Zucchini Mama

Risotto makes me feel very calm and grounded. I can get high off of masala chai. There was a place in Winnipeg called Pure Lard and his chai kept me awake and just about hallucinating half the night. Apparently too much nutmeg can make you hallucinate. Maybe the chef put some chili powder in there too. There was rumours of illegal substances in the mix, but that was never verified! I say skip the Prozac and eat lots of good chocolate. I'm really into fair trade Cocoa Camino bars and I'm eating the dark chocolate with almonds right now. A really exceptional meal makes me high, but I can also be depressed for a week afterwards because it's like a glimpse of paradise than vanishes and then makes the everyday world look so bland and grey. I think I should read the book mentioned upthread called Potatoes not Prozac because my moods are definitely up and down with the food I eat. I also get Weltschmerz when I eat carelessly prepared food. Life is too short to spend it eating crappy food. Another wierd thing that makes me high is iced black tea mixed with a bit of fruit juice, but I come down hard after that one. Zuke

Toto, I have the feeling we're not in Kansas any more. Wow, this is why we prairie chickens flock to Lotus Land: sitting on a patio by False Creek on a sunny breezy day having stimulating conversations about sustainability and the stewardship of our natural resources, while consuming the most gorgeous local seafood. The day I found out I was pregnant with my son, I celebrated by taking myself out for lunch at C. It's been five years since I've been back (such is the way your life changes when you decide to have a child!). Well, it's been such a privilege to return to such a celebration of imagination, generosity, and progressive political action. Try to describe someone the crispy oysters and Granville Island Lager and they might think you're describing something out of a Doctor Who episode: We shot the Lager into our mouths as we ate the oyster. The creature was fried in batter and speared through with a plastic pod that was like a squirt ring without the ring...You know, I don't even drink beer, but one of my nostalgia sweet spots is the beer batter shrimp that my mom used to make, so I had a deep appreciation of this approach. The Cranberry Cocktail rimmed with salt, sugar, and lime was very refreshing, and a nice light way to start things off. I'm excited about the new twist to candied salmon: chili, salt, black and white sesame seeds. Do you folks sell that spice mix? You should. I woke up craving something, anything dipped in it for breakfast. I think it's a gold mine. Raw Albacore Tuna with lemon, shallot, parsley, and capers: the creamy, salty, lemony, crunchy, butter-it's all there. It's so satisfying with the sweetness of the Gewurtz. I would have thought a dry acidic wine would be the complement, but the sweetness was the missing link. Chilled Sweet English Pea Soup, BC Spot prawn, pickled ramps, almonds, yogurt. The toasted almonds, and the pickled ramps, and the hit of savory protein from the prawns balanced out the sweetness of the soup. First time I've had a ramp. I don't even know what it looks like, so now I have to try and find one this summer. The slow roasted Hawkshaw of Salmon was so subtle-and the saltiness of the roe and the rice set it off beautifully. Okay, my favorite combo was the Sablefish Collar, hazelnut bubble, all red potato puree, carrots and sherry vinegar. This was a very fragrant dish that insinuated itself into my heart via my nose (an occasion to celebrate being gifted with a large proboscis). The hazelnut bubble really got under my skin. It was surreal in a De Chirico way rather than a Bob Blumer kind of way. A bubble of pudding around a toasted hazelnut. I was thinking about it all the way home on the bus. What kind of tree do those hazelnuts grow on? It was oddly sexual. Okay...I can't explain that and I'm sure you don't want me to! That potato puree-again very sensuous. The wine that it was paired with-the Marsanne/ Viognier 2001 Turley Whitecoat from California was exactly what Dr. Ruth ordered-dry and elegant, and so seductive I just wanted to dive into that glass. By this time I was getting pretty full. I would have loved to save the scallop dish for another day, but I lusted after this one too: Seared Kagan Bay Scallop with the crispy roasted pork shoulder, laurel, morels and golden beets. My Scallop, meet Mr. Pork, and have you both been introduced to Mr Morel? They got along quite well, sailing on a river of Margaux. This dish anchored the whole meal, with its earthy mushroomy complexity. Lovers of sweets. Do you get bored with cheesecake? Do you say ho hum, not another one? Well, go to C and let them inspire you with what they can do to an old standby. Fromage Frais Cheesecake with rhubarb salad, praline, and organic maple syrup: light, creamy, flecked with vanilla bean seeds. The crunchy praline, the tartness of the rhubarb and those little rectangles of ? rhubarb jelly? What were they? I've got to know. While eating this mind-blowing food we managed to hear from the smart people who are leaders in the area of seafood stewardship. I have many many questions, but most of all I'm wondering why we're always looking to import our food resources rather than developing the Canadian consumers' desire to buy local products. I was in Austria a few years ago, and the town I was in (Bregenz) was very proud of the fact that something like 90% of the food they consumed was Austrian. Why don't Canadians have the same kind of pride? Why are aboriginal wholistic ranchers having so much trouble finding a market for their beef? Why is it so hard to find local produce in our grocery stores? Why don't we grow fabulous organic grain and take pride in our artisanal bakeries instead of soaking grain in pesticide and shipping them off to create processed crap? I also question how healthy it is to eat seafood on a regular basis, due to concerns with the level of Mercury and other pollutants found in the flesh of tuna, etc. Is testing the flesh of fish part of the Oceanwise program and will you let consumers know which fish are still healthy to eat? So a big thank you to everyone who organized this event, and I think we should check in on Oceanwise in a year to see how things have progressed so we can do the whole thing all over again! And any time you guys need to open a few bottles of Margaux to see if they're still vibrant, you know who to call!

