What beautiful sunny weather and until Sunday!

We are very lucky...just read in The Telegraph all of Britain is going to be blanketed with snow over the next while.   Many heating systems will fail and motorists are advised to keep off the roads.  We'll be thinking of our friends in the UK and hope most of them can sit cheerily by the fire and enjoy hot drinks.

The lake at Castle Howard in Yorkshire is complete frozen over.  Gorgeous, isn't it?  We had a lovely time with Susan and Alan visiting Castle Howard together.

 View this morning.

View last night.

We get so much pleasure from looking at our view that we don't even watch the news anymore and the news was about the only thing we watched so we cancelled cable.  With our Apple TV and Netflix....who needs cable really?

Lunch today at the Cactus Club in English Bay

It's always a fun time to be with my cousins,  Bonnie and Georgia.  Sounds like they had a wonderful time in PV over Christmas.  We're looking forward to getting away to the sunshine soon too.

And we learned that my uncle and aunt,  Bonnie and Georgia's parents,  went to Nick's all the time.  Something I didn't know.  Jim and I discovered Nick's in our university days.  Our parents didn't tend to dine out.  White Spot for car service was a big treat.  And my Dad would pick up fish and chips from a place on Kingsway called "Dunker's Donuts"...no kidding....great fish and chips.  For a dollar,  you'd get 8 pieces of fish,  loads of chips, and onion rings thrown in to boot.

Great day on the "Drive"

Jim was in heaven  yesterday as we began our Commercial Drive stroll with lunch at Nick's Spaghetti
House.  As always,  a step back in time...nothing has changed since our student days.  Big portions, reasonable prices,  same decor,  iceberg lettuce in the salad.  That's the thing we missed the most when we moved to Victoria over 40 years ago...the cheap ethnic restaurants.   And I guess that's why we hit all those when we first come back to Vancouver.

After the pleasure of Nick's it was pretty hard to take that there wasn't one Italian restaurant in Victoria!   After a few years,  the restaurant, Chef Anthony, came to town and made life bearable.  And then Antonio's, where we enjoyed so many wonderful French meals.   And now, of course,  it's an entirely different scene in Victoria although much more expensive than dining in Vancouver.  It was pretty depressing to be 24 years old after growing up in Vancouver to be told your dining choices were pretty much the Princess Mary,  the Dingle House,  and the Empress.  And I won't even begin to mention that you couldn't swim in the ocean...!

 But then,  I wasn't commuting to Delta to teach and Jim could walk to work.  We would have both been commuting if we stayed in Vancouver.  While Richard loves Vancouver,  he feels Victoria was a great place to grow up as a kid.

We are sometimes asked if we regret not staying in Vancouver because now we'd have a home worth millions.   Nope,  no regrets there...just can't get too excited about money.  And we would have never considered living in an apartment on in the West End so not have this wonderful urban experience.  We would have been happily ensconced forever in our West side house.  And who knows....we may not have been so attracted to the south of France where we could swim in the ocean if we had the ocean in Vancouver.  Or been as interested in big cities like London, Paris, NYC,  San Francisco if we lived in Vancouver.  We've had a hell of a lot of fun in those places!

 Same old decor...sort of 50's rumpus room.

 My veal....yes,  a "lunch" portion!

 Paintings of Italy all over the restaurant.

 Jim not only made short work of his NY steak and spag but ate some of my veal and salad as well.

Our new friend.  He asked us to take a photo of him and his friend as he was heading up to Dawson Creek (on a 19 hour bus trip ) to look for work.   Funny coincidence that one of Roger and Kerry's sons has just recently begun his first RCMP posting in Dawson Creek.  We got talking so invited him for a drink.  He had travelled and worked all over the Orient so had lots of tales to tell.

Woke up to a light dusting of snow yesterday

We had very little but reading the paper today I see some areas had significant amounts and it did cause some traffic chaos.  Twilight was wonderful last night here with a soft pink glow.  Given our location whatever sun there is around we get the glory of it.

More of our favourite haunts....

We took the little ferry over to Granville Island Friday for Mussel Mania....upped the price to $12 but still a great deal for a couple of pounds of mussels,  fries,  french bread, and a pint of Granville Island Honey lager.   We had our usuals...me the Thai and Jim the Provençale (loads of chorizo as usual).

