It’s been some time since my last post (an understatement, I realize) and I decided that if I didn’t write a new post now that it might not happen for another month. I’m happy to report that we are in the final stages of relocating from California to Vancouver, BC!
At the beginning of 2008, we decided to move to Vancouver where Joe went to college and where his family still resides. After much paperwork and waiting, I received Canadian residency status this past Fall so I can live and work there. We immediately started preparing our home for sale – who knew there would be so much to clean, purge, and de-clutter! The house went up for sale in mid-January and sold quickly (thank god). The house sale will officially close on March 10th but we will move a few days prior.
Once I’ve settled in to our new digs, I will once again be posting on a regular basis. I’ve missed writing, reading other food blogs, and have really missed cooking. The disruption of packing, open houses, and selling furniture has not been conducive to culinary endeavors … and our dinners have suffered due to it. When I visited Vancouver in January, I even left my camera there since I knew I wouldn’t be doing any serious cooking. The plus side is that we are eating out more often and trying all sorts of new dishes, but the down side is clearly reflected in my waistline.
Be warned, I’ll face a few kitchen adjustments in Vancouver since we are downsizing from a 1600 sq. ft. house to a 520 sq. ft. condo. While our new condo is wonderfully renovated, the kitchen is much smaller and we’ve resorted to a few creative storage solutions. The appliances are 24″ wide versus the current 36″. While 12 inches doesn’t seem all that big of an issue, my favorite aluminum sheet pans will no longer fit in my new oven. I also face the challenge of changing from a gas range to an induction cooktop and electric oven. I just know there are many scorched meals in our future!
I look forward to the many culinary adventures awaiting me in Vancouver and Canada as a whole. There will be an abundance of fresh seafood which will help me to move our of my comfort zone and actually try cooking with sea creatures. Also, there are subtle culinary differences in Canada to explore, like mexi-fries (i.e. tater-tots) served in Mexican fast food chains (not to mention the absence of Taco Bell altogether), nanaimo bars (a rich, sweet confection), and of course poutine (see below):
So, for now this is a brief goodbye. I’m trying to maintain my wits as we begin our final round of packing and purging for the big move north. I look forward to soon exploring the culinary promises of Vancouver and sipping a glass of wine while watching beautiful sunsets like this (taken at English Bay):
I welcome any suggestions on what I should see or do once I’m in Vancouver. If there are any interesting must-see grocery stores, delicatessens, or restaurants — please share them in the comments section below!
{ 38 comments… read them below or add one }
Heh, I’m sure Cali has no shortage of beautiful sunsets… But home is where the heart is, right? ;) The oven is 12 inches wide?! Please tell me it’s at least 15 inches long! Only the tiniest sheet pans can fit in that :P And, I can’t wait to see all the gorgeous seafood– there’s not nearly enough on the blogosphere. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of healthier meals too. I wish you the best of luck Allen, and I hope to see you more around here (incidentally my job might begin in July… Which means it’ll be me taking long hiatuses!) (hiati?)
Oh no, no, no — the oven is only 24″ wide which is 12″ less than my current 36″ range. It’s cute but not nearly large enough to hold a 20lb turkey :-)
Thanks for the well-wishes — hopefully, we’ll get to see you before we move!
Good to hear that you are making your move Allen. Good luck with your new life settling in and can’t wait to see what new foods you come up with!
We’ll miss you in California but look forward to your culinary adventures north of the border! :) Good luck with that oven…sounds like a large toaster oven! – mary the food librarian
Oooh, Vancouver is just gorgeous :] I’m an American transplant to Canada (Toronto tho) here as well — and congrats on finally getting through the residency, it took me FOREVER. There’s so much red tape to go through…
I’m looking forward to your updates!
We have been talking about expanding our snow trips outside of the states next year. Being that we are in the west coast, our first stop will probably be in Whistler. I am learning that it is amazingly beautiful up there in Vancouver.
So Poutine is pretty big up there, how does it taste?
In any event, we are so excited for you guys. Good luck with adjusting to the new habitat, and mostly your new kitchen. Wishing you the best and looking forward to your next update.
Fumi
So that’s where you’ve been hiding! Congrats on getting everything in order and heading North…although I’m freezing right now in the SW, so you can have it. =)
Good luck with the new oven, and all the best to you and Joe for a smooth transition. Bring on the seafood!
I was wondering where you were! hehe! Good luck with the move and settling in! :)
How exciting! Vancouver is such a wonderful city (not to mention a FOOD city). I’ve got a restaurant rec: we enjoyed an excellent meal at Parkside on Haro –> http://www.parksiderestaurant.ca/
Safe travels for now and looking forward to your renewed blog presence very soon!
No TacoBell? That most be heaven! LOL It is nice to hear from you. Just yesterday I was wondering where you had been. I am glad you are making this move and I am sure you will love it up there. Maybe someday I will follow you north. Hehe
Good luck and hope to hear more from you!
