A Canadian Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving here in Canada, and despite not celebrating it while growing up, it has become one of my favourite holidays. This is, of course, because of the food, and the fact that it is the only time of year that I ever feel like making a big holiday dinner.

As usual, our Thanksgiving was small and celebrated on the Sunday, not the holiday Monday; we invited only a couple of friends (I find making things small greatly alleviates any stress). Strangely, this year was one of  the most relaxing cooking experiences I've ever had for a holiday dinner, partly because I did a lot of cooking before hand.

Sigh. There is something so wonderful about feasting.

We tried the Cheesecloth method of roasting turkey this time, after being inspired by a show on the Food Network.  It's pretty simple:  you soak cheesecloth in a mixture of melted butter and wine, cover it over the turkey, and bake away.  I didn't have any white wine, so we used Apricot ale instead.  The turkey turned out pretty well, with really nice, crispy skin.

Here's the plate: turkey, mash, turkey & ale gravy, ginger & carrot glazed carrot, roasted sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts with bacon & Italian parsley, stuffing with walnut & apple, and homemade cranberry sauce (SO much better than the canned, I promise).

Top that with pumpkin pie, and we were golden.

Hope you Canadians had a great day yesterday!

Acme Cafe

On one of our rare sunny days, I took Shane to Acme Cafe, which has been open for only a few months. Because I work nearby, I had been there 3 or 4 times before, but it was Shane's first visit. The look of the place is wonderful - it has a feel of a 1950's diner, but is distinctly modern in its colour, lines, and minimalist decor. There are booths, window bar seats, and a horseshoe-shaped counter top.

Shane ordered the Crock Pot Feature ($12.50), which that day consisted of a beef stew. This was served with a green salad and a bun. The stew looked lovely and hearty, with potatoes, carrots, and onion, and it was very filling. However, the meat was a little tough and the seasoning needed to be tweaked. It definitely could have done with more slow cooking. The bun was nondescript. The salad, on the other hand, was delightful: fresh, crisp, and with a nice balsamic dressing.


Having had sandwiches at the cafe previous times with mixed results, I opted for the Chicken Pot Pie ($12.50).  The pastry dome that covered the bowl was a sight to behold.  The crust was flaky and very fun to crack. However, the contents of the pot pie was a little less successful; the interior was more soupy than stew-like, and like the beef dish, this also benefited from a healthy shake of salt and pepper.


Having eyed the baked goods and desserts on our way to our table, we could not resist one of their fabulous pies. Apparently, each flavour is different everyday. On this particular day, one of the choices was a peanut butter pie.

The slice of pie, to put it simply, was a work of art.  The crust was delectably flaky, on top of which was a potent layer of crunchy peanut butter, a rich custard-like layer, and a creamy layer of sweetened whipped cream. This pie was heavenly, and very unusual, with a distinct peanut buttery sweetness.

Come to Acme, if only for the pie. Despite the average food, we would definitely return  - for the baked goods and dessert!

Introducing Mr. Sexsmith

Anyone love Ron Sexsmith? If not, you should. He is probably one of the most talented contemporary singer-songwriters out there. His songs are sensitive, subtle, and all about the complexities of emotion. Plus, he is Canadian and has a wonderful, clear, sincere voice and delivery.

This weekend we saw the documentary 'Love Shines.', which had its premiere at the VIFF on Friday. Apparently the filmmakers followed Ron for seven years and this is the result. The film is fantastic - you get a real sense of Ron, and you glimpse into the artistic process and recording process quite a bit. It's really, really good, even for people who have never heard of Ron Sexsmith, I expect. The last showing is on October 15, and then it will be doing rounds on the film festival circuit before appearing on TV.

The wonderful thing about the show is that Ron and Douglas Arrowsmith, the filmmaker, appeared at the end of the screening for a Q&A. I was a little giddy!

Here are a couple of really bad shots from the balcony, where we were sitting. (Douglas Arrowsmith is on the left and Ron Sexsmith is in the centre.)

Art of the Everyday: Song Dong & Robert Adrian

Last week we went downtown and renewed our membership to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Then, we took a look at a few of the exhibitions that were currently on: Song Dong's 'Waste Not' and a group exhibit called 'Everything Everyday'. Exhibits at the VAG are usually hit or miss for me, but these group of exhibits made it the most wonderful Vancouver gallery day. A lot of the pieces resonated, and there were moments where you connect with the art, which is a feeling that's out of this world.

Song Dong's exhibit was an installation of all the objects that his mother collected over the years. We may understand her compulsion as 'hoarding', but it seems much more complicated than that. It speaks to the values of previous generations, cultural history, mourning, and the value of things. Ultimately, the art shows the relationship between mother and artist son. The exhibit is huge, and very impressive, just in terms of size. The detail and immensity are astounding.

