Turkey Dinner (at sea)
My cousin got married this weekend, in a sunny afternoon ceremony at the Rowing Club in Stanley Park, with a brilliant red maple tree acting as a backdrop. A gentle breeze set hundreds of leaves fluttering as they finished their vows, as bikers zipped down the path and couples strolled by and stopped to look up and watch. It was stunning. I took hundreds of photos. I thought I’d let them speak for me – they’re worth a thousand words each, I hear.
But it turns out when I downloaded the software onto my new MacBook before we left, I didn’t actually open it, which is when you have to plug in your serial number, which you have to do before you can actually use it. So you’ll have to wait.
Before the ceremony we went for breakfast at Sophie’s Cosmic Cafe – bacon and eggs and pancakes with berries and whipped cream for the kids. After the ceremony we took a sunset cruise around the island, under the Lions Gate Bridge (did you know it was built by the Guinness family in 1937? it’s true) and past the Granville Island Market, through False Creek. On the boat we were served a lovely buffet turkey dinner with all the trimmings. W spent most of the meal either crying and lying on the floor because the seat he wanted was taken, or standing wistfully by the galley kitchen, hoping to catch a glimpse of the chef, who picked up on how smitten W was and brought him in for a peek.
Later, back at the Rowing Club, there was a tower of chocolate cupcakes, an open bar and dancing. At 11pm, they put out a poutine buffet – fries and cheese curds and coffee-sized carafes of gravy – I never saw so many happy drunk people. At one point I looked over from the photo booth (oh yes, I’ll be scanning those once we’re back home) and saw Mike upending his paper french fry cup full of gravy (whomever dreamt up serve-yourself poutine didn’t anticipate Mike being there) into his mouth like a giant gravy shooter.
Needless to say no one got much sleep that night. After brunch the next day, W collapsed into smoking-hot ball of snot – throbbing with symptoms, they say, that are in fact indicators of H1N1. (Then again, they could be symptoms of most any flu.) Which has kept us more or less in the hotel room since then. (It’s a good thing it’s a nice one. But get this: there’s a MOTION SENSOR in the mini bar. As in, you move it, you bought it. The hotel’s answer, I assume, to those who get the munchies, eat all the $4 bags of M&Ms and then go to 7-11 the next day and replace them. AND there’s a teeny stuffed dog in a box strategically placed beside the $8 bottle of Evian on the corner of the folding table with the coffee maker on it, which is also apparently sensored, so that if it moves you end up with a $16 charge on your room bill. And not only is the mini bar the exact right size for a preschooler -and not locked- that dog is right at 4 year old eye level. We moved it behind the TV so that he couldn’t touch it, and today they replaced it with another one. I can’t imagine the debates that go on at the check out counter over $96 worth’ of stuffies on your room bill.)
Last night Mike and I snuck out for a quick dinner at Memphis Blues – on our must-visit list every time we come to Vancouver. Shrimp swimming in barbecue-spiked butter with wedges of cornbread, perfect pulled pork with creamy coleslaw on soft buns, and brisket that was not the least bit dry, and deliciously crusty on the edges.
I’ll fast forward through the post-Canucks game traffic jam and not particularly exciting events of today to dinner – out again as my parents took over W duty and we had a chance to (finally!) sneak out to Vij’s just off Granville, where I’m a bit reluctant to admit I’ve never actually eaten (no reservations-go early on Thanksgiving and you might just nab the last table).
It was dark – too dark to do the food justice, so I liberated myself from my photographer duties and diverted all my attention to the experience. The serving staff ran like a well-oiled machine; as we sat down they brought steaming mugs of chai (which-honestly? could convince me to ditch coffee if I could recreate it) and as we perused the menu dishes of steaming zucchini pakoras and other nibbles I missed the names of came by for sampling. We started with samosas stuffed with lamb, beef and paneer with coconut chutney and two “Punjabi heart attacks” – round, ornate silver soup spoons filled with a chunky mulch of spicy cashews, raw sugar, paneer and ghee, chased with a light, lemony quinoa salad. We followed that with BC spot prawns and halibut with black chick peas in a coconut-lemon curry (that was tomato-based, not creamy) and incredibly tender wine marinated lamb popsicles and turmeric spinach potatoes bathed in a fenugreek cream curry. All, of course, came with naan and perfect rice. Bliss.
And now to digest, and pack, and mop W’s brow, and time his breathing again, and try to get some sleep with my fleshy little space heater. We’re heading home tomorrow after my meeting with Whitecap, skipping a stop at Sue’s on the way because their household is also experiencing a flu smackdown.
Sometimes holidays are like delicate houses of cards-one sneeze brings all your nicely-balanced plans right down.
October 12 2009 11:47 pm | eating out
mamasutra on 13 Oct 2009 at 12:14 am #
Condolences on all the flu-ish-ness.
