A food post to end the year off

Am I the only idiot out there who thought that "pan-seared" was a cooking method?  The keyword here is "cooking"....  I ordered the five-spice tuna from a great restaurant, only to have it come raw! Of course, in characteristic me style, I ate it, although I offered my friend across the table my last piece when I just could not stomach any more.  When the waitress brought our beautifully-adorned plates to the table, complete with fresh napkins and silverware, I dug in ceremoniously, only to state, with my mouth still full of the said raw fish, "This is raw!!  I didn't know that it wouldn't be cooked!"  My friend, ever the polite one, stared at me with one of those urgent looks and whispered, "It's supposed to be like that!"  (Meaning: "Shut up, you daft fool!  Can't you see we're sitting just a few feet from the open kitchen behind the bar, where the chef prepared this gourmet meal for you?!  You're embarrassing me!  I should have known better than to bring you here....")  The meal did end with a flourish, with my favourite dessert -- chocolate mousse -- which more than made up for the tuna debacle.

One last photo to end the year.... This was taken along the dyke in Richmond, on one of the only sunny days in Vancouver this holiday season.