Lunch at HSG today with my son to celebrate that fact that preschool's out. We had coconut shrimp and yam fries, followed by GBP. The meal was delish. I really liked that the coconut shrimp weren't served with a sweet sauce, the way I've had them at other places. I like the more savory approach because the subtle sweetness of the coconut is enough on its own without more added on top. I had a pear cider, and chatted with that there celebrity chef that hides out there occasionally. Then who should come in desperately seeking kolachy, but a hot and flustered WaiterBlog! Hope you found what you were looking for Andrew. We headed down to the Roundhouse where a couple of my friends have pieces in the exhibition there. In the morning we watched Daina Warren braid hair in her teepee and in the afternoon we did a workshop with Peter Morin, writing stories and creating images out of our text. My son created pictures mixing aboriginal and Harry Potter motifs. By the way, we also discovered a gem of a comic book shop right beside the HSG and they even gave us a free Batman toy. I also love that new Book Warehouse Store in the same block. Oh boy, Hamilton Street = Temptation Alley. Tonight, I headed off to the City Food Policy Forum and the cheese plate was out of this world-just a mind-boggling variety of local cheese. The wraps and veggies were catered by Cook Studio Food Services, who create training and employment opportunities for youth. The event was so inspiring-all these vibrant people working on food politics. I got really excited about the UBC Farm. They even have a Mayan garden and a Musqueum Garden. They've got summer camps for kids, and yes, they need support so that the land doesn't get turned into condos. Perhaps they could provide Neil with veggies and he could be the UBC farm poster-boy! They could even make a nude calendar (with a few strategically placed zucchinis). Zuke