We began with a walk around Granville Island first with stops to the hot chestnuts and nuts vender,  then tasted 3 sakis and a plum wine at the Artisian Sake maker.  After,  picked up some appy goodies at the market for our Saturday dinner party.  Among other things wonderful salmon jerky...evaporated in minutes on Saturday.  Probably best to leave Jim in a bookstore when I do the market stroll.  This time I had him pay as we went along and he needed a fortifying drink when we got home!

 Sake tasting

 Moules frites

 We got a mixture of chestnuts and various other nuts.

Taken from the little ferry on the way back.


We were surprised to see Maria's Taverna is no longer in business.  Had a great lunch Sunday at our good old stand by for Greek food,  the Olympia before seeing Skyfall (which we really enjoyed).  I really don't know how they can make money on the servings for lunch...$9.95...huge amount of lamb (Jim) and calamari for me along with rice, Greek potatoes,  pita bread, and Greek salad.

We almost felt like we were in sunny Greece with the colourful murals on the walls.

Great time with family..

John and Carol and Richard and Emily came over for dinner last night and we all had a super time and I must say the seafood lasagna I made was wonderful.  I was really happy with this since Carol is a wonderful cook....and Richard's not too shabby himself.  I'll post the recipe.  As usual,  with bad light, all my photos came out lousy.  Good thing John took a few....thank you, John!

Now,  you can't go too far wrong with good looking young subjects,  but John's camera even made an old lady look not too bad....maybe I should invest in a good camera.

Seafood Lasagna to die for

Original recipe makes 12 servings 

    1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles

    2 tablespoons olive oil

    1 clove garlic, minced ( I used two)

    1 pound baby portobello mushrooms, sliced (just used ordinary mushrooms)

    2 (16 ounce) jars Alfredo-style pasta sauce

    1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (I cut them in hallf)

    1 pound bay scallops (I substituted the meat from 4 lobster  tails)

    1 pound imitation crabmeat, chopped

    20 ounces ricotta cheese

    1 egg

    black pepper

    6 cups shredded Italian cheese blend

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

    Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sautee garlic and mushrooms until tender. Pour in 2 jars Alfredo sauce. Stir in shrimp, scallops and crabmeat. Simmer 5 to 10 minutes, or until heated through. In a medium bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg and pepper.

    In a 9x13 inch baking dish, layer noodles, ricotta mixture, Alfredo mixture and shredded cheese. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ensuring that there is shredded cheese for the top.

    Bake uncovered in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Cover, and bake 15 minutes.

Great sunsets, sunrises, sunny days

Wow,  we are certainly getting a streak of great weather!

Sunrise today.

 Sun going down

 Even the rock balancers had been out.

Fabulous meal at Denman Sushi....miso soup,  delicious Japanese tea,  6 California rolls with real crab, salad, fruit, 4 pieces of tempera,  good cooked veg, rice,...I had chicken teriyaki and Jim had the beef teriyaki.  Very generous portions.  The price at dinner?   $7.95...what a deal!

Well said...

A super day....

Looking out at the sun going down over the water...really quite a bright sunny day today.  Unlike yesterday that wasn't fit for man or beast but at least we got unpacked and settled in.

We got to The Sylvia Monday night and split a fish and chips and enjoyed a pint of Red Truck Pale Ale.  Then to Las Margaritas for lunch today.   You just can't beat that place for good Mexican food and atmosphere.  We both had their wonderful tortilla soup then a chile relleno for me and Jim his standard beef enchilada.

 Jim and I at The Sylvia enjoying our Red Truck

 The famous

 Chile relleno and tortilla soup

The sun just really came out so off for a walk along the seawall.

Snug Pub review

Pretty much what I would say.  Two good experiences there so far.  The old Snug had sometimes rather dreadful food.

http://www.victorianfood.ca/2013/01/the-snug.html

"Home " again

We got back to an immaculate apartment and a little gift of goodies.  Having a scotch enjoying the view.  Tiring few days...off to The Sylvia for dinner tonight.

