Hi guys,
I guess I don’t really need to ‘fess up. You know what’s going on (or rather, what hasn’t been going on). This site was my darling last year, starting from a fledgling piece o’ gourmet crud to the slightly-more-veteran piece o’ gourmet crud it is today. I have eaten a lot, made a lot of bad jokes, written irrelevant things and made a few friends. You have been decent to me, internet.
My domain is coming up for renewal and frankly, I’m not big on the tibbidyfibbity name any longer. All the opinions I had solicited before I began my blog were unanimous: it’s a terrible name. I knew it, and I enjoyed it. However, I now know it and no longer enjoy it, so change must be made.
I’ve come to realize I no longer am such a big fan of writing about food any more – I love being sarcastic, obviously, and more often than not most restaurants don’t deserve any particular opinion of any caliber. There are just too many meh places out there that I don’t need to tell you about. I’ve been writing my personal blog for a bit of time now and while that’s not for everyone, I hope someday I can come back with another more public persona with entertaining tidbits you might enjoy processing.
For now, toodles.
Hey, long time no see. I know, I know, I’ve been gone a long time. Summer has been beautiful and really hot this year, just the way I like it. Why stay in facing a hot stove when you can be out in sandals on a patio drinking sangria? It’s a rather difficult choice, obviously.
I’ve been spending less on eating out lately – if you haven’t been living under a rock or in a cave somewhere, you’d know that the province will be implementing the HST shortly, meaning that eating out will be pricier. It all adds up. I’ve always handled my money very conservatively and nowadays I watch my numbers like a hawk most of the time. I was just at the bank this week to set up RRSP mutual funds. What can I say? I’m hoping to retire by, oh, I don’t know, 25.
When I retire I’ll probably end up cooking all the time, and maybe I’ll figure out a whole plethora of recipes that I consider tried and true. However, I only really only have a handful of those kinds of recipes right now, and I’ll share with you my favorite. This one is a no-brainer: these are the best chocolate chip cookies (to me). Everyone likes their own ccc differently; my favorite has a soft chew, an appropriate amount of chocolate, and sometimes a smattering of mysterious nuts. This is how it’s done.
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I love Mexican food. I’m not gonna lie, because I can’t say I know what authentic Mexican food could possibly be really like, but I like almost anything I can get. Vancouver is good for having a variety of authentic cuisines available within reach, but (so I’ve heard) we’re sorely lacking in good Latin American restaurants. When I spot a Mexican restaurant that doesn’t look particularly frou-frou or clearly un-authentic, I immediately make a mental note of it to go back there when possible.
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Guys, I met some food bloggers. Let me tell you something: Meetups are inevitably always a little weird, but I’ve been to plenty before and they’re always a lot of fun. The weird bits are always fantastic in one way or another because you either have a barrel of fun or at least have good stories to tell about afterward. I was at a photography meetup once and being in an Irish pub with about twenty other people all pointing giant lenses at each other is not only the epitome of weird, it’s just plain hilarious. I also couldn’t figure out if I felt more in place or out of place in such a crowd.
When I waltzed in fifteen minutes late into Alvin Garden on Saturday evening, a table of twelve greeted me. I definitely felt out of place at that point, awkwardly grabbing a chair and planting myself firmly in what was already a cozy table. However, it didn’t take long to settle in, and we were soon gabbing away.
Alvin Garden is a Hunan style Chinese restaurant, Hunan being one of the Eight Great Traditions (I had to look up what this was in English, but in Chinese it’s known as one of the 八大èœç³»). Geographically speaking Hunan is in the Southern portion of China, its name literally meaning south of the Lake (in this case, it’s Lake Dongting). It’s not only geographically quite close to the better know Sichuan, but also speaking cuisine-wise they are both really similar. Both cuisines are firey and full of hot, spicy flavors, although there is a small divide on what kinds of heat each cuisine packs. Apparently (I had to look this up) Hunan spice is more of a dry spice with liberal amounts of fresh chilis, shallots and garlic, while Sichuan heat is more often than not numbing from a variety of dried ingredients. Either way, I can’t handle my spice particularly well so you generally won’t find me stuffing chilis in my mouth like no tomorrow. But more on that later.
The dishes all look horrific, to me at least. The majority are crowded plates of deep reds: chili peppers are thrown in whole, sliced, diced, minced, any way you can have them. I mean, look at this beast:
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My stomach just made a noise that sounded an awful lot like the smoke monster in Lost. If you’ve never watched Lost, don’t bother. The smoke monster is, like everything else in the show, inexplicable. Essentially the noise it makes sounds a lot like the creak of a rusty ocean liner. My stomach just made a noise that is possibly not even biological. “Oh, what sort of overeating did you partake in now? Tibfib, you card!” That is probably what you are wondering.
Actually, if you’re wondering that, you missed something. The title of this post is CHOCOLATE BUFFET. Bet you can’t guess what I’ve been gorging on. The sound my stomach made was probably indicative of the fact that people, as a general rule, should not eat like this. This is a warning to you sensible folk out there. For the rest of you just as insane as I am, keep reading and take notes.
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The first Friday of the month from 5pm to 8pm is Perogy Night down at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, and it’s every bit as awesome as it sounds. First of all, PEROGIES. Second of all, it’s in a cathedral, which makes it feel somehow more purposeful than usual perogy eatin’.
I was excited. I had heard there would certainly be a line up, so I showed up as early as possible to get a leg up on the carby goodness. The line was already maybe 15 deep when I arrived at 6pm, and it managed to expand little by little as we continued to wait in line. I felt my stomach cannibalizing itself as I listened to a guy behind me explain the whole concept to his friend, emphasizing how delicious the perogies are. Okay guy, I know how great they are, quit making me hungrier than I already am.
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I know I don’t update very often. So here’s the most annoyingly meta post: a micro-update about micro-updates. Follow me on Twitter! I’m @tibbidy.
Toodles! New post up soon, promise.
