The Bounty of the Valley

October 7, 2014October 8, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 3 Comments

I attended the Fraser Valley Food Show as a guest on a media tour, but had no obligation to review or write about any aspect of the show. All opinions are my own.

I grew up in the Fraser Valley, in a typically suburban neighbourhood, with 1/4 acre lots, corner stores, and tiny drive-in shopping centres that housed things like the local library and bank branches, along with bakeries, hardware stores and a Greek-Italian steakhouse or two. If we hopped on our bikes, we could ride out to where the farmland began, but it was mostly hobby farms and horse barns. The working farms were farther away.

We weren’t completely divorced from those farms, though. We were lucky enough that there were what we called ‘farm markets’ at intervals along Fraser Highway, stocked with local fruit and vegetables. My parents preferred to shop there over the supermarket, while also keeping an eye out for seasonal goodies like Chilliwack corn, fruit stands, and ‘U Pick’ berries. So, long before farm-to-table became de rigueur, we knew how lucky we were to live in such a fertile place.

But the Fraser Valley has more to offer than just the building blocks of good meals. From charcuterie to chocolate, from bread to beer, there are more and more businesses offering the kind of food and drink that’s been celebrated in hotbeds like Brooklyn or Portland. And the Fraser Valley Food Show does a good job of showcasing the range of what this region has to offer.

I went on Saturday, just in time to beat the line for the Oktoberfest Sausage Tasting. I found it hard to choose amongst the nine or ten sausages I tried – they were all wonderful, some with a slow heat and others with a meaty savour. I certainly would have hated to be one of the three judges for the competition round. They had to sample 112 different sausages before coming to a decision about handing out multiple ribbons and trophies. You can see a list of the winners here. I suspect it might make a good basis for a self-guided tour of Metro Vancouver sausage makers.

The rest of my day was spent exploring the stalls, listening to speakers, and sampling, sampling, sampling. The Gluten Free Living show was particularly interesting to me, as my partner has celiac disease and we’re always looking for good gluten-free staples. There were lots of great prepared foods there, of course, but there were two things that really impressed me. First, all the exhibitors at the Food Show were knowledgeable about whether or not there was gluten (or allergens) in their products, whether they were in the gluten-free area or not. Secondly, there were some interesting ingredients on offer, like Nextjen gluten-free flour mix. It’s great to be able to buy a box of gluten-free cookies or pasta, but for someone who likes scratch cooking and baking, base ingredients that are safe and easy to use are an exciting development. And buying local makes it even better.

As for all that sampling I did, well, I’m going to give you a short list of some of the things that stood out for me this year. It won’t be comprehensive, because there was a lot of good stuff to eat, drink, and buy.

Eat

ChocolaTas’ Chocolate Ganaches

JD Farms’ turkey sausages

Fire Belly’s pepper sauces

Drink

Shuswap Infusions’ teas

Parallel 49’s Schadenfreude Pumpkin Oktoberfest beer

Glutenberg’s Chestnut Brown Ale

Campbell’s Gold mead and melomel

Learn

I don’t know about you, but whenever I go to an event like this, I find myself a little intimidated by the line in front of the All You Need is Cheese demonstration area. I don’t know if it’s because we got to the Food Show a little early, but there was only a short line on Saturday. So, I ducked in with Mary from Vancouver Bits and Bites and Cathy Browne. (It was so nice to meet you, ladies.) In a short time, we had a tasting of seven different cheeses across several categories. Many of them were BC cheeses, too. I learned a thing or two and my taste buds were primed for heading over to the Wine, Beer, and Spirits Tasting.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Ned Bell’s presentation. He spoke about his cross-Canada cycle trip in support of sustainable seafood and then he showed us how to break down a salmon, while giving us tips and information on how to work sustainable seafood into our diets. I wasn’t aware that land-based fish farming is one source of sustainable seafood and I certainly hadn’t thought about the cost savings involved in buying a whole salmon, breaking it down, and freezing it in portions. You can find out more about Bell’s ride at Chefs for Oceans and here’s a link to my go to resource for information about sustainable seafood, Ocean Wise.

