Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Calls for A Cookbook Celebration Try out new versions of your favourite recipes from these cookbooks by some of the best chefs out there for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and all year round! And if you’re still craving more dishes, check out Brandon Jew’s Lunar New Year recipe perfect all year round and mouth-watering meals featured in Asian American literature. Discover more books by Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander authors and share these incredible narratives year-round using the hashtag #RepresentAsianStories. More Cookbooks Cook Real Hawai’i by Sheldon Simeon and Garrett Snyder Two-time…
Author: Cassandra Anderton
Provence Marinaside Announces The Re-Opening of TWB-The Wine Bar Wine lovers have a lot to celebrate next month as TWB – The Wine Bar at Provence Marinaside officially re-opens on May 1st after a three-year pandemic hiatus. Originally launched in April 2013, TWB quickly established itself as the ‘go to’ place for fabulous wines and delicious, casual bites. “We had to close TWB during the pandemic period as it’s a small space and we couldn’t make it work with the distancing restrictions. Now that all that has been lifted, we are looking forward to welcoming people back,” says Provence Marinaside’s Wine Director Joshua Carlson. Prior…
Les Dames d’Escoffier, British Columbia Chapter Appoints New Board for 30th Anniversary Year Here’s some news about an organization I am so proud to work with. Look forward to hearing about some great fundraising events for 2023! Les Dames d’Escoffier British Columbia Chapter (LDBC) is delighted to introduce its new board president, Cassandra Anderton, and the slate of directors for 2022/2023, which were installed during the organization’s annual general meeting at The Vancouver Club in Vancouver, British Columbia. The board, led by President Cassandra Anderton, will guide LDBC during its 30th anniversary year in fulfilling its mission to inspire, advance, and…
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE: VIWF ANNOUNCES 2023 TRADE COMPETITION WINNERS Spirited Industry Professional, Sommelier of the Year, Terry Threlfall Scholarship, Wine Program Excellence Awards The Vancouver International Wine Festival announced the 2023 trade competition winners on Friday at Celebrating Excellence: 19th Annual Awards Lunch Featuring South America, presented by ContainerWorld. The Celebrating Excellence program is part of the three-day Trade Days conference; the program honours those professionals who contribute to this region’s exceptional wine and food culture. Guests enjoyed a meal prepared by Vancouver Convention Centre executive chef Nandakishore Rangan, exquisitely matched with a selection of 20 wines from South America. [slideshow_deploy id=’51053′] 2023 SPIRITED…
The Results are in for the 2023 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards On April 3 through 5, 2023, fifteen esteemed professional wine judges from Western Canada gathered in Penticton to participate on a blind tasting panel for the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards competition to choose the best wines in our province. The British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Wine Awards were established in 2018, in partnership with the Office of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, The BCLGWA are presented by the Okanagan Wine Festivals Society in partnership with sponsors ContainerWorld and TricorBraun and is open to all licensed…
Take a sensory journey through Forest, Forage and Wild Game at Acre Through the Seasons Restaurants and chefs frequently evoke terms like “farm-to-table” and “locally sourced,” but few Vancouver-area restaurants can say they draw inspiration and ingredients from their own private farm and greenhouse. Club Versante’s Acre Through the Seasons – a new Pacific Northwest-inspired contemporary dining experience in Richmond – brings whimsy, artistry, and products of impeccable pedigree together. Seasonal menus incorporate the latest harvest from Acre Lavande (a private farm and greenhouse on Cortes Island that’s under the same umbrella as Versante Hotel, where the restaurant is located)…
Pastel Easter Doughnuts Courtesy of BakeGood.ca These Pastel Easter Doughnuts from BakeGood.ca combine some of the most fun parts of the spring holiday, including delicious treats, bright pastel colours and everyone’s favourite candy-coated chocolate eggs. More recipes INGREDIENTS Doughnuts: 1/3 cup milk 1/3 cup water 1 (2-1/4 tsp.) envelope Fleischmann’s® Traditional Yeast 2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg 3 tablespoons butter OR margarine, softened 1 egg 1/2 cup butter OR margarine, melted 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon Icing: 1 Cup plus 1…
Botanist Bar Wins 50 Best Bar Award – Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award Botanist Bar in Vancouver, Canada, has been announced as the winner of the Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award, part of the second annual North America’s 50 Best Bars Awards 2023. Created to recognize the importance of hospitality in the bar experience, this award is voted for by 260 members of North America’s 50 Best Bars Academy. These industry experts, all based in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, are asked to name the bar where they received the single-best hospitality experience during the voting period. …
Hot Cross Buns for Easter When I was younger Hot Cross Buns were not my favourite. We bought some supermarket brands that were inevitably stale and had those pieces of coloured candied cherries that come in the equally horrid Christmas Cake, very unappealing. Then there was the margarine!!!! Don’t get me wrong, some amazing things were coming out of my mother’s oven, and she now makes her own Hot Cross Buns, minus the coloured cherries. Unfortunately, her Christmas Cake, nor anyone’s, will ever appeal to me, but many covet it. This version of Hot Cross Buns can easily be whipped…
Purdys Has Something for Every Bunny for Easter Sorry, I couldn’t help it with the pun, because Easter is always such a happy holiday for me. When we were younger the anticipation of Easter Egg Hunts and then finding eggs months later, usually melted, because my mom and dad were such good egg hiders, the Easter ham, hot cross buns, lemon curd meringues, sometimes bunny-shaped sugar cookies, usually poorly decorated, by us kids and of course chocolate Easter bunnies, sometimes of questionable origin. But, once our palates could tell the difference, Mom couldn’t get away with those cheap plastic-tasting chocolate…