On the same floor, there was a group exhibit of everyday objects transformed into art. Like a lot of group shows, there are things that stand out and things that would make you shake your head. But probably my favourite piece was Robert Adrian's 'dictionnaire par images', made in 1979. He took out pages from a picture dictionary and created tiny clay sculptures of the object as they were on the page. Perhaps it is my love of miniatures, but I found this piece to be charming and poignant, considering these objects are more than 30 years old!

The other exhibit that blew me away that's at the VAG right now is the American artist Kerry James Marshall's first solo exhibit in Canada. His paintings are amazing and tell stories of the African American experience. He draws from religious icon imagery, pop art, Basquiat, advertising, Naive Art....

The canvases are just beautiful and reflects on the history of African Americans, especially during the Civil Rights era. Although he's a past recipient of the MacArthur 'genius' grant and quite well-known in the US, I'd never heard of him before. What a discovery.

Go Thai

Living on the border of Burnaby/Coquitlam/New Westminster, we often embark on long walks in random directions. On one of these occasions, we started walking down North Road and found ourselves in the Sapperton neighbourhood in New Westminster. We passed by a Thai restaurant and decided to visit.

Go Thai is located on Columbia Street, right before you get into the core Sapperton strip. It's a little curious looking, because the location and the building is where you expect a fast food chain should be. However, we were curious about this place because apparently the owner is a woman from North East Thailand.

The restaurant is minimal and has very little ambiance, with unremarkable furniture and decor. However, I am always in some strange way charmed by places that are unapologetic about how it looks. It's kinda ballsy.

To our delight, the restaurant had a pretty decent Thai Iced tea ($2.50), being appropriately very sweet, orange and a distinctive tea taste. My only complaint is that it could have used a wee bit more evaporated milk. However, this was refreshing and a brilliant counter to the spicy food that was to follow.

I was very excited to see sticky rice on the menu, because up in Northern Thailand, this is a staple food, and you rarely see this in Thai restaurants for some reason. The portion is small ($3.00), but it's presented in a traditional rice basket. We ordered dishes that would normally be eaten with sticky rice in Thailand.

We ordered a variety of Thai staples, one of which is Som Tam ($8.95), or green papaya salad. This is a very standard dish in Thai restaurants, but few dishes do it well. This version was very good, with a nice balance of sweet, sour and salty. However, the salad was extremely spicy, even though we asked for 'medium' levels. It was so good that we couldn't help but finish the whole thing!

We also ordered the Larb Gai ($8.95), which is minced chicken served like a salad with onions, spices, cilantro, chili, and lime. This was really good and fresh tasting, though the dish had a touch too much sugar. However, the only thing I didn't like about both salad dishes is that they were served on a bed of iceberg lettuce, which made the dishes look a lot bigger than they were.

Next, we had the Gai Yang ($9.95), which is grilled chicken. In Thailand, people would grill a whole chicken over charcoal on the streets, and you can buy it in every street corner, cut up, and served with a sweet and sour chili sauce. This dish had echoes of that, but it was a pale comparison. The meat itself was chicken breast which was nicely seasoned, but slightly dry. There was a distinct grilled flavour, but not as intense as it should have been.

Finally, for dessert we had the deep fried bananas and ice cream ($4.95). The portions were very generous, and this dish was good, though not spectacular. The bananas were soggy rather than crispy, and the ice cream was just regular, plain vanilla ice cream.

All in all, we were happy to have discovered this hidden gem of a place, considering how reasonable the prices are. It's not just like in Thailand, but I'm not sure I'll ever find that place. However, we'd definitely be curious to try a lot more of their dishes.

A Peek

This is a little glimpse that a project I've been working on. These are a couple of lino cuts that I carved. I'm pretty used to carving rubber blocks, but this was the first time I've returned to lino since high school. The texture of the lino these days is so much better, so much easier to cut.

You'll see prints and/or the final product sometime in the future, I assure you. For the moment, the end product is a little under wraps.

For those of you who recognize the subject of the carvings, I tip my hat to you.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

Some of you have heard of the Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay) by Suzanne Collins, I presume? Shane brought the first book home last week, and I have been devouring the series ever since. Plot-wise, it's a little Battle Royale set in a North American dystopia, but the story is still very compelling (even though it's a 'Teen' book). It's a page-turner, and Collins crafts a very flawed, very strong and at times admirable heroine in Katniss Everdeen, who survives because of her single-mindedness. There are moments that will make you cry, and these moments are surprising because they are ones of unexpected kindness. As far as trilogies go, this one ended as it should, though I suspect it's not as satisfying as people would have liked it to be.

The books take you some where, and the journey is pretty incredible.