So, how did everyone’s week go last week. Well, it was cold and rainy in Vancouver but it sure is shaping up just nicely for the weekend isn’t it?
A Taste of Community Kitchen
The Richmond Community Kitchen has an event coming up called “A taste of Community Kitchen”. The details are as follows:
A Taste of Community Kitchen
Date: June 8, 2010 Tuesday
Time: 10 am to 12 pm
Place: South Arm Community Centre, 8880 Williams Road, Richmond
Cost: $5
Call 604 718 8060 to register.
Come see what a Seniors’ community kitchen is all about! They will be cooking and eating together. A nutritionist will also lead an interactive workshop on healthy eating. Don’t miss the fun and the food.
Just to whet your appetite, here are some things they will be doing:
- Red Pepper and Almond Dip
- Organic Green Tea Rice Paper Rolls
- Mixed Grain Pancakes
- Wheat Flour Tortillas with Black Bean Dip
- Avacado Yogurt Sauce
- Babaga-Hummus Dip
- Beet and Carrot Dip
About Travels
For Suanne and I, we got a lot of things out of the way and somethings on the roll. For one, I finally got that Chicago series out of the way. It was two summers late but at least I got that done and gotten the monkey off my shoulders. LOL! One thing I did learn writing that Chicago series. Most of you does not like travel stories a lot. Some did step up and tell us they love it though and that was good enough for me.
Oh talking about Travel related blogs. I came across a very engrossing blog I thought a lot of you will enjoy reading. It is written by Daniel Fischer from San Francisco about his travels in Asia. I was fascinated by his writing and I think some of you would too. His site is called El Raton Colorao.
Closer home. I love following the travels of Novi on her blog, Novi on the Go. Novi has such keen eyes and captures the life of the people in such detail. I felt I was there with her on the vacation. Oh yeah, both the blogs are about travels to China. That sort of show where I hope to visit next.
So … the vacation season is coming up fast. Have you decided where you are going this year? Sigh. For us, we have not decided yet and we don’t have much option available. I’ll figure out something.
$60 Cup of Coffee …
And by the time you read this, we should have finally savored the Kopi Luwak. So that’s it; one more event that we wanted to do executed and completed. And I would be able to put a check against the “Cat Poop Coffee” item on my bucket list.
[Patting myself on the back] … I must be pretty good at predicting the number of people who would respond. I predicted 12 people and guess what … we have 13 people. Pretty good, huh?
So what is next? It is the …
The Extreme Dim Sum and A Little Secret Dish
Oh yeah. This little project is very much back on track too. And the beauty is, we have managed to arrange for a really special event for Friends of Chowtimes.
As a segway, we are gonna call you all Friends of Chowtimes going forward. That sounds better than “Chowtimes readers” doesn’t it? I borrowed this term from the group called Friends of Foo’s Ho Ho.
The above, dear Friends of Chowtimes is the … secret dish. Suanne and I tried it last night and it was fantastic. We are so excited over this. The thing is, it is not going to be easy to find this wildly Shanghainese popular dish in Vancouver. A restaurant tried to make it but gave up offering it as regular item. But for Friends of Chowtimes you will be given the chance to try it. At this time, I won’t take the lid off this dish but some smart ones would be able to guess what it is.
Besides the secret dish, there are a number of carefully thought out extreme dim sum (XDS) items. Understanding XDS is not for everyone, it will not be of the ghastly variety. Au contraire. It will be more of EXTRAORDINARY dim sum that will appeal to everyone. So, for quality control, the 8GTCC team will be the guinea pigs to taste and provide feedback to the restaurant on them so that the restaurant can fine tune it. By the time the extreme dim sum and the secret dish lands in front of you in the table, we hope you will love it.
But wait, there are more! This restaurant will be hosting this event especially for Friends of Chowtimes. And you will be the first to try this before they are offered to the public. And then the beauty is also … it will be really cheap, only for this event. I will provide more info next week but for now, pencil in the words “XDS” on Saturday, June 26th on your calendar.
Lastly …
Sushi Popper. I thought it is kind of funny.
I came across it on this site. The site said:
Each Sushi Popper includes eight pieces of precut sushi and a bit of wasabi wrapped inside an airtight tube. After opening the top of the tube, diners can add soy sauce from a small stick affixed to the packaging, and grab their first piece of fish. They reach the next piece by pushing up on the bottom of the tube.
Sushi Poopers are delivered frozen and have to be thawed for an hour or two before consumption. They can be ordered directly online and come in a variety of popular flavors like ‘Mystery Fish’, ‘Improperly Handled Seafood’, ‘Food Poisoning’ and ‘Great, Now I Feel Bloated and Gassy’. *licking lips*.
