Month: January 2009

New Year’s Eve Downtown

Mack left it up to me to decide whether or not we would join the freezing masses gathered in Churchill Square on New Year’s Eve, and though the -30 weather could have easily swayed me the other way, the fireworks won out.

We took advantage of the free public transit offered that night, hopping on a bus that dropped us off a block away from the action. We wove our way through the packed square, grateful for the hopping Caribbean tunes that kept us stepping to the beat, in an effort to bring the feeling back into our toes. As we sipped the hot chocolate that we had brought along, we couldn’t imagine how cold some of the people around us probably were – the twenty minutes we had to wait for the show to begin were unbearable.

The promised fireworks began just before the crowd was finished counting down to midnight, rising into the air just above City Hall’s majestic pyramid. Green and gold fireworks were prominent, as the show was partly to commemorate the University’s centennial, but someone has to explain to me how and why seemingly random country songs were chosen as the musical accompaniment. I was hoping for a choreographed and musically-timed display similar to the one used to celebrate the holiday light-up, so this show was a bit of a letdown. Moreover, the advertised ten minutes became a seven-minute wonder in reality. Mack captured some of the fireworks on his Flip (I have to admit, the show looks better from where I’m sitting right now, mostly because I’m warm).

One of the photos I took that was slightly less blurry than the others

In the end, it was much too cold for me to enjoy the fireworks – I think I learned my lesson, and my threshold for winter fun.

Culinary Q & A with Diane Begin-Croft

Occupation: PR

What did you eat today?

Nothing yet, just Orangina.

What do you never eat?

Salmon, sardines, oysters, Kinder Surprise and white chocolate (none of the above are actually chocolate)

 

What is your personal specialty?

Sweet & sour spare ribs. Actually it’s my mom’s recipe, but it’s a big hit especially with plain rice.

What is your favorite kitchen item?

Chopper (hand or electric) to make fresh salsa. I just hate cleaning it. My one cup coffee maker also ranks quite high.

World ends tomorrow. Describe your last meal.

For sure I’d have gazpacho with croutons and tiny cubes of veges, beef tataki, beef carpaccio, a nice salad with misonaise dressing and the rest would probably be Mexican food, like a whole buffet when you go to a resort. I never eat this much, but what if the end is delayed…

Where do you eat out most frequently?

At work, in the NAIT Common Market or Bytes, just because it’s there. If I were to venture out somewhere I’d have a chicken Texas BBQ Ranch wrap with noodles at Badass Jacks.

What’s the best place to eat in Edmonton?

Just outside of Edmonton, there’s a restaurant in St. Albert called The Cajun House. It’s my favourite place to go because it’s cozy and the food is fantastic. Ernest’s Dining Room at NAIT for the Friday lunch buffet is also one of my favourites, when we can get in.

If you weren’t limited by geography, where and what would you eat?

I was going to say Paris for the cheese, but I think I’d probably go to the south of Spain to have some gazpacho and yummy tapas. Restaurants typically open at 9pm for dinner, which works great for my night owl schedule. (then I’d go to Paris for breakfast)

Food Notes for January 5, 2009

…starting the year with dated food notes, to make them easier to distinguish when archived.

  • Sabor Divino (109, 10220 103 Street), the new Portuguese restaurant on the Boardwalk is now open.
  • According to the link Mack sent me, The Cupcake Bakeshoppe & Cafe (17298 Stony Plain Road) will be “changing [their] name and appearance.” Keep an eye out on  their website for details.
  • Pita the Great (3, 10141 34 Avenue) has now become Alsalam Bakery & Restaurant.
  • Something I totally missed from about a month ago – Good Earth Produce closed their two locations in early December. I was wondering what happened after I passed it a few weeks back and saw the windows at their downtown location papered up.
  • Julie van Rosendaal’s last “day in her kitchen” post came a few days ago, but it seems she will continue, to the delight of her readers (and to her husband’s dismay, heh).
  • Jennifer Causey, the woman behind simply breakfast, a beautiful “art of breakfast” photo blog, has decided to end her blog. She will continue to post here, expanding beyond her morning meal.
  • An interesting read from the NYT about the five stages in which an ingredient passes through to become mainstream.
  • I couldn’t find a solid 2009 trends article that I liked, but this one from Epicurious is a quick read, and echoes most of the “common sense” projections one would guess.
  • I tried the new London Fog TAZO Tea Latte (a grande for $4.15) this weekend – it tasted like a creamier, sweeter version of a tea latte I had at Vancouver’s Blenz, with an aftertaste I can never seem to shake when it comes to Earl Grey tea.

 

“Tea Time” at Starbucks

  • Mack and I met Tom at Bourbon Street for lunch last week, and ended up at Moxie’s. I haven’t been to the chain in a while, so most of the menu seemed new to me. I ordered the Tandoori Chicken Pizza ($13.99) – the crust was a tad too hard and the chicken a touch dry, but I liked the mildly spicy curry sauce used. The boys ordered the Big Life Fish & Chips ($12.99), and both liked it. My biggest disappointment was with the service that afternoon – our server completely disappeared after taking our order. Our food finally arrived after an over thirty minute wait; I expected at least a cursory “thanks for being patient” check-in from the waiter. I guess that was too much to ask for.

 

Tandoori Chicken Pizza

 

Big Life Fish & Chips

The Cooking Chronicles: Cheese Fondue

After our successful experiment with chocolate fondue earlier in the year, Annie, May, Janice and I met up again to try our hand with the warm-weather appropriate cheese fondue.

Janice hosted the event this time around, searched out a recipe, and did most of the heavy-lifting with ingredients, roasting a number of vegetables which were ready by the time the rest of us showed up. We did all contribute in one way or another though, either bringing wine, the cheese, or additional ingredients to be dipped, so it felt like a team effort in many ways.