My only quibble with the show is that I’d like to see them showcase more local restaurants in their Bite of the Valley category. I’d love the opportunity to sample small plates from any of the great restaurants that put the food produced in the Fraser Valley to such good use. It would make the show a complete journey from farm to plate.

A Curmudgeon’s Guide to Internet Irritants

September 16, 2014September 17, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 6 Comments

Growing up, I had a very rigid attitude toward the English language. Those rules were set in stone for me, nonsensical or not. It wasn’t until I went to university and encountered the full edition of the Oxford English Dictionary that I began to soften my stance. That is to say, I concede that the battle for all right has been lost to alright.

Now, I try to follow Stephen Fry in the matter:

I try. However, the curmudgeon in me comes out quite often when I’m surfing the blogosphere. And it seems I’m not the only one. I’ve discovered that there are a number of clever graphics that try to correct some of the most common errors:

Peek, peak, and pique – it’s sneak peek. Yes, it is.

Loose and lose – if I were to loose my patience, I’d be a better person.

Affect and effect – okay, I admit that this can be a difficult one.

Renowned and renown – not reknown, unless you’re trying to coin a word for reacquainting yourself with something or someone. Which you can totally do, I’m not trying to stop you.

Whether and weather – you will be required to recite this poem upon our next meeting. And yes, I am fun at parties.

If I could draw, I’d make one for wary and weary, too. In the meantime, look it up. Just look it up. Please.

And I’ll keep trying to look away.

My latest internet irritant is those images that float around the internet, with quotations dubiously attributed to famous authors. I ran across this article today, which skewers the problem nicely. It irks me to no end to see a self-help affirmation attributed to an author who didn’t write in that cadence or whose work contradicts the sentiment.

So the next time you see one of those pretty pictures, adorned with a delicate font, make me a promise that you’ll run it by Quote Investigator before you allow yourself to be entirely seduced.

What drives you batty when it shows up on your screen?

Autumnal Anticipation

September 2, 2014September 3, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 2 Comments

We’ve had the first big rain of autumn here in Vancouver and though it seems we’re going to have at least a week’s reprieve, it’s got me thinking about hunkering down with cups of tea and bowls of soup. It also means there will be less outdoors and more books, music, and video to explore, until springtime rouses us.

So, my question to you is what are you looking forward to this fall and winter? Is it the big blockbusters like the latest installments of the Hunger Games and the Hobbit? Or are you itching to get your hands on books like Sarah Waters’ latest?

Here are some of the things I’m curious about this fall:

Film

Jimi: All Is By My Side promises to be more than the usual blockbuster biopic.

Dear White People is a satire that challenges persistent stereotypes.

Rosewater is Jon Stewart’s directorial debut and already getting good reviews.

The Imitation Game – Benedict Cumberbatch as a genius brutally betrayed by his country.

Wild features Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed and Amy Adams stars as a wronged artist in Big Eyes – a feminist double shot for the end of the year.

Finally, there’s Into the Woods – can Rob Marshall do Stephen Sondheim justice?

Television

Because it’s an Amazon production, I’m not sure when I’ll get the chance to see it, but Transparent looks like it could be a winner.

This is the year of comic book overload on the small screen – my pick is Agent Carter, for some much needed female presence, even though it’s not due to appear until 2015.

What’s with all the 2015 in my fall television picks? I guess there isn’t much that moves me, so let the countdown to Downton Abbey begin.

Of course, there’s The Walking Dead. I don’t care for horror much, but the writing on this show has made it one of my favourites.

Music (brought to you by Kevin)

Look for mandolin master Chris Thile and bassist Edgar Meyer’s new release, Bass & Mandolin, on September 9th.

That’s the same date as Ryan Adams releases his first album in three years. Until then, you can listen to it here.

Ólafur Arnalds gave a charming performance in Vancouver a few months back and we’re looking forward to a new release from his project with Janus Rasmussen, Kiasmos. And his label-mate Douglas Dare has a new EP coming out on September 22nd. And in case you hadn’t guessed we’re talking about Kevin’s favourite label here, there’s another Erased Tapes release worth checking out coming from A Winged Victory For The Sullen.

