*Deborah*

Soooooo much character! a rather shady, burnt-out, seedy character!

Oh, I don’t know...so far three are planned...we’ll sip tea in the park; we’ll go to a wonderful place near the park; and then we’ll probably park ourselves at the bar of a groovy modern Japanese spot. All will be revealed! Thanks! I wanted a bright colour and I’ve just been all about orange lately. I will definitely take a better pic of the stove--many!--and show the s-grates a little more clearly. Our weather is sublime! we had a record setting day on Tuesday: about 29°C (85°F) and today is another clear, cloudless day. Forecast high of 25°C (77°F). The rain will make an appearance before I’m done, though. My Vespa is pretty run of the mill, for a Vespa! although Enzo came with a whack of chrome extras (they were already on in the shop, and impatient me couldn’t wait for an undecorated model to ship)...The top speed I’ve attained so far is about 65 kph (40 mph), Enzo only has 50 cc! I’ve had the fridge since I moved in, and there are a few things in there. Mustard, wine...you know! :laugh:I can post the obligatory pic later It is an Amana. I didn’t have budget for anything fancy in the fridge department, but I like the fridge up/freezer down concept a lot. Check.

Hah! Arne, I'll take another pic later to show you the 1/32 in. clearance available on either side of the range...and I didn't show the wall opposite the kitchen that got a bit smashed...or the gouge in the dining room wall (the only one that was nicely painted, as it happens). Sigh. That's OK. My crummy photography notwithstanding, it's a thing of beauty.

If your daughter likes to eat, it can be a good motivator!

Ah, I have a cup of coffee in front of me Action picture! I saved the Lavazza packaging I opened a few days ago. I am probably the least chic of anyone I know with respect to coffee. I like the fancy coffees, but ...this stuff is so cheap that it's really hard to justify spending twice as much for something else, since I like the taste! I should be PC, but I like this and it's consistent. It's not even the fancy Lavazza! And here is a broader view of the kitchen. I started to switch the handle last night, but decided to finish today. My kitchen design had to change on the fly as we discovered a vent that was too tricky to move, and I've ended up with a mirror of the original design. Alas, the fridge was delivered before the design change! There's my custom little built-in, to accommodate my IKEA wine racks That shelf was originally intended for cookbooks, but right now it's holding the crystal. I'm not sure how it will pan out. In spite of having more cupboards than in my old kitchen, logic is compelling me to arrange certain things certain ways, and the cupboards above that shelf are not big enough for all my glassware at all. My Wolf After reading many topics on eGullet, I ordered the s-grates (at a rather ridiculous additional cost, I must say!)...my wrists tend to be weak, and I will have a much easier time shifting heavy pots from one burner to another, so it's worth it. Although the gas is hooked up, the plug it's plugged into isn't, nor is the hood fan, so I haven't been able to use it yet. I hope it's done in time for dinner tonight, the Mouse family is supposed to come over! And the corner with the coffee machine. I'm not sure if it will stay there. I can't really have things on the counters yet, since there are still trades all over the place. Notice the jerry-rigged power cord It's that Power thing again! And I assure you all that, while I am certainly not the neatest person in the world, the current state of my kitchen (and the rest of the house, really) bears no relation whatsoever to how I usually have things! I will be online during the day, but no new photos till I get home this evening. Have a good day, everyone, and cross your fingers that there's good Power news when I get home!

