Instant Dinners at the Kitchen

Neighbours wrap up a party and a beautiful platter of leftover snacks are delivered to somerville kitchen; laid out with as much care and love as the original party platter was done up.

Another night. Leftover pasta sauce made by one special person the previous night. Salmon pieces brought over by another special person the night before that. All I do is boil an egg and mix all together with spinach leaves.

One other night, a friend brings one thing, a neighbour brings another, my fridge contributes a third dish and my freezer the fourth. An impressive instant spread is served.

Scrub Daddy

Why would I pay over $5.00 to buy a Scrub Daddy? Well, I can give you at least 5 reasons.

Reason #1: It adds a je ne sait pas quoi to the kitchen.

Reason #2: It is one of the most successful Shark Tank featured products.

 Reason #3: It's a sponge that acts like a normal sponge in warm water.

Reason #4: But when the job is tough, use cold water and it becomes a tough scrub daddy.

Reason #5: It smiles at me when the job is done. I love you Scrub Daddy.

Vancouver's French Gem #2

café salade de fruits

1551 West 7th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

www.saladedefruits.com

I have no idea why it took me decades to discover these French Gems of restaurants in the city (Read Vancouver French Gem #1). And how can one not fall in love with a café with such taste in art.

café salade de fruits is more of a bistro than a café. Service is offered in French, unless you choose to speak another language. Specials and more specials on the black board. Pleasant experience sums it up.

You can order your (free range) Omelette made the Canadian or French way - the French way is not fully cooked with egg yolks dripping into your plate as you cut in it. But at least you get a good taste of the quality eggs they serve.

I must remember this place - perfect for weekend brunch, business lunch or a cosy evening date.

Vancouver's French Gem #1

au comptoir

2278 West 4th Avenue

Vancouver, BC

aucomptoir.ca

I have never been to Paris. But I can tell that this café au lait looks trés parisien. 

au comptoir describes itself as a classic café parisien. And I think they succeeded to recreate the ambiance of a Parisian café - the small tables and chairs next to each other, the noise level, the French servers with a tad of snappiness and a menu that includes croque monsieur and croque madame.

An enjoyable discovery. Tune back tomorrow for Vancouver's French Gem #2.

Mink Gold

Mink Chocolates

863 West Hastings

Vancouver, BC

www.minkchocolates.com

This is Mink Chocolates'  Gold Medal Winner at the 2015 International Chocolate Salon in San Francisco.

A very well deserved award - this chocolate bar tastes like gold. Chocolate with cinnamon, cardamom, pepper, cloves, ginger and turmeric - an indian curry taken to a golden heavenly level with chocolate. A bar to sure try; but buy more than one - the first bar will disappear very fast. Enjoy.

A Product Not To Buy

Umi's Kitchen Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce

www.umisindiankitchen.com

It looks great on the shelf.

You read the list of ingredients - cream, water, tomatoes, fresh onions, extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, fresh ginger, cashew nuts, fresh garlic, sea salt, Xanthan gum, spices, cilantro, cayenne - and you think all natural.

Cuts down the Butter Chicken cooking time by 75%. Locally made a bonus.

But something went amiss when used. The expected dark orange Butter Chicken sauce colour came out as a bright yellow orange.

The taste was more like an asian nut sauce - it must be the cashew. Mental note - do not buy again.

A Product To Buy

Mama Mary's Ready Made Pizza Dough

www.mamamarys.com

A great product that you buy off the shelves with no need to freeze or keep in the fridge. Quoting their website "They contain no cholesterol, MSG, trans-fats or animal fats and are lower in sodium than most other brands". And it worked extremely well for an empty-the- fridge-pizza night.

The first crust was covered with ketchup and oregano (mom's version of pizza sauce). Mushrooms, green peppers, tomatoes, ham and cheese, with pizza ready to eat before you can figure out Domino's online ordering system.

The second crust turned into a greek vegetarian pizza with red peppers, tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese.

Now if I can only remember where I bought them from!