We had dinner over at Mama and Papa Ciavarros house on Saturday. I thought it was the right time to bring out my awkward smile.

There was a rumour that Tractor has a present for me but he wasn’t giving away any secrets.

I was getting a bit antsy because I really wanted my present. It’s not every day you get a  gift from the family cat so I knew this had to be special.

Finally he handed over the goods and helped me unwrap it.

Ohhhhh! The Flavor Bible! Whats this book all about!?

He wasn’t too impressed that I didn’t know what it was. Apparently all the foodies, including himself, live and breath by the Flavor Bible.

So we went through it together.  It’s wasn’t a book filled with recipes, but instead a book filled with information on flavours! He told me I’d learn the following…

*explore the individual roles played by the four basic tastes — salty, sour, bitter and sweet — and how to bring them into harmony;

* work more intuitively and effectively with ingredients by discovering which flavors have the strongest affinities for one another;

* brighten flavors through the use of acids — from vinegars to citrus juices to herbs and spices such as kaffir lime and sumac;

* deepen or intensify flavors through the layering of specific ingredients or techniques; and

* balance the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects of cooking and serving an extraordinary meal.

He went on to explain that if there was a a dish I was looking to cook and wanted to see what flavours would work well with it, all  I would have to do is look it up! For example, if I were to make Lobster it would give me flavour information on the Lobster itself and then give me a list of flavours that would work well with  it, like Anchovies or Apples.

I was pretty impressed that Tractor gave me such a thoughtful gift. I guess he really does listen when I go on and on about all the things I love to cook. He sure does know me pretty well.

Thanks Tractor, you are the best <3

When I was thinking about what I wanted to do for my birthday this year, I figured I would keep it small and just invite the people who matter the most to me. Long gone are the days where you would create a facebook invite and invite every single person you know to join you down at Caprice for a night of dancing and despite those who said they would show up, the only people who actually did were those you cared about the most. Not that I ever went to a club for my birthday, but I figured I was old enough to just invite the people I wanted to see and cut out all those who may or may not make time to celebrate my birthday with me.

I’ve wanted to do a small birthday dinner party for a long time, so I finally took the oportinity to do it this year. Chad and I always look up restuarnats on Open Table when we want to see if anyone is having a special deal or when we want to make sure we have a reservation. I decided to do a search for a restaurant in Gastown for my birthday, but even though I was looking to book something a month in advance there were no places available for our group size at a reasonable time. Then Claudia, the brilliant foodie that she is, suggested this new place on main street called Campagnolo. She had heard many good things about it and was waiting to try it out herself. I checked out the menu and was sold. Birthday dinner location found!



There was 8 of us who went out for dinner. Claudia had to cancel due to a last minute all expenses paid trip to Hong Kong. Yea, she leads a difficult life ;)

I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant. Kind of felt like I was in someones cantina having dinner.

Treviso Salad
shaved mushrooms, arugula, shallot vinaigrette, pecorino

I had to represent half of my home town. I can’t believe I am actually coming around to the flavours of radicchio! Salad was so good!

Linguini
manila clams, white wine, chillies, parsley

This pasta was amazing. The chillies added a nice bite to it and the clams were oh so yummi. Vogole FTW!

“Affordable, casual Italian dining in a warm and welcoming space. Campagnolo serves rustic dishes inspired by the Piedmont and Emiglia-Romagna regions of Italy in an open, spacious room highlighted by original old growth fir wood beams.”

While we waited for our desserts to be served the table requested a speech for yours truly. At this point I was on my 3rd glass of wine. Well played my friends, well played!

They tried to get me to cry by mentioning ‘The Farm’ but I was stronger then that. I decided I would go around the table and tell everyone why I invited them to my party.

Chad: I told him I loved him and he was fabulous, which made everyone question if he was gay or not, because apparently you can only use the work fabulous when describing the gays.
Shaz: She is my sister in rage and with out her, who would I chat to online all day long. We also email each other funny tumblr photos which is the greatest thing ever.
Alicia: If there is every an earthquake and we are at work we will be the only one to survive because of all the vitamin Water she hoards under her desk.
Elise: She sent me an email asking me if I knew of a website that had maps of all the Castles and Palaces in England and it made me feel special that she thought I knew that much about the royal family.
Adam: He was wearing a Death from Above 1979 shirt, which I was in love with, and he had skipped his ‘Sunday Leage’ soccer game which made me feel pretty important.
Dario: We’ll hes Italian, so need I say more? We’ve  also known each other for a million years so I get emotional talking about him. I also forgave him for voting Communist in the last election.
Ryan: He’s replacing the deck in our building and with out him, we will never sell our apartment. It’s all on your shoulder Ryan!

Everyone was basically laughing their heads off, which was exactly what I was trying to do. I then may or may not have thrown down an ethnic slur about blueberry farms, which I’m pretty sure made Ryan cry. Hot damn, sometimes I amuse myself.

The cool thing about Campagnolo is that they have a Grappa bar. All the boys ordered a Resentin (espresso & ½ oz Grappa di Prosecco).

“Resentin – after finishing an espresso with sugar, grappa is poured into the nearly empty cup, swirled & drunk quickly.“

I had the Vanilla Panna Cotta and was partially mortified when I noticed the candle on the side of my plate. Thank God for those 3 glasses of wine.

