Great visit to Vancouver

It was nice to spend nearly a week visiting Neil in Vancouver. We were pleased to enjoy a lot of locally made beers, lagers and pilsners, which there is no shortage of in that city. Neil also made sure we visited some of the best restaurants in Vancouver as well. Some of dinners were amazing. The best part was spending time, talking and getting caught up on how he is enjoying life in one of the best cities in the country ... but housing is pretty expensive there. I was also pleased to get a quick flight over to Vancouver Island and up to Comox to visit my brother Ron, his wife Leilani and their family. That was an amazingly nice time. I should really make an effort to travel more often.

What a treat ... my blazer is at the cleaners.

I like to get out on a Friday night -- thanks Jennifer for that gift card -- at Fionn Maccool's on regent Street. It is my go-to pub. So I usually have a nice savoury meal and usually forgo any sort of dessert or sweets. But every now and then, I say what the heck, time to treat myself. So last week after enjoying the Canjun Shrimp Pasta and ordered the carrot caramel cheesecake. Oh my goodness. Yes. Sweet. Yummy. So good that i couldn't seem to get it into my mouth fast enough and I slopped a spoonful of caramel onto my blazer. Who cares right? I scooped os much as I could with my fingers and licked them clean. So I dropped the blazer off at the cleaners Monday. I told the girl there about the caramel and the stain on the front of the blazer. She asked one question. Was the cheesecake that good?

Stew!

Denise and Donald put on another family dinner this past weekend. It was amazing. It was beef stew. And everyone was there to enjoy it. It was funny that moments after we all sat down at the dinner table, things got very quiet. Everyone was totally involved in eating beaufiful homemade food, potatoes, carrots, turnits, beef and gravy, fresh bread, butter and pickles. It's funny how people seem to enjoy the very simple and nutri9tious foods like stew. I think our bodies just get so familiar with fast foods and processed foods that it is so nice to be able to enjoy a truly old fashioned meal like stew. And if that wasn't enough, Denise made sure everyone enjoyed the dessert. Fresh blueberry pie and fresh rhubard and strawberry pie. I ate so much stew I could not have pie afterwards. So Denis gave me a takehome package. And two slices of pie! OMG, so good.

R I P Bobby Baun. What a hero.

Was so sorry to hear of the death of former Maple Leafs player Bobby Baun. He was 86. The news came out Tuesday. Baun was one of the hockey greats from back in the day when the Leafs were Stanley Cup champions. In April, 1964 the Leafs were in a playoff struggle with the Detroit Red Wings. It was game six in a best of seven series. At one point in the game, Baun stopped a shot by Gordie Howe. The puck hit right leg and a few moments later, Baun fell to the ice. He couldn't put any weight on his leg. It would turn out he had a hairline fracture of the right fibula. Can you imagine the power of a Gordie Howe puck and the pain in stopping that puck? Baun wanted to get back in the game. In the dressing room, they wrapped his leg and gave him an injection to kill the pain. The game was in overtime, a three-three tie. Baun went back on the ice, with a frozen broken leg. Unbelievably, he scored the game winning goal. What a hero. Baun kept his leg on ice for a few days and was back in for game seven. The Leafs dumped the wings 4-0 and won the Stanley Cup!

PHOTO: BBennett/Getty Images

Shepherd's Pie and Poutine!

So I like shepherd's pie -- like the kind they serve at Fionn MacCool's Irish pub in Sudbury which is fabulous -- and I like poutine. So I have to admit that I was so pleased to see a Shepherd's-Pie-Poutine on the menu a while back. I had to try it. Wow. It was sure a big meal! But I admit I found it a bit heavy and just a touch salty. Other than that, it was a nice combination of flavours. More importantly, I like the idea that someone in the kitchen was willing to experiment with a couple of their amazing dishes to create something new. Can't go wrong at Fionn's.

Socks. Everyone likes socks.

I got a kick last week when I was at the Ontario liquor store and saw that marketing for Jameson Irish Whiskey, one of my favourites, took a new twist. Attached to each bottle of whiskey was a pair of socks! At first glance I though it was some sort of a napkin. But as I looked closer, I realized they were giving away a pair of Bonus Socks with each bottle. That is a pretty cool bit of marketing I think. I went to the Jameson merchandise website and saw that a pair of socks is selling for $15.95. I think I have to grab a fresh bottle soon.