THANK YOU.

Grazie.  Gracias.  Arigato.  Danke.  Efharisto.  

Why?  For voting!  And for all of your kind and supportive messages!  And for showing such enthuuuusiasm!  I'm in the top two and it's all because of you, my incredible network of family and friends (and friends of friends, and so on).

Also, a big thank you to the fabulous ladies at Good Food Jobs for putting me in their newsletter not once, but twice, and to my incredibly supportive team at The Dirty Apron!

Also also, thanks to my friend Gordie - who earned himself a lucrative scholarship to Vancouver Film School through a similar kind of competition - for creating this link on reddit that we can share.  All you have to do is create a username (no email is required and it takes just a few seconds), then click the "up" arrow under the "foodit" logo.  With enough 'upvotes,' linds-eats gains exposure amongst a crowd of thousands - all people who haven't (yet) heard of #Richmond365.

Remember that you're actually allowed to vote once every 24 hours, so if you wish, you can cast up to 7 votes for linds-eats.  Please continue to spread the word, soak in my eternal gratitude, and enjoy your week.

Here's a small collection of things I've been enjoying lately.  Why?  Because I love sharing and because we've all seen enough of my face.

Thanks.


-Jeff Martin Joinery.  I want everything he makes, but especially one of these butcher blocks.  They are SO handsome.

-Old Faithful's Container Gardening Workshop, in collaboration with Victory Gardens.  Great idea and nice poster.

-This, obviously.  Hurry up already, May. 

-"Little Talks" by Iceland's Of Monsters and Men.  Catchy song with a video that assures imaginations are alive and well.

I'm One of 12 Finalists!!

And now, dear friends, we have our work cut out for us!  For the second phase of #Richmond365, they're letting the public decide who one of the top 3 will be, then Tourism Richmond chooses the final winner.  Voting starts TOMORROW, APRIL 24th (which also happens to be my Grandpa's 91st birthday - Happy Birthday Harry!) and goes to MAY 1st.  All you have to do is visit www.facebook.com/RichmondBC and vote for me.  LINDSAY.  ANDERSON.  If you don't have Facebook, you have three options:

1) Sign up for it, vote, and ignore it again for the rest of your life.

2) Sign up for it, vote, and enjoy it for the rest of your life.

3) Don't sign up for it but ask your friends who DO have Facebook to vote for me instead!  So many choices.

If you need a reminder as to why I'm the person for the job, you should visit this blog, which I created specifically for my application.  It's like a resume, but fun!

A HUGE thank you ahead of time, and you'll probably be hearing from me again soon.  Ciao and grazie.

Vegupcakes.

Obviously, one is doomed when trying to cleverly mashup 'vegan' and 'cupcakes,' but the good news is you're not doomed if you want to make them.

Until just a few days ago, the only vegan things I'd ever cooked were by accident, and since I seem to use cheese in everything, this accident occurred very few times.  I recently hosted my friends Dana, Dave, and Zoe for dinner, however, and since it was Dave's birthday and Zoe's a vegan, POOF!  I decided it was time to give the animals a break.  We had tacos filled with guacamole, pico de gallo, roasted yams and spiced beans (gracias, Dana), vegan chili, cheese (I couldn't not), and Ottolenghi's green tahini sauce.  They were scrumdiddly.

Then we tucked into some chocolate vegan cupcakes, the recipe for which came from this annoyingly skinny baker.  They ask for no weird ingredients, just coconut cream instead of milk, margarine or vegetable shortening instead of butter, a few teaspoons of vinegar, and obviously no eggs.  They rose well, were sufficiently rich and chocolately, and we each polished off two.  I heard the chicken whose eggs I had saved chirp "thanks" from a distance.

In between taco and vegupcake mouthfuls, I spent part of the evening demanding Dave and Zoe go on tour.  They're a band - just the two of them - and it's an excellent one.  Colourful Language will someday* be coming to a city near you, so get excited.

*Just as soon as they finish their album!  Can't wait.  Here's a preview.

A #lindseatsrichmond Update.

I'd love to tell you something more interesting than "I'm just waiting," but the truth is, I'm just waiting.  The good folks at Tourism Richmond have a whopping 1,500 applications to review, so it's likely they won't have their shortlist until mid-late April, and that's entirely understandable.  For now I'll continue to (obsessively) check their site daily, say another heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who provided photos and support to #lindseatsrichmond, and promise an update as soon as I can!

In the meantime, I'd like to respectfully insist you see Jiro Dreams of Sushi, a documentary about the world's first sushi chef to receive 3 Michelin stars.  I'll never be as poetic with words as this film is with images, so I'll give you the inarticulate version of my review:  it was so freakin' good I wanted to clap during the credits, immediately book a flight to Tokyo so I can try Jiro's food for myself, and seek out the film's director, David Gelb, on whom I've developed a mad intellectual crush and want to kiss.  He's only 28 years-old, though his age is less impressive when compared to Jiro, who's 85 and has been working since the age of 9.  Either way, both men are wonders.  It's an exceptional and inspiring work of art, and I sincerely hope you get the chance to see it.

Harvest Time.

Last week I went for a walk with my camera.  We have a good time, my Canon and I, though "walks" in the spring usually just means standing under trees with my camera pointed skyward, taking about 200 more cherry blossom photos than I actually need.

On this walk I passed Harvest Community Foods, a store I've been greatly anticipating; it's the result of thisspace.ca, an ambitious project which saw developers asking the neighbourhood to decide what kind of new business they'd like to see in their community.  It started off with this cool video…

….then through online polling people chose everything from the overall concept and type of service (grocery, featuring local foods) to the graphic designer who branded it (Naomi Macdougall) and the business’ name.  People voted, decisions were finalized, and now it's time for Harvest!

So what's in there?  Expect a shop providing mainly local and organic products as well as a no-fuss menu that changes daily.  You can eat in, take your goods to go, or settle into one of their chairs out front and watch the Adanac Bike Rout-ers fly by.

The store itself is thoughtfully laid-out, though they're not fully settled in just yet.  And fair enough, they’ve only been open a few weeks, plus there’s something refreshing about a place still occupied by ladders and paint cans.  It speaks of potential.

What has been established is a genuinely warm environment that feels perfectly at ease in the neighbourhood.  The staff are passionate about their work, up for a chat, and pleased to offer snack recommendations to hungry kids like me.  Their suggestion?   The steamed bun with free-range chicken, pickled cucumber and red onions, fresh cilantro and sriracha.  Had it.  Loved it.  Would go back again for sure.

With a steam-bunned belly, I continued on my walk.  I took more flower shots (magnolias are the ugly ducklings of the tree world), and listened to this intensely captivating podcast from This American Life.

I now know that blossoms, buns, and Ira Glass make for a great spring day.  Happy Easter everyone.