Enzo is named after Enzo Ferrari, since he's a nice Ferrari red (I hope this doesn't tread on any Piaggio toes or anything, but I don't know too much about the company history)...and there are certainly pets! they stayed out last night, though, and I'm not sure when they'll make an appearance. We'll have pics of Enzo as well as I will be trying to fit my shopping in the various receptacles! I haven't been a patron of anything at Trout Lake Market yet, since I just moved here a few months ago and the market hasn't begun yet for the season. I have heard good things about three vendors in particular: Rise Bakery, Milan's Heirloom tomatoes (not out yet, of course), and Bad Girl Chocolates. I was planning to get some seafood for Saturday night, so perhaps Iron Maiden can help me out! thanks for the recommendation. I like to support the small guy where possible. My coffee machine should be warm by now, I will have the unveiling of the state of the kitchen momentarily.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl whose Mum used to take her out for Report Card Dinners, beginning with Grade 1, the onset of thirteen years of straight As (...then university happened. Let’s not go there ). We would go to fancy places when we could afford them, and less-fancy places when we couldn’t. My palate wasn’t too discriminating at the age of 5: I was happy to go out, period, and had as much fun at Le Champignon as I did at The Old Spaghetti Factory (I have an abiding love for spumoni and pistachio gelato to this day) or The Noodlemaker (watching the koi madly swim beneath the little bridges, summoned to their dinner by the gong--was there ever anything more enchanting for a child?). The waiters at Le Champignon were charmed by my nascent French-language skills and always gave me extra desserts off the pastry tray. The Report Card Dinner underwent a few changes over time, as circumstances and location changed (when we moved to the East Coast to live with my stepdad, the economic situation meant that an RCD was more likely to just be something special, home-made, than a dinner out in NYC or, later, Philadelphia), but the concept of good food as a reward for good behaviour or good marks was set. When I have something to celebrate, the first thing I want to do, still, is go out for a good meal. Fast-forward 30-something years, and I’m back in Vancouver, living in a flash condo just outside of Yaletown, with a gas stove and granite counters... cooking now and then, baking a lot of homely but tasty birthday cakes for my co-workers, finding eGullet thanks to Jamie Maw’s column in Vancouver Magazine, finding some bosom pals who appreciate food the way that I do...real estate goes insane, I decide to sell my condo, take my profit and run, and buy a little house in East Vancouver. The little house has an enormous problem, though: the kitchen is a joke. It comes complete with an electric range and a built-in banquette, reminiscent of an RV. Just my style....NOT! It just so happens, I know this kitchen designer... I decide I need a new kitchen, dining room, and refurbished bathroom upstairs (the living space is up, bedrooms are down). I hire a guy I know to act as my General Contractor and do this work for me, with kitchen design, cabinetry and so forth from Daddy-A. Now we come to the matter of the title of this blog: Power, Convection and Lies. Some of you may recognize a riff on a favourite 1980s New Order album. I’ve kind of always wanted a big fancy range, somewhat for snobby reasons (I mean, let’s be honest here!), but also for practical reasons. I got a real jones on for Power when I took the Serious Foodie cooking class at Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver. Then I had a dinner party which brought home to me the utility and desirability of two ovens and an extra burner or two... So I’ve sold my soul to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for a 48 in. Wolf range with 6 burners and a chargrill--and two ovens, one of which is Convection. My first! we'll see what it does to my baking. That brings us to the Lies. I know that construction is always later than they say it will be, and I mean they’ve only been working on the 300 sq. ft or so of the renovation since the beginning of March ...everyone told me the millwork would be late, bla bla bla. The first thing that was supposed to be finished was the bathroom, since it’s rather inconvenient running down and upstairs all the time, and I didn't have water available upstairs for about two months. Then things were to be done as much as possible so that the millwork could come in, the countertops could be installed, the appliances could be installed, and Bob was supposed to be my uncle.... Well, I rescheduled my blog when it became apparent that the earlier date would be impossible. The millwork was right on time, the countertops were early, the appliances came in a week ago...and they’re still not completely installed. The other rooms are in even worse shape! My contractor has a habit of saying "I’m going to do X tomorrow, Deborah," and then not only not doing X, not doing anything. If I had more money, I’d fire him and hire someone a little more reliable, but I won’t go into the whole rigmarole. Suffice to say that, while I thought about calling this blog Power, Convection and Size, Lies seems more appropriate just now. So here I am. Blogging. My house continues to be a work in progress, but I hope it progresses rather quickly as I have invited 7 Gulleters/spouses over for dinner on Saturday The menu is sort of set; the wine has been bought; the crystal has been unpacked and I just hope I can get my house in shape in time! Aside from Saturday dinner, we’ll do some Vespa shopping (I commute to work on my new Vespa, Enzo, every day ), go to the first Trout Lake Market of the year (since my house conveniently backs onto Trout Lake ), hit a luau, and I’ll show you a couple of my favourite restaurants. With luck, God and the electrician willing, I’ll even be able to do some cooking in the midst of all this! and watch some hockey! Go Oilers! I will have more pics in the morning. Well, a few. Everything is still pretty topsy-turvy, but I am determined to make my coffee in the new kitchen tomorrow, for the first time. Time for bed. Good night, Gullet!

Yeah, and try not to break your back in that deep sink *groans* Having no grill, I've been eating a lot of frozen Stouffer's etc.

Two and a half months into my kitchen reno, the easiest meal to make is takeout, yeah. My first dish on my new range will be scrambled eggs! I have a fridge, espresso machine, and microwave in a corner of my living room. It's been swell

Here's the thread you were looking for: Xiao long bao.

I did get some pics last night, although I forgot my camera the week before (doh!), so haven't posted. Here's some duck cooking

I love breakfast for dinner, largely because I seldom eat breakfast at breakfast time.

Chocolates are not meant to be eaten with a fork. Candy, in general, is finger food. Good lord.

