A Joyous June

June brings the promise of sunny, warm days and a delicious summer bounty. Join us this month for a joyous line-up of interesting and entertaining events.

CBC North by Northwest Taping: Adventures with Knives
Wednesday, June 1, 4:00 p.m.
CBC NXNW host Sheryl MacKay sits down with local author Bob Foulkes for a chat about his book, Adventures with Knives: Surviving 1,000 Hours of Culinary School. Pop by for this free taping.

Six O'Clock Apero with Barbara-jo
Thursday, June 2, 6:00 p.m.
Barbara-jo hosts an apero and conversation about life in Paris. Join us for a glass of champagne and gougeres while Barbara-jo shares stories about her favourite places to stroll, dine and relax in Paris. Guests will each receive a copy of Cooking with Me and Sometimes You. Tickets are $35.00 and just a few spots are still available.

Pop Up Market: Meadow Vista Honey Wines
Saturday, June 4, 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Pop in for our Pop Up Market featuring Meadow Vista Honey Wines. This afternoon meet Meadow Vista's Queen Bee, Judie Barta, for an informative, informal afternoon all about her Okanagan honey and honey wine. Sample and purchase some of Meadow Vista's delightful honey based products.

Maenam Thai Dinner Party
Thursday, June 7, 6:30 p.m.
Owner and Chef Angus An of Maenam Restaurant demonstrates a Thai dinner party this evening featuring recipes from french apple press' publication, Maenam Thai Dinner Party. Learn about the various elements for preparing a well-balanced Thai meal and delight in favourite classic Thai dishes. Guests will also take home a granite mortar and pestle to make curry paste at home. Cost of this class is $110.00.

The Improvisational Cook
Saturday, June 11, 10:30 a.m.
Do you marvel at how some home cooks just seem to pull together a delicious meal effortlessly and spontaneously? This morning Chef Lawren Moneta teaches guests some of the secrets and basics of becoming an improvisational cook with recipes and ideas from The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider. This event is $85.00.

Adventures with Knives
Tuesday, June 14, 6:30 p.m.
Bob Foulkes, newly retired, chronicles his culinary training in his french apple press publication, Adventures with Knives. This evening Bob chats about his adventures in an intense culinary program while Chef Glenys Morgan joins in the conversation as a culinary instructor and demonstrates a gourmet dinner for guests. Tickets to this event are $85.00.

Coriander Leaf Tour Launch
Thursday, June 16, 6:00 p.m.
You are invited to a sneak peak of the exciting new Journeys with Heart tour to Vietnam and Cambodia for March 2012, a fundraising tour to benefit the Minerva Foundation for BC Women. This evening guest tour guides, Barbara-jo McIntosh and Vicki Gabereau preview this culinary adventure to Southeast Asia. Enjoy the delectable flavours of Indo-China while gathering insider glimpses of the tour's highlights. Entrance to this event is by donation with proceeds going to the Minerva Foundation. Please RSVP.

New York Stories
Thursday, June 23, 6:00 p.m.
This evening, Barbara-jo takes us for a whirlwind trip to one of her favourite cities, New York. Barbara-jo shares some of her favourite sites, food and activities in the city that never sleeps. Guests will enjoy a Big Apple-inspired beverage and snack and will take home one of Barbara-jo's favourite collection of New York stories, Up In the Old Hotel by Joseph Mitchell. Tickets to this interlude are $28.00.

For more information about these and other events, visit our website at www.bookstocooks.com and call 604-688-6755 to register.

The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola, Modern Library

Emile Zola's The Belly of Paris whisked the Wednesday Night book club to the Paris of the mid-1800's faster than a speeding hansom cab. Set in the famous Les Halles - a bustling food market that featured all manner of vendors peddling their wares - Zola's earthy novel creates a world where the culinary gap between the prosperous and the poor becomes a metaphor for the politics of the time. The plot features plenty of intrigue. But what sets the book apart is the lavish, full-bodied descriptions of selling, preparing and eating food.

