Monday, December 3, 2012

country meets city ~ BC Dairy Conference

While all of you have been decorating...
and baking...
and shopping...
I've been away.

We attended the BC Dairy Conference this year.
Well I 'sort of' attended.
I was along for a good time!

Where do you think country folk would be going for a conference?
Why...to the heart of our big city, of course!


The last time we were at the Vancouver waterfront
I took note of the 'artwork' on the outside walls of this lovely hotel.
 Little did I know that I would be staying at that very hotel in the near future.

We arrived as the rain fell...


...and were greeted by a choir of penguins.
The BC Dairy Conference is all about the milk industry...
the present and the future.

It is sponsored by feed companies, banks and such...
and is an excellent opportunity for farmers to 'get informed' about their industry.


From our hotel...
we walked through an underground tunnel to the Vancouver Convention Centre.


Right next door are the familiar sails of Canada Place.

For the most part...
it was the men who looked after business.
The women enjoyed their time away...
took in the sessions with the motivational speakers...
or attended workshops just for them!

I was signed up for a cooking class...
and never really paid any attention to the details until just before the conference.
Little did I know that I was taking in a class at
a culinary school about 1 1/2 kilometers from the convention center.
There were only 22 spots...
and a long waiting list.
Now I know why!


The chef demo'd the dishes for us...
then we each had the opportunity to prepare them on our own...
at our little station.
From butternut squash soup as an appie...
to lobster mac 'n cheese for the entree...
to chocolate pate for dessert...
it was all most delicious.

We know...
since we took our completed dishes to the dining room next door and partook!
What a fun bunch of gals I met...
from around our lovely province.
The kitchen is a good place to get acquainted!

And since I couldn't possibly eat all I had cooked...
I left with a 'doggie bag'.
Hubby enjoyed the samples once we were back at home!

I'll be trying some of those dishes again...soon.
And maybe I'll pass along a few of the chefs tips.
Do you know how to rid your hands of that nasty garlic odour?
Or how to dish out soup for a dozen guests very quickly?
He had a wealth of information.

We cooked and ate until 3:30 pm...
and called it our lunch.
From there we walked back to our hotel...
just in time to prepare for the gala dinner.
It seemed we went from one table to the next!

I should just share a few things about our very nice hotel.
It would have helped to have a tutorial before we were left to our own devices!


The hotels we normally frequent do not have television screens in the centre of the bathroom mirror.
Nor do they have thermostats and light controls on an I-pad.
It took some time to figure out the light switches...
and even to open the drapes...
which were also controlled from the I-pad. 

Let's just say it was all very 'special'...


...including the seasonal decor throughout the hotel.

Friday afternoon we left for home...
and managed to take all afternoon to get there.

A little coffee...
 little Ikea stop...
a little lot of rain...
and plenty of traffic.
Getting back to the simple country life takes time:)


17 comments:

  1. Wow - that hotel looks amazing! What fun - taking a cooking class from a professional chef - learning some tricks of the trade. Have a great week!

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  2. That cooking class sounds like a winner!
    How lovely to have a business/pleasure trip to the big city. I love to stay in Vancouver - and your hotel....well it looks like the epitome of luxury!
    Yesterday, on my way to the Valley I stopped at Ikea too. How I wish we had one on the Island!

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  3. That would certainly set me in the Christmas mood. Adore those penguins!

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  4. Glad you had a great BC Dairy Convention, and that they treated you well. The daily dairy business of getting up every morning being greeted by noisy yelling cows every morning with slobbery noses and hungry stomachs,not to mention the smell of the manure is not too pleasant. You took us on an interesting tour. Thanks. Looking forward to getting on some of those unique tips from the chef. Sounds like you had a fun time Judy. Looking for to seeing you next week.

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  5. Oh I figured that you were off having some fun. Your cooking class sounds amazing and I hope that you will share what you learned because I know less than nothing. =D

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  6. It sounds like you made the most of your farmer's wife privileges. What fun to learn some new cooking tips and spend a few nights in such a state-of-the-art hotel! What happends if you never figure out how to open those curtains? I hope you can fall back to the manual method.

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  7. Now that's a great tag along trip for sure! I'm looking forward to hearing how to get that garlic smell off and how to serve up lots of soup quickly. hmmm...
    The hotel is very cool. Glad you took your time on the way back to the "country".

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  8. I'm glad you shared more about the cooking class you hinted at in a comment. Sounds like so much fun! We stayed at that hotel last February. I did not know, nor did Tim, that there was an underground tunnel to the convention center. No, we dashed through raindrops to get there!
    Looking forward to more tips from the chef!

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  9. What an amazing high tech hotel! I love the TV screen in the mittor concept so you can see the news and weather while hyou shower and dress. The professional cooking class sounds wonderful! The thought of lobster mac and cheese has me so hungry right now and the chocolate "pate" looks so gourmet.

    I'm glad you had a nice trip, Judy!

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  10. What a wonderful opportunity Judy. I've never heard of lobster mac and cheese but if it has lobster in it it must be good. And what a posh hotel too! That would be very special! It would be hard to go back to one's home after a visit like that.

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  11. Sounds like a great weekend! Glad you enjoyed it...even the challenging technology in your room!

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  12. I wondered as I read your post, if the chef teaching the classes have an idea that he was teaching another chef? What a privilege for you to sit in the classes, and stay at such a lovely hotel. A stop at Ikea is always a good way to end a getaway.

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  13. Such a sweet get away...loved reading all about it and can't wait to hear more about what you learned in school.

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  14. What an exciting experience you must have had. I hope the rain didn't put you off, it rains so much of the time there that it's hard to see beyond it sometimes. I lived there for 18 years and after leaving, that is what I remember most.
    I love the hotel photos, I've never stayed in a place like that before either!
    Cindy

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  16. Now I am hungry and no chance of a sample from the Elmer devoured doggie bag!
    December getaways are so fun with holiday de orations spurring on a festive mood. Glad you gave us a peek at the scenes and a heads up about hotel techie-news. Yikes!

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  17. Those getaways become so special...even if you dodge in and through the puddles....Looks like a beautiful place to give the farmers a much needed rest. And it's cute how you spent your time in the kitchen again.
    I think you could set up your own school of culinary cooking in your town, one that has good old fashioned food.

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson