One of the best things about summer is all the local produce available. There are many local farmers markets operating throughout the Lower Mainland, and I occasionally stop by the Main Street market after work on Wednesdays. However, it is so awesome to have the Richmond Country Farms located in the same location, every day of the week, with set hours. It makes bringing home fresh, local produce so much easier. Don’t get me wrong, I still love the variety of local businesses at the Farmers Markets.

Richmond Country Farms

Nursery at Richmond Country Farms

Selection of Local Produce

Resident Ducks at Richmond Country Farms (look at those awesome colours!!)

View all my photos on my Flickr set: Richmond Country Farms.

Richmond Country Farms is located off Highway 99 in the Steveston area of Richmond (this side of the George Massey Tunnel). It is open from April to late December with a special Pumpkin Patch in October. Most of their produce is from their own acreage but they also seasonally source from other local BC farmers. They also have a nursery and sell turf by the roll (to golf courses no less!).

Whom have you met because of something related to tea? Share something about this person and how your relationship began and blossomed.

Most people I’ve met have been through something else when we discover we both share a love for tea. My best friend in high school, Anna, introduced me to The Secret Garden which I wrote about last week. I met Chelle through a local knitting meetup that would occur at a local cafe. We soon discovered we both enjoyed visiting Steeps in Vancouver. We’ve dragged Julia (another knitting friend) there a couple times.

I met Chan and Ruth via blogging, and we connected over knitting, then pets and tea too. When Ruth and her hubby visited Vancouver last February, we got to share our love for tea as well as the West Coast. I gave her an antique tea cup… and it is the same one on the Hot Tea Month button!

This past week’s topic/discussion prompt is: If I could have my own Tea House this is how I would run things…..

I have been to several tea houses, surprisingly not that many in England though. My favourite one is The Secret Garden Tea Company in Kerrisdale, an area of Vancouver. What I like about it is the clean, bright, relaxed atmosphere of it. I think if I had a Tea House, I would run it similarly.

Their space is a mixture of sit-down and shop. In the shop you can order treats to-go, smell all the teas, and purchase accessories. If you want to sit down for lunch, a cuppa, or even high tea, there are lots of spaces. One of the really nice touches at Secret Garden is the service crockery. They’ve collected old tea cups and saucers and even have a sign on the front door saying they purchase cups and saucers.

If you’re staying in, you are seated by a member of staff and given a tea menu. You and can either choose a pot of tea to share for the table, or each order your own tea. It comes in a teapot covered in a cosy (similar to the ones available to purchase) and you can have unlimited hot water refills. If you’re doing high tea, or demi (half) high tea, the menu is set, but if you’re doing lunch there are lots of lovely salads, sandwiches, and soups for a filling yet light lunch.

I love going for high tea, which I’ve only done a handful of times. The high tea menu changes slightly, but it’s delivered on a three-tiered tray with many miniture goodies. The bottom tier is savoury sandwiches and my favourites are mini croissants with brie and roasted veggies and the egg salad pinwheels. The middle tier has scones with devonshire cream and raspberry jam. The top tier is sweets… and as full as you already are, you cannot resist the goodies up there. Favourites influde lemon tartlette, chocolate mousse cake, and various other goodies.

The few changes I would make in my own establishment would probably just relate to the different menu items and blends of tea. I think that it would be so much fun to work on making blends of tea and pairing with foods. Just give it my own personlized touch with decor as well.

Week Two: January 10-16, 2010
“Tell us about your favorite teas. Do you prefer black, green, white, red, or herbal? Do you like added flavors such as fruit, flowers, vanilla, chocolate, or spices, or are you a purist?”

My tried and true is a cup of orange pekoe with milk, no sugar. But I love flavoured and fruity black tea as well as spiced chai made with milk instead of water. And occasionally I’ll have a white or oolong tea. I’m pickier about those kinds. I have a really nice peach oolong tea and a “cleansing” white tea that is really enjoyable after dinner.

I’m not much of a green tea drinker, but I do enjoy yerba mate every so often. I’ve tried a variety of roiboos teas and I do enjoy them but have yet to find one I absolutely love. If I want something calming or for my stomach, I’ll have chamomile or pepperment herbal tea.