Its good to hear from you! Hope the rest of the move goes smoothly
I’m soooo looking forward to using the induction cooktop with sensor controls. It’ll be much easier to clean :)
Thank you all for the well wishes! And thank you PaniniKathy for the restaurant suggestion — it’s only 5 blocks from where I’ll be, so it’s convenient as well! We’ll give it a try :-)
Ben: But I loooooove Taco Bell, even though I rarely let myself eat there. It’s been over a year since I last had it … but I’ll have to go binge on it at least once before moving!
Yikes, that was dyslexic of me! But you see, the source of my confusion is this… My oven back at home is only 16″ wide! Life isn’t fair!! You owe us plenty of baked goods, buster :P
By the way, sorry but Taco Bell is horrible! Or maybe it only is in the Philippines. But there are sooo many better options out there! I’m a hundred percent certain you can do better at home!
I’ve missed reading your posts. Best of luck with your move.
Allen, welcome to Canada! Although you’re 3 hrs. away from TO by plane, you already feel closer.
Catch ya soon after you settle in.
i just checked here yesterday and you had not posted yet! so glad to be reading EOL again!
Fumi: For some reason, your comment ended up in my spam filter and I just found it! Poutine is oddly good, the biggest issue I have is finding a place with good gravy. Some places use gravy that tastes veeeeery processed and isn’t very tasty. Also, true poutine uses cheese curds which give it an added bit of character. It’s definitely a good comfort food and makes for a good snack after a night on the town :-) I hope you make it to Whistler — it’s worth the trip!
A friend of mine moved to Vancouver from California a year ago and she likes it a lot there. I am sure you’ll have a great life there. I am excited for you!
Allen, all the best for the move to what I hear is a wonderful city for culinary delights, though it’s still on my list of places to visit. So I’ll be looking to you to recommend places when I do finally make it. See you more on Twitter hopefully!
We are looking forward to trying out all the different types of congee, and local seafood and of course, mexi-fries with lots of salsa.
Hi Allen!
So nice to hear about you and your next culinary adventures in Vancouver!
Hope you’ll be ok there and looking forward to your gorgeous posts ;)
Allen all the best!
Gera
Hey Allen,
I’m looking forward to reading about your Vancouver culinary adventures – best of luck with the move. You must, MUST go to Japadog:
http://www.japadog.com/en/ as they apparently have some of the best hot dogs in Canada. If you go, please post!! I have not been lucky enough to try them…
Oh, I love Vancouver. In fact, my husband and I once fantasized about retiring there. Well, that was until we found out that the cost of living there is about that of Chicago. Yes, cheaper than the Bay Area. But not by much!
I’m envious of your move. It’s a spectacular city that reminds me a lot of San Francisco. And the food? Just incredible.
Hope you settle into your new place easily. Here’s to many delightful meals in your new home.
Hi Allen!
I didn’t find my comment :( of several days ago, but anyway I hope you’ll have a marvelous experience in Vancouver and looking forward your delicious posts from Canada!
Cheers,
Gera
Welcome to Beautiful British Columbia. You will love it here! Even though I like to delight my family with my own creations (with the occasional help from you) when we do go out we love this place – http://www.chambar.com/. The chef is Belgian and the food is fabulous and inventive.
Some food suggestions from a fellow Vancouverite:
I am guessing you will be close to English Bay – you can take the little ferry boat to Granville Island and shop till you drop. You’ll be able to find just about anything there. I like to do some of my produce shopping at the Asian grocery stores, everything is much cheaper there and you can find all those hard to find leafy things(look for T&T in Tinseltown). Caper’s on Robson is great for organics and such. And Meinhardts on South Granville is great for specialty items. Hope to see you at any of those places soon. Enjoy your new home!
Good luck on your move! I had wondered why you hadn’t been posting for months and months. Vancouver is wonderful. Best wishes to you and Joe!
Congratulations on the exciting new move!! How thrilling! I hope everything goes perfectly for you, and I can’t wait to hear about your adventures in your new kitchen!
Here are a few more stores in Vancouver:
Famous Foods on Kingsway – they advertise on the back of city buses
Choices: http://www.choicesmarket.com/index.php. The Yaletown store on Richards is really great.
Stongs: http://www.stongs.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=content&page_id=1
Congratulations on your move.
I had missed not seeing you around and now I understand why. May your move be as stress-free as possible and many good wishes and to start a new life in Canada.
Welcome in my province! Have a good move and update us when you are settle in Vancouver.
I’m so happy for you, Alan! I visited Vancouver a few years ago and just loved it. I’ll be looking forward to a post about herring. My husband couldn’t stop eating them when we were there.
What you’ll really enjoy in Vancouver is the Chinese food – the finest outside of China and Hong Kong. We are in the midst of live King Crab season in Vancouver.
Poutine, unfortunately, is more of an East Coast thing.
Welcome aboard.
I hope you’re enjoying Vancouver! It looks beautiful from the photos – and I look forward to reading about your culinary adventures…
I haven’t visited in months and months and wow! That’s great news, I’m jealous – we honeymooned way up in the wilderness (johnston straits or something) on a kayaking adventure, and I loved visiting Vancouver. I’m looking forward to hearing about how it is cooking on an induction stove too.
Good luck! Hope the moving in is going great. I am getting ready to move into a teeny kitchen as well…