The novel has always been one of Barbara-jo's favourites. "I consider food to be the center of life," she says. "And the book captures the true spirit of that philosophy." Members of the book club appreciated the feeling of being transported to another time and place. A sensation that was greatly enhanced by Glenys's evocative menu. The menu included a starter of Gougere, followed by a Lentil, Watercress, Frisee and Lardon Salad With Garlicky Vinaigrette, Potage Verts Au Pistou and Creme Brulee. A fitting tribute to Zola, whose skill with a knife and fork rivaled his way with a pen.

Waving the Weather - May, 2011

Dear Charles,

Back in Vancouver, I muse over the days I spent in the peaceful and thoughtful paradise you have created for yourself, family, and the world that has enough sense to adventure into your particular piece of the landscape. When I find myself frustrated, observing our fast-paced culture losing the plot, I can close my eyes and remember the first moment we motored into your drive way. My exit from the vehicle was simplified when Horatio opened my door, welcoming us into your sanctuary. A delightful discussion continued most amiably while my companion organized the checking in.

Our room was perfect for a platonic couple, two cozy beds, two comfortable chairs nestled around the chimney, and close to the spacious window viewing a gaggle of evergreens framing the ocean whispering its waves into a shore blessed with both a sandy stretch and jagged corner. The working desk that my companion was eager to engage was happily for me, at the other end of the room, facing a wall. The bathing room also boasted a soaking tub under a large glass with the same vista as the bedroom.

We were both ready for a delicious meal, excited to see the menu the current kitchen brigade had created. Our server, from Germany, was a new addition to the Inn, but it felt as though he had been with the family for years as his knowledge of the menu, the amenities, and the surrounding environs was superb.

Both the menu and the meal delighted me immensely. Everything is made in-house, the dedication to local ingredients with worldly flavours and flair - places my perception for the kitchen - to be comparable with other restaurants, I have enjoyed with similar pleasure around the globe. Dungeness crab perogy, halibut with clam risotto, and the dessert menu was so unusual, I forbade my dining companion to ask for a description, insisting we adventure bravely into the unknown. I have never been happier with a sweet surprise than I was in those moments. I purposely spend little energy here describing the dishes I loved, and will always remember, you know how wonderful the food program you support is.

The morning presented my eyes with a grey dawn. I rose eagerly to rush back to the restaurant for breakfast, but I pragmatically took myself to the beach for a walk. Arriving to the restaurant I was ushered to a pleasing table, there is no back room for the single diner in this establishment. Another evocative menu is presented to me, my thirst quenched with a blend of blackberry and cranberry juices. I enjoy everything, again.

I take time to read the newspaper in the library, have a wee nap before I step my way into the spa. I do not partake of the usual relaxing treatments, but am overjoyed with Angel, a woman with many esthetic skills, and as only one of your disciples could, attends her regard for me.

My hours watching the waves, observing surfers commune with the waves, strollers wading in the wake of a watery message from the sea, are happy. I am full of peace, I am secure in the knowledge my diet has been well nourished, and I am delighted to have treasured memories of such gracious hosts.

Thank you Charles, I look forward to being a part of the family at http://www.wickinn.com/ again soon.

Sincerely, Barjo

GREAT FOOD Series from Penguin Books

We have no shame in admitting that the latest in book design gets our hearts racing at a swifter pace than the latest 'app' and when we received the first books in Penguin's new GREAT FOOD series there was a collective 'ooh, ahh' heard around the shop. This is all that we love about books - tactile, beautiful, little gems of culinary history that sit perfectly in the hand.

We want them all to display at home, face out - they really are that charming. And, there is as much to please our curiousity and literary appetites as there is to please the eye. For example, who knew that as well as being the author of the The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas was also an enthusiastic gourmand and expert cook? His Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, published in 1873, is an encyclopeaedic collection of ingredients, recipes, and anecdotes, from absinthe to zest via cake, frogs' legs, oysters, roguefort and vanilla.

Penguin's description of their new series (20 paperback titles, each one focussing on food writing from the last 400 years) sums it up nicely. "Throughout the history of civilization, food has been more than simple necessity. In countless cultures, it has been livelihood, status symbol, entertainment - and passion. In the GREAT FOOD series, Penguin brings you the finest food writing from the last 400 years, and opens the door to the wonders of every kitchen."

