It’s been almost 17 years since I started Miss604 from my hometown of Surrey and I’m finally launching a merch store, for a cause! Thanks to my friends at MAKE Vancouver, the Miss604 Surrey Nostalgia Collection is now OPEN, for a limited time only…
About the Cause
For its 50th Anniversary, Options Community Services has united 50 influential South Fraser women, myself included, for the Women of Options campaign to help raise $1.5 million in support of a new affordable housing build. Our goal is to each raise $25,000 in support of this project. Options board members and staff have also contributed to the cause and the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society has contributed $250,000. The $1.5 million raised through Options will go towards a 100-unit complexon King George Blvd.
My fellow fundraisers have been hard at work hosting auctions, art sales, gift card campaigns, and more. It’s been wonderful to see how all of these women have been supporting this cause. For my personal fundraiser, I wanted to offer something a little different. I thought about my hometown, I thought about special places and moments, and I decided to create the Miss604 Surrey Nostalgia Collection – for a cause, of course!
Miss604 Surrey Nostalgia Collection
“Meet up at Muffin Break and do some shopping at the mall before heading to a birthday party at Stardust, or grab a Froster at Mac’s after the Trojan Class basketball tournament. Hop on the nostalgia bus at Whalley Exchange and reminisce about growing up in the City of Parks in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.”
I picked Surrey Place Mall, West Whalley, and the legendary Rodeo Drive-In to start, representing my own sense of nostalgia and kick-starting my memory bank. HUGE shout out and thank you to my friends at MAKE Vancouver for not only hosting the store, but running with my ideas and creating some awesome products for this campaign!
“MAKE is the most creative store in the universe! Our Granville Island store is THE place to find one-of-a-kind, hand-made, local, and quirky gifts as well as being the ultimate place to create your own custom work. We have the technology in our store, and our website, to help you customize just about anything with printing, laser engraving and embroidery too.“
West Whalley Jr High: Striving for Excellence! West Whalley Junior High was a fixture of the neighbourhood from 1958 to 2002. The home of the blue and orange played host to the annual Trojan Classic Basketball tournament.
Surrey Place Mall:Before the big city centre redevelopment at the turn of the century, there was Surrey Place Mall. Built in 1972, the original shopping centre, with its iconic brown brick floors, was anchored by The Bay and Sears. Maybe you bought your first tape or CD at Sam the Record Man or stocked up at High Low Groceries too. A hop skip and a jump away from Stardust and A&B Sound in the heart of Whalley.
Rodeo Drive-In:This Surrey landmark closed in 2006, and was a fixture on the corner of 152nd Street and Highway 10 for 45 years. Mosey up to a picnic table under the recognizable orange tarp and order yourself a Rodeo Burger, made with fresh, lean ground meat – never frozen. Pair it with a fries, onion rings, a shake — or a helping of nostalgia!
Working on community projects has always been a passion of mine and I attribute that to the caring, diverse, and inclusive community I grew up in. This project evokes nostalgia but it also gives back.
We have t-shirts, hoodies, water bottles and mugs in the store right now! 25% of your purchase will be donated directly to Options Community Services as part of the Women of Options campaign to fund an affordable housing build at King George at 81st.
The collection is only available for a limited time so act fast! You have until June 15, 2021 to purchase your items and support the cause.
NOTE: Products will ship just twice, so please know your order will be printed and shipped either May 30th or June 15th. This helps keep costs down so more can go to the cause.
Thank you so much, dear readers, for your support over the last 17 years. I hope you enjoy this collection and supporting the campaign for affordable housing.
~ Rebecca.
Enter to Win
I would like to ship one winner the collection item of their choice! Here’s how you can enter to win:
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win an item from the Miss604 Surrey Nostalgia Collection by @MakeVancouver supporting @OptionsBC http://ow.ly/qCu350ESpZ9″ quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. The prize is one single item (t-shirt, hoodie, bottle or mug) from the Miss604 Collection. UPDATE – the winner is Linda!
This weekend Miss604 is proud to sponsor the first of two Aunt Leah’s Virtual Trivia Extravaganza events on Saturday along with Summer at Burnaby Village Museum. Find these events and more things to do in Vancouver this weekend (online, and beyond) listed below:
Beaumont Boutique, a thrift shop located inside The Beaumont Studios, which is home to over 40 artist studios and 100 artists, is re-opening as an outdoor thrift store for the summer.