Books

Love Enough by Dionne Brand promises to be beautiful and heartbreaking by turns.

Eula Biss’ On Immunity: An Innoculation is a much-needed and wide-ranging exploration into the distrust of what were once thought of as revolutionary life-saving medical breakthroughs.

Vikram Chandra’s Geek Sublime: The Beauty of Code, the Code of Beauty sounds like the kind of peripatetic exploration of ideas I love.

Kathleen Winter travels Franklin’s path in Boundless: Tracing Land and Dream in a New Northwest Passage.

Those are just a few of this fall’s literary offerings. I suspect that I’m going to run out of holds at the library, working my way through the many I want to read.

Theatre

There’s too much to choose from at the Fringe Festival, which runs from September 4th to 14th this year, so I’ll just send you to their site.

2nd Story: Blood Alley is as much experience as performance.

The Wonderheads’ Grim & Fischer was a highlight for us last year and their new production, Loon, sounds just as good.

Last year’s inaugural East Van Panto was a huge hit. This year they tackle Cinderella and I’m guessing it will be the holidays’ hottest ticket.

I’m hoping I’ve whet your appetite for more exploration. After all, there’s visual arts, dance, museum exhibitions, seminars and lectures, workshops and guided tours – much more than I can detail here.

Now it’s your turn: What have I missed and what are the experiential gems coming up where you live?

Festivals, Fall, and Fun

August 26, 2014August 27, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 2 Comments

The days are getting noticeably shorter, now. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot left to do before the first frost. Now, that’s true for my garden, but right now I’m talking about all the summer events that are still keeping the city busy and the fall events to come.

Family Fun

There’s still plenty to do before school begins and MetroVancouver‘s activities for kids, youth, and families would be a good place to start – you can learn to fish, take a nighttime stroll in search of bats, or help clean up our shorelines.

I like to celebrate the end of summer the way generations of BC folks have and visit the PNE. Who could resist a fair that provides farming displays, a building full of gadgets, super dogs, more food stands than you could ever visit, and an amusement park?

Speaking of traditions, Saturday movies were a staple of my childhood, so I’m glad there’s a series of $2.50 family movies for kids of this generation.

And for those of you who are ready to embrace autumn with your family, there are a LOT of corn mazes in Metro Vancouver. The Chillwack Corn Maze is the best-known, but Hopcott’s Meadow Maze, Bose Corn Maze, and
Mann Farms’ Wizard of Oz themed maze look like a lot of fun, too.

Adults Can Have Fun, Too

Start with Forbidden Vancouver‘s walking tours, which focus on Vancouver’s seamy side – speakeasies, brothels, and murder most foul all make an appearance.

Bored with brewery tours? Hit up Gin & Tonic Fridays at Long Table Distilleries for a weekend treat.

Who Said Festival Season Is Over?

TAIWANfest brings August to a close with films, lectures, food and more.

For a more rhythmic affair, the Vancouver International Tap Festival is back, culminating in a mass tap explosion on Granville Street on the 31st.

After you’ve finished dancing your heart out, it’s time for the Fringe Festival, bringing the city alive with theatre as we move into autumn.

Then, head over to the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival to kick off film fest season.

Harvest Bounty

Many of the community centres around Vancouver are hosting food-focused workshops this fall. For instance, Cedar Cottage Food Network is giving workshops on fermented foods, putting your garden to bed for the winter, cheese-making, and bread baking.

There are also plenty of harvest festivals coming up, too, like the Bowen Heritage Applefest or Earthwise Society’s Tomato Fest.

And right now is when the farmers’ markets will be overflowing with great produce, so it’s time to stock up.

Eventually, you’ll have to go home, so make sure you’ve made the best of the harvest while it lasts. With any luck, you’ll be eating well until it’s time to break ground again in the spring.

Seed-Saving Season

August 19, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 2 Comments

It’s peak harvest time in the garden now and many of us are focused on eating and preserving as much as we can. But it’s also time to think about next year’s garden, so leaving a few fruits and vegetables to fully mature so that you can harvest the seeds can be part of the plan, too. As I’ve told you before, I’ve been successful saving seeds from the heirloom beans my family grows, but I’m trying to expand those skills.

