Where Are The Easter Goodies?

The best Easter goodies by far are at:

Trafiq

4216 Main Street

Vancouver, BC

www.trafiq.ca

I arrived as the best hot cross buns in town were coming out of the oven. "Do they freeze well?" I asked. "They should, they are bread after all", the answer from the elegant owner. So 18 to go I ordered and enjoyed a nice hot one with my neighbour who agreed that those are, by far, the best hot cross buns in town.

You may also want to try these. Created this morning by Trafiq's inventive executive chef, these croissants are filled with 72% dark chocolate - think chocolate bar croissant sandwich. Hurry up, they may not last till Monday.

Now if your heart is dead set on pure chocolate, then the place to visit is:

Mink Chocolates

863 West Hastings St.

Vancouver, BC

www.minkchocolates.com

Those are pure dark chocolate eggs that are filled with 9 smaller chocolate eggs. They are not cheap, but the quality of Mink's chocolates is unparralleled in the city.

They also have chocolate bunnies (which are not cheap either).

But adorable (and affordable) German chocolates bunnies are all over the place at:

European Specialty Importers

220 Prior Street

Vancouver, BC

604-688-9528

In addition to rabbits, they have mini chocolate eggs, Easter napkins, even freshly baked German Easter Egg bread directly from Gesunheit Bakery in Abbotsford (311-30721 Simpson Road, Abbortford, BC - www.gesundheitbakery.ca).

Happy Easter my dear readers and followers. Jesus has risen.

Good Friday

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing"

After mass, it was time for art and food. Running for one more night only, A Neon Renaissance combines wood/neon sculptures and paintings by talented Bernd. It is worth the visit (@ 1 West Cordova). This piece, Harmony, was my favourite.

Overwhelmed by all the new dining options in Gastown, the known and trusted Gain Wah seemed like the better dining option. And as usual, Gain Wah delivers.

Gain Wah

218 Keefer Street

Vancouver, BC

Who'd think the eve of Good Friday will be so active in this city? Off to another opening, this time a photography exhibit running at Grunt Gallery (350 East 2nd) until May 12. This show is not easy to write about in a couple of sentences given its depth and complexity - probably best if you check it out; sure worth the visit.

And to add sophistication to the show, a delicious home made Asheh Reshteh (Persian noodle soup traditional of Norouz) was served to attendees.

 A pleasant evening indeed under the rays of a bright full moon. Good Night!

Holy Thursday

Bread was broken to participate in the body of J.C. tonight at somerville kitchen.

And as J.C. would have eaten the night before he was handed over, the dinner tonight was very simple.

 "Take this, this is my body which will be given up for you..." 

 

"Take this and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood that will be shed for you..."

And of course a fish, the oldest Christian symbol.

Lest we forget the suffering of Christ, a blood red beats and cabbage bake. 

Last Supper 20th Century original by my brother

Prints available for sale at artistwebsites.com

Original for viewing at somerville kitchen

 

Floating Into the Easter Weekend

A special colleague invited me for dim sum to kick off the weekend. My acceptance condition was that it is a down-to-earth blog-worthy restaurant. His choice was what claims to be the largest Chinese restaurant in Canada - Floata Seafood Restaurant.

Huge, free parking, and, despite some not-so-good reviews on Urban Spoon, I found it quite good.

Eight platters for two people was more than plenty.

The yellow dumplings on the right were a unique dim sum offering - Pumpkin Dumplings. They had shrimp and little chunks of cooked pumpkin. Very enjoyable. The others were the regular Shrimp & Chives Dumplings. They also had (for the next visit to-try list) Spinach Dumplings that looked very Easter-egg green on the adjacent table.

Another better-than-others dish was the Rice Roll with Beef. The beef filling had a fresh taste to it enhanced by coriander I think. Very nice.

The rest were typical dim sum dishes that were the same or somewhat better than other places I tried. We had Scallop Dumplings (shrimp topped by scallop), Pork Shiu Mai, Steamed Eggplant with Fish Paste, Bean Curd Skin Roll (that was great too) and Fried Shrimp Egg Roll.

And, forgive me J.C., I broke lent over dim sum - those creamy egg custard pies were to die for. Thank you D for such a treat!

In the middle of Chinatown, easy to reach by foot, skytrain and, if driving, free parking.

Floata Seafood Restaurant

180 Keefer Street

Vancouver, BC

 www.floata.com

Recruit Followers & Win

somerville kitchen became an Urban Spoon Vancouver blogger in January 2012. In January, somerville kitchen was ranked as 448 out of 500 Vancouver bloggers. This Saturday, somerville kitchen made it to the top 100 Urban Spoon Vancouver bloggers. 

To celebrate, one of you readers will win a gift certificate for a meal for 2 at your choice of one of the 44 Vancouver restaurants somerville kitchen linked to Urban Spoon.

But you have to work for it. The winner is the one that, between today and end of day Saturday April 7, can prove that they recruited, in any combination, the most number of: 

Likes at somerville kitchen facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/SomervilleKitchen)
Twitter followers of @somervillektchn (https://twitter.com/#!/somervillektchn)
Blog Followers (Under Join This Site on the right hand side on the blog)

Simply recruit, verify, and email me a list of which followers are yours (I can see all new ones but I cannot know who recruit it them). I will audit your list. The one (or group of people working as one team) that generated the most across one or all of the three links above will win the gift certificate. 

Let's all take somerville kitchen to an even higher level.

Meanwhile, I will focus my energy on winning Buy-Low's/Dare's Easter Plush Bunny!

 

Swiss Night (and Recipes)

Is this a plate in a Zurich Restaurant? Guess again, it is Swiss Night at somerville kitchen.

The menu included Swiss Chicken and Red Cabbage and Apples with Mashed Potatoes - Easy recipes, try them.

Cook some bacon until crispy and put aside. Add the onions to the bacon lard and cook until brown. Put aside.

Add some vegetable oil to the pot and brown chicken pieces. Add the onions, bacon, a small can of tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste and braise for 3 hours.

Your chicken plate is ready.

The cabbage dish is even easier. Fry some onions and apples in butter until the onions are crispy.

Chop the red cabbage (two apples for one cabbage) and add to the pot.

Add 1 cup water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup red vinegar and cook for 45 minutes on low heat. 

Meanwhile, make the mashed potatoes the way you like them and you have a simple, comfort Swiss food meal.

Palm Sunday Meal Year 2

Last Palm Sunday was a major production (read Palm Sunday Meal). This year's Palm Sunday was celebrated more simply.

First, as per my Sunday Ritual, there was the mass and the distribution of the palms. Those palms will be left next to a cross for a full year and then burnt next Ash Wednesday to use their ashes.

I then made sure a Palm Sunday candle was around. As kids, our parents would make sure we had candles as tall as us. Well, this one was as tall as cats.

And now comes the meal. I was looking for something basic, simple, old fashioned.

A piece of lamb shank (those poor lambs have been sacrificed for religion for thousands of years). Some vegetables, chickpeas. A basic sauce of cumin and chili peppers. All simmered on very low heat for 4 hours. 

My church gives away bread to all after mass (the idea is if you need it, you have it; if not, you pass it on to those in need). 

I opted to buy groceries for a homeless on the way and keep the church's Easter bread.

A bit of humus, a bit of couscous and a nice Palm Sunday meal was ready.

What a peaceful relaxing day. Even neighbour's cats was relaxed and peaceful today.