Ling

Siew loong bao is one of my favorite dim sum dishes. I believe So Che is quite famous for their siew loong bao because of the amount of 'juice' that's encased in the dumpling. The siew loong bao at the mediocre restaurants are much drier, with no warm gush of meaty juice when you bite into your dumpling.

I panfried this Farmer's sausage I got from the Oyama Sausage Co., and had a side of melted cheese over mushrooms. BTW: I love how some of you take pictures of your dinner.

I was in Granville island yesterday and noticed the huge line by Terra Breads bright and early at 9am. I walked by the stall and noticed they have a huge selection! I thought I'd ask for recs on some of your favorites before I splurge on a loaf though ($4+ bucks a loaf is pretty hefty when you're still in school. ) I've seen their breads at other gourmet groceries, but usually they only have a small selection. canadiancook mentioned that Heringer's in Steveston carries their bread--does anyone know how long the loaf stays fresh? And what are some of your other favorite breads available in the city? I'm partial to the asiago and olive ciabatta you can get at Urban Fare and Save-on-Foods. I can eat the whole loaf for lunch. I also like their crispy-crusted sourdough bread. Once, I wanted to buy 2 loaves but they were out, so they baked some fresh for me (took about 20 minutes? I guess the loaves were partially baked beforehand.) I ate it while it was still hot. Delicious. Ok I'll stop rambling now...

I'll have to look for Heringer's. I live only about a 10 minute walk from Steveston. :) Is it by any chance the store next to that Italian restaurant Papi's? Sometimes I see meat at the butcher shop that is labelled "previously frozen". In this case, would it just be better to buy from Save-on-Foods b/c it's cheaper? Or is the quality of the frozen meat still better at your local butcher?

Are there any good butcher shops in Richmond? I usually go to the one in the Seafair strip mall b/c it's close to my house, but I don't have much experience with buying meat from butcher shops and don't know what to look for.

Did you dip the pieces in strawberry jam or apple jelly before eating them? I wondered about that...it's not truly a monte cristo without it. Also, sometimes the finished sandwich is lightly dusted with powdered sugar, giving it a sweet-savory taste, a yin-yang of taste all in one. You're supposed to dip the Monte Cristo in JAM?!!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I only have a few minutes for dinner, so I open a can of salmon and just eat it after picking off the skin. I like the bones!

So Che on Alexandra Road is my favorite for Shanghainese dim sum. They have the best 'siew loong bao' (the round pork dumplings that come in the bamboo steamer). The restaurant's always really busy too.

I just polished off one of their big sticks of pepperoni for breakfast. Lunch and dinner will be same Farmer's sausage that Lumiere features on the menu.

Cru was pretty busy when I walked by Friday evening. (I had dinner at Memphis Blues.)

Sounds delicious. I think I saw the recipe in the archive. I'll make it this week. Does brocolli taste as good as cauliflower when roasted? I'm guessing it won't be as sweet.

89 cent 16 oz. black ceramic cup from Xcess Cargo

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie with Gingersnap crust http://food.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=10807 (I always double the cookie crumb/nut crust because that's my favorite part.) This has been in my recipe box for ages, but I haven't tried it yet. Looks good though! Pumpkin-pecan pie with whiskey butter sauce http://food.epicurious.com/run/recipe/view?id=104141

I made my first Monte Cristo sandwich because of that picture. I used a lot more egg though, and fried it in a pan. (I didn't know what a Monte Cristo was prior to this thread.)

Vancouver has fresh dragon beard candy during the summer night market season (June-late September). I've also seen little stalls selling it (also fresh) next to Asian supermarkets, but not very often. Some of my favorite asian desserts are flaky, fresh hot egg tarts, wor paeng, and baked tapioca pudding with lotus seed paste inside.

order whatever beverage you want, and you can come to whichever meetings you want. attendance is not mandatory.

