VanEats

Roland and I live in a townhouse community with some great food lovers. A few years ago we started having progressive dinners. Tonight's theme was small plates.

Heather and Andrew's (Spanish tapas):
-sauteed prawns and scallops with roasted pumpkin puree and spicy sauce
-Spanish beet salad
-olive bread with balsamic vinegar and olive oil for dipping

Barb and Roland's (local, seasonal):
-roasted kabocha and pear soup with homemade cracker sticks

In the Lower Mainland we are fortunate to be surrounded by rich agricultural land that produces food for our area as well as across Canada. Circle Farm Tours highlight some of the great food producers in the Fraser River area. The tours are self-guided and focus on a small region such as Abbotsford, Langley, Mission.

This past weekend I checked out the Agassiz-Harrison Mills Circle Farm Tour and made a few stops.

I am quite fond of many many things British and look back at my time in London in the 90s happily. So I love chatting with British people like Claire Clark, pastry chef to the Queen and now Head Pastry Chef at The French Laundry (our most popular story) and author of of Indulge 100 Perfect Desserts (a big "Vielen Dank" to Amanda of Whitecap Books for arranging this!).

Ken's Chinese Restaurant (1097 Kingsway, 604 873-6338) is a bright, cozy Hong Kong style eatery which means among many other yummy things Hong Kong-style

More info: Whitecap.ca's official The Definitive Canadian Wine and Cheese Cookbook page and Gurth's website. This video was recorded live without editing at Salt in Gastown on October 18, 2007.

Sorry about our two month summer pause!

Near Gassy Jack in Gastown, very close to the Salty Tongue,

Whitecap Books invited VanEats to the book signing at Marquis Wine Cellars last Saturday for Heidi Noble's http://www.whitecap.ca/search_individual.asp?isb