Oh Canada!

I just took a look at my point and shoot camera.  There were 3000 pictures there that I have not shared with you.  Eons ago, my friend and colleague Christina and I attended an event at Cooking by the Book hosted by the Vancouver CVB.

I loved the centerpieces.  I’m digging these cabbage-y flowers lately.

 

They had some yummy cheese, veggie and pigs in a blanket appetizers.  My personal favorites.

Cheers!!The decor was simple yet really cool.  Just bookcases full of all different cook books.   I wanted to steal them all.  Then again – I don’t have nearly this many bookshelves.   There were cake books.And vegetarian books…And everything in between.I thought the kitchen was more hands on friendly than Rustico, but Rustico was a lot less intense and a tad friendlier in my opinion.   CbtB was much more about us actually doing the cooking, and I learned a lot – but I like that the vibe at Rustico is more laid back.   I think, however, if I went to Rustico for a cooking class rather than teambuilding I’d have a different experience.   I was at the potato/celery root table.   The potatoes were parboiled but we had to work on the celery root.It was so nice to have a super sharp chef knife.  I definitely have crap knives at home.   We diced them into chunks. until we filled the bowl.I typically don’t rice potatoes – but we did here.  It was…shall I say…annoying???Mmmmm. Butter.  Let the record show we used this whole thing!!!and also added chopped scallions.  Let the mashing commence.    We were done pretty early so then I wandered over to where Christina was and helped cook some crabcakes.  A little too much frisee.  I am not a frisee fan at all.Here is where the meal went south for me.  The main course was salmon.  I don’t like salmon but it sounded like a yummy presentation.  I took the teeniest of bites and realized I REALLY don’t like salmon. :)   I had a moment with the woman who runs the school where she was not happy that I don’t like salmon and kind of let me know it.  Well.  She was more unhappy that I didn’t tell her I didn’t like salmon.   I know that she simply wanted me to have food I enjoyed but I was really better off with bland food that night anyway.  And I tried.  I really did but salmon and me are not friends. Plus it didn’t help that it was right after I got over my stomach bug.  Which I finally told her about when she wouldn’t leave me alone.  The whole thing made me a tad uncomfortable.   But the overall experience was great and the celery root and veggies were delish.

All in all it was quite a lovely dinner and another place that I can put on my list for cooking classes (an early New Years resolution is to at least take 1 class next year).  I got a pair of Olympic mittens as a parting gift that I gave to Jen. 

So there you go.  A little blast from my recent past.  I’m trying to make myself go out and walk a bit on the treadmill now.  I think it’ll be good for my mental – not to mention physical – condition.

Hope you all are enjoying this holiday season. 

See you soon!