Great Coffee In Vancouver

I know I should probably NOT be advertising another coffee company's brand, but whenever I'm close to an Artigiano's location I make a point to stop in for a great Americano or French Press. I can't help it - hope you do the same sometime! Quaint, great service, welcoming atmosphere, appropriate food offerings, and delicious coffee!

More Olympics!

Something I loved to do almost daily during the Olympics was visit the Cauldron down on the waterfront. I was very depressed the day they put it out.

Gold rings means Canadian gold medal!

One afternoon a friend and I decided to go for a walk through Stanley Park to visit the Olympic rings out on their barge in the harbor. Needless to say, it didn't look as far as it was and we ended up walking about ten kilometers round trip! Totally worth it, however, despite the gray weather and the threat of rain. It made for some great photos...

Downtown on Robson Street was chaos once the games were on!

Urban Fare

When I was at the Olympics I did my shopping at this great market that I found in the new Shangri La building in Vancouver. It's the tallest building in the city now, home to celebrities, Burberry, and the Urban Fare Market.

It includes a full bakery/pastry department, deli, salad bar, and Thomas Haas Chocolaterie. It was just a really pretty store to shop in!

My New Love

Okay, so I've always been terrified of making crepes. I'm not sure why, but up until now, I haven't even attempted making them. I thought you had to have a special pan - not entirely true.

I've always liked crepes, usually sweet ones with lots of fruit and whipped cream. One time in Calgary, my BFF and I went to an eclectic little restaurant only serving crepes. We were very excited, Sunday morning, and then the waitress called them creeps. Ugh. We felt a little less classy at the time, but the joke still keeps on giving...

One of my almost daily staples in Vancouver is Cafe Crepe - they're all over the city, a walk-up crepe kiosk, if you will, with every yummy flavor you could want, savory or sweet.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when one of my favorite bloggers, Christine, of Fresh Local and Best posted a very simple crepe recipe from her recent trip to France. I took it as a sign and what happened next is very dangerous. I now know how to make crepes. This recipe does not call for vanilla, but I will add it next time.

Basic Crepes

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

Pinch of salt

4 tbsp. melted butter

To make batter, whisk eggs in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk in flour until blended. Pour in milk, a quarter cup at a time, so that the batter is smooth. Add salt and 2 tablespoons of the melted butter. Whisk until smooth.

Place a frying pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, brush melted butter onto the entire surface of the pan. When you are ready to ladle the batter onto the pan, pick up the pan, have it tilted at about a 30 degree angle. Ladle about a quarter of a cup of batter onto the tilted pan. Continue to tilt the pan in a circular motion to spread the batter evenly.

Allow the crepe to cook for roughly two minutes. Use a plastic spatula to loosen the edges of the crepe. When the crepe looks ready, peel it off the skillet and flip it over. Brown the second side for roughly a minute.

My very first crepe!!

I brushed melted butter and sprinkled with sweetened coconut flakes.

Strawberry jam - yum!

An Hour and Twenty Minutes for a Hot Dog!

I don't know if you've heard about Japadog, but it's kind of a big deal in Vancouver! After a mention on the NBC Today Show during the Olympics they became an even bigger deal, and after promising my friend visiting Vancouver his first trip to Japadog, I stood in line for well over an hour for my dog.

Fortunately, these dogs are fantastic, unique because they're topped with traditional Japanese fixings, and suggested accompaniments that include edamame. I ordered one of my favorites, the Beef Terimayo, which is a beef smokie, Japanese mayo, teriyaki sauce, grilled onions, and nori.

I wish I had one now!

The Opening Ceremonies!

Today I will share my photographs of my night at the Opening Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympic games! Wow, what an incredible energy! Just walking up to BC Place was so exciting!

Please excuse the photo quality, some photos are from my iphone, some from my camera, but it was very dark inside, with constant movement and it was difficult to capture everything. I'm posting some of my favorite memories from the evening, including several photos of athletes, but really, it's all about them! I hope you enjoyed the show as much as I did.

Waiting to get through security (in the rain!).

My Dad waited for the clock to count down at the Art Gallery.

Mounties raising the Canadian flag to start the ceremonies.

The start of the athletes' arrival.

Finland

France

Great Britain

United States

Canada! The audience exploded with their arrival!

Northern Lights

Totem Poles

Rainforest

Rocky Mountains

K.D. Lang's breathtaking performance.

Finally the torch! Paralympic medalist Rick Hansen arrives.

The final hand-off to Wayne Greztky!

Ready to light the now famous malfunctioning cauldron.

So BEAUTIFUL!

Time to relax! Athletes starting to leave the building.

One of my favorites! US athletes making snow angels in the artificial snow!

This Canadian athlete (center) "flagged" down these two fans for a photo!

Cupcakes in Vancouver!

The next time you're in the Vancouver area, be sure to check out Cupcakes by Heather and Lori. They have a few locations, which you can add to your travel plans, check out their website here to find a location convenient to your route.

I frequented the store on Robson and Thurlow downtown, and by frequented, I mean I went there everyday and ate cupcakes. My definite favorite had to be Diva, rich chocolate cake with hot pink vanilla buttercream and sprinkles. I also tried (and loved!) Mint Condition (chocolate cake with mint buttercream and mini chocolate chips), Versace (vanilla-chocolate marble cake with chocolate butterbream), and Snowball (coconut cake with cream cheese frosting and shredded coconut). I have to be honest and say I did not love Lemon Drop (lemon cake with lemon buttercream), which tasted to me a little like lemon candy, while I definitely prefer natural lemon flavor to artificial extract flavor.

With two Starbucks stores conveniently located kitty corner to each other in the same intersection, I had a serious problem on my hands!

Along with the obvious, cupcakes big (and I mean REALLY big!) and small, Cupcakes sells cute sustainable shopping bags, funky birthday candles, and cute charms for cupcake toppers. A really cool thing, hand sanitizer on the counter for their customers!

One kinda negative was that I absolutely received better service during the daytime hours than in the evenings, but a huge positive was that the cupcakes were fresh all hours of operation, they were obviously baking all day (yes, I said I went there A LOT).

Along with regular and miniature cupcakes, they do one called The Big One, which is huge, more like a mini cake. Fortunately I was able to resist purchasing one (I didn't see a Diva, however, or I may have been in trouble). They also do cakes to order!