There are certainties in life such as death, taxes, and that you’ll find photos of other people’s food on Instagram. Based in Victoria, Steffani Cameron is one of said sharers of food photos; however her descriptions, sharp photography, and lessons about shopping local added so much substance to her online postings that she was compelled to reach beyond social media and write a cookbook.
Known as SnarkySteff on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, Steff’s writing style is blunt, bold, and refreshing, which is exactly what you’ll find with her recipes in her new e-cookbook Smutty Eats: Late Summer Nights. From salads, mains, sides and soups, dips and spreads, to snacks, it’s a no-nonsense guide to eating well at home with fresh, local ingredients.
Steff has been blogging since 2004, on Twitter since 2008 (formerly known as SmuttySteff), cooking since she was 5 years old, and she to used teach teen cooking camps. Her online following has been asking her to share recipes for a long time, and some have even encouraged her to open a restaurant. She figured the cookbook would be “the lesser of two evils” and so she self-published this summer.
“As I got into it I started feeling more and more political about it, like how cooking is a political action now. I mean, we fetishize restaurants, we turn chefs into celebrities, and all this kind of shit when you know, really, you can do it at home. You don’t need to go spend all of this money.”
“Real food doesn’t need to be complicated. I’m a lover of rich and decadent flavours, but also bright, crisp contrast. I’ve picked a variety of recipes I hope make your late summer harvest nights special yet simple.” ~ Late Summer Nights
Steff and I have been friends for a few years now, and naturally we met through the blogging and social media scene in Vancouver. She’s been living in Victoria for the last two years and I had to ask if the change of scenery helped inspire her cooking.
“Even the first year when I moved [to Victoria] and money was tight, I found myself making different choices as often as I could.”
“I can’t buy packaged bacon anymore because I’ve been spoiled by the quality that’s offered here. Everybody’s doing their own bacon from some local pig and they’re curing it themselves, and it’s different at every store. It’s never wet or bloody or anything like that. I mean it’s night and day from what I used to eat in Vancouver.”
Steff encouraged me to look up some figures on Vancouver Island’s food resources over the last few decades. I found a report out of the University of Victoria that says 50 years ago, Vancouver Island produced 85% of its own food. Today, island farms produce about 5% of all of the food consumed (MacNair, 2004).
“I think that what’s happening in Victoria is a lot of people in my generation, in your generation, are coming back and starting farms, starting artisan meat shops and they’re really trying to use the best of local product. And I don’t know if it’s the restaurants putting it on the public or if the public has demanded it but one way or the other it seems like it’s more authentic than what’s going on in other cities. Everybody’s just really invested in trying to have a local food scene that’s strong again.”
In Smutty Eats: Late Summer Nights you’ll find recipes for Bacon & Egg Salad, Drunken Gazpacho & Parmesan Toast, Cocoa-Chilli Pulled Pork, and Salted Chocolate Popcorn with Honey & Coconut Oil among others.
Bacon & Egg Salad by Steffani Cameron
Steff said they were inspired by her own ideas of what she wanted to eat. She would go to the internet, do searches, look for recipes, and when she found no results or something close enough to what she was looking for, she would give it a try.
One of the recipes was inspired by a restaurant dish, from a place that had closed down. Through trial and error she was able to replicate the dish and once again enjoy its flavours. She takes risks, they pay off brilliantly, and she’s now sharing them with the world.
“If you go and look at the recipes they’re just written differently because I am so conversational in the style and then I’m telling the reader so much about why I’ve chosen that dish, throwing in weird little tips along the way. It’s a really big departure in some ways from other cookbooks so I wasn’t sure if there would be an audience for that.”
Within days of releasing the book, Steff’s received encouraging feedback and has found that people really appreciate not only her cooking style, but her writing. “Cooking is fun. It tastes good, it should be rewarding, it should be good for your soul, it should be a creative outlet.”
Check out Smutty Eats: Late Summer Nights for yourself, it’s available now on Amazon for $6.49CAD.
Over the weekend Scott Graham nominated me for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge by dumping a bucket of water on his head and calling me out in his online video. The rules for this viral campaign are simple: Accept a nomination by filming your own dousing and nominating up to three others to do a same, or donate $100 to ALS related causes in your area. This campaign has been so popular that celebrities and sports stars are nominating each other and we now have videos of Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, and even Bill Gates getting soaked for the cause.
One might ask, does ALS get support even if the ice bucket challenge is completed? Yes, it does. While the campaign has been called “Slacktivism” meaning you’re supporting a cause pretty much by clicking “Like” button or dumping water over your head (and not actually donating to the cause), according to the CBC: “The ALS Association said Monday it has received $15.6 million in donations since July 29, an eight-fold spike over the $1.8 million donated during the same period last year. The association said this summer’s donations have come from existing donors as well as more than 300,000 new donors.”
You may have grown tired of watching people get dumped with buckets of ice cube-filled water but it’s actually really great to see a cause get so much attention and support.
Last week I was locked in a kennel at the SPCA, last November I spent the night in an alley in support of Covenant House, and I have also rappelled down the side of a downtown skyscraper for Easter Seals.
I am normally up for doing something kooky in support of a great cause. However, I only have 24 hours to accept Scott’s challenge and I’m tied to my desk writing and transcribing audio. That being said, I accepted Scott’s challenge and while I won’t be dumping a bucket of ice over my head, I have donated $100 to the ALS Society of BC.
The ALS Society of BC raises funds for both research and to provide direct services and support to those currently living with ALS.
Until a cure is found, the Society provides patient services to improve the quality of life of those diagnosed with this disease by offering an extensive equipment loan program, support groups, and educational materials.
