Daddy-A

Hmmmm ... so when we used to get US waterpolo players hammered on a couple of beers when they came to meets in Canada, it was because they had been drinking Lite beer, not because ours was stronger? Damn! The stronger beer angle made for a much better story. That's okay, I like a little statistical analysis with my Hefeweizen. Damn, after a beer or two, we Canucks like to scrap ... or is that play hockey? Same problem here in BC. A number of privately run Cold Beer & Wine stores exist, but I hate paying more for already over-priced beer. I mean, if I can't legally drink it as soon as I leave the store, why do I care that it's cold? It'll be warm by the time I get home anyway. DA 4 days and counting to the Oregon Brewfest!

Here's another link that does a good job of explaining the problem with Molson & Labatt beers. I'm sure the same article could have been written about the big American breweries as well. Make sure you read how the survey was conducted. I'd need a couple beers just to understand it! DA

Hehe ... we thought the same of it our here too! Then again, we though Kokanee was high-end ... what the hell do you know at 17? The original brewery was in TO [more here]. There was an O'Keefe Brewery in Vancouver as well. The site has now been coverted into ... wait for it ... CONDOS! Original huh? I've been enjoying this ... even found some additional research material on the CBC website. God Bless crown corporations! DA

This was a government decision ... I'll pin it on Mulroney only because it smacks of decentralization, a favorite policy of his. The regionalization really had less to do with marketting and more to do with creating jobs in each province. The new microbrews more than make up for the loss of regional brews from the bigger breweries. DA

The other thing I appreciated about Canadian beer while growing up was the regional differences between provinces due to our archaic liquor transportation laws, now thankfuly defunct. While you were chugging back Cinquante or Ex (do they still call them 'dillos?), we were downing pitchers of Kokanee, Old Style and O'Keefe's (remember them??) Extra Old Stock, affectionately known as High-Test. A student exchange to Quebec City (and many visits after that) introduced me to Laurentide, Cartier, and Ex. While I like being able to get pretty much anything from any province now, I kinda miss the fun of getting hammered on something new DA

Ahhhhh beer. A topic near & dear to my heart First let me confess that most Canadians are pretty proud of our beer. In fact, many of us will look down our noses at American beer. But from what I can deduce, the main reason is alchoholic content. Yay us! There was a time when beer had to be consumed in the province in which it was produced. This led to a lot of regionalization. In BC, we had Kokanee, in the Maritimes it was Moosehead. This is not the case today, although I believe there are still a few beers that stay regional. Laurentide in Quebec springs to mind, but then again, Quebec is another subject altogether. Nationally, there are two major breweries ... Labatt & Molson. There are smaller breweries local in each province, but these also have some national distribution. Labatt (Blue) & Molson (Canadian) would be similar to Budweiser or Coors ... pretty mainstream. The Canadian beers are IMO more complex, and of course there's the extra point or so of alchohol. My favorites all tend to be microbrews ... which incidently the US does very well, more than making up for the whole Bud fiasco . In fact I'm heading to Portland, OR next weekend for the Brewfest ... I'll report after I'm back. Favorites: Granville Island Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale Alexander Keith's IPA Shaftsbury Summer Solstice Shaftsbury Cream As far as government regulation goes, I suppose you get used to it, although my big complaint is not being able to buy beer at the grocery store. This isn't true in every province, but it is in BC. I like Quebec ... buy beer at 18 in the local corner store! DA

That's like "fill-um" for film! Drives me nuts! Anything like "shrooms", "bloobs", "nanners", "ghetti" (unless you're my son @ 2 years old), "expresso" (thanks BBQchef - forgot that one), "martooni" (unless you're Dean Martin), "wobbly pop", "moo" (for milk ... as in Moolatte ) I'll stop here ... gettin irritated DA

Monday to Friday I'm very routine ... cereal & fresh fruit ... then I make a double espresso for me and cafe au lait for my wife (she's not much of a breakfast person.) On the weekend I'll vary from cold pizza to a standard omlette au fromage to an overstuffed omlette with whatever looks good in the fridge. I work one Saturday in four (today is one of them ) and on those mornings I go to a local greasy spoon for pancakes, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and a healthy dose of attitude from the waitress/owner. No lunch required! If I find myself below the 49th (translation: visiting the USA from Canada) I like to source out a big brekkie of biscuits & gravy ... chicken fried steak too if its on the menu. I feel my arteries clogging while I'm eating, but it happens so rarely ... DA

My mom once tried her hand at baking rye bread. I say tried because the dough didn't rise or something, and the centre of the loaf was raw and doughy. I came home from school one day afterwards and made myself a peanut butter and banana sandwich using this doughy bread. Well ..... since the banana was kinda doughy itself, and the peanut butter was gooey, the sandwhich tasted like some kind of yummy bread pudding. My brother and I devoured 4 loaves of the "ruined" bread in 3 days. Mom learned how to make rye bread perfectly her second try, much to my dismay. DA