In other news, many thanks for the gingerbread recipe. I made it as a birthday cake today and it was a delight. Also made your double berry crumble bars this weekend, but with cranberries and homemade plum jam: yum!
Aimee on 13 Oct 2009 at 7:25 am #
OH!It’s a dream of mine to eat at Vij’s– LOVE his cookbook.
Hope W feels better soon.
Can’t wait to see some pics from the BC wedding.
Manon from Ontario on 13 Oct 2009 at 7:55 am #
Good morning Julie and congrats on your new job as food editor
You know, I’m so glad I did get to know you with the segment on Canada Am a year ago, you make my cooking so much easier.
I wanted to ask if when the turkey in the crockpot is done, can we eat the ham? I’m thinking yes, but is it any good?
Also, wanted to share with you that we make pure apple juice this weekend with our antique juice press we bought recently, great success! Too bad you live so far away, I’d give you some jugs.
Have a great week.
MFO
Erica B. on 13 Oct 2009 at 10:00 am #
Julie your weekend sounds like it’ll be a memorable one.
For the Calgary people: I get my Vij’s fix by picking up some of his frozen food at Cookbook Co. it’s not the same as being there, but it’s better than your average east indian takeout.
Cheryl on 13 Oct 2009 at 10:34 am #
Have a safe drive back. Hope W is feeling better.
Christina on 13 Oct 2009 at 1:02 pm #
The wedding sounds spectacular! It makes my wedding look like a barn dance! LOL
So sorry to hear about W. I really feel your pain. Just hearing about it turns my stomach. Last year the boys had the flu back and forth over half the month. From the first barf to the last was exactly 3 weeks. It was terrible, I was just thankful the baby didn’t get it!
Have a safe trip home.
gwendolyn (Patent and the Pantry) on 13 Oct 2009 at 2:54 pm #
When (if?) I get married, I am totally having a poutine buffet! And I will thank you for bringing such a thing to my attention.
Glad you made it to Sophie’s; it’s one of my go-to brunch places when I go home to visit. Love the kitsch.
Safe travels back and I hope W feels better soon!
the other Al on 13 Oct 2009 at 5:47 pm #
Start poppin the cold effects. You do not want to get that! You haven’t missed anything here, just -15 and SNOW. I spent the afternoon shoveling. I want to go to Vancouver. A boat filled with gravy sounds fantastic. I can’t believe you didn’t play the pun….gravey boat.
Tina on 13 Oct 2009 at 7:07 pm #
Poutine midnight buffet! That’s so great!!
I LOVE Vij’s. Whenever I’m in Vancouver I stop at Vij’s takeout place next door (Rangoli)and grab frozen curry to take home in my checked baggage.
lovetocook on 13 Oct 2009 at 7:29 pm #
Thanksgiving was never so easy. We stuffed a smoky Black Forest ham into the turkey a la JVR and roasted it in the oven. The cold leftovers are even better. Thanks for the idea.
eroica on 13 Oct 2009 at 8:21 pm #
The Vij’s cookbook is wonderful, just go easy on the salt. Rangoli next door (also run by Vij) has an amazing red pepper,portobello mushroom, paneer curry that makes even a dedicated meat eater swoon.
Carol SB on 14 Oct 2009 at 2:18 pm #
Wow, what an amazing-sounding weekend. (Tower of cocolate cupcakes…wow. And I’ve never even conceived of a poutine buffet. I can only imagine how happy everyone was!) And so nice of the chef to give W. a peek of the goin’s- on. I sure hope W. feels well soon… take care of yourself and take it easy on the way home. That can be a tough drive at the best of times; a puky-feeling four-yr-old would add a whole new dimension of fun.
I agree with the Other Al: start with the Cold FX ASAP. We wish you well!
Dana McCauley on 14 Oct 2009 at 5:49 pm #
What a drag that your little dude is sick – hopefully the room service is good.
That sounds like a fun wedding – I’ve never heard of a poutine bar before!
I once caused all kinds of trouble in a hotel with one of those motion sensitive thingys. I bought cheese and emptied out the mini bar to keep it nice and fresh. I intended (and did) restock the bar before I checked out but it caused a lot of trouble. I had a whole lotta splainin’ to do!
Ashley on 16 Oct 2009 at 10:09 pm #
A POUTINE buffet?? Wow I’ve never heard of that. Once I tell my boyfriend that he’s going to want to get married there!!
Steve & Vicki on 23 Oct 2009 at 4:00 pm #
Hey Jules…it sounds like our poutine buffet was a hit! You’d be surprised at how unfazed our caterer was when we asked about doing it. I think she was more shocked when Vicki asked if we could have the gravy flowing through one of those chocolate fountains…it turns out it’s too thick
Thanks so much for being there and bringing along your beautiful family. We know how difficult it is to travel with little ones, especially when they’re full of cold!
We look forward to experimenting in the kitchen with our new cookbooks!