scones before practice

How long has it been since last I made scones? It feels like ages, and it probably was. Wow.

An odd night of sleep last night, and so I got up early, ate breakfast, FBed, Twittered, read news online, then got to work on a quick batch of scones. There are a few people on the swim team who could stand with a bit of fattening up, and I am more than happy to enable the process, of course.

The recipe is an easy one, my stand-by recipe from a Karen Barnaby cookbook. I stuck to the basics this time and made a nice little batch of buttermilk and currant scones. I really was a little worried how they'd turn out, but they were fine, or so Conrad (who got one of the batch of ten) tells me.

I've missed baking. I should do a bit more tomorrow (Sunday - I've not yet gone to bed Saturday night as I write this) to send in to Conrad's office on Monday.

last Saturday in May

We're doing what we can to get back into the swing of things in Chicago. A regular work routine. Back swimming with the Smelts. Dining at home. Entertaining. We'll get there in the end.

Tonight was a nice step in the right direction. CG came for dinner - she's been a rock in recent weeks (well, for many years, but lately especially), and we cherish her dearly. Plus, we wanted to hear all about what's been going on with her. Dinner, then. She arrived at 6:30 with flowers and Petit Sirah in hand.

Guests who bring wine are as valuable to us as guests who eat all their food and then want more. They warm our hearts.

I wanted to keep dinner pretty easy so that I wouldn't be trapped in the kitchen all night. Friday I picked up some seafood, and after swim practice today, I picked up a few more bits. Late in the afternoon, I put together a stew base: fennel, tomato, saffron. I would cook up the monkfish, mussels, clams, shrimp, and scallops in this this right before serving.

Dinner was a lovely, leisurely time. When CG arrived, all was done and ready to go. I had a colourful Fiestaware scheme picked out and some Dutch Robusto cheese, walnuts, Raincoast Crisps, and cornichons for snacking on.
Conrad made martinis for him and CG, and I started on a bottle of Trinity Hill Arneis. The weather was agreeable, so we sat outside.

Eventually I got the seafood cooked. Nice and easy, dished up generously,
a salad to finish us up after we'd eaten the stew. I was happy with it.

By this point we were on the Petit Sirah (and CG and I ended the night with a glass each of a Tasmanian Pinot Noir - not super but drinkable. I preferred the wine she brought). We sat and chatted, geeked out on our iPhones. Enjoyed the evening until it cooled off too much and we came in to sit by the window. At that time I brought out the mango kulfi.

You know, it was fine in a way. Sweet, a bit bland, nice texture. Not too much mango coming through on it. A function of the recipe or of the mangoes I used? I don't know. Tasty enough, but I wish it were fruitier. Ah well.


CG left just after 11, and Conrad and I made quick work of the dishes. I'll mosey on to bed soon, but given such a pleasant evening with a dear friend, I thought it nice to upload an account first.

And tomorrow (really later today)? Yoshi's!

yay, balcony dinner!

It's not yet altogether warm out, though it's sunny. I managed to get outside a couple of times today while working at home: first for a latte this morning, and then after doing a lit review I wandered down to Whole Foods for some items for dinner. I was determined to enjoy this evening out on our balcony as best I could.

Oh, it took an extra layer for warmth, but we did have dinner out there. I should be grateful for the bright weather and the absence of the heat and humidity that will hit - inevitably - this summer. And I am. Tonight was my show of appreciation.

If I were dining alone, I would have tossed all of this into a bowl and eaten it in front of some Bravo reality programming. Instead, Conrad and I opened a bottle of an unfamiliar NZ Pinot Noir - a Marlborough wine called Fire Road - that I found at Whole Foods (and re-sealed it after a glass - a really plain, boring wine that will be useful for cooking instead) and had the sort of dinner we love to sit outside and enjoy. As summer heats up, we'll do more of this sort of thing.

So then, salad. Each of us grabbed items from the platter and composed our own plates. Anchovies (not salty but in vinegar), olives, tomato, walnuts, asparagus, cheese, radishes. A little dish of a simple dressing (garlic, the olive oil it was gently sauteed in, sherry vinegar, salt). Some cherries. We've since moved inside to sip wine (our "house wine", Mark West Pinot Noir) and geek out on laptops. Yep, a very nice night, indeed.

baking again

Another activity I've been too long gone from: baking. I scarcely got in the kitchen on recent trips to BC, and at best I put together a cheese plate or did ViJ's boil in a bag dinners.

Tonight, though, I've tied on the apron and pulled some dough from the freezer (no eggs - isn't that embarrassment? - so no freshly made dough) and whipped up a small batch to take in to work tomorrow. Do I really need to tell you the flavour?

shrimp in parchment

Conrad and I have been very very bad lately. So much travel, so much going on, distracting us from exercise and making it all too easy for us to turn to comforting, bad foods.

In short, we're bulking up, and that's not good.

Conrad hit the treadmill tonight while I made up a fairly simple low carb dinner for us. Some big shrimp peeled, a roasted pepper and garlic chicken sausage cubed, some asparagus, a tomato, some onion, some olives. Salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil. Toss it all together and put into parchment. A bit of time in a hot oven, and Bob's your uncle: a fairly light dinner that was filling. Mmmmmm... tasty tasty fiber and vitamins!



Of course, now I'm off to bake some cookies, so intentions have only taken me so far tonight....

