Hawaiian Wedding

Anna and Bryan got married! The chapel at the Grand Wailea was intimate and gorgeous, with lots of light streaming in through the stained glass windows. It ended up raining during the ceremony, but it cleared up in time for them to do photos afterwards and it made for a great sunset.

Rehearsal:

Wedding day: 

Yes, the guys valeted their u-haul at one of the fanciest hotels in Hawaii....

Spicy Simmered Eggs with Kale

This is my new favourite breakfast/brunch to make when I have the morning off. Very easy, very healthy. Eggs, kale, green onions, chicken broth, and some chili flakes. Simple.

Whistler Stagette

My friend Anna is getting married next month, so we girls thought it would be nice to have a weekend getaway in Whistler. It was a relaxing time, and Whistler was beautiful in the snow.

We had some fine dining at Araxi, where we each got oysters 5 ways. My main was scallops with chickpeas.

We had plans to go dancing afterwards, but we ended up hanging out in the hotel room instead, drinking leftover wine from the night before, while listening to 90's music. The funny thing was that we thought we were being old and lame, but then we got a knock on the door due to noise complaints! (This is the second time I've ever had a noise complaint against me, and the first time was when we watched Enchanted on tv too loudly...)

The best part of the weekend for me was Scandinave Spa. It's a few minutes drive away from the village, and it's fantastic. We got the massage package, which had a massage plus entrance to the baths. The massage itself was so-so, but the baths were worth it. I don't have any photos because it wasn't allowed, but the spa is set in the middle of the forest on the mountain. It was gorgeous - we were basically sitting in hot outdoor pools while the snow came down around us. I would definitely do it again, but without the massage.

Stuffed Sweet Dumpling Squash

This was really easy! Just bake the squash with a quinoa/onion/pistachio/date/cinnamon stuffing.

Hollyburn Peak

The day started off cold and overcast, so I bundled up with a t-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a thick hoodie, and a jacket, in anticipation for our hike on Cypress Mountain. I was certain it would be cold at the 1300 metre peak, since it was already chilly in the city at sea level. As we drove up the mountain and broke through the fog, however, the weather completely changed. We were surrounded with bright blue skies and not a cloud in sight, except for the ones underneath us.

I slowly shed my layers one by one, until I was left with just my t-shirt on. It was HOT, almost as if it was summer. I felt like a fool carrying all my extra layers in my backpack instead of leaving them in the car! 

The hike up Hollyburn Peak was beautiful and full of autumn colours. The peak gave panoramic views of all sorts of mountain ranges around us, including the Lions. The fog was like a sea underneath the mountain. As we drove back down, it felt like we were entering a completely different climate. We left summer, and I sadly had to put all my layers back on again as the sun disappeared behind the fog.

Ocean Perch, Shaved Fennel Salad, and Roasted Acorn Squash

One of the easiest, fastest, and relatively cheap fancy dinners we've made so far -
- Pan fried ocean perch ($7 for a whole fish, filleted by request at the fishmonger)
- Shaved fennel salad (from my CSA box) with sundried tomatoes ($3 for big jar)
- Roasted acorn squash (from my CSA box) with a chile vinaigrette (<$2 for chile, cilantro, and lime)

Total time: < 45 minutes

We had gone for a nice dinner at a restaurant in Nanaimo the night before, the restaurant being rated 4.5 stars on tripadvisor, but when Leonard asked me which meal I thought was better, I thought our home made meal was on par with the professional dinner! Tasty and simple.

Seattle Getaway

I had two days off, so Leonard and I went for an overnight getaway in Seattle. We were extremely lucky, as the weather held up in Seattle, while it rained buckets back home in Vancouver. We did the downtown thing - strolling through Pike Place market, shopping at Nordstrom, wandering through the superbly designed Seattle library (!). Oh yeah, and a homeless lady missed the sidewalk and spat on my hand and shirt instead as I walked by her, which was pretty gross.

We were prepared food-wise. We read up on Seattle mag's best restaurants, and chose our food carefully.

For dinner, we went to Capitol Hill for some good pub food at Quinn's. I had the crispy skin chicken breast and thigh confit with summer squash ragout. He had the wild boar sloppy joe. We were both very pleased.

Breakfast the next day was McDonald's with 2 for 1 egg mcmuffins, but lunch made up for that. After exploring the neighbourhoods of Ballard and Fremont , we went to Revel, a fusion Korean restaurant. We shared the corned lamb salad and dungeness crab in seaweed noodle. Yum!

Then we found the Fremont Troll under the bridge before heading back north.

An Island Weekend

Pam and I went to Vancouver Island for the weekend to visit our friend Kieran, who is doing his internship in a pharmacy at Qualicum Beach. We saw some goats on the roof at the Coombs Old Country Market,  went for a walk around some old-growth 800 year old trees at Cathedral Grove, and hung out at Kieran's oceanfront patio on Qualicum with some beers. We stayed in and had taco night at his place for dinner. It was a great idea, not only because it was fun and delicious, but also because it meant we were all settled in just in time for the 8pm showing of The Hobbit on his cable tv! (We promptly dozed off during the movie because we had gotten up at 6am and the bed was too comfortable.)