Thanks for the report, tarteausucre! Congrats to all the winners, but especially Aurora and Chef Jeff!

They have some OK panini at Second Beach and Third Beach (or they did two years ago when I was having the odd snack in the middle of a big seawalk walk), and they have those tasty energy lemonade and peach Vrooom drinks (I think that's what it says on the big fountain container!). I think crudités with dip could be a good seller. It would be good to have something small and snacky that wasn't chips. I wish they'd fix up the washrooms more than fix the food, the food's not all that bad for what it is, but some of those washrooms feel like they're 50 years old.

Note to self: Boston Cream Pie for after that sublime roasted chicken.

With the exception of pecan pie, I have to go with cake. Probably because I can make a good one myself. I suck at pastry, basically, and will never achieve my grandmother's strawberry-rhubarb nirvana. So while I love to eat a nice slice of cherry pie in a diner, cake is what really floats my boat. But yeah, I've never met a pecan cake that could go head-to-head with a pecan pie, even my lame rendition. Cake, the varieties! the simple, one pan, one layer white cake out of Fannie Farmer, the angel-food, the devil's food, the seven-layer stratospheric wonders of chemistry and engineering... Anything you can fill a pie with, almost, you can insert between layers of cake, except, AFAIK, the filling of a pecan pie. Or is that the caramel of which you speak, Brooks?

Oh, that is tricky. People keep asking me why I didn't open up my kitchen to the dining room. Aside from not wanting the dirty kitchen visible from the dining room, when your space is that limited, you can't bear to lose another doorway's worth of cupboards and counter! Good luck.

Happy Birthday! Happy to see you blogging again.

Oh, thanks for that. I'm thinking about a little cart-ish thing, but I want to live with the space a little while so I can see if I'd just be tripping over it. Congratulations on your successful reno! I'm going with granite counters, as I loved it to death in my last place

turducken

Last night: Aurora Bistro Units came over to look at my fluffy lawn and my renovating house, we had a bottle of Gosset. Since I had to call the restaurant to tell them we were running late (cab took a little while to show up), I asked them to open a bottle of 2003 Nota Bene. They didn't have any '03, so we had to suffer with some '02 Chef came out to greet us, and sent us some of his white spring salmon pastrami, which sounds weird but tastes just fiiiiiiiiine, thanks. He served with a little potato and apple (I think apple?) salad, and a wee quail's egg on top, it was delicious. I started with Beet and Whiskey Cured Tuna wrapped around daikon radish and some more apple, served with lemon crème fraîche, wonderful flavours. Mummy had the Blue Cheese and Mushroom Tart, and my dude had the Spinach salad, which he just raves about. For mains, I had the seared duck breast (surprise ) with Pommes Anna and some...broccolini ? or something, v nice. Mummy had the country paté, served with some nice home-pickled veg, and the dude had the pork tenderloin, which he also had the last time he was there, and loved just as much. For dessert, we had four items : I had the dark chocolate terrine, served with chipotle sorbet, nicely done indeed! and a blood orange salad with mint and a bit of salt. Of course I had some Sumac Ridge Pipe. Mummy had the Meyer Lemon Cheesecake, and Howard had the red wine poached pear on ice cream. Howard and I also made short work of the rhubarb mousse with rhubarb compote, luscious, really; the mousse was soooooo smooth and delicately flavoured, and then the compote packed that tart rhubarb punch, served with not-too-sweet cream. Another excellent dinner. Thanks, Chef!

I fold. As for the dog, you are welcome to borrow him and his painting skills, anytime. Warning: He is not a reliable contractor. Good luck with the renos. ← Cheers! Not a reliable contractor...sounds like a guy I know

Seems as if we think alike . ← I got a Saint-Honoré at Fratelli's the other day for my office; the place looks good, they are highly recommended, and they do have a wide selection (although I didn't notice éclairs--doesn't mean they weren't there, but I didn't notice them). The Saint-Honoré was...meh, IMO. Not bad, not great. The pastry cream was quite nice but the whipping cream had a tinge of...I don't know, but I suspected it had some kind of additive or something, it was a little reminiscent of the whipped creme product you get on an ice cream cake sometimes? and the choux pastry was not bad considering it had been refrigerated, if a little heavy on the bottom. I probably wouldn't buy another. What surprised me about the shop was all the "flans" they have in the case...which are various tarts of the frangipane and linzer variety (shallow, fruits baked into the crust or the frangipane or similar), no custard in evidence. So I was a bit distracted as far as noticing the whole array of goods.

I think Notte's Bon Ton would fit that bill. I haven't had anything from there in a few years, but it's where my grandmother used to get Diplomat cakes, and IIRC they have all that typical pâtisserie.