With that in mind, I headed over to Figaro’s Garden on Sunday to attend their Intro to Seed Saving workshop. The owners are committed to becoming a centre for our neighbourhood’s organic gardening needs and they’ve been providing regular workshops to share skills and build community. They’ve also got a strong connection with Environmental Youth Alliance, which works with young people to build skills and connections with the natural world. One of the owners is the Executive Director of EYA and EYA’s Volunteer Co-ordinator, Katrina Sterba, is also Figaro’s Event Co-ordinator. This crossover has meant that there is a strong grassroots ethos at the garden centre, along with a deep knowledge base for teaching and community outreach.

Sterba led the workshop, allowing some folks from around the neighbourhood to benefit from her expertise. We all had various levels of experience and success with seed-saving, from complete novice to regular experimenter. The workshop led us through a primer on which seeds are the most viable for seed-saving – open pollinated, self-fertile plants are easiest for beginners, while hybrids and some heirloom seeds won’t necessarily grow to resemble the plants they came from. Each of us got a pamphlet with a run down of the concepts she covered and a resource guide for further exploration.

Next, we had a demonstration of the two most common methods of seed-saving: dry and wet. Katrina gave us hands on experience of threshing and winnowing some spring wheat that had been grown right here in East Van. Then, she demonstrated the wet method with one of the most luscious-looking Green Zebra tomatoes I’ve seen.

We also learned from each other. I now have a plan in mind for starting tomato seeds indoors next winter – no small feat in a two-bedroom apartment. There was also a spirited discussion of how to rescue sunflower seeds from hungry birds, or whether we even should.

If you’re in Vancouver, I recommend stopping by Figaro’s Garden for a look at their demonstration gardens or a chat with their staff about your gardening needs. I’ve gotten a number of plants from them over the years, from a dogwood bush for my parents’ (late, lamented) farm to a flat full of annuals for my flower baskets. I’m also going to keep an eye out for more workshops, like the Mason Bee primer they’ll be hosting on September 27th – I think I might become a regular student. In the meantime, I’ve already expanded my seed-saving to the sage plant that flowered abundantly this summer and the peas I grew from seed I got at a seed swap this spring. I’m also keeping an eye on the nasturtiums I picked up from the Kensington-Cedar Cottage Seed Sharing Library so that I can return some to them and keep some for next year’s garden.

Maybe someday, if I keep up the learning, I’ll be able to stop calling myself a beginning gardener.

Hidden Gems

August 12, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 1 Comment

Last week, I told you about visiting the Centre for Digital Media’s video game exhibit. On my way out, I decided to take a quick break at Momento, the school’s onsite café. As you can see from the photos, it’s got great design and a light, airy space. They’ve also got good food, including vegan and gluten-free fare, and (perhaps most importantly) know the difference between crema and foam when making you an espresso drink.

It’s a good thing they have the school for an anchor, because Great Northern Way isn’t known as a café culture hub. It’s four lanes of fast traffic through office parks and satellite campuses, a shortcut from the east side to the west side that avoids downtown altogether. Across the street, daunting stairs rise up a blank hill to clusters of 1980s condominium complexes. If the residents knew about Momento, I think they’d be willing to make the trip, especially in summer when the students have mostly vacated the campus. I’d wager they haven’t noticed it, though, just as I almost missed a sign for another café in a nearby office park. I didn’t feel tempted to look for it, since it seemed buried somewhere amidst a sea of concrete. I wonder how well it does?

In a truly walkable neighbourhood, places like Momento aren’t a secret at all, they attract a cadre of regulars and eventually become a draw for visitors, too. In the suburbs, even when visible, they sink.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that recently, while I was looking after my parents’ suburban home when they were away. Their neighbourhood has grocery stores and other shops within a similar distance to those in my neighbourhood, but you rarely see anyone walking home with shopping bags. There are also plenty of houses within reach of the old main street, but it can’t seem to support a café – people get their caffeine from places that have drive through windows, or head over to a mall if they want to have coffee with a friend.

