After having been housebound now for quite a while, and I figured it was about time that I head out for some out-of-this-world grub.

My other half and I received a gift certificate for Christmas to a local hotspot here in Courtenay B.C. called Atlas Cafe. From the line-up outside I knew we were in for some great eats. Though we waited for about half an hour, the host came around with some refreshing orange juice to sip on while we waited. While we we were sipping on our orange juice we had a chance to look at our menus and decide what to order.

There are many global favorites at any time of day you decide to eat, whether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner. Everyone will be easily pleased. Dinner was an easy time for us to escape and we thought it would be nice to head out for a nice evening. We have not tried too many dishes from Atlas Cafe, so we thought we would try a couple different appetizers, and one main dinner dish.

The first appy we tried was the award-winning Natural Pastures brie, a local-made cheese from the Comox Valley, served on Atlas’ in-house focaccia bread with thinly-sliced apples to accompany the creamy warm brie. What an amazing contrast! For nine dollars it was definitely award-worthy. Along with the brie we were served up a Mediterranean platter which consisted of a Spanokapita enough to share for two. It was rather delicious and filled with mascarpone cheese, spinach, feta and mushrooms – this Spanokapita was out of this world! Also paired with the Mediterranean platter was fresh tzatziki, hummus (which was not overpowered by garlic) and a Greek salad with a creamy vinaigrette, lots of fresh feta and, of course, pita bread.

Our main course consisted of the enchilada of all enchiladas – a delicious fusion of curry, chipotle, cumin and sweet chili. The enchilada is a baked curry tortilla shell filled with corn, beans, mixed greens, roasted sweet chili yams, red peppers, mozzarella, chipotle sour cream, and fire cracker rice, served with caesar salad.

From the time we ordered until the time our food arrived was only 10 minutes and definitely worth the quick wait – though I would have probably waited a lot longer than 10 minutes for our dinner. I was very pleased with our overall excellent service, our quick wait and our delicious meal. If you are looking for great cuisine from around the world, I recommend Atlas Cafe. It is sure to please everyone. If you are interested, Atlas Cafe has an online menu that can be found on their website.

I have noticed that my blogging has been quite sporatic; just getting organized can be a lot of work!

I have been experimenting with new recipes and I am enjoying new, comforting fall favorites. A few treats that I have made are devil’s food cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and a truffle center, mini cherry cheesecakes and warm caramel apple pie. Of course I have been sharing these amongst friends as these are definitely not figure-friendly! I guess that’s what the holidays are for: sharing with great people, sharing great stories and amazing recipes that have been passed down through family and friends. I definitely can’t wait to try some new great ideas as I have a lot of baking and cooking ahead of me!

Hello! I have not been around for a few months. Getting into a routine with my little girl is a priority lately, but now life is not as hectic and I can take some time for myself to write again.

I am very excited to say that I am trying a diet consisting of products grown within Canada and mostly B.C. Sometimes it’s hard to find all foods within B.C., but I am really enjoying finding local produce and meat, while at the same time I am giving money back within the community.

I believe we eat because it is habit and to make eating more fun, we have that option to look for local products. For kids it can be fun to discuss which farms produce dairy products and where they are located, for example. You can give them an education about eating so that it does not become mechanical and they will also learn to appreciate the food you make and provide for them.

If you stick to local fruits, vegetables, and meats that are local and in-season, the cost of these products are cheaper than if you were buying out-of-country products out of season.

On a different note, regarding my last blog entry in which I mentioned wine festivals and camping, I have been camping a bit this summer and had a blast! We made ribs over an open fire and had no cooking stove. We made s’mores a number of different ways including wrapping the smore in tin foil and then placing it over the fire (though we still have to perfect the ways of the s’more – hahaha)! Nonetheless, I enjoyed using minimal ingredients and untensils to make a great meal while sitting outside and enjoying life was a blessing.

I went and visited a quaint little winery in the Comox Valley called Beaufort Vineyards & Estate Winery and even bought myself a bottle of their delicious blanc de noir – a light, refreshing blush wine at a reasonable price. You can also have picnics at their Estate as they carry all local cheeses, chocolate and – of course – yummy wine. I found out they are already 90% sold out, so if you are interested, you’d better get there fast!

On Friday I plan on attending a wine tasting festival on Mount Washington and look forward to discussing more regarding that this weekend. As for my week, I don’t know where it will take me – you will just have to keep reading my blog to keep posted. Toodles for now!!!

Oh how I can’t wait for campfire cooking! Hot dogs, s’mores, and homemade hamburgers… mmm such classic comfort foods of which we all remember eating as children. These days people are preparing foods other than the above campfire favorites, such as roasted garlic potatoes, grilled chili lime shrimp, fresh oysters on the half shell and applewood smoked pork served with mango salsa are now common at campfires and barbeques, but I will always appreciate a good charred hotdog any day!

As I start to write more, I think of summer and campfires, fresh oyster festivals, cider wine tastings, fresh fruit stands, fresh crab by the ocean, and of course family and friends all enjoying these amazing flavours with you. A great site to check out is Vancouver Island Adventures. It has all kinds of great info on wine and chocolate festivals, cider tastings, even a local Island seaweed festival. It also features great 4X4′ing spots, dinner cruises, surfing – you name it and this site has info on it.

I am super excited for the upcoming events featured on Vancouver Island and look forward to spending many nights near the camp fire soon. I will be back on the Island that I love so much and will be reporting exciting adventures in the near future.

Okay, so I finally realize that I am a very picky person! It’s not always a good thing. I realized that I really enjoy the finer foods and I like expensive cuts of meat. It’s not always good for the budget, but I have also learned how to find great bargains on great cuts of meat. Just because you are on a budget does not mean you cannot enjoy finer foods.

For example, while shopping at a local grocery store I always check in the butcher shop to see what the daily or weekly special is. Most of the time they have something I would like to eat; if not then seafood on sale is great too. It’s kind of an adventure to learn to cook different types of fish and shellfish!

Also, I always ask the butcher shop personnel if they have any sales coming up or if there are any deals they could give you – such as if you buy more than one steak or a certain amount of prawns. I almost always get a discounted price; it doesn’t hurt to ask. If you can and have the extra time, take your time in your shopping experiencce, learn the ingredients, browse through your flyer and get the best possible deals.

Taking my time and researching the best possible deals and learning what my grocery store has to offer gives me great appreciation for the foods I enjoy and cook with every day, including the expensive ones.

Well I finally did it! I took the time to set up my blog about cooking – I cannot explain how happy I am about sharing my passion of cooking and entertaining.

To let everyone know, I have been passionate about cooking since I was 12 years old and knew that I was going to one day be a food guru (laugh out loud). The reason I laugh is because I daydream constantly about all my creative cooking ideas, and somehow they all end with me being famous!

well, I guess when you daydream you can be anything you want, and food is where I wanted (want) to be. You know the industry – serving, cooking, entertaining – you name it and I want to be there. I love the thrill of knowing how people will react when they taste the food you worked so hard for, the looks on their faces when they are having a blast at your party with the decor; it’s all quite scenic and it’s an energy I thrive on!

This blog is created to share my passion and love for cooking, entertaining, favorite restauraunts, ideas and thoughts I may have dreamt about and would like to share with everyone. I will let you all know now that I will not be sharing the ideas that will make me famous -, those are for moi only. And tomorrow the cooking will begin and I will be posting pics regularly – I promise!