We started the day with a walk to Chinatown before it got too hot. We ended up at Propaganda Coffee and got some drinks and an apple turnover and headed back.

We stopped and sat in the grass in Strathcona Park and had our drinks and pastry.

We stopped in at Union Market because I was thinking about if they have good bread. Ended up with some interesting locally made flat bread, plus some garlic sausage and a couple of Pastel de nata that it’s famous for (East Van has quite a large Portuguese population).

Back at home I decided to do all my food prep.

Made a couple of picnic salads.

The macaroni salad doesn’t get a separate write up. It ended up a little weird.

Cooked a pound of elbow macaroni. Drained and rinsed with cold water.

Shredded two large carrots in the food processor, put some in the bean salad, the rest in the bowl with thr

In the food processor:

• leafy parts of a cilantro bunch, stalks cut off
• 3 Tbsp Polish style mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp caper juice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil

Also chopped up a red pepper and 3 mini cucumbers.

Added 1 Tbsp of capers.

Splashed in some Trader Joes White Modena Vinegar. Letting it sit over night and will adjust tomorrow.

For lunch, grilled some zucchini with a little salt and basil and then poured over some Trader Joes Agrodolce. Cucumbers and red peppers with tzatziki, some Ziggy’s Double Cream Brie, some old Gouda. Cut up garlic sausage and lightly toasted some of the flat bread.

I also prepped and freezer portioned the family pack of 4 sirloin top steaks I bought last night. Seasoned them with Fresh Prep Shawarma Seasoning. One of them I’ll make tonight, the others go in the Freezer.

The trimmings from the steak went into a pot with some oil, cumin seed, 3x garlic cloves, a small quartered onion, and fresh coriander stalks. Sautéed all that until browning and then added water to fill the pot, a carrot, and a dried chili. Put on to simmer.