Patients are referred to the Society by neurologists and other healthcare professionals, particularly those at the ALS Centre at G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre. Working together as partners, G.F. Strong team and the Society are dedicated to enhancing each patient’s quality of life. There is no cost for ALS patients to register or to access our services.
For more information, follow ALS BC on Twitter, Facebook and consider participating in some ALS BC events next year like the Peoples Drug Mart Walks for ALS in BC & Yukon.
Sharing Farm is proud to present its 6th Annual Garlic Festival, the largest in Metro Vancouver. Taking place August 24th, this free event will have fun for the whole family along with cooking demos, great food, exhibitors, live entertainment and more – including garlic ice cream.
Photo credit: The Sharing Farm
New this year is the addition of Graphic Illustrator Sam Bradd. Through the magic of art, draw two important questions: What does a healthy and well-fed community look like? What does garlic mean in your home?
Over 1,000 pounds of fresh garlic will be available for sale with farm fresh produce, Steveston Pizza will have a special creation cooking up in the cob oven, Earnest Ice Cream will supply the garlic ice cream, 4Cats Art Studio will have a garlic-theme community painting, there will be an expanded area for kids, music, and farm tours.
Stop by the Garlic Festival at Terra Nova Park (2631 Westminster Hwy, Richmond) between 10:00am and 3:00pm on Sunday, August 24, 2014. Parking and bike valet are free. Admission is by donation to Sharing Farm.
The Sharing Farm grows food to feed Richmond families in need. The Farm is run by community members for community members, and is dedicated to providing fresh, healthy, local produce to our less fortunate neighbours. The Sharing Farm operates on a tiny budget, but thanks to the generosity of our over 1,000 yearly volunteers and the devotion of a small core of part-time staff, the Farm is able to provide thousands of pounds of fruits and vegetables every year to community meals throughout the city and the Richmond Food Bank.
Find out more about the festival and The Sharing Farm by following along on Twitter and Facebook.
I Love Transit Week is coming up August 25th to 29th. Allen Tung of The Buzzer Blog has contributed the following post to promote this year’s campaign. You can find out more by following Translink on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and The Buzzer Blog.
One week each year, we celebrate what we love about transit and I Love Transit Week is back August 25th to 29th! For this year’s celebrations, we’ll be sending ten kids, aged 8 to 12, and their parent or guardian to I Love Transit Camp for a special behind-the-scenes tour of SkyTrain, SeaBus, and much more on Tuesday, August 26th.
We will visit the SkyTrain Operations and Maintenance Centre (OMC) where we’ll see where the vehicles are maintained and cleaned as well as SkyTrain Control. We’ll also visit the SeaBus maintenance docks by Waterfront Station and we’ll have the chance to head up to the bridge and speak to the captain of the SeaBus!
Inside the SkyTrain OMC and the SeaBus docks.
Afterwards, we’ll have some fun on a 40-foot bus and talk to an operator instructor to find out what it’s like to drive a bus. Finally, we’ll meet up with Transit Police and maybe even Transit Security to learn more about everything they do. I’m told they’ll be bringing their vehicles and a special guest if we are lucky.
I Love Transit Camp
If you and your child are interested in this fun day on transit, get your application in now in two easy steps:
- 1. We’ll need the kids to tell us in 50 words or less what that they love about transit.
- 2. Email that to [email protected] with “I Love Transit Camp” in the subject by August 19, 2014.
If you like, you can also include a photo and/or video as part of your entry. Be sure to include the name, age, and phone number of the participant and parent or guardian.
What about those who are no longer kids but who are still young at heart? They can join in the fun too. We are going to have a vintage bus in downtown Vancouver from the Transit Museum Society (TRAMS). Take pictures, explore our transit past, free pins, bus and SkyTrain cutouts and more. This will take place Monday, August 25th at the EasyPark lot at Cambie Street and Georgia Street from 11:00am to 2:00pm.
And as usual, The Buzzer blog will be packed with contests, interviews, essays, submissions from Buzzer readers sharing just why they love transit!
Have you shared your transit love with us? Tweet it with the hashtag #ILoveTransit or email it to [email protected]. We’ll feature as many as we can on the Buzzer blog! See staff doing a great job? Let us know by going to translink.ca/feedback and filling out a commendation form.
White Spot’s Celebrate BC summer menu features local ingredients, seasonal dishes, and BC wine features to round out your inspired dining experience. Perfect pairing suggestions include the Lois Lake Steelhead with Warm Crispy BC Potato Salad alongside a glass of Red Rooster Pinot Gris. How about the Prawn & BC Brie Flatbread with Inniskillin Riesling or the Gala Apple & BC Brie Chicken Burger with Jackon-Triggs Rosé?
For a limited time you can also enjoy a Legendary Burger, Caesar Salad & Fresh BC Blueberry Pie for only $12.99.
Until September 7th, the Celebrate BC menu offer six seasonally-inspired creations including my favourite, the Candied Salmon Spinach Salad. White Spot uses more local ingredients than any other full service restaurant chain in the province and proudly offers a 100% BC VQA wine list. Cheese from Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, blueberries from Silver Valley Farms in Maple Ridge, heirloom tomatoes from Windset Farms in Delta, and more.
Celebrate BC at White Spot
To help you Celebrate BC at your local White Spot, I have a $50 gift card to give away along with a trio of featured BC wine from Red Rooster, Inniskillin, and Jackson-Triggs. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
The bottles of wine will be delivered to the winner along with the gift card. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, August 21, 2014. Must be 19+. Please enjoy responsibly. Follow White Spot on Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date on their latest menu offerings and promotions.
Update The winner is Steve!