Once everyone had arrived, we got started melting the grated Swiss gruyere into the simmering white wine. The mixture thickened nicely once all of the cheese had been added, and we transferred them into two small fondue pots placed at both ends of the table. The spread included the requisite vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, zucchini and mushrooms, among others), bread, garlic sausage, nacho chips (for “gourmet” nachos), and fruit for dessert.

 Annie uncorking the wine

Janice at the stove

The spread

We found rather quickly that the nearly two cups of wine the recipe called to was way too much – the fondue mixture reeked of wine, so much so that the flavour overpowered anything we dipped. Still, fondue was a great way to catch up with everyone, as we casually worked our way through the food on the table. The roasted potatoes and garlic sausage ended up being my favourite things to dip.

At the table

Me and May

It was great that all of the vegetables had been either blanched or roasted, as it allowed us to enjoy them without cheese adornment as well (“raw” would have been fine, but as with most vegetables, they taste better roasted).

 Janice shows what is left of the cheese

Thanks again Janice for hosting! Cheese fondue is a great winter treat, though next time, we will be definitely be mindful of the amount of alcohol we should be adding.

“The Art of the Brick” at the Telus World of Science

“The Art of the Brick” is the newest exhibit at the Telus World of Science, showcasing larger-than-life art sculptures built entirely of LEGO blocks by artist Nathan Sawaya. I knew Mack, being the LEGO fan that he is, would love to visit the exhibit, so we planned a trip there on his birthday.

We arrived a bit later than we anticipated, with just over an hour left to explore the galleries. For this late arrival, we were granted a small discount. We headed straight to the Explorer Gallery, and were greeted by a roomful of colorful displays – some freestanding, some hung on the wall like art, and some needing reinforcement from the wall or ceiling. The spot lighting (probably left over from the Body Worlds exhibit) really made the colors pop.

A one-page guide with the name of each sculpture is available, though it probably would have been more helpful if the installation had been treated more like an art exhibit. Helpful to know on a small mounted placard next to the sculpture would have been the name, number of LEGO blocks used, and perhaps the inspiration behind the piece (for example, of the LEGO picture of Lindsay Lohan).

Guide

The exhibit was nonetheless visually appealing, especially for the child in us. I liked the sheer size of the dinosaur, but the men made of a single color, posed in a look of frozen agony, were the most striking. “The Eye”, a box containing small 3-D figures which, when glanced at from a distance, bore the image of a single eye. This demonstrated a more advanced use of planning – I hope this is the direction Sawaya goes in.

Yellow

Hands

Grey

Me and Dinosaur

Mack and buddies Circle, Triangle, Square

Our only disappointment from the exhibit was that a number of sculptures would be added in January 2009; we thought such omissions should be clear up front.

Shielded behind a curtain was a play area for adults and children alike – Megablocks for those under the age of five, and smaller, regular LEGO blocks for those older. A “City of the Future”, built entirely in “French-fry yellow”, as I heard an attendant describe it, lined the back wall. Patrons were invited to add their own imaginative creations to the city, so Mack and I sat down to create…something.

That’s the real beauty of LEGO, in my opinion anyway. There are no rules, and you do not need a plan prior to approaching the stackable blocks – something will come of it. In the end, Mack and I combined our creations to form a vehicle of sorts, complete with headlights and four wheels. We placed it on what looked to be a roadway, and left the gallery.

Future City

Mack hard at work

Our vehicular contribution

It’s too cool that someone has made a living playing with LEGO blocks. Sawaya also caters to requests, as described on his website, and on a fee-for-service basis, can create a personalized sculpture for you. “The Art of the Brick” is a cool exhibit for both adults and children alike, but wait until January 2009 to attend to make the most of your money.

We didn’t have a lot of time to check out the other galleries, but did take some time to peek at Mystery Avenue, probably my favorite of the permanent exhibits. If we had more time, I wouldn’t have minded actually solving the mystery of the abducted dog, CSI-style.

Mack on what he wishes was the Batpod

I am happy to report that the Telus World of Science isn’t just for kids – the young at heart will also have a great time there. Mack’s photoset is here.

Culinary Highlights: 2008 Edition

Though I didn’t get away to far-flung food havens in 2008 (compared with my travel-filled 2007), I still had a great year, continuing to explore the culinary scene in Edmonton and beyond.

So again, in no particular order, here are a few of my culinary highlights from the past year.

 

My first experience with foie gras at Characters (in paté form, unfortunately)

 

I heart the brioche bread course at Wildflower

 

Warm Chocolate Cake from the Red Ox Inn

  • Continuing to be thoroughly impressed by the dining scenes in Calgary and Vancouver.

 

Duck Confit and Steak Sandwiches from Calgary’s JAROBlue

 

Montreal Smoked Meat Omelette from Calgary’s Galaxie Diner

 

Divine Butternut Squash Ravioli from Vancouver’s Cactus Club Bentall 5

Vancouver’s Vij’s famous Lamb Popsicles

 

Me and Amanda in The Cocoa Room

Roasting gradient example at Transcend

  • Experimenting in the kitchen much more than I expected, and throwing my first-ever dessert party in the spring and a housewarming party for Mack and Kim in the fall.

 

Melting Moments (one of the five desserts we served)

 

Apple-Cheddar Turkey Burgers (slider-versions served at the housewarming)

  • Contributing to FoodTV and to Vue Weekly, in the process getting the opportunity to meet some of Edmonton’s upstart chefs and restauranteurs.

Margherita Flatbread at Devlin’s (Executive Chef Sebastian Lysz, the focus of my first published piece)

 

TASTE! of Summer at St. Albert Grain Elevator Park

Here’s to an even better 2009!