VanEats

We have never stayed at or heard about the Arbutus House B&B and have absolutely no connection to them, but we are always grateful when we find people have linked to us via our referers log. Thanks for the link, Arbutus House!

After quickly perusing their site, however, it does look like a great place to stay. And the page that links to VanEats has an interesting collection of restaurants that are definitely worthwhile considering!

Barb had a craving for Filipino food today, so we went to Goldilocks Bake Shop today on Broadway (1606 West Broadway 604 736 7744). In addition to their famous baked goods and desserts popularized by the original Goldilocks chain in the Philippines, they also have a restaurant area that serves faithful renditions of all the Filipino classics. They have takeout as well.

UPDATE July 10, 2001: Don's current schedule can be found here.

At the East Van Farmers' market, last Saturday, we met up with Don Genova, host of Pacific Palate. He was selling bags of Duqqa. Duqqa is an ancient Arabic mixture of spices that can be used as a dip, a crust or as a spice. We sampled it by dipping some bread in olive oil and then in the Duqqa. It's absolutely delicious! We liked it so much that we ordered four bags of Duqqa for ourselves and for friends!

Last Saturday when we were at the East Van Farmers' Market, we bought some beautiful radishes which are now in season. They reminded me of a trip to San Francisco and my stay at a great bed and breakfast. For breakfast one morning, my hostess cut a deep slash into a fresh, glistening radish, filled it with a thick slice of butter and dipped it in coarse salt. She plonked it on my sideplate and proclaimed, "Now that's how to eat a radish!!" And it is! Try this for an unusual part of your French provencal breakfast or lunch.

For Kevin's brunch, I also made these sausage patties. You can use store bought ground pork, but we bought some pork shoulder butt steak and ground it ourselves, so that we could control how much fat we wanted in the sausages. Instead of pork, you could use ground chicken or turkey.

For Kevin's brunch last weekend, Ryan, one of our dance friends, made these wonderful chinese almond cookies. These were so beautiful and delicious that we weren't sure if he made them or bought them! Not only is Ryan a great dancer, he's a great baker!

This is my recipe for Sugar-Peppered Bacon that Roland mentioned yesterday. The brown sugar and black pepper caramelize into a sweet and spicy crust. I always serve this for Christmas brunch and for special brunch occasions, like Kevin's Send-off.