Dearest blog readers

I have recently become concerned about the security of posting the details of our life on my blog.  I have really enjoyed writing my blog but I guess all good things come to an end.  I am considering continuing my blog but probably only for people who I have some knowledge of.  So,  please email me if you would like to continue reading my blog if I continue to post.

janice.b.sexton@gmail.com

* Update

I have decided to continue my blog but I will soon be enabling Blogger''s Restricted Readers feature which means any email address I add will have access to my blog.  It will mean a little bit of hassle as you will have to sign in each time but I am doing this with my readers' safety in mind as well because most of you appear on my blog with personal details.  If you have appeared on my blog and don't want to appear on my blog,  please let me know.  And I will probably hide my archives from view.

Thank you for understanding.

** Further update

I am having some problems adding readers to my blog so if you can't get on,  let me know.

Best clam chowder ever recipe...

Thanks, Fern,  for this great recipe!  I think a key ingredient that can't be left out is the curry infused olive oil.  For vegetarians or people who don't eat pork,  the bacon could be left out of the recipe.  Fern served the bacon on the side so perfect to cater to all dietary needs.

This New England style clam and seafood chowder 

Ingredients:

1 can (5 oz/150 g) drainbed baby clams, cod fillet cut into 1 inch bites, prawns cut in half
4 strips chopped bacon
1 finely chopped onion
1-2 finely chopped celery stalks
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 red-skinned potato, small cubes

2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour or cornstarch
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper to taste
1 cup (250 mL) chicken stock

1 can evaporated milk plus fresh milk to make about 2 cups )can also use half and half for richness)

clam nectar if you have it (up to 1 cup)
1/2 red pepper or carrot, small chop
2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh parsley

large pinch of nutmeg (about 1/8 tsp.)

Preparation:

Drain clams, discard juice; set aside.  If you can get some fresh clams as well, steam them, cut to size and reserve the nectar to use in the chowder.  You can buy nectar I think.

In large saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp; drain off fat. Add onion, celery and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, red pepper, flour, salt and pepper; stir until vegetables are coated.

Stir in stock and clam nectar; bring to simmer. Cover and cook, stirring, until potatoes are tender, 15 minutes.

Add milk or cream, reserved clams, crumbled bacon;  heat until bubbling and hot. Serve garnished with parsley or bacon.

I made some curry infused olive oil to drizzle on top.

Wonderful lunch chez les Springs

It's always a pleasure to be treated to a meal at Fern and John's.  Fern is a wonderful cook and looking out over the Gorge and all the various goings on with sea birds and wildlife is just great.  We began with the best clam chowder I have ever tasted then panini sandwiches made on the grill John gave her for Christmas.  And ending with Fern's home baking....wow!

Smoken Bones Cookshack

We're trying to use up a few groupons.  Last night we had a super meal at Smoken Bones in the Hudson complex.  I think the Hudson is going to be a pretty cool development especially when they get their Granville Island like market in.

There was a special on wings so we got 10 of the "jerk" flavour (kind of like sweet chill) for $3.50,  then Jim got the half rack of pork ribs with fries and I got the salmon with a dry rub and cornbread as a side.  Everything was excellent and we were impressed by the Cheap Eats specials and 20 oz pints of draft like Blue Buck for $6...a regular price.  Their daily specials usually include some kind of beer for $4.

Will be back!

Certainly be back for the wing special.  I'll get lemon pepper and Jim will get that they call "Killer"...hotter than "Flaming Pig".

Thursday special is "buck a bone pork ribs"...Jim's half rack had 6 bones.

Photos from New Year's Day

http://www.johndenniston.ca/blogwp4/

John has a very cool photo on his blog today taken at the Vesuvius Polar Bear Swim.   I guess it's that fancy camera he has.  I don't think I could get such a photo on my iphone but then,  he had to load it on his computer whereas my photos appear like magic.

John,  I think the new year is making you soft.  I think that photo could be described as a pretty picture and also the one previous to it.

I don't do Polar Bear swims although John photoshopped me doing one and my friends actually believed it was me!

A fairly new tradition for us is heading to Chinatown for hot and sour soup and Chinese food.  I even took a "John" photo yesterday :)

And now for some "Janice" photos....

I needed some side plates so thought these would be kind of neat and couldn't resist the sparklers.

A New Year Begins...

We had a nice quiet dinner with Derek and Mary for New Year's.  I served Fern's famous tourtiere and tomato and apple chutney which was a special treat for all of us,  especially me since I didn't have to cook!  Best tourtiere ever.

We toasted the New Year with some wonderful Crémant de Bourgogne that the Soles brought...fabulous!

Even some leftovers for today.