DEATH FROM ABOVE

Over all it was probably one of the best Birthdays I have ever had. It totally makes a difference when you surround yourself with the people you care about.

I loved Campagnolo and am very glad I chose to have dinner there. I also loved that when I told my Mom where it was she kind of freaked out. Yes, it may be in a sketchy part of town, but doesn’t she know that’s where all the good restaurants are?! The food was really good and the atmosphere was even better. There are 100 places to go in Vancouver for good Italian food, but why not try one that is relaxed and casual. I love all things rustic!

I wonder if they’d let me live in the restaurant?

Since Saturday (my actual birth DAY) was going to be a gong show of activity, Chad said he wanted to give me my birthday card on Friday night. I was told that my birthday present was not yet available because he ordered it through work (they have a special deal with Nikon) and he wasn’t sure when exactly it was arriving. So Friday night he gave me my card and it was all adorable. Then after dinner he turned to me and said, “You know your Birthday present has been in plain view all evening”. I knew exactly where to look. 3 small-ish boxes were scattered around the book case. It had arrived! My shiny new Nikon D3100 Digital SLR. I was in love.

We spent the evening figuring out all the features and taking test pictures. It was so easy to figure out and even ‘boring pictures’ looked amazing through the viewfinder. Finally I’d be able to have the picture quality I had always envied! Saturday was oing to be a perfect day to try it out.

As I mentioned in earlier posts, my cousin Alexis got married on Saturday. The timing of everything worked out quite nicely with the ceremony at 11, and lunch from 12:00 -3. It ended up leaving lots of time to watch the Canucks lose (they never win when they play on my Birthday, its a fact) and then head to a late birthday dinner with friends.

Doesn’t Mr. Ciavarro look so handsome. I dressed him myself ;)

Alexis and her husband Dave got married at the same church Chad and I did. Its tradition. Everyone gets married at my uncles church.

Aren’t they just the cutest couple EVER.

Alexis made her wedding dress with the assistance of a family friend. Yup, she’s just as crazy as me! I absolutely loved her dress. Pale grey, 1940 styling, yellow accents. STUNNING! Anyone can go out and buy a pretty white wedding dress and look beautiful, but I love it when someone chooses a dress that suits them so well you can’t imagine them wearing anything else.

Their reception was at the Rainflower Restaurant in Richmond. Yup, Dim Sum for all! 

I had only ever been out for Dim Sum once so I somewhat knew what the expect. The food was so good, I could have sat there all day and stuffed my face. Pork Wontons, Deep Fried Tofu, BBQ’d Pork Buns, Chinese Broccoli, BBQ’d Duck, Fried Rice, Prawns, Noodles with Pork, Spring rolls, and more! It was such a different but amazing reception experience.

I appriciated the fact that the attention was taken away from it being my Birthday and placed on Alexis for it being her wedding day! Haha!

I always love getting together with my cousins when everyone is dressed up. It’s like we are mature classy adults. Well, for the most part.

Chad is my number one photography subject. I should publish a book filled with random pictures of Chad.

Over all it was a great wedding. Different from the traditional big Italian wedding, but a welcome change. The food was awesome, the restaurant was beautiful and the Bride & Groom looked like they were straight out of a movie!

Damn this busy life and busy work schedule. I mean, I like being busy, but there are too many damn things to do lately. Work has been exploding, which is nice, but you know that leaves me running around like crazy. I’ve been in a rut, trying to dig myself out of this hole that is filled with things I should do instead of things I want to do. The ‘ME’ time seems to be fading.

I need to cut back on my elaborate dinners (sorry Chad), not stuff myself silly so I need an hour to digest, and take some time each night to do what I want to do. This whole fashion blog takes up a lot of time, and the result isn’t even that amazing. I just don’t have enough time to give it these days.

I finally got together with Matt for some birthday Sushi. We went to Shiro, which I have never been to before. Matt says he use to go there all the time as a kid. I was definitely up for the experience!

It’s super cute inside, and I always love to watch them make the sushi.

Ebi Sunomono

This is one of my favorite dishes ever, so I have become somewhat of a conusor. Every place we go that has it, I try it. This is one was very good; definitely one of my favorites. You can tell when it is REALLY done wrong because they put lettuce in it and it’s the most bizarre thing ever.

Sushi Explosion!

Special Crab Roll – Super good but holy Spicy Alert!
Negitoro Maki – One of my favorite ‘of the moment’ sushi. This one was good but they stuck Wasabi in it and I died. I can’t handle wasabi in any amount.
Dynamite Roll – Can’t go wrong with that!
Scallop Roll – I’ve always been scared of them because they look so gooey, but when I stopped to think about it, I adore Scallops so why not scallop rolls!? This was very good!

BBQ Squid Legs with Garlic Butter

The sauce was amazingly tasty, the squid was squish, but then it always is. This one as good!

Chicken Karaage

I’ve had this before at other places and it’s been better. It’s hard to go wrong with deep fried chicken, but there was barely any meat on these bones which was disappointing.

BBQ Salman with Salt

Tasty, but such a weirdly shaped piece of fish! The way it was cut with the fins on made it look like it had wings!

Over all a good dinner. I was so full and the green tea was soo good. I could have sat there all night drinking it.

We went back to Matts house for MTV and Ice Cream which was epic. The Hills is so amazing right now.

I think I will spend the rest of the day dreaming about Ebi Sunomono.