As development threatens neighbourhoods like mine with suburbification, where only the chain stores will be able to afford rents, what will happen to the shopping style that prevails there now? Will there be a high street renaissance in smaller centres, as the city pushes out the kind of people who like to shop daily and locally by foot or bike? Or will there be a uniform culture across regions, divided only by concentric layers of increasing inequality? And what will happen to the little businesses that populate the nooks and corners of a well-travelled neighbourhood?

I suggest we find them and cherish them, so that they can thrive as long as possible. And to that end, tell me what hidden gems lie buried in your neighbourhood. Where should I absolutely go if I visit? What would I miss if I didn’t have you as a guide?

Console Archaeology – The Evolution of Gaming

August 5, 2014August 6, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 4 Comments

The history of console games is largely concurrent with my own history.The first console game I ever played was a variation of Pong. My sister and brother and I would go over to my uncle’s house and we’d take turns playing that game with our cousins for hours. It might be unimaginable now, but that square “ball” slowly moving back and forth across the screen was fascinating and fun for us.

It wasn’t long before our gaming options increased and that first game system was gathering dust. Our adolescence happened during the heyday of arcade gaming and I can remember spending afternoons giggling with my sister across a tabletop console, playing Asteroids. Now, that game doesn’t seem much more sophisticated than Pong.

My fascination with gaming waned until well into my adulthood, when I started to become curious about games’ potential for storytelling. Today’s games are richer, visually and experientially, than anything we could have imagined while playing those early games. They are also gaining ground in the realm of storytelling. Though Roger Ebert famously denied games’ potential as art, it’s likely that history will prove him wrong. When you look at how quickly games have progressed since the early Seventies, art might not be too many iterations away.

More importantly for most of us, though, was the camaraderie that was such a big part of gaming. It’s where our culture first learned that interacting with machines could become a profoundly social experience. Those moving pixels were very rarely a solo show – kids would crowd around consoles at home, or do battle in twos, and at the arcade, score-sharing and rivalries were the order of the day.

That’s the scene that was playing out today at the Centre for Digital Media, where I went to experience their exhibit, the Evolution of Gaming. They had examples of many of the most popular games from 1972 onward. It was interesting to try my hand at some of my old favourites, but it was more interesting to see families with kids exploring the equipment and testing out gameplay – gingerly, for most of the consoles had large labels asking users to play gently. I imagined the parents were trying to describe how new and innovative these games were when they first arrived on the scene.

At the same time, you can see how the structure of games has remained constant throughout the years, too. Many of the role-playing games are remarkably similar to the more technically and visually complex RPGs of today. There’s even something charming about their pixelated simplicity. The same can be said of fighting games, too. The changes in responsiveness have made games more challenging, but they are understandable in the same terms as those earlier games.

Perhaps my favourite part of the exhibit was the newest game, a virtual reality romp that has you in the role of an angry Yeti let loose on downtown Vancouver. I enjoyed it not because it’s so much more advanced than the others on exhibit, but because virtual reality games are in their infancy. That newness, with so much potential and so many limitations, brought the exhibit full circle. It made me wonder how quickly this generation of games will become artifacts and what new ways we’ll find to connect and explore in the realm of machines.

The Evolution of Gaming is on until August 10th at the Centre for Digital Media.

Midsummer Garden

July 29, 2014July 30, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 1 Comment

I may get impatient for the harvest. I may worry that my flower beds are too sparse. But, something I never forget to do is to take pleasure in the bits of beauty the plants in my garden create. I’d much rather look at the plants and watch their progression than weed. And I often do.

Are You Feeling Hot?

July 15, 2014July 16, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 5 Comments

Our recent heat wave has had me feeling like this cat – ready to curl up in a cool, dark corner to wait it out. The problem is that there’s just too much going on here in the summertime. So, it’s sunscreen and lots of water, braving the heat to make it to at least some of the shows, festivals, and concerts that are happening around the city.

