Support Olympic Athletes While Sampling Canada’s To Chef’s Dishes at the Canadian Culinary Championships We’ve booked our flights and have sent the interview questions to the chefs competing to get a bit of background information on who is competing at this year’s Canadian Culinary Championships held in Kelowna of February 2 & 3, 2018. Our British Columbia representative is once again, Chef Alex Chen; we sampled his dish at the BC level in November and were extremely impressed. I’ll be sure to get lots of photos of our local team from Boulevard Restaurant in Vancouver. The press release describes the…
Author: cassandra
What to do for Dine Out Vancouver I started writing my weekly picks and it ended up being so Dine Out Vancouver heavy that I decided to do a whole post on a couple of my ideas. So here’s my Dine Out Vancouver 2018 suggestions and there’s so many choices that I’m not going to pretend that I have time to look through many of them, but I will give you some recommendations based on past experience and the menus I’ve seen. If you are looking for some great tips and value picks, head to my friend Dianne Chow’s site, Fabulously Frugal,…
Mixing Up The Holland House Cocktail Our pal Karen is at it again and mixed up The Holland House Cocktail. She’s part Dutch and this drink is in honour of the Dutch side of her family. This drink uses Genever which is a Dutch spirit that is a predecessor to gin and created prior to the 1600’s. It is the national and traditional liquor of the Netherlands and is typically served neat in ice cold glasses. Check out Karen’s instagram account for more ideas for the home bar. You’ll see #whatskarendrinking next. The Holland House Cocktail This makes 1 serving (so you better make…
Courtyard By Marriott Calgary South – An Alternative to Calgary’s Busy Downtown District As I was coming back from Christmas in November at Jasper Park Lodge, I wanted to stay a few days and check out a bit more of Calgary, and was looking for a change of scenery from the downtown core. I had lots of work to do, so was mainly going to be held up in the hotel, so comfort and space was key, so I booked into the Courtyard By Mariott Calgary South and explored the Seton District. The Mariott Calgary South is has well-designed and spacious…
Tribute to Howard Hughes Opens at The Westin Bayshore Howard Hughes spent some time a the Westin Bayshore, and while it’s rumoured he stayed mainly hold up in his room, we figure if he was in the right mind space at the time, he would have really enjoyed the lounge named for him. HJU:Z is a bit of an odd name, but, when pronounced, sounds like Hughes, as it’s now commonly referred to as H Lounge, and as they say, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. We stopped in on a rather slow Tuesday, but it was mid-week and…
La Quercia Serves Up Italian Cocktails on West 4th The cocktail list is heavy with Italian influence at La Quercia on West Fourth near Alma, and we checked in to learn more about for the Craft Spirits show on TSN1410 with Jen Mansell who whipped up a Negroni Sbagliato. Tune into the segment to learn more below! Negroni Sbagliato 1 oz Campari 1 oz Cinzano 2 oz prosecco Serve on ice, garnished with orange slice A little more about La Quercia, a restaurant I work with, below. La Quercia Warms Up Room and Refreshes Menu After Nearly Ten Years on West…
Pan-Seared Arctic Char with Lentils, Parsnips, and Vanilla Vinaigrette We caught up with Chef Ned Bell at Christmas in November where he demonstrated this tasty Arctic Char from his new cookbook, Lure! You can also make this with chicken, he mentioned, as he often does when cooking for his kids as some of them prefer poultry. This is a great book and I am looking forward to getting into it more. Serves 4 Vanilla vinaigrette 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar ¼ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped 1½ tsp honey 2 tsp Dijon mustard ¼ tsp sea salt ½…
Gotham Steakhouse adds delicious new dishes and fresh ingredients I remember going to Gotham Steakhouse for after work drinks after the stock market closed and had many decadent business lunches here back in my finance days, but hadn’t been in for a while. The new menu was a great excuse to remedy this, so we popped in for lunch just before the new year and stayed a while, although they are also known for providing a quick lunch should you need it. I love the room here, it’s very lush and with all high ceilings and dark wood, one just…
What to do in Vancouver This Week We are already into week two of 2018 and I’m slowly getting back into the swing of things! Hoping that you are feeling energized and ready to make the most of the year, I need to kick this cold, but my motivation is gradually returning and the Tylenol Cold helps. I’m off to check out the newly opened HJU:Z Lounge at The Westin Bayshore today, and am meeting with a new trainer tomorrow and looking forward to showing my aunt around the town when she visits on Friday and Saturday. Sunday I’m thinking about brunch…
Karen’s Mixing Up The Sidecar This Week The new “What’s Karen Drinking” has been well received by our readers and I eagerly await her next libation! Check out Karen’s instagram account for more ideas for the home bar. This week she’s mixing up The Side Car Cheers! #whatskarendrinking The Sidecar is a classic cocktail thought to have been created near the end of World War 1 in either London or Paris. Slightly sweet and sour. Makes one serving and the glass is rimmed with fine sugar. The Sidecar 2 oz. Cognac 1 oz. Cointreau 1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice . Shake with…