Last year Ruth and Chan hosted Hot Tea Month Blog-a-thon at the Knit1 Tea2 Swap blog. This year, Ruth is going it alone at a brand new Hot Tea Month blog. I made some more buttons this year for Ruth and I’m also participating too.

Week One: January 3-9, 2010
“Tea as a mood lifter: How does tea improve your day? What is your favorite time for a nice, hot cuppa?”

My day always begins with a hot cup of tea, but my favourite time is in the late afternoon to just cuddle up with a cuppa tea and a book or a movie. Nowadays (winter time) we use tea to warm up. I’m nursing a cup right now, holding it to my chest and warming my hands… when I’m not typing.

Last week I told you all about the Knitter’s Festivus Miracle Swap. We had a lovely dinner, lots of fun exchanging gifts, and I had included photos of the FO I gifted to Kyrsten. I have been amiss about posting photos from the dinner as well as my gift from Shelby! Better late than never…..

Shelby knit me this incredibly long scarf (can wrap 3 times around my neck) out of Cascade 220 (I think). I was knitting a secret Christmas gift with Cascade 220 and I swear it is the same colourway! And that is some lovely Scottish Breakfast Tea, I’ve only tried English Breakfast so I have been enjoying this in the mornings.

Here’s a stitch close-up for the knitter’s out there.

And some lovely photos from the dinner:

Read the rest of this entry »

Today (home sick, stomach flu?) I watched Julie & Julia starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams. I had wanted to read the book first (as always) because the story is based on two books, Julie & Julia by Julie Powell and My Life in France by Julia Child and united through a third book: Mastering the Art of French Cooking. But in the end, I decided that I can’t always read the book otherwise my To Read Pile would be too big and I’d never watch movies.

The premise of the movie is based around the first book, Julie & Julia, but brings in a larger aspect of My Life in France compared to the book (from what I can tell). The movie goes back and forth (rather seamlessly) between Julie Powell and her husband living in a post-911 New York and Julia Child before she co-authors Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Half of the story is about Julie, a struggling writer who “never finishes anything”. One night she says to her husband that cooking is her way to get away from all that sadness at work and he suggests she write a blog about cooking. This results in the Julie/Julia Project: 524 recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days.

The other half of the story focuses on Julia Child when her husband is reassigned to Paris. There, trying to find herself, she decides to take cooking lessons and we follow her trials and tribulations as she studies at Le Cordon Bleu. Julia ends up meeting two ladies who are co-authoring a cookbook for Americans in Paris and invite Julia to co-author with them.

The stories mirror each other very well and Nora Ephron (director and screenplay writer) did a very good job of representing both women. I was drawn to both women — Julie because she reminded me of all the things I enjoy and hate about blogging, and Julia because she was inspiring about trying new things and pushing the boundaries. There were some things I didn’t care for — Julie reminded me too much of Miranda from Sex and the City, just in mannerisms and look, and Julia’s accent didn’t fit with her American background but I’m sure Meryl Streep did exceptional research.

All in all, it was an enjoyable movie and I’m glad I didn’t wait to read the book first. However, I really just wanted to be able to taste the movie: I wish that it came with pre-cooked meals for you to join in with!

Bon Appétit!

This is one of the weekends I look forward to the most in October (besides Halloween). The UBC Apple Festival is an annual event held at the University of British Columbia (UBC) Botanical Gardens here in Vancouver. This is the 19th year and it is run by the Friends of the Garden. This year it was open from 11:00am to 4:00pm on Saturday October 17 and Sunday October 18, 2009. Admission is $2 and goes to support the Botanical Gardens.

There are over fifty local(ish) varieties of apples available to taste and purchase, as well as apple tree saplings for sale. Also, several vendors set up at the festival with apple-related goodies such as pie, cider, sauce, candied apples, dried apple chips, etc. There are also vendors with non-apple-related goodies like fudge, pickled canned goods, crepes, soup, sandwiches, and more.

