*Deborah*

Ha ha ha one of the reasons I am not that fond of mayo is that my WASP grandmother put a dollop of it on top of her lime Jell-o "salad" with grated carrots...nearly turned me off Jell-o as a child!

I have always used Philly cream cheese for frosting (I think about 2:1 with unsalted butter and "enough" icing sugar, a bit of vanilla or else a tsp of lemon juice will cut the icing sugar metallic taste). Thank God for the Kitchen-Aid. It has always gotten rave reviews and requests for the bowl to lick. Edited because I am not sure of the cream cheese:butter ratio; I have used several different recipes and I think maybe I like the 4:1 better since it needs less sugar to hold it together.

Oh good Lord, if I were in Nola, I'd be eating an Oyster Po' Boy for lunch at least once a week. Mmmmmmm.

Yeah, no kidding!!! Anyways. Sun Peaks: There aren't that many places to eat; but there is snow Breakfast: I don't know, really, we always eat in. There is good espresso at the espresso place next door to Roxy's Market though, Bolacco Café (the coffee is the best you'll find up there). Lunch: We usually eat at Bottom's for lunch, since it's convenient. It has good to very good food (for what it is (pub food), and it can be uneven), large portions, and their Calamari appetizer is a legend in our house. Baggio's also has a nice lunch available, although you're not as likely to get out of there quickly as you are at Bottom's (from my experience) but on the other hand it's a much quieter, less-bustling environment, which may be more your style. The food on the hill at the top of the Sunburst Express has been good, what I've eaten of it. Their cinnamon buns (fresh out of the oven around 10-10:30 IIRC) are a popular local treat. Macker's in the Cahilty Lodge and Masa's in the Village Daylodge are also open for lunch, although I don't normally eat there, so I can't recommend particularly. They have Edamame at Masa's which are pretty good, although the menu spelled it Edememe I think it was... Dinner: There are a reasonable number of choices (including those lunch places above), depending how long you're staying Powderhounds is not fancy but good. Good Wiener Schnitzel and Schnitzel Chasseur, large portions, good pasta. Wine list is a bit short, but lots of by-the-glass available. Chances are you'll see my mother there, getting tipsy The Val (used to be Val Senales): we used to eat there a lot, before they changed chefs, and before they renovated their menu prices a bit upwards. So Jamie Maw had a good meal there at the Icewine Fest last month, but I have no experience there for the past two seasons. You can proably trust Jamie's palate at least as much as mine though Mantles at the Delta Sun Peaks, I had a very respectable meal there early in the New Year. The wine list is pretty nice, lots of BC stuff to choose from, low markups. It's a nice room, too. The attached bar is quite nice to have a drink (and watch hockey if there is any). Servus I haven't eaten at in a few years, but I found them good if a bit pretentious. They will also take your credit card number to hold a reservation, now, which I find unnerving. If you're OK with that, and the fact that they might sit you at the bar with your paper napkin even if you have a reservation, the food is probably still pretty good! We have long memories in my family, though, and we haven't gone back in spite of the lure of the duck. Toro in the old Heffley Steakhouse location we had a mixed experience at; my mother and I had a few Chinese dishes which didn't impress us at all, but there were people around us who had previously had, and returned for, their big bowls of stuff, which looked pretty good. So while I can't "heartily" recommend, I do intend to go back and try a bowl. My mum had also previously had some sort of Pad Thai dish which she enjoyed. The Sweet and Sour was hopelessly, inedibly, overcooked though. Very reasonably priced, as well. I hope that helps, but if the dining available in Whistler (Araxi, Bearfoor Bistro, Umberto's, etc., etc., etc.) doesn't turn your gourmet crank, I fear you will be disappointed in Sun Peaks. Take your sunscreen and your warm gear, and enjoy and if you need a hamburger en route, I recommend the Home Restaurant in Merritt, just past the Petro-Canada at the second Merritt exit (northbound).

Onion rings, batter dipped (duh), and far too often (around once a month). Tempura, rather more often, two or three times a month perhaps? French fries...sometimes...two or three times a month? Chicken fingers...three or four times a year, and fish and chips, about the same. I don't attempt to deep fry anything at home, I leave it to the professionals.

Mrs. Paul's crab cakes and corn fritters used to be one of my favourite meals when I was a teenager living on the east coast. Thank God they're not available here.

Oh, I haven't looked at Costco...of course, do I really need 144 hot dogs at once?

OK, too much money, not enough taste (well-done steak) *Le sigh*

I had that one yesterday, but today is Greek Kolachy Tuesday.

Wow, I am in the middle of my Turkey Soup, and am I glad I got a large!! It has nice wild rice and carrots and diced sweet potatoes! Really warming me up on this chilly day.

Miracle Whip for many things (tuna salad, pasta or potato salads, etc.) although I will use mayo and lemon in a pinch; I think mayo tastes greasy without that lemon in most applications. BUT mayo on fries is a very good thing, and a Clubhouse needs mayo on the toast, not Miracle Whip. I really rue the day I read the Miracle Whip label, though. Hellman's over Kraft.

