The weekend before last we attended the Vintners Brunch event, part of the Vancouver International Wine Festival. This gave us the opportunity to taste delicious food paired with exquisite wines, from various restaurants around town. Here are some pictures of just a few of the treats.

Eileen and I spent a long weekend in Seattle, trading the rainy damp weather of Vancouver for a different brand of wet, windy, cold weather.

We visited the Seattle Art Museum to see their show European Masters: Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Gainsborough. Amazing works to see, its a great collection of classics from that period. This collection is from Kenwood House in London, originally the collection of Edward Cecil Guinness, 1st Earl of Iveagh. After making a huge fortune from the Guinness brewery he spent a significant portion on paintings. These painters were very prolific, some painting hundreds of works in their lifetime. Rembrandt is considered the master of the masters, and the collection has some very good examples of his work, including his iconic self-portrait included here.

We also stopped into the Library Bistro & Bookstore Bar, our favorite place for cocktails. There we met Geerbox and Mongo, two Navy guys who flew P-3 reconnaissance flights together but now have separate duties on the USS Ronald Reagan. Great guys to talk to, and it turns out Geerbox knows everyone. We wanted to go to the Pink Door for dinner but couldn’t get reservations. One phone call later by Geerbox to his friend Joan and we were in. The Pink Door is incredibly busy and very energetic, a great atmosphere and dinner was extremely good. We didn’t have the “Geerbox Manhattan” (supposedly named for our new friend) but we’ll drop in again to try it out sometime.

We always have a great time in Seattle and makes us want to visit again soon.

Wow. Can’t believe its been nearly six months since I posted anything here, something I want to change in 2013. Last night was New Year’s Eve, Eileen and I went to Trafalgars Bistro with friends for a late dinner and midnight celebration. The picture here is the second course, titled “titan of salmon lox”. Delicious!

I’ve been somewhat busy with various robot and electronics projects, food, and travel since the last update. Here is a list of topics I hope to cover in the next few weeks:

- Progress on my Outdoor Robot project
- Experiences with 3D printing at Shapeways
- My version of the “cone bot”
- Trip to New York City
- Projects going on at Sophos (the things I do during the work week)

Hope everyone is ready for 2013! Below is a pic of our dog Cairo on Christmas Eve, after he destroyed his new stuffed toy. There is no squeaker safe from his wrath!

We were in Seattle this past weekend for Robothon and Mini Maker Faire and the King Tutankhamen exhibit. We were looking for a restaurant for last evening, unsure exactly where we should go. We have a few favourites in Seattle but wanted something new, closer to where we decide to stay this time (Edgewater Hotel on the waterfront). We don’t normally stay that far west from Pike Place Market, and weren’t sure what we might find. OpenTable to the rescue!

After perusing our neighbourhood options we selected Tavolata based purely on reviews, menu, and proximity. Oh boy were we happy with this choice! We had several tasty treats from their standard menu: Mixed Salumi Board, Buffalo Mozzarella, Seared Scallops, and Ricotta Gnudi. The left picture shows our table after we demolished several of these dishes. The Gnudi was absolutely amazing.

The second picture is a view of their Monthly Sunday Feast (first Sunday of every month). This time they roasted whole pigs and served them “family style” to several dozen eager diners. Had we known about this event, we probably would have signed up! Everything looked delicious and of course a really unique experience.

Highly recommended, its a great neighbourhood restaurant. Its a little noisy but still great atmosphere. We will definitely be going back next time we are in Seattle.

Last weekend was Easter, and thus a long weekend. Eileen decided I should make breakfast on Sunday morning. One of her favorite things is this sausage, fontina, and bell pepper strata from epicurious.com.

Its a really easy recipe to make. I cut it in half this time, as there was only the two of us. It was so delicious we ate it for breakfast and had leftovers again for dinner. Yum! Highly recommended.