Seasons in the Dark I popped up to have lunch at Season's in Queen E. while my son was at preschool Yikes! The menu has not changed since June 2004. I don't know if that means they have a repeating seasonal menu, or it's just the same menu, period. Ducky, if you can enlighten us, please do. Do they have a fall and winter menu as well? It was a cool and foreboding afternoon, but I sat on the patio with a few other brave souls. There are gas fires and heaters, and they even provide you with fleece blankets, so it's really quite cozy. The view is what you're there for and today it was a dramatic study in slate grey that eventually turned into a warm, sunny afternoon. I ordered the carrot ginger soup ($7) and the wok-fried squid (9$). The service is always good and this is one of those old-fashioned places that gives you warm bread and cold butter right after you order, which I always appreciate. The soup was beautifully presented with a painterly swirl of chantilly cream and a dab of bright green chive oil. The soup was sweet, with a good gingery bite. The squid was tender and cooked in a very generic stir-fry sauce-ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, etc. with bits of chili in it. There was julienned red pepper, onion, and daikon and a tiny triangle of sticky rice. The sticky rice was a great idea-I love the sticky texture, but it lacked interesting flavor. What was missing in both dishes was some texture-crunch and interesting twists-some friséed leeks, crunchy wontons, or poppy seed lavash. The food is fairly priced and tasty, nourishing, but uninspired. Have I mentioned the view? I thought about dessert-those haven't changed either, and inquired which season fruits were on the cobbler-hoping raspberry or strawberry, but it was blueberry and blackberry, so I passed. Is Seasons Hilltop Bistro seasonal? Hmmm... I wonder. The chef probably isn't given a lot of latitude and I wonder if her naming the ice cream of choice "Vanilla, for a Change", a bit of sarcasm born of this frustration maybe? A cry for help? When I walked through to the washroom I was reminded just how huge this place is. For god's sake, book a table well ahead of time so you get the view. The room in the back corner is more intimate and quiet. Don't get stuck up away from the windows. This is a actually a decent place for brunch, especially if you're entertaining out-of towners, but be sure to make reservations. Zuke

Funny, I was thinking of having lunch there this week. It's in my neighborhood, I like the patio and the food is usually fine. It's been a year since I've eaten there. My parents like it because of the stunning view and the food is the kind that appeals to them-conventional and nothing too spicy. The menu on the web site hasn't been updated since last year, so I'll try to pop in tomorrow if I can and see what's on it now. I remember trying the lobster "tacos" and being very disappointed. However, like I say, that was last summer. It's a very beautiful restaurant and popular with wedding parties. Of course, I like to sit on the patio and eat their lemon tart! Zuke

Well, if there is a quota of food stalls vs. artisan stalls in Vancouver, maybe the artisans would be better served holding their own market with their own advocate.(?) Of course in the country space is usually not an issue and many farmers sell crafts along with their foodstuffs. I'd love there to be more produce stalls at the markets here, but I am nostalgic for the REALLY big farmer's markets. Zuke

mtigges, Glad to see you posting and sticking up for the artisans. I was going to say something before about all the craft-bashing that goes on here. Coming from the prairies, there has always been room for craft stalls at farmer's markets, and they are part of the fabric of the culture of the market. So some are twee-so what. Some are artisans who are trying to make a living from their craft or at least make enough money to continue to pursue what they love-working with their hands. Welcome to the forum, Mark. Zuke

"Simon Buckhaven says his electronic stun-gun would be a humane way of killing the creatures." I'd be worried about this zapper in the hands of a chef with a bad temper! At a conference in Norway this spring, scientists came to the conclusion tha lobsters don't feel pain the way animals with more highly developed nervous systems do. Their nervous systems are similar to grasshoppers. Putting them in the fridge slows them down, so they have less reaction to being boiled(measured in tail clicks against the pot) than when they are say "hypnotized" by tickling them on the belly. I read this in The Secret Life of Lobsters. As lobsters are free range (except for those Manitoban ones) they have a pretty good quality of life. It's the miserable stint they spend starving in the tanks that bothers me, not the "twitch twitch, I'm dead" part. Zuke

Well, I've had such good luck lately with eating out, and I'm so careful about where I spend my money on food, I guess odds are I'd hit a couple of duds sooner or later. The first is a place called La Petite France on Arbutus near Broadway. I'd never heard of it before, but was drawn in by the sight of a large group of women having lunch with what looked like nice big salads. The food is pre-prepared and it looked good. I got my son a pastry filled with ground beef and I ordered the mushroom crepe for myself. The server asked me if it was all right to take ten minutes to heat the crepe in the oven and I said it wasn't a problem. My son's meal was basically a glorified sausage role, which tasted fine, but was not worth five dollars. My crêpes (about $8) were soggy, overheated (obviously nuked when that's not what they'd said they'd do) and so bland I almost cried. I love mushrooms and this even had chanterelles and morelles, but how they could make them so tasteles, I don't know. Our salads looked like the leftover cores of romaine that they'd picked off the sides to make other people's salads and the dressing was very bland. So we tried to console ourself with dessert. My son wanted a grenouille- which is a rum-ball confection covered with green icing and made to look like a frog. It's cute, but the inside had white chalky bits inside and it was not appetizing. I had a couple of chocolate truffles which were good. When the server asked how we'd like our food. I told her exactly what I thought of mine, and her smile froze and she said "Well, thanks for telling us." Then I went to Ebi Ten for octapus balls today and although the octapus was tender, the batter was mushy and slimy. Bummer. Zuke

