Earlier this week locals along with ferry and floatplane travellers gathered at Hastings House on the beautiful gulf island known as Salt Spring. The second event in the Chefs Across the Water dining series featured the culinary creations of Chef Lee Parsons of Vancouver’s Wedgewood Hotel and Spa. Chef Parsons along with Sous Chef Nathan Eades and Hasting House’s own Executive Chef Marcel Kauer put together a five course meal prepared with Salt Spring Island ingredients paired with BC wines.
John and I always enjoy visiting Salt Spring and you’ll often hear me referring to it as our “Happy Place”. From rolling meadows and rocky shores to mountain hikes and twisted Arbutus trees spotting the landscape, it’s a magnificent retreat. The island’s bounty was brought to our table as we sat in the solarium overlooking Ganges Harbour at sunset.
First Course: Gazpacho
Lightly spiced chilled soup of Heirloom Tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, and basil. Garnished with fresh Dungeness Crab and paired with Cassini Cellars Viognier (2010). I am a big fan of gazpacho and this was a great start to the meal ahead.
Second Course: Garden Salad
Garden leaves, fresh Salt Spring Island goat cheese, poached pears, walnut oil and apply cider dressing. Paired with Clos du Soleil Pinot Blanc (2011). Goat cheese, let along Salt Spring goat cheese, is always a favourite as well. A nice crunchy follow-up to the soup.
Third Course: Ling Cod
Pan-seared then baked with a herb crust, fresh mussels, served in a white wine cream broth. Paired with Mission Hill Perpetua (2009). The wine pairing was fantastic with this fragrant dish.
Fourth Course: Lamb
Roasted rack and braised shoulder served with crushed peas, sweet shallot, garlic, celery root, and potato pave with a rosemary scented lamb jus. Paired with Burrowing Owl Vineyards Syrah (2007). John is always partial to lamb and this received his stamp of approval — and mine too. It was so tender and juicy and lacked that ‘gamey’ taste some might normally use to describe lamb. This ‘meat and potatoes’ entree really hit the spot.
Dessert: Milk Risotto/Rice Pudding
Butter roasted peaches finished with lavender. Paired with Chapoutier Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise (2009). After the lamb we thought we couldn’t eat another bite but the peach was so citrusy and crisp that it landed on our palettes and begged to be devoured.
There are still tickets available to the final Chefs Across the Water dinner at Hastings House which will be orchestrated by Chef Terry Pichor of Sonora Resort on October 16th. The dinner is $100 and $40 to opt-in for the wine pairings. Follow Hastings House on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
The Georgia Straight released their Best of Vancouver issue this morning, sharing the results of their annual public poll about their readers’ favourite (and maybe not-so-favourite) things about our city.
I would like to thank everyone who voted for me as the Best Local Twitterer, a title which I am proud to claim for the third year. I have been self-employed for the last five years and since social media is a huge part of my business, it means a lot to receive this recognition from the public. As an individual, I’m just happy that so many people enjoy hearing what I have to share about the city and my adventures. Thank you for this honour and for continuing to read my content.
Congratulations are in order for Vancouver is Awesome who has received the title as “Best Local Blog” and I am thrilled to be their Runner-Up. When people ask me to recommend another blog it’s always VIA. Bob and his team of over a dozen editors work tirelessly to cover events, music, film, food, history, and even local pets. They do it all with passion, style, and a big smile on their faces. Really, I’m not sure I’ve seen Bob or contributors like Christine McAvoy ever in a bad mood. @VIAwesome was my Runner-Up in the Best Local Twitterer category as well.
A new kid on the block, Bored in Vancouver, took 3rd place in both Best Local Twitterer and Best Local Blog. My first action was to follow them on Twitter this morning and my second is to congratulate them. Their slogan is: “Website with free and cheap stuff to do when you’re really bored in Vancouver.” Sounds good to me!
Outside of the online media categories, other titles go to:
Best Neighbourhood: Kitsilano
Best Community Centre: The Roundhouse Community Centre
Best Live Music Venue: The Commodore Ballroom
Best Local Employer: lululemon athletica
Best Brunch: Cafe Medina
Best Place to Buy Jeans: Dutil
Best Weekend Getaway: Whistler
Best Hair Salon: Suki’s
Best TV Newscast: Global BC
Best Morning Show Hosts (Radio): Nat and Drew (Virgin)
The full list is available online including categories like Vancouverite Closest to Hell, Best Comedy Club, Best Kitchenware Store, Best Local Claim to Fame and also the Claim to Shame.
This evening the BC Sports Hall of Fame hosted a reception for its Honoured Members and Class of 2012 inductees. Seated in the Hall of Champions, the new inductees were among family and friends as their achievements were recognized ahead the 44th annual Banquet of Champions at the Vancouver Convention Centre that will take place tomorrow night.
Sean Millington and Lynn Kanuka introduced each new inductee as their name plates were revealed on the walls of the BC Sports Hall of Fame at BC Place.