Whats wrong with a White Spot triple 0, fries and chocolate shake for less than half that? You beat me to the puch Andy. I like to think along the lines of Tony Bourdain. Good food is good food ... doesn't matter where it comes from or how much it cost. The best meal I've ever eaten was purchased from a series of stalls at a market in Lugan, Switzerland. We took the food, hiked into the hills and enjoyed it with a 5 fr. bottle of wine (with a Grizzly bear on the label no less!). DA

I use Easy Recipe Deluxe ... check it out here. It allows you to categorize by Category, Cuisine style & Main Ingredient. My only concern with this programme, as it is with all task specific software, what do you do if the company stops supporting it? We've got about 2 years of recipe input into this. Backups won't do you any good unless there's a programme that will accept your data. DA

We're not talking home movies right?? I'd have to agree with Katie Loeb & hathor ... as long as the "Rose Petal Chicken" scene is the one where the young sister strips down and runs out into the rain? Damdest thing, I couldn't tell you what they were eating. DA

You've never eaten my mom's cooking have you? Remember those Kraft commercials the CBC ran in th 60's & 70's during The Wonderful World of Disney? Feel my pain. Isn't this kinda similar to Fennie's Million Dollar Kitchen? The Foie Gras Burger or the $1000 Omelette ... it's all marketing. Eating as an experience has become a comodity that is being sold back to us like a pair of Nikes or The Vancouver Canucks (YAY NUCKS!). One dines out as much for the experience as for the food. Like Andy Lynes said about dining al fresco in Vancouver It's hardly surprising then that the chef has become a part of that experience, and sometimes the reason for that experience. If Nike markets Tiger Woods, why not Thomas Keller at French Laundry, or Mario Batali at Babbo? (I'm avoiding local chefs for no other reason than to prove I can Google ) Sure the food may be amazing, but with so many excellent choices, a restaurant, like any business, needs to find an edge and use it to its full advantage. And as much as we may want to poeticise about the food, unless you cook it at home, it's about $. DA

We have friends who consider restaurants like Olive garden fine dining. Whenever they call us up to go out for dinner we're "busy", but we always call back a week later to re-book with reservations already made. Can you make reservations at a better picnic? DA

Might want to think twice about that one, unless you have cancer: My grandmother and great uncle both made this amazing apricot jam, to which they added the seed from inside the stone. They'd crack it open, dry the seeds out, sliver them and then add this to the jam. The seeds really did have a bitter almond taste ... who knew??? Apparently not my grandmother or great uncle! Still, it was good jam. DA

Finally! A blog that won't make me feel like I have no culinary skill whatsoever! Looking forward to it ... may the blog be with you! DA

That's what I try and teach my kids anyway ... I'm glad somebody piped up. I found the belittling a tad beneath us all. Perhaps if Ms. Scher had a chance to reply to the posts (something she doesn't have in Jamie's home medium) this could become a more level playing field. I've been thinking we need a forum host around here. DA

Well of course! Have you seen it here???? ... I mean when the trees don't get in the way? Umm ... we're more dog people here (he says ducking the barrage of cat toys hurled from the feline crowd) Thanks for noticing! This peculiarity rears its head in many industries ... we want to appear "with it" without losing touch with Mother Earth. As a friend of mine from Montreal once said "You all look like you have just emerged from a kayak." Looking forward to Day 3! DA

I was going to add my two bits worth on this based on stovetop's and others' line of thinking as well. I am a residential kitchen designer, and with basic Sub Zero fridges starting at just under $10K and Wolf ranges in a similar price range for residential quality, one can easily assume that commercial grade appliances are going to be much more expensive ... add to that the HVAC and plumbing as stovetop mentioned ... I'd LOVE to have that contract Perhaps on a more cynical note ... isn't it just good PR to have people talking about Feenie's new Million Dollar Kitchen whether it costs that much or not? DA

I'll second Public! Yummy Paprika ribs (sorry, NOT veggie!) DA

I'm always a little suspect of magazine reviews because of the advertorial aspect. This is by no means directed at Van Mag or anyone specifically, but having been involved with both sides of the print advertising industry (and a former SFU/lefty/Adbusters cinic ) I'm admittedly scheptical. I guess this where Coop comes in with the "toldya-so" grin Parkside certainly falls into my top ten, although with the exposure it's been getting here I question the "under-the radar" label. Damn! I guess I have to blow my magazine budget again this month! DA

What? You didn't trade them in for the required Birkenstock sandals? I agree with Jamie ... I'd rather hear what an outsider thinks of what he found discovered on his own, rather than what he thinks of what I might like. Fresh eyes and all that. I'd like to hear that once DA

I kinda dig the waitresses with the hairy pits I have to agree with you on Naam. Outside of breakfast ... which for me is a coffee and a bowl of granola with yoghurt ... the food there never really did anything for me. Too bad, cuz there are lots of other good veggie choices here. Ah well, next time. DA

Welcome back Jamie ... been kinda quiet around here without you. I'm glad Andy was able to see what we have to offer. Kinda makes yah proud don't it? Let us know when he's posted his notes. DA

My faves have a local bent ... Van Eats a local blog from Vancouver tastingmenu.com ... not in my back yard, but Seattle is only 3 hours south. DA