I'm a big fan of Thai basil. I bet that would be good in lemonade, with some lime juice in it as well...with Vietnamese food. Zuke

Oh, come on, my guy loves a bracing cup of afternoon tea, and I'm going to be creative: gin and tonic gelées, Ling's brownies, smoked trout on homemade oatmeal crackers...etc. We don't even own a barbeque! But he does love a good scotch. Zuke

Take Me Out to Nat Bailey Yahoo! Our neighborhood market is open again. We popped in yesterday to pick up a chocolate pyramid for my son at Bad Girl Chocolates (always our first stop) and also bought some of her gelées for after supper treats. She's always got lovely strawberries dipped in dark chocolate at this time of the year. Next, we took a look around to see what was happening and chatted to grandpa who was giving out advice at the master gardener's table. I stopped at Langley Organic Growers first and got some mixed baby potatoes, purple radishes and a bit of dill. Ms. 'Petal Pusher' gave me a recipe for their potato and radish salad from the Vegetarian Gourmet by Roz Denny. I picked up some frozen blueberry and grass-fed beef sausages from Pasture to Plate, which we're going to try tonight. We had to buy some pesticide free strawberries and cukes and I got some Welsh tea cakes from ...I'll have to call them "the bread ladies", because they're new and I can't remember their names. I convinced the woman in the Java Van to make me an unsweetened iced tea from a green tea with berries in it-very nice. She gets her teas from The Blue Teapot. We had a bit of change left, so we bought a dark chocolatey brownie from Blackberry Hill farm and I'd like another one right now if I could, but it didn't last long. (Mind you, they won't be as good as Ling's, which I plan on making for our Father's Day tea.) We sampled some lovely Cuban salsa, but I told him I was out of cash, and would buy some next week. It's so easy to empty your pockets at the market! We missed Chris Brown-he's having some kitchen problems, so fingers crossed he'll be their next week. I'm always in such a great mood after I've been to the market. We headed home and I made a big potato salad with organic green beans (from Stong's, which also has BC English peas already), the organic potatoes, radishes, and some leftover bits of sausage and crisped salami. I served the salad without dressing for my son, and without dill for my partner. I've become very nostalgic about dill of late because it reminds me of my mother's garden when it grew taller than me. P. hates dill, so I just sprinkled some on top of my portion. They've thrown in a few purple potatoes into the mix, so the final dish was very colorful and we had it with some of my brother-in law's decent homemade blush. For dessert, we had the jellies as well as strawberries with Little Qualicum Fromage Frais over the Welsh teacakes. I'm just so happy summer is here.

TFA, When you ask if you're being too soft on eGullet-I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean that you want the pros to be more critical of posts made by egulleters? Do you think it's up to the pros to provide more of a critical context for posts? For some reason I can't quite wrap my head around what you're asking. I like Neil's analogy of the comment cards, that's a good one. I don't know, I like a mixed salad. I think posts by a variety of personalities with a variety of views makes for interesting reading. We all talk about the weather in spite of the fact we're not all meteorologists. I value everyone's contributions, and I'm just so fascinated by how passionate people are about things like dough fried in oil. If we can tolerate one another's differences and accept where they're coming from, the forum will grow into a community that's effectively proactive about the quality of the food we eat here. Peace, Love, and One World on this fabulous sunny day. Zuke

Yes, my comment about the water/waiter is an opinion. I'm drawing conclusions from exactly the kind of experience Foody Girl is talking about. Forewarned is forearmed. I love Lumiere based on the one precious experience I had there, but in this case I think they should have comped the water too. There are many things that sooth the savage diner's breast- for example, a really good dessert on the house is one of them. If they had comped all the drinks the experience may not left such a bad taste in Foodie-Girl's mouth. Zuke

