Whistler's Mamas

 Not much to report until next Monday because once again we find ourselves on "vacation." I know, I know, it's starting to sound like a Chevy Chase sequel, but it's not our fault. Donna and Jenn also have a home in Whistler, a condo in the Village, which they offered us for a few days in exchange for looking after it. So, we had no choice, really. Unemployment will just have to wait.

Before we left town for the mountains, we stopped off for lunch at Campagnolo Roma, a little cafe just off Nanaimo on East Hastings. They use as many local ingredients as they can, like this pizza margarita, with local cheese, tomato, and basil. They served it with crushed peppers and fennel in olive oil. I will definitely be making this little condiment in the future.

You'd have to be a botanist to figure out all the greens in the Celebration Organics salad. I did recognize the usual suspects: there were a few varieties of chard, arugula, fennel and dill—and purslane—the latter I know because I pulled it as a weed from the cracks of our sidewalk in Des Moines, only to see the Vietnamese venders selling it at the farmer's market.  But there were also a bunch of leaves I didn't recognize, and kale blossoms (I asked), The dressing was a refreshing lemon confit vinaigrette. We will be returning as it's so close to our place.

After lunch, we enjoyed the two-hour drive up the breathtaking Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler.

This shot is from Donna and Jenn's condo balcony patio. It's really quite convenient, being in downtown Whistler Village.

After we dropped off our bags, we ambled across the street to the BrewHouse. Patty had the seasonal Citrus Ale. I opted for the malty Grizzley Brown Ale. Both were tasty.

There was a baseball game on one of the multitude of screens. The rest were showing, you guessed it, curling.

Tune in again on Tuesday when we'll be back in the unemployment grind.