When: Thursdays (starting May 13) to Saturdays in May & June, 12:00pm to 7:00pm Where: 316 W 5th Ave, Vancouver
Beaumont Boutique is currently seeking donations that will help their re-opening be a success. When its doors were shut last winter, it was full of seasonal items, which were given to a local shelter upon closing. Items they are currently hoping to acquire for the new outdoor season include: Summer clothing, accessories, shoes, and home décor.
To show their appreciation, for every two approved items you donate, they’ll give you a store credit for one item that you can use any time this year. They are looking for high quality items, and would like to limit “fast fashion” pieces or articles in disrepair.
Beaumont Studios was established in 2004 by artist Jude Kusnierz, as an open and supportive environment for a wide variety of creative professionals. The Beaumont Studios Artist Society is a not for profit organization which relies on community support. They currently have a Patreon running to support artists and you can shop the Beaumont Boutique’s collection of artwork and apparel designed by resident artists online anytime.
The Brand Battle for Good – Canada’s first zero waste competition between brands – concluded on May 5th when team Talent Pool won for its ‘EcoMeter’ concept, incentivizing restaurants to adopt environmentally conscious actions. From a field of 18 teams, Vancity and the joint Hootsuite-Swany team earned the runner up trophies for their concepts, targeting fashion and plastics respectively.
Winner of the Brand Battle for Good
Inspired by New York City restaurants’ health rating scores, EcoMeter will grade a restaurant’s sustainability practices. Its core idea is a window decal reading A, B or C that would inform and influence behavioural change among customers and restaurant operators. Judges commended Talent Pool for targeting the surge in single-use food container waste caused by 4.2 million more Canadians ordering takeout weekly compared to before the pandemic.
“An idea formed around the opportunity to rally the restaurant community in a collective push towards zero waste,” said Dan Marrett of Ciele Athletics. “We can leverage under-utilized and start-up resources to support them.” Marrett hopes to pilot EcoMeter in late 2021. Additional industry and government support will be sought for a wider rollout next year.
“The win is slowly sinking in but I think our team is just really excited to work alongside Brands for Better to bring the idea to life and help our planet,” said Jill Robinson of UBC who, along with Marrett, represented the team on the pitch stage. Ashley Moore of Clio, Rick Bezuidenhout of 10Fold Eventware, Jennah Dohms of Enchant Christmas, freelancer Alex Cronje, marketing consultant Joel Hansen and UBC Sauder business student Sue Lee completed the team’s roster.
1st place team Talent Pool, photo by Maxine Bulloch, Brands for Better Foundation
“We saw ourselves as the singles table at a wedding; in most cases meeting for the first time at our first team workshop,” joked Marrett about the unique makeup of Talent Pool. “A common passion and desire to impact change in our city helped bring us together instantly.”
“We heard a lot of great ideas from teams that really care about our city,” said Karla Peckett, Creative Director at SOLE/ReCORK and founder of Brands for Better Foundation, the not-for-profit that hosted the contest. “Ultimately, the idea that was most implementable and offered the biggest impact captured the support of the crowd.”
Next year’s Brand Battle for Good will focus on sparking positive social impact in the community. A youth career development initiative called The Spark Factor and a collaboration with Habitat for Humanity are the next projects for Brands for Better.
The following has been contributed by Steffani Cameron, who lives and works in Victoria. Just before the pandemic she completed a 4-year worldwide adventure that she has chronicled at FullNomad.com.
Old Grist Mill Preserves photo by Steffani Cameron
Playing with Old Grist Mill Preserves
When I took possession of a small pantry share from Old Grist Mill & Garden in Keremeos, it included a few things I’ve got a good idea on how and when to use them, like the Lemon Jelly or Quince Jelly, which will be delicious as anything from the sweetener in homemade dressings to using for the glaze on home-baked pastries.
But then it came with fun stuff like “Cowboy Candy” and “Roasted Garlic Scape Powder”.
As a share buyer, you’d have your own choices for the products you’re given, but us writerly types get what we’re given. Luckily, it’s been a fun exploration with Old Grist Mill Preserves!
When I chatted with Chris Mathieson, proprietor and chief food nerd, we got talking about kitchen essentials and recipes. The one recipe packing on the pounds at his house these days is listed on their website, a Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake, perfect for seasonal baking. Don’t forget to support BC Dairy Farmers by getting some whipped cream or ice cream on that plate too.