I've heard other complaints regarding the stupendous cost of mineral water at Lumiere. Seems the waiter pushes it to up the cost of the bill, taking adavantage of the customer not realizing how expensive it is. Zuke

To Complain or not to Complain I'm so glad that we're discussing the issue of criticism, because I find it so fascinating. I think the main reason we're all on eGullet, what brings us here is our mutual love of food, we all want to have great eating experiences. Speaking for myself, I'm also trying to become a more articulate speaker and writer regarding the challenges of describing and discussing the highly subjective experience of eating food. When someone paints a clear picture of their experience as seen through their eyes, it entertains me and sometimes gives me clues as to where and what I will and won't try for myself. (For instance, the picture I form in my mind of fois gras melting into soup-not pretty) As soon as I take a bite of food and sense something's gone wrong I stop and call the waiter. I'm confident enough now to say this doesn't taste right and then we will discuss what may be wrong and how it can be addressed. I've sent back moldy beets (at the Naam), burnt hamburgers, and over-salted food. If you don't have the guts to say "this looks or tastes disgusting, don't just come crying to eGullet about it!!! The higher the cost of the food, the more confident you should be. I've had about four cases of food poisoning in the past from food that didn't taste quite right and so have learned my lessons the hard way. I've also had experiences at fancy restaurants where a waiter has really tried to mock me for what I criticized-at that Italian resto in Victoria with a courtyard a waiter tried to tell me that a giant ball of under-cooked gnocchi was "the way it was done here". Well, I will NEVER darken their door again! That said, eGullet is a literate public forum, not just the bathroom wall. You have to make important decisions about how to express your pleasure/displeasure. This is a community with people taking on different roles and personalities in their posts. I think you should also learn to read between the lines of some reviews-it's what people don't talk about sometimes that I make note of, ie when a writer spends almost the whole review going on about the decor, you gotta wonder about why they're avoiding discussing the food! There are many things that don't get posted on eGullet, but get discussed on a more private level. I read eGullet for entertainment and information. Sometimes there's a bit of shadenfreude entertainment value when things go wrong, but people who work on restaurants are usually just as passionate about food as you are, and have a lot invested in their products. They want you to have a good experience, so for god sakes tell them when things are going wrong! Then you can post it here and we can all learn from the experience. I'm loving the discussions on Chinese food, and yes, photos really help in this educational process. Keep them coming!!!!! Zuke

Can't Help Lovin' That Bread On Friday my son and I headed over to Arbutus for lunch at the Halso Bakery (a block and a half south of Broadway). We tried the open faced sandwiches-his with lox and mine shrimp salad with sliced hard-boiled eggs. The sandwiches were between four and five dollars, and served on a soft white flatbread, about one cm thick. We were both happy with our choices, and I liked the dill in the shrimp salad. I would say these are more like afternoon tea sandwiches than lunch sandwiches. However, I saw the giant seafood sandwich cake and THAT looks like a picnic feast for 6-8. Then my friend M arrived and we started ordering the sweets. My boy wanted the green cylinder dipped in chocolate on both ends- I can't remember the name, and we also ordered the Cloudberry Cheesecake, Orange Chocolate cake, and a slice of the Lingonberry Roll. I had licorice spice tea, and M had flowery Earl Grey. For those tea-grannies out there-the teas are served in a tea ball in a huge cup, with the hot water poured directly into the cup. The cheesecake was very dense, with the cloudberries as a seedy jelly on top, and a gram crust with lots of cinnamon. The chocolate cake was brownie-sized and light, with a hint of orange, -- not a dense heavy chocolate, just enough. Our favorite was the lingonberrry roll, which had a cream cheese-berry filling inside a perfect sponge. The smaller desserts are around the two dollar mark, and the larger desserts around the four dollar mark. This is definitely a nice bright place to go for a different set of flavors usually available in Vancouver Bakeries. The owner was very friendly and looked to be Chinese Swedish? He has a lovely accent. We completed our journey by perusing the wares at Fireside Books and my friend bought one that looked very interesting called Eat My Words, about women's lives revealed through the cookbooks they write. I also took home a loaf of the cardamom bread and ate it after dinner with some apricot stilton from Oyama meats. This is a good mix. I just had some of the bread toasted for breakfast and just love the level of cardamom. (My son hated it--too spicy!) Thanks Stephen, for recommending it.