I am partial to Kosher dogs (hard to find in Vancouver) and the sautéed onions. If I can't get those onions, I'll have ketchup and relish. Please don't hit me! My favourites so far are NYC dogs on the street. But even a lousy dog can do the job if you're just drunk enough.

Didn't the leek and potato coup come in a 4 door hatchback model as well ? Joking aside Alabaster was brilliant food but I would agree the room was a bit too formal, the room seemed to demand hushed tones and had a cold impersonal feel - not something Vancouver seems to embrace. ← Maybe it was just their coup de foudre...or should I say soupe de foudre?

You'd best not come to dinner with a group of eGulleters then! A. ← Yeah, but we take pics of our food, not our party!!

... Anyway, I ramble. The real reason I posted was because she said something that rather annoyed me and that was that the poster who seemed to start the negative discussion, actually lives in the same building as the restaurant so saying she was home by 8:30 was very unfair (and just a bit unethical) as she never mentioned she was only a elevator ride away. I must say she gave them the impression she was rushed right out by saying that, when in fact she probably wasn't. Mrs. Moreno said that the poster in question had never been in for their regular service and also added that another poster who complained about the food being tasteless was suffering from a severe enough cold that she and the staff actually commented when they first sat that it must be waste to go out when you are both so sick and unable to taste anything. She actually said she wished they had told them she would honour the Dineout reservation another time and sent them home with some chicken soup! ← I probably shouldn't be jumping in here, but I am less than impressed by the way you say that Lorna is very unfair, unethical, and a liar. I can understand that the restaurant owner's wife may have been a bit choked (although she might not necessarily have wanted you to share that with us and the internet), but I would think that the thread on Le Gavroche (which has discussion among something like a dozen people who have had the gamut from great service to bad service at a very respected establishment) should prove that *any* restaurant is capable of leaving a customer feeling rushed or disappointed. From your comments, the service might have been better if she were a "regular" customer. Funny to me, as I went to three new-to-me restaurants (one at each price point) during Dine-Out (not including West, which I will not use as a comparison point since they knew we were coming), and had very good service at two out of three, and adequate service at the third. At one, I marveled that they were able to turn us over (a party of seven) in an hour and a half *without* us feeling rushed. That kind of respect for the diner, and the lack of an "oh, they're just DOV people, they're not regulars" attitude, is what encourages me to go back to all three. If I had gone through a meal without a server or someone checking whether everything was OK with my plate, I wouldn't be in any hurry to return, either. And anyone who doesn't try to offer *me* more wine when my glass is empty is just saying no to a sale, that's for sure Just my opinion

Wait, I need help on this one, is it Blue Coor-ah-sow? or Blue Coor-ah-cow? Is it the former, as I believe there is an accent cedille on the "c"). And where is the accent? ← help ← Spelled Curaçao, pronounced coor-a-sow. (Not coor-a-K-O, as I heard once )

I can only say ditto to this post; in Montréal, in college, we used to make late-night pilgrimages to the Ste-Catherine Street home of the Mighty Gyro Beast (that big hunk o meat on a spit) to satisfy our munchies. "Gyro" was always pronouned "yairo"... As for quinoa, think of Joaquin Phoenix (or any other Joaquin of your acquaintance).

Success!! I ended up at boring old Safeway, as Trader Joe's, while having many lovely items did not (in the Capitol Hill location) have any corn meal of any description (which I found really weird!). So I ended up with three small boxes (3 and 3/4 lb--I don't know why that much, particularly, I wasn't sure how much you wanted!) of Albers' "Enriched Hominy Quick Grits" which from the picture look about as they should. I was unsure about the "quick" part, but they're not "instant" which was the only other type available, so if they don't suit your bill, I'll eat 'em! The box has recipes for grits, fried grits, Cheese Grits Casserole and a Grits and Sausage Bake... Tonight I have a date so can you wait for them till tomorrow? I'll be bouncing around, running some errands, and I can meet you somewhere maybe?

Pie-A-ya is correct in some (most?) Spanish-speaking dialects, but pie-A-zha is also heard in some dialects (ll = zh sometimes, even in Spain).

And how do you like them prepared? Masala curry or tandoori style? ← *cries*

Ganesh is the elephant god though, no? I love elephants

Interesting! now that you mention it, I remember being a bit taken aback by the bathroom door placement the time I went to Da Pasta Bar there (I don't get out in Kits much). Regarding corner entry doors, I can't think of any in Vancouver off the top of my head, but it's something quite common in corner bars in Philadelphia, the sort of bars that are there for 10 or 20 years at a time...maybe Feng Shui isn't so powerful there!

From the sounds of it, there it at least a decent wine list, so I think they have spruced up a bit since then! One hopes, at least.

Karole, my co-worker recommends Putnam Station as having the best food and service on the hill, of hte places he's gone. But it's still a "family restaurant" with a "train theme" so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for. Apparently there are some "fine dining" places in Vernon, but we have no data.

just add chocolate, hey?