Ling

I was raised on these too....I like Chinese buns and pastries, but Anna's cakes do nothing for me. I especially hate the whipped cream (I think they use something to stabilize the whipped cream, and it ends up tasting like foam.)

Ack....sorry! It was just so small and disappeared in my greedy mouth so quickly!

One of the mains, the RED KURI SQUASH AND CARMELIZED ONION RISOTTO WITH SAGE sounds like that risotto that Chef Hawksworth sent out as an amuse during our West DOV dinner. I remember lots of people (myself included) absolutely loving that risotto--sounds like the Early Prix Fixe is a must-try.

I didn't see any whole Diplomat cakes in their pastry case, but I suspected that they must have changed something recently, especially since the cake's been renamed!

a petit fours called a Chocolate Progress--filled with rum buttercream and covered in chocolate....unfortunately, this was just a bit stolen from Mooshmouse's son's plate....my own dessert choices were not as tasty.

^Yes, it's on Cambie and 14th.

I think Joie will post our pictures and her comments later, but I'll post my comments now. butter (Kirsten), PeppermintTea (Angela), Joie, Joie's son Noah, and I went to Notte's Bon Ton today and we picked out a selection of petit fours (with the exception of Angela, who had the hot cross buns--maybe she'll chime in about those too!) I chose the Diplomat cake (now called Jealousy) which was pretty good--layers of puff pastry, buttercream, and sponge cake. It came decorated with goopy green and white icing, which I thought brought down the dessert as a whole a bit. Nonetheless, for $1.90 for a small slice, you can't really go wrong here. We had a selection of chocolate cakes, although I think I forgot my notes at Bon Ton's! Off the top of my head, we had the Dobos Torte, the Chocolate Vienna, and another chocolate cake. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed with any of these--they all seemed a bit stale to me. My least favourite was the Dobos Torte, a cake with layers of chocolate buttercream. The cake was quite dry. My favourite at Bon Ton's was Noah's pick, something called Chocolate Progress. It was filled with a rich rum buttercream and covered in chocolate. I could eat a whole box of these--without the maraschino cherry halves. Overall, I was a bit underwhelmed with our selections today, but will probably go back to try the rest of their tempting selections--they also have a huge assortment of cookies, cannolis, eclairs, and quite a few petit fours that we didn't get a chance to sample.

^I noticed the Firewood Cafe when I was driving today, and thought of this thread. Guess Chef Hawksworth bet me to it, though!

A big plate of halved baby green peppers stuffed with dace fish paste, then floured and pan-fried, and then topped with a mild sweet and sour sauce... ...also, leftovers from lunch: cheesy, buttery mashed potatoes, and thickly-sliced mushrooms sauteed in butter and chopped dill dessert was a lotus seed "pie" (from a Chinese bakery) and Rice Krispie squares (they're supposed to be for my students, but I couldn't resist.....heh heh)

Thanks, PlanitV, for all the pictures! All of them look great, but I think Fumiko's dessert looked especially beautiful. Wish I was a judge that night! Tomorrow we bring you to Notte's Bon Ton, for those of you following the thread. I've already decided on the Diplomat cake--I believe this is one of their signature desserts, and it's apparently very highly regarded on this board! Really looking forward to it......

lotus seed pie (just think lotus seed mooncake, encased in thicker pastry)

I have The DaVinci Code and Angels and Demons. And I'm an English major. Oh my.

I think my non-Egullet friends are the ones voting Milestones for "Best Appetizers".....they go nuts over the spinach and artichoke dip. Our friend who recently moved to Australia recently visited with her Australian bf (his first time in Vancouver), and insisted that we eat at Milestones for their first meal so he could try the fantastic spinach and artichoke dip.

Your pictures belong in a cookbook, Lucy. Your first food blog is one of my favourites, and I'm so glad you're doing another one!

^I hope they were kind thoughts. I had to eat a very rare steak for breakfast after seeing your pictures, Lee.

I got lured over here my Ben's post in the Vancouver forum too! I'm only half Toisan; my mom's from Shanghai. My dad came over to Canada with his family when he was 9 or so, and his family owned two restaurants in Alberta that served burgers and steaks. My dad's mom babysat me when I was a kid, so I understand Toisan-wa quite well. Growing up, ham ha (the salted shrimp paste) and other Toisan specialities showed up on the dinner table once or twice a week. One of my favourite pastries is the ham siu gok--I used to always pick this at the Chinese bakery (Keefer's) in Chinatown after church!

^I've gotta get down to Columbus Meats this weekend! Your meal looked fantastic!

Yesterday: chestnut soup with extra virgin olive oil at Adesso Bistro Today: wild salmon sashimi

I've never liked celery very much. I remember the first time I tasted raw celery was during an open-house for kindergarten....I must've been 4 at the time. The teacher handed me a celery stick smeared with peanut butter and topped with raisins (ants on a log) and I courageously put it in my mouth. The taste-- BLEAH! It was just so stringy and watery....I didn't know what to do, so I just kept chewing and chewing until the open-house was over and finally spat it out at home. I had kept that celery in my mouth for over an hour because I didn't want to seem impolite and spit it out in front of my future teacher!

What a fantastic blog, Arne! I'm so sorry to see it end....

I eat at Samurai Sushi on Davie sometimes. It's cheap and the quality is decent. Go early or late though--this place is always packed! There was a line-up through the door and onto the sidewalk today.

I think I forgot to mention I ate at nevermind for a friend's birthday last week. I had a few glasses of wine and poutine. Then we had cheesecake, but that was from Costco. Yesterday: Adesso: I had the calamari, the chicken, and the apple fritters. My favourite was the chestnut soup with extra virgin olive oil.... So delicious! I want a pot of that soup. I enjoyed the wine pairings very much, particularly the Moscato D’asti and the Tommasi Ripasso. Lucy Mae Brown: thanks Sean, for feeding me my second dinner. We had 2 platters of food that included hummous, salami, chicken skewers, ceviche, roasted red peppers, olives, calamari, and bread. I drank a Debauchery "martini". I just got back from a quick dinner at a neighbourhood sushi place--Samurai was packed, unfortunately, and I couldn't bear to wait the 10-15 minutes for take-out, so we walked a bit further and found Downtown Sushi. I had the wild salmon, toro, and shared my bf's sushi rolls. The food was pretty disappointing....after a recent round of great Japanese food, I think my palate is spoiled.

What a cute picture of Tricia and her mom! (And Tricia, your mom looks soooooo young! ) And what a cute picture of J eating the waffles and the dogs looking on.... I can't wait for the pictures of the finished bbq'ed meat!

Your dinner sounds great (Morrocan carrots and polenta! ) but if you knew me a little better, you'd know that most of the cookies have long disappeared. I only have 2 or 3 left! But I'll bake some for you soon, if you come out for lunch with us one day!

This morning: 4 soft-scrambled eggs, coffee (this is my usual breakfast, so I won't be posting this anymore as it's rather boring!) Thursday night: rare sirloins, asparagus, and I baked 4 dozen chocolate chip oatmeal coconut cookies Wednesday night: I just had an omelette for dinner because my friends were coming over right after. Tuesday night: fried chicken livers, rice, and I baked 4 dozen chocolate chip cookies