We've harvested sea asparagus when we were camping up the sunshine coast. We just picked it a low tide and eaten it steamed with our BBQ salmon. You've probably seen it, walked over it in you bare feet and not known what it was! I'd be carefull about adding salt, though, It's usually salty enough from the ocean. Zuke

Thanks for that review, BCinBC-sounds like a great location for a birthday party. I'm confused about your comments regarding the risotto-was it way to rich, or just really good rich? Zuke

Deborah wrote: "Isn't it better to eat the really old ones than the younger ones who haven't had a chance to reproduce as much? Maybe I'm just confused." Actually, lobster fishermen have to measure the carapace of every lobster-the ones that are two small or too large have to go back in the ocean. The minimum size of the carapace is 3 1/4 inches and the max is 5 inches. Also, if the lobster is carrying eggs, she gets a notch cut in her tail and then she's thrown back in as well. All notched lobsters go back in th ocean, so the females have a better chance of reproducing. The really old boys (and gals) get to stay in the ocean and have as much sex as they want until the end of their days. Male lobsters (now don't get jealous guys) have two penuses (peni?) and pee out of their foreheads. I've read that the 8 pounders weren't very tender, but the posts above dispute that observation. In any case, I'm sure the 16-20 pounders are pretty chewy. The reason not to eat the big suckers is the amount of mercury and other evil substances they've had the chance to absorb through the water. There's a really good book called The Secret Life of Lobsters by Trevor Corson, I would highly reccomend. There's an interview with him in the archives of salon.com. If you want to read a woman's memoir's of lobster fishing: The Lobster Chronicles: Life on a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw Hyperion, New York, 2002 A crab bake sounds like a really fun eGullet event. Zuke

Hey Chocoholic, We went to The Red Door as well the other day for lunch. I think you've nailed that one on the head-it will be very popular with the Earl's crowd. We had the House Tea Smoked Duck with flat grill pancakes. I had one piece of duck that was lovely, smokey and tasty, but most were tender but bland. I liked the pancakes, but they were very stingy with the amount. Overall, I felt it ws a fun and friendly place but over-priced. We enjoyed the candied ginger and toasted coconut ice cream for dessert. Zuke

Kokopelli on Dunbar: New place for sweets and other treats and bring the kids! There's a new coffee shop on Dunbar across from Stong's. The good news is they do ALL their own baking AND they've got a huge play section for kids. It's got that just out of the package feeling-a bit stark, but a few large paintings on the walls and the place will be looking good. I love the fabric-covered sound baffles on the ceiling. I know about twenty other places in Vancouver that could use those!!!. The staff are so friendly it's surreal. They have adult grilled cheese sandwiches and kids grilled cheese sandwiches. I had the former, which I didn't realize had cheddar and brie-one or the other would be fine. The bread was great. I can't wait to taste their brownies and "chocolate croissants". The Kokopelli is some kind of South American trickster character, and the people who named the place said it's easy for children to say. They also brew their own unsweetened iced tea. Zuke

