Month: June 2016

Taste Alberta’s Prairie on a Plate at The Harvest Room

Last week, chef Serge Jost hosted Taste Alberta‘s second Prairie on a Plate dinner in The Harvest Room at the Fairmont Hotel Macdonald. For the event, Chef Jost created a four-course meal highlighting the best of what is produced, raised, and grown by Alberta farmers, including Brix ‘N Berries, Sunworks Farm, Highwood Crossing, Signature mushrooms, Mountainview Farming, and loads Alberta-grown pulses. First up was the an Alberta “Power Grain” & chorizo Aranccini. The amuse bouche – a treat from the kitchen – was a delightful start to the evening. The first course for the evening was a beef consommé poured over a boar bacon and white bean ravioli & yellow pea and vegetable succotash. While this gluten-free girl couldn’t take advantage of the ravioli, Chef Jost and his team made a gluten-free version of the dish for me to enjoy. I just love when soups are poured table side. Our second Prairie on a Plate dish had the table questioning how chef Jost made the dish. ‘Egg in egg with cremini mushrooms’ involved a 64 degree sous vide …

An Isle of Wight Wedding

It was October 2009 on the rooftop of a hostel in Banos, Ecuador when I first met Eng – my British little buddy. We spent the next couple of weeks traveling together south to Peru – bonding over a love of food, people watching, and adventure. I’ve met up with her in her hometown of London – where we later travelled to Albania, Macedonia, and on to Turkey (where Eng took photos of me being attacked by a turkey). We have some pretty funny memories together. So when the invite for her wedding came, I knew I couldn’t miss it. I pulled out one of my hand-made fascinators and packed my bag – I was ready to attend my first English wedding. Last Friday I went to Waterloo train station where I met up with Kate and Helen – two lovely London girls that Eng and I met in Olympus in Turkey. A train, ferry, a winding cab ride later, we arrived at the East Dene, Bonchurch, Ventnor – one of the Isle of Wight’s premier outdoor …