VanEats

Feeling burnt out at work? Are you looking for a career change? Are you passionate about food and cooking? Then culinary training might be for you!

Vancouver hosts a few cooking schools that are geared for the serious chef. One of them is the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts located just at the entrance of Granville Island.

This weekend at Whistler, Roland and I cooked dinner for 9 hungry skiers. We made a hearty meal with herb roasted chicken as our focal point. When John asked for the recipe, I suggested that it was similar to my roast turkey recipe, but I thought I should be more specific.

When I reviewed the Gourmet Warehouse earlier this month, I forgot to mention Caren's Cooking School that is on the premises of the Warehouse. Caren McSherry, who established the cooking school in 1978, teaches some of the classes and also has local guest chefs instructing.

I was just looking at some archived material by Stephen Wong (no relation!), a local food writer, when I came across this overview of the Philippine Table. Stephen gives a great overview of the history and evolution of Filippino cuisine. He talks about typical ingredients, and seasonings and flavours that make Filippino cuisine distinct. The recipes he gives also look interesting.

This story, The Million Dollar Nose, from the Atlantic (via Cabinet) about Robert Parker the straight-talking American wine critic is an excellent reminder that those of us who critique food and wine for fun and profit should not take ourselves so seriously! No one is entitled to a good review because of who they are or where they are from! Praise must be earned by the quality of the food or wine in question!

This weekend I made these chocolate and peanut butter cakes that were in January's Gourmet Magazine. The photo of these were irresistable and Roland is a big chocolate and peanut butter fan.

In winter, I love eating warm savoury dips with hearty bread or sturdy vegetable sticks. A few weeks ago, our friend Rebecca made this delicious hot artichoke dip. She served it with an assortment of breads and crackers and it was a hit! You can mix this up ahead of time and bake it just as your guests arrive.

It looks like we will take the foodies walking tour of Florence and perhaps a cooking lesson (if our budget permits) at Divina Cucina on our honeymoon after our tour. In the meantime, her foodies' guide to Florence is a tantalizing glimpse of what we will see on our Italian cooking lesson and restaurant tour!