Testing Out the 2018 Lexus NX – Safety and Style One could just drive around town when testing out a new vehicle, but it’s much more fun to take it on the road and put it through the gears outside of the city. This winter, we happily accepted an invitation to the Okanagan to test out the new 2018 Lexus NX while driving through wine country. The Lexus NX is a luxury compact crossover, first introduced in late 2014 as a size below the mid-size Lexus RX crossover. The name NX stands for Nimble Crossover and the car was both nimble and quick, a…
Eggnog Season Continues With Eggnog Cheesecake You may still have some whipping cream around and maybe a bit of rum, so why not continue the festivities with an eggnog cheesecake? This one has a great rum sauce that adds depth to the already flavourful cheesecake! 200 g digestive biscuits 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 100 g unsalted butter, melted 500 g cream cheese 1 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons extra 3 eggs 250 ml whipping cream 2 Tbsp Bacardi rum 2 tsp Baking Spice 2 cups sour cream 1 teaspoon vanilla extract RUM SAUCE 1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar…
What’s Up In Vancouver – Events and Happenings I’d planned on launching into the New Year with new energy and intentions, but as many, I’ve had a nasty cold, so it’s been a bit of a slow start and I’m having to temporarily substitute pajamas for the sports tights I’d planned on wearing. It’s certainly frustrating, but it’s another lesson in balance as I burned the candle at both ends for much of 2017, so a lot of my goals this year will be around more self-care. Here’s hoping your year is of to a good start and here’s a…
Happy Hour Features at Dockside Restaurant Seven Days a Week We stopped in to try the new fall menu at Dockside in October and loved the lamb shank pictured above, as well as many other dishes, and also returned in November on our way to Vancouver Theatresports for pre-theatre snacks including flatbread and calamari. The room is comfy and, since it’s off-season, a table with a view is easy to get right now. Situated on the waterfront in Granville Island at the Granville Island Hotel, this is a room that offers more than just the view; there’s a brewery onsite…
Summerhill Pyramid Winery Add Culinary Talent To The Team We just returned from the Okanagan, and didn’t get a chance to visit Summerhill Pyramid Winery this trip, but once we read our email this morning and received news that Chef Mara Jernigan has joined the winery, we are certainly going to make sure we get there in February when we return. I first met Mara in the Cowichan Valley at Fairburn Farm, the first Water Buffalo Farm in Canada, where she was running a bed and breakfast and cooking school and I’ve followed her majestic culinary adventures around the world…
Karen’s Mixing Up The Clover Club This Week “What’s Karen Drinking” has been a successful addition to GLV and we’re going to continue it on into 2018! Check out Karen’s instagram account for more festive libations. This week she’s mixing up The Clover Club and added some festive sugared raspberries as garnish! Cheers! #whatskarendrinking The Clover Club is an old school cocktail from the early 1900’s and named after a gentleman’s club. It’s delicious and well…it’s pink! The Clover Club 1 1/2 oz. gin 3/4 oz. fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/2 oz. raspberry syrup 1 egg white at room temperature Dry…
No Vancouver New Year’s Plans Yet? Check Out These Spots How have y’all been through the holidays? I’ve found it hard to come back to Vancouver after having so much going on in Kelowna and have been a bit down, and now have a cold! I’ll rally though as I always do, but we still haven’t decided on what, if anything, to do for New Year’s. I’ve been doing a bit of research and here’s some suggestions for Vancouver New Year’s for you. All the best for 2018! Let’s rock this year! Wildebeest Spend New Year’s Eve enjoying a four-course…
Creative Pastries, Scones and Fancy Sandwiches at the Nutcracker Tea at Trump While Toronto has changed the name of it’s Trump Hotel, Vancouver’s Arthur Erickson-designed 63-storey tour still bears the controversial name. It was developed, Holborn Group, and not run by the Trump family, so, despite my extreme dislike for Trump and his “policies and views”,, so I put that aside and thought about all the lot of hard working and talented people here, so when invited, I accepted the invite and checked out their Nutcracker Tea in the Champagne Lounge. The lounge was so festive; lots of nutcrackers around the room, and a…
VitafusionTM Vitamins – An Easy and Delicious Way to Get Your Vitamins In This season I am determined to arm myself with a few extras to boost my health as I rush around getting ready for the holiday season and the year ahead. I’ve been eating out a lot more, and having a few extra drinks and not necessarily making it to the exercise classes like I usually do. While I am slacking off in these departments, I am at least taking my vitamins religiously. I actually have to stop myself from taking too of the VitafusionTM Vitamins, the adult…
Antipasto Misto, Pomegranate Punch and Chocolate Orange Bread Brioche It’s not too late to nip out and get a few more things to make your holiday table even more festive! We’re running around Kelowna under instructions from the family to pick up a few more ingredients for dinner tonight and we’re already wishing our family in New Zealand Merry Christmas over skype today as it’s already Christmas there. My youngest cousin is very upset because Father Christmas ate too many chocolates and got very mixed up and brought her brother pink glasses and pink is not for boys, blue is!…