Well, I remember baking with my mom as a child, and then one day I heard her tell her friend that my meringues were better than hers! I can't remember how old I was, but I asked for octopus and chocolate cake on my birthday, and my sweet mom and dad picked up octopus and fulfilled my wish-never mind that the nearest fish store was 150 miles away. God, I love them. Actually, like many young women, I had a real love-hate relationship with food as I was growing up as a teen and as a young adult. I thought it improper, unfeminine and greedy to focus my attention on food. It's been a long journey for me here to eGullet where I am pouring out all my years of repressed passion for food onto these pages. My mom grew such lovely vegetable gardens, and I really took them for granted. All those huge sun-ripened tomatoes, fresh peas, and the first radishes of the season. My love for food has certainly come from my parents, who both have discerning palates, although they are humble country folks, and would never presume to say such a thing. I really treasure the meals I share with them, especially those cooked by my mom in her little house on the prairie with fresh organic produce from her garden, which is also chock full of flowers. I guess what changed my life was meeting Peter, my partner, who grew up as a city boy in a sophisticated family that loved food and wine. Suddenly it made sense to me that food was something naturally beautiful and good, and enjoying food was an important part of a healthy and loving relationship to life and all its pleasures. And now we have a son who loves to join us for high tea and asks me politely if he can sample a few of the chocolate chips we're using to make cookies. One of these days, I'm sure he'll learn to appreciate octopus too! Zuke

Cuisy, Just a not to say there's not one place I've been made uncomfortable for eating on my own in Vancouver. Just be sure to be seated at a table you feel comfortable in and enjoy! Zuke

Bake Sale Bliss: The Sweetest Event Well here's an event where I thought I'd for sure running into members of the Pink Tweed Triad, and tripping over eGulleters-but I didn't see anyone familiar. It was a beautiful sunny, breezy afternoon, and I headed down to the Vancouver Museum to check out the bake sale for the food bank put on by the "ThereShe Goes.ca" web site. The event was held in a room facing False Creek with lots of big windows, so natural light flooded the baking displays which were all very artfully and thoughtfully displayed. It was truly a photogenic event, and I'm sure women who run the web site will publish some gorgeous pics. Aside from strawberries and milk, I hadn't had a proper breakfast, so this was to be my big fat indulgent brekkie. I started with the Queijadas de Coco (Portuguese coconut cupcakes) from Barefoot Contessa-definitely a recipe I will try from the cook book. There were cupcakes, and doggy biscuits, a creamy lemony drink, biscotti from Mix, and I never even made it to the brownies! One thing that was really fun were the big fat homemade marshmallows by Rosie and Pixie. I had one that was dipped in chocolate and crushed mixed nuts-Yum! Imagine that in your mug of cocoa! I bought a yellow one dipped in chocolate and colored sprinkles to take home to my four-year-old. I don't think he's ever tasted a marshmallow before and he was suitably impressed. I must mention that each marshmallow was packaged in its own little cellophane bag with a tag with a little marshmallow man drawn on it. My absolute favorite sweet was Barbara Joe's Yorkshire Currant Tarts. (Of BJ's Books to Cooks) These were rich custardy tarts with raisins and a hint of lemon. They weren't too sweet-just right. Barbara Joe said her grandmother from Yorkshire used to make the recipe in pie form-which sounds truly decadent. I also brought home a couple of pieces of the ginger cake from Martha Sturdy. The cake was lovely-very light, but gingery and chock full of ginger-the recipe calls for 2/3 a cup of molasses. When I was thoroughly stuffed I headed over to the Blanche MacDonald tables to have a vanilla hand massage. It was s real treat, the aesthetician was charming and the scent in the lotion was subtle-none of that sickly sweet vanilla perfume that can be cloying. I didn't realize that the BM school has a spa in City Square Mall where you can book appointments on special days when they are in training and you can get really good deals on salon treatments! Cool! After all those sweets I was craving a bitter unsweetened iced tea, but I spotted the outdoor patio downstairs where they were serving hot tea and coffee. There were beautiful rice paper umbrellas over little tables and hot pink cushions made of sari fabric on the stone ledge. A pair of mallard ducks had decided this was a good place for crumb-begging, and some ladies befriended them and gave them a few tidbits. One lady at with me and we chatted about the cookbooks we'd bought which contained all the recipes for the sweets. She really wanted to buy some scones, but the scones were only available for purchase in a cute little package with a vintage porcelain teacup. This was a gorgeous event for a good cause. The sweets were incredibly reasonably priced. I hope they do it again soon. I'm sure you'll still be able to buy the little cookbooks from the stores that participated. (They cost $8 and contain a baker's dozen of recipes.) Zuke PS: The event was very girly but there were a lot of men chowing down as well.