Interesting, huh?
That’s all for this week. The sun is trying to break through the clouds today. I hope it will be a wonderful weekend here in Vancouver because am going to spend more time outdoors.
Have a great week … and … eat well.
I like the term Friends of Chowtimes. Although for me I can probably be called a Chowtimes Fanatic. 🙂 Do you know that Chowtimes is my default web browser start-up page? No kidding!!
Hi Crispy Lechon: Did you attend the very first chowtimes dinner at the Chiu Chow restaurant a few years ago? JS and TS reminded me you were there but for the life of me I can’t remember — it was so long ago!
Ben
I did ask TS to keep my identity confidential. I’m the shy type. LOL.
Oh dear. I am sorry for mentioning this. No worries though. The dinner was so long ago that I can only very very vaguely recall how you looked like. So, I take that the “LOL” at the end of your comment means you’re cool? 🙂
For the record, I didn’t mention your name. I assumed Ben knew who you were as you two had met before, during that dinner.
Hi TS and Ben, no worries. Its not a big deal. I think I mentioned to TS in my email that the reason I like to remain anonymous is because I sometimes make scathing comments on the restaurant posts. And of course I’m really the shy type too. 🙂
Ah … it’s all coming back to me now clearly after putting two and two together. Crispy Lechon, you have been outed! It’s been a long while … you got to surface sometime. LOL! No, your secret is safe with me. I am just kidding.
Ben
Oh no. I need to come up with a new handle. Hmmm Pinoy Foodie sounds good although it’s quite close to Pinoy Gourmet. Hmmm…
Is there any room for 1 or 2 pescetarians at the XDS? We arrive in Vancouver for our annual vacation on Friday, 6/25. I had been hoping that there would be a Chowtimes event during our stay, and this looks like it. Btw, a pescetarian is a vegetarian who eats seafood, but not marine mammals like Flipper. So as long as the XDS isn’t too heavy in the pickled ostrich feet and mountain oysters I am interested and perhaps my husband as well.
Hi Maggie: O dear. I am afraid the Extreme Dim Sum will still be very much meat based. We will be finalizing the menu after June 12th and will let you know what will be included so you can let us know if that works for you.
Ben
Sigh! I had been hoping there would be a decent number of seafood dim sum. Regretfully, my husband and I have been pescetarians long enough that our bodies have lost the digestive enzymes for meat. In effect, we have become allergic to meat, especially red meat. I’m sure you think that it is a terrible tragedy for that to happen, but at this point in our lives, it isn’t worth the effort to redevelop those enzymes. It will be interesting to look at the menu, though. Thank you for coordinating these wonderful dining events.
Hi Ben
Please add Tim & I to the list for XDS! After cat poop coffee I’ll try anything….Thanks for organizing all these great eating opportunities.
So that mean I can count you in for Kangaroo burgers this Summer!!Ben count me in also.In the meantime busy looking for all sorts of game……
“Guinea Pigs” ?!? Dang I knew there was a catch when I signed up for the job …..
Ben,
It’s been a long time ! Please add Laurene, Tyler and myself to the list. Would love to see you and Suanne again ! All the best !
Sounds good, Ben.
I’d like to come.
Arvind and I would love to join also…:-). And I think I’ll be able to round up several more foodies as well.
Hi Crispy Lechon
Regarding a new handle,I dont think you should change yours,It s a unique one,Imagine If I was Crispy Pata….
Hi Ben, Suanne, Thank you for being such great fans of my blog! It’s interesting to visit El Raton Colorao especially the post on Taiwanese food, I hope to visit Taiwan some day and heard the scenery there is beautiful too. Now I wonder which part of China you’d visit…
Btw, Prince Chinese Seafood makes great seafood dim sum, located on 2881 Grandview Highway in Vancouver, see menu at http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/14/181446/restaurant/Renfrew-Collingwood/Prince-Chinese-Seafood-Vancouver
We like are prawn dumplings, prawn spring rolls, rice flour rolls with fish fillet and sticky rice wraps with dried scallops. There’s usually a line-up around lunch time so we go before or after, they open at 9:30 AM.
Novi
Hi Novi:
There are so many places we wanted to visit in China and it is such a vast country. For sure, we would want to visit the historical sites. Xian, Beijing and Shanghai is at the top on our list. We wanted to go last summer but ended in Spain instead because we were quite worried about safety travelling on our own. Seems like it is not so much an issue from the experience you described on your blog.
Ben