For us writers, budget-watching is natural, so splurging on food is something I think twice about doing – except with preserves and vinegars, because they’ll literally last years.
Chili Lime Jelly Marinade by Steffani Cameron
In my pantry share, I had Chili Lime Jelly. Sure, you can smear that on a bagel and cream cheese, but it’s also sensational in a marinade, like I did. I pureed several cloves of garlic, a tablespoon of Chili Lime Jelly, some peppercorns, olive oil, and a little white wine vinegar, then marinated a flank steak in that. It turned out delicious on the barbecue.
As for the Lemon and Quince jellies I mentioned earlier, they’ll be ideal in salad dressings or marinades too. Making dressings is simple – you need a whisk and a bowl, so it’s not high-tech science going on here.
Three parts oil to one part vinegar is the typical ratio, which Mathieson subscribes to, but I like more acid so I’m more a 3:2 kinda gal. Then you add your flavours – like a jelly that’ll be the flavour profile and bring sweetness. Next, use a subtle hand with a dash of mustard powder, or a bolder hand with a mustard you love. Me, I collect mustards and can choose from over a dozen – another great thing to invest in, since they’ll keep for years. Mustards will also help emulsify the dressing, so it coats your salad better.
Here’s an example:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons vinegar of your choice (raspberry, champagne, white wine, you name it!)
2-3 teaspoons of your chosen jelly
1-2 teaspoons of mustard
salt & pepper to taste
Essentially, any vinaigrette recipe you use that calls for sugar or honey, you can simply replace that with your Old Grist Mill jams or jellies. I’m hatching a plan to make a lemon-herb vinaigrette for my arugula and chicken salad, using the Lemon Jelly.
Cowboy Candy Hamburger Buns by Steffani Cameron
As someone who’s always ordered nachos with a “hold the jalapenos” caveat, you can imagine my surprise when it was the Pantry Share’s Cowboy Candy that I really fell hard for. It’s candied jalapenos, and they’re gold. Unlike some more mass-produced varieties of candied jalapenos I’ve seen in stores, Mathieson uses a drier process, resulting in a definitively more “candied” texture to the jalapenos. He tells me he loves making cheese breads with the jalapenos in them.
So, naturally, I got it in my head to make some sourdough hamburger buns with them. After I delivered a couple to my grill-fiend hunky Air Force pilot next door, he reported back that they were the best hamburger buns he’d ever had. Part of it is because the Cowboy Candy’s made with sugars and apple cider vinegar, both of which act as a “dough enhancer.”
But not everyone’s a bread baker. So, here’s the other thing that will now be a staple in my fridge – Cowboy Candy Mayo. Simply take a cup of your favourite commercial mayonnaise and add 2-3 tablespoons of the Cowboy Candy, blitz that up, and bam – the best burger spread you’ll ever have. Sriracha mayo ain’t got nothing on the complexity of Cowboy Candy mayo. I also use it for my breakfast sandwiches with an egg, two slices of bacon, and a slice of cheddar. (It’ll keep for as long as the mayo is good for, according to the jar’s best before date).
Breakfast sandwich first — my first-ever quail’s eggs of any kind. Plus bacon, cheddar, avocado and candied jalapeño mayonnaise. On a candied jalapeño homemade bun. pic.twitter.com/ceEz3iRScR
— Steffani Cameron, Deep State Operative (@SnarkySteff) May 3, 2021
Another couple items to wow me are the two powders I received – “Roasted Garlic Scape” powder and “Mushr-umami” powder. They’re basically like dropkicking your food with flavour. The Roasted Garlic Scape powder, for instance, is amazing on anything with potatoes, for starters. Breakfast hash? Throw it in! Grilling a foil bag of potatoes? You need some powder! For those who don’t know, garlic scapes are part of the garlic plant, it tastes just like the head of garlic but a little mellower. These are roasted until dried, then turned into a boring-looking powder, but you’ll need far less of it for oomph than you think, and it brings way more to the party for complexity than regular garlic powder.
Ditto with the Mushr-umami powder. Use it to fortify sauces or add kick to mushroom risotto. Mix it in cream cheese for a nice sandwich spread.
What does the Chief Nerd and Food Geek at the Old Grist Mill consider as his must-have kitchen staples from their products? Why, the Cowboy Candy and their assortment of mustards, of course! Turns out that great geeks think alike. Mm, mustard.
