There’s no other way to say it… “The highlight of my day was a blueberry scone”.

A scone of all things. I’ve never really liked scones much. How could this be? Those large, dry, day-old tasting pastry rocks are usually choked down as a last minute space-filling device.

Today, I was heading to Granville Island for lunch with Caden. On the way, we stopped at the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (I can’t seem to pass by a bakery without stopping; damn carbohydrate addiction). I love this place. The food is great; as are the pastries. Everything is made by the student on site so the selection varies. These people know what they’re doing. Heck, I even had my wedding cake made here.

Once inside, I quickly bought a croissant, a blueberry scone for Caden and a blueberry white chocolate bran muffin for me. Caden nibbled at the croissant and scone and was done. I, on the other hand, ate the rest of the croissant and devoured the remaining scone. It was so good. When I say good. I mean GOOD, as in really, really amazing.

The scone was “short”, crisp and sweet on the outside, while “melt in your mouth” soft and flaky on the inside. So good in fact that I went back to the cafe on my way home and asked the girl working there if I could take a picture of my beloved scones (just a  little something to remember them by). It seriously took all my willpower not to buy another one…today. Who knows what will happen tomorrow. Today, I learned the power of the almighty pastry.

p.s. You may be wondering what happened to the bran muffin I bought. Well, I threw it into the freezer once I got home. After the other baked goods I ate today, even the white chocolate couldn’t entice me to eat the bran. I’ve decided to save it for a rainy day

Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
1505 West 2nd Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V6H 3Y4  Canada

Tel: 604 734-4488

Over the last few months, my passion for the chocolate banana smoothie (Vivanno) has landed me on the doorstep of Starbucks more than I’d like to admit. Starbucks and Mommies go hand-in-hand like diapers and wipes (we should seriously get VIP discounts). Did you know there are 6 Starbucks are within walking distance of my home.

It started with an extra straw and evolved rapidly in to 2 straws, 2 stir sticks, a lid, a cup sleeve….I was insatiable. These items represented peace and quiet to me. For some reason, my toddler was fascinated with these items. The silence would sometimes last for a full 10 minutes at a time…sheer bliss.

This “love affair” started at the “chewing” stage (already peeled straws), next he entered the “straw peeling” stage, then came the “drumming” stage where we branched out from straws to include stir sticks. The next stage happened completely by accident when I forget Caden’s water bottle. This was the most exciting stage for me. The “drinking water from a straw” stage (his first time was at a Starbucks). There was only one drawback to this stage, it was the last time I was able to enjoy my smoothies alone with no mooching, from  that day on it was “share-zees” all the way. Lately, we’ve been “threading” straws and stir sticks through coffee cup lids. What’s next? Who knows. It’s likely he’ll be enjoying his very own half-sweet hot chocolate or steamed vanilla milk….awwwww.

Thanks Starbucks. Thanks for the memories and for keeping me sane by occupying my son for 10 minutes while I went to my happy place.