Call me crazy, but winter walks along the beach are my favourite: the grey clouds, varying degrees of rain, and the waves white and frothy against the rocks. And this morning, nature gave me the perfect Vancouver send-off – a morning cold and drizzly enough to warrant Hunters and a sweater, complete with a light…
Author: Denise Alba
Caneles at the Farmers Market
Exactly one week today, I will wheel two overweight suitcases into YVR, get onto a plane, and bid Vancouver goodbye. There’s a lot that I’ll miss about Vancouver: Lynn Canyon and Kits Beach walks with my mom and Stella, farmers market runs with the family, super spicy chili wontons, fish & chips with the family…
Fondue for Two
Two of my favourite things are chocolate and cheese, and one of my favourite ways to enjoy both in the same meal is fondue. My cousin took me out to Capstone Tea & Fondue last week, where we indulged in both chocolate and cheese fondue with an array of pastries, fruit, and veggies. I particularly…
Ice Cream Sandwiches Take Eight: Peach-Jasmine
My Vancouver summer, along with my ice cream sandwich sampling, is quickly coming to a close. This past weekend, we tried Beta5 Chocolates’ peach-jasmine creation: local peach ice cream sandwiched between two jasmine-tea-infused cookies. I don’t particularly like jasmine tea, but it was subtle enough (yet very much recognizable) that I actually enjoyed it. My…
Stella & Surgery
Yesterday, my pup Stella went in for some minor surgery. A little while a go, a little growth appeared on Stella’s outer lip, and after some online research, we decided to give it a couple weeks to subside, as all signs pointed to it being a simple wart. But three weeks later, it’s continued to…
Joie de Vivre
I think it’s safe to say that most people live hectic, chaotic, and crazy lives. And I am no exception. I think it’s why small, quiet coffee shops make me so happy. They are little safe havens, so to speak, that I can run to, and find a little peace and quiet all to myself….
Riverfront Re-up
It was only a matter of days before we found ourselves back at Westminster Quay. This past weekend, we were actually there twice. Right on the Fraser River, it’s a great place to go for a walk, and once you’ve worked up a bit of an appetite, grab some food either at the River Market…
Afternoon Tea at La Cuisson
This past Friday, my mom and I took Stella for a walk at Pacific Spirit Park. After walking for about an hour and a half, we worked up quite an appetite, and were really happy that we had afternoon tea planned with some family friends at La Cuisson in Kerrisdale. My mom and I love high tea…
Family Weekend: Monday
And the weekend with family continues: today we met up with some friends at Westminster Quay, a place I hadn’t been to in years – not since my brother and I were kids. The Boathouse, a great seafood restaurant at the quay, was a spot my family frequented because cooking was neither of my parents’…
Family Weekend: Sunday
Sunday was a little more relaxed, spent just with my parents and brother on Granville Island, another favourite spot of mine in Vancouver. While my dad helped my brother pick up supplies for the upcoming semester at Opus (they bond over things like that), my mom, Stella, and I took a walk around the island,…
Family Weekend: Saturday
This past three-day weekend has proven to be very busy, and very much filled with family. I feel like I’m running on four hours of sleep, yet I’m strangely awake, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The reality of the fact that I’ve got less than a month left here has set in,…
Ice Cream Sandwiches Take Seven: Strawberry Cheesecake
Once again, Beta5 Chocolates has proven that when it comes to ice cream sandwiches, it can do no wrong. Today, we tried strawberry cheesecake: homemade graham cookies sandwiching mild cheesecake ice cream and strawberries. What I love about Beta5’s ice cream sandwiches is the perfect cookie to ice cream ratio. I feel like the original Klondike…
Pup & Grub 