(Read full write-ups on each of the honourees here)
Athletes
Ashleigh McIvor (ski cross)
Howard Kelsey (basketball)
Michael Edgson (para-swimming)
Bernard Buster Moberg (softball)
Andrea Neil (soccer)
Builders
David Esworthy (equestrian)
Don Martin (sailing)
Pioneer
Barbara Howard (track and field)
W.A.C. Bennett
May Brown
Team
The 1945-46 Vancouver Canucks
Ernie Dougherty (forward) and Andy Clovechok (forward) were present to represent the team.
2003 inductee Charmaine Crooks was also at the reception to donate her London 2012 Olympic torch which she carried this summer.
A limited number of tickets are still available for tomorrow night’s Banquet of Champions if you would like to attend. On Twitter, the tag to follow will be #2012BOC.
Find out more about these inductees and others who have been honored at the BC Sports Hall of Fame which is located through Gate “A” at BC Place. Follow the Hall on Twitter and Facebook throughout the year for information about the galleries, sports in BC, and more.
We Day returns to Vancouver on October 18th to inspire and celebrate youth who make a difference in their community and around the world. This is the 4th year that We Day has come to Vancouver, filling Rogers Arena with 20,000 school kids and motivational celebrities and storytellers on the main stage thanks to Free The Children.
Free The Children is an international charity and educational partner that has more than 1.7 million young people involved in its programs in 45 countries. Founded in 1995 by international activist Craig Kielburger, Free The Children believes in a world where young people are free to achieve their fullest potential, and empowers youth to remove barriers that prevent them from being active local and global citizens.
This year’s special guest speakers at We Day Vancouver include:
- Dr. Holly Branson – Free The Children ambassador, daughter of Sir Richard Branson
- A performance by ONE DROP, a Cirque du Soleil Founder’s initiative
- Premier Christy Clark – Premier of British Columbia
- Shawn Desman – Platinum selling and Juno Award winning recording artist
- Magic Johnson – Basketball Hall of Fame legend
- My name is Kay – Canadian singer and songwriter
- Demi Lovato – Singer-songwriter and X Factor judge
- OneRepublic – Platinum selling, Grammy nominated, American pop/rock band
- Tyler Shaw – 2012 Coca Cola COVERS MuchMusic Video Award winner
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu – Nobel Peace Laureate
I’ve had the pleasure of covering We Day live for the last three years, here are some of my highlights from each event:
We Day 2009:
Quotes: Dr Jane Goodall: “Every individual makes an impact every day.”
Mia Farrow: “I can be tempted toward despair but I feel it’s more productive to be galvanized and take action.”
Jason Mraz: “There’s something about music. When you put a message with a melody it seems to travel so much further.”
We Day 2010:
Quotes: Reverend Jesse L. Jackson Sr. “Often people say at rallies like this that the youth are our future. The reality is that the youth are right now.”
Martin Sheen quoted Robert F. Kennedy: “Each time a man stands for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”
We Day 2011:
Quotes: Mia Farrow “Even if a fraction of them [the children here today] make good on the feelings they have now then the world will be a better place.” “With knowledge comes responsibility. We are what we do, not what we say.”
Dr. Holly Branson “Helping someone is about giving them the opportunities to lift themselves out of hardship.”
Craig Kielburger tweeted last year that in 2010 the efforts of students and youth, through Free the Children, raised $5.7 million, volunteered 1.7 million hours, and collected 619,000lbs of food.
Last December We Day inspired a group of students from West Vancouver’s Gleneagles Elementary to start We Blogs, an internal blogging program at their school. I was invited out to their class to talk about blogging and how they could share their stories.
We Day is taking place in Toronto (September 28th), Vancouver (October 18th), Calgary (October 24th), Winnipeg (October 30th), Waterloo Region (November 14th), Montreal (November 20th) Saskatoon (February 27th, 2013), National We Day (April 29th, 2013), and Halifax (Fall 2013). These are the most We Day events to ever happen in Canada. They are all free to attend but applications must be submitted and approved for classes and students to attend. “Priority is given to school groups who commit to the We Schools program, which includes engaging in one local service action and one global service action, and submitting two action reports.”
For those unable to attend, I will once again be covering We Day in Vancouver through a live blog and live tweets, sharing messages from each of the speakers. I’ll have a special guest of my own as my niece, who is in Grade 7, will join me as a junior reporter. You can also watch online through MuchMusic and they will also air television broadcasts on Sunday, November 11th and Sunday, November 24th 2012 starting at 3:00pm Pacific Time.
You can download the We Day application for iPhone for more information and follow the conversations on Facebook and through @FreeTheChildren #WeDay #Vancouver on Twitter.
The City of Vancouver is making more land available for community gardens and have opened up another round of the application process.
You can currently download and submit an “Expression of Interest” for starting a community garden in a city park, on other city-owned land, or on private land.
The Park Board has outline its policy for a community garden in one of the city’s parks and provides support by:
- Providing access to information on the development and operation of community gardens
- Helping interested groups find suitable land for the development of community gardens (including on City-owned land, land controlled by other government agencies, and privately owned land)
- Helping develop user agreements with the owners of sites chosen for new gardens
- Helping develop a community-led environmental education program
Vancouver currently has 75 community gardens that you can join as well, if space is available. Each garden is listed on the City of Vancouver’s website along with contact information.
Applications for new community gardens will be accepted until October 31, 2012.