False Creek

I love getting up early in the morning. 6:15 and I was out the door, over to Safari Cafe for a couple of strong cups of steaming goodness adulterated with sugar.

Conrad? Not so much.

When I got back to the condo at about 8:30, he was getting up (and not even grudgingly so, surprisingly). His turn for coffee, then the two of us headed over to Science World and began walking along the southeast corner of False Creek.

First off: sunny! What an incredible May weekend in Vancouver.

Second: this is where the Olympic Village is going up. The project has the added bonus of filling in the missing 600 meter or so stretch that broke up the 22 km of waterfront path from Kitsilano, all around False Creek, out around Stanley Park, and on to Coal Harbour. About time. Many people were out taking advantage of it. More on that in a moment.

The Olympic Village has a typical Vancouver/City of Glass/West Coast look to it.



It's not everyone's taste, but I rather like it. The landscaping is interesting, too,



and nice to see the provincial flower (dogwoods) at the end of its bloom.
I can't wait to see the end result next February and then after that when summer is in swing here.

Speaking of everyone being out, it was a weekend of dragon boat races on the water, and we paused to watch a moment or two before continuing on our way.




We could have gone all the way to Granville Island, but we opted to cross over at Cambie Street and head into Yaletown for a simple brunch. After that we put the camera away for the rest of our ambling (and kept it at home for tonight's superb dining experience at Coast, where we had great food and exceptionally attentive service dining at the kitchen counter).

Scenes from a Vancouver weekend, then. Back to Chicago tomorrow, and no return west planned until September.

Vancouver balcony

Yes, we wish it were a larger condo and balcony, but then we set up a little plate like this (Poplar Grove Tiger Blue - mmmmmmmmmm!) and settle down to watch and listen to the urban surroundings as the sun goes down. A bottle of Cedar Creek Platinum Reserve Pinot Noir and each other and we're pretty darn content. A Vancouver balcony is a lovely thing to have, you know...

Chinatown walking tour

Yes, I'm back.

A couple of, well, busy and not entirely easy weeks behind me. Nevermind, let's get back to food and travel and musings.

We're in Vancouver for the long weekend, and of course it's gorgeous weather. Nary a cloud. Warm without being hot. Conrad must be in town - he is a good luck charm when it comes to west coast weather. Thus we needed sunscreen yesterday, and caps, and water: walking for hours in Chinatown necessitated protection for my pale, pasty, white skin.

We've had the condo for two years now, and it shames us that we've never really explored (or shopped in) Chinatown despite our proximity to that neighbourhood. Yesterday we rectified that by taking part in a walking tour offered by Edible BC. It's a great store we've shopped in and ordered from and even done the Chefs in the Market dinners at. Highly highly recommended. And add the tours to that recommendation.

Conrad, Marie, and I met chef Dora Ho and three other tour participants in front of the Chinese Cultural Center on Pender. From there it was a short stroll up the street to Jade Dynasty for dim sum. Ever had that? Stodgy, lukewarm things served from a cart? This was better - no carts. Things came hot from the kitchen, and any feared stodginess was not in evidence. Instead it was all light and fresh and utterly tasty. We all three (and the others) especially liked the pepper salt squid - spicy, crispy, good.

Dora took us through the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden,

explaining some of the history of the neighbourhood, and then got us to the food stores. And what an array there is to be seen there. This may sound odd to people who know me and food, but I've not shopped much in Chinatown because, not knowing the names of everything let along the preparation methods, I simply didn't have the confidence to shop there. Well, I have some small knowledge now. Expect to see a few things pop up in future blog posts from here.

Up first, veggies. Dora pointed out some things and explained how they might be used (she did give us some recipes) and even whether they were known for heating or cooling properties. I had my eye on the abundance of greens that can be steamed simply, but the winter melon fascinated us all.

Next up, baked goods. This was tough because we were still rather sated from the dim sum. Dora bought some meat and vegetable buns - just made and nicely warm inside - and some sweet buns filled with a coconut, peanut, and sugar mixture. The variety of traditional style things (mochi-like treats, anyone?) and Western adaptations (mini wiener buns) was a delight.

More produce, this time with a focus on fruit The stall had the infamous durian (which we didn't try though we were all jarred to see that within the enormous fruit it was only some custardy yellow segments that get eaten). Dora bought us some rambutan (looks cool, pretty much a fancy lychee, nice) and mangosteen. I'd always wondered how to eat those things. Now I know. Another fruit with edible segments within, and these were very tasty. Dora gave us the great idea to serve some of these fruit quite simply as a dessert - leave them whole in a bowl for how lovely they are and let guests enjoy them unadorned. I think this is a terrific idea.

We didn't linger in the fish shop too long, just long enough to gawk a bit.

Nothing to taste on the fly there! ;-)

There are a number of dried goods stores (and it seems that they also provide herbalist consultations and remedies) Dora explained how much of what we saw would be used for broths and teas. The geckos, too? Yep, the geckos, too.

On to her preferred butcher. Sausages hanging throughout and even pressed ducks. Dora bought us some BBQ pork, some suckling pork, and some sausage. I loved the suckling most of all, but I can assure you that the greedy fingers of all 6 of us on the tour dug in eagerly.

Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was that we had a nice little group with 6 of us willing to try things and all of us liking food greatly. It certainly was a credit to Dora, the tour. We got four hours of wandering a not too huge area, but Conrad and I were thoroughly exhausted at the end of it (and well fed). Home wasn't far away, which meant a well-deserved nap for us both.