My dad tries to make it out to the Apple Festival every year, and so this year we went together on Saturday morning. Although the weather wasn’t the best, we still went to the apple tasting and then bought 11 bags of apples. They are a fantastic deal; you get 3 lbs of apples for $6 per variety. The only downside is you have to pick one type of apple per 3lb bag. We bought 11 bags of apples and I claimed the Sonata and Aurora for myself. Dad had a couple friends who wanted apples, so he did a “grab bag” of 9 different types. The Sonata apples (formerly Corail) I got are really nice dessert (eating) apples, and the Aurora Golden are good dessert and cooking apples. I plan to make some yummy apple breads with them from the Fall Festival Recipe Exchange.

Happy volunteer, despite the weather

All the apple trees growing in the Botanical Garden get labelled for the festival. That’s my dad in the dark blue coat striding away from me. I told him, “I take lots of photos, so you can’t walk super fast.” The photo before this one has him in the middle of the shot. *sigh*

In the Apple Tasting Session. They let in about 50 people for 30 minutes to taste as many apples as they like. It only costs $3 more.

A couple weeks ago I arranged a tea tasting and food pairing at Ooh Cha Teahouse. Karen Duffield, the owner, treated us to a spectacular display.

I am sad to say that within the last week, Karen has shut her doors at this lovely little teahouse due to the economic situation. She will be maintaining Ooh Cha as an online tea store, but I do hope that Karen will be able to have a bricks and morter location again soon!

So I would like to share the experience of our tea tasting with you, in memory of the lovely little Ooh Cha Teahouse! The tea tasting include the following teas:

• Lapsang Souchong (smokey tea)
• Assam (high grade black tea)
• Balzac Black (black Oolong)
• Matcha (ground powdered tea)
• Mate Chai (Chai tea)
• Ayurvedic Cleansing Tea

These were all paired with a sample of the food that best suited the tea and some information on each tea and the qualities it has.

Here are some photos from the lovely meetup we had:

Karen Duffield, in her shop (formerly located at 63 Kingsway, Vancouver, BC)

Our group of seven. Relax. Laugh.

Goat cheese paired with Lapsang Souchong

Assam tea (standard black tea) – comparing the brewed leaves, to the dry leaves, to the colour of the tea.

Serving each other Oolong tea

Matcha ceremony

Lovely green matcha colouring

Herbal cleansing tea paired with fresh fruit!

Before we began, Carol from ChaChaCha teablog asked permission to film some of the tea tasting for her blog. She posted this great video on YouTube and her blog. Click over to see a video of our Matcha ceremony.

Things to watch for: You can see my turquoise sleeve on the side of the video; You can hear the click of my camera at points; Chelle, Kerry Ann, and I joking about bamboo yarn.

This is a unique cookbook, and although I’m not quite sure if it’s my style, but there are a lot of good ideas for a vegetarian/vegan in here. While I may not use this cookbook, it certainly opens my eyes to new foods. There are a number of sprouted grains, types of sauces, and ways to prepare ingredients I never knew existed! I am curious about the use of a dehydrater (which appears to replace an oven in some cases).

Last night I tried the Salsa Fresca and the Miso Soup… because they were the only two recipes where I didn’t have to go to the store to get anything. Definitely need to plan ahead next time. I’d like to try the Rosemary-Garlic Mashed “Potatoes” but with real potatoes. See what I mean by ideas and inspiration?

I had a thought that I may not be fully experiencing the raw food because of my lack of ingredients and/or knowledge, so I decided to go visit a Raw restaurant during lunch today. Gorilla Food is a raw, organic, vegan restaurant located on Richards Street in downtown Vancouver. I tried to choose something that would widen my horizons; I ordered Thai Fresh Wraps, “Three collard leaf wraps filled with a sprouted sunflower seed and veggie pate, sesame seasoned coleslaw and served with a ginger raisin chutney”. The collard was a little too bitter for my taste, but I mixed the filling of the wraps with the strong ginger chutney and it was tasty enough. The only downside was that two hours later I was hungry again, but they had an excellent looking smoothie menu that I think I would like to go back for!

Thus concludes my first foray into the raw movement, and while I don’t think it is for me 100% of the time, there are certainly ingredients I may like to explore.