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:

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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.