Mooshmouse

Thought I'd post a link to the pictorial of Deborah's and my Aurora brunch in the appropriate thread and give credit where credit is due. Fantastic, Chef Jeff. I'll be back, that's for damn sure!

What she said. I'm just here to post the photos. 5-Spice Donuts Absolutely, wonderfully good. Smoked Duck Bacon Benny Black Truffled Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Tomatoes Though I didn't get a photo of my side order of smoked duck bacon, words cannot adequately express how phenomenally delicious it is. Genius. Sheer genius. Give me a box of the 5-Spice Donuts and two side orders of the Smoked Duck Bacon... that's brunch enough for me!

Cream, Wes, don't forget about the cream.

Lo and behold, Lorna (click): UBC Continuing Studies offers a variety of courses in conjunction with the UBC Wine Research Centre. I was thinking of taking some of these courses myself. Wonder if anyone else is interested?

Brian, doesn't the Arborio rice that you use come in a green plastic bag? That one got the okay from Chef Tony. Chef did call for Arborio rice in his recipe. He mentioned Carnaroli in class, saying that it's the "in" thing now in Italy and that it does take longer to cook than Arborio rice does. I believe that is available in town but am not sure where. Cioffi's might be a good bet. Perhaps Renzullo's or La Grotta del Formaggio.

I was thinking the same thing Ling! So funny ← That makes three of us! I thought of this thread yesterday morning while breakfasting on Halloween mini-chocolate bars. Kit Kat, Aero and Coffee Crisp. At least I felt somewhat justified with the Coffee Crisp for my a.m. meal.

Another instalment of Serious Foodie Class. First up: Dungeness crab salad. While my groupmates diligently took the meat out of our half crab, I set to work on the pineapple salsa. Here's a closeup of me plating the crab salad, photo courtesy of classmate and fellow eGulleter fud. And the finished product. Dungeness Crab Salad with Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Asian Remoulade, finished with Lobster Oil Wine Pairing: Gazela Vinho Verde Risotto was part of our main course; here it is towards the end of the cooking process with one more ladle of stock to go. Put it all together and this is what you get. Squash/Pumpkin-Seed Risotto with Roast and Confit Quail Wine Pairing: Casillero del Diablo 2004 Merlot Dessert was a dish that Chef had demonstrated for us at the beginning of class: Star Anise Crème Brûlée with Ganâche.

Sure you did... you were wielding my camera with great ease! My pictorial for this class is, clearly, a joint effort. And I'll be sure to give credit to Wes where credit is due. Pineapple Salsa How's that for amateur knife cuts?! Me plating our Crab Salad (Wes's photo) What this photo doesn't show are the diligent efforts of both Wes and Alex who painstakingly took the meat out of our half crab while I chopped up our salsa. Brian on plating duty for his group (Wes's photo) With Arne in the background, scratching his head and wondering why Brian was so insistent on a better photo than the one from pasta class. Crab Salad closeup (Wes's photo) Damn, Wes, that's one sexy shot! Malheureusement, Wes's closeup of the Lobster Oil bottle was too blurred out to include. Despite Chef Tony's suggestions for purposeful, minimalist plating and threats of bodily harm from me, Wes was still threatening to "go all Jackson Pollock" with his artistry. Crab Salad with Pineapple Salsa and Spicy Asian Remoulade, finished with Lobster Oil Wine Pairing: Gazela Vinho Verde Although we went the fresh salad versus the fried crabcake route due to time constraints, this was a damn tasty dish. There will be more platings of this in my future, I can guarantee that. Risotto cooking My first risotto ever. Thanks to my two groupmates, Alex and Wes, for letting me go through the process. Our blackcurrant/pomegranate/red wine reduction in its early stages No sage left, so we improvised with thyme. Alex working his culinary magic Squash/Pumpkin-Seed Risotto with Roast and Confit Quail Wine Pairing: Casillero del Diablo 2004 Merlot The blackcurrant/red wine/pomegranate reduction was lovely... wonderfully complimentary to both the risotto and the seared quail breasts. This dish was followed up by the dessert that Chef Tony had demonstrated for us at the beginning of class: Star Anise Crème Brûlée with Ganâche. No wonder we were all so full. As Wes has already said, it was quite a class. Chef Tony is hiliarious. You've just gotta appreciate a man who says, "Crème Brûlée is the perfect breakfast food. Breakfast food has to be rich... it sets you for the day!"

