The kids got sick once again, and the timing couldn't have been worse. S started around the 23rd, and baby P felt sick a day or two after. That meant we missed all the holiday parties and did not see any of our extended friends and family. The only good part for me was that S actually took naps willingly.

During one of those naps, we got the grandparents in and snuck out to the 49th Parallel in North Vancouver. 

This was their Yule Log donut, which looked like a long John with some red and white sprinkles on top. I thought it might possibly peppermint candy on top...?

When I bit into the donut, the filling surprised me! 

What is this pink and yellow custard?! I had to focus on my taste buds to figure out that the pink might be a raspberry jam, and the yellow was... something sweet. It didn't have much flavor. The dough was nice and chewy, but didn't taste as fresh as the donuts from Fox and Oak in Squamish. 

Coffee though was nice and strong. Punch me in the face level of strong coffee, which H and I needed because we were drained.

Before I became a parent, I would listen to other people talk about their kids getting sick but nobody ever truly helped me realize how soul sucking and draining it is to take care of sick kids, especially when you're also sick and cannot rest. Maybe they didn't want to scare us from having kids. Or maybe they didn't actually think it was so difficult. Or maybe I'm not parenting correctly...?! 

Time to start work tomorrow.

Today's haul consists of:

 

Royal City brown butter toffee and pumpkin cream cheese donuts, a cup of medium roast coffee from Heights Coffee Co., and The Bench Bakehouse cheese and onion twist.

Glenburn frequently hosts Royal City on Sunday mornings, and has now added in a new local coffee roaster from the Burnaby area to their line up. I've had Royal City donuts before, and really enjoyed them. The pumpkin cream cheese has a hint of saltiness from the cream cheese, and is delicious with the powdered sugar dusted over the donut. They've figured out a way to inject just the perfect amount of filling into their donuts, so that they don't explode and make a mess everywhere, but every bite has some filling. 

Good luck to the new coffee roaster. There's so much competition in town now, they'll really have to work hard to stand out. 

After Glenburn, we visited the Vancouver Farmer's Market, as we figured with COVID, it'll be better to shop outdoors. Very glad we did not miss out on this onion cheese bread, which we had with EVOO, truffle oil and balsamic vinegar: 

 

We also got one of their apple pie double baked croissants -  no photos as it has been devoured before I remembered my camera. Very flakey, with many crispy bits on top, as a croissant should be. 

The aftermath: 

So far, being back in Vancouver has been a mix of anxieties about the pandemic and meeting up with our loved ones. The grandparents were able to come visit and helped us babysit once or twice before gatherings with individuals outside of our household were discouraged by our lovely Dr. Bonnie Henry. 

It had been a while since the grandparents were left alone with baby S, and what an experience it was this time around. The use of white noise to help infants fall asleep is quite common nowadays, but both sets of grandparents were very confused when we instructed them to ask our Google Nest to play this loud annoying sound when putting baby S down for a nap. 

One set of grandparents asked Google to play "white music", and instead of noise, somebody (presumably a person of Caucasian decent) started singing. 

Both sets of grandparents had a tough time enticing baby S to take the bottle, now that she could recognize mom as the source of food and comfort. H and I received many calls to "come back home NOW," but every time we would tell them we're on the way, when really, we were still finishing up whatever we were doing.  

Baby S eventually calmed down with them, and by the time we arrived home, she was an angel again. 

I can't wait for our curve to start flattening again, so that our babysitters can return.

We're still in Victoria, and after the first coffee adventure to Habit and too many days staying indoors watching television, I've ventured outside of my bubble to try to find more interesting coffee joints.  The coffee scene is actually flourishing here in Victoria!  

Discovery Coffee, one of the local coffee chains, appears to be more popular than Starbucks. The one close to our hotel has had line ups every single time that we walk past. Is this because they are that popular, or their service has slowed down due to extra COVID-19 precautions? 

I've had the oat milk latte three times now. The first time, I did not like the burnt taste of their espresso. I also felt that their oat milk was missing something (not enough oats? how is oat milk made anyways?)   

The second time, it still tasted burnt, and the oat milk was still not flavorful.

The third time... Well, they're consistent if nothing else. 

Why do I keep going back? It's just so convenient for a short walk, and the quality is not horrendous. It's just not the same as the more flavorful oat milks and coffees in Vancouver... 

I do like that they've partnered with Yonni's Donuts, offering fresh baked goods that are large, dense, and photogenic (straight up my alley!). Their selection changes fairly frequently, so we won't be bored on our frequent visits. Baby S loved the blueberry twist that they had a few weeks ago: 

Today's apricot donut could have used more apricot flavor, because it basically tasted like a regular donut with a thick coat of frosting on top: 

Expect more posts about my Vancouver Island coffee experiences in the future, because we'll be here for a couple more weeks. After 3 weeks of island life, and no progress on the home front, I'm starting to feel the monotony of the same daily routine.  H has been more patient than I have been with all of this, especially as he also has to put up with my postpartum moods. I do appreciate when he brings home the bacon, cooks the bacon, and then washes away the bacon grease from the pan afterwards. 

I've been craving Duffin's Donuts since last week, but with the snow storm and traveling, it was difficult to get out that way. So, when we heard that there were amazing donuts at the Reading Terminal Market right next to our hotel, D and I jumped on it. We picked up a couple on the way to the airport from Beiler's Doughnuts:

Their selection of donuts was overwhelming - they had 2 of the above display cases, filled with beautiful donuts, including some of my favourite flavours, like strawberry jelly, maple walnut, Boston creme. There were some outrageous looking ones too, with purple sprinkles, and a blueberry fritter, which I haven't seen around before. How many donuts could we possibly eat before a flight?



I ended up choosing the Boston creme, the strawberry, and an apple fritter (safe choices overall):

Here are photos of the donuts with filling. Left side is the strawberry (obviously, since it's red), and the right side is the Boston cream: 

I would have to say that they were good, but not as amazing as I thought they were hyped up to be. The strawberry jelly could have used some work, and I thought they could have chosen a jam with a different consistency. It was too thick, and did not have that melty, gooey texture, like the ones from Duffin's.

The cream in the Boston cream was perfect, and I did not leave any leftovers, but the chocolate coating on top was quite a mess that melted off a tad too easily. Remember to grab napkins for this one.

Apple fritter was a plain old fritter.

Perhaps, this selection was too safe, and we should have branched out to try the more gimmicky flavors, but as with most things in life, the basics are important. I have no doubts that if I'm ever in the area again, I'll revisit this donut stand at the market. The Reading Terminal Market brought back strong vibes of the Borough Market in London, and I can't wait to revisit this place and explore the rest of the stalls.

By the time we drove over the Astoria bridge, and arrived at Coast River Inn, it was already pretty late. They say there’s wifi, but it’s so slow that there’s basically no wifi. We ended up watching the news (protests and riots in Portland downtown) and then hit the sack.
THE NEXT DAY… we walked around Seaside, looking for coffee and donuts. We found Liberty Cafe (beans from the Sleeping Monk at Cannon Beach), within walking distance of where we were staying, then we found THIS:

I almost ate the whole thing and forgot to share with H. There were chunks of bacon over a very fresh and fluffy donut base, topped with a maple frosting. Make sure you go to Dundee’s Donuts if you’re in the area.

We walked around a bit more and enjoyed our sugar + caffeine high, and luckily, the weather held up so that we could discover the breathtaking, natural beauty of the coast:

Very windy, but people still out and about.

Tourist town.

It would be so nice here in the summer when it’s warmer and the wind doesn’t try to bite your face off.

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