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For my family, Easter means brunch with a capital “B”. My grandmother started the tradition years ago and we continue it today. Past destinations for the annual “gorge-fest” have included the Bayshore, Hazelmere Golf Course, Newlands Golf and Country Club, the Delta River Inn and Brock House.

Last year with 4 kids under the age of 2, we decided that we’d out grown Brock House. They have a small selection of tasty items but the seats are so tightly packed together that you feel claustrophobic and stressed. It had become too difficult for 16 – 20 people to move around and visit comfortably.

After some online research, we decided to try something brand new. My sister found a good review on another blog and we decided to try the Hilton Vancouver Metrotown.

Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised. Even though the room was small, there was lots of space at the tables. The buffet looked great and the room was nicely decorated for Easter. There was a large selection of food including dim sum, smoked fish, shrimp, salmon Wellington, and roast beef in addition to the regular breakfast fare. Buffet food, as you probably know, is a different beast from your typical restaurant food. But hey, what the food lacks in temperature or texture, it easily makes up for through the variety and sheer volume. Let’s face it, I could have eaten 10 lbs of bacon had I been inclined (and had a death wish).

Finally, there was lots of room to socialize and walk with the kids. You could walk around the room or head out onto the small patio. The price was $33.95 per person which is very reasonable considering buffet brunches in Downtown Vancouver seem to range from $45-56 per person. Children under 5 are free.

The only negatives were the room temperature and the sausages. The sun was beating down through the windows and our group of 17 people roasted. The sausages were a little on the gristly side (bleeck…the very reason I never touch the stuff).

Highlights include the:

service – extremely attentive and happy staff
mimosas – our glasses were filled many times
variety of food – lots to choose from
chocolates- 2 towers of Purdy’s chocolates on the dessert buffet (next time I bring a bigger purse)
traditional Easter eggs – hard boiled decorated eggs
candy eggs for kiddies – children received a plastic egg filled with smarties presented in a mini bucket wrapped in cellophane
parking – free in the blue stalls
coffee – it was really good even though I kept losing my mug, too chatty I guess
room to move

It looks like we’ll be heading there again next year.
Easter Brunch Menu April 2010

Hilton Vancouver Metrotown
www.hilton.com
6083 McKay Avenue
Burnaby, BC V5H2W7

Tonight, I hit a baking milestone.

Tonight, I took it to a whole new level.

For the first time ever (with ten hungry guests looking on), I served a cake that completely and utterly flopped. It was edible but unrecognizable.

As I flipped the “cake” on to the serving platter, it made this ghastly slurping, jello-like sound and landed with a splat in 3 pieces on the plate. Stunned, I did what any quick thinking hostess would do, I started to pat the thing together (in mud pie fashion) and slapped whip cream on it. “Full-speed ahead, this is not a drill, I will not be defeated”, I thought….and I wasn’t.

As my Easter cake sat in the fridge waiting for its debut, I started to worry. The cake was sinking, almost melting and I didn’t want it to spill over the edge of the platter. At least the “cake” looked festive. So what if we had to scoop and serve it with a spoon

The whole thing was ridiculous. I followed the recipe exactly. Just because I started baking at 10:00pm the night before (while dead tired) was no reason for this mishap. What was the problem?

Well folks, it looks like the problem was gelatin. Specifically, my lack of experience using clear gelatin. I also found out that my Mom doesn’t follow the recipe exactly when she makes this fabulous dessert. Sigh…now she tells me.

The moral of this story is, “it is better to have baked and flopped then to not have baked at all”.

Note: I’m happy to report that:

Everyone ate the cake and called it “pudding”
I will be getting the revised recipe from my Mom tomorrow (and will post)
I will be making the cake again shortly and will post my results
I laughed my way through this whole incident; without the aid of beer or wine (hurray for me!)

Happy Easter Everyone, check out the bunny carnage below….yikes!

Have you ever heard of Granville Loop Park?

I didn’t think so. You’ve probably walked through it on your way to Granville Island. There’s a nifty water feature on one side of the park and two tennis courts on the other side. In the middle is the cutest little playground containing a jeep, digger, climbing apparatus/fort and 3 slides (including a spiral slide).

This park is, without a doubt, my 19 month old’s favorite park in the whole, wide world. Here, he is king of the castle. It’s fun to watch his confidence grow as he challenges himself to try new things and explore. Some playground’s are too advanced for him. When that happens he struggles and becomes frustrated. When the equipment is too big for him, but not big enough for Mommy to climb up there with him, we both get cranky.

At Granville Loop Park, we both have a smile on our face. I like the playground because it is usually dead, as in…where is everybody?!? No other Nannies or Mommies to “negotiate with” or “apologize to” …ahhhh…it’s our very own personal playground…just Caden and me.

We’ve logged a lot of miles in the jeep which conveniently contains two steering wheels. This is helpful on those rare occasions when we go on road trips with other Mommies and our new little friends (hopefully, we are in a sharing mood that day and not screaming…which makes for a painfully, long trip).

I invite you to visit our playground; we’re willing to share. As with all good things, this too will come to an end. Soon, we will be in search of the next perfect playground.

Granville Loop Park
1435 W 5th Avenue
(@ Granville Street)

Hilton Vancouver Metrotown: Easter brunch with room to move

Hipp-ity, Hopp-ity, FLOP-ity…

South Granville is home to the perfect playground