The Vancouver Courier Monday, October 31 edition Diner delivers fine fare – Tim Pawsey dishes on Heather Clark's "deliciously homespun [Yaletown] diner". Don't miss out on the myriad of events that are a part of Hopscotch, which runs from November 1 to 4.

I'll add a couple from Naramata, British Columbia. There's Elephant Island Orchard Wineries, Red Rooster Winery and Paradise Ranch Icewines. From elsewhere in the Okanagan Valley, there's Burrowing Owl in Oliver, Wild Goose in Okanagan Falls and the painted turtle of Nk'Mip Cellars in Osoyoos.

What a great sentiment Daniel... thanks for my "warm fuzzy" thought of the day! Sitting around the dinner table last night, stuffed to the gills, we all remarked almost exactly the same thing. We're thinking about making this a regular bi-weekly occurrence... swapping kitchens and recipes. It was such a wonderful, relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon and evening: chatting, cooking, drinking great wine. Cooking is, for me anyway, such a social event and I loved having the opportunity to share new things in a friend's kitchen. As you said, Daniel, why wait for a special occasion when you can make one yourself.

Thanks Susan! Can't take credit for the china as it is my girlfriend's; however, I'd categorize it as a "plowl" or a "blate". Not quite deep enough to be a full-fledged bowl... more like a high-sided plate. It's attractive and practical, great for serving food with lots of sauce. Hmmm, now that you mention it, I was rather coveting it myself. Methinks it's time for a shopping excursion of my own.

It's a good thing that you did, since tortellini are supposed to represent the navel of Venus. Go figure. This evening, I replicated our Lamb Stew recipe for some friends with a couple of slight modifications: pancetta instead of bacon, lemon gremolata instead of orange, and sweet-potato mash instead of yam. As noted in my post on the Dinner! thread, the end product was just as tasty as the stew we made in class.

At the end of a dinner party with friends, we poured glasses of Warre's Warrior Special Reserve Port and obliterated two Lindt bars (70% and 85%).

The Mouse family passed a very pleasant evening at our friends' house... the kids played, the Dads talked renovations and the Moms cooked up a storm. My girlfriend, who often laments the fact that her culinary repertoire is somewhat limited, has been asking to taste-test some of the dishes I've been making at my Serious Foodie course. So, we struck a deal: she bought the groceries and I brought over my knives and one of our recipes, taking the opportunity to teach her a few tricks in the kitchen. Of course, the cooking and dining processes were both well lubricated. Pirammima 2001 McLaren Vale Shiraz and Fat Bastard 2004 Shiraz Lo and behold, the fruits of our joint labours. Masala Lamb Stew with Lemon Gremolata served atop Sweet Potato Mash A veritable cavalcade of flavours: spicy, pungent, zesty and sweet. There were no leftovers whatsoever; we scraped the pot absolutely clean. Thank goodness we all love garlic as we'll be reeking of it for days. And dessert was dark chocolate, 70% and 85% Lindt to be exact, paired with Warre's Warrior Special Reserve Port.

Patrick, those photos are absolutely exquisite.

The Fish House in Stanley Park has a private dining room in their wine cellar that seats 20. It's been the spot for a couple of birthday parties: top-notch food and service on both occasions. Cru also provides large-group private dining by booking at their fine establishment.

G-man, that pork roast looks heavenly. Susan, both the photos from your new camera and the food are fantastic! And Wendy, that dinner party... [insert drool emoticon here]! Last but certainly not least, that's one fine oyster spread you've got there Jake.

You know, Lee, there is a twelve-step program that you can try for stuff like that...

Wow, Kathy... that's revoltingly appealing.

I SHOULD HAVE SOLD THAT BREAD PUDDING ON EBAY!!!!!!!!! ← Only if Jesus or the Virgin Mother were weeping.

And the Lego-men bonus would have to be wrapped in tinfoil, just like the dimes were in birthday cakes. Damn, that was murder on the fillings!

Thought of a couple more. Mmm, Cookies! by Robert Munsch. He's an excellent storyteller for kids from preschool through to about Grade 2. And Alligator Pie by Dennis Lee. One of my own favourites as a kid.

News, in a nutshell. ← I read in the latest Dine & Dash that Senova opened on Friday evening. News anyone?

Postscript: Let it be known that the monterey jack cheese was for Deborah's benefit... she's in the process of developing her stinky-cheese palate. I was going to put out some Délice de Bourgogne but thought better of it. You're getting there Deborah... I know you liked the Gruyère that I gave you!