.

Sunday - After reluctantly pulling myself away from my nieces and nephew, I drove back to Naniamo, after a visit with my great aunt.  I flew back to Vancouver and checked myself into my stellar hotel room at the Pan Pacific.  I opted to use Hotwire, a roll of the dice, but with all of the nice hotels in the city, I figured my odds of lucking out were pretty high.  I was so right.  Not only did I get a great deal, but the front desk upgraded me further.  I had planned on meeting some girlfriends for a beverage, but instead ran out to the liquor store so we could seat in peace and look out over a truly great view.  Hotwire - roll the dice!

Safe and delicious travels to all!
xo
s.

Panoramic windows overlooking Burrard Inlet and the Coast Mountains. 
A delightful snack of edamame, cucumber avocado roll and sesame crusted tuna.

4:20 - the not fun one.

Finnegan- also not a morning person

There is nothing pleasant about a 4:20am alarm. It doesn't matter how soft the music is, or how gentle the kisses - 4:20am is rude.

I've never been a morning person. I was probably one of the few kids who actually celebrated Christmas that had to be roused in order to allow the festivities to start. Equally, no matter how exciting the reason for the 4:20 wake-up, I can never find one that makes me excited. Yesterday's reason for 4:20am was not overly exciting. I travelled somewhere new, but any curiosity or interest was being tempered by the temperature. It was and continues to be -32c, before any measurable windchill. I also find that rude. 4:20am and -32c. My capacity for accepting or tolerating any other rudeness this week will be significantly compromised.

I only remember one real instance of anticipatory excitement around 4:20am. It was once upon a time, when my sister and I used to visit our grandparents during the summer in Deep Bay. And it was before my pre-teen brain made the morning an impossibility to face. My grandpa used to get up before dawn to go fishing. He had a comfortable though basic Bayliner. I would hear him in the kitchen, and I would creep down the stairs. We would eat cornflakes and he would let me put sugar on mine (a great luxury I was not normally afforded at home). I would pull on my jacket and Grandpa would buckle my life jacket over top. We would then trudge towards the wharf just as the sun was coming up. Grandpa said that the sun hitting the water woke the fish up and made them hungry. It made sense to me. I usually fell back asleep, curled up on a bench until the sun woke me up and made me hungry. Quite often there were other types of forbidden treats in the boat, like powdered doughnuts or cookies, which I snacked on while the lines were set.



This is still my morning face.  Jeff sees this pout fairly regularly.
And remember, I wanted to be there.  Imagined how I looked yesterday.

A couple of spring salmon later, and lots of quiet bobbing around Denman and Hornby Islands, Grandpa and I would head back to the house, where folks would just be waking. Grandpa would clean the fish with a couple of eagles watching carefully from nearby, and then he'd make us pancakes on the griddle. The whole day was still laid out before us.

Et tu, Brute?

I was in Ottawa for work this past week and early this week. It is always a full schedule with very little down time, but I do quite enjoy visits to our nation's capital. The city is super vibrant, embracing each season with gusto. Winterlude begets spring flowers, transitions to festival season, changes to fall colours and back again. The city is bursting with museums, music and food. I love to cook, and I really appreciate a well cooked meal. I know that I am not the simplest person to accommodate, give my many food special needs, but I've had some brilliant meals in Ottawa.

Some of my favourite spots to eat when visiting:Play - the menu is constantly shifting, masterfully incorporating new flavours and cutting edge, fresh, local ingredients. Whenever I sit down, I self identify as 'that' patron, the one with a million questions, the difficult diet and a self proclaimed foodie. Play actually embraces all of these things, and the staff know their shit. The wait staff do not hesitate to explain each dish, what's adjustable and what is off the table. I love the full engagement. Pricey, yes. Worth every penny, also yes.

Just look at it!!!

The Albion Rooms - go and order the Marcus Brutus right now. It's the best Cesar you've ever had, isn't it? It's a thing of beauty - normally I would quibble about the cucumber garnish (I'm a full on spicy bean girl), but since they use it as a base for a multi layered stack of in house made chorizo and pancetta, I really can't fault them. It's also all about the Walter's Cesar mix, delicious locally made blend of fresh tomatoes and New Brunswick clam juice. I could go on and on about it, but let it be known that the food is equally good!

The Zen Kitchen - this is a new find for me. It's a vegan and gluten free restaurant on the edge of Chinatown. This is vegan fine dining. The setting is upscale but welcoming...no patchouli, no speeches, just really good food. I had the polenta fries with the Zen Burger. It was Divine. Avocado, smoked mushrooms, fresh veggies and a gluten free onion ring. So so good.










Jeff recently got himself a new phone
with a fancy camera and fancy editing app. 
I am mightily jealous. 

Jeff came to join me at the end of my first week.  He was mightily excited by the Ottawa craft beer scene.  He declared their IPAs passable, but many of their more experimental ales exceptional.  We were also treated to fairly underwhelming weather, but it did not damper our enthusiasm for the Ottawa Folk Festival.  The highlight?  Without a doubt, The War on Drugs.








See you tomorrow for Just Bliss - Vintage Patterns!
xo
s.