Personally, I'd rather have the fat. I've known people whose cholesterol profiles (and, of course, weight) have significantly improved on Atkins, even with the higher fat intake. Fat satiates. Without the fat, you wind up eating more protein to fill up; excess protein is basically converted to carbs in the body. Not to mention the fact that fat is tasty, which is a Good Thing. Can't help you with dinner ideas, if you're doing the lowfat thing, but I'm sure somebody will have some suggestions. My idea of dinner is something like a juicy steak with buttered green beans and salad, or roasted chicken (with the skin) and gravy with buttered cauliflower, or... well, you get the idea. You know what? I think I've become an Atkins convert too. At least for the past 5 days. I don't have a lot of weight to lose, but I was up a good 8-9 lbs or so after Thanksgiving and Halloween (too many desserts, too much chocolate, and zero exercise ) I started Atkins on Sunday and I'm down a couple lbs already. Easiest weight I'd ever lost. I've been eating really well except for today--the stress of tomorrow's midterm made me eat twice the number of calories I'm used to, and I'm at about 45 grams of carbs today. Oh well. I'm going to try to stick to it for a few more days. I don't think I could do this forever though, nor would I want to. I just love good bread and desserts way too much. But I do intend on trying to incorporate Atkins into my eating habits perhaps 5 days out of the week. Then on the weekends, I can go out to eat with my friends/family and choose lower-carb food, but have bread and desserts in reasonable amounts too. Is there any benefit in that? I don't know much about Atkins other than the basics.

Here are the suggested places so far. Pipe up if I've missed something! And feel free to add to the list. -Feenie's -Harlow's -Red Onion -Templeton (I read somewhere that this place was good) -Roxy's -Vera's -White Spot Where else could we go? I think we should go to some of the diners too. I like the food at Joe's Grill on W. 4th, but I haven't had a burger there.

Ahh...Harlows! This must be the place I saw on Cambie as I was driving by. I couldn't remember the name of the place--only that they had something like "Gourmet Burgers" scrawled on their glass window. As far as offering opinions go, I think you should feel free to tell us about the burgers there. Coop told us about his experience with Moderne before we went and I don't think it colored anyone's judgment during tasting. That said, welcome to Burger Club! So is it OK with everyone if I set the date and time for Friday, November 14th at 7:30pm? And I believe most of us want to go to Red Onion first, is that right?

Cool...looking forward to meeting you two! What's Red Onion's fry dip like? I loved the dip at Moderne. If I were to go back (most likely will) I'd just order the big platter of fries and the dip.

Hi Mr. Cutlets, BC (up here in Canada) also has a Burger Club chapter. Have you sampled any of the burgers in Vancouver? If so, which places do you prefer? And how many burgers can you eat in one seating?

In Manhattan's East Village, if you stand at the cube, you can point to FOUR Starbucks without even turning around (OK one of them is hidden in the Barnes & Noble, but still). I wonder why they do this? There's also two Starbucks in Richmond (city next to Vancouver) separated by about 50 paces? One is situated inside a Chapters bookstore though.

I think my bf rated the burger at Moderne an 84. Then again, his idea of a day of gastronomic delight comprises of the Sausage and Egg McMuffin for breakfast, two Big Macs for lunch, and two Double Cheeseburgers for dinner. The first served with hashbrowns, and supersized fries for the burgers, of course.

On Robson Street (Vancouver) there are two Starbucks directly across the street from one another. I usually order the fraps (usually mocha), but lately I've been having to cut down on my spending and Starbucks is getting too expensive for me. I've tried a few of their coffees, but I prefer Murchie's. I find the Starbucks brownie frap really weird. I don't like chunkies in my drink. The Caramel Macchiato with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle was another favorite of mine--but I haven't had that in about a year! We have Green Tea fraps here too--I think it's only available in certain cities--and those are really popular.

I was wondering if anyone in Vancouver knows where I can buy the SF Da Vinci's syrup to use in coffee and other recipes? edit: Oops, nevermind. I just found out you can get it at JJ Bean.