Thank you Penguin for putting new faces on these treasured classics and reminding us why we are lifelong booksellers and booklovers.

Spring Events are Sprouting

Our spring schedule is in full swing and we are hosting a number of exciting events in May and June.

This evening is the first of our Six O'Clock Aperos with Barbara jo McIntosh. Guests will enjoy a glass of champagne and gougeres (delicious little savoury pastries) as Barbara jo shares stories of her favourite bistros, cafes, galleries, and memories of Paris. This was such a popular offering that we will host a repeat Apero on Thursday, June 2nd at (naturally) 6:00 p.m.

We are also so pleased to welcome Chef Angus An to the shop on Tuesday June 7th as he takes us through the details and techniques of creating an authentic Thai Dinner Party Menu. Guests will take home a copy of our very own french apple press publication, Meanam Thai Dinner Party Menu, along with their own 7" granite mortar & pestle.

We also have some 'adventures with knives' on our schedule from our ever popular knife skills Saturday class with chef Glenys Morgan on May 28th, to a dinner party with author Bob Foulkes on June 14th (the perfect night out for Dad). For home cooks looking to create culinary magic from a can of seafood, chef Lawren Moneta will be recreating some classic summertime favourites from Barbara jo's bestseller, Tin Fish Gourmet on Saturday, June 11th.

Drop by the shop to pick up our printed spring schedule and browse some of the fresh new spring releases, or visit our events page on our website to view all of upcoming classes and events.

The Beauty and Bounty of the Garden & Kitchen

Authors Christina Symons & John Gillespie brought their green thumbs to the shop this weekend to celebrate the release of their new book, Everyday Eden. Together, from their home in the Sunshine Coast, Christina (a freelance writer and photographer) and John (a landscape garden) have created a collection of whimsical and easy projects form the bounty of your garden.

Christina showed us the technique (surpisingly easy) for making her delightful candied flowers (her favourite, Johnny Jump-ups) - the perfect topping for vanilla fairy cakes. She also took us through the steps in making impressive (again, easy) Herbed Chevre molded into shapes of butterflies and flowers all dressed up with nuts and poppyseeds.

Victoria Day Weekend Shop Hours & Special Event

Please note our special hours for the holiday weekend:

Saturday, May 21st 10:00 a.m. till 5:oo p.m.
Sunday, May 22nd 11:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m.
Monday, May 23rd 11:00 a.m. till 4:00 p.m.

Drop by on Saturday for a taste of some delicious chocolate treats prepared by UK author Willie Harcourt-Cooze. Willie will be signing copies of his book, Willie's Chocolate Bible from 12pm till 2pm. This is a free event. Please call us at (604) 688-6755 to rsvp.

Pop Up Market: Wendy Boys and Cocolico

Pop by for our Pop Up Market today, Saturday, May 7 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.! Our in-shop artisan of the day is pastry chef, Wendy Boys, who will be selling her wonderful confections from her company, Cocolico.

Rumour has it that she'll be bringing such delights as "Made for Mother's Day macarons," dark chocolate sponge toffee, vanilla salt caramel and Wendy's famous dessert sauces, among many other goodies.

Pop in for some sweets and a cookbook for a gift that Mom will love!

C Honours Moms with a Cocktail and Canape Reception

Our mothers. They tied our shoelaces, and applied Band-Aids. They let us lick the cookie dough off the egg beaters. They made the best grilled cheese sandwiches. They stood holding all the jackets at sports games, dutifully. They convinced us that we were the best looking in our high school. Mom’s taxi never ran the meter, and never expected a tip.

When we were learning to drive, they slammed their foot down, even though there’s no break on the passenger side. They took endless pictures before we headed to Grad, even as we groaned and protested.

They couldn’t wait for us to leave the house. And then they couldn’t wait for us to come over and visit. They told us to soar. They told us to settle down. They listened to every phone call. They quietly tolerated our “me me me” phase, because they knew we’d grow out of it. We did.

Sunday, May 8^th is Mothers Day. C is celebrating by throwing a complimentary cocktail and canapé reception between 3pm and 5pm. Guests can reserve for this experience by emailing info@crestaurant.com and writing “I Love Mom” in the subject line. Don’t delay; space is limited.