Features

The days are getting longer and it's getting warmer...spring is just around the corner! Every year around this time I pick up a catalogue for West Coast Seeds. They specialize in seeds for growing organic vegetables, herbs and flowers that thrive on the west coast of Canada.

To call WCS's publication a catalogue is a bit of a misnomer...it's more of a gardening guide/handbook packed with all sorts of extremely helpful gardening tips, tools and supplies along with seeds. And this year, they're carrying a line of whole foods.

The Gourmet Warehouse is a foodie's shopping delight! They carry all sorts of interesting gourmet ingredients and cooking equipment at reasonable prices. Drop in for a gourmet shopping spree or do some virtual shopping online.

The Valentines Day hype has faded thank goodness but the memory of the delicious cookies that Barb made lives on. Check them out in this photo!

Love to Eat and Travel is a company and website that has "Travel & Dining Tips for Sales and Marketing Executives". One of their tips is Stuff 'n Bagels, a New York bagel shop that has "set the standard for the best tasting bagels in the New York area."

They ship to anywhere in the US, two dozen for $US 48 including next day shipping.

Mark Thursday, March 15 on your calendar...it's time for Dining Out For Life (Flash required, if you don't have the Flash plugin, click here). For this annual event, many local restaurants donate 25% of their proceeds to support programs working with people affected by AIDS.

There is a wide range of restaurants participating, so everyone will find something in their own neighbourhoods to suit their tastes and their budgets.

According to an article in Red Herring, MSG does not cause Chinese restaurant syndrome. It may actually be something else in Chinese food. Far from being bad, MSG actually simulates one of the fundamental human tastes, umami.

Not sure if I agree with this! But it's an interesting read.

50cups.com is a website run by an ex-vancouverite. It has Vancouver and Boston restaurant reviews and they recently pointed to us! Thanks!

At Granville Island today, we bought some Masaala Chai mix from The Spice Store. It is absolutely delicious; not too heavy on the cloves and fragrant with lots of cardamon.

We also sampled the chick pea curry made with one of their other mixes. That was yummy too; I loved the black chick peas that they used in addition to the regular ones!

The Spice Store is at Granville Island every other weekend. Check them out!

Happy Chinese New Year to you all! It is now the year of the Snake.

Barb and I celebrated with her parents and her friends Kerrie and Toni. Kerrie has been celebrating Chinese New Year with the Wong family for 10 years now!

We had the traditional Wong Chinese New Year meal of eight dishes: Buddha's feast, steamed broccoli, braised fish with green onion and ginger sauce, braised mushroom and hair moss with dried oysters, pork's tongue and feet, poached chicken, roast pork, and platter of preserved meats (duck, liver and Chinese sausage).

One of the weblogs that I visit every day is Andrea's Weblog. On Sunday she mentioned VanEats as a place for great recipes. Thanks, Andrea!

If you are interested in life from a German's perspective or just from the perspective of somebody who has something interesting to say, then please check out Andrea's Weblog. You won't be disappointed!