KitchenAid Celebrates Hibiscus with Spring Recipes I’m a KitchenAid fanatic, I have two, one tiny one and one larger, but they’re not Hibiscus colour and now I am envious! However, I can whip up some recipes that will at least pay homage to the colour including a Mocktail, Galette and Chicken Wings. Looking for a place to shop for your KitchenAid appliances and all the cooking gadgets you’ll need? Head on over to Gourmet Warehouse. More Recipes Hibiscus Sangria Mocktail Overnight recipe – Makes 4 servings Equipment – KitchenAid® Stand Mixer – Shave Ice attachment Ingredients 12 blackberries 12 jarred…
Vancouver Events and Happenings to Plan For It’s been a while since we’ve done our weekly roundups, but we’re bringing them back as things are now back full-on in person. Does anyone else feel that there is something interesting every night? Here are a few things on our radar. FOMO is big, but don’t forget that feeling in the a.m. when you didn’t go out the night before. Balance is the key folks! I’m working on it! Quelle Surprise at Provence Marinaside Province Marinaside presents Quelle Suprise – Owner/Chef Jean-Francis Quaglia is sharing his native French dishes with diners in…
Provence Marinaside Two Course Daily “Quelle Suprise” We are fresh off testing the new delights at Provence Marinaside with their new menu, called Quelle Surprise and it is a fantastic deal full of delicious items. More Events From the press release: Province Marinaside presents Quelle Suprise – Owner/Chef Jean-Francis Quaglia is sharing his native French dishes with diners in a unique format that Provence is calling ‘Quelle Surprise’ (‘What a Surprise’). This special food feature, which will be available only until April 15, 2023, is value-priced at $49 for two courses. What exactly is ‘Quelle Surprise’? Each morning Chef Jean-Francis,…
Feast! Vancouver Includes Michelin Chefs and Les Dames d’Escoffier BC Chapter I’m excited about the lineup of chefs for Feast! Vancouver. Many events do not have enough women chefs and when I initially saw the lineup, I got involved to rally some women to participate and now we have way better representation. I’ll be there at Performance Arts on April 15 with the Les Dames d’Escoffier table talking about what Dames are and what we do. Here is the news of the whole festival from their release. More Events The highly anticipated culinary festival welcomes the star-studded lineup of participating…
The Artful of Pie by Denise Marchessault In honour of pie day, March 14 3.14, we salute the Queen of Pie, Denise Marchessault, and her newest cookbook The Artful Pie Project, with Deb Garlick. Denise is a fellow member of Les Dames d’Escoffier British Columbia and has been an integral part of our scholarship committee for several years. We get many applicants sorting through the applications and ensuring the worthiest receive the scholarships is one of our most important tasks. Thank you, Denise! More on Cookbooks on GLV Denise is also presenting some Cooking Classes including one held in conjunction…
Pairing BC Cheese with Culmina Wine Culmina Family Estate Winery was founded by the Triggs family atop the Golden Mile Bench in British Columbia’s South Okanagan and the wines are crafted with care from grapes grown on their family estate. Winemaker Jean-Marc Enixon is a classically trained French vigneron and winemaker who has made wine in France, California, China and now Canada. His education and training encompass both winemaking and grape-growing disciplines, giving him perspective on the entire process, from vineyard to grape to bottle. In this discussion, we are pairing a couple of their current offerings with some cheeses…
Bagheera Brings a Sense of Theatrical Opulence to Main Street The team behind Canada’s Best New Bar of 2022, Laowai, opened its latest hidden gem: Bagheera* and we visited this opulent and glittering sanctuary, concealed behind an unprepossessing Chinatown betting shop! The cocktails are excellent, and the room blew our minds. (From the press release) Bagheera takes its inspiration from the cultural crossroads of Lewis Hart and Brij Rathi, co-owners and co-founders of Three Kingdoms Hospitality. Whereas Laowai’s Prohibition-era Shanghai vibe stems from Rathi and Hart’s shared love of both the city of Shanghai and that era’s illicit and seductive…
Cocktails with Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey From National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day to International Whiskey Day and National Cocktail Day, March is packed with reasons to celebrate with a creative cocktail! May we suggest you try out Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey? Sounds crazy, but it’s delicious on its own or on the rocks. Here are some themed cocktail recipes below for you to consider ahead of these upcoming holidays. National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day (March 1): We all know someone who is peanut butter obsessed. Most enthusiasts enjoy it daily, often incorporating it into more than…
Aasha Wines Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Rose I was so impressed with the bottles, the storytelling in the tasting notes and the gorgeously designed website of Aasha Wines that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on these mystical bottles. There are gorgeous illustrations on the labels, and they are sealed with wax to protect the corks. I know you can’t judge a book by its cover, nor a wine by its label, but they really did draw me in. It was love at first sight. More on Wineries Aasha is the Hindi name for hope, chance, and prospect, as…
Celebrate Black History Month Through Cookbooks Penguin Random House has a wonderful list of Cookbooks to celebrate Black History Month. “Food is an important part of the fabric of our lives, and it’s one way we can connect with people from diverse cultural backgrounds from our own. In celebration of Black History Month, they’ve curated a list of cookbooks from luminaries both here in Canada and across the globe that are a celebration of the interweaving of food, experience, and community.” Check out these titles that are all worthy of a spot on your bookshelf. More on Cookbooks My…