Of course, the biggest event of July is always the Vancouver Folk Festival, but there’s a lot more music out there. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden’s Enchanted Evenings series, Vancouver Early Music’s Summer Festival, and CBC’s Musical Nooners are a few of the other events waiting to fill your ears this month. Or perhaps you’d rather combine your music with a little dance at the Robson Square Summer Dance Series.

You can fill your eyes with theatre, art, artifacts, and more at Bard on the Beach, the Queer Arts Festival, Babes & Bathers, or the Summer Cinema Series.

There are festivals happening around the region this month, too, like Surrey’s Fusion Festival, Aldergrove Fair Days, or North Vancouver’s Caribbean Days Festival.

And Foodies need have no fear – there are plenty of events coming up for you, too. If Food Cart Fest is too broad a canvas for you, you can get specific and head for Brewery and the Beast for a more beer and meat focused experience. Heck, you can skip food altogether and just sign up for a brewery tour instead.

There’s even a craft fair this month, Circle Craft’s Summer Market, for those of you who would rather get their shop on.

Of course, the most tried-and-true way to beat the heat is to embrace it and Vancouver has plenty of beaches to allow you to do just that.

As for me, I’m keeping my eye out for the ways my neighbours are celebrating summer. There seems to be something interesting around every corner these days.

Be A Better Dog Steward

July 8, 2014July 9, 2014 ~ Teresa ~ 3 Comments

Today Roxy went for her annual vet visit – a wellness exam, according to the bill. And she is indeed well, even earning ‘dog of the day’ status for not freaking out during the exam or booster shot. We left with precautionary dewormer and preventative flea treatment (it’s going to be another hot summer). It got me thinking about how the concept of a good dog owner has changed over the years.

It seems more complicated than it did when I was a kid. Our vet wasn’t too concerned with shots, beyond the puppy years. Kids and dogs wandered all around the neighbourhood and if someone had said dogs didn’t belong in the playground, even adults would have laughed. We fed the dogs whatever dog food was sold at the grocery store, gave them scraps from the table, and tastes of whatever we happened to be eating. They got flea baths or flea collars every summer, but they didn’t go to a groomer unless they were show dogs. All the dogs in our neighbourhood seemed none the worse for wear.

These days, you have to be more careful – choosing food that you can be sure was made with safe ingredients, visiting the groomer at least a few times during the year, keeping them on leash and out of playgrounds, and scheduling check ups, tooth cleaning, and booster shots with the vet.

I’m not particularly nostalgic for the old days, but I do think there should be places for dogs to run off leash and times (realistically, short times) when they can shed the perfectly-groomed-city-dog look and get as muddy and messy and smelly as they please.

And there are also ways we could be doing even better:

We’ve stopped sending biodegradable food scraps to the landfill, so it’s probably time to stop dumping biodegradable dog waste there, too. The most environmentally friendly options are pick up by dog composting companies or simply flushing it down the toilet. (But don’t send your cat’s waste down the toilet – even after treatment, it’s still toxic to ocean life.) The biodegradable bags, unfortunately, have to go to the dump, where they probably won’t break down very quickly. There are plenty of other ways you can be an eco-friendly pet owner, too.

Keep your dog, and everyone else’s pets, protected by keeping their vaccinations up to date and using preventative flea and tick treatments. Ticks are on the rise worldwide and some vets are now recommending year-round protection against them.

It’s important to have your dog tattooed or chipped, sure, but you should also get them licensed. It doesn’t just mean avoiding a fine if they get picked up by animal control, it also means getting a more accurate census of the number of dogs in the city, which can translate to more city resources being allocated to amenities for dogs and their owners.

Don’t support puppy mills – get a dog from a well-respected breeder, or better yet, adopt one from a shelter. Then, make sure they are spayed or neutered when the time comes.

If you live in a potential disaster zone, as overdue-for-an-earthquake Vancouverites do, make sure you have a disaster kit for your dog, alongside the ones I know you are not procrastinating about making for the human members of your family.

And don’t forget to support the folks in your community doing good work on behalf of the canines in our community. Donate, volunteer, recommend – those shelters and rehabilitation centres, along with dog advocacy groups, could use your support.