Tea according to Christopher Hitchens
January 19th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
Do I really need Christopher Hitchens to tell me how to make tea? Yes, it turns out I do.
After buying some high-end French Theodor tea that I squished into one of those spoon-type loose tea holders, I mused that something was not quite right with my method. The very next day, I hear the Hitch has written about the proper way to make tea.
I followed Hitch’s directions, which were really George Orwell’s, published in 1946, and sipped on my early afternoon brew. The tea was preceded by a salad of mango, avocado, and orange with bits of walnuts.
What did Bill Clinton say to the vegan?
October 26th, 2010 § Leave a Comment
Is that Daiya on your dress, or am I having a flashback?
Macleans called Daiya “fake cheese that’ll make vegans swoon.” And Bill Clinton, a newly converted plant-based eater, is swooning over his 24-pound weight loss. He says he feels great since adapting to a plant-based diet, with a little fish now and again.
I was sceptical that I could ever love a vegan Caesar salad or a vegan nacho dish, but dining out with Earthsave’s Vancouver Meatless Meetup group, proved me wrong. I loved both the Caesar and the nachos.
Located on the upper eastside of Vancouver, the Eat, Drink and Perch at the Arc Café is an oddly shaped café with a balcony holding about six or seven tiny tables that seat three people each. Nice and cosy for a private party like ours. The balcony overlooks the bar and tables downstairs. This café on Powell Street, owned by the Wallflower on Main, caters to vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free dieters. But, it also offers meat.
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A Meatless Monday
October 26th, 2009 § 1 Comment
With Monday around the corner, I thought of Meatless Mondays, a promotion by Earthsave to get us away from eating meat. In the spirit of Meatless Monday, I got out my vegetarian cookbook and found a recipe for filo filled with vegetables and feta and a little pesto.
I’ve never bought or used filo pastry before. Instead of following the directions on the Krinoz box, which says to thaw first, I pulled the filo box right from the freezer. Of course, filo doesn’t work frozen — it broke off in small pieces. Even when thawed, it appears to be a tricky thing and needs to be covered with a damp cloth so it won’t dry out while preparing the recipe.
I managed to make my recipe with the small pieces of filo. Mmm, good. Certainly worth the hassle. I’ll use the leftover filo to make apple strudel from the recipe on the box or maybe a spinach and feta filo. There’s lots of great filo recipes including the one pictured: Filo and Apricot Purses.
Resources
- See a happy cow at I Want to Hold Your Hand
- Recipe for Sweet Potato-Peanut Butter Bisque
Blues and whips
August 9th, 2008 § 2 Comments
Last week or so, I took a friend to the Cottage Bistro, a live music restaurant on Main Street, Vancouver, for a birthday dinner. The website indicated a motorbike event, so I called ahead to confirm the time and type of music. I was two months late with this dinner invite, so we decided to go ahead with our plans.
At the Cottage Bistro, I ordered the buffalo burger and my companion chose fish and chips. I don’t know how the venue managed to blow preparing rather simple food, but the food was a disappointment. And instead of blues, there was a heavy rock band. In such a small venue, the sound blasted me and my companion out of our seats and into the street. We passed a long line of patrons buying beer, and outside, parked motorcycles lined the street for a block or two.
